Interplay between filter-feeding zoobenthos and hydrodynamics in the shallow Odense Fjord (Denmark) – Earlier and recent studies, perspectives and modelling

The shallow Odense Fjord (Denmark) is characterized by a large biomass of filter-feeding polychaetes (Nereis diversicolor), clams (Mya arenaria), cockles (Cerastoderma glaucum), and amphipods (Corophium volutator). The present paper summarizes studies on zoobenthic filter-feeding in Odense Fjord from the last 10 years. The general principles discovered are extracted and compared to available tools for modelling of the primary characteristics of interplay between benthic filter-feeders and hydrodynamics. Earlier works have been supplemented with data from a recent field study conducted in the shallow inner part of the fjord. Based on data from this study site, the reduction in phytoplankton for fully mixed and incompletely mixed flows has been modelled. It was found that fully mixed flow results in a potential half-life for phytoplankton of only 1.3 h, whereas for the incompletely mixed water the half-life is 2.7 times longer. The field measurements clearly demonstrate the presence of a strong interplay between filter-feeders and hydrodynamics, but although a certain grazing impact is evident from vertical chlorophyll a profiles with often strongly reduced near-bottom concentrations it is not straightforward to identify and model even the main bio-physical processes that prevent the dense populations of filter-feeders to completely control the phytoplankton biomass in Odense Fjord.