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Evidence of change in the macrofauna of tidal flats subject to anthropomorphic impacts in north‐east England
Author(s) -
Evans S. M.,
Arnott S.,
Wahju R. I.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
aquatic conservation: marine and freshwater ecosystems
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.95
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1099-0755
pISSN - 1052-7613
DOI - 10.1002/aqc.3270040405
Subject(s) - bay , geography , arenicola , ecology , taxon , tidal flat , oceanography , geology , archaeology , biology , sediment , paleontology
The study assessed differences that have occurred in macrofaunal assemblages of tidal flats subject to anthropomorphic impacts in north‐east England between 1931, when they were surveyed by Brady (1943), and 1991. The dominant members of the assemblages were the same for both surveys, and almost all the taxa recorded by Brady were present in 1991. There were also similar groupings of data from individual sampling stations by MDS ordination of the 1931 and and 1991 results. There is nevertheless evidence of change of two kinds. First, the Arenicola/Scoloplos/Cerastoderma/Macoma community, which was characteristic of the entire tidal flats at Budle Bay in 1931, had been replaced in north‐west corner of the Bay by an oligochaete‐dominated community in 1991. Second, numerical densities of macrofauna were much higher in 1991 than in 1931 at each of the study sites.