Feeding Strategies and Limitations of Marine Bivalves

小行星9416943 本项目的目的是通过使用最先进的观察技术进行直接操作实验，了解双壳类软体动物复杂颗粒处理机制的适应性和局限性。 Levinton博士及其同事将重点关注双壳类软体动物，因为它们对沿海生态系统中的底栖-中上层耦合具有重大影响。 它们具有大范围的颗粒进料模式，并且它们适合于颗粒处理模型的测试。 他们将研究的反应和限制因素的悬浮饲料和存款饲料双壳类，当暴露在一个自然范围内的颗粒质量和总颗粒负荷。 事实证明，响应的变化影响到双壳类摄食的各个方面，这反过来又强烈影响到浅水沿海生态系统中的悬浮物和沉积在沉积物表面的有机物的性质。 因此，双壳类的摄食适应性与沿海海洋学之间存在着重要的联系。

9416943 Levinton The purpose of this project is to understand the adaptations of complex particle processing mechanisms and limitations of bivalve mollusks by means of direct manipulative experiments using state of the art observational techniques. Dr. Levinton and colleagues will focus on bivalve mollusks, owing to their great impact on benthic-pelagic coupling in coastal ecosystems. They have a large range of particle feeding modes and they are amenable to tests of models of particle processing. They will examine the responses and limiting factors of suspension feeding and deposit feeding bivalves, when exposed to a natural ranges of particle qualities and total particle loads. Variations in response have proven to affect various aspects of bivalve feeding, which in turn strongly affects the suspended matter in a shallow coastal ecosystem and the nature of the organic matter that is biodeposited on the sediment surface. There is, therefore, an important link between bivalve feeding adaptations and coastal oceanography.