The Partitioning Of Secondary Production Among Species In Benthic Communities

The way in which total secondary production is partitioned amongst species in various macrofauna communities (Amphiura, Venus, Abra, Modiolus) around the British Isles is discussed. When the proportion of total production is plotted for each species, ranked in order of productive importance, curves are produced which are characteristic of particular physical conditions. The shapes of the curves are independent of the actual species involved, but depend on the proportion of individuals in the community which adopt a particular feeding behaviour, and the scope for diversification within trophic groups. The form of these curves correlates closely with bottom currents and associated bed-stresses, since these affect both the nature of the food supply to bottom animals and the nature of the substrate. These observations have important implications for the structure and functioning of benthic communities. Comparison of production partitioning in the meiofauna of mud and sand substrates indicates a remarkable similarity within trophic groups although the partitioning of production between trophic groups is very different. The shapes of production-rank curves again appear to depend on the scope for diversification within trophic groups. In the meiofauna resources are partitioned more equitably than in the macrofauna. There is a marked discontinuity in the lognormal distribution of body sizes within integrated benthic communities at the meiofauna-macrofauna size boundary.

Past, present and future nutrient loads of the North Sea: causes and consequences

Comprehensive, aggregate nutrient budgets were established for two compartments of the North Sea, the shallow coastal and deeper open regions, and for three different periods, representing pre-eutrophication (∼1950), eutrophication (∼1990) and contemporary (∼2000) phases. The aim was to quantify the major budget components, to identify their sources of variability, to specify the anthropogenic components, and to draw implications for past and future policy. For all three periods, open North Sea budgets were dominated (75%) by fluxes from and to the North-East Atlantic; sediment exchange was of secondary importance (18%). For the coastal North Sea, fluxes during the eutrophication period were dominated by sediment exchange (49% of all inputs), followed by exchange with the open sea (21%), and anthropogenic inputs (19%). Between 1950 and 1990, N-loading of coastal waters increased by a factor of 1.62 and P-loading by 1.45. These loads declined after 1990. Interannual variability in Atlantic inflow was found to correspond to a variability of 11% in nutrient load to the open North Sea. Area-specific external loads of both the open and coastal North Sea were below Vollenweider-type critical loads when expressed relative to depth and flushing. External area-specific load of the coastal North Sea has declined since 1990 from 1.8 to about 1.4 g P m−2 y−1 in 2000, which is close to the estimate of 1.3 for 1950. N-load declined less, leading to an increase in N/P ratio.

The combined effects of seasonal community succession and adaptive algal physiology on lipid profiles of coastal phytoplankton in the western English channel

Lipids are key constituents of marine phytoplankton, and some fatty acids (key constituents of lipids) are essential dietary components for secondary producers. However, in natural marine ecosystems the interactions of factors affecting seasonal phytoplankton lipid composition are still poorly understood. The aim of this study was to assess the roles of seasonal succession in phytoplankton community composition and nutrient concentrations, on the lipid composition of the phytoplankton community. Fatty acid and polar lipid composition in seston was measured in surface waters at the time series station L4, an inshore station in the Western English Channel, from January to December 2013. Redundancy analyses (RDA) were used to identify factors (abiotic and biotic) that explained the seasonal variability in phytoplankton lipids. RDA demonstrated that nutrients (namely nitrogen) explained the majority of variation in phytoplankton lipid composition, as well as a smaller explanatory contribution from changes in phytoplankton community composition. The physiological adaptations of the phytoplankton community to nutrient deplete conditions during the summer season when the water column was stratified, was further supported by changes in the polar lipid to phytoplankton biomass ratios (also modelled with RDA) and increases in the lipid to chlorophyll a ratios, which are both indicative of nutrient stress. However, the association of key fatty acid markers with phytoplankton groups e.g. 22:6 n-3 and dinoflagellate biomass (predominant in summer), meant there were no clear seasonal differences in the overall degree of fatty acid saturation, as might have been expected from typical nutrient stress on phytoplankton. Based on the use of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) as markers of ‘food quality’ for grazers, our results suggest that in this environment high food quality is maintained throughout summer, due to seasonal succession towards flagellated phytoplankton species able to maintain PUFA synthesis under surface layer nutrient depletion.