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Effects of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation on Macrozoobenthos in a Coastal Lagoon of the Southwestern Atlantic
Author(s) -
Arocena Rafael
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
international review of hydrobiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.524
H-Index - 52
eISSN - 1522-2632
pISSN - 1434-2944
DOI - 10.1002/iroh.200610881
Subject(s) - macrophyte , benthic zone , abundance (ecology) , species richness , ecology , aquatic plant , vegetation (pathology) , biology , fishery , pathology , medicine
The freshwater‐dominated part of Rocha coastal lagoon recently experienced sudden colonization by submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Macrophytes may be beneficial or detrimental for the zoobenthos, and both assemblages may in turn affect the food availability for birds and fishes. With the aim of evaluating the effect of SAV on water conditions and on the composition, abundance and diversity of macrozoobenthos, vegetated areas (V, up to 500 g DW m –2 ) were compared with vegetation‐free areas (N). The benthic abundance was higher in V (up to 5000 ind m –2 ) than in N (up to 2200 ind m –2 ). Species richness and abundance of amphipods, gastropods and chironomids were also higher at V compared with N. Conversely, the abundance of Tanais stanfordi (Crustacea), Erodona mactroides (Bivalvia) and Laeonereis culveri (Polychaeta), and the Shannon diversity were higher at N. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)