An evaluation of the ABC-method (abundance/biomass comparison) as applied to macrozoobenthic communities living on tidal flats in the Dutch Wadden Sea

Abstract

The ABC-method proposed by Warwick (1986) for detecting pollution effects on marine zoobenthic communities, was tested on distribution patterns of numbers and biomass among species in macrozoobenthos samples taken annually for 13 yr in a uniform way at 15 tidal-flat stations in the western part of the Dutch Wadden Sea. Along the margins of the tidal-flat area studied, where exposition to either drainage or water movements is extreme, the k-dominance plots for numbers were generally situated above those for biomass. In these areas values for biomass and species richness were relatively low and a few small-sized species such asCorophium volutator andHydrobia ulvae were very numerous. In the central part of the area, where environmental conditions are less severe, values for biomass and species richness were higher. Biomass was dominated by large adults ofMya arenaria, Mytilus edulis and/orArenicola marina. However, in only a restricted part of this area were plots for numbers consistently below biomass plots. In most of the central area high numbers ofH. ulvae occasionally occurred, causing plots for numbers to be situated above those for biomass during such periods. There appears to be no reason to interprete a high abundance ofH. ulvae as a sign of pollution or any other kind of disturbance or stress. It is concluded that the ABC method cannot be applied to tidal flat communities without reference to long-term and spatial series of control samples. In areas where such smallsized and sometimes numerous species asH. ulvae occur in strongly fluctuating numbers, the method appears useless for assessing the pollution status of a benthic community.