Cd. Krager et Sa. Woodin, SPATIAL PERSISTENCE AND SEDIMENT DISTURBANCE OF AN ARENICOLID POLYCHAETE, Limnology and oceanography, 38(3), 1993, pp. 509-520
Field evidence suggests that biogenic sediment movement influences the
distribution of infauna but also that biogenic processes account for
only a small proportion of total sediment movement. This difference ma
y be due to biogenic additions to the sediment or the mode of biogenic
vs. physical deposition or to calculation of the biogenic effect as i
nappropriately scaled temporal and spatial averages. Spatial persisten
ce of biogenic effects over time would bias such averages. Individuals
of the arenicolid polychaete Abarenicola pacifica can be sized and ma
pped by the diameter and position respectively of their fecal coils. T
heir spatial distributions show significant clumping. Both individuals
of A. pacifica and their biogenically disturbed patches have consider
able spatial persistence over time. Individuals remained in the same s
patial location for up to 12 d. Over 50% of all patches of biogenic se
diment disturbance persisted for at least the 16-d observation period,
and the patches were highly localized. Thus spatial and temporal aver
ages may be inappropriate for determining the importance of biogenic e
ffects, due to nonuniform distribution of individuals and their spatia
l and temporal persistence.