Soft-sediment biogeochemistry is influenced by the bioturbation activity of benthic invertebrates. We investigated whether the effect of two macrobenthos bioturbators, and , on sediment oxygen uptake can be described by allometric principles of metabolic activity scaling with animal body size and population biomass. Microcosms containing reconstructed populations to control density and individual body size were used to compare bioturbation effects and allometric scaling principles between a sandy and muddy sediment. Both species facilitated oxygen uptake in both sediment types, and a major portion of the variance in sediment metabolism (60–98%) could be explained by the per capita body size and density, and total population biomass. The allometric relationship with the stimulated sediment metabolism was similar in sand and mud for and strongly related to the increasing burrow ventilation rate with population biomass. irrigated less in mud but stimulated sediment metabolism more in mud in comparison to in sand. We discuss how physico-chemical differences between both sediment types, possible changes in activity, and size-dependent irrigation dynamics can explain the variable effects of on sediment metabolism. Overall, we provide empirical evidence that allometric laws can be used to upscale bioturbation effects on ecosystem functioning in marine soft sediments from the individual to the population level.

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动物介导的生态系统功能的异速生长尺度：对比沉积物中两种生物扰动器的案例研究

软沉积物生物地球化学受到底栖无脊椎动物生物扰动活动的影响。我们研究了两种大型底栖动物生物扰动器 和 ，对沉积物摄氧量的影响是否可以通过代谢活动与动物体型和种群生物量成比例的异速生长原理来描述。含有重建种群以控制密度和个体体型的微观世界被用来比较沙质和泥质沉积物之间的生物扰动效应和异速生长原理。两种物种都促进了两种沉积物类型的氧气吸收，沉积物代谢差异的主要部分（60-98%）可以通过人均身体大小和密度以及人口总生物量来解释。与刺激的沉积物代谢的异速生长关系在沙子和泥浆中是相似的，并且与随着种群生物量增加的洞穴通风率密切相关。与沙子相比，在泥中灌溉较少，但在泥中更能刺激沉积物代谢。我们讨论了两种沉积物类型之间的物理化学差异、活动的可能变化以及尺寸依赖性灌溉动力学如何解释对沉积物代谢的可变影响。总的来说，我们提供的经验证据表明，异速生长法则可用于将生物扰动对海洋软沉积物中生态系统功能的影响从个体水平提升到群体水平。