2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference
March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH
6/07/2017 | 9:15 AM - 9:30 AM | CHIRONOMIDAE LARVAE AS ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS IN A LENTIC ENVIRONMENT | 306C
CHIRONOMIDAE LARVAE AS ECOSYSTEM ENGINEERS IN A LENTIC ENVIRONMENT
The abundance of chironomid larvae may reach the point where the larvae significantly affect the physical and chemical properties of lake sediment. In some years the larvae of Tanytarsus gracilentus occur in enormous densities in Lake Mývatn, N.E. Iceland. On those occasions the larvae modify the top 2 cm of the sediment, which is then packed with larval tubes and forms a crust on top of liquefied sediment. The larvae, therefore, may influence the chemical fluxes at the water-sediment interface. Also, by the tube building activities, the larvae alter the physical properties of the sediment. The shear strength and the erodibility of sediment change significantly by this activity. I will present results where the effect of larval densities was studied in relation to physical properties of soft sediment (i.e. its shear strength, erodibility and flow). The results are based on laboratory experiments as well as direct measurements in the field. Shear strength of the sediment was positively correlated with larval density. The erodibility of the sediment indicated that the erosion was highest in low to moderate larval densities.
- C03 Invertebrates
- C15 Population Ecology
- C07 Lentic Ecology & C03 Invertebrates
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Presenters/Authors
Jón S. Ólafsson
(), Marine and Freshwater Research Institute, Iceland, jon.s.olafsson@hafogvatn.is;
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