title: Environmental Quality Assessment of Bizerte Lagoon (Tunisia) Using Living Foraminifera Assemblages and a Multiproxy Approach.
abstract: This study investigated the environmental quality of the Bizerte Lagoon (Tunisia) through an integrated approach that combined environmental, biogeochemical, and living benthic foraminiferal analyses. Specifically, we analyzed the physicochemical parameters of the water and sediment. The textural, mineralogical, and geochemical characteristics of the sediment, including total organic carbon, total nitrogen, simultaneously extracted metals (SEM), acid volatile sulfides (AVS), chlorophyll a, CaCO3, and changes in bacterial populations and carbon isotopes were measured. The SEM/AVS values indicated the presence of relatively high concentrations of toxic metals in only some areas. Foraminiferal assemblages were dominated by species such as A. parkinsoniana (20-91%), Bolivina striatula (<40%), Hopkinsina atlantica (<17%), and Bolivina ordinaria (<15%) that cannot be considered typical of impacted coastal lagoons both in Mediterranean and northeast Atlantic regions. The results of this work suggest that Bizerte Lagoon is a unique setting. This lagoon is populated by typical marine species that invaded this ecosystem, attracted not only by the prevailing favorable environmental conditions but also by the abundance and quality of food. The results indicate that the metal pollution found in some areas have a negative impact on the assemblages of foraminifera. At present, however, this negative impact is not highly alarming.
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro-UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã. 20550-013 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil; Universidade do Estado do Amazonas-UEA, Av. Djalma Batista, 3578, Flores, CEP 69050-010, Manaus, Brasil; Universidade de Aveiro, Dpto. Geociências, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Maria Virgínia
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Alves Martins
authors.affiliation: Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, 1934-2025 Salammbô, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Noureddine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zaaboub
authors.affiliation: Université de Bourgogne Franche-Comté, Laboratoire de Chrono-Environnement, UMR CNRS 6249, Place Leclerc, F-25030 Besançon Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Lotfi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aleya
authors.affiliation: Università degli Studi di Urbino "Carlo Bo", Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, della Vita e dell'Ambiente, Campus Scientifico Enrico Mattei, Località Crocicchia, 61029 Urbino, Italy.
authors.forename: Fabrizio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frontalini
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro-UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã. 20550-013 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Egberto
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Aveiro, Dpto. Geociências, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Miranda
authors.affiliation: Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro-UERJ, Faculdade de Geologia, Av. São Francisco Xavier, 524, Maracanã. 20550-013 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil.
authors.forename: Miguel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mane
authors.affiliation: Universidade de Aveiro, Dpto. Geociências, Campus de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rocha
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Micropaleontologia-LabMicro, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro-UNIRIO, Av. Pasteur, 296-Urca-Cep 22290-240, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: Lazaro
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laut
authors.affiliation: Institut National des Sciences et Technologies de la Mer, 1934-2025 Salammbô, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Monia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: El Bour
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004787:Environmental Pollution; D056908:Foraminifera / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014416:Tunisia