Functional traits of selected mangrove species in Brazil as biological indicators of different environmental conditions.
Ecological studies on phenotypic plasticity illustrate the relevance of this phenomenon in nature. Conditions of biota reflect environmental changes, highlighting the adaptability of resident species that can be used as bioindicators of such changes. We report the morpho-anatomical plasticity of leaves of Avicennia schaueriana Stapf & Leechm. ex Moldenke, Laguncularia racemosa (L.) C.F.Gaertn. and Rhizophora mangle L., evaluated in three estuaries (Vitória bay, Santa Cruz and Itaúnas River; state of Espírito Santo, Brazil), considering five areas of mangrove ecosystems with diverse environmental issues. Two sampling sites are part of the Ecological Station Lameirão Island in Vitória bay, close to a harbor. A third sampling site in Cariacica (Vitória bay) is inside the Vitória harbor and also is influenced by domestic sewage. The fourth studied area (Santa Cruz) is part of Piraquê Mangrove Ecological Reservation, while the fifth (Itaúnas River) is a small mangrove, with sandy sediment and greater photosynthetically active radiation, also not strongly influenced by anthropic activity. Results pointed out the morpho-anatomical plasticity in studied species, showing that A. schaueriana and L. racemosa might be considered the most appropriate bioindicators to indicate different settings and environmental conditions. Particularly, the dry mass per leaf area (LMA) of A. schaueriana was the main biomarker measured. In our study, LMA of A. schaueriana was positively correlated with salinity (Spearman 0.71), Mn content (0.81) and pH (0.82) but negatively correlated with phosphorus content (-0.63). Thus, the evaluation of modification in LMA of A. schaueriana pointed out changes among five studied sites, suggesting its use to reflect changes in the environment, which could be also useful in the future to evaluate the climate change.
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Centro de Ciências Humanas e Naturais, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, 29075-910 Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil.
Hiulana Pereira
HP
Arrivabene
Universidade Federal de São Carlos, Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Departamento de Ciências Fisiológicas, 13565-905 São Carlos, Brazil.
Iara
I
Souza
Associação Educational de Vitória, Departamento de Biologia, 29053-360 Vitória, Brazil.
Walter Luiz Oliveira
WL
Có
Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho, Campus de Botucatu, Instituto de Biociências, Departamento de Botânica, C. Postal 510, 18618-000 Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
Roberto Antônio
RA
Rodella
Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de Alimentos Córdoba (ICYTAC), CONICET, Dpto. Qca. Orgánica, Fac. Cs. Químicas, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Ciudad Universitaria, 5000, Córdoba, Argentina. Electronic address: dwunder@fcq.unc.edu.ar.
Daniel Alberto
DA
Wunderlin
Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Centro de Ciências Humanas e Naturais, Departamento de Ciências Biológicas, 29075-910 Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. Electronic address: camilla.milanez@gmail.com.
Camilla Rozindo
CR
Milanez
D032407:Avicennia / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil; D029764:Combretaceae / Q000502:physiology*; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D010788:Photosynthesis; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000502:physiology; D043982:Rhizophoraceae / Q000502:physiology*; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
Adaptive change; Avicennia schaueriana; Chemometrics; Laguncularia racemosa; Multivariate statistics; Phenotypic plasticity