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Is the 'muddy heterogeneous sediment assemblage' an ecotone between the pebbles community and the Abra alba community in the Southern Bight of the North Sea?
Dewarumez, J.-M.; Davoult, D.; Sanvicente-Añorve, L.E.; Frontier, S. (1992). Is the 'muddy heterogeneous sediment assemblage' an ecotone between the pebbles community and the Abra alba community in the Southern Bight of the North Sea? Neth. J. Sea Res. 30: 229-238. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0077-7579(92)90061-I
In: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ): Groningen; Den Burg. ISSN 0077-7579; e-ISSN 1873-1406
Also appears in:
Heip, C.H.R.; Nienhuis, P.H.; Pollen-Lindeboom, P.R. (Ed.) (1992). Proceedings of the 26th European Marine Biology Symposium: Biological effects of disturbances on estuarine and coastal marine environments, 17-21 September 1991, Yerseke, The Netherlands. European Marine Biology Symposia, 26. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research, 30. 299 pp., more
Peer reviewed article  
Available in  Authors 
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Keyword
    Marine/Coastal
Authors  Top 
  • Dewarumez, J.-M.
  • Davoult, D.
  • Sanvicente-Añorve, L.E.
  • Frontier, S.
Abstract
    Three assemblages of the Southern Bight of the North Sea seem to constitute a special system of two adjoining communities separated by an ecotone. The specific trait of the middle assemblage, established on a muddy heterogeneous sediment, resembles the pebbles community in its western part and the Abra alba community in its eastern part. The pebbles community is dominated by epifauna (sessile and mobile species) and the Abra alba community is dominated by infauna. The bionomic and trophic structures of the 'muddy heterogeneous sediment assemblage' are a combination. This assemblage is composed of suspension feeders and deposit feeders, whereas the pebbles community is dominated by suspension feeders and the Abra alba community by deposit feeders. A comparison of the development of the Abra alba and the muddy heterogeneous assemblages during an eleven-year period shows that both assemblages have evolved in the same way. They show a bionomical stability during the same period, simultaneous bionomical changes, and recruitments of the same species at the same time. These parallel evolvements indicate that the muddy heterogeneous sediment assemblage can be considered an ecotone between the Abra alba and the pebbles communities.
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