Interstitial community oxygen consumption in a Baltic sandy beach: horizontal zonation

The oxygen consumption of a sandy beach interstitial community was determined on four occasions (January, May, August, October) on the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea). The study was carried out at four locations on the beach slope (littoral, waterline, splash zone and middle beach). Oxygen consumption varied from 158–159 cm3 O2 m−2 h−1 at the underwater site and waterline to 20–36 cm3 O2 m−2 h−1 in the middle beach. According to these data, interstitial organisms are able to utilize from 206 to 1641 mg of organic carbon per square metre per day. In general, metabolic activity decreased gradually from the waterline towards the middle beach, and a significant correlation was found between oxygen consumption and sediment water content. Changes in oxygen consumption on the beach slope were statistically significant.