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An experimental evaluation of the short-term effects of trawling on infaunal assemblages of the coast off southern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2012

Alessandro Lívio Prantoni ,
Paulo da Cunha Lana ,
Leonardo Sandrini-Neto ,
Orlei Antônio Negrello Filho  and
Verônica Maria de Oliveira
Alessandro Lívio Prantoni*
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 50002, zip code 83255-000, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Brazil
Paulo da Cunha Lana
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 50002, zip code 83255-000, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Brazil
Leonardo Sandrini-Neto
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 50002, zip code 83255-000, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Brazil
Orlei Antônio Negrello Filho
Affiliation:
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Núcleo de Estudos do Mar, ZIP CODE 88040-900, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil
Verônica Maria de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 50002, zip code 83255-000, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: A.L. Prantoni, Centro de Estudos do Mar, Universidade Federal do Paraná, PO Box 50002, zip code 83255-000, Pontal do Paraná, PR, Brazil email: aprantoni@gmail.com
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Abstract

Bottom trawling is a large-scale fishing activity along the Brazilian coast, but its effects on benthic infauna are still poorly known. This is the first experimental evaluation of benthic responses to bottom trawling along the Brazilian coast. We tested the effects of trawling on macroinfaunal assemblages on the inner continental shelf off Paraná (southern Brazil) by using a sampling design with adjacent trawl and control areas. We hypothesized that if trawl fishing has a negative effect then we should expect lower numbers of species and lower benthic densities after an experimental trawling. Sampling was conducted at adjacent sites within each area to minimize confounding due to spatial variation. Five sites were sampled at a control, and five at an experimental area for infaunal and sedimentological variables. Sampling was carried out just before and one hour after experimental trawling. Multidimensional scaling followed by a PERMANOVA did not show any clear variation tendencies in the structure of the benthic assemblages in the impacted area before and after trawling. However, variance analysis showed a significant and unexpected increase in infaunal total density, in the density of the numerically dominant species (except for the polychaetes Capitella sp. and Loandalia tricuspis) and in species richness in the experimental area. Conversely, no significant variations were recorded in the control area. We suggest that the overall increase in benthic density after a disturbance is correlated with the reworking of the sediment matrix and benefits the suspension-feeders after sediment resuspension.

Keywords

bottom trawlinginner continental shelfinfaunal impactinfaunal assemblagesouthern Brazil
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 93 , Special Issue 2: Fish and Fisheries , March 2013 , pp. 495 - 502
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2012

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