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Converse effect of flooding on intertidal macrobenthic assemblages in the Guadiana estuary

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2013

Anxo Conde ,
José Calvário ,
Martin Sprung ,
Júlio M. Novais  and
Jorge Domínguez
Anxo Conde*
Affiliation:
IBB-Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Center for Biological and Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo E-36310, Spain
José Calvário
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciências do Mar (CCMAR), Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Martin Sprung
Affiliation:
Centro de Ciências do Mar (CCMAR), Faculdade de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente, Universidade do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal
Júlio M. Novais
Affiliation:
IBB-Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Center for Biological and Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal
Jorge Domínguez
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ecoloxía e Bioloxía Animal, Universidade de Vigo, Vigo E-36310, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A. Conde, IBB-Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Center for Biological and Chemical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), 1049-001, Lisbon, Portugal email: aconde@ist.utl.pt
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Abstract

The effects of winter flooding on the intertidal macrobenthic assemblages in the Guadiana estuary were studied by analysing several ecological parameters (abundance, biomass, species richness, diversity, degree of dominance of annelids and deposit-feeders species and number of predator species) as well as changes in the composition of the assemblages. Significant and systematic differences were found in the values of the ecological parameters, especially between winter and summer. We found a significant interaction between the factors ‘time’ and ‘site’, attributable to changes in abundance and composition of the assemblages. The assemblages showed a predominance of some opportunist species in most of the estuary after the flooding, suggesting that these species benefited from the new environmental conditions. Conversely, the assemblages in the mouth of the estuary were severely affected as was shown by the negative changes in biomass, species richness and diversity. These converse responses of the intertidal estuarine assemblages represent effects of flooding different from both catastrophic and negative effects on macrofaunal assemblages.

Keywords

ecological parametersmacrobenthic assemblageswinter floodingdisturbancemacrofaunal responseconverse effectIberian Peninsula
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Issue 6 , September 2013 , pp. 1431 - 1440
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2013 

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