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Microalgae, macrofauna and sedimentary stability: an experimental test of a reciprocal relationship.

Huxham, Mark; Gilpin, Linda; Mocogni, Marina; Harper, S

Authors

Marina Mocogni

S Harper



Abstract

A manipulative field experiment was conducted at Blackness in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, to study the effects of differences in microphytobenthos abundance on sediment stability and macrofauna. Opaque and transparent Perspex was used to construct shaded and controlled treatments, respectively. Shading resulted in significantly lower levels of chlorophyll a recorded from the sediment. Shaded treatments showed significant reductions in populations of Macoma balthica, Hydrobia ulvae and Corophium volutator, 3 of the dominant species at this site. Largely as a result of changes in the abundance of these species, multivariate analyses showed significant differences between shaded and control communities. The impacts of shading on individual species depended on the sediment characteristics. There were no significant differences between treatments in recorded sediment accretion/erosion rates. These results demonstrate the importance of microphytobenthos for the deposit feeders M. balthica, H. ulvae and C. volutator. The absence of any effect on sediment stability might result from the reciprocal, opposite effects of macrofauna and microphytobenthos on sediment stability cancelling each other out in this experiment.

Citation

Huxham, M., Gilpin, L., Mocogni, M., & Harper, S. (2006). Microalgae, macrofauna and sedimentary stability: an experimental test of a reciprocal relationship. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 310, 55-63. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps310055

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Apr 3, 2006
Deposit Date Jul 8, 2008
Print ISSN 0171-8630
Electronic ISSN 1616-1599
Publisher Inter Research
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 310
Pages 55-63
DOI https://doi.org/10.3354/meps310055
Keywords microphytobenthos; macrofauna; sediment stability; shading;
Public URL http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/id/eprint/1695
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.3354/meps310055




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