The Role of Sediments in the Survival of Benthic Organisms


Year : 2025 | Volume : 15 | 01 | Page : –
    By

    Babu-Davies O.A,

  • AnwuriP.A,

  • Deekae S.N,

  • Atemie. A.B.,

  1. Professor, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, , Nigeria
  2. Research Scholar, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, , Nigeria
  3. Professor, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, , Nigeria
  4. Research Scholar, Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Environment, Rivers State University, Nkpolu-Oroworukwo, Port Harcourt, , Nigeria

Abstract

document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’,function(){frmFrontForm.scrollToID(‘frm_container_abs_175022’);});Edit Abstract & Keyword

Sediments are soil-based mineral matter, decomposing organic and inorganic substance which can be carried away by water, wind or ice residing. The benthic organisms resides on, or in the bottom part or sediment of a water body. This review assesses the positive and negative impacts of sediments to aquatic environment, benthic flora and fauna survival and factors affecting sediment load of water, some listed physicochemical parameters of sediments and some studies on sediment qualities on benthic organisms. Positive impact of sediments to benthic organisms include provision of nursery and breeding grounds for aquatic organisms, provision of habitat for aquatic organisms, nutrient recycling, source of food to aquatic biota, reservoir to contaminants, etc. Excessive deposit of sediments on a water body can significantly deteriorate water quality, make the water murky, loss of fauna community and subsequent colonization by pioneer species in affected water body when it exceeds natural threshold. Factors that affects the state of sediment load variations include relief, channel slope, basin size, rain seasonality, tectonic and anthropogenic activities. The study recommends cautious mitigation of human activities that alters sedimentation leading to reduced levels of sediments and enhance survival and diversity of benthic organisms

Keywords: Benthic Flora and Fauna, Negative Impacts, Positive Impacts and Sediment Load

How to cite this article:
Babu-Davies O.A, AnwuriP.A, Deekae S.N, Atemie. A.B.. The Role of Sediments in the Survival of Benthic Organisms. Research and Reviews : A Journal of Life Sciences. 2025; 15(01):-.
How to cite this URL:
Babu-Davies O.A, AnwuriP.A, Deekae S.N, Atemie. A.B.. The Role of Sediments in the Survival of Benthic Organisms. Research and Reviews : A Journal of Life Sciences. 2025; 15(01):-. Available from: https://journals.stmjournals.com/rrjols/article=2025/view=0


document.addEventListener(‘DOMContentLoaded’,function(){frmFrontForm.scrollToID(‘frm_container_ref_175022’);});Edit

References

  1. Agriculture and Food Development Authority (AFDA) (2017). Water Quality: the role of sediment. Retrieved from teagasc.ie/publications/2020/water-quality-the-role-of-sediment-.php on 7/02/2020.
  2. Allison, S. D. & Martiny, J. B. H. (2008). Resistance, resilience, and redundancy in microbial communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(1), 11512–11519. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0801925105
  3. Alongi, D.M. (1994). The Role of Bacteria in Nutrient Recycling in Tropical Mangrove and other coastal benthic ecosystems. Hydrobiologia, 285, 19-32.
  4. Answani, K.V. & Vincent, G.E. (2006). Biological effects of Suspended sediments on shellfish in the Charlotte Water Habor Watershed- implications for water releases and dredging activities. Charlotte Habour National Estuary Program, Florida Golf Coast University, 47pp.
  5. Barbora, L., Michal, S. & Petr, P. (2019). Sediment Characteristics influence benthic macroinvertebrate vertical migration and survival under experimental water loss condition. Fundamental and Applied Limnology, Vol. 193(1): 39-49.
  6. Boggs, S. (2014). Principles of sedimentology and stratigraphy (5th ed.). 564pages.
  7. Britannica, E. (2021). Benthos. Retrieved from britannica.com/science/marine-ecosystem/benthos on 09/02/2021.
  8. Cain, D. J., Croteau, M. N., Thompson, J. K., Parchaso, F., Stewart, A. R., Zierdt Smith, E. L., Shrader, K. H., Kieu, L. H. & Luoma, S. N. (2023). Near-field receiving-water monitoring of trace metals and a benthic community near the Palo Alto Regional Water Quality Control Plant in south San Francisco Bay, California—2020. U.S. Geological Survey. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20231017​:contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}​:contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}.
  9. Cardoso, S.J., Quadra, G.R., Resende, N.D.A. & Roland, F. (2019). The role of sediments in the carbon and pollutant cycles in aquatic ecosystems. Acta Limnol. Bras, 31,e201.
  10. Catianis, I., Secrieru, D., Grosu, D., Scrieciu, A., Pavel, A.B. & Vasiliu, D. (2018). Water Quality, Sediments Characteristics and Benthic Status of the Razim-Sinoie Lagoon System, Romania. Open Geosciences, 10:12-33.
  11. Chakrapani, G. (2005). Factors Controlling Variations in River Sediment Loads. Current Science,88(4), 569-575.
  12. Chen, X., Zhu, D., Yang, Y. & Zhang, X. (2022). Sedimentary microbial processes in nutrient recycling and ecosystem functioning. Environmental Microbiology Reports, 14(3),1-10. https://doi.org/10.1111/17582229.13089​:contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.
  13. Christoph, H., Patrick, L., Gunther, U., Ulrich, P., Helmut, H. & Wolfram, G. (2018). The Role of Sediment and Sediment Dynamics in the Aquatic environment. Riverine Ecosystem Management, pp. 151-169.
  14. Clean Water Healthy Life (CWHL) (2021). What is Sediment Pollution? Winter Watershed Tip, 2pp.
  15. Cohen, S., Syvitski, J. P. M. & Milliman, J. D. (2021). Spatial trends and drivers of sediment flux in river systems. Water Resources Research. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR031583.
  16. Cohen, S., . (2013). Modeling sediment flux in river basins using the WBMsed model. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 38(2), 947–961. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3407
  17. Davies, O.A. & Tawari, C.C. (2010). Season and Tide Effects on Sediment Characteristics of Trans-Okpoka Creek Upper Bonny Estuary, Nigeria. Agriculture and Biology Journal of North America, 1:89-96.
  18. Davies, O. A. (2018). The indispensable creation in our planet. Rivers State University Press. Inaugural Lecture series No. 57. 200pp.
  19. Davies, O.A., Osuamkpe, A., Anwuri, P.A. & Ejiko, E.O. (2020). Polychlorinated Biphenyls Contamination in Water and Sediments of Nigerian inland waters- A Review. International journal of environmental sciences, VOL 1 (3), pp: 18-26. Available online at http://centuryjournals.org/ijes/
  20. Dokulil, M.T. (2013). Comparative Primary Production: Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences. Retrieved reom sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/benthos on 9/02/2021
  21. Fierer, N. & Jackson, R. B. (2006). The diversity and biogeography of soil bacterial communities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 103(3), 626–631. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0507535103
  22. Fierer, N. & Jackson, R. B. (2023). Microbial ecology and nutrient dynamics in sediment systems. Journal of Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 89(1),15-29. https://doi.org/10.3354/ame089015.
  23. Fisher, R., Stark, C., Ridd, P. & Jones, R. (2015). Spatial Patterns in Water Quality Changes during Dredging in Tropical Environments. PLoS One, 10(12):e0143309.
  24. Garrison, T. (2015). Oceanography: An invitation to marine science (9th ed.). Cengage Learning, 640 pages.
  25. Recking, A. (2019). The variability of bedload transport rates and implications for measurements. Geomorphology, 333, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.02.001.
  26. Hauer, C. Leitner, P., Unfer, G., Pulg, U., Habersack, H. & Graf, W. (2018). The Role of Sediment and Sediment Dynamics in the Aquatic Environment. Riverine Ecosystem Management, Aquatic ecology Series, vol. 8, pp: 151-169.
  27. Hossain, M. A. & Wahab, M. A. (2009). Sediment as a habitat for aquatic organisms. In Aquatic ecology and ecosystem health (pp. 25-45). Springer.
  28. Jiang, H., Xu, H., Shi, W., & Wei, X. (2022). Influence of tectonic activity on sedimentary processes in mountainous regions. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26, 665–688. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-665-2022
  29. King County (KC) (2021). What is Sediment? Retrieved from https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/water-and-land/shorelines/about/shoreline-ecology/sediment.aspx
  30. Klein, C. & Philpotts, A.R. (2013). Earth materials: Introduction to mineralogy and petrology (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press, 519 pages.
  31. Li, H.-Y., Tan, Z., Ma, H., Zhu, Z., Abeshu, G.W., Zhu, S., Cohen, S., Zhou, T., Xu, D. & Leung, L.R. (2022). A new large-scale suspended sediment model and its application over the United States. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 26(665–688). https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-665-2022
  32. McGreer, E.R. (1979). Sublethal effects of heavy metal contaminated sediments on the bivalve Macoma balthica. Marine Pollution Bulletin, Vol. 10(9): 259-262
  33. Megnounif, A. & Ghenim, A.N. (2016). Rainfall irregularity and its impact on the sediment yield in Wadi Sebdou Watershed, Algeria. Arab J Geosci, 9(267), https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-015-2280-y
  34. Microbiome Journal. (2022). Microbial river-to-sea continuum: Gradients in benthic and planktonic diversity. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1186/s40168-022-01229-3
  35. Miller, D.C. (2002). Detrimental Effects of Sedimentation on Marine benthos: what can be learned from natural processes and Rates? Ecological Engineering, Vol. 19(3):211-22.
  36. Mrozinska, N., Habel, M. & Obolewski, N. (2024). The Effects of Bottom Invertebrate Communities in a Small European Lowland Dam Reservoir. Ecohydrology & Hydrobiology, 24(2):327-336.
  37. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) (2017). Deep Sea Benthos. Retrieved from https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02arctic/background/benthos/benthos.html
  38. Nichols, G. (2009). Sedimentology and stratigraphy (2nd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell, 419 pages.
  39. Nwokoji, J. (2010). Impact of hypoxia on the community structure of benthic macroinvertebrates in Lagos Lagoon, Nigeria. Journal of Journal of Applied Science and Environmental Management, 20(1):121-130.
  40. Odiete W.O., (1999). Impacts associated with water pollution. Diversified Resources Ltd, Lagos. First Edition. Pp 187-219.
  41. Okonu, C., Babatunde, B.B., Numbere, A.O. & Udi, E. (2024). Ecological and Human Health Risk Assessment of Sediment, Periwinkle and Water in Bodo Creek, Niger Delta Nigeria. Annals of Ecology and Environmental Science, 6(2): 56-72.
  42. Opaluwa, O.D., Aremu, M.U., Ogbo, L.O.L., Magaji, J.I., Odiba, I.E. & Ekpo, E.R. (2012). Assessment of Heavy Metals in Water, Fish and Sediments from UKE Stream, Nasarawa State, Nigeria. International Research Journal of Environmental Science, 7(2):213-220.
  43. Press, F. & Siever, R. (2001). Understanding Earth.H. Freeman, 121pp.
  44. Prothero, D. R. & Schwab, F. (2004). Sedimentary Geology: An Introduction to Sedimentary Rocks and Stratigraphy.H. Freeman and Company, 584pp.
  45. Recking, A. (2019). The variability of bedload transport rates and implications for measurements. Geomorphology, 333, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2019.02.001.
  46. Reid, R. P., Macintyre, I. G. & James, N. P. (2021). Carbonate sediments and their diagenesis. Springer.
  47. Reynald, T.B. (1987). Interactions between Sediments contaminants and benthic organisms. Hydrobiologia, 149:53-66.
  48. Rickenmann, D. (2018). Bedload transport measurements with a large moving bed sampler in steep streams. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms, 43(10), 2075–2089. https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.4377.
  49. Robert, M.E. (2021). Sedimentation: In Pollution Issues. Retrieved from pollutionissues.com/Re-Sy/sedimentation.html on 07/02/2021
  50. Rosenberg, M. (2019). What does the term ‘Relief’ Mean in Geography? Retrieved from thoughtco.com/reliefgeography-definition-1434845 on 11/02/2021
  51. Singh, S., Sharma, R. C. & Sharma, P. (2017). Aquatic ecosystems and their importance in biodiversity conservation: A review. International Journal of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resources, 3(4), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.xxxx
  52. Sinha, R., Eldho, T.I. & Ghosh, S. (2020). Climate change impact on streamflow and suspended sediment load in the flood-prone river basin. Journal of Water and Climate Change, 14 (7): 2260–2276. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2020.260
  53. Simpson, S.L., Luiker, E. & Culp, J.M. (2016). Sediment Toxicity Testing in Marine Ecotoxicology: current knowledge and future issues. Academic Press, pp. 334.
  54. Shi, W., Jiang, H., Xu, H., Ma, S., Fan, J., Zhang, S., Guo, Q., & Wei, X. (2022). Response of modern fluvial sediments to regional tectonic activity along the upper Min River, eastern Tibet. Earth Surface Dynamics, 10(5), 1195–1209. https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-1195-2022
  55. Shull, D.H. (2019). Bioturbation: in Cochran, J. Kirk; Bokuniewicz, J.H; Yager, L.P (Eds). Encyclopedia of Ocean Sciences, 3rd edition, Vol. 2, pp. 671-676.
  56. Søndergaard, M., Jensen, J. P. & Jeppesen, E. (2003). Role of sediment and internal loading of phosphorus in shallow lakes. Hydrobiologia, 506–509(1–3),135–145. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:HYDR.0000008611.12704.dd
  57. Sreedevi, P. D. (2022). Seasonal changes in hydrological processes under future climate scenarios. Journal of Water and Climate Change. https://doi.org/10.2166/wcc.2022.030
  58. Syvitski, J. P. M. & Milliman, J. D. (2007). Geology, geography, and humans battle for dominance over the delivery of fluvial sediment to the coastal ocean. The Journal of Geology, 115(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1086/509246
  59. Syvitski, J.P., Vörösmarty, C.J., Kettner, A.J. & Green, (2005). Impact of humans on the flux of terrestrial sediment to the global coastal ocean. Science, 15;308(5720):376-80. doi: 10.1126/science.1109454.
  60. Tucker, M. E. (2001). Sedimentary petrology: An introduction to the origin of sedimentary rocks (3rd ed.). Blackwell Science.
  61. Uddin, S. (2014). How Does Climate, relief, lithology, soils, vegetation influence the sediment yield of a river catchment? Retrieved from researchgate.net/post/How_do_climate_relief_lithology_soils_egetation_influence_the_sediment_yieldof_a_river_catchment on 11/02/2021
  62. Verma, V.K., Kumar, D. & Saud, B.J. (2020). Retrieved from aquafind.com/articles/benthos.php on 1/02/2021.
  63. Yang, X., Wu, S., Shang, S. & Chen, Y. (2023). Hydrodynamic variations and human activities have influenced sediment fluxes in the Pearl River Delta since the late Holocene. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10: 1-13.
  64. Whitfield, A. K. (2016). Fish communities in estuaries: A focus on nursery habitats and connectivity. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 183, 149-156. https://doi.org/10.xxxx
  65. William, A.L., Andrew, C.D., Michael, W.A. & Stephen, P.P. (2014). Effects of Forestry Streamside Management Zones on Stream Water Quality, channel geometry, Soil erosion, and Timber Management in the Virginia Piedmont. Available at http://www.researchgate.net/publication/239930106, 135pp.
  66. Zhang, W. & Shan, B. (2008). Distribution and risk assessment of heavy metals in surface sediments of the Jinjiang River, China. Environmental Geology, 55(1), 137–146. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0961-3

Ahead of Print Subscription Original Research
Volume 15
01
Received 11/01/2025
Accepted 04/02/2025
Published 21/02/2025
Publication Time 41 Days

async function fetchCitationCount(doi) {
let apiUrl = `https://api.crossref.org/works/${doi}`;
try {
let response = await fetch(apiUrl);
let data = await response.json();
let citationCount = data.message[“is-referenced-by-count”];
document.getElementById(“citation-count”).innerText = `Citations: ${citationCount}`;
} catch (error) {
console.error(“Error fetching citation count:”, error);
document.getElementById(“citation-count”).innerText = “Citations: Data unavailable”;
}
}
fetchCitationCount(“10.37591/RRJOLS.v15i01.0”);

Loading citations…