Effects of physical disturbance on nematode communities in sand and mud: a microcosm experiment |
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Authors: | M Schratzberger R M Warwick |
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Institution: | (1) Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth PL1 3DH, Devon, England, GB;(2) Institut für Hydrobiologie und Fischereiwissenschaft, Zeiseweg 9, D-22765 Hamburg, FRG, |
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Abstract: | A microcosm experiment was carried out to evaluate the effects of continuous and spasmodic physical disturbance of differing
frequency on the structure of nematode communities of intertidal sand and mud. There was a marked, characteristic change in
abundance and diversity for both sediment types. In the sand microcosms, the majority of univariate measures of community
structure, including species diversity, were lowest in the sediments subjected to a high frequency of disturbance. For the mud microcosms, most univariate measures reached their highest values in the treatments
with an intermediate frequency of disturbance and were lower in treatments subjected to both higher and lower frequencies. Multivariate ordinations
for both nematode assemblages showed a clear separation of undisturbed controls and disturbed treatments, but only for the
muddy sediment was there a graded change in community composition with increasing frequency of disturbance. These results
confirmed our a priori expectation that nematode assemblages from mobile sandy sediments would be more resilient to physical
disturbance than those from sheltered muds, and these observations are considered in the context of Connell's intermediate
disturbance hypothesis.
Received: 7 May 1997 / Accepted: 10 October 1997 |
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