Biodiversidad asociada a la zona intermareal rocosa y arenosa de la playa El Pelado, Ecuador. - Quijije Franco, Genny Andrea; Kuonqui Fernandez, Ana Sofia; Delgado Jimenez, Jose Alexander; Ochoa Herrera, Jean Piere; Morales Ramos, Félix Enrique (ECOAgropecuaria. Revista Científica Ecológica Agropecuaria, 2025)
Los ecosistemas costeros se caracterizan por la presencia de la zona intermareal, cuyos factores ambientales son dinámicos y dependen de los periodos de alta y baja marea. En la presente investigación se analizó la biodiversidad de las zonas intermareales rocosa y arenosa de la playa El Pelado, Ecuador. Se realizaron muestreos en tres transectos para cada tipo de sustrato, midiendo parámetros fisicoquímicos y registrando la abundancia de organismos. En el sustrato arenoso, se encontró una limitada diversidad de especies que incluyó dos isópodos, una estrella de mar, un bivalvo, un gasterópodo y un anélido. Además, se registró un promedio de temperatura de 26.9 °C en la línea de marea baja mientras que a los 30 m de distancia la temperatura promedio fue de 35.6 °C. En el sustrato rocoso se evidenció mayor biodiversidad, especialmente en las piscinas de marea, donde se registraron variaciones de temperatura entre 26.8° C y 31.2° C, y salinidad en un rango desde 32.0 hasta 33.2 PSU. Se identificaron diferentes zonas de distribución de organismos: zona intermareal baja dominada por algas de los géneros (Ulva, Ceramium), zona media con predominancia de Balanus, y zona alta con abundancia de percebes y mejillones. Las interacciones ecológicas fueron más evidentes en el sustrato rocoso, destacando la relación epibiótica entre mejillones y percebes. Los resultados demuestran que las diferencias en las características físicas de ambos sustratos determinan la composición y estructura de las comunidades bentónicas, siendo el sustrato rocoso el que presenta mayor diversidad. Referencias 1. Afghan, A., Cerrano, C., Luzi, G., Calcinai, B., Puce, S., Pulido, T., Roveta, C., Di Camillo, C. (2020). Main Anthropogenic Impacts on Benthic Macrofauna of Sandy Beaches: A Review. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 8(6), 405. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse8060405 2. Avendaño, M., Cantillanez, M., Oliva, M., & González, M. (2023). 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