Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/21085
Title: Can functional groups be used to discriminate between sites along a water quality gradient in Maltese coastal waters?
Authors: Azzopardi, Marthese
Schembri, Patrick J.
Keywords: Water quality -- Malta
Indicators (Biology) -- Malta
Lichen communities -- Malta
Marine algae -- Malta
Coasts -- Malta
Issue Date: 2010
Publisher: Parlar Scientific Publications
Citation: Azzopardi, M., & Schembri, P. J. (2010). Can functional groups be used to discriminate between sites along a water quality gradient in Maltese coastal waters?. Fresenius Environmental Bulletin, 19(10), 2392-2395.
Abstract: This study investigates whether macroalgal functional groups can be used to distinguish between rocky shores subject to different degrees of anthropogenic stress. Macroalgae from seven sites situated along the rocky upper infralittoral (0-50 cm depth) of Malta and Gozo were seasonally sampled in 2003 and 2004. A total of 86 macroalgal species belonging to the following functional types were found: 6 articulated, 23 corticated-terete, 6 crustose, 35 filamentous and 16 foliose. The ANOSIM procedure applied to the percentage cover of each functional group detected significant differences between years, sites and seasons. The SIMPER procedure showed that the functional groups foliose, crustose and corticated-terete mostly contributed to determine the observed patterns in hierarchical groupaverage linkage cluster analysis and nMDS ordination. On the basis of the multivariate analyses made, it may be concluded that functional groups discriminated among sites.
URI: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/21085
ISSN: 10184619
Appears in Collections:Scholarly Works - FacSciBio
Scholarly Works - JCBio

Files in This Item:
File Description SizeFormat 
Azzopardi & Schembri (2010) Fresenius Env Bull 19(10b) pp2392-2395.pdf995.64 kBAdobe PDFView/Open


Items in OAR@UM are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.