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Marine Ecology Progress Series

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MEPS 351:139-150 (2007)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07147

Linking feeding activity and sediment reworking in the deposit-feeding bivalve Abra ovata with image analysis, laser telemetry, and luminophore tracers

Olivier Maire1,*, Jean-Claude Duchêne1, Lionel Bigot2, Antoine Grémare1

1Université Pierre et Marie Curie-Paris 6 and CNRS, UMR7621, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France
2Laboratoire d’Ecologie Marine, ECOMAR, Université de La Réunion, Avenue René Cassin-BP 7151, 97715 Saint Denis Cedex, France

ABSTRACT: The quantitative relationship between activity (as detected by the comparison of grey levels in successive images using automated software) and sediment reworking in the deposit-feeding bivalve Abra ovata was investigated based on simultaneous and continuous measurements using laser telemetry, luminophore tracers, and image analysis. Total activity included both feeding (siphoning) and shell and/or foot activity. Sediment reworking was assessed through the measurements of surface sediment handling and vertical sediment mixing during 2 separate experiments. Surface sediment handling correlated positively with surface feeding activity. Shell and/or foot activity induced oscillatory movements of the superficial sediment layer but did not account for true vertical sediment mixing. Conversely, feeding activity induced intense vertical sediment mixing. Quantitative changes in feeding activity and vertical sediment mixing based on a biodiffusion model were positively correlated. These results underscore the importance of considering both the nature and intensity of infaunal activity when parameterizing models of sediment reworking.


KEY WORDS: Abra ovata · Sediment reworking · Activity · Micro-topography · Laser telemetry · Luminophores · Biodiffusion · Image analysis


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Cite this article as: Maire O, Duchêne J, Bigot L, Grémare A (2007) Linking feeding activity and sediment reworking in the deposit-feeding bivalve Abra ovata with image analysis, laser telemetry, and luminophore tracers. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 351:139-150. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps07147

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