Effects of a freshwater canal discharge on polychaete assemblages inhabiting an exposed sandy beach in Uruguay

This paper analyzes the spatial and temporal effects of a freshwater discharge (Andreoni Canal) on polychaete assemblages and the corresponding habitat in a sandy beach of Uruguay. Bimonthly, we examined 17 environmental variables plus polychaete abundance, richness, and diversity of three sites: ‘Andreoni’ (highly disturbed) at the canal mouth, ‘Coronilla’ (moderately disturbed), 1 km far away, and ‘Barra del Chuy’ (less disturbed), 13 km north from Andreoni Canal. The highly disturbed site showed significantly lower values of salinity, beach width, swash width, slope, chlorophyll a, and significantly higher values of sediment organic matter. Polychaete abundance and diversity significantly decreased towards the canal and were positively correlated with spatial variations in salinity, which was the most important factor structuring polychaete assemblages. The results highlighted the negative effects of this artificial freshwater discharge on the sandy beach environment and stress the usefulness of polychaetes as effective and reliable ecological indicators for these ecosystems.