Multi-benthic size approach to unveil different environmental conditions in a Mediterranean harbor area (Ancona, Adriatic Sea, Italy).

ABSTRACT: Harbors are hubs of human activity and are subject to the continuous discharge and release of industrial, agricultural, and municipal waste and contaminants. Benthic organisms are largely known to reflect environmental conditions they live in. Despite meio- and macrofauna interacting within the benthic system, they are ecologically distinct components of the benthos and as such may not necessarily respond to environmental conditions and/or disturbances in the same way. However, in a few field studies the spatial patterns of meio- and macrofauna have been simultaneously compared. In the present study, we assess the response and patterns in the abundance, diversity, and distribution of the two benthic size classes to the different environmental conditions they live in (i.e., sediment

SUBMITTER: Baldrighi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10314744 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature