Impact of an oceanic port (Sines, Portugal) on the fish community

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Impact of an oceanic port (Sines, Portugal) on the fish community Nuno Mamede1*, Susana Celestino1, Cristina Espírito-Santo1, André Costa1, Teresa Silva1, João Castro1, 2 and Teresa Cruz1, 2 1 MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Laboratório de Ciências do Mar, Universidade de Évora, Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Portugal Following the development of economic globalization, oceanic ports became important cores of economic activity and, therefore, potential sources of diffuse and chronic impacts on coastal ecosystems. Monitoring biological communities is a very important tool to assess these impacts. In a multi-environment monitoring programme of the oceanic port of Sines running for several years, the rocky subtidal macrobenthic community has been studied, including the fish community. Patterns of spatial and temporal variation of the diversity and structure of the fish community were studied in the summer of 2014 (two random dates sampled) sampling six areas in the port (three sheltered and three exposed) and two areas outside the port. The total number of taxa and the density of each observed taxon were quantified through visual censuses in belt transects by scuba diving. Data were analysed with univariate and multivariate techniques. Substrate physical features (bottom complexity and type) were sampled in the same transects. Outside areas were significantly different from the port areas. These differences were due to a lower number of taxa in the outside areas and, generally, to a greater abundance of several taxa in the port areas, such as some species with commercial value (e.g. seabreams Diplodus spp.). These results suggest that this port may provide favorable conditions for the occurrence of a greater fish diversity and abundance than outside areas, particularly for some species that live in subtidal rocky substrates. Recreational and commercial fishing interdiction, in place in most areas of this port for several years, may be responsible for these patterns. Acknowledgements This study is part of project MAPSi, funded by APS - "Administração dos Portos de Sines e do Algarve, S.A.". Keywords: Oceanic port, SINEs, Fish community, Monitoring, SCUBA diving Conference: XV European Congress of Ichthyology, Porto, Portugal, 7 Sep - 11 Sep, 2015. Presentation Type: Oral Presentation Topic: Ecology, Conservation and Invasive Species Citation: Mamede N, Celestino S, Espírito-Santo C, Costa A, Silva T, Castro J and Cruz T (2015). Impact of an oceanic port (Sines, Portugal) on the fish community. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: XV European Congress of Ichthyology. doi: 10.3389/conf.fmars.2015.03.00029 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Oct 2015; Published Online: 04 Nov 2015. * Correspondence: Mr. Nuno Mamede, MARE - Marine and Environmental Sciences Centre, Laboratório de Ciências do Mar, Universidade de Évora, Sines, 7521-903, Portugal, nmamede@uevora.pt Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Nuno Mamede Susana Celestino Cristina Espírito-Santo André Costa Teresa Silva João Castro Teresa Cruz Google Nuno Mamede Susana Celestino Cristina Espírito-Santo André Costa Teresa Silva João Castro Teresa Cruz Google Scholar Nuno Mamede Susana Celestino Cristina Espírito-Santo André Costa Teresa Silva João Castro Teresa Cruz PubMed Nuno Mamede Susana Celestino Cristina Espírito-Santo André Costa Teresa Silva João Castro Teresa Cruz Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.