Mudanças na comunidade macrobentônica associada à atividade de bioturbação do camarão Neocallichirus maryae Karasawa, 2004 na Praia de Mangue Seco, Igarassu - PE.

Abstract

Benthic biodiversity is responsible for providing various ecosystem services to the environment, and from it arises a trophic base that helps maintain these services and the quality of human life. However, several processes can change this dynamic, since the species that inhabit the benthos are sensitive to environmental changes. In this work we will focus on a natural activity that can change the properties of sediments, called bioturbation. It is pointed out as a natural activity that disturbs the environment by disturbing sediment particles in the modeling of their burrows. This process is well studied in terrestrial environments and in other taxonomic groups. However, more research is still needed on the effects of bioturbation carried out in the process of excavation of Axiidea crustaceans in beach environments, areas of great ecological and economic value for the livelihood of riverside families and the like. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the effects of spatial changes in the macrofauna community associated with the presence of the burrowing shrimp Neocallichirus maryae Karasawa, 2004. The work was carried out on the beach of Mangue Seco, in the municipality of Igarassu, in the north coast of the state. from Pernambuco. We defined four types of treatments between proximity and depth of samples. We collected 7 samples close to the gallery opening (P) and distant from the gallery opening (L), with a distance of 50 cm between them. These samples were divided into two strata: shallow (0-5cm) and deep (5-10 cm). Thus, our treatments were: Near (P) and Far (L) from the opening of galleries. And two stratum levels of the samples: Superficial (0-5 cm) and deep (5-10 cm). We observed differences in abundance between the sample extracts, which were accounted for. We found a total of 149 organisms in total. Which, separated by the respective treatments, were collected: 3 organisms in the Deep treatment (5-10 cm), 71 organisms in the Superficial treatment (0-5 cm), 8 organisms in the Far treatment (L) and 66 organisms in the Near treatment ( P). The presence of shrimp N. maryae demonstrated a direct influence on the composition of the macrofauna, on the treatments close to the gallery of N. maryae and on the superficial areas of the sediment. Which leads us to believe that other factors such as the biotic and abiotic properties of the beach have influenced the distribution of benthic organisms. Further studies are needed to measure how anthropic impacts may have influenced our results and to show the role of ecosystem engineering in burrower shrimp bioturbation activity. This research brings insights on bioturbation related to macrobenthic communities, which can serve as a source for future studies on the effects of bioturbation on benthic organisms, which are still very scarce.