The high biodiversity of benthic organisms in a coastal ecosystem revealed by an integrative approach / A alta biodiversidade de organismos bentônicos em um ecossistema costeiro revelada por uma abordagem integrativa

Abstract Increasing habitat modification and species loss demand consistent efforts to describe and understand biodiversity patterns. The BIOTA/FAPESP Program was created in this context and it has been a successful initiative to promote studies on biodiversity and conservation in Brazil. The BIOTA/Araçá is an interdisciplinary project that provided a detailed evaluation of the biodiversity of Araçá Bay, a coastal seascape located on the North coast of the state of São Paulo, Southeast Brazil. The bay encompasses multiple habitats, such as beaches, mangroves, rocky shores, and a tidal flat, and provides important ecosystem services. Unfortunately, the bay is the subject of complex social-environmental conflicts that oppose economic, social, and environmental demands (i.e., the expansion of neighboring harbor activities vs. small-scale artisanal fisheries and protection of biodiversity). The present study presents a survey of the benthic species occurring in the different habitats of Araçá Bay, including data obtained during the BIOTA/Araçá project and previous assessments of the area. The benthic species play an important role in marine environments and studying the diversity of these organisms that live associated with the bottom is indispensable for comprehending the environment's functioning. The macrofauna, meiofauna, and microorganisms associated with soft and hard bottom were listed, and additional information, such as the habitat and geographical distribution, were provided for each species. The checklist includes 826 species, almost 70% recorded during the BIOTA/Araçá project. The most speciose taxa were the annelids (225 spp.), mollusks (194 spp.), and crustaceans (177 spp.). Seven benthic species are endemic to Araçá Bay, 14 are considered threatened, and seven are economically exploited. Furthermore, the bay is the type locality of many taxa, and 11 new benthic species were described based on specimens sampled during the project. This project shows the importance of Araçá Bay as a unique biologically rich environment and highlights the need for conservation efforts in light of the current threats.

Resumo O aumento da modificação dos habitats e da perda de espécies demanda esforços consistentes para descrever e compreender os padrões de biodiversidade. O programa BIOTA/FAPESP foi criado nesse contexto e é uma iniciativa de sucesso para promover estudos em biodiversidade e conservação no Brasil. O BIOTA/Araçá é um projeto interdisciplinar que promoveu uma avaliação detalhada da biodiversidade da Baía do Araçá, um ecossistema costeiro localizado ao Norte do estado de São Paulo, Sudeste do Brasil. A baía engloba múltiplos habitats, tais como praias, manguezais, costões rochosos, e uma planície de maré, e também fornece importantes serviços ecossistêmicos. Infelizmente, a baía está sujeita à conflitos sócio-ambientais complexos que contrastam demandas econômicas, sociais e ambientais (i.e. a expansão das atividades do porto vizinho vs. a pesca artesanal de pequena escala e a proteção da biodiversidade). O presente estudo apresenta um levantamento das espécies bentônicas que ocorrem nos diferentes habitats da Baía do Araçá, incluindo dados obtidos durante o projeto BIOTA/Araçá e de investigações realizadas anteriormente na área. As espécies bentônicas desempenham um papel importante no ambiente marinho, e estudar a diversidade desses organismos que vivem associados ao fundo é indispensável para compreender o funcionamento do meio ambiente. A macrofauna, meiofauna, e microorganismos associados aos fundos consolidado e inconsolidado foram listados, e informações adicionais foram fornecidas para cada espécie, tais como a distribuição geográfica e nos habitats. O checklist inclui 826 espécies, quase 70% registradas durante o projeto BIOTA/Araçá. Os taxa mais especiosos foram os anelídeos (225 spp.), moluscos (194 spp.), e crustáceos (177 spp.). Entre as espécies bentônicas listadas, sete são endêmicas da Baía do Araçá, 14 são consideradas ameaçadas de extinção, e sete são exploradas economicamente. A baía é a localidade tipo de vários taxa, e 11 novas espécies bentônicas foram descritas com base em espécimes amostrados durante o projeto. Este projeto mostra a importância da Baía do Araçá como um ambiente de riqueza biológica única e demonstra a necessidade de esforços para a sua conservação considerando as atuais ameaças.

Nestedness patterns and the role of morphodynamics and spatial distance on sandy beach fauna: ecological hypotheses and conservation strategies.

Sandy beach fauna is hypothesized to be mainly structured by environmental variables. As such, it is expected that morphodynamic characteristics are limiting factors, and the species pool inhabiting harsher reflective beaches would be a subset of (i.e., nested in) the fauna of nearby dissipative beaches. We investigated the existence of a nestedness pattern in sandy beach assemblages, as well as the contribution of environmental and spatial variables (i.e., factors that potentially affect an assemblage regardless of environmental conditions - typically related to distance between sites and dispersal of organisms) on sandy beach macrobenthic fauna. Dissipative beaches had higher species richness than reflective beaches but we found no nestedness pattern. Furthermore, almost every beach showed exclusive species. Spatial variables exerted stronger influence on macrobenthic assemblages than local environmental variables. Our results therefore suggest that local and small-scale recruitment is the predominant process structuring macrobenthic assemblages. These results bring important implications for sandy beach conservation: given that spatial distance is an important factor structuring macrobenthic fauna and different sandy beaches harbor different pools of species, conservation programs need to focus on sandy beaches across large spatial scales and with varied morphodynamic characteristics in order to preserve coastal biodiversity.

When time affects space: Dispersal ability and extreme weather events determine metacommunity organization in marine sediments.

Community ecology has traditionally assumed that the distribution of species is mainly influenced by environmental processes. There is, however, growing evidence that environmental (habitat characteristics and biotic interactions) and spatial processes (factors that affect a local assemblage regardless of environmental conditions - typically related to dispersal and movement of species) interactively shape biological assemblages. A metacommunity, which is a set of local assemblages connected by dispersal of individuals, is spatial in nature and can be used as a straightforward approach for investigating the interactive and independent effects of both environmental and spatial processes. Here, we examined (i) how environmental and spatial processes affect the metacommunity organization of marine macroinvertebrates inhabiting the intertidal sediments of a biodiverse coastal ecosystem; (ii) whether the influence of these processes is constant through time or is affected by extreme weather events (storms); and (iii) whether the relative importance of these processes depends on the dispersal abilities of organisms. We found that macrobenthic assemblages are influenced by each of environmental and spatial variables; however, spatial processes exerted a stronger role. We also found that this influence changes through time and is modified by storms. Moreover, we observed that the influence of environmental and spatial processes varies according to the dispersal capabilities of organisms. More effective dispersers (i.e., species with planktonic larvae) are more affected by spatial processes whereas environmental variables had a stronger effect on weaker dispersers (i.e. species with low motility in larval and adult stages). These findings highlight that accounting for spatial processes and differences in species life histories is essential to improve our understanding of species distribution and coexistence patterns in intertidal soft-sediments. Furthermore, it shows that storms modify the structure of coastal assemblages. Given that the influence of spatial and environmental processes is not consistent through time, it is of utmost importance that future studies replicate sampling over different periods so the influence of temporal and stochastic factors on macrobenthic metacommunities can be better understood.

Unraveling the performance of the benthic index AMBI in a subtropical bay: The effects of data transformations and exclusion of low-reliability sites.

We investigated the relationship between the AMBI index and different contamination proxies in an urbanized bay in South America (SE Brazil), and the effect of (a) abundance data transformation and (b) exclusion of low-reliability sites (high SD; low N) on the index' performance. Poor ecological quality and opportunistic species were related to an increase in contaminants concentrations and mud content. Good ecological status and sensitive species (EG I) were mainly related to increased hydrodynamics. Data transformation caused minimal changes to the overall relationships, but exclusion of low-reliability sites improved the relationship between ecological groups and contamination proxies. Our results show that AMBI is robust in detecting effects of different contaminants in the area and reinforce the importance of the index as a tool for coastal management, but local joint efforts are needed to improve and adjust local species classification in ecological groups to improve the index' performance.

The use of metabarcoding for meiofauna ecological patterns assessment.

Marine meiofauna comprises up to 22 phyla. Its morphological identification requires time and taxonomists' expertise, and molecular tools can make this task faster. We aim to disentangle meiofaunal diversity patterns at Araçá Bay by applying a model selection approach and estimating the effectiveness of metabarcoding (18S rDNA) and morphological methods for estimating the response of meiofauna diversity in small-scale interactions with environmental variables. A rarefaction curve indicated that ten samples were sufficient for estimating the total number of meiofauna OTUs in a tidal flat. In both approaches, richness was predicted by mean sand percentage, sediment sorting, and bacteria concentration. Nematode genera composition differed significantly between approaches, the result of taxonomic mismatch in the genetic database. The similarity between the model selected for diversity descriptors, the richness of nematode genera and meiofauna composition emphasized the utility of predictive models for metabarcoding estimates to detect small-scale interactions of these organisms.

Marine planktonic and benthic organisms: an ocean of diversity in the collections of the State of São Paulo / Organismos planctônicos e bentônicos marinhos: um oceano de diversidade nas coleções do Estado de São Paulo

Abstract Brazil is characterized as a megadiverse country, and one of the factors that guarantees the knowledge and preservation of this biodiversity is an improvement in the biological collections. They represent a country's biological, scientific, cultural, and genetic heritage and their preservation depends on a joint effort of researchers, institutions, and public authorities. Marine biological collections of invertebrates and algae of the state of São Paulo represent a high percentage of the national collections, with five biological collections deposited in state institutions. Currently, these collections safeguard the vast majority of the state's marine collection and make up one of the largest in the country. Therefore, the objective of this research is to present information on marine biological collections in the state of São Paulo, their current status, funding, and future perspectives, creating communication opportunities and considering the factors that impact their development. Support from the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) surpasses state limits, since many studies address broader areas and/or establish diverse partnerships with other institutions from outside São Paulo. This is reflected in the taxonomic and geographic scope of the biological collections in the state, since these host specimens/species from different regions of the country, or even from other countries. However, it is worth mentioning that it is not enough to invest in expeditions to enrich the collections without valuing the training of qualified personnel, both for the collections maintenance and for their taxonomic refinement.

Resumo O Brasil é caracterizado como um país megadiverso e uma das prioridades no conhecimento e conservação dessa biodiversidade é seguramente a melhoria das coleções biológicas. Estas representam patrimônio biológico, científico, cultural e genético de um país, e sua preservação depende de um esforço coletivo de pesquisadores, instituições e do poder público. Com relação às coleções biológicas marinhas de invertebrados e algas, o estado de São Paulo representa uma alta porcentagem do acervo nacional, com cinco principais coleções depositadas em instituições estaduais. Atualmente estas coleções salvaguardam a grande maioria do acervo marinho estadual e compõem um dos maiores do país. Assim sendo, o objetivo desta pesquisa é o de apresentar informações sobre as coleções biológicas marinhas do estado de São Paulo, estado atual, financiamentos e perspectivas futuras, criando oportunidades de comunicação e considerando os fatores que impactam o desenvolvimento das mesmas. O apoio financeiro da Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) às instituições paulistas extravasa os limites do estado, visto que muitas pesquisas abordam áreas mais abrangentes e/ou estabelecem parcerias diversas com outras instituições não paulistas. Isso se reflete inclusive na abrangência taxonômica e geográfica das coleções biológicas do Estado, uma vez que estas mantêm espécimes/espécies de diferentes regiões do país, ou mesmo de outros países. No entanto, vale ressaltar que não basta investir em expedições de coleta para enriquecimento das coleções sem valorizar a formação de pessoal qualificado, tanto para a curadoria dos acervos quanto para o refinamento taxonômico.

In situ ingestion of microfibres by meiofauna from sandy beaches.

Microfibres are widespread contaminants in marine environments across the globe. Detecting in situ ingestion of microfibres by small marine organisms is necessary to understand their potential accumulation in marine food webs and their role in marine pollution. We have examined the gut contents of meiofauna from six sandy beaches in the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean. Out of twenty taxonomic groups, three species of the common sandy beach annelid Saccocirrus displayed in situ ingestion of microfibres in all sites. Laboratory observations showed that species of Saccocirrus are able to egest microfibres with no obvious physical injury. We suggest that their non-selective microphagous suspension-feeding behaviour makes Saccocirrus more prone to ingest microfibres. Although microfibres are rapidly egested with no apparent harm, there is still the potential for trophic transfer into marine food webs through predation of Saccocirrus.

NONATObase: a database for Polychaeta (Annelida) from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

Networks can greatly advance data sharing attitudes by providing organized and useful data sets on marine biodiversity in a friendly and shared scientific environment. NONATObase, the interactive database on polychaetes presented herein, will provide new macroecological and taxonomic insights of the Southwestern Atlantic region. The database was developed by the NONATO network, a team of South American researchers, who integrated available information on polychaetes from between 5°N and 80°S in the Atlantic Ocean and near the Antarctic. The guiding principle of the database is to keep free and open access to data based on partnerships. Its architecture consists of a relational database integrated in the MySQL and PHP framework. Its web application allows access to the data from three different directions: species (qualitative data), abundance (quantitative data) and data set (reference data). The database has built-in functionality, such as the filter of data on user-defined taxonomic levels, characteristics of site, sample, sampler, and mesh size used. Considering that there are still many taxonomic issues related to poorly known regional fauna, a scientific committee was created to work out consistent solutions to current misidentifications and equivocal taxonomy status of some species. Expertise from this committee will be incorporated by NONATObase continually. The use of quantitative data was possible by standardization of a sample unit. All data, maps of distribution and references from a data set or a specified query can be visualized and exported to a commonly used data format in statistical analysis or reference manager software. The NONATO network has initialized with NONATObase, a valuable resource for marine ecologists and taxonomists. The database is expected to grow in functionality as it comes in useful, particularly regarding the challenges of dealing with molecular genetic data and tools to assess the effects of global environment change. Database URL: http://nonatobase.ufsc.br/.

Veneridae (Mollusca, Bivalvia) da costa norte do Estado de São Paulo, Brasil / Veneridae (Mollusca, Bivalvia) from the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil

Coletas intensivas da fauna bentônica marinha da costa norte do Estado de São Paulo, realizadas pelos programas de pesquisa "Fauna de Praia/UNICAMP" de agosto de 1995 a julho de 1997 e "Biota/FAPESP" de março de 2001 a dezembro de 2002 recolheram 2769 exemplares pertencentes a dezesseis espécies, doze gêneros e sete subfamílias. A caracterização de cada espécie foi ampliada com redescrição e ilustrações detalhadas, baseadas nos caracteres da concha. Tabelas comparativas dessas características e uma chave dicotômica de identificação das subfamílias são apresentadas neste estudo.

This study concerns the Veneridae bivalves sampled during the research programs "Fauna de Praia/UNICAMP" and "Biota/FAPESP" carried out between August 1995 and July 1997 and between March 2001 and December 2002 respectivelly, in the north coast of São Paulo State, Brazil. A total of 2769 individuals belonging to sixteen species, twelve genera and seven subfamilies were recorded and the characterization of each species improved with detailed redescription and illustrations based on the shell characters. Comparative tables and a identification dichotomic key for subfamilies focused in this study are provided.

Environmental variables and intertidal beach annelids of São Sebastião Channel (State of São Paulo, Brazil)

Benthic annelid communities were studied during a one-year period (August/95 to July/96) in two sectors of the beaches Engenho d'Agua and SÒo Francisco, SÒo SebastiÒo Channel (SÒo Paulo, Brazil), where the substrate is composed by a mixture of sand and rock fragments. Abiotic parameters such as salinity of interstitial water and sediment properties were used to characterize the environment. The polychaetes were well represented in the two sectors and their distribution was related with sediment type. The density of individuals and the number of taxa was higher at SÒo Francisco, while the diversity and the evenness were higher at Engenho d'Agua. This difference can be a consequence of organic enrichment caused by domestic input, and of the lower and more variable salinity at SÒo Francisco. Due to these factors, the high density of opportunistic species, like Capitella capitata ssp., Scolelepis squamata, Laeonereis acuta and several oligochaetes, represented 75.5 of total abundance at this sector.

Poliquetas bioindicadores de poluiçäo orgânica em praias paulistas / Polychaetes as bioindicators of organic pollution in beaches of the littoral of Säo Paulo State, Brazil

Considerando-se a importância de espécies bênticas como indicadores de ambientes organicamente enriquecidos, este trabalho teve como objetivo analisar a ocorrência de poliquetas bioindicadores de poluiçao orgânica, em praias do litoral norte do Estado de Sao Paulo. Para tanto, estabeleceu-se comparaçao entre freqüência e abundância dessas espécies em áreas consideradas impactadas em funçao das condiçoes de balneabilidade. A regiao estudada abrange 17 praias localizadas na Enseada de Caraguatatuba e Canal de Sao Sebastiao. Os dados analisados sao provenientes de coletas realizadas na zona entremarés de março/88 a março/91 e de relatórios editados pela CETESB sobre a balneabilidade das praias do litoral paulista. As Coletas da macrofauna foram obtidas com auxílio de amostrador de 0,025m2 de área. Os resultados revelam a presença marcante de espécies indicadoras de locais enriquecidos organicamente, como Capitella capitata, Heteromastus filiformis, Laeonereis acuta e Scolelepis squamata. A alta densidade de Capitella e Heteromastus em prais consideradas como impróprias quanto à balneabilidade, constitui forte indício do grau de comprometimento dessas áreas.