Are Winter Storms an Organizing Force in a Shelf Meiofaunal Community

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Our understanding of continental shelf meiofaunal communities is rudimentary, but it seems likely that winter storms are a major organizing force. In temperate and boreal waters, storms are frequent, large in spatial extent, and capable of eroding sediment. Given the vertical distribution of meiofauna in the sediment, most could be eroded by winter storms. If it can be shown that species are adapted either to avoid erosion or to benefit from it, then storms may be implicated in community organization. Dr. Thistle proposes to determine whether species present at a shelf site during winter avoid erosion. For those that do, he will test whether the energetic cost of being in the water column underlies the adaptation. For those that do not avoid erosion, he will test whether the water column is a place of opportunity, at least in terms of their ability to increase their energy reserves. Although there are other possible consequences, these are likely impacts and provide a place to begin an inquiry into storm effects on the organization of shelf meiofaunal communities.