A bioturbation classification of European marine infaunal invertebrates

Abstract

Bioturbation, the biogenic modification of sediments through particle reworking and burrow ventilation, is a key mediator of many important geochemical processes in marine systems. In situ quantification of bioturbation can be achieved in a myriad of ways, requiring expert knowledge, technology, and resources not always available, and not feasible in some settings. Where dedicated research programmes do not exist, a practical alternative is the adoption of a trait-based approach to estimate community bioturbation potential (BPc). This index can be calculated from inventories of species, abundance and biomass data (routinely available for many systems), and a functional classification of organism traits associated with sediment mixing (less available). Presently, however, there is no agreed standard categorization for the reworking mode and mobility of benthic species. Based on information from the literature and expert opinion, we provide a functional classification for 1033 benthic invertebrate species from the northwest European continental shelf, as a tool to enable the standardized calculation of BPc in the region. Future uses of this classification table will increase the comparability and utility of large-scale assessments of ecosystem processes and functioning influenced by bioturbation (e.g., to support legislation). The key strengths, assumptions, and limitations of BPc as a metric are critically reviewed, offering guidelines for its calculation and application.

Mediation of macronutrients and carbon by post-disturbance shelf sea sediment communities

“…This apparently anomalous finding can be explained, however, because the areas under study likely represent a permanently disrupted state (Collie et al 2000;Kaiser et al 2000;Pommer et al 2016), with recovery times measured in years (Kaiser et al 2006). In such environments there tends to be a predominance of small species with opportunistic reproductive modes that are able to respond quickly post-disturbance and can reach high abundances, but these species are more likely to have a low bioturbation potential (Solan et al 2004a;Queirós et al 2013). As per capita effects on sediment-water nutrient fluxes are disproportionately greater for larger polychaetes (Bosch et al 2015), there is less capacity for most of the resident infauna to influence biogeochemical processes.…”

Seasonal dynamics of the biogenic silica cycle in surface sediments of the Helgoland Mud Area (southern North Sea)

“…Surficial modifiers (Fig. 5S) most likely did not affect the pore water composition, as their activity is restricted to the uppermost two centimeters of the sediment (Queirós et al, 2013). Surficial modifiers which were observed on station He417-38/TS2 down to sediment depths of 20 cm might be related to sampling artifacts, as benthic fauna can be forced into the sediment while being sampled with a multiple corer.…”

“…Each species was classified into functional feeding groups (surface deposit feeders, subsurface deposit feeders, suspension feeders, omnivores, predators, interface feeders) and functional types (surficial modifier, biodiffuser, upward conveyor, upwarddownward conveyor) based on available literature (e.g. Fauchald and Jumars, 1979;Queirós et al, 2013).…”

Mediation of nitrogen by post-disturbance shelf communities experiencing organic matter enrichment

“…Information on species feeding mode was obtained from the biological traits database generated from the BENTHIS project (Bolam et al 2014, http://www.benthis.eu/en/benthis/ Results.htm, accessed 16 July 2016). Further, to assess whether the sediment reworking potential of the macro-invertebrate community differed among treatments, species were classified as epifauna (E), surficial modifiers (SM), biodiffusors (B), upwards/downwards conveyors (C) and regenerator (R) following Solan et al (2004) and updated by Queiros et al (2013). Epifaunal organisms include species that occur predominantly above the sediment-water interface whose activities are limited to the near-surface sediment.…”