Meeting Abstract
In 1984, Sally Woodin reported the effects of injury (posterior segment or feeding palp loss) on activity of arenicolid, maldanid and spionid polychaetes [Biol Bull 166:558-573]. Tissue loss reduced defecation by all three species, and tube-building by the spionid. Thus, Woodin demonstrated an important link between browsing predators and biogenic sediment modification by infauna, particularly given the challenge at the time to “assess the importance of biogenic sedimentary change in determining composition of the local assemblage, as well as the chemical and physical structure of the sediment.” The organizing role of infaunal activity has been an important theme in soft sediment ecological research, but what have we learned about infaunal injury, activity and soft-sediment ecology since 1984? Patterns and frequency of injury are better documented in terms of taxa, geography, and energy flow. We know more about how injury impacts growth and reproduction for more taxa, and new approaches examine how the type of tissue lost and environmental conditions affect regeneration. Studies of the regenerative process have intriguing implications for sensory and evolutionary biology. Research examining the effect of repeated injury on infaunal activity suggests that not all injury is equal, and that food availability and environment may modify responses. Relatively few studies have modeled population consequences of interactions between predation, infaunal activity, and sediment disturbance. And despite advances in understanding how infauna act as hydraulic engineers, incorporating the effects of injury into biogeochemical models is also challenging. Some of the newest research investigates how injury affects infaunal hydraulic activity in an attempt to improve such models.
