title: Responses of estuarine nematodes to an increase in nutrient supply: an in situ continuous addition experiment.
abstract: An experiment was carried out on an estuarine mudflat to assess impacts of inorganic nutrients used to fertilize sugar-cane fields on the surrounding aquatic ecosystem, through changes in the nematode community structure. During 118 days, nine quadrats each 4m(2) were sampled six times after the beginning of fertilizer addition. The fertilizer was introduced weekly in six areas, at two different concentrations (low and high doses), and three areas were used as control. The introduction of nutrients modified key nematode community descriptors. In general, the nematodes were negatively affected over the study period. However, Comesa, Metachromadora, Metalinhomoeus, Spirinia and Terschellingia were considered tolerant, and other genera showed different degrees of sensitivity. Nutrient input also affect the availability and quality of food, changing the nematode trophic structure. The use of inorganic fertilizer should be evaluated with care because of the potential for damage to biological communities of coastal aquatic systems.
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Diversidade Biológica e Conservação nos Trópicos, UFAL, Maceió, AL, Brazil.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Nascimento-Junior
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil; Departamento de Zoologia, UFPE, Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: P J P
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Av. Dom Manoel de Medeiros s/n, Dois Irmãos, 52171-900 Recife, PE, Brazil.
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Botter-Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Programa de Pós-graduação em Diversidade Biológica e Conservação nos Trópicos, UFAL, Maceió, AL, Brazil; Unidade de Ensino Penedo/Campus Arapiraca, UFAL, Penedo, AL, Brazil. Electronic address: tacianakp@gmail.com.
authors.forename: T K
authors.initials: TK
authors.lastname: Pinto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017753:Ecosystem; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D063366:Estuaries; D005068:Eutrophication; D005308:Fertilizers; D020387:Food Chain; D009348:Nematoda / Q000502:physiology*; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
chemical_list: D005308:Fertilizers; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Fertilizers; Inorganic enrichment; Mangrove; Meiofauna; Sugar cane