Composition of biofouling communities on suspended oyster cultures: an in situ study of their interactions with the water column

Abstract

This study was based on in situ experiments conducted in a shellfish lagoon (Thau, France) to determine the interactions between suspended oyster Crassostrea gigas Thunberg cul- tures and their environment at a seasonal scale. Three groups of descriptors were considered simul- taneously during the course of the study: the taxonomic composition of an oyster culture unit (OCU), the nutrient and oxygen exchanges at the OCU-water interface (fluxes) and the water-column char- acteristics (water). We used a multiple factorial analysis (MFA) to assess in a single reference frame: (1) the seasonal organisation of the taxonomic groups which compose the OCU and (2) the interac- tions between this multispecific assemblage and the water column. We found strong seasonal vari- ability in the OCU composition and the OCU interactions with the water column. Taxonomic richness of the biofouling was at a maximum in spring and minimum in August after a bottom anoxia. Among biofouling species, ascidians always constituted the dominant group. The annual pattern of coexis- tence observed between ascidians and oysters might be explained by resource partitioning, and also by a beneficial trophic interaction between these 2 groups. The structure of the OCU was based on a complex system of interactions, particularly in spring. During this season, the development on the OCU of macrofauna of soft substratum such as polychaetes reflected the presence of a suspended sediment compartment. The influence of the OCU on the water column was maximum in summer and minimum in winter. In the shellfish zone, the OCU plays a central role in nutrient renewal, particu- larly in summer when benthic fluxes are insufficient to satisfy phytoplankton nitrogen requirements. We estimate that the multispecific assemblages occurring on the oyster ropes (oysters and biofouling) have a potential annual DIN production of 2 × 10 7 mol yr -1 , and thus oyster cultures could have a determining influence on nitrogen recycling in the water column in the Thau lagoon.