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statistically analysed. However, the colonisation of C. capitata was similar in
numbers between patch and non-patch plots in all three experiments.
The responses of the two bivalves C. edule and M. balthica to the disturbances were
similar to each other. In April, when colonisation by larval P. elegans was high, these
two bivalve species colonised P. elegans patches in significantly lower numbers than
outside patches. This was not the case during August or December when colonisation
by these two bivalve species continued to be low both in and outside patches (Figures
6.2(v-vi)). Oligochaetes colonised the azoic sediments in very low abundances with
no statistical difference between the two plot types (Figure 6.2(vii)).
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