Ecological Quality Status Assessment of Aquatic Ecosystems: New Methods and Perspectives for the Future

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Biodiversity and Functionality of Aquatic Ecosystems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2022) | Viewed by 36731

Special Issue Editors

Université de Lille, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, WIMEREUX, FRANCE
Interests: coastal and transitional waters; benthic ecology; global changes; palaeo-ecology; biotic indices; ecosystem functioning; benthic foraminifera
Professore Associato, Dipartimento di Scienze Pure e Applicate (DiSPeA), Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo", 61029 Urbino, Italy
Interests: recent benthic foraminifera; bioindicators; biomonitoring; marine pollution; emerging pollutants; environmental micropaleontology; paleoenvironmental reconstructions; ecological quality status; molecular ecology; biotechnology
IFREMER Institut Francais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer, Plouzane, France
Interests: meiofauna; nematodes; extreme environments; deep sea; ecological indicators

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Worldwide, legislation emphasizes the need to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystems based on the response of biological quality elements to environmental conditions. A plethora of methodologies have been suggested in this sense. Lately, substantial efforts have led to the exploration of new biological quality elements from the meiobenthic compartment and the implementation of new methodologies based on environmental DNA. Due to their short life cycles, meiofaunal organisms respond quickly to both environmental variability and changes in population dynamics and species composition are indicative of changes in environmental conditions. Recent pioneer studies have shown that biotic indices based on benthic foraminifera and nematodes can efficiently assess the health of transitional and marine ecosystems. The use of environmental DNA, as well as other fingerprinting techniques, is increasing in biomonitoring studies and further calibrations are still needed to implement this method. Finally, recent developments using holographic and fluorescence in situ imaging together with computer-based classification tools open up new perspectives for using automatic imaging methods and artificial intelligence (AI) for benthic diversity studies.

This Special Issue will provide new scientific knowledge by attracting high-quality papers on the use of meiofaunal organisms and/or eDNA and/or fingerprinting techniques to monitor diversity and the health of transitional and marine waters. Specifically, this Special Issue will highlight the need for an improvement of the marine legislation implementation process, particularly focusing on new groups like meiofauna and new techniques either numerical or molecular. Contributions that consider recent fossil assemblages for the reconstruction of paleoecological quality status and to define in situ reference conditions using the hindcasting approach are also welcome.

Dr. Vincent Bouchet
Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Frontalini
Prof. Dr. Daniela Zeppilli
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Marine and transitional waters
  • Meiobenthic organisms
  • Monitoring studies
  • Biotic indices
  • Environmental DNA
  • Numerical approach

Published Papers (14 papers)

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Editorial

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5 pages, 212 KiB  
Editorial
The Ecological Quality Status Assessment of Marine and Transitional Ecosystems: New Methods and Perspectives for the Future
by Vincent M. P. Bouchet, Daniela Zeppilli and Fabrizio Frontalini
Water 2023, 15(16), 2864; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15162864 - 08 Aug 2023
Viewed by 1041
Abstract
Worldwide legislation emphasizes the need to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystems based on the response of biological quality elements to environmental conditions. A plethora of methodologies have been suggested in this sense. Lately, substantial efforts have led to the exploration of new [...] Read more.
Worldwide legislation emphasizes the need to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystems based on the response of biological quality elements to environmental conditions. A plethora of methodologies have been suggested in this sense. Lately, substantial efforts have led to the exploration of new biological quality elements from the meiobenthic compartment and the implementation of new methodologies based on environmental DNA. Due to their short life-cycles, meiofaunal organisms respond quickly to environmental variability. Changes in population dynamics and species composition are indicative of changes in environmental conditions. Recent pioneer studies have shown that biotic indices based on benthic foraminifera and nematodes can efficiently assess the health of transitional and marine ecosystems. The use of environmental DNA, as well as other fingerprinting techniques, is increasing in biomonitoring studies, and further calibrations are still needed to implement this method. The published papers in this Special Issue represent well the wide applicability of meiobenthic groups, i.e., benthic foraminifera and nematodes, allowing us to address a key ecological knowledge gap in order to convince decision makers and stakeholders about the advantage of introducing new biological quality elements in environmental biomonitoring. Full article

Research

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17 pages, 2657 KiB  
Article
Domestic Sewage Outfall Severely Altered Environmental Conditions, Foraminiferal Communities, and Ecological Quality Statuses in Front of the Nearshore Beach of Cigarras (SE Brazil)
by Luciana Saraiva Filippos, Wânia Duleba, Johann Hohenegger, Leonardo Antônio Pregnolato, Vincent M. P. Bouchet and Maria Virginia Alves Martins
Water 2023, 15(3), 405; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15030405 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2107
Abstract
This study aims to analyses the response of meiofaunal organisms (foraminifera) to disturbances caused by the diffusers of domestic sewage outfall at Cigarras beach, SE Brazil. Hydrographical, sedimentological (grain size and geochemical), and living benthic foraminiferal recorded in 2006 and 2007 analyzed in [...] Read more.
This study aims to analyses the response of meiofaunal organisms (foraminifera) to disturbances caused by the diffusers of domestic sewage outfall at Cigarras beach, SE Brazil. Hydrographical, sedimentological (grain size and geochemical), and living benthic foraminiferal recorded in 2006 and 2007 analyzed in ten stations were compared with the same results analyzed in two control/reference stations (sampled in 2008). The results of this work show that, in the benthic environment of the Cigarras region, moderated hydrodynamic conditions, relatively high total organic carbon, total nitrogen, total sulfur contents, oxic water column and anoxic sediments, organic matter supplied by marine productivity and from mixed sources prevail. Living foraminiferal assemblages denote that the Cigarras region is undergoing environmental degradation due to progressive organic enrichment directly influenced by the domestic sewage outfall. The effluents discharged by the domestic sewage constrained the composition of foraminiferal communities (which include mainly stress tolerant species) with probable impacts on the entire marine trophic chain. Noticeably, the tolerant species Ammonia tepida, Bolivina striatula and Buliminella elegantissima dominated at the stations under the influence of the sewage outfall. In addition, Ammonia parkinsoniana was found in moderate abundances, and the moderate level of TOC enrichment by the sewage outfall did not prevent the survival of this sensitive species. The ecological quality status inferred from the diversity index Exp(H’bc) calculated on foraminifera showed the poor ecological status of benthic habitats in the area. Overall, this work highlighted the adverse effects of the sewage outfall on the benthic ecosystem in front of the Cigarras beach in Brazil. Future works should investigate the current ecological quality of the area to figure out if any change occurred since the present study sampling. Full article
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13 pages, 2019 KiB  
Article
Establishing Baseline Assessment Levels for Monitoring Coastal Heavy Metals Using Foraminiferal Shells: A Case Study from the Southeastern Mediterranean
by Lin Hoober, Danna Titelboim, Sigal Abramovich, Barak Herut, Nadya Teutsch, Tal Benaltabet and Adi Torfstein
Water 2022, 14(10), 1532; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14101532 - 10 May 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2261
Abstract
One of the challenges in monitoring the marine coastal environments is quantifying the magnitude and duration of pollution events. This study introduces a new concept of defining heavy metal (HM) baseline assessment levels (BALs) in coastal environments using foraminiferal shells. We demonstrated the [...] Read more.
One of the challenges in monitoring the marine coastal environments is quantifying the magnitude and duration of pollution events. This study introduces a new concept of defining heavy metal (HM) baseline assessment levels (BALs) in coastal environments using foraminiferal shells. We demonstrated the potential of this approach by examining a nature reserve along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Our previous investigation of this site in 2013–2014 using foraminiferal single-chamber LA-ICPMS created a large dataset consisting of HM measurements of two species, Lachlanella and Pararotalia calcariformata. This database was used to establish the BAL of Zn, Cu and Pb, associated with anthropogenic sources. In February 2021, a significant tar pollution event affected the entire Mediterranean coast of Israel, derived from an offshore oil spill. This event provided a unique opportunity to test the applicability of the foraminiferal BAL by comparing it to whole-shell ICPMS measurements of the two species collected in winter and summer 2021. Results reveal a significant increase (2–34-fold) in the three HMs between 2013–2014 and 2021, with Pb/Ca displaying the most prominent increase in both species. This suggests a possible linkage between the oil spill event and the significantly elevated metal/Ca ratios in 2021. Full article
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16 pages, 4199 KiB  
Article
Simple Is the Best: An Alternative Method for the Analysis of Free-Living Nematode Assemblage Structure
by Federica Semprucci, Eleonora Grassi and Maria Balsamo
Water 2022, 14(7), 1114; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14071114 - 31 Mar 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2158
Abstract
An alternative approach to notice changes of the nematode community structure was evaluated in five study cases in the Mediterranean Sea. In detail, we suggested a combination of morpho-functional traits (i.e., amphid, cuticle, buccal cavity, and tail shape) as an alternative to the [...] Read more.
An alternative approach to notice changes of the nematode community structure was evaluated in five study cases in the Mediterranean Sea. In detail, we suggested a combination of morpho-functional traits (i.e., amphid, cuticle, buccal cavity, and tail shape) as an alternative to the taxonomic identification of nematodes. The results clearly demonstrated that the matrixes made using the trait code numbers perfectly mirror the changes of the nematode community structure at the genus level. The combination of the morpho-functional traits more frequently observed in areas under human pressure were ascribable to genera belonging to Xyalidae, Linhomoeidae and Chromadoridae families. This approach might greatly speed the analyses of nematode fauna in biomonitoring programs and might also be adopted for other meiobenthic organisms that may be categorized in functional groups opening new perspectives in the ecological assessment of meiofauna. Full article
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28 pages, 1891 KiB  
Article
Foraminiferal Distribution in Two Estuarine Intertidal Mudflats of the French Atlantic Coast: Testing the Marine Influence Index
by Marie P. A. Fouet, David Singer, Alexandra Coynel, Swann Héliot, Hélène Howa, Julie Lalande, Aurélia Mouret, Magali Schweizer, Guillaume Tcherkez and Frans J. Jorissen
Water 2022, 14(4), 645; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14040645 - 18 Feb 2022
Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2905
Abstract
This study focuses on the foraminiferal distribution on intertidal mudflats of two contrasted estuaries (Auray and Vie) along the French Atlantic coast. In both estuaries, the foraminiferal communities are dominated by Haynesina germanica and the Ammonia tepida group. Stations located near the outlets [...] Read more.
This study focuses on the foraminiferal distribution on intertidal mudflats of two contrasted estuaries (Auray and Vie) along the French Atlantic coast. In both estuaries, the foraminiferal communities are dominated by Haynesina germanica and the Ammonia tepida group. Stations located near the outlets show a high diversity and abundance of species of the genus Elphidium. Stations in the inner estuary show a higher proportion of agglutinated species (Ammotium salsum, Ammobaculites agglutinans). Multivariate statistical analysis suggests that the distance to the sea and the percentage of fine sediment (<63 µm) are the two main parameters explaining the foraminiferal distribution. Chemical analyses of the sediment show that the two studied estuaries are not affected by major anthropogenic pollution, so that the faunas should mainly reflect the natural controlling parameters. Three indices of environmental quality commonly used in coastal areas show counter-intuitive differences between stations, suggesting that these indices may be less reliable for use in intertidal estuarine mudflats. The newly developed Marine Influence Index (MII) integrates three major ecological factors: the position of the sampling point on the salinity gradient, the emergence time at low tide and the relative importance of fresh water discharge. In our dataset, MII shows significant correlations with the controlling environmental parameters (distance to the sea, percentage grains < 63 µm), as well as with the foraminiferal patterns (PCA axis 1, species richness, percentage of Elphidium spp. and Quinqueloculina spp.). These results suggest that the MII explains a substantial part of the faunal variability on estuarine intertidal mudflats, and can be used to detect deviations from the natural distribution patterns in response to anthropogenic pollution. Full article
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25 pages, 11827 KiB  
Article
Contamination Levels of Potentially Toxic Elements and Foraminiferal Distribution Patterns in Lagos Lagoon: A Correlation Analysis
by Olugbenga T. Fajemila, Michael Martínez-Colón, Nisan Sariaslan, Ivory S. Council, Tesleem O. Kolawole and Martin R. Langer
Water 2022, 14(1), 37; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14010037 - 24 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3219
Abstract
The ecological response of benthic foraminifera to bioavailable Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) was evaluated in Lagos Lagoon (Nigeria). We sampled and analyzed PTEs across Lagos Lagoon with the aim to investigate the extent of contaminated sediments, to document their distribution, and to explore [...] Read more.
The ecological response of benthic foraminifera to bioavailable Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) was evaluated in Lagos Lagoon (Nigeria). We sampled and analyzed PTEs across Lagos Lagoon with the aim to investigate the extent of contaminated sediments, to document their distribution, and to explore the relationship between PTE concentration and the spatial distribution, composition, abundance, and species richness of benthic foraminifera biotas. PTE’s recordings showed a wide range reflecting a diffuse contamination, where Contamination and Enrichment Factor suggest low to extremely polluted sediments. Findings of a previous survey of the benthic foraminifera inhabiting Lagos Lagoon revealed diverse assemblages of benthic taxa, species-specific distribution patterns, gradients of species richness and abundance, and a disjunct distribution of agglutinated and hyaline-perforate/porcelaneous taxa along a pronounced salinity gradient. Correlation matrix analysis shows that except for Selenium, all PTE total concentrations positively correlate with mud and Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and two of the most abundant agglutinated taxa, Ammotium salsum, and Trochammina sp. 1. Moreover, both species display significant positive correlations with CrF4-CoF2-F3-F4-total-CuF4-total-NiF3-F4-total-AlF4-total-FeF3-F4-total-ZnF3-F4-total. On the other hand, both foraminifers correlate negatively with PbF4-SeF3-Setotal. The overall significant positive correlation of these PTEs suggests that they behave as micronutrients when complexed with organic matter. No significant positive correlation with none of the PTEs in any fraction was found for neither species richness nor for the most abundant hyaline perforate species (Ammonia aoteana). Some PTE fractions were found to correlate either positively or negatively with individual species, suggesting that they function as either micronutrients and/or stressors. The resulting Contamination Factor of the PTE total concentrations shows that only a few sample sites can be classified as “moderately” polluted for chromium, zinc, and copper and that all sampled sites are classified as “highly polluted” for selenium. The highest concentrations for Cr, Cu, Ni, and Zn were found towards the industrialized western part, an area that is characterized by moderate to high diversity but low abundances. Full article
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10 pages, 4219 KiB  
Communication
Fast and Reliable Identification of Ammonia Phylotypes T1, T2 and T6 Using a Stereomicroscope: Implication for Large-Scale Ecological Surveys and Monitoring Programs
by Jean-Charles Pavard, Julien Richirt, Lucie Courcot, Pascal Bouchet, Laurent Seuront and Vincent M. P. Bouchet
Water 2021, 13(24), 3563; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13243563 - 13 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2202
Abstract
Among benthic foraminifera, the genus Ammonia is characterized by high morphological variability which makes it particularly challenging to recognize using traditional morphology-based taxonomy. Despite the joint efforts made by both molecular and morphological taxonomists, it is still hard to identify different phylotypes based [...] Read more.
Among benthic foraminifera, the genus Ammonia is characterized by high morphological variability which makes it particularly challenging to recognize using traditional morphology-based taxonomy. Despite the joint efforts made by both molecular and morphological taxonomists, it is still hard to identify different phylotypes based on their morphology. A new method was developed recently to discriminate three NE Atlantic phylotypes of Ammonia (T1, T2, and T6). This method is based on two morphometrical parameters using scanning electron microscope (SEM) images (i.e., the average pore diameter and the elevation of sutures on the spiral side), resulting individuals being correctly assigned to their phylotype in more than 90% of cases. In this study, we assess the possibility of implementing these criteria using a stereomicroscope. Phylotype assignations by SEM and stereomicroscopic identifications are in accordance for 62.6% of the scrutinized foraminifera and increase up to 79.5% when only the phylotype T6 is considered. Though the stereomicroscopic identification of Ammonia phylotypes based on these two morphological parameters needs to be cross-validated using molecular tools, this approach noticeably allows the identification of an individual 3 to 7 times faster than using a SEM. The ratio between accuracy and efficiency, an issue that is also attributable to the use of the rose Bengal staining method, suggests prioritizing the use of stereomicroscope identifications in large foraminiferal surveys. Finally, in the context that Ammonia phylotype T6 potentially being an alien species in Europe, this method will help to quickly identify Ammonia phylotypes; hence contributing to monitor the presence of T6 in different regions and then, offering interesting research perspectives to assess the timing and/or the progression of the possible invasion. Full article
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19 pages, 3129 KiB  
Article
Comparison of Four Foraminiferal Biotic Indices Assessing the Environmental Quality of Coastal Mediterranean Soft Bottoms
by Briz Parent, Christine Barras, Erica Bicchi, Laurie M. Charrieau, Constance Choquel, Éric Bénéteau, Grégoire M. Maillet and Frans J. Jorissen
Water 2021, 13(22), 3193; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13223193 - 11 Nov 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2462
Abstract
Coastal environments are exposed to numerous pressures that potentially affect marine soft bottom faunas. Among these pressures, organic matter enrichment is very frequent. Several indices based on living (Rose Bengal-stained) foraminiferal communities have recently been developed to assess the induced impact and determine [...] Read more.
Coastal environments are exposed to numerous pressures that potentially affect marine soft bottom faunas. Among these pressures, organic matter enrichment is very frequent. Several indices based on living (Rose Bengal-stained) foraminiferal communities have recently been developed to assess the induced impact and determine the environmental quality of these environments. Here, we use an open waters Mediterranean Sea data set to test the benefits and drawbacks of four foraminiferal indices: (1) the effective number of species (exp(H’bc)), (2) the Tolerant Species Index for the Mediterranean (TSI-Med), (3) the Foraminifera AMBI (Foram-AMBI), and (4) the Foram Stress Index (FSI). These indices all intend to measure the response of the foraminiferal communities to organic matter enrichment, and therefore, their results should be very similar. We found that the diversity-based index, exp(H’bc), was not suitable to evaluate the environmental quality of our Mediterranean coastal settings, as it had a non-monotonic relationship with the organic matter enrichment gradient. The three indices based on groups of indicator species (TSI-Med, Foram-AMBI, and FSI) yielded fairly similar results. For Foram-AMBI, using only assigned species to calculate proportions of indicator species partly avoided to misinterpret the results. In TSI-Med, a correction based on sediment grain size is applied to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic organic enrichment. Such a correction could also be added to Foram-AMBI and FSI. The limits between the Ecological Quality Status (EQS) classes used for macrofauna were not adapted for Foram-AMBI. Here, we propose new EQS class limits for the Foram-AMBI as follows: very good: 0 ≤ x < 1.4; good: 1.4 ≤ x < 2.4; moderate: 2.4 ≤ x < 3.4; poor: 3.4 ≤ x < 4.4; bad: 4.4 ≤ x ≤ 6. These limits could evolve in the future as new data become available, especially with a poor and bad environmental quality. Full article
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21 pages, 4399 KiB  
Article
Distribution Patterns of Benthic Foraminifera in Fish Farming Areas (Corsica, France): Implications for the Implementation of Biotic Indices in Biomonitoring Studies
by Antoine Dubois, Christine Barras, Jean-Charles Pavard, Annick Donnay, Melvin Béatrix and Vincent M. P. Bouchet
Water 2021, 13(20), 2821; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13202821 - 11 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2145
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 [...] Read more.
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. Full article
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24 pages, 10096 KiB  
Article
Living Benthic Foraminifera from the Surface and Subsurface Sediment Layers Applied to the Environmental Characterization of the Brazilian Continental Slope (SW Atlantic)
by Luciana Cristina de Carvalho Santa-Rosa, Sibelle Trevisan Disaró, Violeta Totah, Silvia Watanabe and Ana Tereza Bittencourt Guimarães
Water 2021, 13(13), 1863; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13131863 - 03 Jul 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 3108
Abstract
Living benthic foraminifera (>63 µm) were studied to characterize the continental slope of the Potiguar Basin (SW Atlantic). Foraminifers from the surface (0–2 cm), subsurface (2–5 cm), and integrated (0–5 cm) sediment layers were analyzed to verify their contribution to environmental characterization. It [...] Read more.
Living benthic foraminifera (>63 µm) were studied to characterize the continental slope of the Potiguar Basin (SW Atlantic). Foraminifers from the surface (0–2 cm), subsurface (2–5 cm), and integrated (0–5 cm) sediment layers were analyzed to verify their contribution to environmental characterization. It was also estimated if and which changes occur when the subsurface is added. Sampling stations were distributed in five transects in four isobaths (150, 400, 1000, and 2000 m). Sediment samples were fixed with 4% buffered formaldehyde and stained with Bengal rose. Were recorded 396 species in the surface layer, 228 in the subsurface, and 449 in integrating both layers. This study did not include tubular agglutinated species. The assemblages from 150 m isobath indicated the upper slope, from 400 m indicated the middle slope and the ones from the 2000 m indicated the lower slope. The surface layer’s assemblage at 1000 m isobath was more similar to the middle slope; in contrast, its subsurface layer’s assemblage had more similarity with the lower slope. Rarefaction curves, Permanova, and NMDS routines indicated a high resemblance between surface and integrated layers. Therefore, the first two centimeters were sufficient to characterize this region based on living benthic foraminifera. Full article
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33 pages, 1849 KiB  
Article
Potential Use of the Benthic Foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus in Marine Sediment Toxicity Testing
by Mary McGann
Water 2021, 13(6), 775; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13060775 - 12 Mar 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2089
Abstract
The benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus are commonly abundant in offshore regions in the Pacific Ocean, especially in waste-discharge sites. The relationship between their abundance and standard macrofaunal sediment toxicity tests (amphipod survival and sea urchin fertilization) as well as sediment [...] Read more.
The benthic foraminifers Bulimina denudata and Eggerelloides advenus are commonly abundant in offshore regions in the Pacific Ocean, especially in waste-discharge sites. The relationship between their abundance and standard macrofaunal sediment toxicity tests (amphipod survival and sea urchin fertilization) as well as sediment chemistry analyte measurements were determined for sediments collected in 1997 in Santa Monica Bay, California, USA, an area impacted by historical sewage input from the Hyperion Outfall primarily since the late 1950s. Very few surface samples proved to be contaminated based on either toxicity or chemistry tests and the abundance of B. denudata did not correlate with any of these. The abundance of E. advenus also did not correlate with toxicity, but positively correlated with total solids and negatively correlated with arsenic, beryllium, chromium, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc, iron, and TOC. In contrast, several downcore samples proved to be contaminated as indicated by both toxicity and chemistry data. The abundance of B. denudata positively correlated with amphipod survival and negatively correlated with arsenic, cadmium, unionized ammonia, and TOC; E. advenus negatively correlated with sea urchin fertilization success as well as beryllium, cadmium, and total PCBs. As B. denudata and E. advenus are tolerant of polluted sediments and their relative abundances appear to track those of macrofaunal toxicity tests, their use as cost- and time-effective marine sediment toxicity tests may have validity and should be further investigated. Full article
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Review

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33 pages, 2591 KiB  
Review
Benthic Foraminiferal Indices and Environmental Quality Assessment of Transitional Waters: A Review of Current Challenges and Future Research Perspectives
by Phoebe A. J. O’Brien, Irina Polovodova Asteman and Vincent M. P. Bouchet
Water 2021, 13(14), 1898; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w13141898 - 08 Jul 2021
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 4902
Abstract
Transitional waters straddle the interface between marine and terrestrial biomes and, among others, include fjords, bays, lagoons, and estuaries. These coastal systems are essential for transport and manufacturing industries and suffer extensive anthropogenic exploitation of their ecosystem services for aquaculture and recreational activities. [...] Read more.
Transitional waters straddle the interface between marine and terrestrial biomes and, among others, include fjords, bays, lagoons, and estuaries. These coastal systems are essential for transport and manufacturing industries and suffer extensive anthropogenic exploitation of their ecosystem services for aquaculture and recreational activities. These activities can have negative effects on the local biota, necessitating investigation and regulation. As a result of this, EcoQS (ecological quality status) assessment has garnered great attention as an essential aspect of governmental bodies’ legislative decision-making process. Assessing EcoQS in transitional water ecosystems is problematic because these systems experience high natural variability and organic enrichment and often lack information about their pre-human impact, baseline, or “pristine” reference conditions, knowledge of which is essential to many commonly used assessment methods. Here, foraminifera can be used as environmental sentinels, providing ecological data such as diversity and sensitivity, which can be used as the basis for EcoQS assessment indices. Fossil shells of foraminifera can also provide a temporal aspect to ecosystem assessment, making it possible to obtain reference conditions from the study site itself. These foraminifera-based indices have been shown to correlate not only with various environmental stressors but also with the most common macrofaunal-based indices currently employed by bodies such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD). In this review, we firstly discuss the development of various foraminifera-based indices and address the challenge of how best to implement these synergistically to understand and regulate human environmental impact, particularly in transitional waters, which have historically suffered disproportionate levels of human impact or are difficult to assess with standard EcoQS methods. Further, we present some case studies to exemplify key issues and discuss potential solutions for those. Such key issues include, for example, the disparate performance of multiple indices applied to the same site and a proper assignment of EcoQS class boundaries (threshold values) for each index. Disparate aptitudes of indices to specific geomorphologic and hydrological regimes can be leveraged via the development of a site characteristics catalogue, which would enable the identification of the most appropriate index to apply, and the integration of multiple indices resulting in more representative EcoQS assessment in heterogenous transitional environments. In addition, the difficulty in assigning threshold values to systems without analogous unimpacted reference sites (a common issue among many transitional waters) can be overcome by recording EcoQS as an ecological quality ratio (EQR). Lastly, we evaluate the current status and future potential of an emerging field, genetic biomonitoring, focusing on how these new techniques can be used to increase the accuracy of EcoQS assessment in transitional systems by supplementing more established morphology-based methods. Full article
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Other

1 pages, 200 KiB  
Correction
Correction: Jorissen et al. The Marine Influence Index (MII): A Tool to Assess Estuarine Intertidal Mudflat Environments for the Purpose of Foraminiferal Biomonitoring. Water 2022, 14, 676
by Frans J. Jorissen, Marie P. A. Fouet, David Singer and Hélène Howa
Water 2022, 14(6), 930; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14060930 - 16 Mar 2022
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Abstract
In the original publication [...] Full article
24 pages, 1230 KiB  
Concept Paper
The Marine Influence Index (MII): A Tool to Assess Estuarine Intertidal Mudflat Environments for the Purpose of Foraminiferal Biomonitoring
by Frans J. Jorissen, Marie P. A. Fouet, David Singer and Hélène Howa
Water 2022, 14(4), 676; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14040676 - 21 Feb 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2592 | Correction
Abstract
In this paper, we propose a marine influence index (MII), which is thought to give an integrated quantitative description of the complex of the environmental parameters controlling the foraminiferal fauna in estuarine intertidal mudflats. The MII contains three components, as follows: (1) the [...] Read more.
In this paper, we propose a marine influence index (MII), which is thought to give an integrated quantitative description of the complex of the environmental parameters controlling the foraminiferal fauna in estuarine intertidal mudflats. The MII contains three components, as follows: (1) the relative distance along the salinity gradient, (2) the emergence time relative to a reference tidal cycle, and (3) the relative importance of river outflow in the 30 days before sampling the foraminiferal fauna. Although these three parameters all have a strong relation with salinity, they also implicitly include other environmental parameters, such as the introduction of marine and continental organic matter and biota, hydrodynamic energy, or temperature. In order to show the functioning of this new index, MII is calculated for 28 stations in the Auray and Vie estuaries, for two different periods. The next step will be to compare the MII with faunal data sets. Ideally, this comparison should allow us to find strong correlations between some characteristics of the foraminiferal assemblages and the MII. If such strong correlations were indeed found, any major deviation of this relationship could then be interpreted as being due to strong anthropogenic disturbance. Full article
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