Reefs

The PELD Espirito Santo is located at an intertidal reef area mainly composed of ferruginous sandstone with small portions of biogenic calcareous (laterites), forming a very heterogeneous substrate with various shapes covered with dense and rich macroalgal beds. Laterites occupy large littoral areas (tens of kilometers alongshore) extending from the upper intertidal zone to approximately 15–20 m deep and about 5 km offshore. At these habitats we monitor the benthic invertebrate larval recruitment since May 2017, through direct sampling on macroalgal beds (Sargassum sp.), that occur on the reef fringe and inside tidal pools within the reef flat. Some results on benthic biodiversity, larval recruitment and their association to climate have been published recently by Mazzuco et al., 2019 (Mar. Env. Res., 148: 87-98 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marenvres.2019.05.008 ), Mazzuco et al., 2020 (PeerJ, 8: e8289 - https://peerj.com/articles/8289/ ) and Mazzuco & Bernardino, 2022 (Sci. Rep., 12: 7750 - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-11809-1 ).