포식이 선재도 갯벌 대형저서동물 군집에 미치는 영향 = Effects of Predation on Macrobenthic Communities in Seonjae-do Tidal Flat

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

We examined the effect of predation by observing the changes in macrobenthic communities in a tidal flat at Seonjae, Korea, following the exclusion of large predators such as birds, fishes and crustaceans using protective screens. We conducted two interference experiments in the field from April to November 2004: (1) Experiment 1 was conducted at a mid-tidal flat in the western part of Seonjae-do, Incheon, Korea, (2) Experiment 2 was set up at a low tidal flat in the eastern part of Seonjae-do. predator exclusion showed different effects in the two experiments. Both the number of species and density were reduced by 20% in Experiment 1. Whereas in Experiment 2, they increased by up to 13% and 69%, respectively. In Experiment 1, a high density of brachyuran crabs observed in the treatment may have caused the difference in community composition between the treatment and the control, and this probably resulted from active predation of macrofauna (e.g., small crabs) under protection from megafaunal predators such as birds and fishes. However, in Experiment 2, as typically observed in other predator exclusion experiments, a lower density of benthic predators and the subsequent reduction of over predation probably resulted in a more diverse and abundant benthic community in the treatment. We confirmed that predation was a contributing factor in the formation of the macrobenthic community. We also demonstrated relationships that exist among different trophic groups (large predators, macrobenthic predators and prey) and what effects and responses occur in each component of the tidal flats.