Produção Nacional
Revisado por pares
Impacts of artificial reef spatial configuration on infaunal community structure — Southeastern Brazil
2014; Elsevier BV; Volume: 454; Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/j.jembe.2014.01.015
ISSN1879-1697
AutoresIlana Rosental Zalmon, Fabrício Saleme de Sá, Eurico José Dornellas Neto, Carlos Eduardo de Rezende, Phillipe Mota Machado, Tito César Marques de Almeida,
Tópico(s)Coastal and Marine Management
Resumoarticle i nfo Article history: Degree of isolation among reef modules is a habitat variable that can alter the structure and dynamics of reef- associated groups. This study evaluated the influence of the small-scale spatial distribution of artificial modules on infaunal community structure and associated it with the hydrodynamic and geochemical characteristics of the surrounding sediments and with fish predation pressure. Reefballs™ were placed on a sandy bottom on the northern coast of Rio de Janeiro in modules with a triangular set configuration with side lengths of 0.5, 5 and 15 m. The availability of potential macrobenthic prey for the reef-associated fish community was evaluated usinggillnetsforeachinter-moduledistance.Theinputoforganicmatterand finesedimentintothereefcomplex during the rainy season favored deposit feeders. Shorter distances showed reduced fine sediment and nutrient deposition and, consequently, a lower density of deposit feeders in the infauna compared with more distant modules, which had a greater number of predators and suspension feeders. The surrounding infauna responded positively to the grain-size composition. This result suggests that transient fishes use the artificial reefs for pur- poses such as shelter, nursery and breeding habitats. Shifts in infaunal structure reflected the physical distur- bance following the deployment of the artificial reefs and the seasonal variations but did not respond to the spatial design, showing the importance of these configuration variables and their influence on the associated in- faunal community.
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