Abstract
Several studies in semi-natural coastal lagoons in the Ria Formosa lagoonal system have been carried out. These man-made water reservoirs behave as small lagoons with one opening to the tidal channels, which may be intermittent. Because of their size, these reservoirs are ideal sites for ecological studies. Water quality and macrobenthic fauna were analysed in five water reservoirs. All reservoirs received the same incoming water through a tidal channel, but they differed in water renewal regime. Multidimensional Scaling (MDS) and Discriminant Analysis were used to evaluate the similarity among sites, stations and sampling occasions. Different levels of taxonomic resolution (family, large taxonomic groups and phylum level) were also evaluated. The separation of sites and stations became unclear using high taxonomic levels. Results from the multivariate analyses suggest a slight differentiation of the stations according to sampling occasion but a clear differentiation of the several water reservoirs. Some of the lagoons studied with low water renewal rates showed strong environmental variations. They were characterised by low diversity indexes and abundance of small-sized organisms. Other lagoons, with high water renewal rates, showed low environmental variation and well diversified and structured benthic communities. The main environmental factor that seems to affect the benthic communities was the variation in salinity between neap and spring tides, which is related with the water renewal regime. Coastal lagoons offer a protected shallow habitat, which can be highly productive. Well structured communities, controlled by k-strategists, can develop and settle in leaky lagoons, that is, lagoons with wide entrance channels and tidal currents which guarantee a good water renewal. In these lagoons, biomass can accumulate in large organisms. In contrast, lagoons with a single narrow entrance, that may be closed for long periods, are characterised by persistent physical stress and are dominated by communities of small-sized r-strategists.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Águas, M. P., 1986. Simulaçã o da circulaçã o hidrodinâmica na Ria Formosa. in: Os sistemas lagunares do Algarve. Univ. do Algarve, Faro pp. 78–90.
Alongi, D. M., 1998. Coastal Ecosystem Processes. CRC Press, Boca Raton. Florida.
CCRA (Comissã o de Coordenaçã o da Regiã o do Algarve), 1984. Programa de ordenamento e desenvolvimento da Ria Formosa. Vol. 1-Caracterizaçã o, objectivos e acções, Faro.
Falcão, M. M. & C. Vale, 1990. Study of the Ria Formosa ecosystem: benthic nutrient remineralization and tidal variability of nutrients in the water. Hydrobiologia 207: 137–146.
Gamito, S., 1989. The benthic macrofauna of some water reservoirs of salt-pans from Ria Formosa (Portugal). Scientia Marina 53: 639–644.
Gamito, S., 1994. The benthic ecology of some Ria Formosa lagoons, with reference to the potential for production of the gilthead seabream (Sparus aurata L.). PhD Thesis, UCTRA, University of Algarve. 255 p.
Gamito, S., 1997. Application of canonical correspondence analysis to environmental and benthic macrofauna data of four sites in the Ria Formosa (Portugal). Publicaciones Especiales Instituto Español de Oceanografí a 23: 41–52.
Gamito, S., A. Pires, C. Pita & K. Erzini, 2003. Food availability and the feeding ecology of ichthyofauna of a Ria Formosa (South Portugal) water reservoir. Estuaries 26: 938–948.
Gamito, S., J. Gilabert, C. Marcos Diego & A. Pérez-Ruzafa, 2005. Effects of changing environmental conditions on lagoon ecology. In Gönenç, I. E. & J. Wofflin (eds.), Coastal Lagoons: Ecosystem processes and modeling for sustainable use and development, CRC Press, Boca Raton. pp: 193–229.
Gray, J. S., M. Aschan, M. R. Carr, K. R. Clarke, R. H. Green, T. H. Pearson, R. Rosenberg & R. M. Warwick, 1988. Analysis of community attributes of the benthic macrofauna of Frierfjord/Langesundfjord and in a mesocosm experiment. Marine Ecology Progress Series 46: 151–165.
Hargrave, B. T. & H. Thiel, 1983. Assessment of pollutioninduced changes in benthic community structure. Marine Pollution Bulletin 14: 41–46.
Hily, C. & M. Bouteille, 1999. Modifications of the specific diversity and feeding guilds in an intertidal sediment colonized by an eelgrass meadow (Zostera marina) (Brittany, France). Comptes Rendus de L’Academie des Sciences-Sciences de la Vie 322: 1121–1131.
Karakassis, I. & E. Hatziyanni, 2000. Benthic disturbance due to fish farming analysed under different levels of taxonomic resolution. Marine Ecology Progress Series 203: 247–253.
Kjerfve, B., 1994. Coastal lagoons. In Kjerfve, B. (ed.) Coastal lagoon processes. Elsevier, Amsterdam: 1–8.
Krom, M. D., C. Porter & H. Gordin, 1985. Description of the water quality conditions in a semi-intensively cultured marine fish pond in Eilat, Israel. Aquaculture 49: 141–157.
Krom, M. D., A. Neori & J. van Rijn, 1989. Importance of water flow rate in controlling water quality processes in marine and fresh water fish ponds. The Israelli Journal of Aquaculture 41: 23–33.
Lardicci, C., F. Rossi & A. Castelli, 1997. Analysis of macrozoobenthic community structure after severe dystrofic crises in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Orbetello, Italy). Marine Pollution Bulletin 34: 536–547.
Moore, K. A. & R. L. Wetzel, 2000. Seasonal variations in eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) responses to nutrient enrichment and reduced light availability in experimental ecosystems. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 244: 1–28.
Olsgard, F., P. J. Somerfied & M. R. Carr, 1998. Relationships between taxonomic resolution, macrobenthic community patterns and disturbance. Marine Ecology Progress Series 172: 25–36.
Pilkey, O. H., W. J. Neal, J. H. Monteiro & J. M. A. Dias, 1989. Algarve barrier islands: a noncoastal-plain system in Portugal. Journal of Coastal Research 5: 239–261.
Rumohr, H. & I. Karakassis, 1999. Comparison of multivariate patterns: different taxonomic levels in macrofaunal analysis versus sediment profiling imagery (SPI). Marine Ecology Progress Series 190: 125–132.
Schwinghamer, P., 1981. Characteristic size distribution of integral benthic communities. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 38: 1255–1263.
Sorokin, Y. I., P. Y. Sorokin & A. Gnes, 1996. Structure and functioning of the anthropogenically transformed Commacchio lagoonal ecosystem (Ferrara, Italy). Marine Ecology Progress Series 133: 57–71.
Sprung, M., 1993. Estimating macrobenthic secondary production from body weight and biomass: a field test in a nonboreal intertidal habitat. Marine Ecology Progress Series 100: 103–109.
Sprung, M., 1994. Macrobenthic secondary production in the intertidal zone of the Ria Formosa-a lagoon in Southern Portugal. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 38: 539–558.
Warwick, R. M., 1988. Analysis of community attributes of the macrobenthos of Frierfjord/Langesundfjord at taxonomic levels higher than species. Marine Ecology Progress Series 46: 167–170.
Warwick, R. M., H. M. Platt, K. R. Clarke, J. Agard & J. Gobin, 1990. Analysis of macrobenthic and meiobenthic community structure in relation to pollution and disturbance in Hamilton Harbour, Bermuda. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology Ecology 138: 119–142.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gamito, S. (2006). Benthic ecology of semi-natural coastal lagoons, in the Ria Formosa (Southern Portugal), exposed to different water renewal regimes. In: Martens, K., et al. Marine Biodiversity. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 183. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4697-9_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4697-9_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-4321-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4697-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)