Document of bibliographic reference 287897

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Are similar worms different? A comparative tracer study on bioturbation in the three sibling species Marenzelleria arctia, M. viridis, and M. neglecta from the Baltic Sea

Abstract

The invasive spionid polychaetes of the genus Marenzelleria spp., consisting of the three sibling species M. neglecta, M. viridis, and M. arctia, has been found in the Baltic Sea since the 1980s. Because of difficulties in species identification, little is known about species-dependent sediment reworking and solute transport. The closely related species are apparently similar in feeding and sediment-dwelling behavior, but size and burrowing depth indicate differences in bioturbation and the biogeochemical consequences thereof. To investigate these potential differences, a tracer experiment with artificial particles (luminophores) and solute tracer (bromide) was conducted. Polychaetes were identified to species level using a molecular genetic key. Modeled results show that all three species display markedly low particle reworking rates with biodiffusion coefficients (Db) of 1.76 cm² yr⁻¹ (M. viridis) and 0.07 cm² yr⁻¹ (M. neglecta) at an abundance of 1273 individuals m⁻² and 0.44 cm² yr⁻¹ (M. arctia) at twice that abundance. Nonlocal transport coefficients are negligible in all cases. Solute transport by M. neglecta and M. viridis are more similar to one another than to M. arctia, whose solute transport mode is much more diffusive in character (10.9-fold enhanced diffusivity with nonlocal irrigation coefficients [α] of 55.3 yr⁻¹) than that of the two other species, which affect tracer distributions in the sediment predominantly through a nonlocal, advective transport mode (α of 108.9 yr⁻¹ M. viridis and 130.9 yr⁻¹ M. neglecta). Thus, a functional grouping of the sibling species in terms of bioirrigation is not recommended.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000327395400012

Bibliographic citation

Renz, J.R.; Forster, S. (2013). Are similar worms different? A comparative tracer study on bioturbation in the three sibling species Marenzelleria arctia, M. viridis, and M. neglecta from the Baltic Sea. Limnol. Oceanogr. 58(6): 2046-2058. https://dx.doi.org/10.4319/lo.2013.58.6.2046

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true