Studies related to partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO2) concentration linking with polychaete diversity in mangrove ecosystems are limited in time and space. Therefore, the present study was conducted during July 2017–June 2018 on a monthly interval and reported the concentration of pCO2 coupled with physico-chemical parameters in relation to polychaetes diversity in Pichavaram mangroves ecosystem, southeast coast of India. Totally, 41 species were identified and the most dominant species were Prionospio cirrifera, P. cirrobranchiata, P. sexoculata, Prionospio sp. and Capitella capitata. Among the stations, higher polychaete diversity was found in marine zone compared to other zones. The correlation reflected a significant positive linear relationship between dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), particulate organic carbon (POC) and CO2 versus pCO2. The carbon species DIC, DOC, POC and pCO2 concentration ranged from 1100.1 to 2053.3(µmol/kg), 165.7–1954.0(µmol/kg), 4.5–89.2(µmol/kg) and 184.7–3763.1(µatm), respectively. Further, the statistical analyses revealed that there was a strong correlation among carbon species with distribution of polychaete species in various zones of mangroves and thus indicating pivotal role in occurrence of polychaetes in mangroves.
Sarathy P. P., Bharathidasan V., Gnanamoorthy P. & Murugesan P., 2019. Influence of physico-chemical parameters and pCO2 concentration on mangroves-associated polychaetes at Pichavaram, southeast coast of India. SN Applied Sciences 1: 1550. doi: 10.1007/s42452-019-1581-2. Article (subscription required).
