Abstract
Bivalve suspension-feeders are considered to be keystone herbivores in many estuarine ecosystems. However, bivalves can also feed upon organisms that belong to the microzooplankton and on mesozooplankton. Laboratory experiments showed that nauplii of the copepod Temora longicornis were filtered by mussels at the same rate as algae. Adult T. longicornis were also susceptible to filtration by mussels and oysters, but at a lower rate. Mesocosm experiments compared plankton dynamics in systems with and without mussels. Biomass of diatoms, heterotrophic dinoflagellates and copepods was strongly reduced in the presence of mussels. Some components of the microbial food web, like ciliates and Phaeocystis, did not show a significant effect, due to cascading effects of declining copepod abundance. It is suggested that in the presence of mussels, the pelagic food web may be shifted towards a more dominant microbial food web.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bakker C Van Rijswijk P 1994 Zooplankton biomass in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands) before, during and after the construction of a storm-surge barrier. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 127–143
Brussaard CPD Riegman R Noordeloos AAM Cadée GC Witte H Kop AJ Nieuwland G Van Duyl FC Bak RPM 1995 Effects of grazing, sedimentation and phytoplankton cell lysis on the structure of a coastal pelagic food web. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 123: 259–271
Carlson DJ Townsend DW Hilyard AL Eaton JF 1984 Effect of an intertidal mudflat on plankton of the overlying water column. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 41: 1523–1528
Coughlan J 1969 The estimation of filtering rate from the clearance of suspensions. Mar Biol 2: 356–358
Dame RF 1993 Bivalve Filter Feeders in Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystem Processes. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, 579 p
Dame RF 1996 Ecology of Marine Bivalves: An Ecosystem Approach. CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL, 254 p
Davenport J Smith RJJW Packer M 2000 Mussels Mytilus edulis: significant consumers and destroyers of mesozooplankton. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 198: 131–137
Dupuy C Le Gall S Hartmann H Bréret M 1999 Retention of ciliates and flagellates by the oyster Crassostrea gigas in French Atlantic coastal ponds: protists as a trophic link between bacterioplankton and benthic suspension-feeders. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 177: 165–175
Dupuy C Vaquer A Lam-Höai T Rougier C Mazouni N Lautier J Collos Y Le Gall S 2000 Feeding rate of the oyster Crassostrea gigas in a natural planktonic community of the Mediterranean Thau lagoon. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 205: 171–184
Escaravage V Peperzak L Prins TC Peeters JCH Joordens JCA 1995 The development of a Phaeocystis bloom in a mesocosm experiment in relation to nutrients, irradiance and coexisting algae. Ophelia 42: 55–74
Escaravage V Prins TC 2002 Silicate availability, vertical mixing and grazing control of phytoplankton blooms in mesocosms. Hydrobiologia 484: 33–48
Escaravage V Prins TC Nijdam C Smaal AC Peeters JCH 1999 Response of phytoplankton communities to nitrogen input reduction in mesocosm experiments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 179: 187–199
Fransz HG Gonzalez SR Cadée GC Hansen FC 1992 Long-term change of Temora longicornis (Copepoda, Calanoida) abundance in a Dutch tidal inlet (Marsdiep) in relation to eutrophication. Neth J Sea Res 30: 23–32
Granéli E Olsson P Carlsson P Granéli W Nylander C 1993 Weak ‘top-down’ control of dinoflagelate growth in the coastal Skagerrak. J Plankton Res 15: 213–237
Granéli E Turner JT 2002 Top-down regulation in ctenophore-copepod-ciliate-diatom-phytoflagellate communities in coastal waters: a mesocosm study. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 239: 57–68
Green S Visser AW Titelman J Kiørboe T 2003 Escape responses of copepod nauplii in the flow field of the blue mussel, Mytilus edulis. Mar Biol 142: 727–733
Hansen FC Reckermann M Klein Breteler WCM Riegman R 1993 Phaeocystis blooming enhanced by copepod predation on protozoa: evidence from incubation experiments. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 102: 51–57
Heip CHR Goosen NK Herman PMJ Kromkamp J Middelburg JJ Soetaert K 1995 Production and consumption of biological particles in temperate tidal estuaries. Progr Oceanogr 33: 1–149
Herman PMJ Scholten H 1990 Can suspension-feeders stabilize estuarine ecosystems? In: Trophic Relationships in the Marine Environment, M Barnes R Gibson (Eds) Vol 35. Aberdeen University Press, Aberdeen, pp 104–116
Horsted SJ Nielsen TG Riemann B Pock-Steen J Bjørnsen PK 1988 Regulation of zooplankton by suspension-feeding bivalves and fish in estuarine enclosures. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 48: 217–224
Kimmerer WJ Gartside E Orsi JJ 1994 Predation by an introduced clam as the likely cause of substantial declines in zooplankton of San Francisco Bay. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 113: 81–93
Kiørboe T 1998 Population regulation and role of mesozooplankton in shaping marine pelagic food webs. Hydrobiologia 363: 13–27
Kivi K Kaitala S Kuosa H Kuparinen J Leskinen E Lignell R Marcussen B Tamminen T 1993 Nutrient limitation and grazing control of the Baltic plankton community during annual succession. Limnol Oceanogr 38: 893–905
Le Gall S Bel Hassen M Le Gall P 1997 Ingestion of a bacterivorous ciliate by the oyster Crassostrea gigas: protozoa as a trophic link between picoplankton and benthic suspension-feeders. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 152: 301–306
Legendre L 1990 The significance of microalgal blooms for fisheries and for the export of particulate organic carbon in the oceans. J Plankton Res 12: 681–699
Maar M Nielsen TG Richardson K Christaki U Hansen OS Zervoudaki S Christou ED 2002 Spatial and temporal variability of food web structure during the spring bloom in the Skagerrak. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 239: 11–29
Officer CB Smayda TJ Mann R 1982 Benthic filter feeding: a natural eutrophication control. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 9: 203–210
Olsson P Granéli E Carlsson P Abreu P 1992 Structuring of a postspring phytoplankton community by manipulation of trophic interactions. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 158: 249–266
Paffenhöfer G-A 1998 Heterotrophic protozoa and small metazoa: feeding rates and prey-consumer interactions. J Plankton Res 20: 121–133
Prins TC Escaravage V Smaal AC Peeters JCH 1995 Nutrient cycling and phytoplankton dynamics in relation to mussel grazing in a mesocosm experiment. Ophelia 41: 289–315
Prins TC Escaravage V Wetsteyn LPMJ Peeters JCH Smaal AC 1999 Effects of different N-and P-loading on primary and secondary production in an experimental marine ecosystem. Aquat Ecol 33: 65–81
Riemann B Nielsen TG Horsted SJ Bjørnsen PK Pock-Steen J 1988 Regulation of phytoplankton biomass in estuarine enclosures. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 48: 205–215
Sherr EB Sherr BF Paffenhöfer G-A 1986 Phagotrophic protozoa as food for metazoans: a "missing" trophic link in marine pelagic food webs? Mar Microb Food Webs 1: 61–80
Smaal AC Prins TC 1993 The uptake of organic matter and the release of inorganic nutrients by bivalve suspension feeder beds. In: Bivalve Filter Feeders in Estuarine and Coastal Ecosystem Processes, Dame RF (Ed). Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, pp 271–298
Titelman J 2001 Swimming and escape behaviour of copepod nauplii: implications for predator-prey interactions among copepods. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 213: 203–213
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2005 Springer
About this paper
Cite this paper
Prins, T., Escaravage, V. (2005). Can Bivalve Suspension-Feeders Affect Pelagic Food Web Structure?. In: Dame, R.F., Olenin, S. (eds) The Comparative Roles of Suspension-Feeders in Ecosystems. NATO Science Series IV: Earth and Environmental Series, vol 47. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3030-4_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3030-4_3
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3028-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3030-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)