Recovery process of the benthic communities in tidal flats varying in the disturbance degree caused by the massive tsunami

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24570018
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Ecology/Environment
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Takao 東北大学, 生命科学研究科, 助教 (10124588)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 底生動物群集 / 津波 / 撹乱 / 干潟 / 回復過程 / 松川浦

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Benthic communities were monitored at 13 stations in Matsukawaura lagoon (Soma-city, Fukushima Pref.) during 2012 to 2014 after the 3.11 tsunami and comparison was made with those before the tsunami. Species richness and abundances of benthic communities were mostly recovered after 1 year, however, community compositions were changed year by year including a decrease in mollusks and was still on the way to recover. According to the analysis in respective stations, the recovery of the benthos was not related with the disturbance strength of the tsunami, and it seemed to be affected by seawater exchange and sediment quality. In addition, after checking the existence of the large-sized benthos around Matsukawaura, the number of species inhabited decreased in the area where the construction of the embankment advanced. Therefore, it was suggested that habitat regeneration and conservation were important for accomplishing the recovery of benthic communities.

Free Research Field

干潟底生動物の群集生態