Taxonomic checklist of the biological species identified in the Albuferas de Adra (Almería, Spain, Iberian southeast)
Authors: Paracuellos, Mariano , Gómez de Dios Miguel A. , Gutiérrez Leonardo , Moreno-Ostos Enrique 
Published: December 2019

Biological taxonomy plays a central role for the knowledge of the species that inhabit a certain place, facilitating their scientific study, environmental management and social divulgation. Although the coastal lagoon of Albuferas de Adra constitute one of the best studied wetlands of Almería and Spain, the information on the composition of its biological communities is still very dispersed, so that a standardized list of all the taxa cited in the ecosystem becomes necessary. In the present study, a compilation of the taxa hitherto cited for the Albuferas de Adra has been carried out by means of a deep literature search, to which unpublished references contributed by connoisseurs of their environment were also added. The Albuferas de Adra constitutes a wetland located in the delta of the Adra river (Adra, Almería, Iberian southeast), colonized for decades by today’s ubiquitous agricultural greenhouses (Figure 1). Despite the wetland relevant natural values, the current anthropic pressures derived from intensive agriculture in the catchment have promoted a progressive and significant ecosystem degradation. Although the Andalusian environmental administration promotes management strategies to minimize or mitigate these impacts, severe anthropogenic pressures on the wetland still continue. Exclusively, the taxa that were expressly mentioned for the swampy environment of the delta of the Adra river were taken into account, excluding those linked to environments altered by human activity, or those that undoubtedly constituted erroneous citations. The current list complies with the rules of the international nomenclature codes, grouping each taxon, first according to a simplification of Linnaeus’ hierarchical categories and then alphabetically. Whenever possible, in the identification of the different taxa, the species level was reached. The different taxa mentioned in this paper were typified according to their functional and phylogenetic classification, the type of habitat they occupy, as well as the protection and threat catalogues in which they are registered. To date, 599 taxa have been cited in the Albuferas de Adra wetland complex. Vertebrates accounted for the highest number of cited taxa and, in addition, enjoyed the greatest attention in terms of legal protection and threat registry (Figures 2 and 4). A marked tradition on limnological research in the wetland has provided a detailed knowledge on planktonic communities taxonomical composition. Plants, in general, depicted high biodiversity as a consequence of the wetland structural complexity and the increasing presence of adventitious “of edge” species favored by the greenhouses that have invaded the delta (Figure 2). Despite their usual abundance, actually terrestrial invertebrates constitute a less known taxonomical group in the ecosystem (especially the terrestrial ones), although future studies incorporating them are expected to significantly change this picture. Archaea and Fungi have a worse situation, groups totally unknown today in the Adra lagoons (Figures 2 and 3). La taxonomía biológica permite el conocimiento de las especies que habitan en un enclave, facilitando su estudio científico, gestión y divulgación ambiental. A pesar de que las albuferas de Adra constituyen uno de los humedales mejor conocidos de España, la información acerca de la composición de sus comunidades biológicas se encuentra muy dispersa. En este trabajo se ha realizado un compendio de todos los taxones citados para las albuferas de Adra a partir de una completa revisión bibliográfica a la que se sumaron referencias inéditas. A los diferentes taxones conocidos se les clasificó según los grupos funcionales y filogenéticos a los que pertenecen, el tipo de hábitat que ocupaban, así como los regímenes de protección y amenaza en los que están incluidos. La relevancia de este trabajo radica en reflejar, en un solo listado, los componentes de la diversidad biológica conocidos, lo cual es de gran utilidad para la gestión del espacio natural protegido. Hasta la fecha se han citado 599 taxones en las albuferas de Adra. Los vertebrados son los que predominaron en cuanto a diversidad, protección legal y grado de amenaza. Por su lado, también destacó el conocimiento acerca de los organismos planctónicos, así como la, según algunos autores, comparativamente alta diversidad de plantas presentes en su conjunto. A pesar de su abundancia, uno de los grupos que presentó una información más limitada fue el de los invertebrados, especialmente los terrestres.