Abstract：
Free-living nematodes were investigated in three Mediterranean commercial ports (Ancona and Trieste, Italy; Koper, Slovenia) in terms of abundance, diversity and functionality. Results indicated that r-strategist genera were dominant in all ports and that a more diverse assemblage characterized Trieste, despite the high contamination levels, suggesting a potential adaptation to long-standing contamination. The main environmental factor that shaped the assemblage in all ports were Total Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, while Total Organic Carbon and the grain-size were less relevant. A co-occurrence analysis was applied for identifying which genera cohesively respond to site-specific environmental conditions in order to recalibrate and implement the sets of bioindicator genera in relation to their different opportunistic behaviour. Finally, we provided some suggestions for a proper application of the nematode indices (Maturity Index, Index of Trophic Diversity, Shannon diversity) in order to encourage the use of free-living nematodes for the environmental quality assessment of commercial ports.
摘要：
在三个地中海商业港口（安科纳和的里雅斯特，意大利；科佩尔，斯洛文尼亚)在丰度方面，多样性和功能性。结果表明，r战略家属在所有港口都占主导地位，的里雅斯特的特征是更多样化的组合，尽管污染水平很高，表明对长期污染的潜在适应。形成所有港口组合的主要环境因素是总多环芳烃，而总有机碳和晶粒尺寸的相关性较小。应用了共现分析，以确定哪些属对特定地点的环境条件有凝聚力的响应，以便重新校准和实施与其不同的机会主义行为相关的生物指示物属集。最后,我们为正确应用线虫指数提供了一些建议(成熟度指数，营养多样性指数，香农多样性），以鼓励将自由生活的线虫用于商业港口的环境质量评估。
