Guerra-Castro, E., Cruz-Motta, J.J., and Conde, J.E. (2011) Quantitative analisys of fouling diversity associated with roots of Rhizophora mangle L. in La Restinga Lagoon National Park. Interciencia, 36 (12). pp. 923-930.

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Abstract

Mangrove roots in the Caribbean Sea host a variety of encrusting species not seen in mangroves from other regions. In Venezuela, one of the most studied coastal lagoons is La Restinga Lagoon National Park. Several inventories of flora and fauna have been carried out there, but the components of species diversity (α, β, γ) have not yet been quantified. The first component considers the diversity of species in a particular place, the second reflects the rate of change of species occurring within a region, and the third estimates the diversity of species in the entire region. In this study, a quantitative analysis of the diversity of fouling species growing on the roots of Rhizophora mangle L is presented. Four hierarchically nested spatial scales (sectors of lagoon, locations within sectors, sites within locations, and roots per site) were considered. In each root the presence and abundance of each species was estimated, and the information was analyzed with univariate and multivariate statistics. The richest locations were founded in the external sector (18.23 ±5.85 species/root), followed by the intermediate (16.05 ±5.25 species/root) and the internal (14.36 ±2.65 species/root). Variation of β-diversity was significant at all spatial scales, but the highest component of variation was found at the smallest spatial scale (among roots). In total, 115 species were detected, but bootstrapping procedures predict that γ-diversity may reach 285 species. These results suggest that γ-diversity in La Restinga is a combination of many roots with relatively high α-diversity and high β-diversity at different spatial scales.

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