Magnitude and Extent of Water Clarification Services Provided by Bivalve Suspension Feeding
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Peter J. Cranford
- Source
- Goods and Services of Marine Bivalves ISBN: 9783319967752
- Subject
- 0106 biological sciences
education.field_of_study
biology
Ecology
010604 marine biology & hydrobiology
Population
Large capacity
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
biology.organism_classification
01 natural sciences
Mytilus
Ecosystem services
Phytoplankton
Grazing
040102 fisheries
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Environmental science
Ecosystem
Eutrophication
education
- Language
Studies in bivalve ecology have emphasized that phytoplankton dynamics in coastal regions may be strongly coupled with bivalve suspension feeding activity to the extent that the bivalves play a major ecological role in controlling phytoplankton biomass. The water clarification capacity of natural and cultured bivalve populations serves as the foundation for what is considered to be a manageable bioengineering tool for mitigating the major symptoms of eutrophication and thereby providing positive ecosystem-scale services. Although often predicted, suspended particle depletion by bivalve aggregations has only recently been measured directly. Field observations of food depletion by bivalve aggregations confirm the large capacity for water clarification. However, progressively increasing the standing stock of bivalves to achieve greater water clarification benefits eventually lead to inefficiencies in bivalve feeding related to increased flow reduction from structure drag, which facilitates an increase in water re-filtration. These physical and biological processes ultimately constrain the maximum water clarification capacity of the population to levels that can be substantially less than previously predicted. Positive ecosystem services from bivalve grazing are likely to occur in many coastal areas experiencing eutrophication (e.g. Lindahl 2011). However, it is important to take an ecosystem-based management approach that also considers the potential for adverse environmental interactions that may be associated with intensive and extensive suspended bivalve operations.