Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes

Ptatscheck C, Gehner S, Traunspurger W (2020)
Aquatic Ecology 54: 1135–1143.

Zeitschriftenaufsatz | Veröffentlicht | Englisch
 
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Abstract / Bemerkung
Meiofaunal organisms are the predominant metazoans in benthic systems and important members of the benthic food web. They are defined by mesh size and specifically by their retention on a sieve with a 44-µm mesh size. In this study, we examined the accuracy of this standard collection method by counting the number of meiobenthic individuals, life stages and nematode species in a sample. A filter cascade consisting of five different mesh sizes (41 µm, 30 µm, 20 µm, 10 µm and 1 µm) was used to fractionate a natural freshwater meiobenthic collection, and the individuals in each fraction were then counted. In line with the current definition of meiofauna, all tardigrades, microcrustaceans, chironomids and oligochaetes were retained by the largest mesh size, whereas 9% of the rotifers were first retained on the 30-µm meshes. For nematodes, 23% were not retained on the 41-µm meshes and individuals were collected even from the 1-µm fraction. With declining mesh size, the yield of retained nematodes increased, the age structure shifted to juveniles, evenness declined, and the species composition changed. As all of these findings were significant, this study therefore shows that the current definition of meiofauna is not sufficient to encompass the entire spectrum of meiofauna present in a sample and may result in misleading assessments of the diversity and composition of these organisms. We therefore propose that, especially for nematodes, a definition based on a smaller mesh size (at least 20 µm) is more appropriate.
Stichworte
Aquatic Science; Ecology; Evolution; Behavior and Systematics; General Agricultural and Biological Sciences
Erscheinungsjahr
2020
Zeitschriftentitel
Aquatic Ecology
Band
54
Seite(n)
1135–1143
ISSN
1386-2588
eISSN
1573-5125
Finanzierungs-Informationen
Open-Access-Publikationskosten wurden durch die Universität Bielefeld im Rahmen des DEAL-Vertrags gefördert.
Page URI
https://pub.uni-bielefeld.de/record/2945784

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Ptatscheck C, Gehner S, Traunspurger W. Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes. Aquatic Ecology. 2020;54:1135–1143.
Ptatscheck, C., Gehner, S., & Traunspurger, W. (2020). Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes. Aquatic Ecology, 54, 1135–1143. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10452-020-09798-2
Ptatscheck, Christoph, Gehner, Stefanie, and Traunspurger, Walter. 2020. “Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes”. Aquatic Ecology 54: 1135–1143.
Ptatscheck, C., Gehner, S., and Traunspurger, W. (2020). Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes. Aquatic Ecology 54, 1135–1143.
Ptatscheck, C., Gehner, S., & Traunspurger, W., 2020. Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes. Aquatic Ecology, 54, p 1135–1143.
C. Ptatscheck, S. Gehner, and W. Traunspurger, “Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes”, Aquatic Ecology, vol. 54, 2020, pp. 1135–1143.
Ptatscheck, C., Gehner, S., Traunspurger, W.: Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes. Aquatic Ecology. 54, 1135–1143 (2020).
Ptatscheck, Christoph, Gehner, Stefanie, and Traunspurger, Walter. “Should we redefine meiofaunal organisms? The impact of mesh size on collection of meiofauna with special regard to nematodes”. Aquatic Ecology 54 (2020): 1135–1143.
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2020-12-08T09:47:26Z
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