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Ecological functioning of free-living marine nematodes in coastal wetlands: an overview

  • Review
  • Oceanology
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

Nematodes are small multicellular, thread-like organisms, inhabiting almost all conceivable environments; among these, some 25 % are free-living marine forms with a population density of (1–12) × 106 inds m−2 in seabed sediment, reaching maximum values in muddy estuaries and salt marshes. A large quantity of carbon from the salt marsh plants enters the ecosystem via the detritus pathway, in which nematodes play an important role through their feeding and bioturbation activities. Vegetation influences the sedimentary environment and modifies the distribution pattern of nematode communities in coastal wetlands. Nematodes are coupled closely with bacteria/detritus in microbial food webs, stimulating bacterial growth and subsequent nutrient remineralization; they provide food sources for higher trophic levels and serve as a linkage between micro- and macro-fauna. Furthermore, nematodes have a potential to provide proxies that can be used in diagnosing environmental quality. In China, only a limited number of nematode data sets are available for the coastal wetlands across several different climatic zones. It is necessary to carry out additional investigations into the biology and ecology of nematodes in order to delineate their ecological functioning in coastal wetlands. On such a basis, the contribution made by nematodes to material cycling and the ecological functioning in coastal wetlands can be quantified. The assessment of their biological diversity should be a focus, which is fundamental in the study of wetland ecosystem dynamic mechanisms. In addition to laboratory and mesocosm experiments, mathematical models should be established to predict the responses of ecosystem to the environmental disturbance. Finally, it is necessary to improve the techniques for nematode analysis, to enhance the efficiency of data acquisition.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Mega-Science Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China (2013CB956504), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40906066) and the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD). Thanks are due to Prof. Michael Collins (the University of Southampton, UK), for his supportive suggestions and language corrections. Thanks are also extended to the reviewers for their constructive comments on the original manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory for Coast and Island Development of Ministry of Education, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Yongfen Du & Shu Gao

  2. School of Geographic and Oceanographic Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Yongfen Du & Shu Gao

  3. Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Prospect Place, West Hoe, Plymouth, PL1 3DH, UK

    Richard M. Warwick

  4. College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Er Hua

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  1. Yongfen Du
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  2. Shu Gao
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  3. Richard M. Warwick
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  4. Er Hua
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Correspondence to Yongfen Du.

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Du, Y., Gao, S., Warwick, R.M. et al. Ecological functioning of free-living marine nematodes in coastal wetlands: an overview. Chin. Sci. Bull. 59, 4692–4704 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0592-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-014-0592-z

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