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Temporal and spatial macrofaunal community changes along a salinity gradient in seagrass meadows of Akkeshi-ko estuary and Akkeshi Bay, northern Japan

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Abstract

Temporal and spatial variation of the macrofaunal community was investigated in seagrass meadows in Akkeshi-ko estuary and coastal area of Akkeshi Bay, northern Japan. We specifically addressed the question of how the salinity gradient in seagrass meadows affects the species richness, abundance and similarity of faunal groups classified based on the degree of association with the seagrasses, i.e. highly motile species that drift in the water column among seagrass blades (drift-fauna, DF group) and less motile species that are tightly associated with seagrass substrates (seagrass-associated fauna, SA group). A total of 70 species were collected semi-quantitatively using an epibenthic sledge, among which more than one third of the species were captured in all areas, and a quarter of species only in the marine area. Significant spatial variation in species richness, as well as a positive relationship between salinity and species richness was found for most sampling occasions and for both functional groups. Whereas, relationship between salinity and abundance of macrofauna was not clear although significant time and site interactions were found for both functional groups. Patterns of similarity of assemblages varied between the functional groups: clear differences by sampling sites were discerned for DF group but not for SA group. These results provided evidence that the macrofaunal community structures in seagrass beds varied with the salinity gradient, but the pattern differed with time and between functional groups, possibly due to the effect of biotic and abiotic factors that also changed with salinity.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully thank Captain S. Hamano, H. Katsuragawa and other staff of the Akkeshi Marine Station for assistance with the field collection. H. Mukai, C. Vallet, K. Takahashi, M. Kanamori, M. Watanabe, N. H. Kumagai and T. Takano helped with the species identification, analysis and discussion. M. Takahata and Y. Ishikawa of the Community Ecology Laboratory of Chiba University helped with the laboratory procedures and contributed to the fruitful discussions during the course of this study. A part of this research was financially supported by a Grant-in-Aid by Akkeshi Town for Scientific Research of Lake Akkeshi and Bekanbeushi Wetland to KY.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Chiba University, 1-33 Yayoi-cho, Inage, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan

    Katsumasa Yamada & Masahiro Nakaoka

  2. National Research Institutes of Fisheries and Environment of Inland Sea, 2-17-5 Maruishi, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, 739-0452, Japan

    Masakazu Hori

  3. Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan

    Yoshiyuki Tanaka

  4. Hokkaido National Fisheries Research Institute, 116 Katsurakoi, Kushiro, Hokkaido, 085-0802, Japan

    Natsuki Hasegawa

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  1. Katsumasa Yamada
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  2. Masakazu Hori
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  3. Yoshiyuki Tanaka
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  4. Natsuki Hasegawa
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Correspondence to Katsumasa Yamada.

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Yamada, K., Hori, M., Tanaka, Y. et al. Temporal and spatial macrofaunal community changes along a salinity gradient in seagrass meadows of Akkeshi-ko estuary and Akkeshi Bay, northern Japan. Hydrobiologia 592, 345–358 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0767-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-007-0767-6

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