Several different experimental approaches were used to examine recruitment of benthic meiofauna to patches of selected species of algae. In one approach algal-coated, baited slides were incubated in a salt marsh littoral benthos. The second approach employed patches of algae arrayed equidistantly around art inoculum of meiofauna in a petri dish. Meiofauna were shown to be selectively recruited to patches of some species of algae but not to others. The evidence obtained supports a hypothesis that selective recruitment of meiofauna can be one mechanism which establishes the spatial heterogeneity so often observed in natural collections of meiofauna.
Detrital decomposition is an important marine benthic process which contributes to the fertility of seas, particularly in estuarian and coastal waters. The process in the sea involves a complex community of microorganisms and small animals which interact with each other in a manner similar to that which occurs in forest litter and in composts.Plastic chambers for measuring decomposition rates of Spartina alterniflora
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