Sediment effects on interstitial faunal distribution in Brazilian sandy beaches: a multi-phylum approach
Thainá Cortez
A * , Giulia Marangoni A , Sónia Cristina da Silva Andrade A and Maikon Di Domenico B
A
B
Abstract
In sandy beaches, the interstitial system, i.e. spaces among sand grains, forms a habitat that supports a diversity of microorganisms, as meiofauna. The interstitial fauna exhibits wide richness and diversity. Sediment-specific impacts on these communities remain understudied from a broader perspective.
To describe the interstitial fauna by using a multi-phylum approach and to explore the influence of variations in sediment characteristics at both mesoscale (within a beach) and macroscale (among beaches).
We sampled 10 sandy beaches, performed granulometric analyses, and searched for potential associations between community assemblages and sediment characteristics.
Eight phyla were identified, exhibiting a patchy distribution pattern at the mesoscale. Coarse-, medium- and fine-sediment assemblages differed significantly. At the macroscale, phylum preference for sediment type (coarse, medium and fine) was observed, where annelids, flatworms and nemerteans were abundant in the coarse sediment, and nematodes in the fine sediment.
Sediment, along with other ecological factors, plays a role in determining the richness of interstitial assemblages. Not only grain size, but also sorting degree and skewness notably influence the abundance of interstitial communities.
Ecological studies of interstitial fauna from a broader perspective offer a more comprehensive understanding of interstitial communities and provide valuable insights into habitat preferences.
Keywords: annelida, community, diversity, grain size, granulometry, meiofauna, nemertean, sediment.
References
Balsamo M, Artois T, Smith JPS, III, Todaro MA, Guidi L, Leander BS, Van Steenkiste NWL (2020) The curious and neglected soft-bodied meiofauna: Rouphozoa (Gastrotricha and Platyhelminthes). Hydrobiologia 847(12), 2613-2644.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Bernardino AF, Netto SA, Pagliosa PR, Barros F, Christofoletti RA, Rosa Filho JS, Colling A, Lana PC (2015) Predicting ecological changes on benthic estuarine assemblages through decadal climate trends along Brazilian Marine Ecoregions. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 166, 74-82.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Braccini JAL, Amaral SV, Leal-Zanchet AM (2016) Microturbellarians (Platyhelminthes and Acoelomorpha) in Brazil: invisible organisms? Microturbelários (Platyhelminthes e Acoelomorpha) no Brasil: organismos invisíveis? Brazilian Journal of Biology 76, 476-494 [In English with title, abstract and keywords in English and Portuguese].
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Corgosinho PHC, Metri R, Baptista C, et al. (2003) Abundance and diversity of the sublittoral meiofauna on two sand beaches under different hydrodynamic conditions at Ilha do Mel (PR, Brazil). Abundância e diversidade da meiofauna do sublitoral em duas praias arenosas sob condições hidrodinâmicas diferentes na Ilha do Mel (PR, Brazil). Lundiana 4, 89-94 [In English with title in Portuguese online].
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Curini-Galletti M (2014) Contribution to the knowledge of the Proseriata (Platyhelminthes: Rhabditophora) from southeast Brazil. Marine Biodiversity 44, 287-312.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Curini-Galletti M, Artois T, Di Domenico M, Fontaneto D, Jondelius U, Jörger KM, Leasi F, Martínez A, Norenburg JL, Sterrer W, Todaro MA (2020) Contribution of soft-bodied meiofaunal taxa to Italian marine biodiversity. The European Zoological Journal 87(2), 369-384.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
de Campos R, Lansac-Tôha FM, da Conceição EO, et al. (2018) Factors affecting the metacommunity structure of periphytic ostracods (Crustacea, Ostracoda): a deconstruction approach based on biological traits. Aquatic Sciences 80(2), 16.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Di Domenico M, Da Cunha Lana P, Garraffoni ARS (2009) Distribution patterns of interstitial polychaetes in sandy beaches of southern Brazil. Marine Ecology 30, 47-62.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Di Domenico M, Martínez A, Lana PC, et al. (2013) Protodrilus (Protodrilidae, Annelida) from the southern and southeastern Brazilian coasts. Helgoland Marine Research 67(4), 733-748.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Di Domenico M, Martínez A, Almeida TCM, et al. (2014) Response of the meiofaunal annelid Saccocirrus pussicus (Saccocirridae) to sandy beach morphodynamics. Hydrobiologia 734, 1-16.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Dražina T, Špoljar M, Primc B (2013) Small-scale patterns of meiofauna in a bryophyte covered tufa barrier (Plitvice Lakes, Croatia). Limnologica 43, 405-416.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Ellison CI, Frey MR, Sanford E, Maslakova S (2024) Ribbon worms (phylum Nemertea) from Bodega Bay, California: a largely undescribed diversity. ZooKeys 1204, 15-64.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Envall M, Norenburg JL (2001) Morphology and systematics in mesopsammic nemerteans of the genus Ototyphlonemertes (Nemertea, Hoplonemertea, Ototyphlonemertidae). Hydrobiologia 456, 145-163.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Faria LC, Di Domenico M, Andrade SCS, et al. (2018) The use of metabarcoding for meiofauna ecological patterns assessment. Marine Environmental Research 140, 160-168.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Folk RL, Ward WC (1957) Brazos River bar [Texas]; a study in the significance of grain size parameters. Journal of Sedimentary Research 27(2), 3-26.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Gansfort B, Fontaneto D, Zhai M (2020) Meiofauna as a model to test paradigms of ecological metacommunity theory. Hydrobiologia 847(12), 2645-2663.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Garraffoni ARS, Di Domenico M, Amaral ACZ (2016) Patterns of diversity in marine Gastrotricha from southeastern Brazilian coast is predicted by sediment textures. Hydrobiologia 773, 105-116.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Gheskiere T, Hoste E, Vanaverbeke J, Vincx M, Degraer S (2004) Horizontal zonation patterns and feeding structure of marine nematode assemblages on a macrotidal, ultra-dissipative sandy beach (De Panne, Belgium). Journal of Sea Research 52, 211-226.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Gheskiere T, Vincx M, Urban-Malinga B, et al. (2005) Nematodes from wave-dominated sandy beaches: diversity, zonation patterns and testing of the isocommunities concept. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 62, 365-375.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Gingold R, Ibarra-Obando SE, Rocha-Olivares A (2011) Spatial aggregation patterns of free-living marine nematodes in contrasting sandy beach micro-habitats. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 91, 615-622.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Gjoni V, Glazier DS (2020) A perspective on body size and abundance relationships across ecological communities. Biology 9(3), 42.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Jackson DWT, Cooper JAG, del Rio L (2005) Geological control of beach morphodynamic state. Marine Geology 216, 297-314.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Jombart T (2008) adegenet: a R package for the multivariate analysis of genetic markers. Bioinformatics 24, 1403-1405.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Korbel KL, Stephenson S, Hose GC (2019) Sediment size influences habitat selection and use by groundwater macrofauna and meiofauna. Aquatic Sciences 81(2), 39.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Legendre P, Gallagher ED (2001) Ecologically meaningful transformations for ordination of species data. Oecologia 129, 271-280.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Logue JB, Mouquet N, Peter H, et al. (2011) Empirical approaches to metacommunities: a review and comparison with theory. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 26(9), 482-491.
| Crossref | Google Scholar | PubMed |
Maria TF, Esteves AM, Smol N, et al. (2008) Nematodes from sandy beaches of Guanabara Bay, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Biociências 16, 92-103 [In English with abstract and keywords in English and Portuguese].
| Google Scholar |
Maria TF, Wandeness AP, Esteves AM (2016) State of the art of the meiofauna of Brazilian sandy beaches. Brazilian Journal of Oceanography 64, 17-26 [In English with abstract and keywords in English and Portuguese].
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Maria TF, Maria BTF, Maria AT, et al. (2023) Meiofauna biodiversity. In ‘Brazilian sandy beaches’. (Ed. TF Maria) pp. 57–90. (Springer International Publishing) 10.1007/978-3-031-30746-1_3
McLachlan A, Wooldridge T, Dye AH (1981) The ecology of sandy beaches in southern Africa. South African Journal of Zoology 16(4), 219-231.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Mello CL, Carvalho AL, Cabral de Faria L, et al. (2019) Spatial distribution pattern of the aberrant Franciscideres kalenesos (Kinorhyncha) on sandy beaches of Southern Brazil. Zoologischer Anzeiger 282, 44-51.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Netto SA, Meneghel A (2014) Pulse of marine subsidies: the role of surf diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis accumulations in structuring the meiofauna of sandy beaches. Marine Biodiversity 44, 445-457.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Remane A (1933) Verteilung und Organisation der benthonischen Mikrofauna der Kieler Bucht. Wissenschaftliche Meeresuntersuchungen: Abteilung Kiel 21, 161-221 [In German].
| Google Scholar |
Rocha CMC, Fonsêca-Genevois V, Castro FJV (2000) Distribuição espaço-temporal de Batillipes pennaki Marcus, 1946 (Tardigrada, Heterotardigrada) na margem sul da ilha de Itamaracá (Pernambuco – Brasil). Spatio-temporal distribution of Batillipes pennaki Marcus, 1946 at the southern [sic] of Itamaraca Island (Pernambuco – Brasil). Tropical Oceanography 28, 35-46 [In Portuguese with title, abstract and keywords in Portuguese and English].
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Rosati M, Rossetti G, Cantonati M, et al. (2017) Are aquatic assemblages from small water bodies more stochastic in dryer climates? An analysis of ostracod spring metacommunities. Hydrobiologia 793, 199-212.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Santos TMT, Petracco M, Venekey V (2021) Recreational activities trigger changes in meiofauna and free-living nematodes on Amazonian macrotidal sandy beaches. Marine Environmental Research 167, 105289.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Schratzberger M, Ingels J (2018) Meiofauna matters: the roles of meiofauna in benthic ecosystems. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 502, 12-25.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Semprucci F, Sbrocca C, Rocchi M, Balsamo M (2015) Temporal changes of the meiofaunal assemblage as a tool for the assessment of the ecological quality status. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 95(2), 247-254.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Soares I, Öller O, Jr (2001) Low-frequency currents and water mass spatial distribution on the southern Brazilian shelf. Continental Shelf Research 21(16–17), 1785-1814.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Souza-Santos L, Ribeiro VSS, Santos PJP, et al. (2003) Seasonality of intertidal meiofauna on a tropical sandy beach in Tamandare Bay (northeast Brazil). Journal of Coastal Research 35, 369-377.
| Google Scholar |
Spalding MD, Fox HE, Allen GR, et al. (2007) Marine ecoregions of the world: a bioregionalization of coastal and shelf areas. BioScience 57(7), 573-583.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Swedmark B (1964) The interstitial fauna of marine sand. Biological Reviews 39(2), 1-42.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Tilbert S, de Castro FJV, Tavares G, et al. (2019) Spatial variation of meiofaunal tardigrades in a small tropical estuary (~6°S; Brazil). Marine and Freshwater Research 70, 1094-1104.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Todaro MA, Rocha CEF (2004) Diversity and distribution of marine Gastrotricha along the northern beaches of the State of São Paulo (Brazil), with description of a new species of Macrodasys (Macrodasyida, Macrodasyidae). Journal of Natural History 38(13), 1605-1634.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Urban-Malinga B, Kotwicki L, Gheskiere TLA, et al. (2004) Composition and distribution of meiofauna, including nematode genera, in two contrasting Arctic beaches. Polar Biology 27, 447-457.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
van der Heijden LH, Rzeznik-Orignac J, Asmus RM, et al. (2018) How do food sources drive meiofauna community structure in soft-bottom coastal food webs? Marine Biology 165(10), 1-19.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Vieira DC, Fonseca G (2013) The importance of vertical and horizontal dimensions of the sediment matrix in structuring nematodes across spatial scales. PLoS ONE 8(10), e77704.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
Wang H, Sun S, Li Q (2008) Laboratory observations on the feeding behavior and feeding rate of the nemertean Procephalothrix simulus. The Biological Bulletin 214(2), 166-175.
| Crossref | Google Scholar |
