Effects of subtle pollution at different levels of biological organisation on species-rich assemblages

• Tipo: Artigo em Revista Científica Internacional
• Data: 2014

Autores

M Rubal (Autor) FCUP; Puri Veiga (Autor) Outra; Pedro A Reis (Autor) Outra; Iacopo Bertocci (Autor) Outra; Isabel Sousa Pinto (Autor) FCUP

Revista

Título: Environmental Pollution

Vol. 191

Páginas: 101-110

ISSN: 0269-7491

Editora: Elsevier

Indexação

ISI Web of Knowledge - 15 Citações

Scopus - 16 Citações

Classificação Científica

FOS: Ciências exactas e naturais > Ciências da terra e ciências do ambiente

Outras Informações

ID Authenticus: P-009-BEH

DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2014.04.019

Abstract (EN): We investigated effects of subtle nutrient enrichment and metal pollution on different levels of biological organization (i.e. whole assemblage, population and individual) of species-rich assemblages. We used rockpools as model system, applying a multi-factorial sampling design to test hypotheses on differences between disturbed and reference locations. Results indicated that disturbed and reference locations supported similar assemblages, as well as individual fitness-related life-traits were ineffective to discriminate between the two conditions. In contrast, assemblages responded to pollution through a reduction of the abundance of sensitive species and a proliferation of tolerant species, although these alterations were detectable only once the influence of dominant taxa was down-weighed by data transformation. Present findings suggest that, contrarily to individual level variables, assemblage structure after data transformation and patterns of distribution and abundance of differently sensitive taxa would be a powerful tool to detect effects of subtle pollution on species-rich assemblages.

Idioma: Inglês

Tipo (Avaliação Docente): Científica

Nº de páginas: 10