RUI: Nonequilibrium Determinants of Microbial Community Structure in Intertidal Sediments: Role of Deposit Feeding

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DEB-0108615PlanteBacteria serve dual roles in sedimentary systems: as decomposers of organic detritus and as food for higher organisms. Key ecological parameters such as abundance, production, and community composition each contribute to the character of these roles. The primary objectives of the research proposed here are to determine the mechanisms by which bacterial assemblages recover from ingestion by sediment-feeding invertebrates (deposit feeders), and to assess the importance of this biological disturbance to the structure of sedimentary bacterial communities. We will determine the significance of nonequilibrium factors in creating spatio-temporal heterogeneity and maintaining diversity in microbial communities exposed to deposit feeding in particular, and disturbances in general. We hope to reveal those important variables required to construct and test patch dynamics models, thereby providing a basis for predictions regarding the community structure and metabolic activities of indigenous and introduced bacteria in sediments.