Seawater quality assessment and identification of pollution sources along the central coastal area of Gabes Gulf (SE Tunisia): Evidence of industrial impact and implications for marine environment protection

Zrelli, Radhouan El; Rabaoui, Lotfi; Alaya, Mohsen Ben; Daghbouj, N.; Castet, Sylvie; Besson, Philippe; Michel, Sylvain; Bejaoui, Nejla; Courjault‐Radé, Pierre

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2017.12.012

Cited by 66 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Excluding the few stations with no amphipods, the poorest stations include two stations in the Ben Khlaf channel and two stations in the Mimoun channel. The low numbers of amphipods at these stations cannot be directly linked with phosphogypsum pollution (El Zrelli et al, 2018), as low-abundance amphipod populations are found both near and at some distance from the industrial outfall.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Amphipods from tidal channels of the Gulf of Gabès (central Mediterranean Sea)

Fersi¹,

Dauvin²,

Pezy³

et al. 2018

Medit. Mar. Sci.

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The spatial and temporal species richness, abundance and assemblage structure of amphipods from four tidal channel of the Gulf of Gabès were studied at 26 stations and during four seasons from March 2016 to January 2017. This led to the identification of 4,278 individuals, 45 species and 21 families. The four mostly diversified families are the Ampeliscidae (6 species), the Caprellidae (5) and the Aoridae and Maeridae (4 species both), while three families account for ~ 75% of the individuals: Aoridae (45.5 %), Corophiidae (20.5%) and Dexaminidae (7.2%). The species richness and abundance were higher in winter than at other seasons. The fauna is dominated by a small number of species characteristic of areas with detritus accumulation and seagrass meadows, including Microdeutopus anomalus, Monocorophium acherusicum, Dexamine spinosa, Microdeutopus gryllotalpa, Cymadusa filosa and Elasmopus rapax, which are commonly recorded in lagoons and coastal shallow waters of the Mediterranean Sea. The amphipod structure is linked to the location of tidal channels in the Gulf of Gabès. Abundances are low in the Kerkennah channel compared with other channels, especially the Maltine channel with high winter accumulation of organic matter. There are also low abundances in high-energy hydrodynamic zones with gravel sediment; conversely, the presence of macrophytes, mainly in the seagrass meadows, increases amphipod diversity. As a result of this study, five new species can be added to the inventory of the Tunisian marine amphipod fauna, including a non-native species for the Mediterranean Sea, Paracaprella pusilla.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Amphipods from tidal channels of the Gulf of Gabès (central Mediterranean Sea)

Fersi¹,

Dauvin²,

Pezy³

et al. 2018

Medit. Mar. Sci.

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“…Sample GBS-02 was collected in the industrial sludge consisting of dark siliciclastic sediments (Facies G1, Fig. 3, Table 3), where concentrations of TOC and heavy metals reach the highest values in both seawater and marine sediments (Supplemental Information S2;El Zrelli et al, 2015;El Zrelli et al, 2018;Ayadi, Aloulou & Bouzid, 2015;El Kateb et al, 2018b). Major contributors to this cluster are A. tepida and B. striatula, two stress-tolerant species.…”

Section: Cluster F: Major Industrial Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This industrial pollution has heavily contaminated the marine sediments (El Zrelli et al, 2015;Gargouri et al, 2011;Wali et al, 2013;Ayadi, Aloulou & Bouzid, 2015;Mkawar et al, 2007) and seawater (Darmoul, Hadj-Ali & Vitiello, 1980;El Zrelli et al, 2018). Resultant heavy metals bioaccumulation in marine fauna is documented (Rabaoui et al, 2014;Messaoudi et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Living (stained) foraminifera in the Lesser Syrtis (Tunisia): influence of pollution and substratum

Kateb

Beccari

Stainbank

et al. 2020

PeerJ

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Foraminifera are protozoans with biomineralized tests that can be successfully used as a low cost monitoring tool to assess the health status of marine environments. Living benthic foraminiferal assemblages can provide essential information on natural and/or anthropogenic stresses and provide baseline conditions for studies on fossil material. Several studies have highlighted the negative impact of phosphate treatment industries along the Gulf of Gabes (Lesser Syrtis, Tunisia) on the marine environment. However, only a few studies, based on living (stained) benthic foraminifera, are presently available to assess environmental and/or ecological conditions in this Gulf. Thirty-eight surface sediment samples were quantitatively investigated to identify the dominant living benthic foraminiferal species and potential pollution-sensitive and stress-tolerant species. One-hundred and sixty-one species were identified, and grouped into seven clusters representing different environments within the Gulf. These groups represent polluted settings (Cluster A and B), polluted environments characterized by physicochemical variability (Cluster C), seagrass meadows and “pristine” sites (Cluster D and E) and the region subjected to major industrial impact (Cluster F). The final outlier Cluster, identified the foraminifera barren and all shallow coastal stations. A SIMPER analysis helped identify species with clear and fast responses to environmental perturbations (Ammonia tepida, Amphistegina lessonii, Brizalina striatula, Bulimina marginata, Buliminella elegantissima, Eggereloides scaber, Peneroplis perutusus, Rosalina macropora, Rosalina villardeboana, Trochammina inflata). A comparison with the measured geochemical parameters (TOC, phosphorus in the sediments and heavy metal concentrations in the seawater) has shown that the benthic foraminiferal assemblages are mainly linked to phosphorus, TOC, As and Cd pollution. We also provide here the first compilation of the identified living species in the Lesser Syrtis, their synonyms and digital images of important species.

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“…To express the potential ecological risk of a given contaminant quantitatively, the risk factor can be defined according to the following equation [16]: (4) …where C f i represents the calculated contamination factor, which is obtained by dividing the concentration of each element by its reference value (an unpolluted soil) while T f i corresponds to the toxic response of the heavy metal [17]. According to Hakanson [16], the toxic response factor of the studied heavy metals is: 30 for Cd, 10 for As, 5 [16].…”

Section: Ecological Risk Potential Index (E R I )mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…quality of the atmosphere, water and food crops, but also threatened human health by way of the trophic chain [5][6][7]. These have a negative impact on sustainable development concepts.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating the Heavy Metals-Associated Ecological Risks in Soil and Sediments of a Decommissioned Tunisian Mine

Yousfi¹,

Ouaer²,

Dahri³

et al. 2019

Pol. J. Environ. Stud.

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Heavy metals persistence in the environment has always been one of the most important research topics. Mining has undeniably contributed to the country's economic development significantly. However, like any mining activity it has generated a sharp increase in the levels of toxic heavy metals in the environment [1-3]. Northern Tunisia is an important metallogenic province that used to produce about 2.3 million tons (MT) of lead, 2 MT of zinc and 0.8 MT of fluorine [4]. After the mine's closure, several environmental problems surfaced and mining site construction was abandoned with no planned perspectives. The mere heavy metal pollution was not only degrading the

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Seawater quality assessment and identification of pollution sources along the central coastal area of Gabes Gulf (SE Tunisia): Evidence of industrial impact and implications for marine environment protection

Cited by 66 publications

References 33 publications

Amphipods from tidal channels of the Gulf of Gabès (central Mediterranean Sea)

Amphipods from tidal channels of the Gulf of Gabès (central Mediterranean Sea)

Living (stained) foraminifera in the Lesser Syrtis (Tunisia): influence of pollution and substratum

Evaluating the Heavy Metals-Associated Ecological Risks in Soil and Sediments of a Decommissioned Tunisian Mine

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