Species-specific effect of macrobenthic assemblages on meiobenthos and nematode community structure in shallow sandy sediments.
Three functionally different macrofaunal species (the filter- and/or surface deposit-feeding polychaeteHediste diversicolor, and the suspension-feeding bivalvesMya arenariaandCerastoderma glaucum) were introduced as single- and two-species treatments into microcosms containing sandy sediment with a natural meiofaunal community.H. diversicoloris a burrowing species building a system of galleries,C. glaucumlives actively near the sediment surface acting as a biodiffuser andM. arenariaburies deeply and leads a sessile lifestyle. It is shown thatH. diversicolorextended the vertical distribution of meiofauna into deeper sediment layers compared to the control and non-Hedistetreatments. The response of the nematode community varied significantly among treatments and was dependant on the macrobenthic species composition but not on the species number. Nematode assemblages in all treatments with the polychaete, both in monoculture and witheitherbivalve, differed significantly from those recorded in other treatments and were more similar than replicates within any other single treatment.H. diversicoloralso appeared to have stimulated nematode species diversity. The present study demonstrated that the impact of macrobenthic assemblages on meiofauna is not a simple summation of individual species effects but is species specific.
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland.
Barbara
B
Urban-Malinga
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland.
Aleksander
A
Drgas
Department of Fisheries Oceanography and Marine Ecology, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, 81-332 Gdynia, Poland.
Sławomira
S
Gromisz
Zoology Department, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD UK.
Natalie
N
Barnes