Assessing the role of benthic filter feeders in in the food web of the Gulf of Gdansk (Sothern Baltic) – an Ecopath with Ecosim exercise
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1
National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Poland
Benthic filter feeders are an important link in energy and matter flow between pelagic and benthic part of the ecosystem. Their role is particularly important in highly eutrophicated water bodies, where they may control phytoplankton biomass. On the other hand, benthic organisms are important part of benthivorous fish diet and may affect the availability of food for zooplankton. Possible changes in the biomass of benthic filter feeders due to changes in environmental conditions, changes in the structure of the food web or the appearance of alien species may cause effects on different trophic levels of the ecosystem.
The analysis of biomass changes of individual food web elements in the Gulf of Gdansk (Southern Baltic) in response to various scenarios of filter feeders biomass was carried out using the dynamic Ecosim model. This model is based on the Ecopath trophic model constructed for the biomass values of individual ecosystem components observed in 2004-2006. The model is composed of 17 groups, including detritus. The pelagic part consists of fish (cod, flounder, herring, sprat, other predatory fish, other non-predatory fish, and round goby), zoo- and phytoplankton. Benthos is represented by four groups (deposit feeders, predators, filter feeders and meiofauna). The model was also completed by piscivorous and benthivorous birds.
Subsequent runs of the Ecosim model were carried out for different biomass values of benthic filter feeders, starting with a drastic decrease through intermediate states to a fourfold increase in biomass in relation to the real values observed in 2004-2006 period. In addition, model runs were carried out at a set of vulnerability values to simulate different control mechanisms (top-down vs bottom-up).
The simulations carried out for the period 2017-2050 showed a significant effect of benthic filter feeders biomass change biomass on the other elements of the food web. It concerned not only those groups of organisms directly affected by filtrators (phytoplankton) and those for whom this group of organisms is food (benthivorous fish) but also elements more distant trophic levels such as herring or sprat.
Acknowledgements
This work resulted from the BONUS BLUEWEBS project which has
received funding from BONUS (Art 185), funded jointly by the EU, the
Academy of Finland, Projektträger Jülich (PtJ), Germany, the State Education
Development Agency of Latvia, the National Centre for Research
and Development, Poland, and the Swedish Research Council Formas.
Keywords:
Benthic filter feeder,
Gulf of Gdanńsk,
food web,
modelling,
Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE)
Conference:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) , Braga, Portugal, 9 Sep - 12 Sep, 2019.
Presentation Type:
Poster Presentation
Topic:
Oceanography, Modelling and Dynamics of Ecosystems
Citation:
Drgas
A and
Całkiewicz
J
(2019). Assessing the role of benthic filter feeders in in the food web of the Gulf of Gdansk (Sothern Baltic) – an Ecopath with Ecosim exercise.
Front. Mar. Sci.
Conference Abstract:
XX Iberian Symposium on Marine Biology Studies (SIEBM XX) .
doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2019.08.00040
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Received:
13 May 2019;
Published Online:
27 Sep 2019.
*
Correspondence:
Dr. Aleksander Drgas, National Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Gdynia, Poland, adrgas@mir.gdynia.pl