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Egypt. J. Exp. Biol. (Zoo.). 2015; 11(2): 159-169


ECOLOGICAL FACTORS AFFECTING BENTHIC FAUNA AT LAKE MARYUT, ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

Hanan M. Mitwally.




Abstract

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effects of environmental factors on meiofauna and macrofauna at Lake Maryut, Egypt. A total of 105 sediment samples were collected from 5 different basins. Data analysis includes two response variables (meiofauna and macrofauna) and 8 predictor variables. Predictor variables consisted of sedimentalogical data of grain size, total organic matter, total organic carbon, total phosphorus and physicochemical factors of temperature, salinity; dissolved oxygen concentration and pH. The results revealed that sedimentalogical factors and dissolved oxygen were the most important factors affecting significantly meiofaunal abundance. Macrofauna did not correlate with any of the environmental factors. Meiofaunal abundance varied significantly among basins, whereas macrofauna abundance revealed limited variations. The faunal distribution of both categories, meiofauna and macrofauna tracked each other with the highest values at North western basin (NWB) and the lowest abundances were recorded at the South and North Eastern basins (SE and NE). Non multidimensional scaling analysis (nMDS) indicated that faunal data at Lake Maryut was categorized into 5 different clusters, based on the relationship between meiofauna and predictor variables, suggesting that investigated basins at Lake Maryut are exposed to different synergetic factors. Each basin in turn may act as a mirror for the impact of environmental condition at Lake Maryut. Meiofauna is also a good bioindicator due to its ability to quick respond to environmental conditions.

Key words: Meiofauna, Macrofauna, Sediments, physicochemical parameters






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