Towards a more integrative approach for environmental decision-making in Brazilian transitional waters: improving biomonitoring surveys with a benthic foraminiferal biotic index
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study represents the first attempt to determine the indicator values of benthic foraminiferal species in Brazilian transitional waters. It also uses a regionally adapted species list to explore the potential application of Foram-AMBI, a biotic index for ecological quality. To test this, we assigned 95 living (rose-bengal-stained) benthic foraminiferal species into five ecological groups (EGs), based on the weighted-averaging (WA) optimum and tolerance to the total organic carbon (TOC) contents. Selected and published regional studies were used as the database, while independent Brazilian datasets from Sepetiba Bay and Guanabara Bay – the most polluted regions – were used to validate the ecological group assignments through Foram-AMBI. Furthermore, ecological quality status (EcoQS) criteria adapted to Brazil were developed for Foram-AMBI. The index accurately reflects the degraded environmental conditions in these two ecosystems, with moderate to poor ecological quality status in the most polluted areas. This was further confirmed by significant correlations between Foram-AMBI and TOC in both bays. This study highlights the importance of developing regional species lists and EcoQS criteria for Foram-AMBI, as the accuracy of the Brazilian list was better than that of the European list. While further research across broader pollution gradients is needed, our findings confirm the suitability and reliability of benthic foraminifera as biological indicators for assessing environmental quality in transitional waters.
Source: Journal of Micropalaeontology
Authors: Vincent M. P. Bouchet, Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa, Carla Bonetti, Leticia Burone, Pierre Belart, Wania Duleba, Fabio Francescangeli, Fabrizio Frontalini, Lazaro Laut, Débora S. Raposo, André R. Rodrigues, Sibelle Trevisan Disaró, Daniel Vicente Pupo, Fabrício Leandro Damasceno, Jean-Charles Pavard, Maria Virgínia Alves Martins
Institutions: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Lille, Laboratoire d’Océanologie et de Géosciences, Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Universidade de São Paulo, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Universidad de la República de Uruguay, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, University of Fribourg, University of Urbino, Gesellschaft für Biologische Daten e.V., Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, University of Gothenburg, GeoBioTec - Geobiociências Geotecnologias e Geo-engenharias, University of Aveiro
Language: English
Subfield: Oceanography
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $841
Funders: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior, Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
Awards: G1405317784, G2107744491, G2959372967, G3281275921, G339321982, Geoenvironmental analysis, with emphasis on heavy metals and benthic foraminifera in marine areas affected by domestic and petrochemical sewage, G4842019281, G5087659307, G5477114835, G6378896890, G645198083, G7320913272, G8428192103
OpenAlex ID: W4413802919