title: Benthic community recovery from brine impact after the implementation of mitigation measures.
abstract: In many regions, seawater desalination is a growing industry that has its impact on benthic communities. This study analyses the effect on benthic communities of a mitigation measure applied to a brine discharge, using polychaete assemblages as indicator. An eight-year study was conducted at San Pedro del Pinatar (SE Spain) establishing a grid of 12 sites at a depth range of 29-38 m during autumn. Brine discharge started in 2006 and produced a significant decrease in abundance, richness and diversity of polychaete families at the location closest to the discharge, where salinity reached 49. In 2010, a diffuser was deployed at the end of the pipeline in order to increase the mixing, to reduce the impact on benthic communities. After implementation of this mitigation measure, the salinity measured close to discharge was less than 38.5 and a significant recovery in polychaete richness and diversity was detected, to levels similar to those before the discharge. A less evident recovery in abundance was also observed, probably due to different recovery rates of polychaete families. Some families like Paraonidae and Magelonidae were more tolerant to this impact. Others like Syllidae and Capitellidae recovered quickly, although still affected by the discharge, while some families such as Sabellidae and Cirratulidae appeared to recover more slowly.
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain. Electronic address: yoana.delpilar@ua.es.
authors.forename: Yoana
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Del-Pilar-Ruso
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martinez-Garcia
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Giménez-Casalduero
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: Angel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Loya-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: Luis Miguel
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Ferrero-Vicente
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: Candela
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marco-Méndez
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Antonio
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: de-la-Ossa-Carretero
authors.affiliation: Dpto. de Ciencias del Mar y Biología Aplicada, Universidad de Alicante, Campus de San Vicente del Raspeig, Ap. 99, E-03080, Spain.
authors.forename: José Luis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Sánchez-Lizaso
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation; D011077:Polychaeta / Q000187:drug effects*; D012623:Seawater / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D018508:Water Purification
chemical_list: D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Brine discharge; Mediterranean; Mitigation measures; Polychaete assemblage; Recovery; Soft bottom