Publication Date:
2019-12-20
Description:
Bioturbation is one of the key mediators of biogeochemical processes in benthic habitats that can have a high
contribution to seafloor functioning and benthic pelagic coupling in coastal waters. Previous studies on bioturbation
were limited to point locations and extrapolations in single regions, but have not accounted for regional
differences under changing environmental conditions, though there are indications that species contributions
will differ across regions or with biotic and abiotic context. To capture those differences and assess
global patterns and commonalities, multi-regional analyses are imperative. Here for the first time, bioturbation
potential (BPc), a functional indicator of benthic community bioturbation, was estimated based on macrofauna
data from four regions (i.e. German Baltic Sea, German North Sea, Belgian part of the North Sea and the Eastern
English Channel). For each region and sediment type we identified key species contributing to BPc. Comparison
within and across regions demonstrated regional differences, and both overlap and mismatch between species
that are functionally important and those that are dominant in biomass. Knowledge on the functionally important
species is crucial when management objectives include the protection of certain ecosystem functions.
Available environmental layers were used as predictors to model the spatial distribution of BPc for each area and
to explore the underlying drivers of differences. Random forest models were trained using as response variables
either i) BPc initially calculated per station; or ii) BPp – the species-specific contribution to BPc – for key species
(with subsequent summation of their predicted full-coverage distributions to BPc). Maps of BPc distribution
predicted by random forest were compared with those generated using natural neighbour interpolation. Overall,
derived BPc values increased towards the German parts of the North and Baltic Seas. The relevance of BPc for
ecosystem processes and functions, however, vary with biotic and abiotic settings. Results revealed a strong
association of BPc with species diversity and region, but less with sediment grain size. A large range of BPc
occurred when species richness was low. This suggests that the provisioning of high bioturbation activity is
possible also under low diversity, where it is vulnerable due to reduced resilience. The executed multi-regional
analysis allowed identifying regional differences in performance of macrofauna, suggesting the need for regionspecific
conservation and management strategies.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2019.105945
Received 26 July 2019; Received in revised form 12 November 2019; Accepted 14 November 2019
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: mayya.gogina@io-warnemuende.de (M. Gogina).
Ecological Indicators 110 (2020) 105945
1470-160X/ Crown Copyright © 2019 Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
T
Repository Name:
EPIC Alfred Wegener Institut
Type:
Article
,
isiRev
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