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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 406:79-89 (2010)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08529

Diversity, trait displacements and shifts in assemblage structure of tidal flat deposit feeders along a gradient of hydrodynamic stress

C. Van Colen1,*, A. De Backer2,1, G. Meulepas1, D. van der Wal3, M. Vincx1, S. Degraer4,1, T. Ysebaert3,5

1Ghent University, Department of Biology, Marine Biology Section, Krijgslaan 281/S8, 9000 Ghent, Belgium
2Institute for Agriculture and Fisheries Research (ILVO), Biological monitoring section, Ankerstraat 1, 8400 Oostende, Belgium
3Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW), Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, POB 140 4400 AC Yerseke, The Netherlands
4Management Unit of the North Sea Mathematical Model, Marine Ecosystem Management Section, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Gulledelle 100, 1200 Brussels, Belgium
5Wageningen University, Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies, POB 77 4400 AB Yerseke, The Netherlands

ABSTRACT: To assess the effect of variability in hydrodynamic stress on benthic assemblages we investigated whether deposit-feeding macrobenthos performs a unimodal response to an intertidal flat hydrodynamic stress gradient, congruent with the intermediate disturbance hypothesis (IDH), and whether this response is related to assemblage-wide biological trait displacements, reflecting species sorting mechanisms. Patterns in diversity and assemblage-wide biological traits were explained to a large extent by hydrodynamic stress and reflected in a significantly differing assemblage structure between stress levels. Our data did not support the IDH, since species richness and diversity peaked at low stress, whereas evenness was lowest at intermediate stress, suggesting that species sorting in response to hydrodynamic stress, rather than competitive exclusion at low stress, drives the diversity stress response. The decrease in species richness and diversity towards the hydrodynamically harsher low intertidal was reflected in the assemblage-wide shifts towards a lower dietary dependency on microalgal carbon and a deeper living position. Intermediate stressed assemblages were associated with a shift towards a more resistant development mode to superficial sediment disturbance. This is suggested to result from species sorting in response to Cerastoderma edule interference from bioturbation, which peaked at intermediate hydrodynamic stress where optimal hydrodynamic conditions for suspension feeders prevail. The present study demonstrated that the alteration of the natural hydrodynamic regime will significantly affect tidal flat benthic community composition and, hence, ecosystem functioning. Additionally, our findings reveal that inhibitory biophysical interactions, such as interference from bioturbation, should be incorporated in  environmental stress biodiversity models.


KEY WORDS: Environmental stress models · Intermediate disturbance hypothesis · Biological traits · Interference from bioturbation · Species sorting · Tidal flat ecology


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Cite this article as: Van Colen C, De Backer A, Meulepas G, Van der Wal D, Vincx M, Degraer S, Ysebaert T (2010) Diversity, trait displacements and shifts in assemblage structure of tidal flat deposit feeders along a gradient of hydrodynamic stress. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 406:79-89. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08529

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