Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T16:22:51.945Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Trophic structure within the Bristol Channel: seasonality and stability in Bridgwater Bay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

P. A. Henderson ,
D. James  and
R. H. A. Holmes
P. A. Henderson
Affiliation:
Fawley Aquatic Research Laboratory, Marine Biology Unit, Fawley Power Station, Southampton, SO4 1ZU
D. James
Affiliation:
Fawley Aquatic Research Laboratory, Marine Biology Unit, Fawley Power Station, Southampton, SO4 1ZU
R. H. A. Holmes
Affiliation:
Fawley Aquatic Research Laboratory, Marine Biology Unit, Fawley Power Station, Southampton, SO4 1ZU
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

A general description of the trophic inter-relationships and the food web within Bridgwater Bay, Somerset, England, is presented. This Bay is a lower estuarine site within the Bristol Channel. Particular attention is given to the use of the area by fish and larger crustaceans which are the dominant animal groups. Using data collected over a ten-year period of monthly sampling, the relative average biomass of all fish and larger crustaceans found within the Bay is calculated for each month of the year. These averages are used to produce food webs which also show species relative abundance for each calendar month.

It is shown that the trophic structure follows a seasonal cycle due to migration. The application of the concept of stability within such a dynamic system is discussed. The role of compartmentalization of the ecosystem into a number of loosely connected groups as an aid to overall stability is discussed. While there is no evidence that contemporaneous compartments exist, it is argued that inter-specific interactions are temporally limited because of the different periods of annual residence of the species. It is suggested that the stability and resilience to interference shown by these estuarine systems is enhanced by temporal partitions.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 72 , Issue 3 , August 1992 , pp. 675 - 690
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Allen, J.A., 1963. Observations on the biology of Pandulus montagui (Crustacea: Decapoda). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 43, 665–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, M.J., Aston, K.F.A., Rickard, D.G. & Steel, J.E.C., 1982. The macrofauna of the Thames Estuary. The London Naturalist, 61, 30–61.Google Scholar
Aprahamian, M. W., 1988. The biology of the twaite shad, Alosa fallax fallax (Lacepede), in the Severn Estuary. Journal of Fish Biology, 33, supplement A, 141–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aprahamian, M.W. & Barr, C.D., 1985. The growth, abundance and diet of 0-group sea bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, from the Severn Estuary. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 65,169–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Armstrong, M.J., 1982. The predator-prey relationships of Irish Sea poor-cod (Trisopterus minutus L.), pouting (Trisopterus luscus L.), and cod (Gadus morhua L.) Journal du Conseil, 40, 135–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Badsha, K.S. & Sainsbury, M., 1978a. Aspects of the biology and heavy metal accumulation of Ciliata mustela. Journal of Fish Biology, 12, 213–220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Badsha, K.S. & Sainsbury, M., 1978b. Some aspects of the biology and heavy metal accumulation of the fish Liparis liparis in the Severn Estuary. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 7, 381–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bamber, R.N. & Coughlan, J., 1987. An ecological survey of the foreshore adjacent to Hinkley Point. Research Report. Central Electricity Generating Board, no. TPRD/L/3127/R87.Google Scholar
Bamber, R.N. & Henderson, P.A., in press. Seasonality of prawn and mysid distribution and movements within the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society of London.Google Scholar
Blaber, S.J.M. & Blaber, T.G., 1980. Factors affecting the distribution of juvenile estuarine and inshore fish. Journal of Fish Biology, 17, 143–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blaxter, J.H.S. & Hunter, J.R., 1982. The biology of clupeoid fishes. Advances in Marine Biology, 20, 1–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyden, C.R., Crothers, J.H., Little, C. & Mettam, C., 1977. The intertidal invertebrate fauna of the Severn Estuary. Field Studies, 4, 477–554.Google Scholar
Boyden, C.R. & Little, C., 1973. Faunal distributions in soft sediments of the Severn Estuary. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 1, 203–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Choy, S.C., 1986. Natural diet and feeding habits of the crabs Liocarcinus puber and L. holsatus (Decapoda, Brachyura, Portunidae). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 31, 87–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claridge, P.N., Potter, I.C. & Hardisty, M.W., 1986. Seasonal changes in movements, abundance, size composition and diversity of the fish fauna of the Severn Estuary. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 66, 229–258.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, R.S., 1972. Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserve, a study of conservation potential and associated constraints. Internal Report of the Nature Conservancy Council.Google Scholar
Costa, M.J. & Elliott, M., 1991. Fish usage and feeding in two industrialised estuaries – the Tagus, Portugal, and the Forth, Scotland. In Estuaries and coasts: spatial and temporal intercomparisons (ed. M., Elliott and J.-P., Ducrotoy), pp. 289–297. Fredensborg: Olsen & Olsen.Google Scholar
Davidson, N.C.el al., 1991. Nature conservation and estuaries in Great Britain. Peterborough: Nature Conservancy Council.Google Scholar
Day, J.H., Blaber, S.J.M. & Wallace, J.H., 1981. Estuarine fishes. In Estuarine ecology with particular reference to southern Africa (ed. J.H., Day), pp. 197–221. Rotterdam: Balkema.Google Scholar
De Silva, S.S., 1973. Food and feeding habits of the herring Clupea harengus and the sprat C. sprattus in inshore waters of the west coast of Scotland. Marine Biology, 20, 282–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, R., & Steele, J.H., 1968. The ecology of 0-group plaice and common dabs in Loch Ewe. I. Population and food. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 2, 215–238.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, M., O'reilly, M.G. & Taylor, C.J.L., 1990. The Forth estuary: a nursery and overwintering area for the North Sea fishes. Hydrobiologia, 195, 89–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, M., & Taylor, C.J.L., 1989. The structure and functioning of an estuarine/marine fish community in the Forth Estuary, Scotland. In Proceedings of the Twenty-first European Marine Biology Symposium (ed. R.Z., Klekowskiet al.), pp. 227–240. Wroclaw: Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Oceanology.Google Scholar
Forster, G.R., 1951. The biology of the common prawn, Leander serratus Pennant. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 30, 333–360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Glover, R.S., 1984. The Bristol Channel – a case for special treatment. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 15, 37–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haedrich, R.L., 1983. Estuarine fishes. In Ecosystems of the ivorld. 26. Estuaries and enclosed waters (ed. B., Ketchum), pp. 183–207. Amsterdam: Elsevier.Google Scholar
Hardisty, M.W., Huggins, R.J., Kartar, S. & Sainsbury, M., 1974a. Ecological implications of heavy metal in fish from the Severn Estuary. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 5, 12–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hardisty, M.W., Kartar, S. & Sainsbury, M. 1974b. Dietary habits and heavy metal concentrations in fish from the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 5, 61–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hart, T.J., 1930. Preliminary notes on the bionomics of the amphipod, Corophium volutator Pallas. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 16, 761–789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Healey, M.C., 1971. The distribution and abundance of sand gobies, Gobius minutus, in the Ythan Estuary. Journal of Zoology, 163, 177–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, P.A., 1989. On the structure of the inshore fish community of England and Wales. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 69, 145–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, P.A. & Holmes, R.H.A., 1987. On the population biology of the common shrimp Crangon crangon (L.) (Crustacea: Caridea) in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 67, 825–847.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, P.A. & Holmes, R.H.A., 1989. Whiting migration in the Bristol Channel: a predator-prey relationship. Journal of Fish Biology, 34, 409–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, P.A. & Holmes, R.H.A., 1990. Population stability over a ten-year period in the short-lived fish Eiparis liparis (L.). Journal of Fish Biology, 37, 605–615.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, P.A. & Holmes, R.H.A., 1991. On the population dynamics of dab, sole and flounder within Bridgwater Bay in the lower Severn estuary, England. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 27, 337–344.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joint, I.R. & Pomroy, A.J., 1981. Primary production in a turbid estuary. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 13, 303–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Joint, I.R. & Pomroy, A.J., 1982. Aspects of microbial heterotrophic production in a highly turbid estuary. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 58, 33–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kennedy, M. & Fitzmaurice, P., 1972. The biology of the bass, Dicentrarchus labrax, in Irish Waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 52, 557–597.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kitching, R.L., 1987. Spatial and temporal variation in food webs in water-filled treeholes. Oikos, 48, 280–288.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lebour, M.V., 1921. The food of young clupeoids. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 12, 458–467.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mantoura, R.F.C. & Mann, S.V., 1979. Dissolved organic carbon in estuaries. In Tidal power and estuary management. Proceedings of the Thirtieth Symposium of the Colston Research Society (ed. R.T., Severnet al.), pp. 279–286. Bristol: Scientechnica.Google Scholar
Mauchline, J., 1980. The biology of mysids. Advances in Marine Biology, 18, 1–369.Google Scholar
May, R.M., 1972. Will a large complex system be stable? Nature, London, 238, 413–414.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
May, R.M., 1973. Stability and complexity in model ecosystems. Monographs in population biology, 6, 256 pp. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Mistakidis, M.N., 1957. The biology of Pandulus montagui (Leach). Fishery Investigations, Series 2. MAFF. London, no. 21, 52 pp.Google Scholar
Moore, J.W., Moore, I.A. & Claridge, P.N., 1979. Seasonal changes in density, composition and reproductive biology of crustacean populations in the Severn Estuary. Crustaceana, 36, 113–122.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nagabhushanam, A.K., 1964. On the biology of the whiting, Gadus merlangus, in Manx waters. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 44, 177–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nash, R.D.M. & Gibson, R.N., 1982. Seasonal fluctuations and compositions of two populations of small demersal fishes on the west coast of Scotland. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 15, 485–495.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Naylor, E., 1955. The diet and feeding mechanisms of Idotea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 34, 347–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newell, R., 1965. The role of detritus in the nutrition of two marine deposit feeders – the prosobranch Hydrobia ulvae and the bivalve Macoma balthica. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 144, 25–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parker, W.R. & Kirby, R., 1982. Sources and transport patterns of sediment in the inner Bristol Channel and Severn Estuary. In Severn Barrage, pp. 181–194. London: Institution of Civil Engineers.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pimm, S.L., 1982. Food webs. London: Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pimm, S.L., Lawton, J.H. & Cohen, J.E., 1991. Food web patterns and their consequences. Nature, London, 350, 669–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, F.S., 1980. On the distribution of postlarval fish in the Bristol Channel. Bulletin of Marine Ecology, 8, 283–290.Google Scholar
Steven, G.A., 1930. Bottom fauna and the food of fishes. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 16, 677–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tattersall, W.M. & Tattersall, O.S., 1951. The British Mysidacea. London: The Ray Society.Google Scholar
Tiews, K., 1970. Synopsis of biological data on the common shrimp Crangon crangon (Linnaeus, 1758). FAO Fisheries Reports, no. 57, vol. 4, 1167–1224.Google Scholar
Van Den Broek, W.L.F., 1979. A seasonal survey of fish populations in the lower Medway Estuary, Kent, based on power station screen samples. Estuarine and Coastal Marine Science, 9, 1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warwick, R.M., 1984. The benthic ecology of the Bristol Channel. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 15, 70–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wharfe, S.R., Wilson, S.R. & Dines, R. A., 1984. Observations on the fish populations of an east coast estuary. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 15, 133–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. & Collins, N.R., 1984. Distribution and variability in abundance of Schistomysis spiritus (Crustacea: Mysidacea) in the Bristol Channel in relation to environmental variables, with comments on other mysids. Marine Biology, 80, 197–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, R. & Collins, N.R., 1986. Seasonal composition of meroplankton and holoplankton in the Bristol Channel. Marine Biology, 92, 93–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar