Response of benthic opportunistic polychaetes and amphipods index to different perturbations in coastal oligotrophic areas (Canary archipelago, North East Atlantic Ocean)

Abstract

Oligotrophic areas harbour low macrofaunal abundance and patchy distribution. In these areas it is necessary to test the reliability of biological indicators, especially those based on taxonomic sufficiency where the level of identification is balanced against the need for ecological information and could affect the efficiency of bioindicators. The BOPA (benthic opportunistic polychaetes and amphipods) index was applied in five coastal areas subjected to different perturbations (aquaculture, harbour, brine, sewage, and thermal pollution) in the Canary archipelago, an oligotrophic area of the Atlantic Ocean. Significant differences in the BOPA index between impact and control sites were only found in the area affected by a harbour. Perturbations such as aquaculture, brine or sewage discharge produce only a weak response of the BOPA index, whereas no effects were observed at thermal pollution‐impacted locations. The BOPA index should be used with caution to establish the ecological status of coastal water bodies in the Canary Islands, since it was only reliable in strongly impacted regions (enlargement harbour works), but did not respond clearly to other man‐induced perturbations.

Status of macrobenthic communities in the hypersaline waters of the Gulf of Salwa, Arabian Gulf

“…Opportunistic taxa are able to withstand adverse conditions by rapid colonization in a habitat and are normally small in size (Grassle and Grassle, 1974;Pearson and Rosenberg, 1978;Riera and de-la-Ossa-Carretero, 2013;Weston, 1990). Polychaetes, Fabricia sp.…”

Biological and Physical Effects of Brine Discharge from the Carlsbad Desalination Plant and Implications for Future Desalination Plant Constructions

“…Relative abundances and growth rates of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and benthic bacteria also do not seem to be significantly impacted at salinities of 10% above ambient, but community structure often changes [16,17,25,26]. The Benthic Opportunistic Polychaetes and Amphipods index (BOPA-index) is commonly used as an indicator of the level of "disturbance" to benthic communities in areas impacted by pollution [27][28][29][30], or other stressors such as changes in salinity [31]. This index is based on an inverse relationship between the abundances of sensitive amphipods and opportunistic polychaetes [27,29,30,32].…”

Macrozoobenthos as bioindicator of ecological status in Tanjung Pasir Coastal, Tangerang District, Banten Province, Indonesia

“…AMBI is index calculation to determine waters status, pressure and pollution status based on biota response particularly for tolerance benthos, intolerance, and the diversity (Borja and Tunberg 2011), and also fully equipped by software to make calculation easier (Borja et al 2012). AMBI method always used for some researcher in the world such as researcher from Atlantic Ocean and Mediterania (Carretero dan Dauvin 2010), eastern Florida coastal (Borja and Tunberg 2011), Brazil coastal (Valenca dan Santos 2012), Baltik ocean (Zettler et al 2009), Atlantic ocean in North America (Riera and Carretero 2014), Caspia sea (Gandomy et al 2011), Hindia ocean in North West (Bigot et al 2008;Martin et al 2011) and Asia (Sahidin et al 2014).…”