Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-gtxcr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T15:40:06.755Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can macrobenthic communities be used in the assessment of environmental quality of fish earthen ponds?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2009

Susana Carvalho ,
Marisa Barata ,
Fábio Pereira ,
Pedro Pousão-Ferreira ,
Luís Cancela da Fonseca  and
Miguel B. Gaspar
Susana Carvalho*
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos (INRB, IP)/IPIMAR, Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal
Marisa Barata
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos (INRB, IP)/IPIMAR, Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal
Fábio Pereira
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos (INRB, IP)/IPIMAR, Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal
Pedro Pousão-Ferreira
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos (INRB, IP)/IPIMAR, Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal
Luís Cancela da Fonseca
Affiliation:
FCMA, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Gambelas, Portugal Laboratório Marítimo da Guia/Centro de Oceanografia (FCUL), Avenida N. Sra. do Cabo, 939, 2750-374 Cascais, Portugal
Miguel B. Gaspar
Affiliation:
Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos (INRB, IP)/IPIMAR, Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Carvalho, Instituto Nacional de Recursos Biológicos (INRB, IP)/IPIMAR, Avenida 5 de Outubro s/n, 8700-305 Olhão, Portugal email: scarvalho@cripsul.ipimar.pt
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The present study was undertaken in order to analyse whether macrobenthic communities can or not be used in monitoring programmes of the environmental quality of fish ponds. Functional community analysis and biotic metrics were analysed aiming at the assessment of their effectiveness in discriminating potential impacts of fish production in these systems. The macrofaunal patterns in earthen fish ponds of the Ria Formosa lagoon showed to be influenced by the input of fish food during the production cycle and by changes in abiotic parameters caused by seasonality and fish production. Polychaetes were generally dominant considering the number of taxa and abundance. The trophic functional analysis of the benthic communities showed that the deposit-feeding functional group dominated in both areas of the ponds but within water entrance areas there was an increase of suspension-feeding, carnivory and herbivory feeding modes. The presence of less trophically mixed communities within feeding areas may be related to the relative high disturbance levels of these areas. From the biotic indicators that show a differential response to organic input in fish earthen ponds, the abundance of Capitella spp. as well as the diversity (Shannon–Wiener and Margalef species richness), evenness (Pielou) and AMBI indices seem to be the best indicators to be used in monitoring studies in similar systems. Managers should pay particular attention when Capitella spp. taxa are observed within the feeding areas. Nevertheless, manipulative experiments are needed in order to test the dominance levels of Capitella spp. and the values of those indices that are of concern.

Keywords

macrobenthic communitiesassessmentenvironmental qualityCapitella spp.fish earthen ponds
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 90 , Issue 1 , February 2010 , pp. 135 - 144
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Angermeier, P.L. and Winston, M.R. (1998) Local vs. regional influences on local diversity in stream fish communities of Virginia. Ecology 79, 911–927.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arias, A.M. and Drake, P. (1994) Structure and production of the benthic macroinvertebrate community in a shallow lagoon in the Bay of Cádiz. Marine Ecology Progress Series 115, 151–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arvanitidis, C., Koutsoubas, D., Dounas, C. and Eleftheriou, A. (1999) Annelid fauna of a Mediterranean lagoon (Gialova Lagoon, south-west Greece): community structure in a severely fluctuating environment. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of United Kingdom 79, 849–856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bachelet, G., Montaudouin, X., Auby, I. and Labourg, P.-J. (2000) Seasonal changes in macrophyte and macrozoobenthos assemblages in three coastal lagoons under varying degrees of eutrophication. ICES Journal of Marine Science 57, 1495–1506.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnes, R.S.K. (1980) Coastal lagoons. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bazaïri, H., Bayed, A., Glémarec, M. and Hily, C. (2003) Spatial organisation of macrobenthic communities in response to environmental factors in a coastal lagoon of the NW African coast (Merja Zerga, Morocco). Oceanologica Acta 26, 457–471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Belan, T.A. (2003) Marine environmental quality assessment using polychaete taxocene characteristics in Vancouver Harbour. Marine Environmental Research 57, 89–101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beukema, J.J. (1991) Changes in composition of bottom fauna of a tidal-flat during a period of eutrophication. Marine Biology 111, 293–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boaventura, D., Cancela da Fonseca, L. and Teles-Ferreira, C. (1999) Trophic structure of macrobenthic communities in the Portuguese Coast. A review on lagoonal, estuarine and rocky littoral habitats. Acta Oecologica 20, 407–415.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boesch, D.F. (1973) Classification and community structure of macrobenthos in the Hampton Roads area, Virginia. Marine Biology 21, 226–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonsdorff, E. and Pearson, T.H. (1999) Variation in the sublittoral macrozoobenthos of the Baltic Sea gradients: a functional-group approach. Austral Ecology 24, 312–326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boström, C. and Mattila, J. (1999) The relative importance of food and shelter for seagrass-associated invertebrates: a latitudinal comparison of habitat choice by isopod grazers. Oecologia 120, 162–170.Google ScholarPubMed
Brooks, K.M. and Mahnken, C.V.W. (2003) Interactions of Atlantic salmon in the Pacific northwest environment: II. Organic wastes. Fisheries Research 62, 255–293.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cancela da Fonseca, L., Bernardo, J.M., Costa, A.M., Falcão, M. and Vale, C. (2001a) Seasonal chemical changes and eutrophication of a land-locked coastal lagoon (St. André, SW Portugal). Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal Supplement 6, 167–183.Google Scholar
Cancela da Fonseca, L., Duarte, P. and Gaspar, F.P. (2001b) Trophic group patterns of macrobenthos in brackish coastal systems. Boletim do Museu Municipal do Funchal Supplement 6, 139–165.Google Scholar
Cardoso, P.G., Pardal, M.A., Lillebø, A.I., Ferreira, S.M., Raffaelli, D. and Marques, J.C. (2004) Dynamic changes in seagrass assemblages under eutrophication and implications for recovery. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 302, 233–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cardoso, P.G., Bankovic, M., Raffaelli, D. and Pardal, M.A. (2007) Polychaete assemblages as indicators of habitat recovery in a temperate estuary under eutrophication. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 71, 301–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carvalho, S., Barata, M., Pereira, F., Gaspar, M.B., Cancela da Fonseca, L. and Pousão-Ferreira, P. (2006a) Distribution patterns of macrobenthic species in relation to organic enrichment within aquaculture earthen ponds. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52, 1573–1584.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carvalho, S., Cúrdia, J., Moura, A., Gaspar, M.B., Dinis, M.T., Pousão-Ferreira, P. and Cancela da Fonseca, L. (2007) The influence of white seabream (Diplodus sargus) production on macrobenthic colonization patterns. Acta Oecologica 31, 307–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carvalho, S., Gaspar, M.B., Moura, A., Vale, C., Antunes, P., Gil, O., Cancela da Fonseca, L.C. and Falcão, M. (2006c) The use of the marine biotic index AMBI in the assessment of the ecological status of the Óbidos lagoon (Portugal). Marine Pollution Bulletin 52, 1414–1424.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carvalho, S., Moura, A., Gaspar, M.B., Pereira, P., Cancela da Fonseca, L., Falcão, M., Drago, T., Leitão, F. and Regala, J. (2005) Spatial and inter-annual variability of the macrobenthic communities within a coastal lagoon (Óbidos lagoon) and its relationship with environmental parameters. Acta Oecologica 27, 143–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carvalho, S., Moura, A. and Sprung, M. (2006b) Ecological implications of removing seagrass beds (Zostera noltii) for bivalve aquaculture in southern Portugal. Cahiers de Biologie Marine 47, 321–329.Google Scholar
Chardy, P. and Clavier, J. (1988) Biomass and trophic structure of the macrobenthos in the south-west lagoon of New Caledonia. Marine Biology 99, 195–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, J.H. (1978) Diversity in tropical rain forests and coral reefs. Science 199, 1302–1309.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costa, A.M., Cristo, M. and Cancela da Fonseca, L. (2003) Annual cycle of the benthic community of a coastal lagoon: Lagoa de Melides (Grândola, SW Portugal). Revista de Biologia (Lisboa) 21, 71–89.Google Scholar
Dauer, D.M. (1984) The use of polychaete feeding guilds as biological variables. Marine Pollution Bulletin 15, 301–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dernie, K.M., Kaiser, M.J., Richardson, E.A. and Warwick, R.M. (2003) Recovery of soft sediment communities and habitats following physical disturbance. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 285–286, 415–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diaz, R.J. and Rosenberg, R. (1995) Marine benthic hypoxia: a review of its ecological effects and the behavioural responses of benthic macrofauna. Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual Review 33, 245–303.Google Scholar
Edgar, G.J., Macleod, C.K., Mawbey, R.B. and Shields, D. (2005) Broad-scale effects of marine salmonid aquaculture on macrobenthos and the sediment environment in southeastern Tasmania. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 327, 70–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, W.S., Jackson, L.E., Suter, G.W. II and Bertram, P. (2001) Indicators for human and ecological risk assessment: a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency perspective. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment 7, 961–970.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gamito, S. (1989) The benthic macrofauna of some water reservoirs of salt-pans from Ria Formosa (Portugal). Scientia Marina 53, 639–644.Google Scholar
Gamito, S. (1997) Application of canonical correspondence analysis to environmental and benthic macrofauna data of four sites in the Ria Formosa (Portugal). Boletín. Instituto Español de Oceanografía 23, 41–52.Google Scholar
Gaston, G.R. and Nasci, J.C. (1988) Trophic structure of macrobenthic communities in the Calcasieu Estuary, Louisiana. Estuaries 11, 201–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaston, G.R. (1987) Benthic Polychaeta of the middle Atlantic Bight: feeding and distribution. Marine Ecology Progress Series 36, 251–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaston, G.R., Lee, D.L. and Nasci, J.C. (1988) Estuarine macrobenthos in Calcasieu Lake, Louisiana: community and trophic structure. Estuaries 11, 192–200.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaston, G.R., Rakocinski, C.F., Brown, S.S. and Cleveland, C.M. (1998) Trophic function in estuaries: response of macrobenthos to natural and contaminant gradients. Marine and Freshwater Research 49, 833–846.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaudêncio, M.J. and Cabral, H.N. (2007) Trophic structure of macrobenthos in the Tagus estuary and adjacent coastal shelf. Hydrobiologia 587, 241–251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gesteira, J.L.G. and Dauvin, J.C. (2000) Amphipods are good bioindicators of the impact of oil spills on soft-bottom macrobenthic communities. Marine Pollution Bulletin 40, 1017–1027.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, J.S. (1992) Eutrophication in the sea. In Colombo, G., Ferrari, I., Ceccherelli, V.U. and Rossi, R. (eds) Marine eutrophication and population dynamics. Fredensborg: Olsen & Olsen, pp. 3–15.Google Scholar
Gray, J.S., Wu, R.S. and Or, Y.Y. (2002) Effects of hypoxia and organic enrichment on the coastal environment. Marine Ecology Progress Series 238, 249–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grime, J.P. (1973a) Competitive exclusion in herbaceous vegetation. Nature 242, 344–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grime, J.P. (1973b) Control of species density in herbaceous vegetation. Journal of Environmental Management 1, 151–167.Google Scholar
Haya, K., Burridge, L.E. and Chang, B.D. (2001) Environmental impact of chemical wastes produced by the salmon aquaculture industry. ICES Journal of Marine Science 58, 492–496.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heilskov, A.C. and Holmer, M. (2001) Effects of benthic fauna on organic matter mineralization in fish-farm sediments: importance of size and abundance. ICES Journal of Marine Science 58, 427–434.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holmer, M. and Kristensen, E. (1992) Impact of marine fish cage farming on metabolism and sulphate reduction of underlying sediments. Marine Ecology Progress Series 80, 191–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hyland, J., Balthis, L., Karakassis, I., Magni, P., Petrov, A., Shine, J., Vestergaard, O. and Warwick, R. (2005) Organic carbon content of sediments as an indicator of stress in the marine benthos. Marine Ecology Progress Series 295, 91–103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johannessen, P.J., Botnen, H.B. and Tvedten, O.F. (1994) Macrobenthos: before, during and after a fish farm. Aquaculture and Fisheries Management 25, 55–66.Google Scholar
Karakassis, I., Hatziyanni, E., Tsapakis, M. and Plaiti, W. (1999) Benthic recovery following cessation of fish farming: a series of successes and catastrophes. Marine Ecology Progress Series 184, 205–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, M. and Naguib, M. (1984) Eutrophication in coastal marine areas and lagoons: a case study of ‘Lac de Tunis’. Unesco Reports in Marine Science 29, 1–28.Google Scholar
Levin, S.A. (1992) The problem of pattern and scale in ecology. Ecology 73, 1943–1967.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lorenzen, C.J. (1967) Determination of chlorophyll and pheopigments: spectrophotometric equations. Limnology and Oceanography 12, 343–346.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Magni, P. (2003) Biological benthic tools as indicators of coastal marine ecosystems health. Chemistry and Ecology 19, 363–372.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mancinelli, G., Fazi, S. and Rossi, L. (1998) Sediment structural properties mediating dominant feeding types patterns in soft-bottom macrobenthos of the Northern Adriatic Sea. Hydrobiologia 367, 211–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Menge, B.A. and Olson, A.M. (1990) Role of scale and environmental factors in regulation of community structure. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 5, 52–57.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Muxika, I., Borja, A. and Bonne, W. (2005) The suitability of the marine biotic index (AMBI) to new impact sources along European coasts. Ecological Indicators 5, 19–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, T.H. and Rosenberg, R. (1978) Macrobenthic succession in relation to organic enrichment and pollution of the marine environment. Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual Review 16, 229–311.Google Scholar
Peeters, E.T.H.M., Gylstra, R. and Vos, J.H. (2004) Benthic macroinvertebrate community structure in relation to food and environmental variables. Hydrobiologia 519, 103–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perus, J. and Bonsdorff, E. (2004) Long-term changes in macrozoobenthos in the Åland archipelago northern Baltic Sea. Journal of Sea Research 52, 45–56.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plante-Cuny, M.R. (1974) Evaluation par spectrophotométrie des teneurs en chlorophylle a fonctionnelle et en phéopigments des substrats meubles marins. Documents Scientifiques de la Mission de L'O.R.S.T.O.M. A Nosy-Bé 45, 1–76.Google Scholar
Pohle, G., Frost, B. and Findlay, R. (2001) Assessment of regional benthic impact of salmon mariculture within the Letang Inlet, Bay of Fundy. ICES Journal of Marine Science 58, 417–426.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raffaelli, D. (1999) Nutrient enrichment and trophic organisation in an estuarine food web. Acta Oecologica 20, 449–461.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rossi, F. (2003) Short-term response of deposit-feeders to an increase of the nutritive value of the sediment through seasons in an intertidal mudflat (Western Mediterranean, Italy). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 290, 1–17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roth, S. and Wilson, J.G. (1998) Functional analysis by trophic guilds of macrobenthic community structure in Dublin Bay, Ireland. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 222, 195–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sánchez-Moyano, J.E., Estacio, F.J., García-Adiego, E.M. and García-Gómez, J.C. (2004) Dredging impact on the benthic community of an unaltered inlet in southern Spain. Helgoland Marine Research 58, 32–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Serpa, D., Falcão, M., Pousão-Ferreira, P., Vicente, M. and Carvalho, S. (2007) Geochemical changes in white sea bream (Diplodus sargus) earth ponds during a production cycles. Aquaculture Research 38, 1619–1626.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sfriso, A., Birkemeyer, T. and Ghetti, P.F. (2001) Benthic macrofuana changes in areas of Venice lagoon populated by seagrasses or seaweeds. Marine Environmental Research 52, 323–349.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Snelgrove, P.V.R. and Butman, C.A. (1994) Animal–sediment relationship revisited: cause versus effect. Oceanography and Marine Biology: an Annual Review 32, 111–177.Google Scholar
Sprung, M. (1994) Macrobenthic secondary production in the intertidal zone of the Ria Formosa—a lagoon in southern Portugal. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 38, 539–558.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webb, D.G. (1996) Response of macro- and meiobenthos from a carbon-poor sand to phytodetrital sedimentation. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 203, 259–271.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Widdicombe, S. and Austen, M.C. (2001) The interaction between physical disturbance and organic enrichment: an important element in structuring benthic communities. Limnology and Oceanography 46, 1720–1733.CrossRefGoogle Scholar