The effect of sewage and natural seasonal disturbances on benthic macrofaunal communities in Fitzroy Bay, Wellington, New Zealand

Anderlini, Victor C.; Wear, Robert G.

doi:10.1016/0025-326x(92)90312-t

Cited by 35 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…This is the first study utilizing solely the macrofauna within the Ria Formosa to detect the presence of sewage gradients. A previous study by Austen et al (1989) utilizing macrofauna communities within the Ria Formosa, was able to detect pollution at certain sites adjacent to sewage outfalls, but unable to detect any gradients; this was unusual as many other studies on pollution outfalls, utilising macrofauna communities, described a clear gradient of decreasing pollution levels with increasing distance from the pollution source (Anderlini and Wear, 1992;Estacio et al, 1997;Warwick et al, 1990;Weston, 1990). This may be due to the large area sampled in this study, with large distances between sample sites.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

Detecting Anthropogenic Stress in an Ecosystem: 3. Mesoscale Variability and Biotic Indices

Chenery¹,

Mudge²

2005

Environmental Forensics

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Previous work in the Ria Formosa Lagoon has revealed that it is possible to use macrofauna community structure as an indicator of contamination effects. Communities at sites adjacent to sewage outfalls indicated contamination but no pollution gradients were observed. In this study, macrofauna within a sub-section of the earlier work were investigated to determine the extent of mesoscale (10-100 m) variability and new indices of biological community structure. The results were evaluated using univariate (Marine Biotic Index; BI) and multivariate statistical methods (PCA). The computer program Barrier (usually used with genetic data) was also applied to detect "barriers" between spatially referenced samples. PCA identified the most significant factor effecting the distribution of the organisms in the study area to be the mud content of the sediment (% <63 µm). Communities at sandy sites consisted of suspension feeders and detrital browsers, whilst communities at muddy sites were composed mainly of deposit feeders. The second principal component produced a vector characterized by a contamination gradient. The effects of the sewage discharge appeared to be concentrated at the outfall as it had the highest TOC (10.4%) content and was the only site to be characterized by the BI as slightly polluted. With the use of the BI and Barrier two gradients were observed in the transition of sites from an unpolluted to a polluted state. These gradients appeared not to follow the flow of the channel as expected (high % TOC of sites along the channel), and instead extended west and south from the sewage source. In conclusion, weak gradients were observeable; the multiple approaches of BI, PCA and Barrier analyses in concert were able to confirm the sewage dispersion route through the area.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 64%

Detecting Anthropogenic Stress in an Ecosystem: 3. Mesoscale Variability and Biotic Indices

Chenery¹,

Mudge²

2005

Environmental Forensics

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“…The latter is the basis of the abundance/biomass comparison (ABC) method (Warwick 1986, Warwick et al 1987, whichis now widely used (e.g. Beukema 1988, Gray et al 1988, Ibanez and Dauvin 1988, Austen et al 1989, Ritz et al 1989, Meire and Dereu 1990, Weston 1990, Grizzle and Penniman 1991, Ye et al 1991, Anderlini and Wear 1992, Agard et al 1993, Dauer et al 1993. Briefly, it involves plotting separate dominance curves for abundance and biomass on a cumulative scale (y-axis) against the species ranked in order of importance according to these two attributes on a logarithmic scale (x-axis).…”

Section: Determining Changes In Abundance Relative To Changes In Biommentioning

confidence: 99%

Relearning the ABC: taxonomic changes and abundance/biomass relationships in disturbed benthic communities

1994

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Abstract. For marine macrobenthic communities, a shift from higher biomass dominance with increasing levels of disturbance can be determined by the abundance/biomass comparison (ABC) method. This response results from (i) a shift in the proportions of different phyla present in communities, some phyla having larger-bodied species than others, and (ii) a shift in the relative distributions of abundance and biomass among species within the Annelida (specifically Polychaeta) but not within any of the other major phyla (Mollusca, Crustacea, Echinodermata). The shift within polychaetes reflects the substitution of largerbodied by smaller-bodied species, and not a change in the average size of individuals within a species. In most instances the phyletic changes reinforce the trend in species substitutions within the polychaetes, to produce the overall ABC response, but in some cases they may work against each other. Indications of pollution or disturbance detected by this method should be viewed with caution if the species responsible for the polluted configurations are not polychaetes. These observations provide an aid to interpretation of the ABC plots, especially in some situations where they have been deemed to give a false impression of the disturbance status of a community.

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“…Ecological studies are frequently based on abundance, diversity or biomass values of the biota (Littler and Murray 1975;Warwick 1986;Warwick et al 1987;Austen et al 1989;Lo´pez-Gappa et al 1990;Sandulli and De Nicola 1991;Anderlini and Wear 1992;Underwood and Chapman 1996) and may contribute to detect microscale relationships among their units and influences of environmental variables. Furthermore, multivariate analyses allow for an analysis of changes in community structure following the method proposed by Clarke (1993) based on Field et al (1982).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Algae, macrofaunal assemblages and temperature: a quantitative approach to intertidal ecosystems of Iceland

Espinosa

Guerra-García

2005

Helgol Mar Res

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Algae and the associated macrofauna in two Icelandic intertidal ecosystems under cold and warm influence, respectively, were studied with respect to algae-macrofauna relationships and a possible effect of temperature on community structure. Two sites in Iceland were selected, Sandgerdi ligthhouse (64°8¢N 22°40¢W) on the southwestern coast, and Grimsey Island (66°33¢N 18°04¢W), in the north, on the Arctic Circle, where sea temperature is considerably lower (5°a pproximately). The biomass of algae and the number of species of algae and macrofauna were higher in Sandgerdi than in Grimsey, and the patterns of diversity, evenness, biomass and abundance also differed between the sites. In the intertidal zone of Sandgerdi, a total of 28 species of algae and 45 species of macrofauna were identified whereas only 16 algal species and 27 macrofaunal species were found in Grimsey. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) using algal biomass as the environmental variable were conducted, and revealed significant relationships between algae composition and the associated macrofauna; some macrofauna taxa showed specific trophic or refuge relationships with algal species. According to the CCA, Corallina officinalis showed the highest correlation with macrofaunal assemblages in both study sites. However, correlations between macrofauna and other algae differed between Grimsey and Sandgerdi. The present study, together with additional observations in Greenland waters, shows a general decrease of species richness and diversity towards the north which may primarily be due to the temperature regime.

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The effect of sewage and natural seasonal disturbances on benthic macrofaunal communities in Fitzroy Bay, Wellington, New Zealand

Cited by 35 publications

References 11 publications

Detecting Anthropogenic Stress in an Ecosystem: 3. Mesoscale Variability and Biotic Indices

Detecting Anthropogenic Stress in an Ecosystem: 3. Mesoscale Variability and Biotic Indices

Relearning the ABC: taxonomic changes and abundance/biomass relationships in disturbed benthic communities

Algae, macrofaunal assemblages and temperature: a quantitative approach to intertidal ecosystems of Iceland

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