Papers from the Echinoderm Conference. 10. Changes in the echinoderm fauna in a polluted area on the coast of Brazil
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to compare the changes in echinoderm fauna in a region under increasing eutrophication.
A preliminary survey of the fauna was conducted by Tommasi in 1964; such results here served as a baseline for comparison with the data obtained during a more thorough investigation made from 1974 to 1976 by a team from the Institute of Oceanography.
The animals were identified to species and their distributions correlated to environmental parameters like type of sediment, water temperature, salinity, depth and dissolved oxygen, as well as parameters indicative of pollution, mostly nutrients and turbidity.
The results for 1974 to 1976 period indicate a lower diversity as well as the disappearance of a number of species when compared to the 1964 period.
