The establishment, succession and dynamics of a zoobenthic community: an experimental study
Bonsdorff, E.; Österman, C.-S. (1985). The establishment, succession and dynamics of a zoobenthic community: an experimental study, in: Gibbs, P.E. (Ed.) Proceedings of the 19th European Marine Biology Symposium, Plymouth, Devon, UK, 16-21 September 1984. pp. 287-298
In: Gibbs, P.E. (Ed.) (1985). Proceedings of the Nineteenth European Marine Biology Symposium, Plymouth, Devon, UK, 16-21 September 1984. European Marine Biology Symposia, 19. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge. ISBN 0-521-30294-3. 541 pp., more
In: European Marine Biology Symposia., more
|
| Available in | Authors |
|
Document type: Conference paper
|
| Authors | | Top |
- Bonsdorff, E., more
- Österman, C.-S.
|
|
|
| Abstract |
Field experiments on zoobenthic community development (colonization of defaunated sediment) were carried out in a shallow (1.5 m) brackish bay in the northern Baltic Sea. The main problems were (a) the importance of timing of initial colonization in relation to the seasonality of hydrography, sediment parameters and recruitment of the fauna, (b) the relationships between meio- and macrofaunal colonization, and ( c) the effects of strategies and faunal interactions on community development. The experimental community showed a rapid development in all basic parameters (number of species, abundance and biomass), with similarity between test and reference rising to 58% within 52 weeks of colonization. Faunal recruitment was highest following the spring peak in influx of organic matter to the sediment. Meiofaunal influence was high in spring and summer (24-33% of macrofaunal biomass), decreasing to below 10% during the autumn, and 1% in winter. The macrofaunal immigration in 24 weeks was slow during the winter as compared to summer (11 species, 2100 ind/m², 14.6 9 w. wt/m²; and 13 species, 22800 ind/m², 51.1 9 w. wt/m²; respectively). |
|
