Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 5
Benthic Community and
Climate Change
Sandra Marcela Fiori*
and
María Cecilia Carcedo
Introduction
Benthic marine communities are composed of a diversity of species
belonging to different taxa that live in association with the sea bottom. They
can be partially or totally buried in the sediment, adhered to the bottom or
move without departing too much from the substrate. Depending upon their
association with substrate type (hard/soft) and depth, these communities
settle and develop in a broad range of areas, from the high tide line to the
bottom of the deep ocean trench. Benthic species are important for a variety
of reasons:
Although the best-known reefs are generated by corals, the skeletal
remains of species like molluscs, echinoderms, polychaetes and other
invertebrates are also used in reef-building (Kirtley 1968). These
biogenic constructions are considered local hotspots of biodiversity:
they function as important spawning, nursery, breeding and feeding
areas for a multitude of organisms and provide refuge and substrate to
an array of organisms including invertebrates and fi shes (Kirtley 1968,
Nelson and Demetriades 1992, Lindeman and Snyder 1999, Moberg
and Folke 1999).
