Distribution of meiobenthic copepods from various habitats in Pauatahanui Inlet, New Zealand

Iwasaki, Naohiko

doi:10.1080/00288330.1993.9516581

Cited by 5 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Most studies comparing the abundance of copepods inside and outside seagrass beds found higher copepod densities in vegetated than unvegetated areas (Ansari & Parulekar, 1994; Guerrini et al , 1998; Ndaro & Olafsson, 1999; De Troch et al , 2001b). Studies in intertidal habitats of New Zealand, however, have found that copepod densities were either the same (Iwasaki, 1993) or higher in bare sand relative to nearby Zostera muelleri beds (Hicks, 1986). It is possible that the small size and simple structure of Z. muelleri does not promote high copepod densities to the same extent as larger, more structurally complex seagrass species (Hicks, 1986; De Troch et al , 2001b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Small-scale effect of intertidal seagrass (Zostera muelleri) on meiofaunal abundance, biomass, and nematode community structure

Leduc

Probert

2010

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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Seagrass beds are common features of coastal ecosystems worldwide, and their associated infauna are often more productive and diverse than in unvegetated habitats. Little is known, however, about the ecology of meiofaunal communities living in seagrass sediments. We compared the abundance and biomass of sediment meiofauna inside and outside an intertidalZostera muelleribed in southern New Zealand to assess the impact of seagrass cover on meiofaunal distribution. Nematode community structure, diversity, and feeding groups were also compared between habitats and sediment depths (0–2, 2–5 and 5–10 cm) to evaluate the effect of seagrass on nematode communities. Meiofaunal biomass was significantly higher inside than outside theZ. muelleribed, but secondary productivity inside the bed is likely to have been limited by the availability of labile organic matter. There were significant differences in nematode community structure between unvegetated, sparsely vegetated, and densely vegetated sites (102 m scale), as well as between sediment depths (cm scale). No significant differences were found in depth-integrated (0–10 cm) nematode diversity between sites, but vertical gradients in diversity differed between vegetated and unvegetated sites. Epistrate feeders were the most common feeding group in unvegetated sediments whereas most feeding groups were common inside the seagrass bed. Findings from this study indicate that seagrass beds can have a marked impact on infaunal structure and function over small spatial scales through their effect on sediment characteristics and organic matter input. Some unexpected trends observed in the present study, i.e. low meiofaunal biomass at the vegetated sites, and lower abundance of copepods inside than outside the seagrass bed, suggest that the nature of seagrass–invertebrate interactions may depend on habitat characteristics and the identity and ecology of species considered.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Small-scale effect of intertidal seagrass (Zostera muelleri) on meiofaunal abundance, biomass, and nematode community structure

Leduc

Probert

2010

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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“…Detritus accumulation on bare sediments provides a concentrated food supply for these species, possibly within a habitat relatively sheltered from tidal currents. Furthermore, studies have detected greater densities of copepod prey in unvegetated habitats relative to vegetated ones (Iwasaki 1993;Netto and Lana 1997), which indicates improved forage resources for potentially carnivorous mysid species such as Rhopalophthalmus egregius in unvegetated habitats as well.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Detritivorous/phytoplanktivorous species of mysid shrimp like Haplostylus dakini may derive trophic benefits from exploiting unvegetated over seagrass habitats. Organic detritus tends to accumulate in troughs of sediment ripples within unvegetated estuarine habitat, and detrital load in these environments can be higher than that of vegetated habitats (Iwasaki 1993;Netto and Lana 1997). Detritus accumulation on bare sediments provides a concentrated food supply for these species, possibly within a habitat relatively sheltered from tidal currents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial and temporal patterns of habitat use by three estuarine species of mysid shrimp

Taylor

2008

Mar. Freshwater Res.

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Abstract. The mysids Rhopalopthalmus egregius, Haplostylus dakini and Doxomysis australiensisare abundant yet unstudied omnivorous crustaceans in Australian estuaries. Habitat use and population dynamics were investigated for these species over spring and summer in the Tweed River, Australia, to explore their ecological role in estuarine ecosystems. Overall, mysids were concentrated in shallow unvegetated and deep unvegetated estuarine habitats. H. dakini were most abundant in shallow and deep bare habitats at night, whereas R. egregius were most abundant in deep bare habitats during the night. D. australiensis were present across all habitats in the night, but negligible numbers were present during the day. Significantly greater numbers of R. egregius and D. australiensis were sampled during the new moon, compared with the full moon. Significantly larger R. egregius and D. australiensis individuals were present in benthic habitats at night, indicating possible partitioning of habitat for juvenile and adult subpopulations. Adaptive foraging strategies and habitat use facilitates the coexistence of sympatric mysid species, H. dakini and R. egregius, and within-species habitat partitioning allowed juvenile R. egregius to avoid interaction with adult R. egregius. The observed dynamics minimize interand intra-specific predation between mysids, and by other predators, while optimizing access to key trophic resources.

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“…Herman (1989) reported 0,9 to 600 copepods/10 cm 2 in the North Sea, and Herman & Dahms (1992) found between 17.09 to 120.91 harpacticoids/ 10 cm 2 in the Weddell Sea. George (1999) found between 6.84 and 172 harpacticoids/10 cm 2 in the Magellan region, and Iwasaki (1993) found 2.4 to 372.9 copepods/10 cm 2 in Pauatahanui Bay (New Zealand). The low densities and especially the odd findings of few developmental stages and three stations of very low individual numbers have to be examined for possible reasons.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Community analysis of sublittoral Harpacticoida (Copepoda, Crustacea) in the western Baltic Sea

Folkers

George

2010

Hydrobiologia

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This study compares two stations each sampled at the Øresund (Denmark) and the German coast (western Baltic Sea), with respect to sublittoral Harpacticoida. The associations were found to differ considerably in diversity, species numbers, evenness and also in the species composition. At the two northern stations, mainly polyhaline species were found and they showed the highest species and individual numbers as well as the most even species distribution. At the two southern stations, mainly pleiomesohaline species were found and they were dominated by one species that was very resistant to eutrophication, so that they showed an uneven species distribution, but also had lower individual numbers and thus lower diversity. Some samples at the German coast were found to have an extremely low harpacticoid number, which was attributed to the severe oxygen deficiency that occurred in autumn 2002 in the western Baltic Sea. This can also be considered to be the main reason for the low species diversity of the southern stations.

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Distribution of meiobenthic copepods from various habitats in Pauatahanui Inlet, New Zealand

Cited by 5 publications

References 8 publications

Small-scale effect of intertidal seagrass (Zostera muelleri) on meiofaunal abundance, biomass, and nematode community structure

Small-scale effect of intertidal seagrass (Zostera muelleri) on meiofaunal abundance, biomass, and nematode community structure

Spatial and temporal patterns of habitat use by three estuarine species of mysid shrimp

Community analysis of sublittoral Harpacticoida (Copepoda, Crustacea) in the western Baltic Sea

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