| one publication added to basket [41341] | Ecology of macrobenthos in the shallow coastal areas of Tewalit (Massawa), Ethiopia
Melake, K. (1993). Ecology of macrobenthos in the shallow coastal areas of Tewalit (Massawa), Ethiopia. J. Mar. Syst. 4(1): 31-44
In: Journal of Marine Systems. Elsevier: Tokyo; Oxford; New York; Amsterdam. ISSN 0924-7963; e-ISSN 1879-1573, meer
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| Abstract |
The ecology of the macrobenthos was investigated around the shallow coastal area of Tewalit (Massawa), at three sites from October 1986 to April 1987. A total of 43 taxa and 8 major groups were encountered. Polychaetes were most abundant. Depth, sediment grain size and sediment organic matter content influenced the abundance, distribution and composition of the benthos. Temperature had no effect. The macrobenthos had high species diversity, high biomass diversity and high equatability but no dominance. Quantitatively, seven general associations of macrofauna were identified. Benthic assemblages were not similar between study sites. Faunal biomass was relatively higher than secondary production. Estimated total biomaass over all the study area, was 56.69 g m-2 (dry wt.) and total production was 3.56 g m-2 0.5 year -1. Turnover rate was 0.82. Generally, the Tewalit coastal area is characterized by low secondary productivity. |
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