ORCID Profile
0000-0003-3926-1710
Current Organisation
Universidade de São Paulo
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
DOI: 10.1016/J.MARENVRES.2018.02.009
Abstract: Community ecology has traditionally assumed that the distribution of species is mainly influenced by environmental processes. There is, however, growing evidence that environmental (habitat characteristics and biotic interactions) and spatial processes (factors that affect a local assemblage regardless of environmental conditions - typically related to dispersal and movement of species) interactively shape biological assemblages. A metacommunity, which is a set of local assemblages connected by dispersal of in iduals, is spatial in nature and can be used as a straightforward approach for investigating the interactive and independent effects of both environmental and spatial processes. Here, we examined (i) how environmental and spatial processes affect the metacommunity organization of marine macroinvertebrates inhabiting the intertidal sediments of a bio erse coastal ecosystem (ii) whether the influence of these processes is constant through time or is affected by extreme weather events (storms) and (iii) whether the relative importance of these processes depends on the dispersal abilities of organisms. We found that macrobenthic assemblages are influenced by each of environmental and spatial variables however, spatial processes exerted a stronger role. We also found that this influence changes through time and is modified by storms. Moreover, we observed that the influence of environmental and spatial processes varies according to the dispersal capabilities of organisms. More effective dispersers (i.e., species with planktonic larvae) are more affected by spatial processes whereas environmental variables had a stronger effect on weaker dispersers (i.e. species with low motility in larval and adult stages). These findings highlight that accounting for spatial processes and differences in species life histories is essential to improve our understanding of species distribution and coexistence patterns in intertidal soft-sediments. Furthermore, it shows that storms modify the structure of coastal assemblages. Given that the influence of spatial and environmental processes is not consistent through time, it is of utmost importance that future studies replicate s ling over different periods so the influence of temporal and stochastic factors on macrobenthic metacommunities can be better understood.
Publisher: PeerJ
Date: 23-05-2017
DOI: 10.7717/PEERJ.3360
Abstract: Climate change is predicted to lead to more extreme weather events, including changes to storm frequency, intensity and location. Yet the ecological responses to storms are incompletely understood for sandy shorelines, the globe’s longest land-ocean interface. Here we document how storms of different magnitude impacted the invertebrate assemblages on a tidal flat in Brazil. We specifically tested the relationships between wave energy and spatial heterogeneity, both for habitat properties (habitat heterogeneity) and fauna (β- ersity), predicting that larger storms redistribute sediments and hence lead to spatially less variable faunal assemblages. The sediment matrix tended to become less heterogeneous across the flat after high-energy wave events, whereas β- ersity increased after storms. This higher β- ersity was primarily driven by species losses. Significantly fewer species at a significantly lower density occurred within days to weeks after storms. Negative density and biomass responses to storm events were most prominent in crustaceans. Invertebrate assemblages appeared to recover within a short time (weeks to months) after storms, highlighting that most species typical of sedimentary shorelines are, to some degree, resilient to short-term changes in wave energy. Given that storm frequency and intensity are predicted to change in the coming decades, identifying properties that determine resilience and recovery of ecosystems constitute a research priority for sedimentary shorelines and beyond.
Publisher: FapUNIFESP (SciELO)
Date: 09-2016
DOI: 10.1590/0001-3765201620150620
Abstract: Estuarine processes are directly related to the interaction of its forcing conditions with the local morphology. In this study we assess the implications of the opening of a new inlet on the hydrodynamics and suspended sediment concentration (SSC). A set of physical parameters have been measured in the Itanhém river estuary, a small, shallow and mangrove fringed tropical estuary in Northeastern Brazil. Field surveys have been conducted in August 2007 and January 2008, separated by an important morphological change. Our observations show that even shortening the lower estuary channel in 2 km, the inlet opening did not imply in changes in the estuarine circulation. However, SSC increased after the inlet opening. General estuarine circulation showed synodical modulation of tidal asymmetry and residual suspended sediment transport. The estuary showed flood dominance at spring tide and ebb dominance at neap tide. Although not directly changing the estuarine hydrodynamics, the morphological change resulted in an important increase in SSC. This increase might be related to a facilitated import of inner shelf sediment through a shorter channel, having important implications for the estuarine sedimentation processes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2013
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Eduardo Siegle.