ABSTRACT Meiofauna are known to have an important role on many ecological processes, although, their role in food web dynamics is often poorly understood, partially as they have been an overlooked and under sampled organism group. Here, we used quantitative food web modeling to evaluate the trophic relationship between meiofauna and their food sources and how meiofauna can mediate the carbon flow to higher trophic levels in five contrasting soft-bottom intertidal habitats (including seagrass beds, mudflats and sandflats). Carbon flow networks were constructed using the linear inverse model-Markov chain Monte Carlo technique, with increased resolution of the meiofauna compartments (i.e. biomass and feeding ecology of the different trophic groups of meiofauna) compared to most previous modeling studies. These models highlighted that the flows between the highly productive microphytobenthos and the meiofauna compartments play an important role in transferring carbon to the higher trophic levels, typically more efficiently so than macrofauna. The pathway from microphytobenthos to meiofauna represented the largest flow in all habitats and resulted in high production of meiofauna independent of habitat. All trophic groups of meiofauna, except for selective deposit feeders, had a very high dependency on microphytobenthos. Selective deposit feeders relied instead on a wider range of food sources, with varying contributions of bacteria, microphytobenthos and sediment organic matter. Ecological network analyses (e.g. cycling, throughput and ascendency) of the modeled systems highlighted the close positive relationship between the food web efficiency and the assimilation of high-quality food sources by primary consumers, e.g. meiofauna and macrofauna. Large proportions of these flows can be attributed to trophic groups of meiofauna. The sensitivity of the network properties to the representation of meiofauna in the models leads to recommending a greater attention in ecological data monitoring and integrating meiofauna into food web models.

中文翻译：

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定量食物网建模揭示了微型底栖动物-小型底栖动物途径对小型底栖动物在软底潮间带食物网中高营养转移的重要性。

摘要：众所周知，小型动物在许多生态过程中发挥着重要作用，尽管它们在食物网动态中的作用通常知之甚少，部分原因是它们一直是一个被忽视且样本不足的生物群。在这里，我们使用定量食物网模型来评估小型动物与其食物来源之间的营养关系，以及小型动物如何在五个对比鲜明的软底潮间带栖息地（包括海草床、泥滩和沙滩）中将碳流量调节到更高的营养水平。使用线性逆模型-马尔可夫链蒙特卡罗技术构建碳流网络，与大多数先前的建模研究相比，小型动物区室（即小型动物不同营养群的生物量和摄食生态学）的分辨率增加。这些模型强调了高产微型底栖动物和小型动物区室之间的流动在将碳转移到更高的营养水平方面发挥着重要作用，通常比大型动物更有效。从微型底栖动物到小型底栖动物的路径代表了所有栖息地中最大的流量，导致小型底栖动物的高产量与栖息地无关。除选择性沉积饲养者外，所有小型底栖动物的营养群都对微型底栖植物具有非常高的依赖性。相反，选择性沉积物饲养者依赖于更广泛的食物来源，其中细菌、微型底栖植物和沉积物有机物的贡献各不相同。生态网络分析（例如自行车、模型系统的吞吐量和优势）突出了食物网效率与初级消费者（例如小型动物和大型动物）对优质食物来源的同化之间的密切正相关关系。这些流动的很大一部分可归因于小型动物的营养群。网络属性对模型中小型动物的表示的敏感性导致建议在生态数据监测和将小型动物整合到食物网模型中给予更大的关注。