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Paving the way for the new generations: Astarte borealis population dynamics in the White Sea

  • WHITE SEA ECOSYSTEMS
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Abstract

Populations of marine bivalves are known to be unstable but it is unclear whether this instability has internal or external causes. In this paper we summarize results from long-term (1978–2007) monitoring of an Astarte borealis (Astartidae) population in the White Sea. We sought significant long-term changes among a population of subtidal clams existing under relatively stable conditions. The studied population was initially (in 1978–1995) formed exclusively by adult clams, with no recruitment occurring until a mass inflow of unidentified astartid’s juveniles in the late 1990s. We assessed the suitability of periostracum microsculpture for identification of astartid juveniles and identified the juveniles recruited the population as A. borealis. Thus significant changes in population structure were detected. Our study suggests that A. borealis may have a very long life span (>20 years) and a prolonged recruitment failure could be associated with scarcity of hard substrates needed for egg attachment in a silted environment. As old clams died, their valves provided a hard substrate on the bottom surface, facilitating recruitment. We propose a new conceptual model of subtidal clams’ population dynamics predicting long-term cyclic changes driven by internal mechanisms associated with an unusual type of positive influence of adults upon recruits.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the students of the Laboratory of Marine Benthic Ecology and the staff of Kandalaksha Nature Reserve for their help during fieldwork. We would like to express our special thanks to Alexander Gornykh for help in the field and discussion of the results. We are grateful to Natalia Lentsman and Anna Gonchar for comprehensive linguistic assistance and improvement of the text. We thank Dr Alexey Sukhotin and anonymous referees whose comments much improved the final product. With this paper we would like to pay a tribute to our teacher, the late Eugeny Ninburg, who initiated these investigations and suggested the main ideas of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology & Soil Sciences, Saint-Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya emb., 7/9, Saint-Petersburg, 199034, Russia

    Maria Skazina & Vadim Khaitov

  2. Laboratory of Marine Benthic Ecology, Kandalaksha Nature Reserve, Kandalaksha, Russia

    Elizaveta Sofronova & Vadim Khaitov

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  1. Maria Skazina
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  2. Elizaveta Sofronova
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  3. Vadim Khaitov
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Correspondence to Maria Skazina.

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Guest editor: A. A. Sukhotin / Long-term research on marine ecosystems in the White Sea, Russia

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Skazina, M., Sofronova, E. & Khaitov, V. Paving the way for the new generations: Astarte borealis population dynamics in the White Sea. Hydrobiologia 706, 35–49 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1271-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1271-1

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