Benthic Estuarine Assemblages of the Eastern Marine Brazilian Ecoregion (EME)

摘要: The Eastern Brazil Marine Ecoregion includes over 50 estuaries along roughly 1200 km of coastline with latitudinal changes in mean rainfall and average yearly atmospheric temperatures. Estuarine ecosystems within this ecoregion have been relatively well studied respect to the impacts from human pollution benthic biodiversity mangrove forests, estuarine channels, tidal flats. Benthic assemblages exhibit typical spatial salinity gradients, higher diversity towards euhaline sectors. Macrofaunal abundance biomass are typically mud organic-rich sediments flats, although patterns often differ sectors (euhaline oligohaline) between ecoregion. largest coastal bays impacted by variable levels sewage industrial discharge forest removal. Although effects these likely result amount or quality water supply, decrease fish stocks, transformations food webs, there is limited understanding potential loss services. Climate change including temperatures lower predicted significantly impact localized already place at some areas. Further studies need understand accurately what most important functions services order evaluate how different local (biological invasion, habitat destruction, pollution) global (climate change) will affect systems. Concomitantly, areas for conservation must be identified, implemented managed Ecoregion.