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Temporal and Spatial Meiofauna Fluctuations in an Inlet of the South West Baltic (Darss‐Zingst Bodden Chain) with Special Reference to the Harpacticoida (Copepoda, Crustacea)
Author(s) -
Arlt Günter
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
internationale revue der gesamten hydrobiologie und hydrographie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 0020-9309
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.19880730305
Subject(s) - meiobenthos , harpacticoida , oceanography , inlet , pelagic zone , environmental science , diel vertical migration , population , crustacean , polychaete , ecology , geology , biology , benthic zone , demography , sociology
Abstract Diurnal, seasonal and annual fluctuations of the meiofauna population density were recorded during long term investigations carried out in an inlet of the southwestern coast of the Baltic from 1970 to 1980. Field experiments have shown a diurnal vertical migration of harpacticoids, which leave the sediment at night to colonize the pelagic zone 14 times more densely than during day. Besides the seasonal fluctuations considerable differences were observed between the meiofauna densities in two successive years from samples taken twice in a grid consisting of 98 stations: the abundances of all meiofauna taxa decreased by approximately 50 %. These fluctuations are not only caused by the reproductive activities of the meiofauna under different environmental conditions, but they are to a great extent a result of the active and passive movements of the meiofauna.