Detecting changes resulting from human pressure in a naturally quick-changing and heterogeneous environment: Spatial and temporal scales of variability in coastal lagoons

To detect changes in ecosystems due to human impact, experimental designs must include replicates at the appropriate scale to avoid pseudoreplication. Although coastal lagoons, with their highly variable environmental factors and biological assemblages, are relatively well-studied systems, very little is known about their natural scales of variation. In this study, we investigate the spatio-temporal scales of variability in the Mar Menor coastal lagoon (SE Spain) using structured hierarchical sampling designs, mixed and permutational multi-variate analyses of variance, and ordination multi-variate analyses applied to hydrographical parameters, nutrients, chlorophyll a and ichthyoplankton in the water column, and to macrophyte and fish benthic assemblages.Lagoon processes in the Mar Menor show heterogeneous patterns at different temporal and spatial scales. The water column characteristics (including nutrient concentration) showed small-scale spatio-temporal variability, from 10(0) to 10(1) km and from fortnightly to seasonally. Biological features (chlorophyll a concentration and ichthyoplankton assemblage descriptors) showed monthly changes and spatial patterns at the scale of 10(0) (chlorophyll a) - 10(1) km (ichthyoplankton). Benthic assemblages (macrophytes and fishes) showed significant differences between types of substrates in the same locality and between localities, according to horizontal gradients related with confinement in the lagoon, at the scale of 10(0)-10(1) km. The vertical zonation of macrophyte assemblages (at scales of 10(1)-10(2) CM) overlaps changes in substrata and horizontal gradients. Seasonal patterns in vegetation biomass were not significant, but the significant interaction between Locality and Season indicated that the seasons of maximum and minimum biomass depend on local environmental conditions. Benthic fish assemblages showed no significant patterns at the monthly scale but did show seasonal patterns. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Data and Resources

Cite as

Perez-Ruzafa A. Marcos C. Perez-Ruzafa I.M. Barcala E. Hegazi M.I. y Quispe J. Detecting changes resulting from human pressure in a naturally quick-changing and heterogeneous environment: Spatial and temporal scales of variability in coastal lagoons. Elsevier B.V., 2007. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2007.04.030

Clipboard Icon
Retrieved: 07 Jan 2026 01:15:35
RIS BibTeX

Metadata
Download
DCAT-AP/NTI-RISP

Basic information
Resource type Article
Date of creation 2024-11-05
Date of last revision 2024-11-05
Show changelog
Metadata identifier 5c794a67-41e8-5428-86e3-0679a403c93e
Metadata language Spanish
Themes (NTI-RISP)
High-value dataset category Earth observation and environment
ISO 19115 topic category biota
Keyword URIs
Bibliographic information
Name of the dataset creator Perez-Ruzafa, A., Marcos, C., Perez-Ruzafa, I.M., Barcala, E., Hegazi, M.I. y Quispe, J.
Name of the dataset editor Elsevier B.V.
Other identifier DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2007.04.030
Identifier of the dataset creator
Email of the dataset creator angelpr@um.es
Website of the dataset creator
Provenance
Lineage statement
Metadata Standard
Version notes
Version