Effects of Sediment Disturbance by the Heart Urchin Echinocardium cordatum on the Sediment–Seawater Solute Exchange: An Exclusion Experiment

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aut.relation.endpage14
aut.relation.issue3
aut.relation.journalAIMS Geosciences
aut.relation.pages14
aut.relation.startpage1
aut.relation.volume10
dc.contributor.authorMcLeod, Roen
dc.contributor.authorSimone, Michelle
dc.contributor.authorVopel, Kay
dc.date.accessioned2024-07-11T01:18:41Z
dc.date.available2024-07-11T01:18:41Z
dc.date.issued2024-07-12
dc.description.abstractSpatangoid heart urchins are dominant bioturbators in marine soft-sediment ecosystems worldwide. Their repeated sediment reworking prevents biogeochemical sediment stratification and colonization by other species, with implications for sedimentary reaction processes that affect the local sediment–seawater solute exchange. Here, we used a simple exclusion experiment to investigate how a subtidal Echinocardium cordatum population (18.2  6.7 individuals m−2), foraging at an individual speed of ~45 cm per day affects the sediment–seawater solute exchange. To do so, we removed all heart urchins from eight one-meter-diameter areas of the 10-m deep seafloor of Man O’War Bay, Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, and prevented recolonization and thus sediment reworking for 56 days. Subsequently, we measured the sediment–seawater exchange of O2, NO3–, NO2–, NH4+, and N2 both within and outside the exclusion areas, under light or dark conditions, and found no difference. The absence of a legacy effect of foraging E. cordatum after their removal suggests that, at least in this habitat, their influence on the sediment–seawater solute exchange may be limited to sediment being displaced in the immediate surrounding of the urchin. This unexpected result underlines the importance of evaluating the influence of bioturbators on the sediment–seawater solute exchange in the context of local environmental conditions, animal behavior, and population characteristics.
dc.identifier.citationAIMS Geosciences, ISSN: 2471-2132 (Print); 2471-2132 (Online), AIMS Press, 10(3), 1-14. doi: 10.3934/geosci.20240xx
dc.identifier.doi10.3934/geosci.20240xx
dc.identifier.issn2471-2132
dc.identifier.issn2471-2132
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10292/17773
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherAIMS Press
dc.relation.urihttps://www.aimspress.com/article/doi/10.3934/geosci.2024025
dc.rights© 2024 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)
dc.rights.accessrightsOpenAccess
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
dc.subjectbioturbation, sediment–water solute exchange, oxygen, nitrogen
dc.subject3704 Geoinformatics
dc.subject3705 Geology
dc.titleEffects of Sediment Disturbance by the Heart Urchin Echinocardium cordatum on the Sediment–Seawater Solute Exchange: An Exclusion Experiment
dc.typeJournal Article
pubs.elements-id560422
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