Effects of water quality and soft-substrate on benthic macrofauna in the intertidal zone of Pochomil beach, San Rafael del Sur

Authors

  • María Joaquina Ibarra-Arana National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU), Keelung City 202, Taiwan
  • Lester Rocha Universidad Nacional Agraria, Managua

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5377/torreon.v7i20.8567

Keywords:

benthic macrofauna, intertidal zone, Pacific Ocean, soft substrate

Abstract

A spatial and temporal study of the benthic macrofauna was carried out in the intertidal zone of Playa Pochomil, Nicaragua, in three sites called S.A (sandy site), SRR (rocky site with river) and S.R (rocky site), respectively. At the end of the study, a total of 596 individuals belonging to four Edges (Mollusca, Annelida, Arthropoda and Echinodermata) were counted. Benthic macrofauna diversity calculated using the Shannon-Weaver index reflects very low diversity values during all sampling periods. Through the Jaccard and Morisita-Horn index, it was evidenced that there was low species similarity. In addition, it was found that the temporality had no significant direct effect on the abundance and distribution of the benthic macrofauna, but that it was mainly influenced by the physical characteristics of the sampling sites.

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Published

2019-10-17

How to Cite

Ibarra-Arana, M. J., & Rocha, L. (2019). Effects of water quality and soft-substrate on benthic macrofauna in the intertidal zone of Pochomil beach, San Rafael del Sur. Torreon Universitario Magazine, 7(20), 43–61. https://doi.org/10.5377/torreon.v7i20.8567

Issue

Section

SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES