Document of bibliographic reference 312386

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Using benthic foraminiferal assemblages to assess water quality changes in Mo’orea, French Polynesia

Abstract

As coral reefs face global threats of rising temperatures and ocean acidification, monitoring local threats like anthropogenic runoff becomes ever more important to assess baseline health and predict resilience to future global changes. Benthic foraminifera prove to be excellent proxy organisms for assessing favorability of water conditions for coral growth and sustained health. This study revisited sites on the island of Mo'orea from a foraminiferal survey conducted in 1992 with the objective of assessing changes in community composition and water quality index values along the length of Cook's Bay over time. Comparisons were made between 2018 assemblages of living foraminifera, 2018 assemblages of living and dead foraminifera, and 1992 assemblages of living and dead foraminifera. A gradient of increasing water quality index values from the inner bay to the back reef was observed in 1992 assemblages but not in 2018 assemblages. This suggests the nature of the pollution source has changed from a point source to a non-point source, but differences could also be due to variation in sampling locations and techniques. A principle component analysis revealed systematic differences in proportions of several opportunistic genera between 2018 assemblages of living foraminifera and 2018 assemblages of living and dead foraminifera. More information is needed to determine the cause of these differences. This study provides updated baseline data on foraminiferal assemblages in Cook's Bay and is intended to aid future water quality monitoring efforts with benthic foraminifera.

Bibliographic citation

Moore, M.L. (2018). Using benthic foraminiferal assemblages to assess water quality changes in Mo’orea, French Polynesia. Student Papers 2018: 12 + appendix

Topic

Marine

Access rights

open access

Is accessible for free

true