Foraminifers as indicators of marine pollution: a culture experiment with Rosalina leei

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages and trace element contents from the lagoons of Orbetello and Lesina

“…Stouff et al (1999) have found that forms kept in culture under apparently constant conditions grew abnormal chambers, but these do not exceed 1% of the live fauna. A culture experiment with Rosalina leei carried out by Saraswat et al (2004) demonstrated the occurrence of stunted and deformed tests in specimens subjected to various Hg concentrations with a positive correlation between abundance of deformed tests and the concentration of this heavy metal.…”

Meiofauna as a Tool for Marine Ecosystem Biomonitoring

“…In recent years, several studies have focused on the response of particular benthic foraminiferal species to selected trace elements in controlled laboratory conditions (e.g. Gustafson et al, 2000;Le Cadre & Debenay, 2006;Nigam et al, 2009;Saraswat et al, 2004). Laboratory culture experiments, through which the benthic foraminiferal response to various elements and concentrations of pollutants can be observed over time, represent the most effective and direct method with which to assess the effect of a single parameter on benthic foraminiferal assemblages.…”

“…In particular, Gustafson et al (2000) reported a decrease in benthic foraminiferal density when exposed to Tri-n Butyltin. Meanwhile, in a monospecific experiment involving the near-shore benthic foraminiferal species Rosalina leei, which was subjected to different concentrations of Hg, Saraswat et al (2004) documented that the growth rate, as well as the maximum size, decreased considerably in the specimens subjected to gradually higher concentrations of mercury. Test abnormalities also developed at the same time.…”

The Response of Benthic Foraminiferal Assemblages to Copper Exposure: A Pilot Mesocosm Investigation

“…The development of abnormal tests on A. tepida exposed to 5.5 mg of oil in 100 ml of seawater has also been reported in petri-dish experiments by [37]. The development of abnormal specimens, as well as a reduction in foraminiferal size, has likewise been documented in R. leii exposed to Hg [45]. These results were confirmed by [46], who evidenced a more acute effect on R. leii when the addition of Hg was sudden rather than gradual.…”

“…The present study can be regarded as complementary to long-term field studies and culture experiments, since the experimental period might have been too short to monitor a potential ecological succession of the assemblage. Unlike several previous investigations [41,42,45,46], this study does not address the response of one species to one pollutant, but instead aims to document the response of benthic foraminifera at an assemblage level.…”