Live benthic foraminiferal faunas from the French Mediterranean Coast: Towards a new biotic index of environmental quality
| Type | Article | ||||||||||||
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| Date | 2014-01 | ||||||||||||
| Language | English | ||||||||||||
| Author(s) | Barras Christine1, Jorissen Frans J.1, Labrune Celine2, 3, Andral Bruno4, Boissery Pierre5 | ||||||||||||
| Affiliation(s) | 1 : Univ Angers, CNRS, UMR 6112, LPG BIAF, F-49045 Angers, France. 2 : Univ Paris 06, Observ Oceanol, F-66650 Banyuls Sur Mer, France. 3 : Observ Oceanol, CNRS, UMR 8222, LECOB, F-66650 Banyuls Sur Mer, France. 4 : IFREMER, Lab Environm Ressources Provence Azur Corse, Ctr Mediterranee, F-83507 La Seyne Sur Mer, France. 5 : Agence Eau Rhone Mediterranee & Corse, F-69363 Lyon 07, France. |
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| Source | Ecological Indicators (1470-160X) (Elsevier Science Bv), 2014-01 , Vol. 36 , P. 719-743 | ||||||||||||
| DOI | 10.1016/j.ecolind.2013.09.028 | ||||||||||||
| WOS© Times Cited | 72 | ||||||||||||
| Note | the crew of Europe vessel (IFREMER) | ||||||||||||
| Keyword(s) | Coastal Mediterranean Sea, Foraminiferal faunas, Indicative species, Tolerant species, Biotic index, Water Framework Directive | ||||||||||||
| Abstract | In this study, living (Rose Bengal stained) foraminiferal faunas from 31 stations along the entire French Mediterranean Sea coast except Corsica have been analysed. In the context of the Water Framework Directive, the aim was to develop a biotic index to evaluate the benthic ecosystem quality. Therefore, different faunal parameters (diversity indices, wall structure proportion, and indicative species groups) have been tested to determine their relevance as indicators of environmental conditions. The best results are obtained with a biotic index based on the relative proportion of stress-tolerant taxa. For ecosystem quality evaluation, it is essential to distinguish between natural and anthropogenic eutrophication phenomena. In order to do so, we applied a correction on our biotic index, using the expected percentage of stress-tolerant species in natural environments, in function of sediment grain size (percentage <63 μm). Finally, a comparison of the different faunal parameters calculated for two different sediment intervals (0–1 and 0–4 cm) indicates clearly that the analysis of the uppermost centimetre of the sediment is sufficient to obtain relevant information needed for bio-monitoring purposes. | ||||||||||||
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