Biomass of macrobenthic tidal flat fauna of the Banc d'Arguin, Mauritania

Wolff, W.J.; Duiven, A. G.; Duiven, P.; Esselink, Peter; Gueye, Abou; Meijboom, A.; Moerland, G.; Zegers, J.

doi:10.1007/bf00006193

Cited by 58 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 17 publications

(21 reference statements)

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“…Therefore, the productivity of local benthic primary producers is likely large enough to support the related fish and shorebirds biomass in southeastern BA (Clavier et al, 2014) without any allochthonous organic matter inputs (e.g., upwelling-driven primary production). Our results reinforce the conclusions of recent studies of the functioning of this intertidal flat food web (Wolff et al, 1993a(Wolff et al, , 1993b(Wolff et al, , 2005. The large north-south differences in δ 15 N obtained for fishes belonging to different feeding guilds, as well as carnivorous benthic invertebrates, can be explained by more 15 N-depleted food sources in southeastern BA.…”

supporting

confidence: 90%

“…The benthic macrofauna of this area is actively exploited by shorebirds and motile marine predators (Wolff et al, 1993b(Wolff et al, , 2005Ahmedou Salem et al, 2014). Because of this, approximately 12,000 km 2 of shallow water, tidal flats, and adjacent desert have been included in a marine protected area called the Parc National du Banc d'Arguin (PNBA) since 1976.…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, the high carrying capacity of the BA tidal flat area for wintering shorebirds is still not fully understood (Wolff et al, 1993a;van der Geest, 2013;Ahmedou Salem et al, 2014).…”

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trophic connectivity between offshore upwelling and the inshore food web of Banc d'Arguin (Mauritania): New insights from isotopic analysis

Carlier

Chauvaud

Geest

et al. 2015

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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M A N U S C R I P T A C C E P T E D ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT2 ABSTRACT Banc d'Arguin (BA), Mauritania, is a nationally protected shallow gulf > 10,000 km 2 between the Sahara desert and the upwelling system off the Mauritanian coast. In the southeast, BA consists of a 500 km 2 tidal flat, the most important wintering site for shorebirds using the East Atlantic Flyway. The Mauritanian upwelling-driven phytoplankton production supports the most productive fisheries worldwide, but little is known about its trophic role in the functioning of the inshore BA food web. Using stable isotopes as trophic tracers to distinguish between upwelling-driven phytoplankton, open ocean phytoplankton, and benthic primary producers, we assessed the spatial extent to which the inshore BA food web is fuelled by upwelling-driven phytoplankton production. The δ 13 C and δ 15 N signals were characterized in dominant primary producers, benthic invertebrate taxa, and various fish species along an offshore-inshore (northwest-southeast) gradient. We also monitored the spatial and temporal extent of upwelling entering BA during 2008 with remote sensing of sea surface temperature and chlorophyll a data. The results suggest that benthic invertebrates and fishes living in the northwestern part of BA depend on the nearby upwelling phytoplankton production, but this food source does not support the intertidal benthic community in southeast BA. Furthermore, the isotopic signatures of fishes suggest weak trophic connectivity between the northern subtidal and southeastern intertidal BA. Our results support the hypothesis that the southeastern tidal flat region functions as a distinct ecosystem with a food web supported mainly by local benthic primary production, which is crucial knowledge for effective management of the pristine BA national park.

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confidence: 90%

Section: A C C E P T E D Accepted Manuscriptmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trophic connectivity between offshore upwelling and the inshore food web of Banc d'Arguin (Mauritania): New insights from isotopic analysis

Carlier

Chauvaud

Geest

et al. 2015

Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science

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“…In southern locations, the plant occurs regularly above 29-35 (Perez-Llorens and Niell, 1993) and in Mauritania even above 35 (Wolff et al, 1993;Vermaat et al, 2000). Nevertheless, freshwater is beneficial for Z. noltii, as shown by Vermaat et al (2000) with Dutch plants: survival was much lower at 35 in comparison to 15.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of extreme weather events on the seagrass Zostera noltii and related Hydrobia ulvae population

Cardoso

Raffaelli

Pardal

2008

Marine Pollution Bulletin

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Coastal areas are typically subjected to a range of stressors, but they now face the additional stressor of climate change, manifested in part by an increased intensity and frequency of extreme weather events. Thus, the Mondego estuary (Portugal) has experienced organic enrichment (eutrophication) issues and these are potentially exacerbated by extreme weather events (floods, droughts and heat waves). In this paper, we explore the impact of interactions of these different stressors on the ecology of the system, specifically on the two key components, the seagrass Zostera noltii and the mud snail Hydrobia ulvae.Extreme events affected different components of the estuarine ecosystem (primary producers and macrofauna) differently. Whilst the floods directly impacted on H. ulvae, by wiping out part of its population, they did not directly affect the biomass of Z. noltii. In contrast, drought events, through their effects on salinity, directly impacted the biomass of Zostera, which had knock-on effects on the dynamics of H. ulvae.We conclude that over the period when the estuary experienced eutrophication, extreme weather events contributed to the overall degradation of the estuary, while during the recovery phase following the introduction of a management programme, those extreme weather episodes delayed the recovery process significantly.

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“…All individuals were found upside-down swimming downwards justifying its common name, "upside-down jellyfish". The bivalve mollusc Abra tenuis occurs in the Eastern Atlantic from Scotland (Tebble, 1966) to Mauritania (Wolff et al, 1993). In the Mediterranean it has been mentioned only from two sites, the brackish Lake Ichkeul in Tunisia (Casagranda & Boudouresque, 2005) and the brackish Messologhi Lagoon in Greece (Bogdanos & Diapoulis, 1984;Nicolaidou et al, 1988).…”

Section: By P Ovalis and D Poursanidismentioning

confidence: 99%