IMIS

Field exclusion experiment: a randomized block design was used, consisting of nine experimental units. Three replicates were taken for each treatment (Cage, Partial cage and Blanco respectively). In the Cage, the epifauna was excluded; in the Partial cage (the first control introduced in our experiment), the epifauna was not excluded, so only the influence of the cage itself was investigated; in the Blanco (the second control in our experimental design, without cage) the epifauna remained well in order to follow the natural changes in time of the meiobenthos in the Avicennia marina mangal. Three monthly meiobenthic samples were collected for each treatment; together with those meiobenthic samples, abiotic factors (grain size analysis, curtosis, skewness, median particle diameter, porosity, % organic material, temperature, redox potential, pigment analysis (measurements of chlorophyl a, fucoxanthin), nutrient analysis (NQ,- NO3, NH4+, and Si), salinity, pH and dissolved oxygen) were measured once a month.