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Responses of benthic invertebrates and their avian predators to the experimental removal of macroalgal mats

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 January 2003

Lesley J. Lewis
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, National University of Ireland—College Cork, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland
John Davenport
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, National University of Ireland—College Cork, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland
Thomas C. Kelly
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology, National University of Ireland—College Cork, Lee Maltings, Prospect Row, Cork, Ireland
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Abstract

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A field experiment investigating the effects of algal removal on benthic invertebrates and estuarine birds was carried out during September and October 2001. A randomized block experimental design was employed and three treatments were used: sites with algal cover maintained, when necessary by the addition of algae, sites with algal cover removed and control sites that were not manipulated in any way. Total invertebrate numbers increased during the experiment, but species varied in their response to the different treatments. Although Hydrobia ulvae showed the greatest increase in cleared sites after two months, there was no significant difference between treatments. Corophium volutator showed significant colonization of cleared sites during the experimental period, and numbers of Phyllodocemaculata also increased in the cleared sites. Results showed that while more sedentary benthic infauna are less capable of adjusting to the affects of algal clearance, more mobile epifauna and polychaetes show an ability to disperse to cleared sites in a relatively short period of time. Wading birds, however, did not enter the study site in any abundance during the experiment. Black-headed gulls (Larus ridibundus) were significantly more abundant in cleared sites than in algal cover-maintained or control sites when foraging.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2003 Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom