Macrobenthic community structure in a Brazilian chocked lagoon system under environmental stress

Saquarema-Jaconé lagoonal system (SJLS) comprises a sequence of five interconnected shallow brackish lagoons with access to the sea by a single permanent tidal channel. It is a eutrophic system, receiving constant input of organic load from its urbanized catchments. The relationship between several environmental variables and the spatial-temporal distribution of the benthic macrofauna was assessed during four seasonal samplings (dry and wet periods of 2007-2009). Sediment replicates were sampled at seven sites for biological identification and analyzes of organic matter, carbonates, phytopigm...