Groupement et ordination appliqués à l'étude de la répartition de l'épifaune benthique de l'estuaire maritime et du Golfe du Saint-Laurent

Abstract

Forty-seven navigation buoys were used to collect quantitative samples of epibenthic fauna in the Lower Estuary and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Stations, as described by their sessile species and biomass composition, were grouped using multivariate analysis. A Gower similarity index, modified to take into account the importance of each species in the ecosystem, was used to compare stations. Results obtained by cluster and principal coordinate analyses showed comparable relations between stations. North Shore and Gaspé Coast stations were separated from those of the Lower North Shore, the Mingan Island sector and the Lower Estuary. Stations from the Lower North Shore were also separated from those of the Mingan Island region and of the Lower Estuary, but at a higher level of similarity. All animal assemblages consisted of the following sessile species: Obelia longissima (Pallas), Hiatella arctica (L.), Mytilus edulis L., Balanus balanoides (L.) and B. crenatus (Bruguière). These species formed over 95% of biomass of all sessile species. Differences between the various station assemblages were mainly due to changes in the relative abundance of these species. The geographical gradient of summer surface water temperature best explains the observed clusters. In the Lower Estuary, the spatio-temporal variations of physico-chemical factors and the surface circulation may influence the number of species and their abundance. The circulation systems of the Lower Estuary and near the Mingan Islands might account for the similarity between their assemblages. The same dominant species, Obelia longissima, characterizes the fauna of these two regions.