Predação, eutrofização e respostas metabólicas em comunidades incrustantes de substratos artificiais na Baía da Ilha Grande, RJ

Abstract

Marine communities can be affected by many factors. Within the context of trophic structure, these factors can be divided into bottom-up forces, such as nutrient availability, and top-down forces, for example, predation. In addition to changes in the structure of communities and populations of organisms, these forces can influence the production of secondary metabolites. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of environmental perturbations generated by separate and interactive manipulations of macropredators exclusion and nutrient enrichment on the community s structure and the metabolic responses of marine fouling communities of artificial substrates in Biscaia rocky shores, Ilha Grande Bay, RJ. The experimental design used concrete blocks as artificial substrate. The blocks were randomly scattered in the sub tidal region of the rocky shore. The experiment involved the use of Control blocks (no manipulation) and four treatments with five replicates each. The treatments were: Predator Exclusion treatment (cages excluding macropredators), Nutrient treatment (packs with slow-releasing fertilizer), Nutrient + predator exclusion treatment (cage excluding macropredators and packs with slow-releasing fertilizer), and Artifacts control treatment (semi-closed cage to assess artifacts effects). An area of 15 x 15 cm of each block was monitored every 20 days, totaling ten measurements. Visual and digital species percentage coverage methods were used. To assess nutrient water enrichment, we measured concentration of nutrients (orthophosphate, nitrate, nitrite and ammonium) in the water. To evaluate possible cages experimental artifacts, a water flow test (Clod card method) was performed, and luminosity inside the cages was measured. Data demonstrated changes in the structure of fouling communities on artificial substrates due to the manipulations performed, i.e., the nutrient enrichment, predation exclusion and the interaction between these two factors (Nutrient + predator exclusion). Moreover, differences were observed in substances extracted from organisms in different treatments of the experiment. These results indicate the existence of top-down and bottom-up controls on the benthic community of this site.