Animals are a major link between the water column (pelagic) and the
bottom (benthic) habitats in most shallow systems. This coupling is
dominated by active processes such as suspension-feeding in which
the organism actively uses energy to pump water that is then
filtered to remove suspended particles that are consumed while
undigested remains are deposited on the bottom. As a result of this
feeding on and metabolism of particles, the animals excrete
dissolved inorganic and organic waste back into the water column,
and thus, become major components in the cycling and feedback of
essential elements. With relatively high weight specific filtration
rates of 1a" 10 liters/hour/gram dry tissue and a propensity to
form large aggregated populations (beds, reefs, schools and
swarms), these organisms can play an important role in regulating
water column processes.
Although estuarine bivalve molluscs such as oysters and mussels
dominate the suspension-feeder literature, other groups including
plankton and nekton that are found in estuarine as well as other
aquatic systems are also potentially important removers of
suspended particles. Thus, a significant part of the NATO Advanced
Research Workshop focused on suspension-feeders as controllers of
plankton abundance, biomass and diversity, system metabolism,
nutrient cycling and scale dependency.
Systems dominated by suspension-feeders are typically impacted
by human activities including recreation, aquaculture, human and
industrial pollution, and bilge water from shipping.
Suspension-feeders are often impacted by fisheries and
over-exploitation. These impacts commonly result in changes in
ecosystem structure either through the food chainconcentration of
harmful substances or diseases, the introduction of alien species
of suspension-feeders, or the instability of suspension-feeders
systems through species displacement or phase shifts in the
dominance between different suspension-feeding components such as
nekton or zooplankton. These issues were addressed near the close
of the workshop along with conclusions and syntheses developed by
the working groups.
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