Macrofauna production in an estuarine mud-flat

Abstract

The importance of the extensive intertidal mud-flats to the energy budget of estuaries has frequently been stressed, but seldom quantified. Smidt (1951) has discussed the production of both macro- and meiofauna from the Danish Waddens in general terms but, because of the wide coverage, his information is not detailed enough to quantify annual production in terms of g/m2. The present study was designed to compare the productive importance of macrofauna and meiofauna in detail at a single site. This paper deals only with the first phase of this study, the macrofauna, which are retained on a 0.5 mm sieve for the major part of their productive life.