0

% WATER

BUZZARDS BAY CAPE COD BAY RANGE AND MEAN

...........RELATIVE NUMBER

OF ANIMALS

R E L A T I V E SEDIMENT PROCESSING RATE ................ ................ ................ STIPPLING SHOWS ENVELOPE OF ................ ................ COMPACTNESS PROFILES ...............

FIGURE 5a

FIGURE 5b
after Myem (1977b).

Figure 5. RBhli~mhiif sediment physical pmpestinand dsptk s Dher Rho& (19741; b. o .

depths can also he affected by a variety of biotic and abiotic factors. Seasonality, inteispccific kmpctitiun, and predation [19],as well as environnientnl factors, can affect the vertical distribution of species. Organisms in physically disturbed or pollutant-impacted environments are often limited to the upper few centimeters of sediment: whereas, ill less physically impacted or less p l l ~ , t e denvironn~ents, organisms tend to be found at deeper depths wilhin the sediment (Fieure 2) 120.211. Sedi~nent character can also influence th> ha&& of the species that colonize the sediments and thus indirectly affect the depth of bioturbation in those euvimnments. Hines and Comtois [ 7 , instance, noted a slightly greater depth penetratio~~ 1 ] lor III ~1111ddy sedirncnts than i n sandv sedin~cnts (Fim~rc 3). The general pattern for infaunal distribution, whether in fresh water (Figure 4), estuarine or marine environments, is that the greatest numbers of organisms occw within 2 to 5 centimeters of the sediment surface, with very few numbers of organisms being found deeper than 20 cm. Since larger species (e.g., bivalves, polychaete worms and burrowing shrimps) tend to live deeper within the sediment, distribution of benthic biomass tends to be deeper with the greatest fraction occurring below 5 cm in healthy undisturbed environments. Large bivalves (e.g., Mya arenaria [17]and Ensis clirectus [223, as well as some polychaete worms 23, 24, 2 8 and burrowing

shrimp (e.g., Squilla empusa), have the ability to burrow deeper than 20 cm and some may be found as deep as 60 cm 1 6 .Indeed, Myers [26l reported that winter bw21 rows of the mantis shrimp, S. empusa, can reach as deep as four meters.

EFFECTS OF BKrmRBATlON O N PHYSICAL A N D CHEMKAL PROPERTIES OF SEDIMENT

The effect of bioturbaiion on sediment stratigraphy has been documented by many authors [9,21,27-311. These studies document mixing to a depth of 3 to 20 an with little disturbance below 20 em. Bioturbation can biologically mediate changes in those sedimentary properties which are important for determining sediment stability. These changes include increase of sediment bed roughness, increase in grain size through the {ormation of fecal pellets and secretion of mumpolysaccharides and changes in sediment packing, sheer strength and water Z] content [ l . Bed roughness can result from burrowing and foraging activitv. construction of tubes which ~ r o i e c t above the sediment surface a s well as thc produr~bo"of dense concentratior~s shell n~aterial the. sediment water interof at

Environment01Progress (Vol. 9, No; 4)

November, 1990

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