Pollution has negative effects on macrozoobenthic trait diversity in a large subtropical estuary

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2022-11, Vol.184, p.114101-114101, Article 114101
• Main Authors: Pedelacq, María Eugenia, Garaffo, Griselda, Llanos, Elizabeth, Venturini, Natalia, Muniz, Pablo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: BTA; Functional traits; Macrozoobenthos; Organic pollution; Río de la Plata; Uruguay
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.114101

Changes in species composition and relative abundance caused by pollution might have an impact on the community dynamics and ecosystem functioning. Macrobenthos are widely used as indicators of marine environmental health due to their sensitive to disturbance. The present study aims to evaluate spatial and temporal variability of functional diversity of macrobenthos of the Montevideo and Canelones coastal zone along a pre-established pollution gradient, based on Biological Traits Analysis, and functional diversity indices. Body-size”, “Feeding-mode”, “Habitat”, and “Indicator-role” were useful proxies to detect changes in environmental conditions in organically enriched habitats. FRic, FEve and FDis detected temporal variations but only FRic registered spatial variations. Differences among surveys would mainly reflect environmental variability caused by the 2009–2010 El Niño-Southern Oscillation event. Finally, negative correlations between FEve and FDis with AMBI suggest both indices as useful proxies of benthic environmental health, with potential to be used in monitoring and quality assessment programs. •Functional traits are useful proxies to detect changes in environmental conditions.•Functional diversity (FRic, FEve and FDis) detected temporal variations.•Temporal variations would mainly reflect environmental variability caused by ENSO.•FEve, and FDis showed negative correlation with AMBI.