Impact of the Pollution on the Benthic Community Environmental impact of the pollution on the benthic coralligenous community in the Gulf of Fos, northwestern Mediterranean

Abstract

A bionomic study of the coralligenous concretionary hard bottom in the northwestern Mediterranean was carried out at four stations : three stations(Arnette, Laurons, Auguette) under the influence of intense multisource pollution(gradient decreasing from north to south) in the Gulf of Fos, west of Marseille, France, and one control station(Moyade islet) in an unpolluted area near Riou island, east of Marseille. Along the increasing pollution gradient from the outer to the inner part of the Gulf of Fos, there is a qualitative and quantitative impoverishment of the fauna. On the whole, the species richness, the numerical abundance. and the species diversity index are all on the decrease. Accordingly, the innermost station in the Gulf of Fos(Auguette) is most heavily affected by the industrial, and to a lesser extent by the domestic wastes, from the nearby industrial complex and urban areas. The impact on the benthic coralligenous community of this serious alteration has been analysed in view of community composition, functional aspect, and ecological stocks. The faunal affinity between stations has been studied by means of the two coefficients : fourfold point correlation coefficient and Jaccard's community coefficient. The upper layer and inferior face communities of the coralligenous concretionary structures are also compared.