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MEPS
Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 317:127-141 (2006)  -  doi:10.3354/meps317127

Influence of filtering and biodeposition by the cultured scallop Chlamys farreri on benthic-pelagic coupling in a eutrophic bay in China

Yi Zhou*, Hongsheng Yang**, Tao Zhang, Shilin Liu, Shumei Zhang, Qun Liu, Jianhai Xiang, Fusui Zhang

Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao 266071, PR China

ABSTRACT: In coastal ecosystems, suspension-cultured bivalve filter feeders may exert a strong impact on phytoplankton and other suspended particulate matter and induce strong pelagic-benthic coupling via intense filtering and biodeposition. We designed an in situ method to determine spatial variations in the filtering-biodeposition process by intensively suspension-cultured scallops Chlamys farreri in summer in a eutrophic bay (Sishili Bay, China), using cylindrical biodeposition traps directly suspended from longlines under ambient environmental conditions. Results showed that bivalve filtering-biodeposition could substantially enhance the deposition of total suspended material and the flux of C, N and P to the benthos, indicating that the suspended filter feeders could strongly enhance pelagic-benthic coupling and exert basin-scale impacts in the Sishili Bay ecosystem. The biodeposition rates of 1-yr-old scallops varied markedly among culture sites (33.8 to 133.0 mg dry material ind.–1 d–1), and were positively correlated with seston concentrations. Mean C, N and P biodeposition rates were 4.00, 0.51, 0.11 mg ind.–1 d–1, respectively. The biodeposition rates of 2-yr-old scallops were almost double these values. Sedimentation rates at scallop culture sites averaged 2.46 times that at the reference site. Theoretically, the total water column of the bay could be filtered by the cultured scallops in 12 d, with daily seston removal amounting to 64%. This study indicated that filtering-biodeposition by suspension-cultured scallops could exert long-lasting top-down control on phytoplankton biomass and other suspended material in the Sishili Bay ecosystem. In coastal waters subject to anthropogenic N and P inputs, suspended bivalve aquaculture could be advantageous, not only economically, but also ecologically, by functioning as a biofilter and potentially mitigating eutrophication pressures. Compared with distribution-restricted wild bivalves, suspension-cultured bivalves in deeper coastal bays may be more efficient in processing seston on a basin scale.


KEY WORDS: biodeposition · filtering · bivalve · Chlamys farreri · suspension aquaculture · longline · top-down control · benthic-pelagic coupling · eutrophication


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