Assessing Metallic Pollution Using Taxonomic Diversity of Offshore Meiobenthic Copepods

Jalila Amorri, Gritta Veit-Köhler, Fehmi Boufahja (), Omar H. Abd-Elkader, Gabriel Plavan, Ezzeddine Mahmoudi and Patricia Aïssa
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Jalila Amorri: Coastal Ecology and Ecotoxicology Unit, LR01ES14 Laboratory of Environment Biomonitoring, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Zarzouna 7021, Tunisia
Gritta Veit-Köhler: Senckenberg am Meer, German Centre for Marine Biodiversity Research (DZMB), 26382 Wilhelmshaven, Germany
Fehmi Boufahja: Coastal Ecology and Ecotoxicology Unit, LR01ES14 Laboratory of Environment Biomonitoring, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Zarzouna 7021, Tunisia
Omar H. Abd-Elkader: Physics & Astronomy Department, Science College, King Saud University, P.O. Box 2455, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Gabriel Plavan: Department of Biology, Faculty of Biology, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Bvd. Carol I, No. 20A, 700505 Iasi, Romania
Ezzeddine Mahmoudi: Coastal Ecology and Ecotoxicology Unit, LR01ES14 Laboratory of Environment Biomonitoring, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Zarzouna 7021, Tunisia
Patricia Aïssa: Coastal Ecology and Ecotoxicology Unit, LR01ES14 Laboratory of Environment Biomonitoring, Faculty of Sciences of Bizerte, University of Carthage, Zarzouna 7021, Tunisia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 23, 1-26

Abstract: The Gulf of Gabès, located on the south-east Tunisian coast, is an important maritime area, with great influence on the local economy and human welfare. The aim of the current study was to assess the response of meiobenthic copepod populations from this gulf to anthropogenic disturbances. Nine sampling sites, situated along the shores of the gulf were surveyed seasonally from winter of 2004 to autumn of 2005. Interestingly, this biotope has one of the highest semi-diurnal tides in the Mediterranean Sea. Despite the fact that the data being presented here are not that new, such a high maximum amplitude of tides reaching 2 m makes any information available on animals with diurnal dispersal cycles such as copepods extremely precious. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge on these crustaceans is obvious and lags behind that of numerous other meiobenthic taxa and planktonic calanoids. Actually, most publications do not reach the species level and are limited to determining densities. This is mainly due to the modest size of harpacticoids, and the lack of qualified taxonomic experts and global taxonomic databases. Sediment samples were analyzed for fluorine, carbohydrates and trace metals (i.e., Fe, Zn and Cd) content. A pollution index, based on the eigenvalues of the main ordination axis of a Principal Component Analysis, was applied. The highest values of chemicals were detected at the sites situated near an industrial complex, along with significant variations among seasons. The copepod community comprised 38 species, including five species new to science. Species richness, density and biomass of copepod communities varied among sites and seasons. These community-based indices were also analyzed separately for each season with conditional autoregressive models, revealing a significant negative response with the level of pollution. However, the results of partial Mantel tests showed positive correlations between species richness and pollution level, after controlling for the effect of geographic proximity in-between pairs of sites (winter: r = 0.927, p < 0.0001; spring: r = 0.935, p < 0.0001; summer: r = 0.918, p < 0.0001; autumn: r = 0.937, p < 0.0001). The overall pattern was that nearby sites were characterized by similar pollution levels and inhabited by similar species of copepods. Moreover, the copepod communities were significantly influenced by pollutants, mainly by trace metals. The results of the current survey emphasize the usefulness of meiobenthic copepods in biomonitoring programs not only for the gulf of Gabès, but also for other coastal areas from the Mediterranean Sea region.

Keywords: meiobenthic copepods; check–list; trace metals; carbohydrates; pollution; Tunisia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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