Practical itinerary for collecting benthic macrofauna from the intertidal zone of ocean beaches Priscila Candido Baroni, Walter Barrella

Abstract

Practical activities constitute important factors in the teaching-learning process of natural sciences, allowing student interactivity with the elements studied. Among the organisms associated with the bottom of intertidal regions of beaches, benthic macrofauna stands out, animals that can be retained in a 0.5 mm mesh and that live in the unconsolidated substrate. Due to their way of life close to the bottom and little displacement, these organisms allow the reflection of environmental conditions prior to the moment of sampling, thus making the study of this fauna of great importance for environmental diagnoses and monitoring, being a form of contribution to knowledge of the characteristics of environments. In view of this, the present work aims to propose a practical field activity guide for collecting benthic macrofauna from the intertidal region of ocean beaches, aiming to learn basic macrofauna collection methods. At each sampling point, five replicas of sediment must be collected from a plot measuring 3m on a side using a PVC tube with approximately 700 cm³ in volume and sieved through a 0.5 mm mesh opening. Retained organisms will be fixed, quantified and identified in the laboratory. To analyze the organic matter content, a method of drying and weighing the samples will be used and for granulometry, sieving on sieves with different openings will be used. It is therefore proposed that each group prepare a report modeled after an academic article, demonstrating and discussing the results obtained, with the aim of explaining the data found.