title: Reciprocal experimental transplantations to assess effects of organic enrichment on the recolonization of benthic macrofauna in a subtropical estuary.
abstract: Coastal benthic habitats are usually in a state of continuous recolonization as a consequence of natural disturbances or human activities. Recolonization patterns can be strongly affected by the quality of the sediment. We evaluated herein the macrobenthic recolonization of organically enriched sediments through a manipulative experiment involving reciprocal transplants between contaminated and non-contaminated intertidal areas. Regardless of the experimental treatments, the density of the polychaete Capitella sp. was extremely high in the contaminated area as well as the density of the gastropod Cylichna sp. in the non-contaminated area. We rejected the hypothesis that differences in sediment quality would determine macrofaunal recolonization at least in the considered scales of space in meters and time in weeks. The recolonization process in a subtropical estuarine environment was strongly dependent on the migration of adults present in the sediments adjacent to the experimental units.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Estudos do Mar da, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Caixa Postal 50.002, 83255-000 Pontal do Paraná, Paraná, Brazil. fabigern@gmail.com
authors.forename: Fabiana Regina
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Gern
authors.forename: Paulo da Cunha
authors.initials: Pda C
authors.lastname: Lana
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D044822:Biodiversity; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D063366:Estuaries; D049851:Gastropoda / Q000254:growth & development*; D019015:Geologic Sediments / Q000737:chemistry; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000254:growth & development*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical