Journal
DESALINATION
Volume 291, Issue -, Pages 94-100Publisher
ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.desal.2012.02.003
Keywords
Macrofauna; Amphipoda; Polychaeta; Brine discharge; Desalination; Canary Islands
Categories
Funding
- Spanish Ministry of the Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs [056/SGTB/2007/2.4]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Desalination plants generate large volumes of hypersaline brine, likely affecting recipient communities. We aimed to assess whether proximity to a brine discharge point altered the abundance, assemblage structure and diversity of macrobenthic fauna. Collection of samples took place twice (May 2008 and January 2009) at 0, 15 and 30 m away from a brine discharge point. Total macrofaunal abundance increased with increasing distance from the brine discharge point, though the magnitude of differences was inconsistent between successive years, probably as a result of a change in particle size distribution. Proximity to the brine discharge point also altered patterns in macrofaunal assemblage structure. The macrofaunal species density was higher at 15 and 30 m than at 0 m. In conclusion, proximity to a brine discharge point significantly altered the ecological pattern of macrobenthic fauna, though disentangling the effect of the increase in salinity from particle size distribution remains undetermined. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available