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Assessment of anthropogenic disturbance on soft-bottom macroinvertebrate assemblages across different spatial scales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 August 2011

Roberto Bedini ,
Francesca Batistini ,
Annalisa Nannelli  and
Luigi Piazzi
Roberto Bedini*
Affiliation:
Istituto di Biologia ed Ecologia Marina, Piazza G. Bovio 4, 57025 Piombino, Italy
Francesca Batistini
Affiliation:
Istituto di Biologia ed Ecologia Marina, Piazza G. Bovio 4, 57025 Piombino, Italy
Annalisa Nannelli
Affiliation:
Istituto di Biologia ed Ecologia Marina, Piazza G. Bovio 4, 57025 Piombino, Italy
Luigi Piazzi
Affiliation:
Istituto di Biologia ed Ecologia Marina, Piazza G. Bovio 4, 57025 Piombino, Italy
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: R. Bedini, Istituto di Biologia ed Ecologia Marina, Piazza G. Bovio 4, 57025 Piombino, Italy email: bedini@biomare.it
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Abstract

The present study aimed at evaluating the influence of different gradients of disturbance on the structure of soft-bottom macroinvertebrate assemblages. The following hypotheses were tested: (i) the structure of benthic assemblages does not differ along a gradient of distance from a point-source of pollution; and (ii) this pattern was not influenced by the level of anthropogenic pressure that characterized the area. A combination of multivariate and univariate techniques was used to detect differences in the structure of assemblages among three areas characterized by different environmental conditions, among three distances from point sources of pollution within each area and in two different periods within one year. Differences among conditions in the structure of macroinvertebrate assemblages were evident independently from temporal changes. However, patterns of variability along gradients of disturbance were influenced by the environmental conditions of the studied areas. The total richness was similar in the three studied areas, while beta diversity showed patterns related to both area and distance from point sources of pollution. The results also underlined the suitability of multivariate analysis of the whole community to detect environmental changes.

Keywords

macroinvertebratesMediterranean Seapollutionsoft-bottomalpha and beta diversityspatial scales
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 92 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 439 - 448
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2011

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