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Golikova E, Varfolomeeva MA, Kursheva A, Morgunova I, Aristov D, Renaud PE, Granovitch A, Korsun S. Measuring ecological quality status in low-diversity Arctic intertidal foraminiferal assemblages using a diversity-based index. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 203:116473. [PMID: 38820879 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116473] [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: 03/01/2024] [Revised: 05/04/2024] [Accepted: 05/04/2024] [Indexed: 06/02/2024]
Abstract
EcoQS assessment of the marine intertidal zone based on its fauna is challenging because the assemblages have a low diversity and consist of stress tolerant species. The new approach we propose is to pool foraminiferal diversity (effective number of species exp(H'bc)) across the whole intertidal zone including the salt marsh and tidal flat. In seven fjordheads studied in northern Fennoscandia, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations indicated low levels of pollution (EcoQSPAH Excellent to Moderate). Jadammina or Balticammina dominated the salt marsh, Elphidium albiumbilicatum, Elphidium williamsoni, Elphidium clavatum, and Buccella frigida occurred in the tidal flat. Ovammina opaca thrived in both belts. While foraminiferal test abnormalities are often proposed to measure pollution impacts, we did not detect any correlation with PAHs. EcoQS based on foraminiferal diversity (EcoQSforam Excellent to Good) matched EcoQS based on PAHs suggesting that pooled foraminiferal diversity reliably measures intertidal EcoQS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Golikova
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia.
| | - Marina A Varfolomeeva
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Anna Kursheva
- Academician I.S. Gramberg All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ocean (FSBI "VNIIOkeangeologia"), 190121, Angliyskiy Av. 1, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Inna Morgunova
- Academician I.S. Gramberg All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Geology and Mineral Resources of the Ocean (FSBI "VNIIOkeangeologia"), 190121, Angliyskiy Av. 1, St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Dmitry Aristov
- Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Universitetskaya emb. 1, St. Petersburg 199034, Russia
| | - Paul E Renaud
- Akvaplan-niva, Fram Centre for Climate and Environment, N-9296 Tromsø, Norway
| | - Andrei Granovitch
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia
| | - Sergei Korsun
- Department of Invertebrate Zoology, Faculty of Biology, St. Petersburg State University, Universitetskaya nab. 7/9, 199034 St. Petersburg, Russia; Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nakhimovskiy pr. 36, 117997 Moscow, Russia
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Greco M, Al-Enezi E, Amao A, Francescangeli F, Cavaliere M, Bucci C, Toscanesi M, Trifuoggi M, Pawlowski J, Frontalini F. Deciphering the impact of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209) on benthic foraminiferal communities: Insights from Cell-Tracker Green staining and eDNA metabarcoding. JOURNAL OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 2024; 466:133652. [PMID: 38309158 DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2024.133652] [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: 11/06/2023] [Revised: 01/11/2024] [Accepted: 01/26/2024] [Indexed: 02/05/2024]
Abstract
This study investigates the ecotoxicological effects of BDE-209, a persistent organic pollutant (POP) prevalent in Kuwait's coastal-industrial areas, on benthic foraminiferal communities. We conducted a mesocosm experiment in which we exposed benthic foraminiferal communities sampled from the coastal-industrial areas of Kuwait to a gradient of BDE-209 concentrations (0.01 to 20 mg/kg). The impact of exposure was assessed using live-staining and metabarcoding techniques. Despite the significantly different taxonomic compositions detected by the two techniques, our results show that BDE-209 significantly affects foraminiferal communities, with moderately high concentrations leading to reduced α-diversity and considerable taxonomic shifts in both molecular and morphological assemblages. At concentrations of 10 and 20 mg/kg, no living foraminifera were detected after 8 weeks, suggesting a threshold for their survival under BDE-209 exposure. The parallel responses of molecular and morphological communities confirm the reliability of both assessment methods. This study is the first to investigate the reaction of eukaryotic communities, specifically foraminifera, to POPs such as BDE-209, generating valuable insights that have the potential to enhance field studies and aid the refinement of sediment quality guidelines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mattia Greco
- Institut de Ciències del Mar, Passeig Marítim de la Barceloneta, 37-49, Barcelona, Spain.
| | - Eqbal Al-Enezi
- Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, P.O. Box 24885, Safat 13109, Kuwait.
| | - Abduljamiu Amao
- Center for Integrative Petroleum Research, College of Petroleum Engineering and Geosciences, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, P.O. Box 5070, 31261 Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.
| | - Fabio Francescangeli
- Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg/Freiburg, Switzerland.
| | - Marco Cavaliere
- Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Urbino University, Campus Scientifico, via Ca le Suore 2/4, 61029 Urbino, Italy.
| | - Carla Bucci
- Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Urbino University, Campus Scientifico, via Ca le Suore 2/4, 61029 Urbino, Italy.
| | - Maria Toscanesi
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy.
| | - Marco Trifuoggi
- Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Naples Federico II, Via Cintia 21, 80126 Naples, Italy.
| | - Jan Pawlowski
- ID-Gene ecodiagnostics Ltd, 109 ch. du Pont-du-Centenaire, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland; Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, Sopot 81-712, Poland.
| | - Fabrizio Frontalini
- Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Urbino University, Campus Scientifico, via Ca le Suore 2/4, 61029 Urbino, Italy.
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Abd Malek MN, Frontalini F. Benthic foraminifera as bioindicators of marine pollution: A bibliometric approach to unravel trends, patterns and perspectives. MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN 2024; 199:115941. [PMID: 38134870 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115941] [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: 11/04/2023] [Revised: 12/12/2023] [Accepted: 12/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Benthic foraminifera, single-celled marine organisms, are known for their wide distribution, high abundance and species diversity, test (i.e., shell) preservation in the sedimentary (e.g., historical) record, and sensitivity to environmental changes. Because of these characteristics, they have been widely used as bioindicators in environmental monitoring and, more recently, as Biological Quality Elements (BQEs) in the Ecological Quality Status (EcoQS) evaluation. The global scientific literature on benthic foraminifera as bioindicators was gathered from the Scopus database (overall 966 papers from 1973 to 2022) and explored with scientometric software. The outcomes highlight that the investigation of benthic foraminiferal response to pollutants started over 50 years ago. Indeed, not only the number of published documents has recently peaked (i.e., 2021 and 2022) but there has been also a growth in the percentages of papers falling within the Decision Sciences category that deals with the application of foraminiferal indices for the EcoQS assessment.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fabrizio Frontalini
- Department of Pure and Applied Science, Urbino University, 61029 Urbino, Italy
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4
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Hu H, Wei XY, Liu L, Wang YB, Jia HJ, Bu LK, Pei DS. Supervised machine learning improves general applicability of eDNA metabarcoding for reservoir health monitoring. WATER RESEARCH 2023; 246:120686. [PMID: 37812979 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2023.120686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 09/25/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
Effective and standardized monitoring methodologies are vital for successful reservoir restoration and management. Environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding sequencing offers a promising alternative for biomonitoring and can overcome many limitations of traditional morphological bioassessment. Recent attempts have even shown that supervised machine learning (SML) can directly infer biotic indices (BI) from eDNA metabarcoding data, bypassing the cumbersome calculation process of BI regardless of the taxonomic assignment of eDNA sequences. However, questions surrounding the general applicability of this taxonomy-free approach to monitoring reservoir health remain unclear, including model stability, feature selection, algorithm choice, and multi-season biomonitoring. Here, we firstly developed a novel biological integrity index (Me-IBI) that integrates multitrophic interactions and environmental information, based on taxonomy-assigned eDNA metabarcoding data. The Me-IBI can better distinguish the actual health status of the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) than physicochemical assessments and have a clear response to human activity. Then, taking this reliable Me-IBI as a supervised label, we compared the impact of selecting different numbers of features and SML algorithms on the stability and predictive performance of the model for predicting ecological conditions in multiple seasons using taxonomy-free eDNA metabarcoding data. We discovered that even with a small number of features, different SML algorithms can establish a stable model and obtain excellent predictive performance. Finally, we proposed a four-step strategy for standardized routine biomonitoring using SML tools. Our study firstly explores the general applicability problem of the taxonomy-free eDNA-SML approach and establishes a solid foundation for the large-scale and standardized biomonitoring application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Huan Hu
- Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, 400074, China; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Xing-Yi Wei
- Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, 400074, China; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Li Liu
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China; Key Laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China
| | - Yuan-Bo Wang
- Chongqing Jiaotong University, Chongqing, 400074, China; Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Huang-Jie Jia
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - Ling-Kang Bu
- Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chongqing School of University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing, 400714, China
| | - De-Sheng Pei
- School of Public Health, Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing, 400016, China.
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5
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Nunes M, Alves Martins MV, Frontalini F, Bouchet VMP, Francescangeli F, Hohenegger J, Figueira R, Senez-Mello TM, Louzada Castelo WF, Damasceno FL, Laut L, Duleba W, Mello E Sousa SHD, Antonioli L, Geraldes MC. Inferring the ecological quality status based on living benthic foraminiferal indices in transitional areas of the Guanabara bay (SE Brazil). ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION (BARKING, ESSEX : 1987) 2023; 320:121003. [PMID: 36623785 DOI: 10.1016/j.envpol.2023.121003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2022] [Revised: 12/28/2022] [Accepted: 01/02/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Using benthic foraminifera, we evaluate the ecological quality status (EcoQS) of transitional waters of the Guanabara Bay (SE Brazil) by applying the diversity-based index exp (H'bc) and the sensitivity-based Foram-AMBI for the first time in South America. The Guanabara Bay was selected for this study as it is one of the largest transitional ecosystems in the State of Rio de Janeiro and has been severely impacted by anthropogenic activities. Concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) were assessed by sequential chemical extraction in three phases (i.e., dissolved in water, adsorbed on organic matter, and Mn oxy-hydroxides). Total organic carbon, total nitrogen, and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) signatures of organic matter were analyzed to trace environmental stress. The Ammonia/Elphidium ratio suggests hypoxic conditions at most of the sampled sites. Principal component analysis identifies the first component as environmental stress underlying organic matter and PTE enrichment (in all three phases), which is positively related to Foram-AMBI and negatively to exp (H'bc). The exp (H'bc) and Foram-AMBI indices reveal that stations near the Governador Island and Niterói margin have the worst EcoQS, showing medium to extreme pollution. Additionally, Foram-AMBI and exp (H'bc) provide a congruent EcoQS classification for ∼64% of the sites. Although these results are promising, they suggest that a significant effort should be made to obtain better knowledge of foraminiferal ecological requirements to employ benthic foraminifera as a biomonitoring and management method.
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Affiliation(s)
- Márcia Nunes
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Maria Virgínia Alves Martins
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Universidade de Aveiro, GeoBioTec, Departamento de Geociências, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
| | - Fabrizio Frontalini
- Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo", 61029, Urbino, Italy.
| | - Vincent M P Bouchet
- Univ. Lille, CNRS, Univ. Littoral Côte D'Opale, IRD, UMR8187, LOG, Laboratoire D'Océanologie et de Géosciences, Station Marine de Wimereux, F 59000, Lille, France.
| | - Fabio Francescangeli
- Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Chemin Du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg/Freiburg, Switzerland.
| | - Johann Hohenegger
- Universität Wien, Institut für Paläontologie, Althanstrasse 17, A 1090, Wien, Austria.
| | - Rubens Figueira
- Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo (IOUSP), Address: Pça. Do Oceanográfico, 191, Butantã, São Paulo, 05508 120, Brazil.
| | - Thaise M Senez-Mello
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil; Marine Geology Lab, LAGEMAR, Federal Fluminense University (UFF), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | - Wellen Fernanda Louzada Castelo
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Fabrício Leandro Damasceno
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Lazaro Laut
- Universidade Federal Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UNIRIO, Laboratório de Micropaleontologia, Av. Pasteur 458, S. 500, Urca, Rio de Janeiro, 22290-240, Brazil.
| | - Wania Duleba
- Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades da Universidade de São Paulo, Rua Arlindo Bettio, 1000, Vila Guaraciaba, São Paulo - SP, Brazil.
| | - Silvia Helena de Mello E Sousa
- Instituto Oceanográfico, Universidade de São Paulo (IOUSP), Address: Pça. Do Oceanográfico, 191, Butantã, São Paulo, 05508 120, Brazil.
| | - Luzia Antonioli
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
| | - Mauro César Geraldes
- Universidade Do Estado Do Rio de Janeiro, UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Sala 2020A, Maracanã, 20550-013, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
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Singh DP, Saraswat R, Pawar R. Distinct environmental parameters influence the abundance of living benthic foraminifera morphogroups in the southeastern Arabian Sea. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH INTERNATIONAL 2022; 29:82541-82558. [PMID: 35751725 DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-21492-4] [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: 12/17/2021] [Accepted: 06/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
The ambient environmental parameters have a great bearing on the morphology of living flora and fauna. In this study, we tested this hypothesis on one of the most dominant groups of living unicellular marine microorganism, benthic foraminifera, in the dynamic region of the southeastern Arabian Sea. The living benthic foraminifera from 43 surface samples collected between 25 and 2980 m of water depth were segregated into eight morphogroups (tapered/cylindrical, flattened-ovoid, biconvex, planoconvex, flattened-tapered, spherical, rounded-trochospiral, and rounded-planispiral). We report that the high organic carbon availability is combined with deficiency of oxygen results in benthic foraminifera with low surface area to volume ratio and mostly consists of tapered/cylindrical, flattened-ovoid forms, with a preference for infaunal habitat. However, the tests of the living benthic foraminifera thriving in the oxygen-rich bottom waters have a high surface area to volume ratio, commonly reported as epifaunal, consisting of biconvex and planoconvex forms. Additionally, we also report that the abundance of other morphogroups, namely flattened-tapered, spherical, rounded-trochospiral, and rounded-planispiral, is also controlled by the distinct environmental parameters. We suggest that the living benthic foraminifera are an excellent indicator of the ambient environmental parameters and can be used to reconstruct paleoenvironments.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Rajeev Saraswat
- Micropalaeontology Laboratory, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, India.
| | - Rahul Pawar
- Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, India
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Al-Enezi E, Francescangeli F, Balassi E, Borderie S, Al-Hazeem S, Al-Salameen F, Boota Anwar A, Pawlowski J, Frontalini F. Benthic foraminifera as proxies for the environmental quality assessment of the Kuwait Bay (Kuwait, Arabian Gulf): Morphological and metabarcoding approaches. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 833:155093. [PMID: 35421459 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155093] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 01/26/2022] [Accepted: 04/03/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The rapid urbanization and industrialization of Kuwait and the consequent effluent discharges into marine environments have resulted in a degradation of water and sediment quality in the coastal marine ecosystems such as in the Kuwait Bay. This study investigates the ecological response of benthic foraminifera (protists) to environmental stress in the Kuwait Bay. The traditional morphological approach was compared to the innovative environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding to evaluate the ecological quality status (EcoQS). Forty-six surface sediment samples were collected from selected stations in the Kuwait Bay. To detect the pollution gradient, environmental parameters from water (e.g., salinity, pH, dissolved oxygen) and sediment (e.g., grain-size, trace metals, total organic carbon, total petroleum hydrocarbons) were measured at each station. Although the foraminiferal assemblages were different in the morphological and molecular datasets, the species turnover was congruent and statistically significant. Diversity-based biotic indices derived from both morphological and metabarcoding approaches, reflect the environmental stress gradient (i.e., organic and metal contaminations) in the Kuwait Bay. The lowest values of EcoQS (i.e., bad to poor) are found in the innermost part (i.e., Sulaibikhat Bay and Ras Kazmah), while higher EcoQS values occur in the outer part of the bay. This study constitutes the first attempt to apply the foraminiferal metabarcoding to assess the EcoQS within the Arabian Gulf and presents its advantages compared to the conventional morphological approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eqbal Al-Enezi
- Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
| | - Fabio Francescangeli
- Centre for Earth System Research and Sustainability, Institute for Geology, University of Hamburg, 20146 Hamburg, Germany; Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg/Freiburg, Switzerland.
| | - Eszter Balassi
- Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Urbino University, 61029 Urbino, Italy
| | - Sandra Borderie
- Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, Chemin du Musée 6, 1700 Fribourg/Freiburg, Switzerland
| | - Shaker Al-Hazeem
- Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
| | - Fadila Al-Salameen
- Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
| | - Ahmad Boota Anwar
- Environment & Life Sciences Research Center, Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Safat 13109, Kuwait
| | - Jan Pawlowski
- ID-Gene ecodiagnostics Ltd, 1228 Plan-les-Ouates, Switzerland; Institute of Oceanology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 81-712 Sopot, Poland
| | - Fabrizio Frontalini
- Department of Pure and Applied Sciences, Urbino University, 61029 Urbino, Italy
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8
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Silva LCD, Alves Martins MV, Figueira R, Frontalini F, Pereira E, Senez-Mello TM, Castelo WFL, Saibro MB, Francescangeli F, Mello e Sousa SH, Bergamaschi S, Antonioli L, Bouchet VMP, Terroso D, Rocha F. Unraveling Anthropocene Paleoenvironmental Conditions Combining Sediment and Foraminiferal Data: Proof-of-Concept in the Sepetiba Bay (SE, Brazil). Front Ecol Evol 2022. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2022.852439] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Sepetiba Bay (SB), located in the state of Rio de Janeiro (SE Brazil), is a transitional ecosystem highly anthropized. Because of its great environmental, economic, and social importance, the SB has been the target of several studies to investigate the sources of pollution and their environmental impact. However, studies on the response of foraminifera to pollution are rare. This study applies for the first time in the SB the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) based on the biotic index exp(H’bc), related to foraminiferal diversity, coupled with granulometric, mineralogical, and geochemical data and a robust age model (based on 210Pb and 137Cs activity). This study aims to evaluate the paleo-ecological quality status (PaleoEcoQS) along core SP5, collected in the inner central region of the SB. In the sedimentary record of the first half of the 20th century, no foraminifera were found, and the moderate enrichment in lithogenic elements was probably related not only to weathering and erosion of rocks but also to mining activities in the region. From the second half of the 20th century, the study area was under higher marine influence. Progressive siltation took place because of anthropogenic interventions in river courses, eutrophication, and metal pollution. Weak hydrodynamic conditions favored the accumulation of fine-grained sediments and organic matters. In the same period, low diversified benthic foraminiferal assemblages, including mainly opportunist species, were developed. Paleo-ecological conditions inferred by the biotic index exp(H’bc) were poor around 1970 and worsened after the metal spill released by Companhia Ingá Mercantil (a zinc ore processing plant). After that, progressively recovery has led to good ecological conditions in 2015. This study shows how benthic foraminiferal methods could represent a very useful tool to track changes in the evaluation of PaleoEcoQS.
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Distribution Patterns of Benthic Foraminifera in Fish Farming Areas (Corsica, France): Implications for the Implementation of Biotic Indices in Biomonitoring Studies. WATER 2021. [DOI: 10.3390/w13202821] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
Corsican marine aquaculture is one of the highest contributors of fish production in France, which may result in environmental perturbations caused by organic matter (OM) accumulation under fish farms and impacting natural communities. This study aimed to (1) characterise the environmental conditions at two different fish farms, (2) monitor the response of benthic foraminiferal species to this activity, and (3) assess the accuracy of existing foraminiferal biotic indices. In 2017, sea floor sediment was sampled in transects from two Corsican fish farms for living foraminiferal and sedimentary analyses. Four indices were calculated and compared: exp(H′bc), Foram-AMBI, Foram Stress Index and TSI-Med. A significant increase in total organic carbon (TOC) has been shown, mainly below the fish cages. Communities were characterized by a shift from high density, opportunistic and tolerant species under the cages to lower densities and more sensitive species further away. According to their distribution patterns along the TOC gradient, we propose to update the ecological group classification of seven species to improve Foram-AMBI’s accuracy and sensitivity: Triloculina oblonga and Quinqueloculina lamarckiana to Ecological Group (EG) I; Rosalina bradyi to EGIII; and Bolivina dilatata, Bulimina aculeata and Quinqueloculina stalkeri to EGIV. We recommend prioritising the use of TSI-Med and Foram-AMBI with the updated list to assess ecological quality in coastal waters of the Mediterranean Sea.
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