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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 57(2)

Effects of Lyngbya majuscula (Cyanophycea) blooms on sediment nutrients and meiofaunal assemblages in seagrass beds in Moreton Bay, Australia

Rosa García A B C and Ron W. Johnstone A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A The Centre for Marine Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia.

B Present address: Ocean Laboratory, School of Engineering and Science, International University of Bremen, Campus Ring 1, 28759 Bremen, Germany.

C Corresponding author. Email: r.novoa@iu-bremen.de

Marine and Freshwater Research 57(2) 155-165 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF05053
Submitted: 26 March 2005  Accepted: 4 January 2006   Published: 16 February 2006

Abstract

Blooms of Lyngbya majuscula have been increasingly recorded in the waters of Moreton Bay, on the south-east coast of Queensland, Australia. The influences of these blooms on sediment infauna and the implications for sediment biogeochemical processes was studied. Sediment samples were taken from Moreton Bay banks during and after the bloom season. The deposition of L. majuscula seems to be responsible for the higher total Kjedahl nitrogen (TKN) concentrations measured during the bloom period. Total organic carbon (TOC) concentrations did not change. Lyngbya majuscula blooms had a marked influence on the meiobenthos. Nematodes, copepods and polychaetes were the most abundant groups of meiofauna, and the bloom produced a decrease in the abundance and a change in the sediment depth distribution of these organisms. The distribution of nematodes, copepods and polychaetes in sediment became shallower. Further, the bloom did not affect the abundance and distribution of polychaetes as strongly as it did copepods and nematodes. The changes observed in the distribution of meiofauna in the sediment during the bloom period indicate that L. majuscula produces oxygen depletion in sediments, and that different fauna seem to be affected to different degrees.

Extra keywords: meiofauna, toxic bloom.


Acknowledgments

This research was sponsored by SEQ Regional Water Quality Management Strategy Office, Brisbane City Council: Lyngbya project. The authors thank Jose Luís Rueda Ruíz from the University of Queensland, Zoology Department, for his invaluable assistance with MDS analysis; Chris Roelfsema from the University of Queensland, Centre for Marine Studies (Marine Botany group) for providing a digitalised map of the study area; Dr John Healy from the University of Queensland, Centre for Marine Studies, for his comments on the manuscript and English revisions, Terence Edwards for his English revisions, and the managers of the Moreton Bay Research Station for logistical support.


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