Effects of hypoxia on the trophic structure of the polychaete communities in the northern Gulf of Mexico

摘要: Annelid polychaetes are the most abundant marine benthic invertebrates; they play significant functional roles in any aquatic system. Among many roles, their feeding mode promotes transfer of energy to next trophic level. Polychaetes exhibit five different guilds: herbivores, carnivores, filter-feeders, surface deposit feeders, and subsurface feeders. The predominance a depends on abiotic factors such as rates sedimentation, sediment type, organic carbon content, matter availability within sediments, redox potential, biochemical oxygen consumption. This study investigates polychaete community structure guild pattern four provinces with varying hypoxia frequency history northern Gulf Mexico. Macrobenthos samples were collected during September 2009 from Mexico between Atchafalaya Mississippi Rivers effect pattern, abundance species diversity. dominated by at all provinces; more than 28 families represented. diversity data compared properties grain size, concentration, sedimentation rate, help explain variability biological among using principal component analysis (PCA). statistically analyzed for richness Shannon-Wiener index. Bray-Curtis cluster was performed determine similarity communities.