Variability at different spatial scales between a subtidal assemblage exposed to the discharge of sewage and two control assemblages

Chapman, M. G.; Underwood, A. J.; Skilleter, G. A.

doi:10.1016/0022-0981(95)00017-l

Cited by 202 publications

(134 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Warwick and Clarke's (1993) suggestion that assemblage variability increases with anthropogenic disturbance appears to be supported by these results. Although studies by Chapman et al (1995) and Kelaher et al (1998) found no relationship between anthropogenic disturbance and increased assemblage variability, relative dispersion values for this study showed that variability in assemblages measured at impacted locations was consistently greater than assemblages recorded at Bush locations. Variability at the 26 Urban/Sewer locations was greatest in all years sampled but particularly high in 1998 and 1999 when above average precipitation was experienced in the Sydney region.…”

Section: Bush Locations Were Dominated By Bembicium Auratum Saccostrcontrasting

confidence: 85%

Assessing the Response of Estuarine Intertidal Assemblages to Urbanised Catchment Discharge

Courtenay

Gladstone

Schreider

2005

Environ Monit Assess

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Abstract. Measurement of intertidal rock assemblages was investigated as a potential biological indicator to provide a quantitative estimate of the impact of urbanised catchment discharge on the estuaries of Sydney, Australia, from 1995 to 1999. Based on the presence and characteristics of adjacent human activities, sampling locations were categorised as:Bush; Urban; Urban with Sewer Overflows; and Industry with Sewer Overflows. In Sydney Harbour, variation in assemblage structure was measured between most impact categories, however differences between impact categories were not consistent for each year.Nevertheless, in years of above average rainfall (1998-99), reference assemblages adjacent to national parks and distant from urbanisation were different to all other putatively impacted assemblages. Variability within assemblages was least at reference locations in each year and greatest at locations adjacent to stormwater canals and sewer overflows, particularly in 1998-1999. Variation in assemblage structure in Sydney estuaries was most strongly correlated with chlorophyll-a concentrations. Univariate analysis also identified highly significant differences for a number of factors, however, interactions between year, impact categories and location for numerous analyses, confounded the differentiation between impact categories. The results suggest that intertidal rock assemblages in Sydney Harbour and surrounding estuaries appear to be responding to the quality and quantity of discharge from urbanised catchments and, furthermore, that assemblages are more suitable than individual taxa to indicate the difference between Bush and anthropogenically disturbed estuarine locations.1 This is the version of the manuscript that was accepted for publication in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (2005) 107: 375-398.

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Section: Bush Locations Were Dominated By Bembicium Auratum Saccostrcontrasting

confidence: 85%

Assessing the Response of Estuarine Intertidal Assemblages to Urbanised Catchment Discharge

Courtenay

Gladstone

Schreider

2005

Environ Monit Assess

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“…Identifying relevant scales of variability is extremely important and necessary, especially at small scale, for implementing suitable monitoring programs and environmental impact studies (Underwood 1993;Chapman et al 1995). The natural small-scale variation has been considered as a confounding factor to detect anthropogenic disturbance (Warwick 1988a, b).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, understanding and quantifying the magnitude of the natural variability of assemblages is extremely important for implementing suitable monitoring programs and environmental impact studies (Underwood 1993;Chapman et al 1995). Due to their high diversity, sessile nature and wide distribution, macroalgae are considered good descriptors of rocky shore assemblages, and they are widely used to characterise and monitor coastal systems (Leliaert et al 2000;Piazzi et al 2002) and anthropogenic disturbances (Piazzi et al 2001;Díez et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variability in intertidal macroalgal assemblages on the North Portuguese coast: consistence between species and functional group approaches

et al. 2012

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Natural assemblages are variable in space and time; therefore, quantification of their variability is imperative to identify relevant scales for investigating natural or anthropogenic processes shaping these assemblages. We studied the variability of intertidal macroalgal assemblages on the North Portuguese coast, considering three spatial scales (from metres to 10 s of kilometres) following a hierarchical design. We tested the hypotheses that (1) spatial pattern will be invariant at all the studied scales and (2) spatial variability of macroalgal assemblages obtained by using species will be consistent with that obtained using functional groups. This was done considering as univariate variables: total biomass and number of taxa as well as biomass of the most important species and functional groups and as multivariate variables the structure of macroalgal assemblages, both considering species and functional groups. Most of the univariate results confirmed the first hypothesis except for the total number of taxa and foliose macroalgae that showed significant variability at the scale of site and area, respectively. In contrast, when multivariate patterns were examined, the first hypothesis was rejected except at the scale of 10 s of kilometres. Both uni-and multivariate results indicated that variation was larger at the smallest scale, and thus, smallscale processes seem to have more effect on spatial variability patterns. Macroalgal assemblages, both considering species and functional groups as surrogate, showed consistent spatial patterns, and therefore, the second hypothesis was confirmed. Consequently, functional groups may be considered a reliable biological surrogate to study changes on macroalgal assemblages at least along the investigated Portuguese coastline.

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“…However, beyond-BACI designs can be modified and applied to situations where no before data exist and have been widely used (e.g. Chapman et al, 1995;Terlizzi et al, 2005). These designs allow the determination of consistent differences between the disturbed and several control locations although it is generally not possible to attribute causation to a particular event (see Terlizzi et al, 2005;Glasby, 1997 for discussion).…”

Section: Sampling Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of a breakwater on nearby rocky intertidal community structure

Martins

Amaral

Wallenstein

et al. 2009

Marine Environmental Research

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a b s t r a c tIt is widely recognised that coastal-defence structures generally affect the structure of the assemblages they support, yet their impact on adjacent systems has been largely ignored. Breakwaters modify the nearby physical environment (e.g. wave action) suggesting a local impact on biological parameters. In the present study, an ACI (After-Control-Impact) design was used to test the general hypothesis that the artificial sheltering of an exposed coast has a strong effect on the structure and functioning of adjacent systems. The effects of a reduction in hydrodynamics were clear for a number of taxa and included the replacement of barnacles, limpets and frondose algae by an increasing cover of ephemeral algae. These effects were evident both at early and late successional stages. Results suggest that the artificial sheltering of naturally exposed coasts can have a strong impact promoting a shift from consumer-to producer-dominated communities, which has important ecological and energetic consequences for the ecosystem.

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Variability at different spatial scales between a subtidal assemblage exposed to the discharge of sewage and two control assemblages

Cited by 202 publications

References 20 publications

Assessing the Response of Estuarine Intertidal Assemblages to Urbanised Catchment Discharge

Assessing the Response of Estuarine Intertidal Assemblages to Urbanised Catchment Discharge

Spatial variability in intertidal macroalgal assemblages on the North Portuguese coast: consistence between species and functional group approaches

Influence of a breakwater on nearby rocky intertidal community structure

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