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A 1-year study on the evolution of benthic communities of saltpans from the Sado estuary was carried out in order to evaluate its density, biomass and diversity, and to understand its trophic-dynamic structure under harsh environmental conditions. Physical and chemical parameters of the water column and sediments were also studied. Salinity and redox potential fluctuated sharply. Of eighteen taxa observed, a few occurred in significant numbers Chironomus salinarius (99 %) at crystallisation ponds where Artemia is present in the water column at salinities ranging from 23 to 249 g . L -1 , Hydrobia (95 %) at evaporation pond (salinities between 29 and 112 g . L -1 ), while the reservoir, with salinities from 22 to 45 g . L -1 , showed higher diversity nevertheless lower than in the estuary itself. It is colonised all year by Abra ovata, Cerastoderma glaucum, Hedistes diversicolor, Capitella sp., Microspio mecznikowianus, Mellina palmata, Polydora ciliata, Capitellidae and Microdeutopus gryllotalpa. The diversity of macrobenthic communities decreases with increasing salinity. Among trophic dynamic groups, surface detritivores burrowers, which are present at 85 % of the samples, are the dominant group at evaporation and crystallisation ponds and appears as an isolated group linked to organic matter of sediments and nutrients. |
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