Long-term changes in fish communities of the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (southern Portugal) based on two studies made 20 years apart

Fish communities of the Ria Formosa coastal lagoon (south Portugal) were sampled on a monthly basis with a beach seine at 4 sites, during two different time periods: 1980-1986 and 2001-2002. Community indices, species ranking and multivariate analysis were used in order to identify changes in the fish community between the two time periods. A total of 153,511 fish representing 57 taxa were recorded. Although species composition was very similar for both sampling periods, multivariate analysis performed on annual species abundance in number and weight revealed differences in fish community structure between the two periods. Structural changes in fish community were related mostly to a sharp decrease in the abundance of Mugilidae from 1980-1986 to 2001-2002. These changes were probably associated to a decrease in organic matter contents and nutrients concentrations due to improvements in sewage treatment and better water circulation inside the lagoon. The changes in fish community structure are more evident in the inner areas of the lagoon than near the inlet. The association between changes in sewage patterns and changes in the ichthyofaunal community structure reinforces the importance of fish communities as a biological indicator of human induced changes in marine systems. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long-term seasonal changes in the abundance of Dendrodoris nudibranchs: a five-year survey

Dissertação de mestrado, Biologia Marinha, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve, 2015

Aplication of a morphodinamic process based model in long-term climate change studies

Climate changes are foreseen to produce a large impact in the morphology of estuaries and coastal systems. The morphology changes will subsequently drive changes in the biologic compartments of the systems and ultimately in their ecosystems. Sea level rise is one of the main factors controlling these changes. Morphologic changes can be better understood with the use of long term morphodynamic mathematical models.