The response of two estuarine benthic communities to the quantity and quality of food
Kendall, M.A.; Davey, J.T.; Widdicombe, S. (1995). The response of two estuarine benthic communities to the quantity and quality of food. Hydrobiologia 311(1-3): 207-214. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00008581
In: Hydrobiologia. Springer: The Hague. ISSN 0018-8158; e-ISSN 1573-5117, more
Related to:Kendall, M.A.; Davey, J.T.; Widdicombe, S. (1995). The response of two estuarine benthic communities to the quantity and quality of food, in: Heip, C.H.R. et al. Major biological processes in European tidal estuaries. Developments in Hydrobiology, 110: pp. 207-214, more
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| Keywords |
Aquatic communities
Aquatic communities > Benthos > Zoobenthos
Aquatic organisms > Food organisms
Availability > Food availability
Behaviour > Feeding behaviour
Comparative studies
Cycles > Chemical cycles > Geochemical cycle > Biogeochemical cycle > Nutrient cycles > Carbon cycle
Population dynamics
Trophic relationships
Water bodies > Coastal waters > Coastal landforms > Coastal inlets > Estuaries
ANE, France, Gironde Estuary [Marine Regions]; ANE, Netherlands, Westerschelde [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal; Brackish water |
| Authors | | Top |
- Kendall, M.A., more
- Davey, J.T.
- Widdicombe, S., more
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| Abstract |
Experimental manipulations of food supply were performed on soft sediment cores from two European estuaries, the Westerscheldt and the Gironde, with a view to determining benthic macrofaunal community response. Over a period of twenty weeks in a laboratory mesocosm system, both communities showed losses in terms of numbers of individuals and small, but non-significant, losses in terms of numbers of species. Whereas no effect of the different types of foods or the dose levels at which they were supplied was detected for the Westerscheldt benthic community, that of the Gironde showed some significant response. This was largely attributed to the differential mortality of spionid polychaetes across the dose levels used, with the highest dose, equivalent to 200 g C m–2 yr–1, only just maintaining their initial population densities. The results are discussed in terms of the importance of lateral advection of food particles at the benthic boundary layer and the general insufficiency of many estimates of carbon input to shallow benthic systems. |
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