International Journal of Marine Science 2015, Vol.5, No.13, 1-11
1
Research Article Open Access
Colonization of formulated substrates of different composition by benthic
macroinvertebrate community in an estuarine ecosystem: a case study of response
of benthic invertebrates to substrate alteration
Rolande. Uwadiae , Deborah Felix
Benthic Ecology Unit, Department of Marine Sciences, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria
Corresponding author email
International Journal of Marine Science, 2015, Vol.5, No.13 doi: 10.5376/ijms.2015.05.0013
Received: 10 Oct., 2014
Accepted: 02 Jan., 2015
Published: 09 Mar., 2015
Copyright
©
2015
Uwadiae and Felix, This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article:
Uwadiae and Felix, 2015, Colonization of formulated substrates of different composition by benthic macroinvertebrate community in an estuarine ecosystem: a
case study of response of benthic invertebrates to substrate alteration, International Journal of Marine Science, Vol.5, No.13 1
-
11 (doi:
Abstract
Colonization of formulated artificial substrate was investigated in a tropical estuarine ecosystem for six months to
determine possible response of benthic macroinvertebrates to disturbance arising from substrate alteration. Five different formulated
substrates which served as content for ten cages were used for this experiment. A total of 406 individuals comprising 18
macroinvertebrate species colonized the cages. In overall, cage 1 which is the control recorded the highest number of individuals and
average number (8) of colonizing species at a time, while the least number (4) was observed in cage 3. Cages 2, 4, and 5 recorded
average of five species each. In terms of number of individuals, cage 1 which is the control, had the highest number (153), followed
by cage 2 which recorded 122 individuals. Cages 3, 4 and 5, recorded 41, 61 and 80 individuals respectively. Analysis of temporal
variability in the number of species observed in the experimental cages shows that there was a progressive decrease in the number of
colonizing species after the second month. Colonizing macroinvertebrate groups were not different from the known resident species
in the estuarine lagoon. However, pattern of variation in the number of individuals of colonizing species were remarkably different.
The assemblage recorded in this experiment was defined by the populations of two bivalve mollusc;
Macoma cumana and Tellina
nymphalis
, two gastropod mollusc;
Pachymelina aurita and Tympanotonus fuscatus
and two crustacean arthropods;
Clibanarius
africanus
and
Penaeus notialis
. Among the FFGs recorded, collector-filterers dominated in number of individuals and species.
Nutrient concentrations of formulated substrate had strong effects on number of colonizing individuals and species.
Keywords
Colonization; formulated substrate; benthic macroinvertebrates
Introduction
Colonization of new surfaces is an important activity
in the ecology of benthic communities, and can occur
by active movement, drift and adult emergence
(Smock, 1990). Dispersal movements (active or
passive) can occur in response to several factors
(Smock, 1990), with water flow acting as an
energetically efficient mechanism on this process.
Colonization of substrates can occur through four
routes (Williams and Hynes, 1976). Downstream
movement is considered one of the most important
ways of colonization, occurring primarily by drift, but
also from movement along the sediment (Waters, 1972;
Williams and Hynes, 1976). Upstream movement
along the sediment occurs in species exhibiting
positive rheotaxis (Humphries, 2002). A third way
of colonization is from subsurface or hyporheic zone
(Smock, 1990; Olsen and Townsend, 2005). Finally,
aerial colonization is important in all streams (Benzie,
1984; Reich and Downes, 2003 a, b), with oviposition
by winged adult insects being the primary mechanism
of this colonization path. Species differ in their
preferential mechanisms of colonization, according to
environmental factors, this may result in differences in
community structure.
Many ecologists have focused their attention on
understanding the reason for differences in the rate
and degree of colonization of surfaces (Barry and
Dayton, 1991; Dayton et al., 1992; Levin, 1992;
Thrush et al., 1996) in recent years. Although some
benthic species colonize areas as planktonic larvae,
individuals of many taxa disperse as adults and/or
juveniles (Santos and Simon, 1980). The ability of
benthic invertebrates to disperse throughout their life
