Abstract

BALSECA VACA, Ana Gabriela; SANCHEZ BONILLA, Andrés Esteban  and  MARTINEZ CAIZA, Carolina Andrea. Composition and community structure of Phylum Echinodermata in the intertidal rocky zone of San Lorenzo-Salinas, Ecuador. RCTU [online]. 2022, vol.9, n.2, pp.48-57. ISSN 1390-7697.  https://doi.org/10.26423/rctu.v9i2.670.

In Ecuador, the study of echinoderms has focused on protected areas (PAs), leading to new research in other rocky areas outside of a PA; The objective of this research was to describe both the composition and community structure of echinoderms by establishing a baseline of identified species. A total of 17,766 individuals belonging to ten species of echinoderms were recorded in situ, indicating; for the class Echinoidea: 1 species; the class Ophiuroidea: 2 species; the class Holothutoidea: 3 species; and the asteroid class: 4 species. The species E. vambrunti was the most representative with a total of 11,744 specimens. The environmental parameters taken where pH, salinity and oxygen, which, although related to the organisms, did not influence their presence. The results showed a low richness (10 species) and a high abundance (17,766 organisms) that is evidenced by the average of 1,2±0,56; the Pielou uniformity index reached its statistical average of 0,14, indicating that the specific abundance of echinoderms is independent of the sampled area, implying that the research site showed a high abundance and low diversity.

Keywords : abundance; community structure; diversity; equity; Dominance; Intertidal.

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