Short-term variability of intertidal microphytobenthic production using an oxygen microprofiling system
Lionel Denis A B and Pierre-Emmanuel Desreumaux AA Université Lille Nord de France, Unité Mixte de Recherche Université Lille 1 Sciences et Technologies – Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique 8187 Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, Station Marine de Wimereux, 28, Avenue Foch, 62930 Wimereux, France.
B Corresponding author. Email: lionel.denis@univ-lille1.fr
Marine and Freshwater Research 60(7) 712-726 https://doi.org/10.1071/MF08070
Submitted: 1 March 2008 Accepted: 6 March 2009 Published: 28 July 2009
Abstract
Despite their high productivity and their key role in coastal processes, intertidal areas remain poorly documented because alternating conditions of sediment-water and sediment-air interfaces result in inaccurate temporal estimations of interfacial carbon exchanges. This study describes the short-term variability of microphytobenthic production in an estuarine mudflat (the Canche estuary of the English Channel) by using an autonomous acquisition system for oxygen microprofiles. More than 240 profiles were measured at low and high tide during three deployments performed within a 3-week period (April–May 2007). Additional measurements characterised the surficial sediments (granulometry, porosity, chlorophyll a, temperature, salinity) and incident light. Depth-integrated gross production values were correlated with light intensity and reached up to 146 mg C m–2 h–1, while the turbidity of the overlying water prevented any primary production during immersion. Photosynthesis–irradiance curves were highly variable between field campaigns. Indeed, we have recorded a drastic reduction in microphytobenthic production, which might result from a pulse input of polychaete juveniles (Lanice conchilega). Ephemeral structures, such as invertebrate tubes, are seldom considered as factors that may influence the variability of benthic primary production. Monitoring oxygen microprofiles may be a useful tool for understanding and quantifying the impact of short-term temporal changes on the budgets of microphytobenthic production.
Additional keywords: English Channel, estuarine mudflats, macrofauna, oxygen miniprofiler.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the IASWS 2008 organising committee for accepting their paper for presentation at the Symposium. The authors thank the Guest Editor, the Editor, and two anonymous reviewers for their detailed comments, which greatly improved the quality of this manuscript. We are also grateful to L. Wild for her help with correcting the language, J.-M. Dewarumez and A. Foveau who helped in the determination of juvenile polychaetes, V. Spika, S. Lesourd and A. Hequette for granulometric analyses, and N. Spilmont and F. Gevaert for enriching discussions. This project was funded by the Contrat de Plan Etat-Région projects ‘Phaeocystis Bloom’ and ‘Ecosystèmes Perturbés du Littoral’, as well as the Bonus Qualité Recherche ‘Production primaire et dégradation de la matière organique dans les sédiments intertidaux: mesures in situ automatisées’ of the University Lille 1.
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