Functional variations of mollusks along an environmental gradient in a coastal lagoon of the Southern Gulf of Mexico
Despite mollusk species play important ecological functions in estuaries, most studies of their assemblage’s variations are based on traditional taxonomical approaches. Biological trait analysis is used in the present work to explore the relationships of the functional composition of mollusks with the environmental gradient along a coastal lagoon of the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Sampling was conducted monthly during a year in soft bottoms and subtidal stilt roots of red mangrove at six sampling sites along the lagoon. In total 24 mollusc species were collected and fitted to a particular category of three biological traits. Spatio-temporal variability of the functional composition of molluscs and their relationships with environmental variables were assessed using three approaches. Functional variations of the molluscan assemblages were detected along the lagoon using the three approaches, showing significant correlations to salinity. Nonetheless, the functional groups (FG) and the community weighed (CWM) mean traits approaches showed a clearer spatial pattern of the functional composition than the functional diversity (FD) approach The FG and the CWM approaches used in the present study could help to broadening the ecological studies of the estuarine systems of the Gulf of Mexico, particularly those aimed to assess the relations between the biological components and environmental variables in order to assess functioning of these ecosystems.
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Subjects: | Moluscos, Gasterópodos, Bivalvos, Grupo funcional, Variables ambientales, Estuarios, |
| Online Access: | https://www-sciencedirect-com.ezproxy.ecosur.mx/science/article/pii/S2352485521001158?via%3Dihub |
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