Neighboring tropical coastal lagoons were more different from each other than they were from month to month
WHAT THE EVIDENCE SAYS
Monthly sampling from July 2022 to May 2024 at one site in each of three neighboring coastal lagoons recorded 30,221 macroinvertebrates across 14 taxa. Local lagoon-site differences dominated abiotic and community variation; sediment characteristics and salinity were key correlates, while temporal change was expressed mainly through hydroperiod within years rather than a uniform monthly sequence.
WHY IT MATTERS / OUR READ
Regional labels such as ‘coastal lagoon’ can hide strong local ecological templates. Monitoring and restoration comparisons will be more credible when salinity, sediment, exchange and disturbance regime are treated as defining conditions rather than background noise.
CAVEATS / UNCERTAINTY
Sampling was restricted to one fixed site per lagoon, so the study characterizes local conditions rather than whole lagoon systems. Highly mobile epibenthic organisms were likely underrepresented, and the three lagoons are a regional comparison rather than a globally representative sample.
SOURCE
Estuaries and Coasts
View original evidence ↗
Across 23 months in southeastern Brazil, persistent local sediment and salinity conditions explained benthic-community structure more strongly than most temporal variation.
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