Secondary production of macrobenthos in mangrove a

Authors: Xiping Zhou Lizhe Cai

Publish Date: 2010/04/28

Volume: 9, Issue: 2, Pages: 151-156

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Abstract

Studies on secondary production lead to a better understanding of the functions of the macrobenthic ecosystem Based on the macrobenthic data obtained at 6 sampling stations from April 2006 to January 2007 Brey’s 1990 empirical formula was applied to calculate the secondary production of macrobenthos in the mangrove area of Tong’an Bay The results showed that the mean annual secondary production of macrobenthos was 1324 gAFDW·m−2·a−1 The mean secondary production in the mangrove habitat was 1222 gAFDW·m−2·a−1 lower than that in the nonmangrove habitat which was 1529 gAFDW·m−2·a−1 Two possible reasons existed for this difference First mollusk and crustacean which contribute more to the secondary production probably benefit from longer inundation period in the nonmangrove habitat Second the higher organic matter in the mangrove habitat results in hypoxia in the bottom sediment which may decrease the secondary production The annual mean productiontobiomass P/B ratio in Tong’an Bay was 117 with a ratio of 127 in the mangrove habitat and 096 in the nonmangrove habitat which was coincident with the much higher density of Limnodriloides sp and Corophium sp in the mangrove habitat than in the nonmangrove habitat The maximum secondary production and P/B ratio of macrobenthos both appeared at sampling station FL2 in April 2006 namely AprilFL2 with values of 3138 gAFDW·m−2·a−1 and 220 respectively The macrobenthic secondary production in Tong’an Bay is lower than those in other intertidal studies except that in Haitan Strait the reason being the different sediment properties The P/B ratio in Tong’an Bay was the lowest due to the high proportion of crustaceans in the macrobenthic community

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