Studies on benthic communities of rocky shores on the Brazilian coast and climate change monitoring: Status of knowledge and challenges

Abstract

A rocky shores working group (WG) integrated with ReBentos (Monitoring Network for Coastal Benthic Habitats; Rede de Monitoramento de Habitats Bentônicos Costeiros) was created and linked to the Coastal Zones Sub Network of the Climate Network (MCT; Sub-Rede Zonas Costeiras da Rede Clima) and to the National Institute of Science and Technology for Climate Change (INCT-MC; Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia para Mudanças Climáticas), to study the vulnerability of benthic communities on rocky shores and the effects of environmental changes on biomes in such environments along the Brazilian coast. The synthesis presented here was one of the products of this GT, and aimed to collect and review existing knowledge on benthic communities present on rocky shores of the Brazilian coast, their associated biodiversity, and the potential of future studies to accurately predict/measure the effects of climate change on such environments and their biota.