Seasonal variation of the macrofauna from three seagrass meadows of Cymodocea nodosa off Gran Canaria (central-eastern Atlantic ocean)

Abstract

Gastropoda, Bivalvia, Polychaeta and Crustacea are the four main taxonomic groups of macrofauna associated with three seagrass meadows of Cymodocea nodosa at Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain); eight taxa were found. The density and Shannon-Weaver index (H') indicated a clear unimodal behaviour, with maxima in spring and summer, and minima in winter, whereas the evenness index (J') indicated stability throughout the year. This can be attributed to seasonal migrations of a reproductive or nutritional nature in spring and summer of certain taxa. A correlation analysis showed a significant positive relationship between the seasonal cycles of the macrofaunal density and the plant biomass for the meadows studied.

Keywords

• Cymodocea nodosa
• macrofauna
• seagrass meadow
• biodiversity index
• Gran Canaria