Macrobenthos in areas with organic enrichment: Mar del Plata and Quequén effluents, Argentina

Sampling event
Latest version published by Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia" on Mar 5, 2025 Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia"

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Description

This dataset illustrates the variation of species in intertidal benthic communities along an organic enrichment gradient. The study encompassed impacted and non-impacted areas in Mar del Plata and Quequén-Necochea, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sampling was conducted during the spring, employing quantitative methods for the acquisition and analysis of biological samples. The aim is to identify pollution sentinel species to facilitate the effective management of natural resources.

Data Records

The data in this sampling event resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 4 records.

1 extension data tables also exist. An extension record supplies extra information about a core record. The number of records in each extension data table is illustrated below.

Event (core)
4
Occurrence 
101

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Marcomini Scibilia Y, Saracho Bottero M A, Llanos E N, Pujol M G, (2024). Macrobenthos in areas with organic enrichment: Mar del Plata and Quequén effluents, Argentina. Version 1.2. Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia". Samplingevent dataset. https://ipt.mincyt.gob.ar/resource?r=macrobentos_efluentes_quequen&v=1.2

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia". This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: a88e2d22-13cc-413f-869e-79110e25889a.  Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia" publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by GBIF Argentina.

Keywords

Samplingevent; Intertidal benthic communities; Southwest Atlantic; Wastewater discharge

Contacts

Elizabeth Noemi Llanos
  • Principal Investigator
  • PhD
Instituto de investigaciones marinas y costeras (IIMyC)
  • Juan B. Justo 2550
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
María Andrea Saracho Bottero
  • Principal Investigator
  • PhD
Instituto de investigaciones marinas y costeras (IIMyC)
  • Juan B. Justo 2550
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
María Gabriela Pujol
  • Point Of Contact
  • PhD
Museo de Ciencias Naturales "Lorenzo Scaglia"
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
Yazmin Marcomini Scibilia
  • Originator
  • Student
Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales - UNMdP
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
María Gabriela Pujol
  • Point Of Contact
  • Laboratory Manager of Ecologia de Ambientes Acuaticos
Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales Lorenzo Scaglia
  • Av. Libertad 3099
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
Elizabeth Noemi Llanos
  • Principal Investigator
  • Researcher
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC)
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
María Andrea Saracho Bottero
  • Principal Investigator
  • Researcher
Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (IIMyC)
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR
María Gabriela Pujol
  • Point Of Contact
  • Researcher
Museo de Ciencias Naturales"Lorenza Scaglia"
7600 Mar del Plata
Buenos Aires
AR

Geographic Coverage

The study area is located in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, particularly in the city of Mar del Plata (38º S, 57º 33’ W), and in the cities of Quequén and Necochea (38° 34′ S; 58° 39′ W). The coastal zone of the province of Buenos Aires is dominated by sandy beaches interrupted by quartzite outcrops and consolidated loess abrasion platforms. The coastal zone of the province of Buenos Aires is characterized by temperatures between 8 and 21 °C and salinizes of 33.5 and 33.8. The region is of warm-temperate waters and transitional between the Subantarctic region (Patagonia) and the Subtropical region.

Bounding Coordinates South West [-38.589, -58.733], North East [-37.988, -57.508]

Taxonomic Coverage

No Description available

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Mollusca, Arthropoda, Tracheophyta, Nemertea, Annelida, Nematoda, Chordata, Xenacoelomorpha, Cnidaria, Echinodermata
Class Hexapoda, Ostracoda, Annelida, Pilidiophora, Thecostraca, Magnoliopsida, Polychaeta, Bivalvia, Ascidiacea, Copepoda, Anthozoa, Malascostraca, Ophiuroidea, Malacostraca, Gastropoda
Order Heteronemertea, Diptera, Mytilida, Amphipoda, Ophiurida, Siphonariida, Decapoda, Spionida, Harpacticoida, Phyllodocida, Phlebobranchia, Balanomorpha, Tanaidacea, Eunicida, Myida, Actiniaria, Coleoptera, Terebellida, Nemertodermatida, Isopoda
Family Lineidae, Mytilidae, Capitellidae, Hyalidae, Tanaididae, Pholadidae, Caprelloidea, Balanidae, Siphonariidae, Ascidiidae, Idoteidae, Nemertodermatidae, Polynoidae, Oenonidae, Pholadoidea, Sphaeromatidae, Phyllodocidae, Caprellidae, Chironomidae, Syllidae, Spionidae, Varunidae, Ophiuridae, Cirratulidae, Orbiniidae, Corophiidae, Ischyroceridae, Nereididae, Haliplanellidae

Temporal Coverage

Start Date / End Date 2013-11-05 / 2015-11-16

Project Data

The project studies and uses different levels of organization (species - community) to know how natural factors and factors mediated by human activity determine the structure and evolution of macrobenthic communities. Interaction between benthos and environmental variables and human induced changes drives changes in benthic communities in marine ecosystem. These objectives will be achieved through diverse approaches, including actuopaleontology, macro-, meso- and microplastic debris in costal systems of the Buenos Aires Province and Mar del Plata city, function diversity in intertidal and subtidal areas around Mar del Plata. Taxonomy and ecology of polychaetes, diversity, and secondary production in benthic communities associated with fisheries in the Buenos Aires province.

Title Macrobenthos as indicator of natural and antropogenic disturbs and their effect on strucuture and evolution of marine coastal communitites
Identifier EXA1071/22
Funding EXA1071/22 Project funded by the Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, Argentina.
Study Area Description The study area extends from Punta Rasa (36°17′23″S - 56°46′53″W) to Bahía Blanca (38°45′22″ S - 62°15′07″ W). The locations to be surveyed were selected considering, on the one hand, that they are coastal-port cities and, therefore, with great anthropic activity (high number of inhabitants, maritime transport, fishing, presence of sewage discharges, rivers, estuaries, tourism, etc.). On the other hand, beaches with less anthropic impact will be surveyed to establish comparisons. Mar del Plata was selected to carry out more intensive surveys, both spatially and temporally, since it has a high incidence of tourism. The locations selected for the surveys in the province of Buenos Aires are: Punta Rasa, Villa Gesell (Faro Querandí), Mar de Cobo, Mar del Plata, Miramar, Centinela del Mar, Quequén, Balneario Reta, Monte Hermoso, Pehuén-Có and Bahía Blanca. This temporary sampling allows the evaluation of the effect of the increase in tourism that generally occurs in summer.
Design Description Biological samples were obtained in the upper intertidal zone, corresponding to the upper mediolittoral horizon, using a cylindrical sampler with a base surface of 78 cm² and a length of 20 cm, and were placed in plastic jars. Samples were taken randomly within the 4 sampling sites. At each site, 9 macrobenthos samples were collected at random. The sampler was buried in the community matrix until it came into contact with the substrate, and the matrix was removed with a spatula. Each sample unit (MU) (fauna and sediment retained in the matrix) was fixed in formalin in 5% seawater. In the laboratory, each MU was sieved through a 500 μm mesh and the material retained on the sieve was preserved in 70% alcohol. Subsequently, the retained organisms were identified under a stereomicroscope, counted, and preserved in a 70% ethanol solution.

The personnel involved in the project:

Rodolfo Elías
Yazmin Marcomini Scibilia
  • Processor
Elizabeth Noemi Llanos
María Andrea Saracho Bottero

Sampling Methods

Sampling design and field and lab routines Two sampling sites were selected at the intertidal platforms surrounding the sewage outfall in each city. In Mar del Plata city, the location impacted was at 1000–1200m south of the sewage effluent (Mar del Plata). The reference location was place at 9000–8000 m north of the sewage outfall (Santa Clara). In Quequén city, the location impacted was located at the point of discharge (Quequén), and the reference location was located at 700 m, northeast from the point of discharge (Punta Carbadillo). At each site, macrobenthic samples were randomly collected from independent rocks using a 10 cm diameter corer (78 cm 2). The samples were taken during low tide at 2 different times: November 2013 (spring) and November 2015 (spring). The macrobenthic samples were fixed in 7% neutralized formalin solution, thereafter, each sample was sieved through a 0.5 mm mesh, and the retained organisms were identified in stereomicroscope, counted, and preserved in a 70% ethanol solution.

Study Extent The study area was located surrounding the intertidal sewage outfall in the cities of Mar del Plata (38° S, 57° 33′ W), Necochea and Quequén (Punta Carballido 38° 34′ 07.68″ S; 58° 39′ 06.28″ W) on the SW Atlantic coast of Argentina. The coastline is characterized by open sandy beaches alternating with a hard substrate composed by loess abrasion platform (geological formation of consolidated loess, limestone, stony rocks, or caliche). The coast of Buenos Aires Province is affected by a littoral current (flowing predominantly from South to North). The shoreline is influenced by a mixed predominantly semidiurnal tidal regime, with a tidal amplitude range around 0.8 m with 1.7 m of maxima during tides of syzygy. Sea surface temperature shows a great seasonal variation (9.3 °C in winter and 20 °C in summer) (Guerrero et al., 1997), while sea pH remains between 7 and 8.5 (Isla et al., 1997). The untreated wastewater of the cities Necochea and Quequén are discharged directly onto the intertidal rocky shore with an estimated discharge volume of c.a. 14,000 m3 day−1, although this amount will probably double during the tourist season (López Gappa et al., 1990). Until December 2014, the sewage outfall of Mar del Plata city discharged 241,920 m3 of untreated sewage daily during the winter (flow average rate of 2.8 m3.sec-1) and 302,400 m3 daily during the summer (average of 3.5 m3.sec-1) in intertidal rocky shore (Scagliola et al., 2006).
Quality Control Not applicable

Method step description:

  1. The retained organisms were identified to the lowest possible taxonomic level under a stereomicroscope, counted and preserved in a 70% ethanol solution. The abundances obtained were entered into an Excel spreadsheet and the mean abundance of each of the taxa was calculated. Each taxon was incorporated into a spreadsheet with the Darwin Core terms necessary for the description of each data. Then, using OpenRefine, the data was cleaned and verified for the correct creation of the database.

Collection Data

Collection Name Macrobenthos in areas with organic enrichment: Mar del Plata and Quequén effluents, Argentina
Collection Identifier MMPEAAINV
Parent Collection Identifier Not applicable
Specimen preservation methods Formalin,  Alcohol
Curatorial Units Between 0 and 18 Individuals

Bibliographic Citations

  1. Bottero, M. S., Jaubet, M. L., Llanos, E. N., Becherucci, M. E., Elías, R., & Garaffo, G. V. (2020). Spatial-temporal variations of a SW Atlantic macrobenthic community affected by a chronic anthropogenic disturbance. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 156, 111189. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111189
  2. Llanos, EN. 2018. Biodiversidad y patrones sucesionales en comunidades bentónicas intermareales de Mar del Plata afectadas por contaminación orgánica. Capítulo 2:Estructura comunitaria intermareal de zonas enriquecidas orgánicamente en el periodo 2013-2014. Tesis Doctoral de la Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales— Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. http://hdl.handle.net/11336/90892

Additional Metadata

Purpose
Alternative Identifiers a88e2d22-13cc-413f-869e-79110e25889a
https://ipt.mincyt.gob.ar/resource?r=macrobentos_efluentes_quequen