Population dynamics and interactions among zostera noltei and the most commercially important clams inhabiting climate-stressed galician shellfish beds

• Autores: Salvador Román del Valle
• Directores de la Tesis: María Elsa Vázquez Otero (dir. tes.), Celia Olabarría Uzquiano (dir. tes.)
• Lectura: En la Universidade de Vigo ( España ) en 2024
• Idioma: inglés
• Tribunal Calificador de la Tesis: Francisca Giménez Casalduero (presid.), José Manuel Fernández Babarro (secret.), Irene Olive Samarra (voc.)
• Programa de doctorado: Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Marinas, Tecnología y Gestión por la Universidad de A Coruña; la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela; la Universidad de Vigo; Universidade de Aveiro(Portugal); Universidade de Porto(Portugal); Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro(Portugal) y Universidade do Minho (Portugal)
• Materias:
  • Ciencias de la tierra y del espacio
    • Oceanografía
      • Oceanografía biológica
  • Ciencias agrarias
• Enlaces
  • Tesis en acceso abierto en: Investigo
• Resumen

  • Seagrass beds are of ecological and economic importance in the shellfish sector, but their extent is being reduced globally. Moreover, in Galicia there is a conflict between shellfish activity and the conservation of the Zostera meadows. Because of that, in this doctoral thesis the roll of Zostera noltei as a habitat to juveniles and reproductive adults of three commercially interesting clam species (Ruditapes decussatus, R. philippinarum and Venerupis corrugata) has been studied, analyzing their ability to mitigate different environmental stressors in a climate change context. The investigation has been carried out in the shellfish beds of Testal (Ría de Noia), O Sarrido (Ría de Arousa) and Combarro (Ría de Pontevedra), where environmental data has also been obtained, and sediment and Zostera samples have been collected and analyzed in the laboratory. The thesis has been completed with two experiments. In the first one, different habitats (with various Zostera and clams density) were exposed to different low salinity episodes to analyze the clams and seagrass eco-physiological responses. In the second one, the individuals were exposed to field simulated atmospheric heat waves. The results of this research will help to solve the problem between shellfish activity and Zostera meadows by proposing a more efficient and sustainable management of shellfish beds, taking into account the importance of seagrass beds in decision making.