Life history patterns of the wedge clam Donax hanleyanus in sandy beach systems: Influence of coastal morphodynamics and ecological processes under climate change

RISOLI, CIELO; DEFEO, OMAR; LOMOVASKY, BETINA

Workshop; First Students Workshop for the InterAmerican Institute for Global Change Research Small Grants Program; 2022

InterAmerican Institute for Global Change

Considering that sandy beaches provide humans with a wide range of ecosystem services,and that these are increasingly affected by anthropogenic stressors, our research seeks to increase knowledge on sandy beach ecology, focusing on local fisheries. Thus, we evaluated populations of the wedge clam Donax hanleyanus, an intertidal bivalve distributed between Argentina and Brazil, considered as potentially harvestable. We analyzed correlation patterns between biological features (age and growth rate, productivity, mortality) and environmental variables (temperature, salinity, chlorophyll-a, coastal morphodynamics), at different scales between local and regional, and macroscale (Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil). We found that between-beach differences in its life history traits are mainly explained by salinity fluctuations, whereas low production and high mortality at the southernmost edge of its distribution are caused by a decreased habitat quality. This researchis part of a SGP project intended to increase the adaptive capacity of national managementagencies and local fishing communities in Latin America to assure the sustainability of fishery resources as a way of living, and to protect biodiversity under climate change conditions. Studies such as this one, which aim to identify key ecological processes, are essential for making decisions on strategic planning, conservation, and management of coastal zones.