Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments
Ecosystem functions are driven by abiotic and biotic factors, but due to high collinearity of both, it is often difficult to disentangle the drivers of these ecosystem functions. We studied sedimentological and faunal controls of benthic organic matter mineralization, a crucial ecosystem process pro...
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ftnioz:oai:imis.nioz.nl:333663 2023-05-15T17:41:29+02:00 Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments Toussaint, E. De Borger, E. Braeckman, U. De Backer, A. Soetaert, K. Vanaverbeke, J. 2021 http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=333663 en eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000617681100085 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144994 http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=333663 info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess %3Ci%3ESci.+Total+Environ.+767%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+144994.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.scitotenv.2021.144994%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.scitotenv.2021.144994%3C%2Fa%3E Bioturbation Macrobenthos info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion 2021 ftnioz https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144994 2022-05-01T14:13:32Z Ecosystem functions are driven by abiotic and biotic factors, but due to high collinearity of both, it is often difficult to disentangle the drivers of these ecosystem functions. We studied sedimentological and faunal controls of benthic organic matter mineralization, a crucial ecosystem process provided for by sediments of shelf seas. Subtidal benthic habitats representative of the wide permeability gradient found in the Belgian Part of the North Sea (Northeast Atlantic Shelf) were characterized in terms of sediment descriptors, macrofauna, and sediment biogeochemistry was estimated. Our results confirmed a strong correlation between sediment characteristics and macrofauna, and estimated sediment biogeochemical process rates were clearly linked to both. Results of variance partitioning and statistical modelling showed that oxic mineralization and nitrification were mainly regulated by faunal activities whereas anoxic mineralization was regulated by sediment properties, with permeability as a decisive factor. Both biotic and abiotic factors were needed to explain variability in oxygen consumption and total mineralization estimates, suggesting that macrofaunal activities have different effects across habitats. The statistical models were a useful tool to interpret the impact of anthropogenic activities in the study area and represent a step towards predicting the effects of human activities on crucial ecosystem functions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northeast Atlantic NIOZ Repository (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) Science of The Total Environment 767 144994 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
NIOZ Repository (Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftnioz |
language |
English |
topic |
Bioturbation Macrobenthos |
spellingShingle |
Bioturbation Macrobenthos Toussaint, E. De Borger, E. Braeckman, U. De Backer, A. Soetaert, K. Vanaverbeke, J. Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments |
topic_facet |
Bioturbation Macrobenthos |
description |
Ecosystem functions are driven by abiotic and biotic factors, but due to high collinearity of both, it is often difficult to disentangle the drivers of these ecosystem functions. We studied sedimentological and faunal controls of benthic organic matter mineralization, a crucial ecosystem process provided for by sediments of shelf seas. Subtidal benthic habitats representative of the wide permeability gradient found in the Belgian Part of the North Sea (Northeast Atlantic Shelf) were characterized in terms of sediment descriptors, macrofauna, and sediment biogeochemistry was estimated. Our results confirmed a strong correlation between sediment characteristics and macrofauna, and estimated sediment biogeochemical process rates were clearly linked to both. Results of variance partitioning and statistical modelling showed that oxic mineralization and nitrification were mainly regulated by faunal activities whereas anoxic mineralization was regulated by sediment properties, with permeability as a decisive factor. Both biotic and abiotic factors were needed to explain variability in oxygen consumption and total mineralization estimates, suggesting that macrofaunal activities have different effects across habitats. The statistical models were a useful tool to interpret the impact of anthropogenic activities in the study area and represent a step towards predicting the effects of human activities on crucial ecosystem functions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Toussaint, E. De Borger, E. Braeckman, U. De Backer, A. Soetaert, K. Vanaverbeke, J. |
author_facet |
Toussaint, E. De Borger, E. Braeckman, U. De Backer, A. Soetaert, K. Vanaverbeke, J. |
author_sort |
Toussaint, E. |
title |
Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments |
title_short |
Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments |
title_full |
Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments |
title_fullStr |
Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments |
title_full_unstemmed |
Faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow North Sea sediments |
title_sort |
faunal and environmental drivers of carbon and nitrogen cycling along a permeability gradient in shallow north sea sediments |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=333663 |
genre |
Northeast Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Northeast Atlantic |
op_source |
%3Ci%3ESci.+Total+Environ.+767%3C%2Fi%3E%3A+144994.+%3Ca+href%3D%22https%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.scitotenv.2021.144994%22+target%3D%22_blank%22%3Ehttps%3A%2F%2Fdx.doi.org%2F10.1016%2Fj.scitotenv.2021.144994%3C%2Fa%3E |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/000617681100085 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144994 http://imis.nioz.nl/imis.php?module=ref&refid=333663 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/closedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.144994 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
767 |
container_start_page |
144994 |
_version_ |
1766143060508409856 |