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Long-Term Trends in Intertidal and Subtidal Benthic Communities in Response to Water Quality Improvement Measures

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Abstract

Long-term monitoring studies are needed to understand changes in ecosystem status when restoration measures are implemented. A long-term data series (1996–2007) of the Tagus estuary (Portugal) intertidal and subtidal benthic communities was collected in a degraded area where mitigation measures were implemented. Multivariate analysis was used to analyze spatial and temporal patterns in benthic community composition and trends in five benthic community metrics (i.e., taxonomic richness, density, biomass, Shannon–Wiener diversity and the AMBI index) were also examined. The results revealed a clear separation between intertidal and subtidal assemblages, although they had 50% of taxa in common, including the most abundant. Significant positive trends were found for all metrics showing that both intertidal and subtidal communities responded to the restoration measures implemented. Nevertheless, biotic indices need some adaptation before being universally applied to intertidal and subtidal habitats.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by the institutions Parque EXPO, S. A. and Lisbon Municipality. This study was also supported by a Post Doc fellowship (SFRH/BPD/29579/2006) granted by FCT. We would like to thank our colleagues V. Amaral, M.J. Correia, M. Cunha, F. Jorge, J.P. Medeiros, M. Pardal, C. Pereira, C. Pestana, A.L. Rego, S. Rodrigues, J. Salgado, and C. Teixeira for assistance in different tasks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Oceanografia, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Paula Chainho, Gilda Silva, José L. Costa, Tadeu Pereira, Carla Azeda, Pedro R. Almeida & Maria J. Costa

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Michael F. Lane

  3. Departamento de Biologia, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Largo dos Colegiais, 2, 7000, Évora, Portugal

    Pedro R. Almeida

  4. Direcção Municipal de Ambiente Urbano, Departamento do Ambiente e Espaços Verdes, Divisão de Controlo Ambiental, Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, Av. 24 de Julho, 171C, 1399-021, Lisbon, Portugal

    Inês Metelo

  5. Departamento de Biologia Animal, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016, Lisbon, Portugal

    Maria J. Costa

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  1. Paula Chainho
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Chainho, P., Silva, G., Lane, M.F. et al. Long-Term Trends in Intertidal and Subtidal Benthic Communities in Response to Water Quality Improvement Measures. Estuaries and Coasts 33, 1314–1326 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-010-9321-2

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