Browsing by Author "Orro, Cristina"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- Seasonal implications of the benthic ecological status assessment in a protected Mediterranean coastal lagoon: Stagno Longu of Posada (Sardinia, Italy)Publication . Orro, Cristina; Cabana, DavidUnderstanding how biotic indicators respond to natural variability is essential for the health stateevaluationofthebenthicecosystems.Thisstudyanalysedthecompositionandstructureofthebenthiccommunities in the coastal lagoon Stagno Longu of Posada (Sardinia) to investigate the seasonalresponse of the biological indicator M-AMBI. Multivariate analysis and biodiversity descriptors showedtemporal (winter–summer) and spatial variability (across the three basins of the lagoon).The ecological status (ES) of Stagno Longu was assessed using M-AMBI index: results mainlyshowed the lagoon to be in ‘‘good’’ and ‘‘moderate’’ status across seasons and basins, while ‘‘poor’’status was recorded in the North basin during summer.Despite the absence of direct human pressures, sediment organic content (OC) varied seasonallyand spatially and M-AMBI revealed winter to summer shifts on the ES of 3 out of 6 sampling stations.Overall, this study reveals negative significative correlation on the variations on M-AMBI with theincrease of sediment OC across the studied sites, none the less discrepancies on the ES of certainstations were detected causing over/underestimation.Results suggested that natural seasonal variability is a relevant factor to be considered whileperforming ES assessments and implementing monitoring programmes in Mediterranean transitionalecosystems when applying indicators such as M-AMBI.
- Variability of prey preferences and uptake of anthropogenic particles by juvenile white seabream in a coastal lagoon nursery groundPublication . Müller, Carolin; Erzini, Karim; Dudeck, Tim; Cruz, Joana; Corona, Luana Santos; Abrunhosa, Felipe; Afonso, Carlos; Mateus, Miguel Ângelo Franco; Orro, Cristina; Monteiro, Pedro; Ekau, WernerMarine plastic litter, originating from land-based sources, enters the marine environment by passing through coastal ecosystems such as lagoons and estuaries. As early life history stages (ELHS) of many commercially important fish species rely on these transitional areas as nursery grounds, we hypothesized that they encounter a spatial gradient of habitat quality and pollution from inner to outer parts of their vital environment. With sizes < 5 mm, anthropogenic particles (AP), among them microplastic (MP) fibers and fragments, entail a high bioavailability for ELHS of fish, potentially facilitating AP uptake at early developmental stages which may have implications for their survival and growth. This study provides a contextualization baseline between feeding preferences and uptake of AP by the white seabream Diplodus sargus (Linnaeus, 1758) in an estuarine nursery ground on the southern coast of Portugal. Juvenile fish showed a generalized, omnivorous feeding mode with differences in trophic resource utilization between individuals collected at distinct seagrass meadows in the lagoon. A total of 23.13% of the fish (n = 147) were detected with AP in the gastrointestinal tract, and the mean number of AP per AP-feeding individual was 1.64 +/- 1.04, with anthropogenic fibers (n = 47) occurring more frequently than fragments (n = 9). Knowledge of the underlying factors for MP ingestion will be greatly enhanced by considering environmental conditions along with species-stage and life-stage specific feeding modes and prey preferences which shape the uptake probability of anthropogenic fibers and fragments.