Macrobenthic community for assessment of estuarine health in tropical areas (Northeast, Brazil): Review of macrofauna classification in ecological groups and application of AZTI Marine Biotic Index

Valença, Ana Paula Maria Cavalcanti; Santos, Paulo Jorge Parreira dos

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2012.06.003

Cited by 41 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 78 publications

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“…Numerous different benthic indices have been developed in recent times [10], [11], allowing managers to identify impacted sites and decide on habitat restoration measures. One of the most successful indices used worldwide is the AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) [12], which is officially used in many European countries and has been tested in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania [13], where examples of its application can be found [9], [14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Status Assessment Using DNA Metabarcoding: Towards a Genetics Based Marine Biotic Index (gAMBI)

2014

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Marine ecosystem protection and conservation initiatives rely on the assessment of ecological integrity and health status of marine environments. The AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI), which consists on using macroinvertebrate diversity as indicator of ecosystem health, is used worldwide for this purpose. Yet, this index requires taxonomic assignment of specimens, which typically involves a time and resource consuming visual identification of each sample. DNA barcoding or metabarcoding are potential harmonized, faster and cheaper alternatives for species identification, although the suitability of these methods for easing the implementation of the AMBI is yet to be evaluated. Here, we analyze the requirements for the implementation of a genetics based AMBI (gAMBI), and show, using available sequence data, that information about presence/absence of the most frequently occurring species provides accurate AMBI values. Our results set the basics for the implementation of the gAMBI, which has direct implications for a faster and cheaper marine monitoring and health status assessment.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Environmental Status Assessment Using DNA Metabarcoding: Towards a Genetics Based Marine Biotic Index (gAMBI)

2014

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“…This analysis is similar to Biological Trait Analysis (BTA), using a series of morphological and behavioural characteristics of species to indicate aspects of their ecological functioning (Tilman et al 1997, Paganelli et al 2012, Peng et al 2013, Greenfield et al 2016. Diet, interaction with sediment, body type and body size were defined for each taxon, based on prior studies of functional groups in macrofauna (Borja et al 2009, Lavesque et al 2009, Valença et al 2012, Gamito et al 2012, Peng et al 2013, Rodil et al 2013, Barnes and Hendy 2015) (Table 2). Macrofauna taxa were summarized in functional groups (Table 3), according to similarities in the aforementioned categories (e.g., grazers were included within the deposit feeders as these two feeding behaviours are often combined in small invertebrates).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental harvest in a tropical seagrass meadow leads to shift in associated benthic communities

Cadier

Frouws

2019

Community Ecology

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Seagrass meadows represent key ecosystems in coastal areas worldwide, hosting a great biodiversity of associated communities and thereby providing a large range of ecosystem services. In this study we present an experimental approach to investigate the effects of seagrass losses on related macrofauna assemblages. Over a three year period, seagrass canopies were removed in experimental plots and changes in epifauna, infauna and respective functional groups were recorded. The experimental removal of seagrass leaves resulted in a decline of 74% of overall macrofaunal abundance and the loss of several taxa. The immediate response of associated communities was followed by the establishment of an alternative assemblage, characterized by an increased number of bioturbators and deposit feeders. The colonization of disturbed seagrass plots by burrowing shrimps (Callianassidae) might have hindered the reestablishment of seagrass after the removal. Our findings highlight the important role of seagrasses as habitat forming species that provide relevant functioning and services in coastal ecosystems.

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“…As every EU country has been required to follow those directives, national scientific networks across the EU have applied integrated studies regionally to evaluate the ecosystem health of estuaries and their watersheds. In the estuaries and on the coasts of Europe, specific tools for the assessment of ecological status using benthic communities have been created (BORJA et al, 2000) and these have been independently tested in Brazil (MUNIZ et al, 2005;VALENÇA and SANTOS, 2012).…”

Section: What International Programs Can Teach Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic estuarine communities in Brazil: moving forward to long term studies to assess climate change impacts

et al. 2016

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Estuaries are unique coastal ecosystems that sustain and provide essential ecological services for mankind. Estuarine ecosystems include a variety of habitats with their own sediment-fauna dynamics, all of them globally undergoing alteration or threatened by human activities. Mangrove forests, saltmarshes, tidal flats and other confined estuarine systems are under increasing stress due to human activities leading to habitat and species loss. Combined changes in estuarine hydromorphology and in climate pose severe threats to estuarine ecosystems on a global scale. The ReBentos network is the first integrated attempt in Brazil to monitor estuarine changes in the long term to detect and assess the effects of global warming. This paper is an initial effort of ReBentos to review current knowledge on benthic estuarine ecology in Brazil. We herein present and synthesize all published work on Brazilian estuaries that has focused on the description of benthic communities and related ecological processes. We then use current data on Brazilian estuaries and present recommendations for future studies to address climate change effects, suggesting trends for possible future research and stressing the need for long-term datasets and international partnerships. AbstrActDescriptors: Estuaries, Benthic ecology, Climate change, Brazil, Impacts Estuários são ecossistemas costeiros que sustentam uma ampla variedade de serviços ambientais para a humanidade. Estuários abrigam muitos ambientes bentônicos com características específicas e seriamente ameaçados globalmente. Manguezais, marismas e planícies de maré são amplamente impactados por poluentes domésticos e industriais, por atividades comerciais que levam à perda de habitat e pela sobrepesca. Os diversos impactos locais, associados a mudanças regionais e globais na hidromorfologia estuarina e potenciais efeitos de mudanças climáticas, colocam sérias ameaças a ecossistemas estuarinos. A rede Bentos foi criada para estudar o efeito de mudanças no clima em ecossistemas bentônicos costeiros brasileiros. Este trabalho faz parte dos esforços iniciais do Grupo de Trabalho Estuários em rever o conhecimento sobre comunidades bentônicas estuarinas no Brasil. Aqui apresentamos uma breve revisão crítica sobre os trabalhos realizados objetivando o estudo, em nível de comunidades, do bentos estuarino e processos ecológicos associados. A partir do cenário atual, realizamos recomendações de estudo para responder questões científicas sobre efeitos de mudanças climáticas em comunidades bentônicas estuarinas, e enfatizamos a necessidade de bases de dados contínuas e de longa duração e o estabelecimento de parcerias internacionais com foco específico nos estuários brasileiros.

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Macrobenthic community for assessment of estuarine health in tropical areas (Northeast, Brazil): Review of macrofauna classification in ecological groups and application of AZTI Marine Biotic Index

Cited by 41 publications

References 78 publications

Environmental Status Assessment Using DNA Metabarcoding: Towards a Genetics Based Marine Biotic Index (gAMBI)

Environmental Status Assessment Using DNA Metabarcoding: Towards a Genetics Based Marine Biotic Index (gAMBI)

Experimental harvest in a tropical seagrass meadow leads to shift in associated benthic communities

Benthic estuarine communities in Brazil: moving forward to long term studies to assess climate change impacts

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