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Response of zoobenthic communities to changing eutrophication in the northern Baltic Sea

  • Conference paper
Biodiversity in Enclosed Seas and Artificial Marine Habitats

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 193))

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Abstract

The relationships between the concentration of water nutrients and the biomass of benthic invertebrate feeding guilds were examined at 46 sites in the northern Baltic Sea during 1993–2003. We analysed whether and how degree of exposure, presence of fronts, salinity, hypoxia, nutrient concentrations, depth, sediment type and structure of invertebrate communities contributed to these relationships. In general macrozoobenthos did not respond to the changing nutrient concentrations in the areas that were regularly impacted by fronts (river estuaries, bank slopes, straits). Macrobenthic species diversity, depth, 11-year average of nutrient concentration and sediment type explained best how strong the nutrient-invertebrate relationships were. The deposit feeders, that inhabited more diverse communities, were less sensitive to the increased concentration of nutrients than those in less diverse communities. On the other hand, the sensitivity of suspension feeders to rising nutrient load increased with benthic diversity. The response of macrozoobenthos to nitrogen level decreased with increasing depth. Our data did not support the hypothesis that there was a significant difference in the occurrence of nutrient-invertebrate relationships between hypoxic and normoxic conditions. The probability of finding negative nutrient-invertebrate relationships increased with depth. The results pointed to nitrogen limitation in the coarse and fine sediments and phosphorus limitation in the mixed sediments. Increased nitrogen values strengthened the response of suspension feeders to the concentration of phosphorus. Increasing phosphorus level dampened the relationships between benthic functions and concentration of phosphorus. This study confirmed that depth and sediment type were the best regularly monitored abiotic variables that could be used to determine the type areas within the northern Baltic Sea in sensu the European Community Water Framework Directive. As the nutrient-invertebrate relationships were significantly modified by macrobenthic diversity, the environmental classification should incorporate specific biological measures such as benthic diversity in order to better describe the quality status of the water body.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Estonian Marine Institute, University of Tartu, Mäealuse 10 a, 12618, Tallinn, Estonia

    Jonne Kotta, Velda Lauringson & Ilmar Kotta

  2. Institute of Zoology and Hydrobiology, University of Tartu, Vanemuise 46, 51014, Tartu, Estonia

    Velda Lauringson

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  1. Jonne Kotta
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  2. Velda Lauringson
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  3. Ilmar Kotta
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Correspondence to Jonne Kotta .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratori di Biologia Marina ed Ecologia Animale, DIP.TE.RIS., Università di Genova, Corso Europa 26, 16132, Genova, Italy

    G. Relini

  2. Biological Sciences, University of Wales Swansea, Wallace Building, Swansea, SA2 8PP, Wales, UK

    J. Ryland (Emeritus Professor of Marine Biology) (Emeritus Professor of Marine Biology)

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Kotta, J., Lauringson, V., Kotta, I. (2007). Response of zoobenthic communities to changing eutrophication in the northern Baltic Sea. In: Relini, G., Ryland, J. (eds) Biodiversity in Enclosed Seas and Artificial Marine Habitats. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 193. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-6156-1_8

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