The Influence of Benthic Macrofauna on the Erodibility of Intertidal Sediments with Varying mud Content in Three New Zealand Estuaries

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• 作者：Rachel J. Harris ; Conrad A. Pilditch ; Barry L. Greenfield…
• 关键词：Functional groups ; Bioturbation ; Infauna ; Mud ; Erosion potential ; Sediment transport
• 刊名：Estuaries and Coasts
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：May 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：39
• 期：3
• 页码：815-828
• 全文大小：547 KB
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• 作者单位：Rachel J. Harris (1)
  Conrad A. Pilditch (1)
  Barry L. Greenfield (2)
  Vicki Moon (1)
  Ingrid Kröncke (3)
  
  1. School of Science, University of Waikato, Private Bag, Hamilton, 3105, New Zealand
  2. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd. (NIWA), PO Box 11115, Hamilton, New Zealand
  3. Department for Marine Research, Senckenberg am Meer, Südstrand 40, 26382, Wilhelmshaven, Germany
  
• 刊物类别：Earth and Environmental Science
• 刊物主题：Environment
  Environment
  Ecology
  Geosciences
  Environmental Management
  Nature Conservation
  
• 出版者：Springer New York
• ISSN：1559-2731

文摘

Fine sediment inputs can alter estuarine ecosystem structure and function. However, natural variations in the processes that regulate sediment transport make it difficult to predict their fate. In this study, sediments were sampled at different times (2011–2012) from 45 points across intertidal sandflat transects in three New Zealand estuaries (Whitford, Whangamata, and Kawhia) encompassing a wide range in mud (≤63 μm) content (0–56 %) and macrofaunal community structure. Using a core-based erosion measurement device (EROMES), we calculated three distinct measures of sediment erosion potential: erosion threshold (Ʈ _c ; N m−2), erosion rate (ER; g m−2 s−1), and change in erosion rate with increasing bed shear stress (m _e ; g N−1 s−1). Collectively, these measures characterized surface (Ʈ _c and ER) and sub-surface (m _e ) erosion. Benthic macrofauna were grouped by functional traits (size and motility) and data pooled across estuaries to determine relationships between abiotic (mud content, mean grain size) and biotic (benthic macrofauna, microbial biomass) variables and erosion measures. Results indicated that small bioturbating macrofauna (predominantly freely motile species <5 mm in size) destabilized surface sediments, explaining 23 % of the variation in Ʈ _c (p ≤ 0.01) and 59 % of the variation in ER (p ≤ 0.01). Alternatively, mud content and mean grain size cumulatively explained 61 % of the variation in m _e (p ≤ 0.01), where increasing mud and grain size stabilized sub-surface sediments. These results highlight that the importance of biotic and abiotic predictors vary with erosion stage and that functional group classifications are a useful way to determine the impact of benthic macrofauna on sediment erodibility across communities with different species composition.