Ocean Science and Technology for Islands, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences (Govt. of India), Chennai 600100, India.
Ocean Science and Technology for Islands, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Ministry of Earth Sciences (Govt. of India), Chennai 600100, India.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Feb;175:113355. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113355. Epub 2022 Jan 29.
The use of functional information of taxa is a promising approach to uncover the underlying mechanism of ecosystem functioning. We used biological trait analysis (BTA) to assess the functional response of subtidal macrobenthos with multiple stressors. Seventeen environmental variables from 42 stations of five coastal districts were assessed along the southeast coast of India. Dominant fauna was assigned into 20 categories belonging to six functional traits. Additionally, we used five ecological groups (EG) of AMBI as a covariable trait to validate functional traits and EG relationship. The trait composition in the communities showed significant variation between undisturbed and disturbed areas. RLQ/Fourth corner combined approach illustrated the effects of stressors and isolated the corresponding species associated with different stressors. Smaller, short-lived, deposit-feeding, and discretely motile fauna occurred at the disturbed areas, whereas, larger, long-lived, and highly motile at the undisturbed area. Dissolved oxygen, organic enrichment, and metals concentration were the main environmental descriptors influencing the trait composition. The results highlight the importance of the BTA approach to uncover the response of the macrobenthic community to anthropogenic disturbances-driven impacts in multi-stressed near-shore coastal ecosystems.
利用分类单元的功能信息是揭示生态系统功能潜在机制的一种很有前途的方法。我们使用生物特征分析（BTA）来评估多种胁迫下的亚潮间带大型底栖动物的功能响应。在印度东南海岸的五个沿海地区的 42 个站点评估了 17 个环境变量。优势动物群被分为属于六个功能特征的 20 个类别。此外，我们还使用 AMBI 的五个生态组（EG）作为协变量特征来验证功能特征和 EG 关系。群落中的特征组成在未受干扰和受干扰的区域之间表现出显著差异。RLQ/第四角落联合方法说明了胁迫的影响，并分离了与不同胁迫相关的相应物种。较小、寿命较短、沉积物摄食和离散运动的动物群出现在受干扰的区域，而较大、寿命较长和高度运动的动物群出现在未受干扰的区域。溶解氧、有机富集会和金属浓度是影响特征组成的主要环境描述符。结果强调了 BTA 方法在揭示多胁迫近岸沿海生态系统中人为干扰驱动影响下大型底栖动物群落响应方面的重要性。
