Do burrowing callianassid shrimp control the lower boundary of tropical seagrass beds?

Kneer, Dominik; Asmus, Harald; Jompa, Jamaluddìn

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2013.05.023

Cited by 23 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Callianassid shrimp in Indonesia have burrows extending down to a meter below the surface and can cause sediment turnover of 3.4 kg m −2 day −1 . Their activities may determine the spatial extent of seagrass beds (Kneer et al, 2013). The seascape at our experimental site is characterized by a trough and hummock appearance, in which un-vegetated areas with shrimp mounds are found outside of shallow depressions full of seagrass.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seagrass Removal Leads to Rapid Changes in Fauna and Loss of Carbon

et al. 2019

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Seagrass habitats are important natural carbon sinks, with an average of ∼14 kg C m −2 buried in their sediments. The fate of this carbon following seagrass removal or damage has major environmental implications but is poorly understood. Using a removal experiment lasting 18 months at Gazi Bay, Kenya, we investigated the impacts of seagrass loss on sediment topography, hydrodynamics, faunal community structure and carbon dynamics. Sediment pins were used to monitor surface elevation. The effects of seagrass removal on water velocity was investigated using Plaster of Paris dissolution. Sediment carbon concentration was measured at the surface and down to 50 cm. Rates of litter decay at three depths in harvested and control treatments were measured using litter bags. Drop samples, cores, and visual counts of faunal mounds and burrows were used to monitor the impact of seagrass removal on the epifaunal and infaunal communities. Whilst control plots showed sediment elevation, harvested plots were eroded (7.6 ± 0.4 and −15.8 ± 0.5 mm yr −1 respectively, mean ± 95% CI). Carbon concentration in the surface sediments was significantly reduced with a mean carbon loss of 2.21 Mg C ha −1 in the top 5 cm. Because sediment was lost from harvested plots, with a mean difference in elevation of 3 cm, an additional carbon loss of up to 2.54 Mg C ha −1 may have occurred over the 18 months. Seagrass removal had rapid and dramatic impacts on infauna and epifauna. There was a loss of diversity in harvested plots and a shift toward larger bodied, bioturbating species, with a significant increase in mounds and burrows. Buried seagrass litter decomposed significantly faster in the harvested compared with the control plots. Loss of seagrass therefore led to rapid changes in sediment dynamics and chemistry driven in part by significant alterations in the faunal community.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seagrass Removal Leads to Rapid Changes in Fauna and Loss of Carbon

et al. 2019

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“…Bioturbation is a prevalent process in coastal ecosystems globally (Woods and Schiel ; DeWitt ; Kristensen et al ; Kneer et al ; Garbary et al ; Govers et al ), and the activities of bioturbating macrofauna have a clear effect on sediment metabolism and carbon (C) remineralization (Papaspyrou et al ; Webb and Eyre ; Kristensen et al ). The results obtained in this study indicate that the effect of Callianassid bioturbation on sediment CO 2 release is larger than that of buried seagrass leaves to depth alone, and that the integration of both factors could result in a sediment MPE.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bioturbator‐stimulated loss of seagrass sediment carbon stocks

Thomson

Trevathan-Tackett

Maher

et al. 2018

Limnology & Oceanography

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Seagrass ecosystems are highly productive, and are sites of significant carbon sequestration. Sediment‐held carbon stocks can be many thousands of years old, and persist largely due to sediment anoxia and because microbial activity is decreasing with depth. However, the carbon sequestered in seagrass ecosystems may be susceptible to remineralization via the activity of bioturbating fauna. Microbial priming is a process whereby remineralization of sediment carbon (recalcitrant organic matter) is stimulated by disturbance, i.e., burial of a labile source of organic matter (seagrass). We investigated the hypothesis that bioturbation could mediate remineralization of sediment carbon stocks through burial of seagrass leaf detritus. We carried out a 2‐month laboratory study to compare the remineralization (measured as CO2 release) of buried seagrass leaves (Zostera muelleri) to the total rate of sediment organic matter remineralization in sediment with and without the common Australian bioturbating shrimp Trypaea australiensis (Decapoda: Axiidea). In control sediment containing seagrass but no bioturbators, we observed a negative microbial priming effect, whereby seagrass remineralization was favored over sediment remineralization (and thus preserving sediment stocks). Bioturbation treatments led to a two‐ to five‐fold increase in total CO2 release compared to controls. The estimated bioturbator‐stimulated microbial priming effect was equivalent to 15% of the total daily sediment‐derived CO2 releases. We propose that these results indicate that bioturbation is a potential mechanism that converts these sediments from carbon sinks to sources through stimulation of priming‐enhanced sediment carbon remineralization. We further hypothesized that significant changes to seagrass faunal communities may influence seagrass sediment carbon stocks.

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“…In contrast to other studies, epiphytic composition and abundance resulting from the interplay between bottom-up and top-down forces are mainly controlled by nutrient availability, physical constraints (hydrodynamic flows, sediment features) and by biological interactions (grazing by herbivores, dispersion, competition for nutrients, light and space) [38]. In addition to all these factors, the discharge of the products of several human activities such as industrial effluents [39], mining wastes [40], fish farming [41,42], drilling fluids [43], sewage and agricultural runoff [16,44,45] or effluents from desalination plants [46] can alter the composition and abundance of the epibiota. Changes on the composition of epiphyte assemblages following nutrient enrichments have also been confirmed under controlled field experiments [47].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%