Abstract
Abundance measurements of benthic macroinfauna were measured in conjunction with field-deployed sediment oxygen demand chambers at four sites on the Chandeleur Sound side of the Chandeleur Islands in the Fall and Summer of 2015 and 2016. Cores (15 cm diameter, 15 cm depth) were collected after each sediment oxygen demand measurement was completed in the field, and additional cores were collected for infauna only (with no SOD measurement; either 10 or 15 cm diameter; 15 cm depth). Each sediment core was sieved using 0.5 mm mesh. Each sample was preserved in 95% ethanol and Rose Bengal stain. All organisms that were alive upon collection and therefor stained were picked out using a dissecting microscope, and placed into separate vials with 95% ethanol for preservation. Animals were identified to lowest taxonomic classification possible, and abundance and was calculated. Abundance was also calculated for taxa grouped into functional groups (motile carnivorous polychaetes, motile subsurface deposit feeding polychaetes, sessile surface deposit feeding polychaetes, motile omnivorous polychaetes, large discretely motile subsurface deposit feeding polychaetes, tube-dwelling subsurface deposit feeding polychaetes, tube-dwelling omnivorous polychaetes, sessile suspension feeding polychaetes, crabs, amphipods and isopods, burrowing crustaceans, non-burrowing shrimp, surface deposit feeding bivalves, motile suspension feeding bivalves, sessile subsurface deposit feeding molluscs, snails, brittle stars, sea cucumbers, and others). These functional groups were based on size (interstitial, small, medium, or large), habitat (pelagic, epifaunal, infaunal, or symbiotic), motility (motile, discretely motile, or sessile), feeding (micro-suspension, micro-surface deposit, micro-subsurface deposit, funnel feeder, macro-herbivore, macro-carnivore, omnivore, osmotroph, parasitic, or alternates), and food delivery (tentacles-palps-tubefeet, mucus net, muscular eversible pharynx, non-muscular eversible pharynx, ramified or lamellar surfaces, other, siphonate, asiphonate, claws, filtering, or radula). This grouping allowed for clearer interpretation of sediment oxygen demand data. These data are associated with the datasets: Sediment oxygen demand in shallow water habitats around the Chandeleur Islands in 2015 and 2016 and Macroinfaunal abundance in shallow water habitats around the Chandeleur Islands in 2015 and 2016.
Purpose
Infaunal samples were collected from oiled and unoiled sites in seagrass (Ruppia and Thalassia) and open sediment habitats to determine whether infaunal community structure had recovered from oil exposure during the Deepwater Horizon spill. Metrics of diversity and NMDS analysis were conducted to determine whether communities differed significantly between heavily and lightly oiled sites as well as among habitats. These data were collected as part of the ACER consortium.
DOI: doi:10.7266/N7RV0KS6
Suggested Citation
Kelly Dorgan, Sarah Berke. 2017. Macroinfaunal functional group analysis in shallow water habitats around the Chandeleur Islands in 2015 and 2016. Distributed by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative Information and Data Cooperative (GRIIDC), Harte Research Institute, Texas A&M University–Corpus Christi. doi:10.7266/N7RV0KS6
Funded by: Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GoMRI)
Funding cycle: RFP-IV
Research group: Alabama Center for Ecological Resilience (ACER)
