Heat and Temperature Environments at the Muddy Tidal Flat in the Interior Parts of the Ariake Sea and Its Effects on Bioturbation

Abstract

The major objectives of present study are to clarify the properties of heat and temperature environments at the muddy tidal flat in the interior parts of the Araike Sea, and the relationships between these environmental properties and bioturbations such as the burrow constructing or feeding by macrofaunas, in order to obtain the fundamental knowledge for preserving the environment of muddy tidal flat and the rare macrofaunas there. In the present studies, it was shown that there were large differences in the properties of heat balance and soil temperature profiles at the muddy tidal flat in summer and winter. It was also clarified that the air and soil temperature there made affects the bioturbations of macroepifauna strongly, and its active bioturbations reduced the number of the small burrows of macroinfauna.