Community Structure and Spatial Patterns of Soft-Bottom Macrozoobenthos in Oualidia Lagoon, Moroccan Atlantic
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Community Structure and Spatial Patterns of Soft-Bottom Macrozoobenthos in Oualidia Lagoon, Moroccan Atlantic Fatima El Asri 1,2 Hakima Zidane 2
&
Daniel Martin 3 & Ahmed Errhif 1 & Mohamed-Naoufal Tamsouri 4 & Mohamed Maanan 5 &
Received: 28 February 2020 / Revised: 13 October 2020 / Accepted: 19 October 2020 # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
Abstract The paper analyses the composition, structure and spatial organization of the soft-bottom macrozoobenthos inhabiting Oualidia lagoon (Moroccan Atlantic coasts), as well as their relationships with the main environmental variables. Material for the study was collected from 43 stations in winter 2013. A total of 56 taxa belonging to 6 phyla were recorded. Species diversity showed the highest values for molluscs, crustaceans and polychaetes. We used a Hierarchical Ascending Classification and a non-Metric Multidimensional Scaling to characterize the macrozoobenthos of the lagoon. We identified three groups of stations according to the outer, middle and inner part of the lagoon, hosting arranged from the outer -most to inner-most areas of the lagoon. The trophic structure of the macrozoobenthos was dominated in density by deposit-feeders (88.1%) and species richness by carnivores (20%) and detritivorous (20%). The BIO-ENV analysis showed that the combination of granulometry, salinity and temperature were the major factors controlling the spatial distribution of the macrozoobenthos in the Oualidia Lagoon. Keywords Macroinvertebrates . Biodiversity . Environmental factors . Spatial patterns . Oualidia lagoon . Morocco
Introduction In marine ecosystems, soft-bottom macrofauna represents a main basal component of the food web. Most macrobenthic species
Supplementary Information The online version of this article https:// doi.org/10.1007/s41208-020-00263-3. contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Fatima El Asri [email protected] 1
Health and Environment Laboratory, Faculty of Sciences Ain Chock, University Hassan II, B.P. 5366 Maârif, 20100 Casablanca, Morocco
2
Prospection of Littoral Resources Laboratory, National Institute for Fisheries Research (INRH), Road Sidi Abderrahmane Club Equestre Ould Jmel, Casablanca, Morocco
3
Centre for Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC), Accés a la Cala St. Francesc, 14 Blanes, 17300 Girona, Spain
4
Specialized Center in Zootechny and Marine Aquaculture Engineering, National Institute of Fisheries Research, BP. 31, 93200 M’diq, Morocco
5
UMR 6554 LETG-Nantes, University of Nantes, BP 81227, 44312 Nantes, France
represent an important nutritional resource for many higher-level consumers, such as epibenthic crustaceans, fish and especially shorebirds (Jędruch et al. 2008). Shorebirds in particular are typically benthivorous and represents the most important consumers of intertidal benthic communities (Herman et al. 1999; GossCustard et al. 2006; Platell et al. 2006). Benthic communities are also widely used to monitor the effects of environmental change (McLusky 1982; Glemarec 19
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