Evaluation of the conservation status and monitoring proposal for the coastal reefs of Paraíba, Brazil: Bioindication as an environmental management tool

Increasing coastal urbanization influences the conservation status of ecosystems associated with urbanized coastal zones. The objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial and temporal variations in macrobenthic populations of the intertidal zones of the Formosa, Areia Vermelha, Picãozinho and Seixas coastal reefs in Paraíba, Brazil. The evaluation will serve as a basis for characterizing the conservation status of these reefs and for developing a monitoring program. To determine conservation status, we adapted the Ecological Evaluation Index continuous formula (EEI-c) and obtained an indicator value (IndVal) for each of the identified species to select the most informative species for monitoring purposes. With the exception of rugosity, the environmental variables exhibited only temporal variations, likely reflecting the shared coastal oceanographic influences. According to the classification proposal by Orfanidis et al. (2011) based on EEI-c values, the conservation status of the reef environments of João Pessoa and Cabedelo was satisfactory and was not affected by tourism, since the environmental quality of the control area with no tourism (Formosa Reef) was similar than that of the other reefs during the period with the highest flow of tourists. The species selected by IndVal, except for Acanthophora spicifera in Areia Vermelha, were bioindicators of areas with low impacts. Similar to other bioindicator species from impacted areas, the occurrence of A. spicifera was considered seasonal, not representative of a warning sign. The present study demonstrates that existing low-cost, non destructive methods can be adapted to evaluate the conservation status and develop monitoring procedures for the coastal reefs of Brazil. [Display omitted] •The environmental conditions of the reefs showed only temporal variation.•The main reefs of Paraíba, Brazil are subject to low levels of anthropogenic impacts.•Tourism intensity does not relate to the conservation status of the studied reefs.•Bioindicator species monitoring represents an effective tool for evaluating impacts on reefs.