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Evidence for the long-term contribution of upstream agricultural practices and land use on the biodiversity and function of an estuary and adjacent coastal areas

Irene Martins1, 2*, Zara Teixeira1, 2, Ana Marta Gonçalves1, 2, 3, Ana Filipa Bessa1, 2, Helena Verissimo1, 2, Pedro Vinagre1, 2 and João C. Marques1, 2
  • 1 MARE- Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Portugal
  • 2 MAREFOZ, Portugal
  • 3 University of Aveiro, Department of Biology & CESAM, University of Aveiro, Portugal

During the past decades, the Mondego estuary has been studied systematically regarding the ecology of animal and plant communities (Veríssimo et al. 2012; Vinagre et al. 2015), water quality status (Teixeira et al. 2009), biogeochemical cycles (Martins et al. 2002) or the effects of stressors (pollutants and others) on the structure and function of the system (Martins et al. 2007). More recently, other studies have described and quantified relationships between the anthropogenic uses of the river basin with the water quality within the estuary (Teixeira and Marques, 2016), the physiological stress of bivalve populations (Gonçalves et al. 2016) and the nitrogen signatures of animal populations from adjacent sandy beaches (Bessa et al. in prep.). In this work we compiled information from consistent long-term data basis coupled to traditional (taxonomically-based) and novel-approaches (biomarkers, biological traits analysis and trend analysis) and newer tools (modelling, GIS, isotopic analyses) to show that temporal variations on the structure and function of macrobenthic communities from the Mondego estuary are related with upstream agricultural practices and land cover changes. Subsequently, we also present evidence for relationships between temporal and seasonal variations on estuarine biogeochemical cycles, nutrient dynamics of adjacent coastal areas and the nitrogen enrichment of macroinvertebrate populations from nearby sandy beaches. We hypothesize that links between river basin use, the structure and function of estuaries and nutrient dynamics of the adjacent coastal areas are strongly entangled and, thus, should be taken into account for achieving sustainable coastal management.

References

- Gonçalves A.M.M., Mesquita A.F., Verdelhos T., Coutinho J.A.P., Marques J.C., Gonçalves F. (2016). Fatty acids’ profiles as indicators of stress induced by of a common herbicide on two marine bivalves species:Cerastoderma edule (Linnaeus, 1758) and Scrobicularia plana (da Costa, 1778). Ecological Indicators, 63: 209-218.

- Martins I., M.R. Flindt, M.A. Pardal, A.I. Lillebø, J.M. Oliveira, J.C. Marques (2002). Nutrient dynamics in the intertidal pools of the Mondego estuary. III- The importance of nutrient effluxes to macroalgal growth (Enteromorpha sp.). In Pardal M. A., Marques J. C. & Graça M. A. S. (eds) Aquatic ecology of the Mondego river basin. Global importance of local experience. Chapter 3.4: 273-286, Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra.

- Martins I., Lopes R.J., Lillebø A.I., Neto J.M., Pardal M.A., Ferreira J.G., Marques J.C. (2007). Significant variations in the productivity of green macroalgae in a mesotidal estuary: Implications to the nutrient loading of the system and the adjacent coastal area. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 54: 678-690.

- Teixeira H., Neto J.M., Patrício J., Veríssimo H., Pinto R., Salas F., Marques J.C. (2009). Quality assessment of benthic macroinvertebrates under the scope of WFD using BAT, the Benthic Assessment Tool. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 58: 1477-1486.

- Teixeira Z., Marques J.C. (2016). Relating landscape to stream nitrate-N levels in a coastal eastern-Atlantic watershed (Portugal). Ecological Indicators, 61 (part 2): 693-706.

- Veríssimo H., Bremner J., Garcia C., Patrício J., van der Linden P., Marques J.C. (2012). Assessment of the subtidal macrobenthic community functioning of a temperate estuary following environmental restoration. Ecological Indicators, 23: 312-322.

- Vinagre P.A., Pais-Costa A.J., Marques J.C., Neto J.M. (2015). Setting reference conditions for mesohaline and oligohaline macroinvertebrate communities sensu WFD: Helping to define achievable scenarios in basin management plans. Ecological Indicators, 56: 171-183.

Keywords: coastal management, land use, Nutrients dynamics, river basins, sandy beaches

Conference: IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2016, Peniche, Portugal, 14 Jul - 15 Jul, 2016.

Presentation Type: Oral presentation

Topic: Biodiversity, Conservation and Coastal Management

Citation: Martins I, Teixeira Z, Gonçalves A, Bessa A, Verissimo H, Vinagre P and Marques JC (2016). Evidence for the long-term contribution of upstream agricultural practices and land use on the biodiversity and function of an estuary and adjacent coastal areas. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR | International Meeting on Marine Research 2016. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2016.04.00103

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Received: 30 Apr 2016; Published Online: 13 Jul 2016.

* Correspondence: Dr. Irene Martins, MARE- Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Coimbra, 3004-517, Portugal, imartins@ciimar.up.pt