Baixe Composition and Monitoring of Pneumatophore Macroalgae in Barnabé Island Mangrove e outras Notas de estudo em PDF para Ciências Biologicas, somente na Docsity! MACROALGAL COMMUNITY OF PNEUMATOPHORES IN A MANGROVE OF BARNABÉ ISLAND (BAIXADA SANTISTA), SP, BRAZIL: PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS Fernando Santos de Sena”, Ricardo Palamar Menghini?, Valéria Cassano”, Renata Sebastiani? 'Graduate student, Paulista University (UNIP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil, fernandsenagmail.com; ?Professor at Paulista University (UNIP), São Paulo, SP, Brazil, menghinirpOhotmail.com, renatasebastianidig.com.br; “Professor at São Paulo State University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil, vcassanoDusp.br. “Author for correspondence ABSTRACT Aiming to characterize the composition of attached algae on pneumatophores of Avicennia schaueriana Stapf & Leechman in the mangrove of Barnabé Island (Baixada Santista), São Paulo, Brazil, as well as observe parameters for environmental monitoring in mangrove areas, three plots of 15x10 meters were delimited from the fringe to land. Within each plot three transects perpendicular to the course of The Sandi River were mapped to perform the collect of pneumatophores. A total of ten macroalgal species were observed. This macroalgal community comprises three species of Chlorophyta and eight species of Rhodophyta. The results suggest that composition variation of macroalgae may be helpful to environmental monitoring process. Keywords: Avicennia schaueriana, composition, macroalgae INTRODUCTION Mangroves are transitional coastal ecosystems between terrestrial and marine environments commonly found in tropical and subtropical regions (Schaeffer-Novelli 1995). Thus, mangroves are considered one of the most productive coastal ecosystems in the world. This assumption is based only on litterfall production (Lugo and Snedaker 1974), but it is known that algae in the mangroves contribute directly to the increase of productivity in this ecosystem. Rodriguez and Stoner (1990) studied the estuary of Laguna Joyuda (Puerto Rico) and reported that the biomass values of algal communities associated with roots of Rhizophora mangle L. were similar to the annual litterfall production. Algae are ecologically important in coastal ecosystems, especially in mangroves. They act in the energy flux of these environments as a regulatory source of dissolved oxygen in water and provide organic and inorganic nutrients to maintain the estuarine fauna. Also, they have a wide tolerance to stressful conditions keeping the production capacity even during periods of emersion, suggesting that these organisms may represent an important carbon source to mangroves (Mann and Steinke 1988; Pefia et al. 1999). The macroalgal species associated with mangroves are commonly composed by the genera: Caloglossa, Catenella, Cladophoropsis, Rhizoclonium, Boodleopsis and Bostrychia, the latter being the most representative of them (Cunha and Costa 2002). However, in Baixada Santista, São Paulo, Brazil, industry and the growth of urban areas affect the natural balance of the region, as well as several species of aquatic organisms (Menghini 2004). The aim of this study was provide a description of the macrocalgal community associated with pneumatophores of Avicennia schaueriana (Stapf. & Leech.) in the mangrove of Barnabé Island (Baixada Santista), the central coast of São Paulo state. MATERIAL AND METHODS Barnabé Island is located in the central part of the Santos estuary near the discharge of the Jurubatuba, Sandi and Diana rivers. Construction changed some local characteristics, although we may find large areas of the pristine mangrove ecosystem (Menghini 2008). In the place of study 4. schaueriana is the dominant specie, therefore has an extensive and dense coverage of pneumatophores heavily epiphytized. This assumption is supported by previous studies of the structural characterization of Barnabé Island mangroves (Menghini 2004; 2008). Three 15x10 m plots perpendicular to the Sandi River, from the fringe to land were delimited, each one equally spaced 50 m: (43) close to the river; (%1) close to the mainland; (2) in the intermediate region. In each plot three transect lines were drawn perpendicular to the Sandi River and at each 1 meter, pneumatophores were collected. The pneumatophores collected were taken to the laboratory for fixation in 4% formalin. Then all macroalgae were sorted and identified to the lowest possible taxonomic rank. For detailed descriptions of the methodology and the study location respectively see Cutrim (1998) and Menghini (2004; 2008).
