Disturbance of Intertidal Sediments: The Response of Bacteria and Foraminifera

Australian Ocean Data Network hosts data from incubation experiments studying the re-establishment of vertical bacterial and foraminiferal zonation in intertidal sediments after sieving. The dataset includes counts of living foraminifera and measurements of redox-sensitive pore water elements and bacterial phospholipid-derived fatty acids. The experiments tracked organism and geochemical parameter changes over a 49-day incubation period.

Use Cases

• Modeling foraminiferal migration patterns based on oxygen availability mentioned in the description
• Analyzing long-term changes in vertical bacterial distribution following artificial sediment disturbance
• Comparing total fatty acid concentration profiles between field sediments and experimental microcosms
• Studying the role of macrobenthic activity in electron acceptor flux within sediments

Strengths

• Includes measurements of redox-sensitive elements in pore water using a voltammetric microelectrode
• Quantifies bacterial abundances via phospholipid-derived fatty acid (PLFA) methyl esters in the C12-C22 range
• Tracks organism re-establishment over a defined 49-day experimental timeline

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Incubation experiments involving sieving and subsequent incubation of intertidal sediments, with foraminifera counting and pore water analysis.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-27 16:12:23.837698; freshness should be verified

Geography

Intertidal sediments; specific location not stated.