Role of suction in sandy beach habitats and the distributions of three amphipod and isopod species

Sassa, Shinji; Yang, Sung-Kee; Watabe, Yoichi; Kajihara, Naoto; Takada, Yoshitake

doi:10.1016/j.seares.2013.06.005

Cited by 35 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…The low density of the sediment reflects a high water content and soft substrate; however, sediment density does not directly reflect substrate hardness. A unique and important feature of the vane shear testing employed in this study is that the method is capable of measuring the hardness of sediment in an undisturbed state (Sassa et al, ), thereby guaranteeing that the vane shear strength yields a better representation of the benthic environment compared with other measurement methods such as digital force gauges and cone penetrometers (Takada et al, ). Our in situ measurement results therefore confirm that sediment mixing by E. cordatum affects substrate hardness.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lasting Impact of a Tsunami Event on Sediment‐Organism Interactions in the Ocean

et al. 2018

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Although tsunami sedimentation is a short‐term phenomenon, it may control the long‐term benthic environment by altering seafloor surface characteristics such as topography and grain‐size composition. By analyzing sediment cores, we investigated the long‐term effect of the 2011 tsunami generated by the Tohoku Earthquake off the Pacific coast of Japan on sediment mixing (bioturbation) by an important ecosystem engineer, the heart urchin Echinocardium cordatum. Recent tsunami deposits allow accurate estimation of the depth of current bioturbation by E. cordatum, because there are no preexisting burrows in the sediments. The in situ hardness of the substrate decreased significantly with increasing abundance of E. cordatum, suggesting that echinoid bioturbation softens the seafloor sediment. Sediment‐core analysis revealed that this echinoid rarely burrows into the coarser‐grained (medium‐grained to coarse‐grained) sandy layer deposited by the 2011 tsunami; thus, the vertical grain‐size distribution resulting from tsunami sedimentation controls the depth of E. cordatum bioturbation. As sandy tsunami layers are preserved in the seafloor substrate, their restriction on bioturbation continues for an extended period. The results demonstrate that understanding the effects on seafloor processes of extreme natural events that occur on geological timescales, including tsunami events, is important in revealing continuing interactions between seafloor sediments and marine benthic invertebrates.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lasting Impact of a Tsunami Event on Sediment‐Organism Interactions in the Ocean

et al. 2018

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“…In the present study, factors that affect the vertical distribution range of the assemblages were not considered. Recent studies suggest that suction and other related properties of the sediment affect the range of vertical distribution of sandy beach peracarids (Kajihara & Takada 2008, Sassa et al 2014. Suction is defined as the negative pore water pressure of the sediment relative to atmospheric air pressure, which is critical to control sediment hardness, compaction, and moisture on sandy beaches (Sassa et al 2014).…”

Section: Environmental Factors and Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent studies suggest that suction and other related properties of the sediment affect the range of vertical distribution of sandy beach peracarids (Kajihara & Takada 2008, Sassa et al 2014. Suction is defined as the negative pore water pressure of the sediment relative to atmospheric air pressure, which is critical to control sediment hardness, compaction, and moisture on sandy beaches (Sassa et al 2014). A physical background for the three-zone scheme (McLachlan & Jaramillo 1995) is physical zonation based on interstitial water content (Pollock & Hummon 1971), so suction can be a fundamental factor of zonation on sandy beaches.…”

Section: Environmental Factors and Assemblagesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zonation of macrofaunal assemblages on microtidal sandy beaches along the Japan Sea coast of Honshu

Takada

Kajihara

Iseki

et al. 2016

Plankton Benthos Res

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Zonation has been a major focus of intertidal ecology. In general, sandy beaches are thought to have three zones (supralittoral, littoral, and sublittoral zones). In the present study, 41 areas of sandy beaches were surveyed along the Japan Sea coast of Honshu (from Aomori to Yamaguchi Prefectures) characterized by a small tidal range, large seasonal fluctuations in the mean tide level, and harsh wind-driven waves in winter, and the applicability of the three-zone scheme was examined. Overall, a total of 316 beach stations were surveyed, 28 taxonomic units were identified, and the most abundant species was the amphipod Haustorioides japonicus. The taxonomic units were grouped using multivariate techniques into a total of 7 assemblages, and the relationship of these assemblages to zonation was examined. Investigation of the indicator species of the 7 assemblages and their vertical position on the beaches showed that one assemblage corresponded to the supralittoral zone (indicators were talitrid amphipods and the isopod Tylos granuliferus). Another assemblage corresponded to the sublittoral zone, and the other five assemblages to the littoral zone. The assemblage of the sublittoral zone tended to disappear on the northern beaches, while one of the littoral assemblages whose indicators included a mysid species, Archaeomysis kokuboi, tended to occur on the northern beaches. Thus, the three-zone scheme can be applied to sandy beaches of the Japan Sea, but there are large variations among the beaches.

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“…Recently, Sassa and Watabe (2007) and Sassa, Watabe, Yang, and Kuwae (2011) demonstrated that the dynamics of suction, associated with tide-and swashinduced fluctuations in groundwater level, play a substantial role in controlling the geophysical environment of habitats. In addition, it has been found that the suction governs suitable and critical conditions for the burrowing activities of diverse intertidal macroinfauna, such as bivalvia, polychaeta, decapoda and amphipoda, the physiological activity of isopoda, and the foraging activity of wading birds dunlin inhabiting intertidal flats and sandy beaches (Kuwae, Miyoshi, Sassa, & Watabe, 2010;Sassa et al, 2011Sassa et al, , 2014Sassa & Watabe, 2008;Sassa & Yang, 2019a, 2019b. Sassa et al (2014) conducted both field studies and controlled laboratory experiments to investigate the role of suction in causing the distributions of the amphipods Haustorioides japonicus and Trinorchestia trinitatis (as Talorchestia brito) and the isopod Excirolana chiltoni.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cross‐shore distributions of peracarid crustaceans after changes in beach morphology: The importance of suction as a key geoenvironmental variable

Yang

Sassa

Takada

2020

Ecological Research

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Recently, it has been shown that suction, which means the tension of moisture in sediments, is responsible for the distribution limits of the amphipods Haustorioides japonicus and Trinorchestia trinitatis and the isopod Excirolana chiltoni. Such effects take place through three distinctive suction‐induced mechanisms, associated with burrowing, physiology and the stability of burrows. Based on this background, in this study, we investigated storm‐induced morphological changes in beach profiles and the associated variations in geoenvironments, namely the suction, the degree of saturation, water content and sediment hardness, of the sandy beach habitats. The associated changes in cross‐shore distributions of the three peracarid crustaceans were also investigated. Field studies were carried out before and after monsoonal storms at two sandy beaches, Maze and Gokahama, located on the Japan Sea coast in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The results showed that the suction‐induced variations of the geophysical environments were universal, irrespective of the storm‐induced morphological changes in the beach profiles. In addition, there were distinct changes in the cross‐shore distributions of the peracarid crustacean populations, associated with the storm‐induced morphological changes. The variations in the developed suction consistently and quantitatively accounted for these distinct changes in the cross‐shore distributions of the peracarid crustaceans, associated with the event‐induced morphological changes. Hence, suction played a crucial role as a key geoenvironmental variable in determining the distribution changes of the three peracarid crustaceans studied, even following the event‐induced morphological changes of the beach profiles.

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Role of suction in sandy beach habitats and the distributions of three amphipod and isopod species

Cited by 35 publications

References 39 publications

Lasting Impact of a Tsunami Event on Sediment‐Organism Interactions in the Ocean

Lasting Impact of a Tsunami Event on Sediment‐Organism Interactions in the Ocean

Zonation of macrofaunal assemblages on microtidal sandy beaches along the Japan Sea coast of Honshu

Cross‐shore distributions of peracarid crustaceans after changes in beach morphology: The importance of suction as a key geoenvironmental variable

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