Fish activity: a major mechanism for sediment resuspension and organic matter remineralization in coastal marine sediments

Yahel, Gitai; Yahel, Ruthy; Katz, Timor; Lazar, Boáz; Herut, Barak; Tunnicliffe, Verena

doi:10.3354/meps07688

Cited by 64 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 40 publications

(48 reference statements)

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“…The sediments in the anoxic basin are mostly laminated, reflecting an annual sedimentation cycle wherein the ratio of plankton (mostly diatoms) to terrestrial matter is higher in the summer and spring and lower in winter (Tunnicliffe 2000). Weak bottom currents suggest minimal physical resuspension over most of the seafloor (Yahel et al 2008). Storms are rare in the sheltered inlet (see Results) and are unlikely to resuspend sediments beyond the shallow perimeter of the inlet.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In contrast, biological resuspension at mid-depth in the inlet is extensive. Video recordings and backscatter time series show that groundfish generate about 100 resuspension events m 22 d 21 , resuspending , 1.3 liters bulk (about 1 kg dry) sediment m 22 d 21 (Yahel et al 2008;Katz et al 2009). …”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Canadian Remotely Operated Platform for Ocean Science (ROPOS; www.ropos. com) ROV was equipped with an online instrument package (Yahel et al 2008) that included a conductivity, temperature, depth (CTD) sensor package (SBE 19 plus, SeaBird), an oxygen sensor (SBE 43), a transmissometer (25 cm, CStar, WetLabs), and a chlorophyll fluorometer (WETStar, WetLabs). The ROV sampled water characteristics through a 30-cm-long tube positioned atop the ROV, , 2 m above bottom (mab).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These flatfish resuspend sediment when preying on near-bottom zooplankton, while digging into the sediment for shelter, or when rising from the sediment to shift location or evade disturbance by other animals. We quantified this fish activity, and concluded that these small fish (, 10 cm long) rework the surface area of the oxygenated margins once every 2-3 d, resuspending about 1.3 liters bulk sediment m 22 d 21 (Yahel et al 2008).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Lateral transport and dispersion of marine sediments require the initial resuspension of surface sediments, which is not necessarily caused by physical forces. Instead, in many marine habitats, the activity of organisms such as fish (Yahel et al 2002(Yahel et al , 2008, marine mammals (Nelson et al 1987), and benthic invertebrates (Colin et al 1986) controls sediment resuspension. Recently, we showed that the activity of groundfish (i.e., fish that live near or at the seafloor) controls sediment resuspension in Saanich Inlet (Yahel et al 2008), a deep fjord with anoxic bottom water in Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada (Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resuspension by fish facilitates the transport and redistribution of coastal sediments

Katz

Yahel

Reidenbach

et al. 2012

Limnology & Oceanography

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Oxygen availability restricts groundfish to the oxygenated, shallow margins of Saanich Inlet, an intermittently anoxic fjord in British Columbia, Canada. New and previously reported 210 Pb measurements in sediment cores compared with flux data from sediment traps indicate major focusing of sediments from the oxygenated margins to the anoxic basin seafloor. We present environmental and experimental evidence that groundfish activity in the margins is the major contributor to this focusing. Fine particles resuspended by groundfish are advected offshore by weak bottom currents, eventually settling in the anoxic basin. Transmittance and sediment trap data from the water column show that this transport process maintains an intermediate nepheloid layer (INL) in the center of the Inlet. This INL is located above the redox interface and is unrelated to water density shifts in the water column. We propose that this INL is shaped by the distribution of groundfish (as resuspension sources) along the slope and hence by oxygen availability to these fish. We support this conclusion with a conceptual model of the resuspension and offshore transport of sediment. This fish-induced transport mechanism for sediments is likely to enhance organic matter decomposition in oxygenated sediments and its sequestration in anoxic seafloors.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Resuspension by fish facilitates the transport and redistribution of coastal sediments

Katz

Yahel

Reidenbach

et al. 2012

Limnology & Oceanography

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Geo‐ecological functions provided by coral reef fishes vary among regions and impact reef carbonate cycling regimes

et al. 2022

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Coral reef fishes perform essential and well-documented ecological functions on reefs, but also contribute important geo-ecological functions, which influence reef carbonate cycling regimes. These functions include reef framework modification (through bioerosion and breakage), and the production, reworking, and transport of reefal sediments. To explore how these functions vary across reefs and regions, we compiled a dataset of available taxa-specific function rates and applied these to fish census data from sites in the Pacific Ocean (PO), Indian Ocean (IO), and Greater Caribbean (GC), each region displaying a gradient in fish biomass. The highest overall function rates occur at the highest fish biomass sites in the PO (Kingman Reef) and IO (Chagos Archipelago), where bioerosion dominates framework modification and sediment generation (up to 7 kg m À2 year À1 ). At the lowest biomass PO and IO sites, framework modification and sediment generation are driven mainly by breakage and occur at lower rates (~2 kg m À2 year À1 ). Sediment reworking rates are high across all PO and IO sites (~1-5 kg m À2 year À1 ) and higher than other function rates at low biomass sites. Geo-ecological function rates are generally low across the GC sites, despite total fish biomass being comparable to, or even exceeding, some PO and IO sites, with sediment reworking (up to ~1 kg m À2 year À1 ) being the dominant function.These site-level differences partly reflect total fish biomass, but fish assemblage size structure and species identity are critical, with a few fish families (and species) underpinning the highest function rates and regulating the "health" of the fish-driven carbonate cycling regime. Reefs with high fish-driven framework modification, sediment production and reworking rates define one end of this spectrum, while at lower biomass sites little new sediment is produced and sediment reworking dominates. While additional species-level rate data are urgently needed to better constrain function rates, these transitions align with ideas about the progressive shutdown of carbonate production regimes on ecologically perturbed reefs, with important

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Formulation of a new footprint model for measuring fluxes of biological resuspension

Shavit¹,

Marom²,

Holzman³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Fish activity: a major mechanism for sediment resuspension and organic matter remineralization in coastal marine sediments

Cited by 64 publications

References 40 publications

Resuspension by fish facilitates the transport and redistribution of coastal sediments

Resuspension by fish facilitates the transport and redistribution of coastal sediments

Geo‐ecological functions provided by coral reef fishes vary among regions and impact reef carbonate cycling regimes

Formulation of a new footprint model for measuring fluxes of biological resuspension

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