On the Ecology of Oligochaetes: Monthly Variation of Community Composition and Environmental Characteristics in Two South Carolina Tidal Creeks

• Published in: Estuaries and coasts 2007-04, Vol.30 (2), p.238-252
• Main Authors: Gillett, David J., Holland, A. Frederick, Sanger, Denise M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Ammonia; Animal and plant ecology; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Annelida and closely related phyla: sipuncula. Echiura. Nemertinea; Aquatic life; Biological and medical sciences; Biota; Brackish; Brackish water ecosystems; Community composition; Creeks; Creeks & streams; Dissolved oxygen; Estuaries; Freshwater ecology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Invertebrates; Marine ecology; Monopylephorus rubroniveus; Oligochaeta; Paranais litoralis; Pore water; Salt marshes; Sediment composition; Sediments; Summer; Synecology; Taxa; Tubificoides; Water quality; Watersheds; Wetland ecology; Worms
• ISSN: 1559-2723; 1559-2731
• DOI: 10.1007/BF02700167

In the tidal creeks of the southeastern United States, the numerically and ecologically dominant macrobenthic organisms are typically oligochaetes. Due to their relatively small size and difficult taxonomy, little is known about the shortterm and seasonal changes in the oligochaetes of tidal creeks. This study presents a report of the spatial and temporal changes of the oligochaete taxa within and between two tidal creeks in southern South Carolina, at monthly intervals over a 13-month period. These changes are framed within the reference of ly changes in benthic chlorophyll a, sediment composition, and porewater ammonia, as well as in the perspective of seasonal changes in the entire tidal creek macrobenthic community. The most abundant oligochaete found in this study was the tubificid Monopylephorus rubroniveus, followed by the naid Paranais litoralis and the tubificids Tubificoides heterochaetus and T. brownae. All of the oligochaetes exhibited strong month-to-month and spatial changes, indicative of changes in water quality and sediment habitat characteristics (e.g., low dissolved oxygen, high benthic chlorophyll a). There were significant correlations between the abundance of most species and either benthic chlorophyll a concentration or the silt-clay fraction of the sediment. Looking at short-term changes in this rapidly changing component of the macrobenthic community provides insight not only into the ecology of the oligochaetes, but also into the changes in the tidal creek ecosystem and their potential effects on other biota.