Abstract
Salt marsh areas in the Guadiana estuary are important nursery sites for many fish species of commercial and recreational value. More effective protection measures should be adopted as the area is highly affected by anthropogenic and natural threats. Studying larval fish communities in these impacted nursery areas will be relevant to the management of local ecosystems and to larval fish ecology in general. Spatial and seasonal distribution and the effect of environmental factors on the larval fish community of this ecosystem were studied for one year (April 2010 to March 2011). Larvae were sampled monthly in parallel with phytoplankton and zooplankton. Hydrological data and physical parameters were monitored. A decision tree model was used to assess the influence of environmental factors on the larval fish community. A total of 130 larvae and 1171 eggs were caught. Diplodus sargus, Sardina pilchardus, and Pomatoschistus microps were the most abundant larval fish species. The peaks of fish larvae abundance occurred in March and April. The output of the model demonstrates that the abundance of larval fish is determined by the abundance of eggs, zooplanktonic food, and water flood and flow. This study shows the importance of the Guadiana salt marsh as an area for fish nursery and highlights the need for conservation of this area.
Highlights
The salt marsh area of the Guadiana estuary, namely the Castro Marim area, was awarded Natural Reserve status in 1975
More effective protection measures should be adopted as the area is highly affected by anthropogenic and natural threats
Studying larval fish communities in these impacted nursery areas will be relevant to the management of local ecosystems and to larval fish ecology in general
Summary
The salt marsh area of the Guadiana estuary, namely the Castro Marim area, was awarded Natural Reserve status in 1975 It is a very important area for biodiversity conservation at regional, national and international levels. River flow in the Guadiana basin is controlled by numerous dams, which shift the natural flow regime, decrease natural variability (Morais et al 2009), and induce changes in habitat availability by increasing sand deposition in saltmarshes (Garel et al 2009) This area is affected by invasive species (Chícharo et al 2009) with potential negative effects on ichthyoplankton communities (Pereira et al 2014). Studying fish larval communities in these impacted nursery areas with multidisciplinary approaches based on a detailed understanding of biota responses will be relevant to the management of local ecosystems and to larval fish ecology in general
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