[ I'm a chordata, urochordata! ]

I'm so pleased that, to celebrate National Poetry Month, saltbloggers everywhere are posting their favorite marine pieces (as are some non-marine folk.

I've long loved the words of Neruda. Even his poems of love and passion are deeply intertwined in the sea. But how could I not resist posting Los Enigmas whose second line reads
Me decís qué espera la ascidia en su campana transparente?
You ask what does the tunicate hope for inside its diaphanous bell?

Also, note the catchy use of Macrocystis

Los Enigmas
by Pablo Neruda
Translated by Seamus M. Murphy

You have asked me what the crab was spinning in his golden claws
and to you will say: the sea knows.
You ask what the tunicate hopes for in its transparent bell?
What is it waiting for?
I will say to you it awaits time, as you do.
You ask me whom the embrace of the Macrocystis alga may overcome?
Probe it, question it to a particular time in a certain ocean I know.
No doubt you shall question me about the cursed ivory of the narwhal,
and I will answer you that this unicorn of the sea
met agony at the point of a harpoon.
Perhaps you will ask me about the kingfisher’s trembling plumage
in the pure origins of the southern tides?
And with another question, will you not now shell
the crystalline construction of the anemone?
Would you understand the points of the foundations, their electrical matter?
The stalactite armada that journeys being broken?
The hook of the angler fish, how the extensive music of the deep
is loosed upon the waters?

I will want to say that the ocean knows this, that the life in your arcs
is broad as the sand, innumerable and pure
and between grapes of blood time polishes
the hardness of a petal, the gentle radiance of a jellyfish
and the branches of coral threads have been peeled
from an infinite mother-of-pearl cornucopia.
I am only a net that should empty
the anxious human eyes that have died in that darkness,
fingers familiar to the triangle, halfway
from a timid circle of orange.

Like your probing of the
infinite stars, I came
and in my net, and in the night, I awoke denuded,
alone, a fish caught up in the wind.

For those who know me, I <3 R with a vengeance. I mean, first off, it sounds like ARRR!!!, so, it's obviously the pirate's first choice in statistical software.

But, moreover, it's flexible, adapatable, with tons of free code, and a user base that's dedicated to sharing its knowledge back and forth. Check out the mailing list over at nabble - no matter how esoteric, silly, seemingly stupid, or cutting edge your question is, someone will give you a hand.

That, and by forcing you to code your analyses, you really have to confront your data, think about what you're doing, and not just click a few buttons. Also, by saving scripts, you don't have to remember just what buttons and boxes you clicked to re-do a complex crazy piece of statistics. Not to mention the beautiful graphs it can produce.

I've been advocating it's usage by my fellow ecologists for ages now - sometimes a bit rabidly. It seems, though, that we've hit a critical mass. There is now an R discussion list for ecologists!

That's right, if you want to discuss issues of analysis of your data in R for ecological issues, head on over to R-SIG-ECOLOGY to subscribe!

Mad props to Jeff Hollister and Sarah Goslee for starting this up!

You know, I went to the 2008 Benthic Ecology Meeting last week expecting nothing earth shattering. I mean, sure, some great science (more on that in another entry), but I did not expect the convergence of this serious group of sober scientists to, say, hop headlong into the raging invertebrate wars.

But there it was, on day 1, the "Snails are Dumb" hypothesis. Of course, it took until the final day for it to be formalized as such - and even have one talk attempt to refute it - but, still there you have it.

Really, I should be more precise. It is the "Gastropods are Dumb" hypothesis. It achieved it's pinnacle in a fascinating talk by Diana Padilla.

Padilla was looking at how invasive oysters altered reserves in Puget Sound. What was really cool was that she could get before and after data by looking at the preserved impressions and remains of species that had been overgrown by oysters that were left on the underside of their shells.

Tres cool.

But here's the kicker. In addition to sessile species, the bottoms of oysters were often pockmarked with snails, limpets, and chitons. That's right, mobile species that should have known better and run away. But no, they hunkered down, got smothered, and died. I asked her, and, indeed, oysters don't really settle on these guys, so, they did really have a choice, if, you know, they were alert enough to make one.

Apparently not.

Of course, this wouldn't have been a problem for a tunicate. Feisty beasts they are, they would fight back, and just overgrow the oyster!

Viva la Urochordata!

I've been following The Invertebrate Wars with great interest, but some distance (stoopid frickin' dissertation and new awesome job at UCSB starting July 1 - teehee - more another time...)

I mean, really, we all know that in the end, given their ability to globe-trot by parasitizing human industry, Urochordates in the end are the #1 invertebrate in the world. Seriously. Not since the domestic cat or perhaps lice has any animal used us with such efficiency.

When the world ends, it will be ascidians, salps, larvaceans, and cockroaches will be all that are left. Mark my words.

But then I saw Miriam's awesome article (ah, another ascidiologist rises - Gretchen will be so pleased...) and realized it was time to throw in one or two more points about our uncle grandpa.

With respect to molluscs, let's just clear up what google can tell us about the supposed winners of the internet wars, shall we? While it might appear that they would beat out Urochordata, let's remember that Urochordata isn't actually a phylum. It's a subphylum (currently). That's right. While you pansy molluscans and echinoderms are bringing your full phyla status, this little subphylum is throwing mud in your eye. If we think about the phylum of which they are a member, let's be honest, there is just no contest, and google gives us the answer.

This is not to mention that within 4 hours a simple sheet of Botrylloides diegensis can suck down as much plankton as a mussel. And that the amount that Didemnum sp. A (just what are we calling it these days?) excretes in 24h dwarfs that of mussels many times it's size.

(Yes, I'm processing data for a Benthics talk next week. Come to the Thursday invasive species sessions! I'm moderating and talking!)

Secondly, Echinoderms, let's call a spade a spade. You may think you're all that, inspiring brain implants, but really, let's see who did the work. That's right, those brain implants were made from tunicates!

That's right - TUNICATES IN YOUR BRAIN!

These are but a few more points about my favorite globe-trotting brain-enhancing invertebrate beasties. But I think the message is clear. In the invertebrate wars, no one can stop the stealthy advance of the squirt.

Y'all best be careful when you next step out on a dock to go to sea. They're there. Waiting. Just look...

In order to have a fun time at Dim Sum, you need a lot of people so that there's lots of plates to try from. But, if you went, and everyone wanted Char sio bau (Pork Buns), how boring would that be? And how many fights might break out over that last little bun?

This is the kind of science I think about - only, in the ocean.

And for this reason, I just about plotzed with joy when I saw the opening paper by Griffin et al in this month's issue of Ecology. The paper, Predator diversity and ecosystem functioning: density modifies the effect of resource partitioning, really shows how interactions between predators can change how food webs work, as well as the interaction between predator and prey diversity. It's a truly beautiful synthetic study, showing that high diversity of its multiple species of crabbies being progressively more important in determining the sterngth of predation at higher total density, as consumers parition prey types, and intraspecific interactions are lessened. It shows that there are can be some real consequences of deleting the number of species in nature, even if the density of those that remain is elevated. It also gets at why different experimental designs in the diversity-function field produce different answers.

Crabs (from left) Necora puber, Carcinus maenas, and Cancer pagurus are important coexisting predators in rocky intertidal habitats. Photo credit: P. Moore.

Continue reading "The Dim Sum Principle: Resource Complementarity Increases in Importance with Density" »