Assessing sewage impact in a South-West Atlantic rocky shore intertidal algal community

Succession in an intertidal benthic community affected by untreated sewage effluent: A case of study in the SW Atlantic shore

“…became apparent from the biofilm group in early succession (week 07), the ordination of sites IS and IN shifts towards the impacted group. These tube dwelling diatoms were previously proposed as an indicator of sewage pollution in the study area (Becherucci et al, 2016). Other Berkeleya diatom, were registered in association with artificial nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment in the North Sea (Hillebrand et al, 2000).…”

“…C. uruguayense, although observed in a low coverage, was recognized as an indicator species for the non-impacted areas in the study area (Becherucci et al, 2016). In a previous study conducted in northern Argentine Patagonia, U. lactuca showed a high growth velocity (20-25% day −1 ) in an enriched channel of San Antonio Bay, being directly related to nutrient input (Teichberg et al, 2010).…”

“…Moreover, large biomass accumulations of free-floating macroalgae U. lactuca were reported in the absence of grazing by invertebrates in a eutrophic Danish estuary (Geertz-Hansen et al, 1993). However, U. lactuca was related to site R2 in a previous study conducted in Mar del Plata (Becherucci et al, 2016). The association of bare substratum with reference sites indicated a long time of recovery for the substrata in these sites.…”

“…more abundant near the sewage outfall whereas Ulva spp. was distributed with similar abundances in both impacted and non-impacted areas (Becherucci et al, 2016).…”

“…1). According to previous studies sites IS and IN were considered impacted sites whereas sites R1 and R2 were treated as reference non-impacted sites (Elías et al, 2006; Sánchez et al, 2013;Jaubet et al, 2015;Becherucci et al, 2016). In each sampling site, eight experimental plots (square areas of 0.40 m 2 ) were randomly distributed in independent rocks on the mid height level of the eulittoral shore (Raffaelli and Hawkins, 1999).…”