. The ecology of the Apalachicola Bay system : an estuarine profile. Estuarine ecology -- Florida Apalachicola Bay; Estuarine area conservation -- Florida. substantially affect the microbial associations. Studies of microbes in the absence of their predators are not sufficient if comparisons with natural ^unctions are intended (White 1Q83). Recent studies indicate that estuarine microbial associations in polvhaline areas of the bay are actually controlled by epibenthic predators (Federle et al. 1'383). Replicate areas (^ m'') of mud-flat sediment were caqed in the field to confine and exclude
. The ecology of the Apalachicola Bay system : an estuarine profile. Estuarine ecology -- Florida Apalachicola Bay; Estuarine area conservation -- Florida. substantially affect the microbial associations. Studies of microbes in the absence of their predators are not sufficient if comparisons with natural ^unctions are intended (White 1Q83). Recent studies indicate that estuarine microbial associations in polvhaline areas of the bay are actually controlled by epibenthic predators (Federle et al. 1'383). Replicate areas (^ m'') of mud-flat sediment were caqed in the field to confine and exclude predators. Uncaqed areas were used as controls. The microbiota of the sediments was characterized at weeks 0, ?, and fi by measurement of the concentrations o^" phospholipid and analysis of the fatty acids of the microbial lipids extracted from the sediments. The data were analyzed using an analysis of variance and step-wise discriminant analysis. After ? weeks, the microbiota of the predator- exclusion area was significantly different from that in the control and predator inclusion areas. After R weeks, these differences became more pronounced. There were no demonstrable caqing effects that could account for the treatment differences. The results indicated that removal of predators had a profound effect on the microbial communities in estuarine sediments. Thus, we see that the intermediate trophic levels (epibenthic predators) of the estuarine food webs are part of the control mechanism that defines the structure and level of productivity of the microbial communities. Sediments and particulate matter deposited in the estuary form a substrate for microbial productivity, which is stimulated by dissolved nutrients in various forms (Figure ?'i). The transformation of dissolved substances into living particulate matter produces the food of important grouos of grazing organisms, which, in turn, represent the base of the detrital food webs in the estuary. Grazing and other physi
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