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The effects of burrowing by the amphipod Corophium volutator on the ecology of intertidal sediments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 October 2009

Jose Limia  and
Dave Raffaelli
Jose Limia
Affiliation:
Culterty Field Station, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, AB41 OAA
Dave Raffaelli
Affiliation:
Culterty Field Station, University of Aberdeen, Newburgh, Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, AB41 OAA
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Abstract

A series of field and laboratory experiments were conducted in order to assess whether the burrow-dwelling amphipod Corophium volutator, is a significant bioturbator of inter-tidal mud and sand flats where it often occurs at densities of tens of thousands per square metre. Comparisons of sediment characteristics, redox potential and meio- and macro-faunal populations in treatments with enhanced, natural and reduced densities of Corophium revealed effects on sediment physico-chemistry and on small meiofaunal-sized species, but these were weak and not always consistent. High densities of adult Corophium consistently depressed the abundance of smaller conspecifics although the mechanism of this interaction has not been identified. The results are discussed in the context of the ability of Corophium to promote the recovery of organically enriched sediments.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 77 , Issue 2 , May 1997 , pp. 409 - 423
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1997

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