Spatial patterns in meiobenthic assemblages in intermittently open/closed coastal lakes in New South Wales, Australia

Intermittently closed and open lakes and lagoons (ICOLLs) are important features of the Australian coastline. Local authorities frequently open lakes by bulldozing or dredging the mouths, in an effort to improve water-quality and to reduce the risk of flooding and these interventions provided an opportunity to examine large-scale patterns in meiobenthos in relation to isolation from the sea. Even at a coarse level of taxonomic resolution (phylum, class and order), consistent differences between assemblages of meiobenthos in different reaches of the lakes and between open and closed lakes were revealed. The abundance of meiobenthos generally decreased with increasing distance from the sea. Multivariate analyses showed that nematodes, copepods and turbellarians were characteristic of assemblages near the mouths of lakes while polychaetes and oligochaetes characterised those in more isolated areas. Furthermore, assemblages in the inner reaches of open lakes also differed from those in closed lakes. Isolated localities were less diverse and more spatially variable. Differences in meiobenthos between natural lakes and those that are artificially opened became apparent when open and closed were analysed separately. Lakes that are kept open artificially are similar to naturally open lakes despite other impacts associated with human activities. These results are considered in the context of isolation and the implications of proposed changes in the way mouths are manipulated are discussed.