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Mudflat Ecology pp 149–168Cite as

The Upper Living Levels: Invertebrate Macrofauna

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Part of the book series: Aquatic Ecology Series ((AQEC,volume 7))

Abstract

Mudflats provide a suitable habitat for a functionally diverse invertebrate macrofauna community that can cope with the high variability in sediment physico-chemical conditions associated with the tidal regime. The most common macrofaunal taxonomic groups are annelids, molluscs and crustaceans. Macrofauna are usually the link from primary producers, meiofauna, and detritus to higher trophic levels like wading birds and epibenthic fish that forage in mudflats. Behavioral activities related to macrofauna feeding, burrowing and respiration alter biogeochemistry and mudflat sediment dynamics and are thus of paramount importance for the cycling of energy and matter in mudflats from estuaries, mangroves and coastal lagoons. Variability in abiotic and biotic interactions structures macrofauna communities in space and time and hence defines the influence macrofauna has on the diversity and functioning of the wider ecosystem through direct and indirect interactions.

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  1. Marine Biology Research Group, Department of Biology, University of Ghent, Ghent, Belgium

    Carl Van Colen

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Correspondence to Carl Van Colen .

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  1. MMS, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Nantes, Nantes, France

    Peter G. Beninger

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Van Colen, C. (2018). The Upper Living Levels: Invertebrate Macrofauna. In: Beninger, P. (eds) Mudflat Ecology. Aquatic Ecology Series, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-99194-8_6

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