Fish communities of sandy beach surf zones: exploring new methodologies and providing knowledge for management strategies

• Grant number: 19/25144-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: November 01, 2021
• End date: October 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Antonia Cecília Zacagnini Amaral
• Grantee: Yasmina Michel Liliane Shah Esmaeili
• Supervisor: Jonathan S. Lefcheck
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 18/05099-9 - Fish communities of sandy beach surf zones: unraveling the myths, exploring different methodologies and providing knowledge for management strategies, BP.DR

Abstract

Sandy beaches dominate the world's coastlines and provide critical ecosystem services, yet are also amongst the most threatened and least-studied coastal ecosystems. Surf zones of sandy beaches in particular are known to be important nurseries, spawning and feeding grounds for many commercially-important and vulnerable fish species, and therefore key habitats in the transfer of large amounts of biomass away from the coastal zone. To be able to conserve these habitats and the services they provide, simple and efficient techniques must be developed that yield a better understanding of their ecological functioning and potential human impacts. This project has three main objectives: (1) to assess environmental drivers and anthropogenic impacts such as urbanization on fish community compositions and their trophic interactions; (2) test classical sampling techniques against new methods, such as environmental or eDNA, to characterize the biodiversity of these systems; (3) investigate connectivity between sandy beaches and offshore environments of three commercially important fish species. The results of this study will enhance the understanding of sandy beach surf zones as key but previously overlooked habitats, and identify important indicators for conservation and management plans. (AU)