Mesozooplankton structural responses in a shallow temperate estuary following restoration measures

Falcão, Joana; Marques, Sónia Cotrim; Pardal, Miguel Ângelo; Marques, João Carlos; Primo, Ana Lígia; Azeiteiro, Ulisses Miranda

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2011.06.007

Cited by 16 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Examples of the most frequently used groups of organisms (biotic water quality indicators) include benthos, phytoplankton, and macrophytes (AZRINA et al, 2006;OMAR, 2010). Several studies have been carried out on the importance of zooplankton communities as indicators of changes in marine systems (BONNET & FRID, 2004;MOLINERO et al, 2005;FALCÃO et al, 2012) and many studies have focused on the influence of human activities on zooplankton communities (VARELA et al, 2006;LEONARDO et al, 2009;VADADI-FÜLÖP et al, 2009). The link between land-based effluents and changes in water quality parameters may suggest a direct or indirect link between land-based effluents and zooplankton community structure.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooplankton of a stressed area in the Damietta coast of the Mediterranean Sea

El-Tohamy

Alzeny

Azab

2017

Acta Adriat. (Online)

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The spatial pattern of zooplankton communities at Damietta coast, southeastern Mediterranean was studied to assess the impact of human activities on the abundance and community structure. Twenty-five stations from five different stressed sites were sampled in June-July 2014. Thirty-four zooplankton taxa were recorded, in addition to the larvae of copepods and meroplankton. Copepoda was the most abundant group among which, Oithona nana, Euterpina acutifrons, and Parvocalanus cirrostratus were the most frequent. The calanoid copepod Pseudodiaptomus trihamatus is a new record for the Mediterranean Sea that may have been introduced via ballast water. Multivariate/Univariate analyses demonstrated that 1) the environmental variables and zooplankton communities represented significant differences among five sites; 2) the spatial variations of community structure were undoubtedly due to land-based effluents; and 3) among all environmental variables, salinity and phytoplankton biomass had the major determining effects on the spatial patterns of zooplankton categories. The results indicates that not only the discharged water makes the Damietta coast at risk, but also the ballast water is not less dangerous. Hence, we emphasize the need for activation of the ballast water management to reduce the risk of future species invasions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Zooplankton of a stressed area in the Damietta coast of the Mediterranean Sea

El-Tohamy

Alzeny

Azab

2017

Acta Adriat. (Online)

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“…Many scientists have collected valuable information about the estuary over the last 30 yr, including data on physical conditions, primary producers, zooplankton, benthic macrofauna, fish and birds (e.g. Marques et al 2003, Patrício et al 2004, 2009, Lopes et al 2005, Dolbeth et al 2007, Martinho et al 2007, Cardoso et al 2010, Falcão et al 2012, Veríssimo et al 2012). The .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reaction of an estuarine food web to disturbance: Lindeman’s perspective

Niquil¹,

Baeta²,

Marques³

et al. 2014

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Currently, a central demand of coastal and marine food web researchers is the search for holistic and functional ecosystem health indicators. Based on concepts directly derived from R. L. Lindeman's work (Lindeman 1942; Ecology 23:399-418), 6 estuarine food web models were analysed to assess the potential impact of multiple disturbances on the trophic state of food webs. The models described a Zostera noltii meadow and a bare sediment site in the Mondego estuary, Portugal, during 3 distinct time periods corresponding to (1) nutrient enrichment, (2) the implementation of mitigation measures, and (3) after a centenary flood. We tested 4 candidate metrics, directly derived from the trophic-dynamic concepts proposed by Lindeman (1942): food chain length, the detritivory/herbivory ratio, trophic efficiency per trophic level and mean trophic efficiency. Based on this case study, none of the metrics are yet ready to be used per se as operational metrics to quantify and interpret the impact of disturbances on the ecosystem's trophic state. Trophic efficiency appeared to be sensitive to external pressures. However, the mean trophic efficiency of the system might not be sufficient to draw conclusions about the trophic efficiency of the ecosystem: trophic efficiency should be observed at the trophic level in order to better understand cascading effects within food webs.

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“…The transitional waters conform a mesotidal well-mixed to partially mixed estuary, except during floods and droughts, being the two estuary subsystems quite different (Cunha, 2002). Being 21 km long and with a surface area of 860 ha, it has an irregular river discharge (Bettencourt et al, 2004), with a mean value of 79 m 3 /s of water from the Mondego River (Falcão et al, 2012;Teixeira et al, 2008). The last 7 km close to the estuary mouth are divided into two subsystems separated by the Morraceira Island.…”

Section: The Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%