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Jayachandran PR, Joydas TV, Borja A, Manokaran S, Franco J, Garmendia JM, Gopi J, Manikandan KP, Asharaf M, Maneja RH, Qasem AM, Alghamdi H, Lozano-Cortés D, Krishnakumar PK, Qurban MA. Unveiling the ecological status of the Arabian Gulf's marine ecosystem: Insights from benthic community analysis. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 205:116571. [PMID: 38941805 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116571] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2024] [Revised: 06/04/2024] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/30/2024]
Abstract
This study assessed the ecological health of waters within the Saudi Arabian Exclusive Economic Zone, by utilizing benthic biotic indices with a marine monitoring dataset covering the years 2013 to 2018. This comprehensive evaluation covered a vast expanse, encompassing 67 distinctive sampling locations characterized by a wide range of depth and salinity gradients. The study examined spatial fluctuations in the benthic community and assessed potential correlations with environmental variables, including salinity, depth, sediment texture, total organic carbon, and other relevant factors. The macrobenthic density varied across the study sites, with an average density of 566 ± 120 ind.m-2. The Shannon diversity index ranged from 3.21 and 5.90, with an average of 4.70 ± 0.52. Based on the average AMBI values, all the locations were categorized as either slightly disturbed or undisturbed. Additionally, the M-AMBI analysis indicated that 95.5 % sites were in good or high ecological status.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paravanparambil Rajakumar Jayachandran
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Thadickal V Joydas
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Angel Borja
- AZTI; Marine Research; Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA); Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g, 20110 Pasaia, Spain
| | - Seerangan Manokaran
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Javier Franco
- AZTI; Marine Research; Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA); Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g, 20110 Pasaia, Spain
| | - Joxe Mikel Garmendia
- AZTI; Marine Research; Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA); Herrera Kaia, Portualdea z/g, 20110 Pasaia, Spain
| | - Jayanath Gopi
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Karuppasamy P Manikandan
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohamed Asharaf
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Rommel H Maneja
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
| | - Ali M Qasem
- Environmental Protection Department, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia
| | - Hamed Alghamdi
- Environmental Protection Department, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia
| | - Diego Lozano-Cortés
- Environmental Protection Department, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran 31311, Saudi Arabia
| | - Periyadan K Krishnakumar
- Applied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, Research and Innovation, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, P. B. No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
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Joseph P, Nandan SB, Sreelekshmi S, Jayachandran PR, Varghese R, Preethy CM, Asha CV, Adarsh KJ. Benthic biocoenosis: influence of edaphic factors in the tropical mangroves of Cochin, Southern India. Trop Ecol 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/s42965-021-00162-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Jayachandran PR, Jima M, Philomina J, Bijoy Nandan S. Assessment of benthic macroinvertebrate response to anthropogenic and natural disturbances in the Kodungallur-Azhikode estuary, southwest coast of India. ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AND ASSESSMENT 2020; 192:626. [PMID: 32897415 DOI: 10.1007/s10661-020-08582-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/27/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
Benthic biotic indices are important ecological tools extensively used to understand the ecological quality of coastal wetlands. The present study aimed to assess the ecological status of Kodungallur-Azhikode estuary for the first time by using widely used benthic indices such as species richness (S), Shannon diversity index (H'log2), BENTIX, benthic opportunistic polychaetes amphipods (BOPA), AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and multivariate AMBI (M-AMBI). In the canonical correspondence analysis, salinity, dissolved oxygen, organic matter, sediment Eh, sediment pH and sand were identified as important variance descriptors. A single species of an opportunist, Americorophium triaeonyx, an amphipod belonging to the ecological group (EG) III, significantly contributed to the total macrofaunal density. Other dominant opportunistic species included Obelia bidentata (EGII), Arcuatula senhousia (EGIII), Cirolana fluviatilis (EGII), Prionospio cirrifera (EGIV) and Capitella sp. (EGV). The overall assessment indicated a 'good to moderate' condition in AMBI, 'good to poor' condition in M-AMBI, 'high to moderate' condition in BENTIX, 'high to poor' condition in BOPA and 'moderate to poor' condition in univariate Shannon diversity index. All the multivariate indices tested in the study were correlated with each other except BOPA and M-AMBI. The group of stations dominated with a sandy substrate and a moderate level of organic content indicated high to good conditions while other stations demonstrated moderate to poor conditions. However, no significant variation in indices tested between seasons was observed. The present study recommends long-term monitoring of benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages with proper taxonomic identification and functional trait analysis for better calibration of indices, which is the key factor for getting better results.
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Affiliation(s)
- P R Jayachandran
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Lakeside Campus, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi, Kerala, 682016, India.
| | - M Jima
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Lakeside Campus, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi, Kerala, 682016, India
| | - J Philomina
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Lakeside Campus, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi, Kerala, 682016, India
| | - S Bijoy Nandan
- Department of Marine Biology, Microbiology and Biochemistry, School of Marine Sciences, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Lakeside Campus, Fine Arts Avenue, Kochi, Kerala, 682016, India.
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