Impact of Arenicola marina on bacteria in intertidal sediments

Abstract

On intertidal flats of the North Frisian Wadden Sea, total abundance and biomass of bacteria were examined in the particle transport system of Arenicola marina burrows. Both bacterial abundance and biomass showed maxima on the input side, with distinctive peaks in the polychaete's foregut (oesophagus), and declined on the egestive side (hindgut and fecal casts) by 70%. -from Authors