The structure of the macrobenthic communities was characterized in different climatic periods and areas of the Reserva Biológica do Lago Piratuba (Amapá-Brazil). The samplings occurred on June and November of 2005 (Meridional belt lake - lakes Comprido de cima, Bacia, Lodão, Grande, Comprido de Baixo, Canal Tobaco and estuary of the river Araguari) and of 2006 (eastern belt lake - lakes Piratuba, Jussara, Escara, Trindade, Maresia, Boiado and the Duarte stream and seven places in the coast (areas vegetated and not vegetated). At each site four samples had been collected, with a corer (0.0079 m2) buried 20 cm in the sediment. After collection samples were passed in a 0.3 mm mesh and the retained organisms were fixed in formalin 5%. The structure of the communities varied seasonally, with severe modifications in density, specific composition, richness, eveness and diversity among sampling occasions and environments (lakes/coast). A total of 54 taxa had been identified belonging to phyla: Annelida, Arthropoda, Mollusca and Nemertea. In the rainy seasonal it was recorded 36 taxa, and in the dry seasonal 42 taxa were recorded. Annelida was the most abundant taxon, representing always more than 48% of total organisms. In the lakes Insecta larvae, Mollusca and Oligochaeta were the dominant taxa. In the coast, Polychaeta and Crustacea were dominant. It was recorded 32 taxa in the lakes and mean density of 667 ind.m-2. In the coast 34 taxa were recorded and 1353 ind.m-2. The coastal non-vegetated area was richer and denser and showed the higher eveness. Benthic fauna from the Meridional belt lake and the Eastern belt lake behavioured distinctively among seasons. Three sub-environments had been identified based on the benthic fauna: freshwater environment - majority of the lakes of the Eastern belt, dominated by insects; transition environment (freshwater/coast) with mixed fauna (Polychaeta and Insecta); and coastal environment, with Polychaeta and Crustacea. The environmental characteristics best correlated with spatialtemporal changes in the benthic communities structure were water pH, electric conductivity and turbidity.
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