Biological and biogeochemical methods for estimating bioirrigation: a case study in the Oosterschelde estuary

Borger, Emil De; Tiano, Justin; Braeckman, Ulrike; Ysebaert, Tom; Soetaert, Karline

doi:10.5194/bg-17-1701-2020

Cited by 10 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 70 publications

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“…Importantly, Toussaint et al [ 14 ] concluded, and we confirm based on our results, that measuring processes is still essential, and their link with biological traits has not been not sufficiently studied to enable reliable and purely traits-based ecological assessments and future predictions [ 56 ]. In line with the findings of De Borger et al [ 22 ] for IPc, here BIPc also showed a stronger association with burrow ventilation depths than with ventilation intensity or magnitude of fluxes. In order to achieve a firm predictive framework for the forecasting of relationships between bioturbators and sediment respiration in different environments, the present data need to be incorporated into existing biogeochemical models [ 6 ].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…However, compared with related well-developed bioturbation potential, which has already been assessed and mapped for various regions [ 18 , 19 , 20 ], the classification of sediments according to their bioirrigation potential is a very recent endeavour. Despite already emerging applications, for example in the assessment of the degradation of ecosystem functions in response to sediment contamination [ 21 ], its applicability should be further explored [ 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, despite agreement on the importance of burrow ventilation in fuelling oxic mineralisation and nitrification processes [ 23 , 24 ], in the recent studies, the IPc index developed by Wrede et al [ 16 ] was not selected as an explanatory variable for corresponding oxygen or nitrate fluxes, and indicated no correlation to the measured irrigation rate [ 14 , 22 ]. This mismatch could suggest that an index is not an accurate estimation of burrow ventilation rate.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This mismatch could suggest that an index is not an accurate estimation of burrow ventilation rate. Instead, it was found to correlate more strongly to the burrow ventilation depth [ 22 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Benthic Macrofauna Community Bioirrigation Potential (BIPc): Regional Map and Utility Validation for the South-Western Baltic Sea

Gogina

Renz

Förster

et al. 2022

Biology

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Benthic community bioirrigation potential (BIPc), an index developed to quantify the anticipated capacity of macrofauna to influence the solute exchange at the sediment–water interface, was calculated for the south-western Baltic Sea. This index can be regarded as an effect trait that is useful for predicting ecosystem processes impacted by animal burrow ventilation. The special feature, and presumably an advantage, of BIPc, compared to alternative recently developed benthic macrofauna-based bioirrigation indices, lies in its ability to distinguish the taxa-specific score values between diffusion- and advection-dominated sediment systems. The usefulness of the BIPc index was compared against the estimates of the well-established community bioturbation potential index (BPc). The BIPc index displayed a moderately but significantly stronger correlation with estimates of irrigation rates derived from tracer experiments. Using a random forest machine learning approach and a number of available relevant environmental predictor layers, we have modelled and mapped the spatial differences in this ecosystem functioning expression. The key species contributing to bioirrigation potential in the study area were identified. The interannual variation in BIPc was assessed on a small exemplary dataset. The scores required to calculate the index, that were assigned to 120 taxa dominating abundance and biomass in the region, are provided for reuse. The utility, temporal variability and uncertainty of the distribution estimate are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Benthic Macrofauna Community Bioirrigation Potential (BIPc): Regional Map and Utility Validation for the South-Western Baltic Sea

Gogina

Renz

Förster

et al. 2022

Biology

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“…Therefore, although the depth of mixing in the stratigraphic record can be estimated on the basis of ichnofabric and trace fossils (Bromley and Ekdale, 1986;Droser and Bottjer, 1988;Savrda and Ozalas, 1993), it is unclear (i) whether mixing leading to age homogenization of sedimentary particles and to the loss of sedimentary fabric was also associated with efficient irrigation and (ii) whether the ichnofabric characterizing a mixed layer in the stratigraphic record developed over yearly, decadal, or longer timescales. This uncertainty differs from temporally explicit estimates of penetration of sediment by O 2 and other solute tracers, from estimates of apparent redox potential discontinuity, or from the estimates of the mixed-layer thickness based on 234 Th that can be measured in present-day environments (Andersson et al, 2006;Maire et al, 2008;Germano et al, 2011;Gerwing et al, 2018;Solan et al, 2019;Borger et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrite-lined shells as indicators of inefficient bioirrigation in the Holocene–Anthropocene stratigraphic record

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Although the depth of bioturbation can be estimated on the basis of ichnofabric, the timescale of sediment mixing (reworking) and irrigation (ventilation) by burrowers that affects carbonate preservation and biogeochemical cycles is difficult to estimate in the stratigraphic record. However, pyrite linings on the interior of shells can be a signature of slow and shallow irrigation. They indicate that shells of molluscs initially inhabiting oxic sediment pockets were immediately and permanently sequestered in reduced, iron-rich microenvironments within the mixed layer. Molluscan biomass-stimulated sulfate reduction and pyrite precipitation was confined to the location of decay under such conditions. A high abundance of pyrite-lined shells in the stratigraphic record can thus be diagnostic of limited exposure of organic tissues to O2 even when the seafloor is inhabited by abundant infauna disrupting and age-homogenizing sedimentary fabric as in the present-day northern Adriatic Sea. Here, we reconstruct this sequestration pathway characterized by slow irrigation (1) by assessing preservation and postmortem ages of pyrite-lined shells of the shallow-infaunal and hypoxia-tolerant bivalve Varicorbula gibba in sediment cores and (2) by evaluating whether an independently documented decline in the depth of mixing, driven by high frequency of seasonal hypoxia during the 20th century, affected the frequency of pyrite-lined shells in the stratigraphic record of the northern Adriatic Sea. First, at prodelta sites with a high sedimentation rate, linings of pyrite framboids form rapidly in the upper 5–10 cm as they already appear in the interiors of shells younger than 10 years and occur preferentially in well-preserved and articulated shells with periostracum. Second, increments deposited in the early 20th century contain < 20 % of shells lined with pyrite at the Po prodelta and 30 %–40 % at the Isonzo prodelta, whereas the late 20th century increments possess 50 %–80 % of shells lined with pyrite at both locations. At sites with slow sedimentation rate, the frequency of pyrite linings is low (< 10 %–20 %). Surface sediments remained well mixed by deposit and detritus feeders even in the late 20th century, thus maintaining the suboxic zone with dissolved iron. The upcore increase in the frequency of pyrite-lined shells thus indicates that the oxycline depth was reduced and bioirrigation rates declined during the 20th century. We hypothesize that the permanent preservation of pyrite linings within the shells of V. gibba in the subsurface stratigraphic record was enabled by slow recovery of infaunal communities from seasonal hypoxic events, leading to the dominance of surficial sediment modifiers with low irrigation potential. The presence of very young and well-preserved pyrite-lined valves in the uppermost zones of the mixed layer indicates that rapid obrution by episodic sediment deposition is not needed for preservation of pyrite linings when sediment irrigation is transient and background sedimentation rates are not low (here, exceeding ∼ 0.1 cm yr−1) and infaunal organisms die at their living position within the sediment. Abundance of well-preserved shells lined by pyrite exceeding ∼ 10 % per assemblage in apparently well-mixed sediments in the deep-time stratigraphic record can be an indicator of inefficient bioirrigation. Fine-grained prodelta sediments in the northern Adriatic Sea deposited since the mid-20th century, with high preservation potential of reduced microenvironments formed within a mixed layer, can represent taphonomic and early diagenetic analogues of deep-time skeletal assemblages with pyrite linings.

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Macrofauna as a major driver of bentho‐pelagic exchange in the southern North Sea

Neumann

Beusekom

Eisele

et al. 2021

Limnology & Oceanography

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The contribution of sediments to nutrient cycling of the coastal North Sea is strongly controlled by the intensity of fluxes across the sediment water interface. Pore‐water advection is one major exchange mechanism that is well described by models, as it is determined by physical parameters. In contrast, biotransport (i.e., bioirrigation, bioturbation) as the other major transport mechanism is much more complex. Observational data reflecting biotransport, from the German Bight for example, is scarce. We sampled the major sediment provinces of the German Bight repeatedly over the years from 2013 to 2019. By employing ex situ whole core incubations, we established the seasonal and spatial variability of macrofauna‐sustained benthic fluxes of oxygen and nutrients. A multivariate, partial least squares analysis identified faunal activity, in specifically bioturbation and bioirrigation, alongside temperature, as the most important drivers of oxygen and nutrient fluxes. Their combined effect explained 63% of the observed variability in oxygen fluxes, and 36–48% of variability in nutrient fluxes. Additional 10% of the observed variability of fluxes were explained by sediment type and the availability of plankton biomass. Based on our extrapolation by sediment provinces, we conclude that pore‐water advection and macrofaunal activity contributed equally to the total benthic oxygen uptake in the German Bight.

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Biological and biogeochemical methods for estimating bioirrigation: a case study in the Oosterschelde estuary

Cited by 10 publications

References 70 publications

Benthic Macrofauna Community Bioirrigation Potential (BIPc): Regional Map and Utility Validation for the South-Western Baltic Sea

Benthic Macrofauna Community Bioirrigation Potential (BIPc): Regional Map and Utility Validation for the South-Western Baltic Sea

Pyrite-lined shells as indicators of inefficient bioirrigation in the Holocene–Anthropocene stratigraphic record

Macrofauna as a major driver of bentho‐pelagic exchange in the southern North Sea

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