Destruction and Opportunity on the Sea Floor: Effects of Gray Whale Feeding
Oliver JS and Slattery PN. 1985. Destruction and Opportunity on the Sea Floor: Effects of Gray Whale Feeding. Ecology. 66(6):1965-1975
Gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus) are highly disruptive bottom feeders that remove infaunal invertebrate prey and sediments by suction. The response of the benthos to gray whale feeding was examined in the primary feeding grounds of the Bering Sea and in an ecological analog of these prey communities along the west coast of Vancouver Island. Prey communities were dominated by ampeliscid and other amphipod crustaceans that formed dense tube mats. Large feeding excavations (often 2-20 m¨) were rapidly colonized by scavenging lysianassid amphipods, especially Anonyx spp., that attacked injured and dislodged infauna. Many of the attacked animals were small crustaceans ( 2 mo. Early colonists were characterized by much greater abundances inside excavations relative to the adjacent tube mat. Two numerically dominant groups of tube-dwelling amphipods were not characterized by a large pulse of abundance inside excavations. Ampelisca and Protomedeia gradually colonized pits. They also swam less frequently than the early colonists, and probably had more infaunal habits. Gray whale feeding clearly has a dramatic impact on the structure of benthic communities, and also may enhance the population size of several secondary prey.
- Type
- Journal Article
- Authors
- Oliver, John; Slattery, Peter
- Units
- ARCN , BELA , CAKR , GAAR , KOVA , NOAT
- Keywords
- Ampelisca, Arctic, benthic communities, Colonization, Crustaceans, Disturbance, Eschrichtius robustus, Feeding Ecology, Gray Whale, Habitat Selection, Lysianassidae, scavengers