TY - BOOK
T1 - A contribution to the ecological knowledge of the Atlantic coastal wetlands of the Iberian Peninsula, a fragile border between two worlds
AU - Coego, Rafael Carballeira
PY - 2021/12/1
Y1 - 2021/12/1
N2 - Coastal wetlands are ecotones defined by the degree of interaction between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In this PhD dissertation the hydrochemical conditions of 27 coastal wetlands of the Western Atlantic Iberian Coast (WIAC) and 39 of the Eastern Mediterranean Iberian Coast (EMIC) are compared. Large-scale geographical patterns (lithology and climate) are the main factors determining the water composition, and changes in the ionic composition in the salinity range 1.25 - 2.5 (4) ‰ determine the decisive breakpoint for the terrestrial and marine biological communities. These ecosystems are inhabited by singular taxa, such as the diatoms Nitzschia varelae, a new brackish species; Synedropsis roundii, which is found for the first time in the atlantic southern European coasts; and Attheya armata, a `surf diatom´ whose proliferations are linked to the sediment-water interface. A detailed biological and geological study of the coastal lake Doniños (NW Iberian), revealed that although at present its nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics is undistinguishable from any continental temperate lake, it showed large differences in its environmental conditions since it formed c. 4.5 ka cal BP after the mid-Holocene sea-level stabilization.
AB - Coastal wetlands are ecotones defined by the degree of interaction between terrestrial and marine ecosystems. In this PhD dissertation the hydrochemical conditions of 27 coastal wetlands of the Western Atlantic Iberian Coast (WIAC) and 39 of the Eastern Mediterranean Iberian Coast (EMIC) are compared. Large-scale geographical patterns (lithology and climate) are the main factors determining the water composition, and changes in the ionic composition in the salinity range 1.25 - 2.5 (4) ‰ determine the decisive breakpoint for the terrestrial and marine biological communities. These ecosystems are inhabited by singular taxa, such as the diatoms Nitzschia varelae, a new brackish species; Synedropsis roundii, which is found for the first time in the atlantic southern European coasts; and Attheya armata, a `surf diatom´ whose proliferations are linked to the sediment-water interface. A detailed biological and geological study of the coastal lake Doniños (NW Iberian), revealed that although at present its nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics is undistinguishable from any continental temperate lake, it showed large differences in its environmental conditions since it formed c. 4.5 ka cal BP after the mid-Holocene sea-level stabilization.
M3 - Doctoral Thesis
ER -