Macroinvertebrates communities associated with the decomposition of Phragmites australis and Fucus vesiculosus in transitional systems

Relationships between estuarine modification and leaf litter decomposition vary with latitude

“…These results suggest that macroinvertebrates are not driving decomposition, and are concordant with another recent study that found no significant difference in the colonization of litter sources that had divergent decay rates (e.g. Lopes et al, 2013). Instead, microbial and fungal communities that were not quantified by the present study may follow M A N U S C R I P T…”

“…Structural mimics of litter would be required to partition these two potential mechanisms (see Lopes et al, 2013).…”

Home advantage? Decomposition across the freshwater-estuarine transition zone varies with litter origin and local salinity

“…However, the role played by macroinvertebrates in the decomposition process remains uncertain. Similar to our study, Lopes et al (2013) report few differences in invertebrate assemblages associated with F. vesiculosus and Phragmites australis along an estuarine gradient, and concluded that macroinvertebrates do not influence leaf litter decomposition.…”

“…To date, only few studies have explicitly examined how changes in local salinity and macrofauna affects detritus breakdown although those that do (Lettice et al, 2011;Lopes et al, 2011;Bierschenk et al, 2012) report that decomposition rates varied according to salinity gradients and that detritus originating from without the local system decomposed more slowly. Moreover, the composition of the associated detritivore community changed along the salinity gradient (but see Lopes et al, 2013). These results suggest that detritus decomposes more effectively in the environmental conditions of its native habitat.…”

Ecological effects of contaminated sediments following a decade of no industrial effluents emissions: The Sediment Quality Triad approach

“…A 6 days acclimation period was established in containers without sediment. During this period, salinity was gradually reduced from 30 to 12, in order to run the bioaccumulation assay with salinity closer to that observed in the test and reference channels (Lopes et al, 2013). No food was added during acclimation and continuous aeration was kept by gently air-bubbling the water.…”