Rapid reworking of subtidal sediments by burrowing spatangoid urchins

Lohrer, Andrew M.; Thrush, Simon F.; Hunt, Louise; Hancock, Nicole; Lundquist, Carolyn J.

doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2005.02.002

Cited by 87 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Estimates for bioturbation depth disturbance in deep-sea sediments are commonly assumed to be ∼10 cm, although shallower (2-5 cm) (30,31) and deeper (20 cm) depths are reported (32). Very high sediment volumes are displaced as a result of spatangoid movement (33), and these physical changes produce complex biogeochemical interactions in sediments associated with changes in primary productivity and nutrient flux (34). This sedimentary, microfossil, and spatangoid evidence indicates this is a bioturbated deglacial archive, which is a critical factor in interpreting rates of change in this record.…”

Section: Mv0811-15jc: a Shallow Bioturbated Northeast Pacific Recordmentioning

confidence: 93%

Response of seafloor ecosystems to abrupt global climate change

Moffitt

Hill

Roopnarine

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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Anthropogenic climate change is predicted to decrease oceanic oxygen (O 2 ) concentrations, with potentially significant effects on marine ecosystems. Geologically recent episodes of abrupt climatic warming provide opportunities to assess the effects of changing oxygenation on marine communities. Thus far, this knowledge has been largely restricted to investigations using Foraminifera, with little being known about ecosystem-scale responses to abrupt, climate-forced deoxygenation. We here present high-resolution records based on the first comprehensive quantitative analysis, to our knowledge, of changes in marine metazoans (Mollusca, Echinodermata, Arthropoda, and Annelida; >5,400 fossils and trace fossils) in response to the global warming associated with the last glacial to interglacial episode. The molluscan archive is dominated by extremophile taxa, including those containing endosymbiotic sulfur-oxidizing bacteria (Lucinoma aequizonatum) and those that graze on filamentous sulfur-oxidizing benthic bacterial mats (Alia permodesta). This record, from 16,100 to 3,400 y ago, demonstrates that seafloor invertebrate communities are subject to major turnover in response to relatively minor inferred changes in oxygenation (>1.5 to <0.5 mL·L −1 [O 2 ]) associated with abrupt (<100 y) warming of the eastern Pacific. The biotic turnover and recovery events within the record expand known rates of marine biological recovery by an order of magnitude, from <100 to >1,000 y, and illustrate the crucial role of climate and oceanographic change in driving long-term successional changes in ocean ecosystems.seafloor ecosystems | abrupt climate change | deglaciation | oxygen minimum zone | metazoans O ceanic deoxygenation is a predictable, fundamental, and long-lasting property of anthropogenic climate change (1). The global ocean inventory of oxygen is predicted to decline between 1% and 7% by the year 2100, and modeling predictions reveal extensive oceanic deoxygenation, on thousand-year timescales, under "business-as-usual" carbon emission scenarios (2). Modern oceanographic time series already document rapid loss of [O 2 ] in interior ocean waters over the last 4 decades (3, 4), although this trend is complicated in regions where [O 2 ] demand is decreased through the slackening of trade winds (5). As oxygen levels in the ocean decrease and the already extensive oxygen minimum zones (OMZs) expand, the volumetric habitat for aerobic respiration is reduced, presumably resulting in a fundamental reorganization of marine communities. Past events of climate warming and OMZ expansion, including the recent deglaciation from 18 to 11 ka, provide a case study for understanding the effects on marine ecosystems of abrupt temperature and oxygenation changes.Paleoceanographic records clearly demonstrate that OMZ strength changed in response to

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Section: Mv0811-15jc: a Shallow Bioturbated Northeast Pacific Recordmentioning

confidence: 93%

Response of seafloor ecosystems to abrupt global climate change

Moffitt

Hill

Roopnarine

et al. 2015

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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“…2.3 Sea urchin-E. cordatum E. cordatum causes a change in sediment distribution in the bed, resulting in a relatively coarser layer at the sediment water interface, and relatively finer layer of sediment underneath this layer. E. cordatum is regarded as a nonselective deposit feeder (Lohrer et al 2005). However, fine particles which have a higher relative surface area and a higher organic content than coarse particles (Burone et al 2003) have a higher probability of being ingested and brought downward than coarse particles (Cramer et al 1991).…”

Section: Bivalve-t Fabulamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…By adopting an active layer thickness which is equal to the area of influence by E. cordatum, the top layer can be modeled as a bio-turbated layer, while the substrate can be modeled as a non bioturbated layer. Based on an experimental study for E. cordatum in New Zealand, Lohrer et al (2005) found that E. cordatum displaces up to 20,000 cm 3 m −2 day −1 , suggesting that surface sediment is reworked about every 3 days at sites where E. cordatum is abundant.…”

Section: Bivalve-t Fabulamentioning

confidence: 99%

On the parameterization of biological influences on offshore sand wave dynamics

et al. 2009

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The bed of the North Sea is covered by sand waves and houses a great number of macrobenthic animals. These bio-engineers are known to have a significant influence on the stability of the bed and thereby on the geomorphology of the seabed. This paper proposes a parameterization of these bio-geomorphological interactions. Given the abundance of three dominant bio-engineers on the Dutch Continental Shelf, the predicted occurrence of sand waves, in which the parameterization is included, shows significantly better results, compared to the prediction for the default case without biology. Therefore, the inclusion of biological activity could be important to predict the occurrence of sand waves.

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“…Hollertz and Duchêne (2001) reported that Brissopsis lyrifera reworked sediment volume by 22 ml h −1 at 13°C and 14 ml h −1 at 7°C due to burrowing activities. Lohrer et al (2005) found that the volume of sediment displaced by Echinocardium populations reached 20,000 cm 3 m −2 d −1 , which means the surface sediment is reworked about every 3 days at sites where Echinocardium is abundant. By stimulating benthic bacterial metabolism, burrowing echinoids can enhance benthic oxygen consumption and may accelerate the process of oxygen depletion under increasingly eutrophic conditions (Osinga et al 1995(Osinga et al , 1997.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Bioturbation is a combination of physical sediment displacement and irrigation activity (Mermillod-Blondin 2011). The mixing and displacement of sediment by benthic macrofauna can control rates of organic matter degradation and carbon burial (Lohrer et al 2005). This kind of activity has significant effects on the fluxes of dissolved oxygen (DO) and allows oxygen to penetrate more deeply into the sediment.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feeding and bioturbation effects of the sand dollarPeronella lesueuri(L. Agassiz, 1841) (Echinodermata) on microphytobenthos and sediment fluxes

Keesing

Lourey

et al. 2013

Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology

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Respiration and excretion rates of a key bioturbating species, the sand dollar Peronella lesueuri, were measured in mesocosms at three different temperatures. Benthic oxygen and nutrient fluxes were additionally measured at winter and summer temperatures to assess the impact of P. lesueuri on ecosystem processes. Oxygen consumption by sand dollars increased significantly with wet weight at all three temperatures 16, 19, and 23°C. Ammonia release also increased with body weight. The weight vs. oxygen uptake relationship was similar at 19 and 23°C but oxygen uptake was significantly reduced at the lower exposure temperature. The bioturbation caused by sand dollar P. lesueuri reduced the photosynthetic rate of the microphytobenthos (MPBs) but had a much smaller and less obvious effect on nutrient fluxes across the sediment-water interface.Keywords: Bioturbation; sediment; sand dollar; Peronella lesueuri; oxygen flux; nutrient flux; benthic metabolism IntroductionProcesses which act at the water-sediment interface can have an important influence on ecology and biogeochemistry of soft sediment habitats (Mermillod-Blondin & Rosenberg 2006). Key among these processes is bioturbation. Bioturbation is a combination of physical sediment displacement and irrigation activity (Mermillod-Blondin 2011). The mixing and displacement of sediment by benthic macrofauna can control rates of organic matter degradation and carbon burial (Lohrer et al. 2005). This kind of activity has significant effects on the fluxes of dissolved oxygen (DO) and allows oxygen to penetrate more deeply into the sediment. This increased oxic layer can lead to decreased anoxic processes such as denitrification and promote aerobic processes such as nitrification of ammonium to nitrate (Widdicombe & Austen 1998).Macrobenthic invertebrates are a very important group of bioturbators in soft substrate benthic ecosystems where they exert a structuring influence on the habitat and sediment particle distribution (Gerino 1990). Echinoderms, in particular, are well known for the effect they have in structuring sedimentary benthic habitats by grazing (e.g. echi-*Corresponding author. Email: bqli@ yic.ac.cn © 2013 CSIRO Marine and Freshwater Behaviour and Physiology, 2013 Vol. 46, No. 6, 431-446, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10236244.2013 Microphytobenthos (MPBs) are the main primary producers in most unvegetated shallow-water sediments and are usually dominated by epipelic diatoms (Smith & Underwood 2000). MPBs and macrofauna are considered the two key groups affecting benthic metabolism in shallow-water sediments because of their high abundance and level of activity in benthic ecosystems (e.g. Lohrer et al. 2004). The burrowing activities of macrofauna impact sediment in many ways, which could affect MPBs directly and indirectly. These include physical impacts such as burial, dispersal and resuspension and biogeochemical impacts such as irrigation (oxygenation) and nitrification (e.g. ammonia excretion). It is, however, not yet clear to which extent the bioturbation ...

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Rapid reworking of subtidal sediments by burrowing spatangoid urchins

Cited by 87 publications

References 41 publications

Response of seafloor ecosystems to abrupt global climate change

Response of seafloor ecosystems to abrupt global climate change

On the parameterization of biological influences on offshore sand wave dynamics

Feeding and bioturbation effects of the sand dollarPeronella lesueuri(L. Agassiz, 1841) (Echinodermata) on microphytobenthos and sediment fluxes

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