Community Structure and Abundance of Benthic Infaunal Invertebrates in Maine Fringing Marsh Ecosystems

Abstract

Fringing marshes are abundant ecosystems that dominate the New England coastline. Despite their abundance, very little baseline data is available from them and few studies have documented the ecosystems services that they provide. This information is important for conservation efforts as well as for an increased understanding of how fringing marshes function compared to larger marsh meadow systems. Benthic infaunal invertebrates were sampled from cores collected from Spartina alterniflora-dominated low marsh, Spartina patens-dominated high marsh, and Phragmites australis-invaded high marsh zones of nine fringing marsh ecosystems in Casco Bay, Maine, USA. Infaunal densities and biomass were generally higher in low marsh than high marsh or P. australis cores. Invertebrate community structure was significantly different between low marsh and high marsh and P. australis cores, which was attributed to significantly higher pore water salinity, lower organic matter, total plant percent cover, and S. patens cover in low marsh zones. There were no differences in invertebrate densities, biomass, or community structure when high marsh and P. australis cores were compared. Invertebrate densities and community structure were dominated by oligochaetes in all zones. Oligochaetes were also an important component of infaunal biomass, but the less abundant and larger invertebrates such as green crabs, tanaids, and bivalves were also large contributors to biomass in the low marsh zone. Low marsh invertebrate communities were characterized by significantly higher densities of nematodes, Nereis virens, an unidentified oligochaete, the bivalves Gemma gemma and Mya arenaria, and Leptochelia rapax. High marsh invertebrate communities were characterized by higher densities of insects, specifically Culicoides sp. ceratopogonid larvae and Anurida maritima, as well as an unidentified species of mite. Our results revealed a diverse and abundant infaunal invertebrate community that likely supports similar ecosystem services in fringing marshes as invertebrates in larger marsh meadows.

Strong zonation of benthic communities across a tidal freshwater height gradient

“…While we predicted that compounding abiotic and predation pressure would limit invertebrate community diversity in tidal freshwaters, taxonomic richness generally increased with increasing tidal height. High tidal freshwater wetlands may represent a peak in ecotonal diversity, which is commonly observed in aquatic–terrestrial transition zones (Décamps & Naiman, ; MacKenzie, Dionne, Miller, Haas, & Morgan, ; Tonkin, Stoll, Jähnig, & Haase, ), and at the nexus of other adjoining ecosystem types (Grytnes, Heegaard, & Ihlen, ; Magura, ), as many taxa were found only at these sites. These taxa included many semi‐aquatic or littoral specialists (sensu Merritt et al., ) that may use these sites during the ebb tide and may experience prolonged inundation as a stressor.…”

Crane flies (Diptera, Tipuloidea) from southern Neotropical salt marshes: survey with DNA barcoding

“…Contente et al, 2010;Campos et al, 2015), polychaetes, crustaceans (e.g. Mackenzie et al, 2015) and birds (e.g. Britto & Bugoni, 2015), but there are rare studies on insect groups conducted at these environments (see Giberson et al, 2001;Mackenzie, 2005;Dummel et al, 2011;Bolico et al, 2012;Gantes et al, 2013;Rodrigues et al, 2017).…”

Invertebrate Community Composition Across Inundation Regimes and Its Potential to Reduce Plant Stress

“…Generally higher abundance and diversity has been reported for low marsh and tide flats due to receiving higher rates of deposited food sources and frequent inundation with supply of larvae (specifically planktonic) from nearby intact marshes (Mackenzie et al 2015, Tanner et al 2002, Kneib 1984. Overall, marine invertebrate community composition has been shown to resemble nearby reference marsh community within 3-4 years (Moy and Levin 1991, Levin et al 1996, Ray 2000, French 2004) though some deviations from this have been reported for marshes in Connecticut, which took several decades (11-21 years) to restore invertebrate community (Warren et al 2002).…”

“…These invertebrates are important components of estuary communities, influencing overall marsh productivity and food web health. Many species of invertebrates, like the tube-dwelling Polychaeta worms stabilize deposited sediments (MacKenzie et al 2015). Species of Amphipoda consume plant materials (Levin et al 2001), promote decomposition (Henriksen et al 1983) and provide dissolved food resources for filter feeders (MacKenzie et al 2015).…”

“…Many of these invertebrates are often prey organisms for higher trophic level marsh animals. High tide predators such as fish and crustaceans, and low tide predators like wading and shore birds, depend on the abundance and diversity of invertebrates that occupy the sediments across a range of marsh elevations (MacKenzie et al 2015, Warren et al 2002.…”