Construction of conservation strategy for tidal-flat benthic communities based on a metacommunity perspective

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The trochid gastropod, Umbonium moniliferum, and the callianassid shrimp, Nihonotrypaea harmandi, act as the key species that determine benthic community structure on the intertidal sandflats on the northern to eastern coasts of Amakusa-Shimoshima Island in Kyushu. The former species suffer from detrimental effects from the latter. Although the gastropod population had once become extinct on a major sandflat on the northern coast, it recovered following the decline of the shrimp population. The present study demonstrated high possibility for effective transport of gastropod larvae released from the eastern local populations, which would have served as either the larval source or the stepping-stones. The results have highlighted the necessity for conserving all local benthic communities that are connected by larval transport.