La saprobicità quale fattore strutturante per la diversità del benthos negli ecosistemi costieri

We propose a new conceptual framework for the interpretation of lagoonal biodiversity. We briefly review differences and similarities between classical conceptual models describing benthic community and their diversity along a gradient of organic matter. Consequently, we unified them under the single concept of habitat saprobity. In this view, saprobity is considered as the state of an aquatic ecosystem resulting from the input of organic matter, its biodegradation and the removal of catabolites. In coastal lagoons, these processes are strongly driven by hydrodynamics. Saprobity is then viewed as a structuring and selection factor for species diversity in coastal transitional ecosystems.