Studies of Benthonic Foraminifera in the Restigouche Estuary: 1. Faunal Distribution Patterns near Pollution Sources

Schafer, Charles T.

doi:10.4138/1900

Cited by 15 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Later, similar studies have been carried out in different environmental settings. Most of these papers focused on the effects of pollution upon foraminiferal distribution and morphology and dealt with domestic and agricultural wastes (Schafer 1970(Schafer , 1973Schafer and Cole 1974;Seiglie 1975;Setty 1976;Bates and Spencer 1979;Setty and Nigam 1984;Alve and Nagy 1986;Ellison et al 1986;Nagy and Alve 1987;Alve 1991a, b;Yanko and Flexer 1992;Yanko et al 1994), paper mill effluent (Schafer 1970(Schafer , 1973Buckley et al 1974), oil spill (Seiglie 1968, Alve 1995, or trace metals in sediments (Alve 1991a, b;Sharifi et al 1991;Alve and Olsgard 1999;Debenay et al 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages as pollution proxies in the northern coast of Gabes Gulf, Tunisia

Aloulou

Elleuch

Kallel

2011

Environ Monit Assess

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A study of chemical and sedimentological parameters integrated with benthic foraminifera investigation was conducted along the northern coast of Gabes Gulf. Thirty-two samples were studied and a total of 68 benthic foraminiferal species were identified. Heavy metals enrichment factors and total hydrocarbon concentrations showed both metal and petrogenic pollution related mainly to phosphogypsum, sewage, and fishing activities. Statistical analysis (bivariate correlation and hierarchical cluster analysis) show a possible control of these pollutants on density, diversity, as well as the taxonomic composition of the benthic foraminiferal assemblages. The extent to which the population was found less dense and less diversified corresponded to the degree to which the sediment was contaminated. In these contaminated sites, an increase in relative abundance of opportunistic species such Ammonia tepida and Haynesina germanica was found. Far from pollution, foraminiferal assemblages are dominated by species characteristic of Mediterranean shallow water (Ammonia beccarii, Ammonia parkinsoniana, Elphidium crispum, Elphidium williamsoni, Elphidium advenum, Peneroplis planatus, Peneroplis pertesus).

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages as pollution proxies in the northern coast of Gabes Gulf, Tunisia

Aloulou

Elleuch

Kallel

2011

Environ Monit Assess

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“…Several workers have concentrated on the effect of anthropogenic environmental changes on Foraminifera, especially on how benthic Foraminifera respond to pollution from sewage outfalls (e.g. SEIG-LIE 1968, 1975SCHAFER 1973;BATES & SPENCER 1979) and to thermal and chemical pollution (e.g. SCHAFER 1970SCHAFER , 1973BUCKLEY & al.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benthic foraminiferal response to environmental change in the Skagerrak, northeastern North Sea

Moodley

Troelstra

Weering

1993

Sarsia

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“…We infer that the abiotic zone (except for a few displaced shells) in the upper half of the early European period in M4 (50-30 cm) may have resulted, as elsewhere, from excessively high nutrient conditions from the nearby outfall (e.g., Schafer 1970;Alve 1995) possibly associated with acidic conditions in the sediment that dissolved most calcareous shells (e.g., Bandy et al 1964a). …”

Section: Early European-meat Work Dischargesmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…In the abiotic zone, usually located immediately adjacent to high-nutrient outfalls, foraminifera are either not present or present only in very low numbers because of the severe eutrophic conditions (e.g., Schafer 1970;Schafer etal. 1991;Alve 1995).…”

Section: Foraminiferal Record Of High-nutrient Pollutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Foraminiferal record of sewage outfall impacts on the inner Manukau Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand

Matthews¹,

Grenfell²,

Hayward³

et al. 2005

New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research

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The fossil foraminiferal faunas preserved in intertidal sediment in six cores document the impact of human activities on the ecosystems of the north-east arm of the Manukau Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. They indicate that Polynesian forest clearance and horticulture had negligible impact on the harbour biota. Before 1960, organic-rich discharges from four large meat works around the head of Mangere Inlet produced changes in nearby foraminiferal faunas but did not affect faunas in the more seaward part of the arm. Initial early European increases in organic nutrients from the meat works resulted in the development of weak hypertrophic zones around the outfalls, characterised by higher absolute abundances of benthic foraminifera and ostracods and possible benthic algal blooms. Higher organic nutrient levels in one core closer to an outfall produced eutrophic and anoxic conditions with no foraminifera (abiotic zone the meat works and other outfalls progressively closed. This change coincided with a sharp increase in zinc (Zn) and lead (Pb) levels in sediments throughout the arm, attributed to a rapid increase in motor vehicle numbers and stormwater run-off. The MSTP discharged vast quantities of nutrient-and mud-rich fresh water into the seaward part of the arm, resulting in an order of magnitude increase in sedimentation rates throughout most of the arm and a widespread change in the foraminiferal faunas. Foraminiferal abundance generally decreased and species diversity increased with the appearance of numerous juvenile foraminiferal shells carried in by the incoming tide from subtidal habitats nearer the harbour mouth. Also appearing in large numbers in the post-1960 sediment are planktic foraminifera, large diatom valves, and sponge sterrasters, all of which are inferred to have been transported in. The sudden increase in displaced microfossils may be a result of a combination of fresh water-induced flocculation and increased "stickiness" of the substrate from the growth of benthic algal mats, resulting from the high nutrient output from the MSTP.

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Studies of Benthonic Foraminifera in the Restigouche Estuary: 1. Faunal Distribution Patterns near Pollution Sources

Cited by 15 publications

References 7 publications

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages as pollution proxies in the northern coast of Gabes Gulf, Tunisia

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages as pollution proxies in the northern coast of Gabes Gulf, Tunisia

Benthic foraminiferal response to environmental change in the Skagerrak, northeastern North Sea

Foraminiferal record of sewage outfall impacts on the inner Manukau Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand

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