Avaliação Sazonal dos Impactos da Urbanização Costeira sobre Comunidades de Macroalgas na Costa de Pernambuco, Brasil

The advanced of urbanization in the coastal regions has had direct effects on the composition and structure of the seaweed communities and consequently, the destabilization of marine ecosystems. This advance has been occurring in areas of the coast of Pernambuco and therefore this study analyzed the impacts of urbanization on macroalgal communities in areas of the State in the period of february and may 2016. A total of 27,000 points were analyzed in Coral Point Count with Excel extensions, obtaining the percentage of coverage of seaweed. The physical-chemical characterization of the water was performed to verify the temperature and nutrient levels of each area. Fifty-nine infrageneric taxa were identified, distributed among Rhodophyta (38), Chlorophyta (12) and Heterokontophyta (Phaeophyceae) (9). The highest levels of nutrients were verified urbanized area. The results of the ecological indexes showed that urbanization did not alter the pattern of dominance of the species, but the richness.