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Modeling Bedload Transport of Juvenile Bivalves: Predicted Changes in Distribution and Scale of Postlarval Dispersal

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Abstract

The potential consequences of bedload transport of postlarvae for patterns of distribution of marine invertebrates were explored by developing a bedload transport model for juvenile bivalves in a small estuary in New Jersey, USA. A simple numerical model of tidal current hydrodynamics was developed based on field measurements of shear stresses near the bottom. Burrowing behavior of bivalves was incorporated into the model of bedload transport by using estimates of entrainment rates of Gemma gemma and Mya arenaria in a laboratory flume, and jump lengths of the bivalves were estimated by methods previously developed for noncohesive particles. Based on the flood domination and strong gradient of shear stresses in the Navesink estuary, our model predicted that juvenile bivalves would accumulate in the center of the estuary, traveling up to several kilometers over 30 days. Field distributions of juvenile bivalves were consistent with the model predictions for other species of bivalves but not for G. gemma, for which field distributions of both <500- and >500-μm individuals were concentrated in the eastern end of the estuary. Differences between the bedload model and G. gemma distributions suggest that spatial variation in burrowing behavior or biological interactions are playing an important role in maintaining distribution patterns of this species in spite of high levels of bedload transport. This modeling approach is applicable to other juvenile benthic invertebrates that disperse as bedload and is a useful model against which to compare field observations of rates of transport and patterns of distribution and abundance.

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Acknowledgments

E. Hunter and C. Haldeman assisted with the hydrodynamic data. M.J. Maltais processed and graphed the grab sampling data, and she and L.B. Jennings, R.L. Williams, and S. Fries provided assistance with the collection of the grab samples. B. Fullerton and J. Turner captained the Stevens Institute of Technology’s RV Phoenix. J. Manderson provided the graph of sediment grain size in the Navesink. C. Lundquist provided valuable comments on a previous version of the manuscript. This research was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (USA)’s Biological Oceanography program (grant no. 0136916) to H.L.H. and R.J.C.

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Author notes

  1. David C. Fugate

    Present address: Department of Marine and Ecological Sciences, Florida Gulf Coast University, 10501 FGCU Blvd. South, Fort Myers, FL, 33965, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, P. O. Box 5050, Saint John, NB, E2L 4L5, Canada

    Heather L. Hunt

  2. Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, Rutgers University, 71 Dudley Rd., New Brunswick, NJ, 08901-8521, USA

    David C. Fugate & Robert. J. Chant

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  1. Heather L. Hunt
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Correspondence to Heather L. Hunt.

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Hunt, H.L., Fugate, D.C. & Chant, R.J. Modeling Bedload Transport of Juvenile Bivalves: Predicted Changes in Distribution and Scale of Postlarval Dispersal. Estuaries and Coasts 32, 1090–1102 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9205-5

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