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Response of infaunal macrobenthos to the sediment granulometry in a tropical continental margine southwest coast of India

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Response of infaunal macrobenthos to the sediment granulometry in a tropical continental margine southwest coast of India
 
Creator Jayaraj, K.A.
Sheeba, P.
Jacob, J.
Revichandran, C.
Arun, P.K.
Praseeda, K.S.
Nisha, P.A.
Rasheed, K.A.
 
Subject benthos
oceanic response
sediments
granulometry
tropical environment
continental margins
biomass
grain size
 
Description Surficial sediment samples, collected from the continental margin of the southwest coast of India in July 2004, were examined for the grain size and soft-bottom macrobenthic fauna, to understand the sediment granulometry and its effect on the faunal distribution. Samples were collected using Smith-McIntyre Grab, from 20 to 200 m depth range, consisting of mid-shelf, outer shelf and slope. Fine-grained sediment located in the mid shelf and supported low faunal abundance. Polychaetes constituted the bulk of the fauna. Feeding guild changed with depth and sediment granulometry. Coexistence of deposit feeders and carnivores in outer shelf and deposit feeders and filter feeders in the slope region indicated the effective utilization of different food resources. In general, richness and diversity were high in the southern region. Depth wise, the diversity and abundance were relatively high in the 50-75 m depth range. Correlation and BIO-ENVanalysis showed that combination of different factors such as sediment texture, sediment sorting and depth were found to influence the distribution of macrobenthos. Hence, spatial variations observed in benthic community were presumably linked to the variations in sediment granulometry and the energy level conditions prevailing in the area.
 
Date 2008-05-01T12:01:52Z
2008-05-01T12:01:52Z
2008
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, Vol.77; 743-754p.
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/1072
 
Language en
 
Rights Copyright [2008]. It is tried to respect the copyright. If it is brought to our notice that the rights are violated then the item would be withdrawn.
 
Publisher Elsevier