Population studies on benthic nematodes within a subtropical seagrass community

Hopper, B. E.; Meyers, Samuel P.

doi:10.1007/bf00386510

Cited by 59 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…This transitional stage may relate to an intermediate level of macrofauna1 predation. However, in the case of West Mud these arguments are admittedly weakened by the well documented observation that nematode diversity is higher in coarser sediments (Weiser, 1960;Hopper and Meyers, 1967;Warwick, 1971) although this does not appear to be the case for copepods (Coull and Fleeger, 1977;Bell, 1979;Fleeger, 1980). The sediment at West Mud is slightly coarser than at the other two stations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Community structure of estuarine meiobenthos

Warwick¹,

Gee²

1984

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

153

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Meiofaunal samples were collected from intertidal mudflats in the lower, middle and upper reaches of the Tamar estuary, South West England in April and October, 1982. Species abundance and biomass patterns of nematodes and copepods did not follow the expected trends in relation to salinity: the lowest species diversity (below neutral model predictions), the steepest ranked species abundance curves and the greatest departure from the theoretical lognormal distribution of numbers and biomass of individuals among species were found at the middle rather than the upper site. Huston's (1979) dynamic equilibrium hypothesis is invoked to explain these phenomena, but the hypothesis remains to be tested. Intense macrofaunal predation and disturbance, together with more pronounced environmental fluctuations, may eliminate competitive exclusion at the upper site resulting in a relatively high species diversity. The absence of such population reduction mechanisms at the middle site results in competitive exclusion and lowered diversity. The major nematode species at the upper site have certain opportunistic characteristics, and at the middle site conservative characteristics, which support the contention that these are respectively successional and climax communities. The lower site may represent an intermediate successional stage with the highest diversity. The apparent correlation between the abundances of 3 copepod and 1 nematode species with changes in salinity at the middle and upper sites between April and October is thought to result from passive suspension and transport of these species upstream during the summer: there is a distinct fine-scale vertical stratification of species in the sediment at the middle site, with the species in question having an extreme surficial distribution.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Community structure of estuarine meiobenthos

Warwick¹,

Gee²

1984

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

153

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“…Comparing with the uniform distribution of Daptonema, most epistrate feeders (most members of Chromadoridae and Desmodoridae), which have the highest relative dispersal rate of nematodes (Commito and Tita 2002), show a substantial patchy colonization in this study. Many studies have also stated the dominance of epistrate feeders in seagrass sediments (e.g., Hopper and Meyers 1967;Ndaro and Ólafsson 1999;Fonseca et al 2011). The seagrass samples consisted of 8.1% of Robbea, a selective deposit feeder (1A), which is coated with particular ectosymbiotic bacteria and occurred extremely rare (0.6%) in unvegetated sediments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Meiofaunal communities in a tropical seagrass bed and adjacent unvegetated sediments with note on sufficient sample size for determining local diversity indices

Liao

Yeh²,

Mok

2015

Zool. Stud.

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Background: Seagrass beds are highly diverse and productive marine habitats for many associated organisms in nearshore coastal waters. The differences in abundance, diversity, and community structure of benthic invertebrates between seagrass beds and adjacent unvegetated sediments have been stated, whereas most studies are primarily focused on macrofauna or based on a comparatively long distance, i.e., more than 10 m. The present study is designed to test if the community structures of meiofauna, especially the free-living nematodes, differ between seagrass beds and adjacent unvegetated sediments on a meter scale.

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“…Species comprising the remaining 10% of each series of samples are too rare for anything significant to be inferred about their distribution. Wieser (i960) and Hopper & Meyers (1967), following Gause's (1934) principle of animal exclusion, have suggested that more species will be present in a habitat which has a large number of ecological niches, and both authors conclude that the nematode fauna of marine sediments becomes more heterogeneous with a decrease in the silt-clay fraction. Areas of high heterogeneity have a large number of species each with a low numerical dominance whilst more homogeneous habitats have a smaller number of species, often with a few of these showing a marked dominance.…”

Section: Population D E N S I T I E Smentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Among these studies may be included those of Wieser (1959) 5 Gerlach (19535 Gerlach ( , 1954, Capstick (1959), King (1962), Riemann (1966) and Hopper & Meyers (1967). The qualitative distribution of the nematode fauna of various types of substrates in Kiel Bay and from the habitats, the Odontophora-Leptonemella community, and one of silty habitats, the Terschellingia longicaudata-Trachydemus mainenesis (Kinorhynch) community.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Meiofauna off the Coast of Northumberland I. The Structure of The Nematode Population

Warwick¹,

Buchanan²

1970

J. Mar. Biol. Ass.

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(Text-figs. 1-7)The nematode fauna of three areas off the Northumberland coast has been examined both qualitatively and quantitatively. The three stations differ from one another in their sediment composition. The population density at the inshore station was considerably lower than that of the middle and offshore stations, and the density at these last two stations compared favourably with values obtained from similar habitats in Buzzards Bay and from two Scottish grounds. Some species are shown to be eurytopic over the range of habitats studied, whilst others have an affinity for either silt or sand. The faunal heterogeneity is higher in the sandy sediments than the silty ones, and the two extreme habitats with regard to granulometric composition have the least faunal affinity. Species composition depends on the sediment type rather than the water depth. Plots of the frequency distribution of species at all three stations follow quite closely the logarithmic series, and Williams's Index of Diversity (a) has been calculated. It is highest at the sandiest station and lowest at the most silty one. The species frequency, however, shows a slightly closer fit to the log normal distribution, at least for two of the stations. The distribution of species in replicate cores from the same station is shown to follow closely the logarithmic series, and an index of specific variability between replicates has been calculated which is again much higher at the sandy station. A decrease in diversity with an increase in the silt-clay fraction is explained on the theory that more ecological niches are present in sandy habitats. The distribution of feeding types is roughly the same at all three stations. A Dorylaimopsis punctatus-Leptolaimus elegans-Sabatieria cupida community is thought to be of common occurrence in silty sediments round Northern Britain.

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Population studies on benthic nematodes within a subtropical seagrass community

Cited by 59 publications

References 8 publications

Community structure of estuarine meiobenthos

Community structure of estuarine meiobenthos

Meiofaunal communities in a tropical seagrass bed and adjacent unvegetated sediments with note on sufficient sample size for determining local diversity indices

The Meiofauna off the Coast of Northumberland I. The Structure of The Nematode Population

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