Impact of Dredged-material Disposal on Soft-bottom Communities in a Recurrent Marine Dumping Area near to Guadalquivir Estuary, Spain

This study assesses the effects of dredged material disposal in a recurrent marine dump near the Guadalquivir Estuary (south-western Spain). We compared the changes observed with two reference areas combining a classical ecological approach with new stable isotope techniques to analyse trophic struc...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Donázar Aramendía, Iñigo Javier, Sánchez Moyano, Juan Emilio, García Asencio, I., Miró Recio-Mensaque, Juan Miguel, Megina Martínez, César, García Gómez, José Carlos
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/167134
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/167134
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2018.05.010
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Disposal
Food web
Gulf of Cadiz
Macrobenthic community
Stable isotopes
Descripción
Sumario:This study assesses the effects of dredged material disposal in a recurrent marine dump near the Guadalquivir Estuary (south-western Spain). We compared the changes observed with two reference areas combining a classical ecological approach with new stable isotope techniques to analyse trophic structure. We detected permanent changes in the macrofaunal community structure as well as in the diversity and biotic indices applied, which showed higher values in the disposal area. The community in the marine dump had lost the natural temporal variations observed in the reference areas. These effects could be due to the last disposal event carried out in the summer of 2015 or to the recurrent disposals since 2010. Despite the structural changes shown by the benthic community, these impacts were not reflected in the food web structure of the marine dump. Our results confirm the high variability of disposal disturbances. Hence, we recommend performing studies in every disposal event, merging different functional and structural approaches.