Becchi Claudia, Ortolani Irene, Muir Alexander, Cannicci Stefano
Department of Biology, University of Florence, via Madonna del Piano 6, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Firenze, Italy.
Department of Life Sciences, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2014 Oct 15;87(1-2):131-139. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.08.002. Epub 2014 Aug 22.
This two-year study is the first attempt to analyse the ecological effects of breakwater systems on soft-bottom assemblages along the North Tyrrhenian coast. Differently from previous studies focusing on infauna of on-shore and off-shore sides, we compared the assemblages inhabiting the surrounding soft-bottoms not directly protected by the breakwaters, defining our sampling stations at varying distances from the breakwaters and at constant distance from the coast. Data collected revealed that abundance, species richness and M-AMBI ecological quality differed between northern and southern sides, and were related to distance from structures. Multivariate analyses of relationships between assemblages and abiotic characteristics support this hypothesis. The extension of these effects, that resulted to be weak and limited to a restricted area, could be a consequence of coastal current on local hydrodynamics. This study provides novel and critical information for the management of the coastal defence infrastructure spreading along the western coast of Italy.
这项为期两年的研究首次尝试分析防波堤系统对第勒尼安海北部海岸软底生物群落的生态影响。与以往关注近岸和离岸侧底栖动物的研究不同，我们比较了居住在未直接受防波堤保护的周边软底区域的生物群落，在距防波堤不同距离且距海岸恒定距离处设置了采样站。收集到的数据显示，南北两侧的丰度、物种丰富度和M-AMBI生态质量存在差异，且与距建筑物的距离有关。对生物群落与非生物特征之间关系的多变量分析支持了这一假设。这些影响范围微弱且局限于一个有限区域，其扩展可能是沿岸流对当地水动力作用的结果。本研究为意大利西海岸沿海防御基础设施的管理提供了新的关键信息。
