Pode um processo de modificação de habitat alterar a comunidade da meiofauna? Estudo de caso de uma praia arenosa que sofreu um processo de engorda

Abstract

Sandy beaches are environments with a high biodiversity, presenting a fauna of invertebrates that are resistant and adapted to several adverse situations. The meiofauna is considered by metazoa that pass through the mesh of 0.5 mm of opening and are retained in a mesh of 0.044 mm. The objective of this work was to identify if the sandy beach ofPiedade-PE, which underwent a fattening process, has undergone a structural change in its meiofauna community. The animals of the meiofauna have a way of life adapted to the interstitial environment, and may vary according to the variation of the environment and grain size. The collections were made at Piedade beach before fattening, 1, 7, 15, 30, 60 and 90 days after sediment deposition, in the infralittoral and mediolittoral areas. The collection was performed during the low seas, where a transect perpendicular to the waterline was established and was extracted using a "corer" type sampler in the 10 cm of the sediment, three biosedimentological replicas and one for particle size analysis in the mediolittoral and infralittoral regions. The biosedimentological material was washed, elutrited, and taken to the stereomicroscope to count the meiofauna at the level of large groups. The sediment samples were processedusing a rot-up agitator. The PERMANOVA statistical test was used to verify if there was any change in the community after fattening. The meiofauna was composed of 17 taxa, the Nematoda group being the most abundant. Praia de Piedade underwent several changes in its structure, both in species richness and abundance. PERMANOVA's statistical test showedthat there are differences between the pre-and post-fattening community and that it tends to stabilize after 90 days of fattening may become similar to the meiofauna originally existing on the beach. Thus, the results indicate that after a fattening process the community will be modified.