Multiple human pressures in coastal habitats: variation of meiofaunal assemblages associated with sewage discharge in a post-industrial area

Bertocci, Iacopo; Dell’Anno, Antonio; Musco, Luigi; Gambi, Cristina; Saggiomo, Vincenzo; Cannavacciuolo, Mario; Martire, Marco Lo; Passarelli, Augusto; Zazo, Gianluca; Danovaro, Roberto

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.11.121

Cited by 60 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 124 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In laboratory, the meiobenthos was extracted using the decantation method. The samples were sieved through a 500‐ μ m mesh (upper limit) and 50‐ μ m mesh size (lower limit) to retain the meiobenthic organisms (Pusceddu et al ; Bertocci et al ). The extraction procedure was repeated five times, and at each time, sediment was carefully checked in order to collect all the animals.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean acidification alters meiobenthic assemblage composition and organic matter degradation rates in seagrass sediments

Ravaglioli

Lardicci

Pusceddu

et al. 2019

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Seagrass meadows are an important organic matter (OM) reservoir but, are currently being lost due to global and regional stressors. Yet, there is limited research investigating the cumulative impacts of anthropogenic stressors on the structure and functioning of seagrass benthic assemblages, key drivers of OM mineralization and burial. Here, using a 16‐month field experiment, we assessed how meiobenthic assemblages and extracellular enzymatic activities (as a proxy of OM degradation) in Posidonia oceanica sediments responded to ocean acidification (OA) and nutrient loadings, at CO2 vents. P. oceanica meadows were exposed to three nutrient levels (control, moderate, and high) at both ambient and low pH sites. OA altered meiobenthic assemblage structure, resulting in increased abundance of annelids and crustaceans, along with a decline in foraminifera. In addition, low pH enhanced OM degradation rates in seagrass sediments by enhancing extracellular enzymatic activities, potentially decreasing the sediment carbon storage capacity of seagrasses. Nutrient enrichment had no effect on the response variables analyzed, suggesting that, under nutrient concentration unlikely to cause N or P imitation, a moderate increase of dissolved nutrients in the water column had limited influence on meiobenthic assemblages. These findings show that OA can significantly alter meiobenthic assemblage structure and enhance OM degradation rates in seagrass sediments. As meiofauna are ubiquitous key actors in the functioning of benthic ecosystems, we postulated that OA, altering the structure of meiobenthic assemblages and OM degradation, could affect organic carbon sequestration over large spatial scales.

show abstract

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean acidification alters meiobenthic assemblage composition and organic matter degradation rates in seagrass sediments

Ravaglioli

Lardicci

Pusceddu

et al. 2019

Limnology & Oceanography

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although our study is intrinsically unable to elucidate the mechanisms involved, the broader implications of our findings are numerous. First, the knowledge of natural patterns of distribution and abundance of Cystoseira species would provide a reference for detecting changes due to anthropogenic disturbance (Chapman et al 1995;Fraschetti et al 2005), which is of particular importance in an area subject to a wide number of human activities of potential impact such as the Gulf on Naples (Bertocci et al, 2019). Second, such knowledge is essential to optimize sampling and experimental designs suited to capture, in the most comprehensive way possible, the actual variability of the target organisms, thus avoiding possibly incorrect ecological interpretations (Underwood 1993;Benedetti-Cecchi et al 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Syntopic Cystoseira taxa support different molluscan assemblages in the Gulf of Naples (southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

Chiarore

Bertocci

Fioretti

et al. 2019

Mar. Freshwater Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Brown macroalgae belonging to the genus Cystoseira (Fucales: Sargassaceae) are canopy-forming organisms the recent decline of which at a basin and local scale has been widely documented, which urgently calls for research to fill knowledge gaps and support new and effective measures for protection. We, hereby, characterised the molluscan assemblages associated with three Cystoseira taxa (C. amentacea, C. compressa and C. crinita) from Ischia Island (Italy, Tyrrhenian Sea), and tested whether different congeneric taxa may syntopically support a different biota. In particular, these assemblages were compared among three Cystoseira species, between two times of sampling (June–July 2015 and June–July 2016), and among six sites in terms of multivariate structure (identity and relative abundances of constituting taxa combined, and presence–absence composition), as well as for synthetic measures of diversity, including the total richness of taxa, the exponential Shannon index and the reciprocal Simpson index. In total, 24736 molluscan individuals were collected, overall belonging to 52 taxa. The majority of the identified species included micrograzers and filter feeders, which is in agreement with similar previous studies. The composition of associated molluscan assemblages, which was mainly represented by juvenile individuals, differed among the three Cystoseira species, suggesting that even congeneric taxa do not support an analogous benthic fauna. The present findings have shed light on the molluscan biota associated with Cystoseira taxa in the Gulf of Naples and strengthened the importance of such habitat-forming macroalgae in structuring the local infralittoral invertebrate biodiversity and as a nursery for species-specific associated molluscs.

show abstract

“…In the present study, we isolated and identified different bacterial strains from sediment samples collected in front of an abandoned industrial site located in the Gulf of Naples (Mediterranean Sea), characterised by concentrations of Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, as well as polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) that are above the legal limits [20,21], and tested the isolated taxa for their bioremediation potential on sediment samples in terms of hydrocarbon degradation and decrease in metal mobility.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Degradation of Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metal Reduction by Marine Bacteria in Highly Contaminated Sediments

et al. 2020

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Investigations on the ability of bacteria to enhance removal of hydrocarbons and reduce heavy metal toxicity in sediments are necessary to design more effective bioremediation strategies. In this study, five bacterial strains, Halomonas sp. SZN1, Alcanivorax sp. SZN2, Pseudoalteromonas sp. SZN3, Epibacterium sp. SZN4, and Virgibacillus sp. SZN7, were isolated from polluted sediments from an abandoned industrial site in the Gulf of Naples, Mediterranean Sea, and tested for their bioremediation efficiency on sediment samples collected from the same site. These bacteria were added as consortia or as individual cultures into polluted sediments to assess biodegradation efficiency of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and heavy metal immobilisation capacity. Our results indicate that these bacteria were able to remove polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, with a removal rate up to ca. 80% for dibenzo-anthracene. In addition, these bacteria reduced arsenic, lead, and cadmium mobility by promoting their partitioning into less mobile and bioavailable fractions. Microbial consortia generally showed higher performance toward pollutants as compared with pure isolates, suggesting potential synergistic interactions able to enhance bioremediation capacity. Overall, our findings suggest that highly polluted sediments select for bacteria efficient at reducing the toxicity of hazardous compounds, paving the way for scaled-up bioremediation trials.

show abstract

Multiple human pressures in coastal habitats: variation of meiofaunal assemblages associated with sewage discharge in a post-industrial area

Cited by 60 publications

References 124 publications

Ocean acidification alters meiobenthic assemblage composition and organic matter degradation rates in seagrass sediments

Ocean acidification alters meiobenthic assemblage composition and organic matter degradation rates in seagrass sediments

Syntopic Cystoseira taxa support different molluscan assemblages in the Gulf of Naples (southern Tyrrhenian Sea)

Degradation of Hydrocarbons and Heavy Metal Reduction by Marine Bacteria in Highly Contaminated Sediments

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About