Testing for nematode-granulometry relationships

The majority of studies have advocated that diversity of marine nematodes increases with increasing sediment grain size, although the opposite trend has also been suggested. The controversy is partially caused by not taking into account the effect of density on patterns of diversity and by analyzing datasets from different environments. The present study investigated nematode assemblages from sediments varying from very fine sand (mean grain size of 0.12 mm) to very coarse sand (1 mm) in shallow sublittoral marine environments. Contrary to previous studies, species richness was constant along the granulometric spectrum, despite significant changes in composition. The dominant genera were separated into five groups according to their optimum distribution and there was little overlap between these groups. Concepts from the niche theory explain to some extent the observed patterns. For instance, some of the coexisting genera were from different feeding types.