Pennaria disticha. Photo credit: Isabelle Peeters
In our previous article, we introduced how marine ecosystems undergo ecological succession, starting with pioneer species and eventually evolving into complex communities. This process provides a fascinating framework for understanding how life in the ocean works and sets the stage for restoration efforts.
Similar to how r-strategists lay the groundwork for later K-strategists, OCEAN CITIZEN followed a similar journey. We carefully selected pilot sites in our pioneering phase and dived into their ecological history, underlying conditions, local species, currents, and various environmental factors. This essential groundwork provided us with the baseline knowledge before launching into active restoration. With this foundation in place, we implemented a series of sequential and complementary methodologies to construct a complex framework that sets the stage for a successful active restoration effort.
In this second part of our story, we want to examine the different strategies organisms have developed to succeed in nature. By looking at these strategies through the lens of succession, we gain insights into how nature develops and identify parallels with our approach in the OCEAN CITIZEN project.
We will start with the r-strategists. These are species that base their survival on growth rate. But which characteristics define these strategies?:
Many marine organisms that appear early in a succession process, exhibit what are known as r-selected traits. The r stands for growth rate, referencing how these species reproduce quickly and capitalise on favourable conditions. The r-strategists serve as the first responders, quickly claiming space, stabilising substrates, and sometimes creating conditions that make the environment more suitable for the next wave of settlers. However, their dominance tends to wane as competition ramps up and resources become more limited.
K-strategists are typically linked to the more advanced stages of succession and rely on the carrying capacity for their survival. This indicates that they have evolved to thrive in habitats where competition is more intense, and conditions are more stable over time. These species are prepared not for a quick sprint but for a marathon.
They are the backbone of complex ecosystems, offering the three-dimensional habitat structures in ocean architecture, supporting nutrient cycling, promoting more significant biomass accumulation, and ensuring stability, just like trees in a land forest.
However, not all species are strictly R- or K-strategists. Many fall somewhere in between, in which their growth rate and carrying capacity exhibit a continuum.
These natural strategies have evolved in the living world to help organisms occupy specific niches. By doing so, they become strong competitors; otherwise, their survival would be at risk
In the following posts this year, we aim to introduce the various methods we have employed in OCEAN CITIZEN to build our knowledge structure, like a step between pioneers and the active restoration, which will guide and shape the narrative of our restoration efforts. Understanding each step, from establishing basic site assessments to gradually implementing more advanced techniques, allows us to fully grasp the needs and foundations of successful marine restoration.
