Journal Title
Title of Journal: Mar Biol
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Abbravation: Marine Biology
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Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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Authors: Roberto Danovaro Mariaspina Scopa Cristina Gambi Simonetta Fraschetti
Publish Date: 2007/04/24
Volume: 152, Issue: 2, Pages: 339-350
Abstract
In coastal marine ecosystems predation might affect spatial distribution and population dynamics of benthic assemblages Here by means of experimental exclusion of potential predators we compared the effects of epibenthic predation on metazoan meiofaunal assemblages on soft and rocky substrates Different patterns of abundance were observed in uncaged versus caged plots across habitats In caged soft substrates the abundance of Nematodes Copepods and Polychaetes increased by 56 45 57 respectively in the first 3 months An increase in the number of meiofaunal taxa was also observed The exclusion of predators from rocky substrates showed less clear patterns It did not affect the number of taxa while a decrease in meiofaunal abundance was observed Our results suggest that the exclusion of epibenthic predators had clear effect on total metazoan meiofaunal abundance and on the number of taxa only in soft bottoms The different impact of predation across habitats can be potentially explained by differences in terms of spatial variability and substrate complexity We estimated that coarsely more than 75 of total metazoan meiofaunal production can be channeled to higher trophic levels through predation on softbottoms Among meiofaunal taxa Polychaetes and Nematodes provided the major contribution to benthic energy transfers These results suggest the trophic relevance of metazoan meiofauna in coastal food webs and claim for the refinement of further experiments for the quantification of its role in different ecological systems
Keywords:
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- Phytoplankton ecology and production in the Red Sea off Jiddah, Saudi Arabia
- Adaptation for accuracy or for precision? Diel emergence timing of the intertidal insect Pontomyia oceana (Chironomidae)
- Mothers matter: contribution to local replenishment is linked to female size, mate replacement and fecundity in a fish metapopulation
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- The response of temperate aquatic ecosystems to global warming: novel insights from a multidisciplinary project
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