Abstract
A survey of the benthic infauna (macro- and mesofauna) in tidal flats of Hinchinbrook Channel, north-east Australia, was carried out to assess the species diversity and individual abundances as well as their temporal variations. Two sites were surveyed at five occassions from November 1988 to October 1991. In addition, spatial distributions over the intertidal gradient were investigated once in May 1990. During the entire survey, over 200 species were recorded, with 53 species found on average at each sampling occassion. Species densities ranged from 4.0 to 8.2 species 177 cm-2 for macrofauna and from 4.1 to 11.8 species 10 cm-2 for mesofauna, but varied little between sites. The average infaunal diversity (H') was 2.53. Individual abundances reached median values of 14.0 individuals 177 cm-2 for macrofauna and 14.5 individuals 10 cm-2 for mesofauna. Changes in total abundances were not related to season and inconsistent at the two study sites, with significantly higher abundances occurring either at site A or B on single sampling dates. Transects sampled in May 1990 showed varying species compositions and abundances in the upper, mid and lower intertidal, but no defined benthic communities were revealed by multivariate analyses. Temporal variations in the benthic assemblages of the two tidal flats in Hinchinbrook Channel were higher than variations between sites, with a separation of assemblages before and after 1989. Problems to assess and interpret temporal changes in species rich tropical benthic communities are discussed.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 323-333 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Wetlands Ecology and Management |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2002 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Benthic communities
- Distribution patterns
- Macrofauna
- Mesofauna
- Tidal flats
- Tropics