| Type |
Article |
| Date |
2004 |
| Language |
English |
| Author(s) |
Leguerrier D, Niquil Nathalie, Petiau A, Bodoy Alain |
| Affiliation(s) |
Univ La Rochelle, CNRS, FRE 2727, Lab Biol & Environm Marins, F-17042 La Rochelle 1, France.
CREMA, UMR 10, CNRS, IFREMER, F-17137 Lhoumeau, France. |
| Source |
Marine Ecology Progress Series (0171-8630) (Inter-research), 2004 , Vol. 273 , P. 147-161 |
| WOS© Times Cited |
48 |
| Keyword(s) |
carbon flux, inverse analysis, food web, network analysis, bivalve culture |
| Abstract |
We used a carbon-based food web model to investigate the effects of oyster cultivation on the ecosystem of an intertidal mudflat. A previously published food web model of a mudflat in Marennes-Oleron Bay, France, was updated with revised parameters, and a realistic surface area and density of existing oyster cultures on the mudflat. We developed 2 hypothetical scenarios to estimate the impact of oyster cultivation on the food web structure of the ecosystem: one with no oysters, the other with a doubled area devoted to cultivated oysters in the bay. Oysters are direct trophic competitors of other filter feeders, and their presence modifies benthic-pelagic coupling by forcing a shift from pelagic consumers to benthic consumers. Increasing the surface area of cultivated oysters caused secondary production to increase, providing food for top predators (in particular juvenile nekton), reinforcing the nursery role of the mudflat in the ecosystem, and altering the species composition available to the top predators. |
| Full Text |
| File |
Pages |
Size |
Access |
| 7583.pdf |
4 |
49 KB |
Open access |
|
