Subtidal macrozoobenthic assemblages along the River Minho estuarine gradient (north‐west Iberian Peninsula)

Sousa, Ronaldo; Dias, Sérgia; Freitas, Vânia; Antunes, Carlos

doi:10.1002/aqc.871

Cited by 88 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…This follows the pattern of most temperate estuaries, and is characterised by having a significant influx of freshwater during the winter, which has an impact on salinity variation (Elliott & McLusky 2002;Chainho et al 2006;Teixeira et al 2008). The presence of gravel at upstream stations and the accumulation of muddy sediments in the stations near of mouth of Cávado estuary detected in the present study has also been observed in other Portuguese estuaries Chainho et al 2007;Sousa et al 2008b;Teixeira et al 2008). …”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

“…In general, salinity was lower at most upstream stations (E1, E1a) and higher at most downstream stations (E2, E3 and E3a). Seasonal variations and along to the estuarine gradient as those indicated are very common in Portuguese estuaries (Moreira et al 1993;Azevedo et al 2008;Chainho et al 2008;Sousa et al 2008b;Costa-Dias et al 2010b;Medeiros et al 2012). Winter and spring were the wettest seasons compared to summer, which was generally drier.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Even so, biological data, such as abundance and biomass, were better correlated with temperature than with salinity. Several studies reported the water temperature and salinity as the most important abiotic factors affecting Portuguese estuarine fauna Sousa et al 2008b;Teixeira et al 2008;Costa-Dias et al 2010a), not dissolved oxygen. The sediment type was also important in spatial distribution of epibenthic communities, being the abundance, biomass and the diversity indexes better correlated with the presence of fine sediment (<0.125mm).…”

Section: Tabela 4 Combinação Das Variáveis (K) Que Fornecem Os Valormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors affecting the distribution of epibenthic biodiversity in the Cávado estuary (NW Portugal)

Carvalho

Santos

2013

RGCI

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The epibenthic fauna of the lower Cávado estuary at five sampling stations was studied over a period of two years. We examined the spatial and seasonal distribution of different species and analysed temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, precipitation and sediment type, which are all important features of estuarine dynamics. A total of 15 taxa were identified. Crustaceans had the highest levels of abundance (91%) and biomass (87%). Crangon crangon was the most abundant species (75%) and Carcinus maenas had the highest biomass (71%). No exotic species were recorded. Multivariate analysis showed two different spatial assemblages, one corresponding to stations nearest to the mouth (higher abundance values) and other to the upstream stations. The Shannon diversity index was highest at the margin station further upstream. Three different assemblages could be distinguished, separating summer/autumn (higher values of abundance) from spring and from winter.According to BIOENV analysis, dissolved oxygen, water temperature and salinity were the environmental variables responsible for the spatial and seasonal distribution of epibenthos, explaining 17.2% of variability. Abundance and biomass were better correlated with water temperature. Sediment type was also important in epibenthic spatial distribution, being abundance, biomass and diversity indexes better correlated with fine sediment (<0.125mm). Keywords: epibenthos; estuarine ecosystem; diversity; environmental variables Resumo A fauna epibentónica do estuário inferior do Rio Cávado foi estudada em cinco estações de amostragem durante um período de dois anos. Apresentamos a distribuição espacial e sazonal das diferentes espécies e uma análise da temperatura, salinidade, oxigénio dissolvido, precipitação e tipo de sedimento, sendo todas, importantes características da dinâmica estuarina. Foram identificados um total de 15 taxa. Os crustáceos apresentaram os valores mais elevados de abundância (91%) e biomassa (87%). Crangon crangon foi a espécie mais abundante (75%) e Carcinus maenas apresentou o valor de biomassa mais elevado (71%

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 79%

Section: Tabela 4 Combinação Das Variáveis (K) Que Fornecem Os Valormentioning

confidence: 99%

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Factors affecting the distribution of epibenthic biodiversity in the Cávado estuary (NW Portugal)

Carvalho

Santos

2013

RGCI

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“…I-Mediterranean endemic; II-Atlantic, present in the Mediterranean; III-Atlantic, absent from the Mediterranean; IV-Atlantic, present in the Mediterranean and Indo-PaciWc Ocean; V-Atlantic, present in the Indo-PaciWc Ocean; VI-Cosmopolitan Fig. 6 Cluster diagram of species present in more than 5% of samples based on the BrayCurtis similarity index (Carvalho et al 2006a;Sousa et al 2007), which is an important food resource for benthic communities (Rodrí-guez-Graña et al 2008). Moreover, the existence of Wner sediments also reXects low levels of physical disturbance.…”

Section: Distribution Of Amphipod Assemblages In Relation To Depthmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of depth and sediment type on the spatial distribution of shallow soft-bottom amphipods along the southern Portuguese coast

et al. 2011

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The present study provides updated information on amphipod assemblages of the southern Portuguese coast, the most south-western part of continental Europe. The inXuence of depth and sediment type on the spatial distribution of shallow soft-bottom amphipods was tested by means of univariate and multivariate methods. Samples were collected down to 40 m depth within areas ranging from very Wne sand to gravel. The ratio between density and diversity was found to increase with depth and from coarser to Wner sediments. Both physical variables tested were found to play a major role in structuring amphipod assemblages. However, some dominance of depth was evident as samples were mainly separated according to this variable. Moreover, while only 15 taxa were common to all depth levels, 35 were collected from all sediment types. Both depth and sediment type may override the potential eVects of geographical location, as samples from diVerent areas along the southern Portuguese coast were biologically related. A peculiar habitat was sampled in this study: a maerl bed, which was conWrmed to be a hotspot of density. Nevertheless, this habitat did not harbor a distinct amphipod assemblage but some taxa such as Caprella spp., Lembos websteri, lysianassids and Gammarella fucicola were preferentially collected there. The biogeographical analysis pointed out the occurrence of 8% of Mediterranean endemic species, conWrming the inXuence of the Mediterranean Sea beyond the Strait of Gibraltar, and the AtlanticMediterranean feature of the amphipod fauna of this geographically relevant area. The present results support the need to interpret the spatial distribution patterns of marine species in relation to the combined eVect of depth and sediment characteristics.

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“…In recent years, several studies have investigated the fauna of the Minho estuary, namely macroinvertebrates (Sousa et al, 2008b), epibenthos (Costa-Dias et al, 2010) and fishes (Antunes and Rodrigues, 2004). However, these studies were mostly focused on the lower estuary, and those regarding fish species were centred on few species (mostly related with professional fishing) and have not considered temporal changes; thus River Minho TFWs are currently poorly known.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal changes in fish assemblages in the River Minho tidal freshwater wetlands, NW of the Iberian Peninsula

Мота

Sousa

Bio

et al. 2014

Ann. Limnol. - Int. J. Lim.

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-The ichthyofauna of the River Minho tidal freshwater wetlands (TFWs) was studied in a semienclosed area, between June 2007 and May 2010, to determine temporal patterns of abundance, biomass and species composition. Fish catches, standardized by the number of fyke nets and by the fishing effort, were analysed and related to river flow, water temperature and precipitation. In total, 21 fish species were identified including six non-indigenous species (NIS) which represented 15% of the total captures (yet 43% of the biomass). Regarding ecological guilds, 82% were freshwater species (61% of the biomass) which included all NIS, whereas 13% of the catches were catadromous species (31% biomass) corresponding to eels. Only 4% were estuarine species (1% biomass) and together marine estuarine opportunists and anadromous species accomplished 1% (2 and 6% biomass, respectively). The fish assemblage showed seasonal patterns with a clear distinction between autumn/winter and spring/summer periods. Significant differences in abundance and biomass were also detected between autumn/winter of 2007/2008 and 2008/2009, i.e., inter-annual variations, with the latter period with lower catches yet higher dominance of NIS. Besides, higher water temperature had a significant negative effect on the observed number of species, but a positive effect on the abundance and biomass of NIS. More attention has to be given to TFWs and their role in structuring fish assemblages, because this information is vital for a sound management, conservation and restoration of estuarine areas.

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Subtidal macrozoobenthic assemblages along the River Minho estuarine gradient (north‐west Iberian Peninsula)

Cited by 88 publications

References 58 publications

Factors affecting the distribution of epibenthic biodiversity in the Cávado estuary (NW Portugal)

Factors affecting the distribution of epibenthic biodiversity in the Cávado estuary (NW Portugal)

The effect of depth and sediment type on the spatial distribution of shallow soft-bottom amphipods along the southern Portuguese coast

Seasonal changes in fish assemblages in the River Minho tidal freshwater wetlands, NW of the Iberian Peninsula

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