Publication Abstract

Development of a meiobenthic nematode community following the intertidal placement of various types of sediment

M. Schratzberger, S. Bolam, P. Whomersley, K. Warr and H. Rees

A field experiment was designed at an intertidal mudflat in SE England to investigate processes affecting biological recovery of meiobenthic nematodes in response to the placement of different types of sediment, simulating the deposition of fine-grained maintenance dredged material for habitat creation. Natural assemblages were exposed to different types of substrate, including sediment with natural sand and organic content (defaunated control), sediment with elevated sand content (high sand content treatment) and sediment with elevated organic content (high organic content treatment) for a period of 12 months. Differences between colonising assemblages and those from ambient control sediment in terms of structural (i.e. abundance, number of species, species composition) and functional (i.e. biomass spectra) aspects were most marked in the plots with elevated organic content. Nematode densities, number of species and total biomass in the defaunated control and high sand content treatment came to resemble those in the ambient control sediment after three months. In the organically enriched sediment, values attained background level at the end of the experiment. Although assemblage structure in all treatments, and in particular the defaunated control and the high sand content treatment, became increasingly similar to the ambient sediment over time, recovery to ambient condition had not occurred one year after the set-up of the experiment.

Reference:

M. Schratzberger, S. Bolam, P. Whomersley, K. Warr and H. Rees (2004) Development of a meiobenthic nematode community following the intertidal placement of various types of sediment. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 303(1): 79-96