Biogeochemical and socio-environmental study of coastal ecosystems: contribution to the assessment of sustainability and environmental impact (BIOGEOQUIS-ECOS)

• Grant number: 20/16485-7
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: August 01, 2021 - July 31, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Ecology - Ecosystems Ecology
• Convênio/Acordo: CONFAP - National Council of State Research Support Foundations
• Principal Investigator: Elisabete de Santis Braga da Graça Saraiva
• Grantee: Elisabete de Santis Braga da Graça Saraiva
• Host Institution: Instituto Oceanográfico (IO). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Ana Sofia Belloli Cardoso ; Carolina Gómez Pérez ; Gláucia Bueno Benedetti Berbel ; Juliana de Souza Azevedo ; Paula Carpintero de Moraes ; Paula Cilene Alves da Silveira ; Rosangela Calado da Costa ; Vitor Gonsalez Chiozzini

Abstract

This study aims to acquire multidisciplinary information with an emphasis on biogeochemical actors, in an integrated way with the socioenvironmental activities practiced in two different estuarine systems, under different tidal action, one with micro tidal action (tidal amplitude about 1.6 m) and another with macro tide action (tidal amplitude about 6 m), which can generate important knowledge for managers in face of the global guidelines of the SDGs and Agenda 2030. The focus will be on estuarine systems and adjacent sea under different degrees of anthropic influence, passing through areas of environmental preservation, threatened by extreme natural transformations and climatic changes to areas under intense anthropic pressure due to the socioeconomic activities associated with each system. The behavior of biogeochemical variables associated with the air-water, water-sediment and water-sediment-biota interfaces will be monitored, which will show the balance in biogeochemical cycling and also its changes, being important indicators of the system's metabolism and responses to mild natural factors , extreme events and anthropic influence, constituting important indicators in the impact assessment and in the implementation of models for coastal management, being observed jointly by the team in order to characterize the main processes in each region, in order to contribute to a national plan management system that covers the differences that occur in estuaries in a country with continental dimensions. Biochemical indicators such as biomarkers will play an important role in monitoring changes in biota when exposed to contaminating agents, being important for monitoring trophic structures and quality of living resources, pointing out risks, including health. Variations in the biogeochemical cycles of essential elements such as N and P are important in trophic relationships and in the indication of eutrophication, while Si points to coastal processes, sediment remobilization, erosion and silting, increasing the influence of fresh water. Economic activity is constantly intensifying in coastal areas that are targets for the exploitation of natural resources, transport routes and economic transactions, the headquarters of extraction while hosting centers for the preservation of cultures and activities for the exploitation of resources in an artisanal manner, in addition to of areas of environmental preservation for the maintenance of the diversity of the biosphere, being these places that suffer constant threats. This project, then, aims to monitor biogeochemical scenarios for cycling matter in coastal systems that have been changing continuously, with emphasis on regional cultural and socioeconomic aspects. The water systems planned for the study are located in the bay of São José in Maranhão and in the estuarine-lagoon complex of Cananéia-Iguape-Ararapira, in São Paulo. (AU)