290
S. Dittmann and J.A. Vargas
American and Australian tidal flat communities. Examples for promotive and
repressive interactions were found in the tidal flats on either side of the
Pacific, although further research is required to assess the relevance of predation and competition in these areas.
The great variety of benthic assemblages in tropical tidal flats within and
between regions illustrated by this comparison can result from site-specific
variations in habitat diversity as well as the presence or absence of certain
"ecosystem engineers". Larger macrobenthic organisms accommodate other
infauna and biotic interactions are probably more important for benthic
community structures in the tropics than is often assumed (Alongi 1987,
1990).
Among the generalities of tropical tidal flat benthos are similarities in life
forms of benthic fauna and similar ecological roles taken by related species.
However, future studies are needed to assess the full range of structural and
functional similarities or dissimilarities in benthic assemblages of tropical
tidal flats before more generalizations can be drawn. Singularities include
site-specific variations in species diversity and abundance. In the Indo-WestPacific, some specific ecological roles exist (e. g. small-scale sediment disturbance and predation by soldier crabs; Dittmann 1993) which have no
equivalents in the east Pacific. Verifying the paradigms derived from studies
in temperate tidal flats, this comparison has revealed a high degree of
similarity of ecological processes at all latitudes.
Acknowledgements. We thank H. Dean and W. Wolff for their helpful comments on the
manuscript. The studies of the first author in northeast Australia were supported by the
German Science Foundation (DFG III 02-Di 396/1-2) and carried out at the Australian
Institute of Marine Science.
References
Alongi DM (1987) Intertidal zonation and seasonality of meiobenthos in tropical
mangrove estuaries. Mar BioI 95:447-458
Alongi DM (1988) Microbial-meiofaunal interrelationships in some tropical intertidal
sediments. J Mar Res 46:349-365
Alongi DM (1989) Ecology of tropical soft-bottom benthos: a review with emphasis on
emerging concepts. Rev BioI Trop 37:85-100
Alongi DM (1990) The ecology of tropical soft-bottom benthic ecosystems. Oceanogr
Mar BioI Annu Rev 28:381-496
Ambrose WG (1984) Role of predatory infauna in structuring soft-bottom communities.
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 17:109-115
Beukema II (1976) Biomass and species richness of the macro-benthic animals living on
the tidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Neth J Sea Res 10:236-261
Christy JH, Goshima S, Backwell PRY, Kreuter TJ (1998) Nemertean predation on the
tropical fiddler crab Uca musica. Hydrobiologia 365:233-239
S. Dittmann and J.A. Vargas
American and Australian tidal flat communities. Examples for promotive and
repressive interactions were found in the tidal flats on either side of the
Pacific, although further research is required to assess the relevance of predation and competition in these areas.
The great variety of benthic assemblages in tropical tidal flats within and
between regions illustrated by this comparison can result from site-specific
variations in habitat diversity as well as the presence or absence of certain
"ecosystem engineers". Larger macrobenthic organisms accommodate other
infauna and biotic interactions are probably more important for benthic
community structures in the tropics than is often assumed (Alongi 1987,
1990).
Among the generalities of tropical tidal flat benthos are similarities in life
forms of benthic fauna and similar ecological roles taken by related species.
However, future studies are needed to assess the full range of structural and
functional similarities or dissimilarities in benthic assemblages of tropical
tidal flats before more generalizations can be drawn. Singularities include
site-specific variations in species diversity and abundance. In the Indo-WestPacific, some specific ecological roles exist (e. g. small-scale sediment disturbance and predation by soldier crabs; Dittmann 1993) which have no
equivalents in the east Pacific. Verifying the paradigms derived from studies
in temperate tidal flats, this comparison has revealed a high degree of
similarity of ecological processes at all latitudes.
Acknowledgements. We thank H. Dean and W. Wolff for their helpful comments on the
manuscript. The studies of the first author in northeast Australia were supported by the
German Science Foundation (DFG III 02-Di 396/1-2) and carried out at the Australian
Institute of Marine Science.
References
Alongi DM (1987) Intertidal zonation and seasonality of meiobenthos in tropical
mangrove estuaries. Mar BioI 95:447-458
Alongi DM (1988) Microbial-meiofaunal interrelationships in some tropical intertidal
sediments. J Mar Res 46:349-365
Alongi DM (1989) Ecology of tropical soft-bottom benthos: a review with emphasis on
emerging concepts. Rev BioI Trop 37:85-100
Alongi DM (1990) The ecology of tropical soft-bottom benthic ecosystems. Oceanogr
Mar BioI Annu Rev 28:381-496
Ambrose WG (1984) Role of predatory infauna in structuring soft-bottom communities.
Mar Ecol Prog Ser 17:109-115
Beukema II (1976) Biomass and species richness of the macro-benthic animals living on
the tidal flats of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Neth J Sea Res 10:236-261
Christy JH, Goshima S, Backwell PRY, Kreuter TJ (1998) Nemertean predation on the
tropical fiddler crab Uca musica. Hydrobiologia 365:233-239