Responses of benthic macrofauna and biogeochemical fluxes to various levels of mussel biodeposition: An in situ “benthocosm” experiment

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 58; no. 10; pp. 1544 - 1553
• Main Authors: Callier, Myriam D., Richard, Marion, McKindsey, Christopher W., Archambault, Philippe, Desrosiers, Gaston
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Abundance; Analysis of Variance; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Animals; Applied ecology; Biodeposition; Biogeochemical fluxes; Biological and medical sciences; Biomass; Bivalve aquaculture; Bivalvia; Bivalvia - metabolism; Capitella; Communities; Dose-response relationship; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; Enrichment; Feces - chemistry; Fluxes; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Geologic Sediments - analysis; Invertebrates; Linear Models; Macrobenthic communities; Marine; Marine and brackish environment; Mathematical models; Mollusca; Mussels; Organic enrichment; Oxygen - analysis; Pherusa plumosa; Pollution abatement; Polychaeta - drug effects; Polychaeta - metabolism; Population Dynamics; Quebec; Tellina agilis; Quebec; Macrobenthic communities; Bivalve aquaculture; Biodeposition; Organic enrichment; Biogeochemical fluxes; Dose-response relationship; Organic matter; Benthic organism; Fauna; In situ; Environmental factor; Marine environment; Aquatic environment; Medium enrichment; Biogeochemistry; Bivalvia; Macrofauna; Benthos; Water pollution; Invertebrata; Mollusca; Community; Aquaculture; Benthic zone
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.05.010

An in situ experiment was done to evaluate the dose-dependent response of mussel biodeposition on benthic communities and biogeochemical fluxes. Natural benthic communities were exposed to 7 different levels of mussel biodeposition (equivalent to that produced by 0–764 mussels m−2) over 50 days. Benthic communities responded as predicted from the Pearson, T.H., Rosenberg, R., 1978. Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of the marine environment. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 16, 229–311 model of organic enrichment. Total abundance and species richness decreased with increasing biodeposition. The abundance and biomass of opportunistic species (Capitella spp.) increased in the mesocosms subject to the greatest biodeposition. Sensitive species Tellina agilis and Pherusa plumosa tended to decrease in abundance and biomass with increasing biodeposition. The biotic index M-AMBI responded clearly to increased biodeposition and may be a useful tool for assessing the effect of mussel biodeposition on the benthic environment. These results are important for the construction of predictive models for determining environmental carrying capacity for bivalve aquaculture.