Benthic Macrofauna Community Bioirrigation Potential (BIPc): Regional Map and Utility Validation for the...

Area of Science:

• Marine Ecology
• Benthic Ecology
• Biogeochemistry

Background:

• Benthic macrofauna significantly influence solute exchange at the sediment-water interface through bioirrigation.
• Existing indices for quantifying benthic activity have limitations in distinguishing between diffusion- and advection-dominated systems.

Purpose of the Study:

• To calculate and map the benthic community bioirrigation potential (BIPc) in the south-western Baltic Sea.
• To compare the efficacy of BIPc against the community bioturbation potential index (BPc).
• To identify key species driving bioirrigation and assess spatial and temporal variations.

Main Methods:

• Calculation of BIPc using taxon-specific scores for 120 dominant taxa.
• Comparison of BIPc with tracer-derived irrigation rates and the BPc index.
• Spatial modeling using random forest machine learning and environmental predictor layers.

Main Results:

• BIPc showed a stronger correlation with irrigation rates than BPc.
• Spatial distribution of BIPc was successfully modeled, identifying key bioirrigation species.
• Interannual variation in BIPc was assessed on a limited dataset.

Conclusions:

• BIPc is a valuable index for predicting ecosystem processes influenced by animal burrow ventilation.
• The study provides a valuable dataset of taxon scores for future research.
• Further investigation into the temporal variability and uncertainty of BIPc distribution is warranted.