The Roles of Suspension-Feeders in Ecosystems: Synthesis and Conclusions

Abstract

Suspension-feeding organisms are ubiquitous in marine, estuarine and freshwater environments, but there are few comparisons of their structural and functional roles in these very different systems. In this report, we present a synthesis of the Working Groups that were an important component of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop held in Nida, Lithuania in October of 2003. Some of the questions addressed by the Working Groups were: (1) What is, or how do we define suspension-feeding? (2) What are the structural and functional roles of pelagic suspension-feeders? (3) What roles do suspension-feeders play in specific systems and why are suspension-feeders important in a given system (both natural and human dominated)? (4) Why are suspension-feeders well suited to be invaders in aquatic ecosystems?