diversity trends were similar among protists (foraminiferans and gromiids), metazoan macrofauna and megafauna along a transect (140–1850m water depth) across the OMZ during the 2003 intermonsoon (March–May) and late/post-monsoon (August–October) seasons. All groups exhibited some drop in abundance in the OMZ core (250–500m water depth; O2: 0.10–0.13mL L 1 1⁄4 4.46–5.80mM) but to differing degre...

Generalising or scaling up from small-scale experiments to larger areas is an important challenge for both ecology and conservation biology. This study describes a technique that attempts to meet this challenge by combining spatial mapping with small-scale process experiments. Specifically, we evaluate the density effects of large individuals ( . 15 mm shell length) of 2 a tellinid bivalve (Mac...

Meiofauna and macrofauna communities and several sediment characteristics were compared between a slope situated far from the coast (Goban Spur) and two transects across the Iberian Margin with steep slopes and close to the shore. The northern Galician transect (off La Coruña) was situated in an area subjected to wind-induced upwelling events. The western Galician transect was also subjected to...

Responses of benthic macrofauna and epibenthic predators / sediment disturbers to controlled 22 2 density (0, 12, 120, 600 and 1200 individuals m ) and patch size (0.25, 1.0 and 9.0 m ) manipulations of the venerid bivalve Austrovenus stutchburyi (Gray) were examined on an 22 intertidal sandflat. Bivalve density manipulations greater than 600 m had a mixed influence on macrofauna colonisation; ...

Pelagic forms of the brown algae (Phaeophyceae) Sargassum spp. and their conspicuous rafts are defining characteristics of the Sargasso Sea in the western North Atlantic. Given rising temperatures and acidity in the surface ocean, we hypothesized that macrofauna associated with Sargassum in the Sargasso Sea have changed with respect to species composition, diversity, evenness, and sessile epibi...

OBJECTIVES The marine benthic nitrogen cycle is affected by both the presence and activity of macrofauna and the diversity of N-cycling microbes. However, integrated research simultaneously investigating macrofauna, microbes and N-cycling is lacking. We investigated spatio-temporal patterns in microbial community composition and diversity, macrofaunal abundance and their sediment reworking acti...

We investigated the food web structure of the Salses-Leucate Lagoon (northwestern Mediterranean) through δ13C and δ15N analysis of its benthic macrofauna and potential food sources. This lagoon was heavily human-modified during the 1970s, allowing permanent exchange with the open sea and an increase in salinity from that time. As a result, it exhibits a much less marked salinity gradient than t...

A large variety of aquatic animals was found to emit the potent greenhouse gas nitrous oxide when nitrate was present in the environment. The emission was ascribed to denitrification by ingested bacteria in the anoxic animal gut, and the exceptionally high N(2)O-to-N(2) production ratio suggested delayed induction of the last step of denitrification. Filter- and deposit-feeding animal species s...

A study off Concepción, central Chile, during the 1997/1998 El Niño (EN) revealed that the concentration of dissolved oxygen and the organic content and quality of the sediment control the vertical distribution of macrofauna in the sediment and bioturbation potential. The study area, characterized by organic-rich, silty sediments, lies within the most intense upwelling center off the coast of C...