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Intertidal benthic macrofaunal assemblages: changes in structure along entire tropical estuarine salinity gradients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2014

Dante Luís Silva Mariano  and
Francisco Barros Open the ORCID record for Francisco Barros [Opens in a new window]
Dante Luís Silva Mariano
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, PPG Ecologia e Biomonitoramento, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Ondina, Salvador, BA 40170-290, Brazil
Francisco Barros*
Affiliation:
Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, PPG Ecologia e Biomonitoramento, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Ondina, Salvador, BA 40170-290, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: F. Barros, Laboratório de Ecologia Bentônica, PPG Ecologia e Biomonitoramento, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Campus Ondina, Salvador, BA 40170-290, Brazil email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Spatial variation in the structure of macrobenthic assemblages on intertidal flats is known to be related to different environmental variables. Most of the studies have observed that along the estuarine gradient, salinity is the most important variable driving the patterns of the macrobenthic assemblages. However, the great majority of studies have been done on single estuarine systems in temperate regions. We investigated the relationship between the macrobenthic assemblages in intertidal habitats and the environmental variables along three tropical estuaries. From lower to upper estuarine regions we sampled benthic macrofauna, salinity and sediments. The structure of the benthic assemblages was primarily related to salinity. There was a decrease in the number of taxa from the upper to the lower estuarine regions, indicating important deviation from Remane's model of estuarine diversity. There were important similarities of taxa abundance along different estuarine salinity gradients which can be properly tested in other tropical and temperate regions. We advocate that in order to adopt general and robust management practices it is essential to identify broad patterns and general rules governing estuarine systems.

Keywords

intertidal environmentsalinity gradientssedimentszoobenthos
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 1 , February 2015 , pp. 5 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2014 

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