The Arthropod Community, Especially Crustacea, as a Bioindicator in Algeciras Bay (Southern Spain) Based on a Spatial Distribution

Authors

  • J. E. Sanchez-Moyano
  • J. C. Garcia-Gomez

Keywords:

Epifauna, environmental factors, hydrodynamism, sedimentation, habitat complexity, canonical correspondence analysis, Halopteris scoparia, Southern Spain

Abstract

Spatial variation of the arthropod communities of the alga Halopteris scoparia in relation to the influence of environmental factors in the Algeciras Bay (Southern Spain) was investigated by means of multivariate analyses. We have been able to determine a clear separation in composition of communities between external and internal areas of the bay, with hydrodynamism and algal morphology being the most determinant factors. In the external zone a greater number of species appear, whose quantitative dominances are more even than among the species of the internal zone, where some clearly dominate over the others, e.g., the amphipods Corophium acutum and Jassa marmorata. Crustaceans show in a clear way the differences among the localities and are useful in characterization studies of environmental quality of coastal waters because of the abundance, high species richness and the wide environmental spectrum in the epiphytic communities

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Published

1998-07-13