Spatiotemporal variation in benthic polychaetes (Annelida) and relationships with environmental variables in a tropical estuary

Abstract

Annelida constitute a dominant functional component in soft-bottom macrobenthic communities and reveal a wide range of adaptability to different marine and coastal habitats. Analyses in different polychaete assemblages and their responses to habitat conditions reflect the biological effects of marine pollution and habitat disturbance. The present study is designed to study colonization and community structure of polychaetes in two ecologically distinct locations of the Sundarban Biosphere Reserve on the northeast coast of India. Polychaete assemblages are characteristically different at the two sites in the extreme northern (Ghusighata) and southern (Gangasagar) portions of the Biosphere Reserve. Levels of heavy metals in polychaete body tissues also reveal interspecific and regional variations. The predominant polychaete fauna exhibited a distinct and unique assemblage of two types: (i) Mastobranchus indicus -Dendronereides heteropoda in the sewage-fed substratum at Ghusighata and (ii) Lumbrinereis notocirrata -Ganganereis sootai -Glycera tesselata at Gangasagar at the mouth of the Hugli estuary where chronic anthropogenic stress and contamination with agricultural and industrial effluents occur. The faunistic composition of polychaetes and their potential for the accumulation of heavy metals from the ambient medium are distinctly different. The study demonstrates that textural composition of the sediments, together with hydrodynamic and geotechnical properties, seem to have the greatest control to quantify the differences of the polychaete community in the two study stations. An in-depth comparative study of polychaete community structure at multiple spatial scales is strongly recommended for future environmental impact assessment in this fragile environment.

Premier inventaire des macro-invertébrés du fleuve Niger à Niamey comme bioindicateurs de la pollution urbaine et industrielle

“…Ces méthodes portent entre autres sur l'étude de la structure et de la composition des macro-invertébrés (Tumwesigye et al, 2000 ;Lomond & Colbo, 2000), l'utilisation des indices biotiques (Solimini et al, 2000 ;Lafont et al, 1991), l'utilisation des traits biologiques (Mondy et al, 2012 ;Vanden Bossche & Usseglio-Polatera, 2005 ;Statzner et al, 2004 ;Gayraud et al, 2003 ;UsseglioPolatera et al, 2000) et l'utilisation des analyses multivariées qui mettent en relation les facteurs environnementaux et les communautés de macro-inveré-brés (Floury et al, 2013 ;Piscart et al, 2005 ;Sarkar et al, 2005 ;Shivoga, 2001 ;Bauernfeind & Moog, 2000 ;Lancaster, 1999).…”

Diversidad de Polychaeta (Annelida) en el intermareal de los esteros del Santuario Nacional los Manglares de Tumbes, Perú

“…Dss: Depositívoros subsuperficiales; Ds: Depositívoros superficiales; Ca: Carnívoros; Fi: Filtradores; He: Herbívoros; Om: Omnívoros indica un biotopo mas resiliente, sin embargo la presencia de varios taxa carnívoros nos indicaría la importancia del stress biológico por depredación, típico de áreas de baja marea (Dittmann, 1996;Reise, 1985). Como se esperaba el gremio de depositívoros dominó (Sarkar et al 2005), además, la dominancia de los depositívoros superficiales también podría indicar un hábitat con alto grado de perturbación (Metcalfe & Glasby 2008), por lo que se podría considerar a la ZAI como un hábitat con mayor perturbación respecto a la ZBI.…”

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“…It has been assumed that much organic content in sediment can reduce the abundance of sensitive benthos and promote some tolerant species such as polychaetes (Sarkar et al, 2005;Ingole et al, 2008). The polychaete abundance in the Bandargah was higher than other transects (Table 2), which could be mainly due to the sewage discharge.…”

“…Muddy-sand substrates often harbour the highest macro-faunal diversity (Sousa et al 2006;Wang et al, 2009). Organic matter enrichment is one of the most common disturbances leading to a decrease in abundance and diversity in macro-benthic assemblages (Junoy and Vieitez, 1990;Sarkar et al, 2005;Jayaraj et al, 2007).…”