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Context-Specific Bioturbation Mediates Changes to Ecosystem Functioning

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Abstract

Species are often grouped according to their biological or functional traits to better understand their contribution to ecosystem functioning. However, it is becoming clear that a single species can perform different roles in different habitats. Austrohelice crassa, a burrow-building mud crab shifts its primary bioturbational role to that of a vertical mixer in non-cohesive sediments as frequent burrow collapse greatly enhances sediment reworking. We conducted in situ crab density manipulations in two sediment environments (a non-cohesive sand and a cohesive muddy-sand) to examine if the context-specific functional roles were linked to changes in solute fluxes across the sediment–water interface. Across both habitats, we show that A. crassa regulated nutrient cycling, creating strong density driven effects on solute exchanges. Increasing crab density increased sediment O2 demand and the flux of NH4 + from the sediment, indicating much of the response was physiologically driven. Clear interactions between A. crassa and microphytobenthos were also detected in both habitats. Despite lowering microphyte standing stock through deposit feeding, A. crassa increased benthic primary production per unit of chlorophyll a. Our experiment also revealed important context-specific differences, most notably for NH4 + fluxes, which were higher where burrows and their associated microbial communities were most stable (muddy-sand). This study highlights the need to integrate interactions between organism behavior and habitat type into functional group studies to broaden conceptual frameworks and avoid oversimplification of highly complex organism–sediment interactions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dudley Bell, Luca Chiaroni, Branwen Hughes, Anna John, Hannah Jones, Deniz Özkundakci, Warrick Powrie, and Julia Simpson for field support and Kerry Allen, Scott Edhouse, Bruce Patty, and Jacinta Parenzee for laboratory assistance. The subject-matter editor Karen McGlathery and two anonymous reviewers provided constructive and insightful comments that greatly improved the manuscript. This research was supported by a NIWA PhD scholarship funded through the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) project no. C01X0501.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Hazel R. Needham & Conrad A. Pilditch

  2. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, P.O. Box 11-115, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Hazel R. Needham, Andrew M. Lohrer & Simon F. Thrush

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  1. Hazel R. Needham
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  2. Conrad A. Pilditch
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Correspondence to Hazel R. Needham.

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HRN CAP AML and SFT conceived the study, HRN and AML conducted research and analyzed data, HRN wrote the paper with substantial editorial input from CAP, AML and SFT.

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Needham, H.R., Pilditch, C.A., Lohrer, A.M. et al. Context-Specific Bioturbation Mediates Changes to Ecosystem Functioning. Ecosystems 14, 1096–1109 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10021-011-9468-0

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