of scrapper Stenhelia can attract more particles (Boxshall and Halsey, 2004; Mu and Huys, 2004). The increased number of microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, ciliates and dinoflagellates) by the organic loading facilitate the carnivorous feeding Ectinosomatidae (Bongiorni et al., 2005; Commito and Tita, 2002; Coull and Dudley, 1976). This again supports the hypothesis of Pearson & Rosenberg (1978) that the initial peak of infauna densities during the organic enrichment is due to the increased densities of opportunistic species. In the sandy station where a species of the family Canuellidae dominated in both farm and control site, the total copepod density was slightly reduced under the scallop farm, yet the copepod community structure did not change. This suggests a minor effect of the scallop farm on the copepod community in the sandy bottom. Though the bioavailable carbon was observed to be higher under this farm as well, the decreased density of Canuellidae was likely a consequence of intraspecific competition which is more intense than interspecific competition (Westoby, 1984). The harpacticoid copepod community responded differently than the entire meiofauna community. In contrast to some other studies (Daudi et al., 2012; Kennedy and Jacoby, 1999), higher-taxon surrogacy is not enough to identify the effect of organic enrichment since higher meiofauna taxa doesn’t show the same pattern as the lower taxon level in our study. Although higher-taxon surrogacy can be a fast and reliable way to evaluate eutrophic ecosystems with high organic loading such as fin-fish farming areas and shrimp ponds (Aryuthaka and Kito, 2002; Grego et al., 2009; Mirto et al., 2012), our result suggests that under moderate organic loading into a meso-oligotrophic system, incorporating the lower-taxon information (e.g. at copepod-species level) can provide a clearer insight of
of scrapper Stenhelia can attract more particles (Boxshall and Halsey, 2004; Mu and Huys, 2004). The increased number of microorganisms (e.g. bacteria, ciliates and dinoflagellates) by the organic loading facilitate the carnivorous feeding Ectinosomatidae (Bongiorni et al., 2005; Commito and Tita, 2002; Coull and Dudley, 1976). This again supports the hypothesis of Pearson & Rosenberg (1978) that the initial peak of infauna densities during the organic enrichment is due to the increased densities of opportunistic species. In the sandy station where a species of the family Canuellidae dominated in both farm and control site, the total copepod density was slightly reduced under the scallop farm, yet the copepod community structure did not change. This suggests a minor effect of the scallop farm on the copepod community in the sandy bottom. Though the bioavailable carbon was observed to be higher under this farm as well, the decreased density of Canuellidae was likely a consequence of intraspecific competition which is more intense than interspecific competition (Westoby, 1984). The harpacticoid copepod community responded differently than the entire meiofauna community. In contrast to some other studies (Daudi et al., 2012; Kennedy and Jacoby, 1999), higher-taxon surrogacy is not enough to identify the effect of organic enrichment since higher meiofauna taxa doesn’t show the same pattern as the lower taxon level in our study. Although higher-taxon surrogacy can be a fast and reliable way to evaluate eutrophic ecosystems with high organic loading such as fin-fish farming areas and shrimp ponds (Aryuthaka and Kito, 2002; Grego et al., 2009; Mirto et al., 2012), our result suggests that under moderate organic loading into a meso-oligotrophic system, incorporating the lower-taxon information (e.g. at copepod-species level) can provide a clearer insight of
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