Copepod assemblages as a bioindicator of environmental quality in three coastal areas under contrasted anthropogenic inputs (Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia) Zaher Drira, Salma Kmiha-Megdiche, Houda Sahnoun, Marc Tedetti, Marc Pagano, Habib Ayadi To cite this version: Zaher Drira, Salma Kmiha-Megdiche, Houda Sahnoun, Marc Tedetti, Marc Pagano, et al.. Cope- pod assemblages as a bioindicator of environmental quality in three coastal areas under contrasted anthropogenic inputs (Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK, Cambridge University Press (CUP), 2018, 98 (8), pp.1889-1905. 10.1017/S0025315417001515. hal-01995209 HAL Id: hal-01995209 https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01995209 Submitted on 27 Feb 2019 HAL is a multi-disciplinary open access L’archive ouverte pluridisciplinaire HAL, est archive for the deposit and dissemination of sci- destinée au dépôt et à la diffusion de documents entific research documents, whether they are pub- scientifiques de niveau recherche, publiés ou non, lished or not. The documents may come from émanant des établissements d’enseignement et de teaching and research institutions in France or recherche français ou étrangers, des laboratoires abroad, or from public or private research centers. publics ou privés. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , page 1 of 17. # Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 2017 doi:10.1017/S0025315417001515 Copepod assemblages as a bioindicator of environmental quality in three coastal areas under contrasted anthropogenic inputs (Gulf of Gabes, Tunisia) zaher drira1, salma kmiha-megdiche 1, houda sahnoun 2, marc tedetti 3, marc pagano 3 and habib ayadi 1 1Department of Life Sciences, Sfax Faculty of Sciences, Biodiversity and Aquatic Ecosystems UR/11ES72 Research Unit, University of Sfax, Soukra Road Km 3.5. BP 1171 – PO Box 3000 Sfax, Tunisia, 2Coastal and Urban Environment Unit, IPEIS, P.C. ‘3000’ Sfax, Tunisia, 3Aix Marseille University, CNRS/INSU, University of Toulon, IRD, Mediterranean Institute of Oceanography (MIO) UM 110, 13288 Marseille, France The study of copepod assemblages indicated the presence of 22 species and 12 families in the southern coast of Sfax, 20 species and 13 families in the northern coast and 14 species and 8 families in the Ghannouch area, with a dominance of Oithonidae (79, 51 and 43% in the southern, northern and Ghannouch coasts, respectively). The relative abundance and the richness diversity of Oithonidae were found to be the most relevant indicators of anthropogenic pollution. Oithona nana, Euterpina acutifrons and Acartia clausi differed significantly in abundance between these three areas under differing degrees of pollution. The study of the structure, composition and density of the copepod fauna showed that the southern 2 coast was a pollution-resistant ecosystem (H ′ ¼ 1.49 + 0.33 bits ind 1; 22 species; density ¼ 51.375 + 4.340 × 2 2 10 3 ind m 3) followed by Ghannouch area (H ′ ¼ 1.74 + 0.28 bits ind 1; 15 species; density ¼ 11.979 + 5.651 × 2 2 10 3 ind m 3) and the northern coast, considered as a restored area (H ′ ¼ 1.95 + 0.26 bits ind 1; 21 species; density ¼ 2 6.516 + 4.304 × 10 3 ind m 3). The three ecosystems can thus be classified according to their degree of resistance to the anthropogenic inputs based on the results of the physico-chemical parameters and the species diversity as follows: southern coast . Ghannouch area . northern coast. 32 Keywords: Sfax, Ghannouch, PO 4 , copepod, anthropogenic pressure, indicators Submitted 30 November 2016; accepted 17 July 2017 INTRODUCTION factors particularly in coastal areas where the combination of land and marine influences drives strong spatiotemporal Marine coastal ecosystems include intertidal and nearshore variability (Siokou-Frangou, 1996). Zooplankton can thus be systems that are influenced by atmospheric, terrestrial and considered as useful indicators of ecosystem health status autochthonous processes (Kennedy et al. , 2002; Carr et al. , (Hays et al. , 2005; Longhurst, 2007). The presence or 2003; Ruttenberg & Granek, 2011; Bahloul et al. , 2015). absence of certain zooplankton species may indicate the rela- These ecosystems are generally sensitive to changes in tive influence of different water types on ecosystem structures upstream terrestrial systems and to direct inputs and may serve as an early indication of a biological response to (Ruttenberg & Granek, 2011). Thus, they are undergoing sig- environmental and climatic changes (Hays et al. , 2005; Ziadi nificant and growing anthropogenic threats (Cloern, 2001; et al. , 2015). Zooplankton signatures may characterize specific Newton et al. , 2003; Beaugrand et al. , 2010; Brander, 2010; hydrographic conditions in most of the world’s ecosystems. Burrows et al. , 2011; Bahri-Trabelsi et al. , 2013; Bahloul Several studies have been undertaken in the Gulf of Gabes et al. , 2015; Serranito et al. , 2016). regarding the characterization of local zooplankton assem- Zooplankton plays a pivotal role in aquatic food webs by blages (Drira et al. , 2010a, b, 2014; Ben Ltaief et al. , 2015, transferring carbon to higher trophic levels, consuming 2017). In this area, the functioning of the coastal environ- microorganisms (bacteria, protists) and serving as a prey for ments is highly complex due to the interaction of various fish and invertebrates (De-Young et al. , 2004; Sampey et al. , factors, i.e. water movements, tide currents, anthropogenic 2007; Ziadi et al. , 2015). Zooplankton communities are inputs, marine traffic and fishing activities (Drira et al. , known to quickly respond to fluctuations in environmental 2008, 2016; Feki et al. , 2013). The Gulf of Gabes is subject to a variety of human activities (Bejaoui et al. , 2004; Gargouri et al. , 2011, 2015). These activities include urban set- Corresponding author: tlements, industrial areas and intense maritime traffic, result- Z. Drira ing in the discharge of industrial and municipal effluents Email: [email protected] enriched in nutrients and pollutants which might negatively 1 #*" #%#! ''$&***!%#%#% %&# %%+# (!")%&'+#" $ ' &(''#'!%#%'%!&#(&) ' ''$&***!%#%#%'%!& ''$&##% 2 zaher drira et al . affect the water quality and the state of the ecosystem (Bejaoui MATERIALS AND METHODS et al. , 2004; Gargouri-Ben Ayed et al. , 2007; Gargouri et al. , 2011, 2015; Aloulou et al. , 2012; Ben Salem et al. , 2015; Ben Study area Salem & Ayadi, 2016; Drira et al. , 2016, 2017). The main goal of this study was to improve knowledge The Gulf of Gabes (Eastern Mediterranean Sea, between 35 8N about the spatial distribution of zooplankton abundance and and 33 8N, Tunisia), is endowed with rich aquatic resources composition in a large spectrum of three coastal areas in the contributing to about 65% of the national fish production in Gulf of Gabes characterized by different degrees of pollution: Tunisia (DGPA, 2004). Sampling was carried out in the (1) the northern coast of Sfax city which is an area restored via Gulf of Gabes during October and November 2014, in three the Taparura project (Callaert et al. , 2009); (2) the southern coastal areas i.e. the southern and the northern coasts of coast of Sfax city; and (3) Ghannouch coast, close to Gabes Sfax and the Ghannouch area. Thirty stations were sampled city, which is considered as highly polluted. The second aim in the Gulf of Gabes among which 10 sampling stations was to relate the differences observed between the three were chosen for each area (SC, NC and GA) taking into sampled areas in respect of zooplankton abundance with account the pollution gradient (Figure 1). physical (temperature, salinity and pH), chemical (ammo- The coastline of Sfax concentrates a great number of indus- + 2 2 nium ions (NH4 ), nitrates (NO 3 ), nitrites (NO 2 ), total nitro- trial activities, mainly related to phosphates, salt works, tan- 32 gen (T-N), orthophosphate (PO 4 ), total phosphorus (T-P) neries, lead foundry, textiles, ceramics industry, soap and silicon atoms ions Si(OH) 4) and biogeochemical (sus- factories and building materials (Barhoumi et al ., 2009). pended particulate matter (SPM), particulate organic carbon The southern coast of Sfax (hereafter called SC) lies and nitrogen (POC and PON), chlorophyll- a (chl-a) and between the fishing harbour in the north and Gargour phaeopigment-a (Phaeo- a)) water parameters characterizing village in the south. This area is marked by the presence of the trophic and pollution status of each zone. the Socie´te´ Industrielle d’Acide Phosphorique et d’Engrais Fig. 1. Location of the studied stations in the southern (stations 1–10) and northern (stations 11–20) coastal areas of Sfax and the Ghannouch area (stations 21–30) sampled during autumn (October–November 2014). #*" #%#! ''$&***!%#%#% %&# %%+# (!")%&'+#" $ ' &(''#'!%#%'%!&#(&) ' ''$&***!%#%#%'%!& ''$&##% shift of copepod structure regarding pollution 3 (SIAPE) industry, which has released large amounts of phos- SC and NC, respectively), 8:30 am and 12:30 am phogypsum wastes for 40 years. These phosphogypsum wastes (13 November 2014; GA) around high tide and under condi- 32 2 are a significant source of phosphates (PO 4 ), chloride (Cl ) tions of calm sea and sunny weather. Seawater samples were 22 w and sulphates (SO4 ) for seawater and may explain the high collected at ≏0.1 m depth using 4 l Nalgene polycarbonate chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the SC surface waters bottles. The bottles were opened below the water surface to (Bahloul et al. , 2015; Drira et