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Sediment geochemistry influences infaunal invertebrate community composition and population abundances

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Abstract

Infaunal invertebrate communities are structured by various factors, including predation, resource availability, and environmental conditions. Given that these invertebrates live within sediment, it is not surprising that sediment properties play a critical role in many infaunal behaviours. When models explaining spatial and temporal variation in infaunal community composition are constructed using physical, biophysical, environmental, and sediment properties (salinity, detrital cover, elevation, particle size distribution, organic and water content, redox conditions, and penetrability), a considerable portion of the variation in the data is typically unaccounted for. This suggests that we do not fully understand all the variables that influence infaunal invertebrate communities. One suite of under-explored variables is the elemental composition/concentration of the sediments themselves. As such, we evaluated if sediment geochemistry improved model performance of the spatial variation in infaunal invertebrate communities on three intertidal mudflats in northern British Columbia, Canada. We observed that models including geochemistry data outperformed models that only included physical, biophysical, and environmental properties. Our results, therefore, suggest that some of the observed, and previously unaccounted for spatial variation in infaunal community composition may be a product of variation in sediment geochemistry. As such, sediment geochemistry should be accounted for when studying infaunal communities and assessing human impacts upon intertidal systems.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Shaun Allen, Deborah Parker, Jayleen Starr and Zoey Starr for their assistance during data collection. Anne Dudley is acknowledged for assisting ICP-OES analysis. Andy Dodson is acknowledged for assisting ICP-MS analysis.

Funding

Funding for this work was provided by the Royal Geographical Society (TGG and TS), Kitsumkalum First Nation (TGG), an NSERC Engage grant (TGG and FJ), and a Mitacs Elevate grant to TGG. Cassiar Cannery provided accommodations onsite and access to study locations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, V8P 5C2, Canada

    Travis G. Gerwing, Alyssa M. Allen Gerwing, Morgan M. Davies, Lily Campbell, Francis Juanes, Sarah E. Dudas & Hanna M. Thomson

  2. North Coast Cetacean Research Initiative, Ocean Wise Conservation Association, Prince Rupert, BC, Canada

    Karina Dracott

  3. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Nanaimo, BC, V9T 6N7, Canada

    Sarah E. Dudas

  4. Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading, Reading, RG6 6DW, UK

    June Kimori, Sean Coole & Tom Sizmur

  5. School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability, The University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Jess Kidd

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Contributions

TGG and TM designed the study, collected data, and wrote the paper. KD and LC helped collect data and write the paper. AMAG, MMD, JK, HMT helped analyze the data and write the paper. JK and SC helped analyze samples and write the paper. FJ and SED helped design the study, provided supervision, and write the paper.

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Correspondence to Travis G. Gerwing.

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No animal welfare approval was required as we were working with common invertebrates.

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Gerwing, T.G., Gerwing, A.M.A., Davies, M.M. et al. Sediment geochemistry influences infaunal invertebrate community composition and population abundances. Mar Biol 170, 4 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-022-04151-7

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