Summary
The muds of a shallow (7 m) site in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island contained higher abundances of meiofauna (averaging 17×106 individuals per m2 and ash free dry weight of 2.9 g/m2 during a 3 year period) than have been found in any other sediment. The majority of sublittoral muds, worldwide, have been reported to contain about 106 individuals per m2. This difference is attributed primarily to differences in sampling techniques and laboratory processing.
Extremely high meiofaunal abundances may have also occurred because Narragansett Bay sediments were a foodrich environment. While the quantity of organic deposition in the bay is not unusually high for coastal waters, this input, primarily composed of diatom detritus, may contain an unusually high proportion of labile organics. Furthermore, meiofauna could have thrived because of spatial segregation of meiofauna and macrofauna. While meiofauna were concentrated at the sediment-water interface, most macrofauna were subsurface deposit feeders. Macrofaunal competition with, and ingestion of meiofauna may thus have been minimized.
The seasonal cycles of meiofauna and macrofauna were similar. Highest abundances and biomass were observed in May and June and lowest values in the late summer and fall. Springtime increases of meiofaunal abundance were observed in all depth horizons, to 10 cm. We hypothesize that phytoplankton detritus accumulated in the sediment during the winter and early spring, and that the benthos responded to this store of food when temperatures rose rapidly in the late spring. By late summer, the stored detritus was exhausted and the benthos declined.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alheit J, Scheibel W (1982) Benthic harpacticoids as a food source for fish. Mar Biol 70:141–147
Andrassy I (1956) Die Rauminhalts und Gewichtsbestimmung der Fadenwürmer (Nematoden). Acta Zool Hung 2:1–15
Ankar S, Elmgren R (1976) The benthic macro- and meiofauna of the Asko-Landsort area (northern Baltic proper), a stratified random sampling survey. Contributions from the Asko Laboratory, University of Stockholm 11:1–115
Ansari ZA, Parulekar AH, Jagtap TG (1980) Distribution of sublittoral meiobenthos off Goa coast, India. Hydrobiologia 74:209–214
Arlt G, Muller B, Warnack K-H (1982) On the distribution of meiofauna in the Baltic Sea. Int Rev ges Hydrobiol 67:97–111
Baird D, Milne H (1981) Energy flow in the Ythan Estuary, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Est Coast Shelf Sci 13:455–472
Banse K (1979) On weight dependence of net growth efficiency and specific respiration rates among field populations of invertebrates. Oecologia (Berlin) 38:111–126
Blomquist S (1985) Reliability of core sampling of soft bottom sediment — An in situ study. Sedimentology 32:in press
Bougis P (1950) Methode pour l'etude quantitative de la microfaune des fonds marins (meiobenthos). Vie et Milieu 1:23–37
deBovee F, Soyer J (1974) Cycle annuel quantitatif du meiobenthos des vases terrigenes cotieres. Distribution verticale. Vie et Mileu 24:141–157
Coull BC (1970) Shallow water meiobenthos of the Bermuda Platform. Oecologia (Berlin) 4:325–357
Coull BC, Bell SS (1979) Perspectives of marine meiofaunal ecology. In: Livingston RJ (ed) Ecological processes in coastal and marine systems, Plenum Press, New York, pp 189–216
Coull BC, Fleeger JW (1977) Long-term temporal variation and community dynamics of meiobenthic copepods. Ecology 58:1136–1143
Durbin EG, Krawiec RW, Smayda TJ (1975) Seasonal studies on the relative importance of different size fractions of phytoplankton in Narragansett Bay (USA). Mar Biol 32:271–287
Durbin AG, Durbin EG (1981) Standing stock and estimated production rates of phytoplankton and zooplankton in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Estuaries 4:24–41
Elliot JM (1977) Some methods for the statistical analysis of samples of benthic invertebrates. Freshwater Biol Ass Sci Publ 25:1–144
Elmgren R (1973) Methods of sampling sublittoral soft bottom meiofauna. Oikos Suppl 15:112–120
Elmgren R, Rosenberg R, Andersin A-B, Evans S, Kangas P, Lassig J, Leppakoski E, Varmo R (1984) Benthic macro- and meiofauna in the Gulf of Bathnia (northern Baltic). Finn Mar Res 250:3–18
Emberton KC Jr (1981) Season-depth relations in subtidal meiofauna of Cape Cod Bay. Estuaries 4:121–126
Findlay SEG (1981) Small-scale spatial distribution of meiofauna on a mud- and sandflat. Est Coast Shelf Sci 12:471–484
Findlay SEG, Tenore K (1982) Nitrogen source for a detritivore: detritus subsrate versus associated microbes. Science 218:371–373
Fleeger JW, Palmer MA (1982) Secondary production of the estuarine meiobenthic copepod, Microarthridion littorale. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 7:157–162
Frithsen JB, Rudnick DT, Elmgren R (1983) A new, flow-through corer for the sampling of surface sediments. Hydrobiologia 99:75–79
Gearing JN, Gearing PJ, Rudnick DT, Requejo AG, Hutchins MJ (1984) Isotopic variability of organic carbon in a phytoplankton-based, temperate estuary. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 48:1089–1098
Gerlach SA (1978) Food-chain relationships in subtidal silty sand marine sediments and the role of meiofauna in stimulating bacterial productivity. Oecologia (Berlin) 33:55–69
Grassle JF, Grassle JP, Brown-Leger LS, Petrecca RF, Copley NJ (1985) Subtidal macrobenthos of Narragansett Bay. Field and mesocosm studies of the effects of eutrophication and organic input on benthic populations. In: Gray JS, Christiansen ME (eds) Marine biology of polar regions and effects of stress on marine organisms, Proceedings of the Eighteenth European Symposium on Marine Biology, John Wiley, New York, pp 421–434
Guille A, Soyer J (1971) Contribution a l'etude comparee des biomass du macrobenthos et du meiobenthos de substrat meuble au large de Banyuls-Sur-Mer. II. Vie et Milieu Suppl 22:15–29
Heip C (1979) Density and diversity of meiobenthic copepods: the oscillatory behavior of population and community parameters. In: Naylor E, Hartnoll RG (eds) Cyclic phenomena in marine plants and animals, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 43–47
Hicks SD (1959) The physical oceanography of Narraganett Bay. Limnol Oceanogr 4:316–327
Hobbie JE, Cole JJ (1984) Response of a detrital foodweb to eutrophication. Bull Mar Sci 35:357–363
Hogue EW, Miller CB (1981) Effects of sediment microtopography on small-scale spatial distributions of meiobenthic nematodes. J exp mar Biol Ecol 53:181–191
Hulings NC, Gray JS (1971) A manual for the study of meiofauna. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, Smithsonian Institution 78:1–78
Iturriaga R (1979) Bacterial activity related to sedimenting particulate matter. Mar Biol 55:157–169
Jeffries HP, Johnson WC (1974) Seasonal distributions of bottom fishes in Narragansett Bay area: seven-year variations in the abundance of winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus). J Fish Res Bd Can 31:1057–1066
Jensen P (1983) Meiofaunal abundance and vertical zonation in a sublittoral soft bottom, with a test of the Haps corer. Mar Biol 74:319–326
Juario JV (1975) Nematode species composition and seasonal fluctuation of a sublittoral meiofauna community in the German Bight. Veröff Inst Meeresforsch Bremerh 15:283–337
Keynas K, Keynas L (1978) Meiofauna in soft bottom sediments at Tvarminne, northern Baltic. Methods and preliminary results. Mem soc Fauna Flora Fennica 54:65–68
Krogh A, Sparck R (1936) On a new bottom-sampler for investigation of the micro fauna of the sea bottom with remarks on the quantity and significance of the benthonic micro fauna. Det Kgl Danske Videnskabernes Selskab Biologiske Meddelelser 13:1–12
Lorenzen S (1974) Die Nematodenfauna der sublitoralen Region der Deutschen Bucht, insbesondere im Titan-Abwassergebiet bei Helgoland. Veröff Inst Meeresforsch Bremerh 14:305–327
Luedtke NA, Bender ML (1979) Tracer study of sediment-water interactions in esturaries. Est Coast Mar Sci 9:643–651
Marcotte BM, Coull BC (1974) Pollution, diversity and meiobenthic communities in thenorth Adriatic (Bay of Piran, Yugoslavia). Vie et Milieu 24, Ser B:281–300
Mare MF (1942) A study of a marine benthic community with special reference to the micro-organisms. J mar biol Ass UK 25:517–554
McCaffrey RJ, Meyers AC, Davey E, Morrison G, Bender M, Luedtke N, Cullen D, Froelich P, Klinkhammer G (1980) The relation between pore water chemistry and benthic fluxes and nutrients and manganese in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Limnol Oceanogr 25:31–44
McIntyre AD (1964) Meiobenthos of sub-littoral muds. J mar biol Ass UK 44:665–674
McIntyre AD (1971) Deficiency of gravity cores for sampling meiobenthos and sediments. Nature 231:260
Montagna PA, Coull BC, Herring TL, Dudley BW (1983) The relationship between abundances of meiofauna and their suspected microbial food (diatoms and bacteria). Est Coast Mar Sci 17:381–394
Moore CG (1979) Analysis of the associations of meiobenthic Copepoda of the Irish Sea. J mar biol Ass UK 59:831–849
Moore HB (1931) The muds of the Clyde Sea area. III. Chemical and physical conditions; rate and nature of sedimentation; and fauna. J mar biol Ass UK 17:325–358
Muus B (1967) The fauna of Danish esturaries and lagoons. Meddr Dan Fisk Havunders 5:1–316
Newell RC, Lucas MI, Linley EAS (1981) Rate of degradation and efficiency of conversion of phytoplankton debris by marine micro-organisms. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 6:123–136
Nixon SW (1981) Remineralization and nutrient cycling in coastal marine ecosystems. In: Neilson BJ, Cronin LE (eds) Estuaries and nutrients, Humana Press, Clifton, New Jersey, pp 111–138
Nixon SW, Oviatt CA, Hale SS (1976) Nitrogen regeneration and the metabolism of coastal marine bottom communities. In: Anderson JM, Macfadyen A (eds) The role of terrestrial and aquatic organisms in decomposition processes, Blackwell Sci Publ, Oxford, pp 269–283
Nyholm K-G, Olsson I (1973) Seasonal fluctuations of the meiobenthos in an estuary on the Swedish west coasts. Zoon 1:69–76
Nyholm K-G, Olsson I, Andren L (1977) Quantitative investigations on the macro- and meiobenthic fauna in the Gota River Estuary. Zoon 5:15–28
Olsson I (1975) On methods concerning marine benthic meiofauna. Zoon 3:49–60
Oviatt CA, Nixon SW (1973) The demersal fish of Narragansett Bay: an analysis of community structure, distribution and abundance. Est Coast Mar Sci 1:361–378
Oviatt CA, Nixon SW (1975) Sediment resuspension and deposition in Narragansett Bay. Est Coast Mar Sci 3:201–217
Oviatt CA, Buckley BA, Nixon SW (1981) Annual phytoplankton metabolism in Narragansett Bay calculated from survey field measurements and microcosm observations. Estuaries 4:167–175
Oviatt CA, Pilson MEQ, Nixon SW, Frithsen JB, Rudnick DT, Kelly JR, Grassle JF, Grassle JP (1984) Recovery of a polluted estuarine system: a mesocosm experiment. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 16:203–217
Pihl L, Rosenberg R (1984) Food selection and consumption of the shrimp Crangon crangon in some shallow marine areas in western Sweden. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 15:159–168
Pratt DM (1965) The winter-spring diatom flowering in Narragansett Bay. Limnol Oceanogr 10:173–184
Purasjoki KJ (1947) Quantitative Untersuchungen über die Mikrofauna des Meeresbodens in der Umgebung der Zoologischen Station Tvarminne und der Südküste Finnlands. Soc Scient Fenn, Comm Biol 9:1–24
Rodrigues CL, Harkantra SN, Parulekar AH (1982) Sub-littoral meiobenthos of the northeastern Bay of Bengal. Ind J Mar Sci 11:239–242
Rudnick DT (1984) Seasonality of community structure and carbon flow in Narragansett Bay sediments. Dissertation, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, Rhode Island, USA
Saad MAH, Arlt G (1977) Studies on the bottom deposits and the meiofauna of Shatt-al-Arab and the Arabian Gulf. Cah Biol Mar 18:71–84
Sarvala J (1971) Rannikkovesiemme pohjaelaimistosta. Luonnon Tutkija 75:113–125
Scheibel W (1976) Quantitative Untersuchungen am Meiobenthos eines Profils unterschiedlicher Sedimente in der westlichen Ostsee. Helgoländer wiss Meeresunters 28:31–42
Sikora JP, Sikora WB, Erkenbrecher CW, Coull BC (1977) Significane of ATP, carbon and caloric content of meiobenthic nematodes in partitioning benthic biomass. Mar Biol 44:7–14
Smayda TJ (1970) The suspension and sinking of phytoplankton in the sea. Oceanogr Mar Biol Ann Rev 8:353–414
Stripp K (1969) Das Verhältnis von Makrofauna und Meiofauna in den Sedimenten der Helgoländer Bucht. Veröff Inst Meeresforsch Bremerh 12:143–148
Tenore KR, Boyer LF, Cal RM, Corral J, Garcia-Fernandez C, Gonzalez N, Gonzalez-Gurriaran E, Hanson RB, Iglesias J, Krom M, Lopez-Jamar E, McClain J, Pamatmat MM, Perez A, Rhoads DC, de Santiago G, Tietjen J, Westrich J, Windom HL (1982a) Coastal upwelling in the Rias Bajas, NW Spain: constrasting the benthic regimes of the Rias de Arosa and de Muros. J Mar Res 40:701–772
Tenore KR, Cammen L, Findlay SEG, Phillips N (1982b) Perspectives of reserach on detritus: do factors controlling the availability of detritus to macroconsumers depend on its source? J Mar Res 40:473–490
Thiel H, Thistle D, Wilson GD (1975) Ultrasonic treatment of sediment samples for more efficient sorting of meiofauna. Limnol Oceanogr 20:472–473
Tietjen JH (1969) The ecology of shallow water meiofauna in two New England estuaries. Oecologia (Berlin) 2:251–291
Tietjen JH (1977) Population distribution and structure of the free-living nematodes of Long Island Sound. Mar Biol 43:123–136
Tietjen JH (1980) Population structure and species composition of the free-living nematodes inhabiting sands of the New York Bight Apex. Est Coast Mar Sci 10:61–73
Uhlig G, Thiel H, Gray JS (1973) The quantitative separation of meiofauna. A comparison of methods. Helgoländer wiss Meeresunters 25:173–195
Ward AR (1973) Studies on the sublittoral free-living nematodes of Liverpool Bay. I. The structure and distribution of the nematode populations. Mar Biol 22:53–66
Warwick RM, Buchanan JB (1971) The meiofauna off the coast of Northumberland. II. Seasonal stability of the nematode populations. J mar Biol Ass UK 51:355–362
Warwick RM, Price R (1979) Ecological and metabolic studies on free-living nematodes from an estuarine mud-flat. Est Coast Mar Sci 9:257–271
Warwick RM, Joint JR, Radford PJ (1979) Secondary production of the benthos an an estuarine environment. In: Jeffries RL, Davy AJ (eds) Ecological processes in coastal environments, Blackwell Sci Publ, Oxford, pp 429–450
Wieser W (1960) Benthic studies in Buzzards Bay II. The meiofauna. Limnol Oceanogr 5:121–137
Wieser W (1975) The meiofauna as a tool in the study of habitat heterogeneity: ecophysiological aspects. A review. Cah Biol Mar 16:647–670
Wigley RL, McIntyre AD (1964) Some quantitative comparisons of offshore meiobenthos south of Martha's Vineyard. Limnol Oceanogr 9:485–493
Yingst JY (1978) Patterns of micro- and meiofaunal abundance in marine sediments, measured with the adenosine triphosphate assay. Mar Biol 47:41–54
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Rudnick, D.T., Elmgren, R. & Frithsen, J.B. Meiofaunal prominence and benthic seasonality in a coastal marine ecosystem. Oecologia 67, 157–168 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384279
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00384279