Planktonic ciliate communities along an environmental gradient in the Nile Delta (Damietta region, Egypt)

The spatial patterns of planktonic ciliate communities were studied from May to June 2019 in the Nile Delta’s Damietta region, southeastern Mediterranean. The ciliate communities were sampled from twenty-five sites of five stressed domains with spatial gradients of environmental status. A total of 3...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Scientific reports 2024-08, Vol.14 (1), p.19950-15, Article 19950
Main Authors: El-Tohamy, Wael S., Hopcroft, Russell R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
631/158
631/601
704/172
Biodiversity
Bioindicator
Bioindicators
Chlorophyll A - analysis
Ciliates
Ciliophora
Coastal zone
Damietta region
Dominant species
Ecosystem
Egypt
Environmental gradient
Environmental stress
Estuaries
Harbors
Humanities and Social Sciences
Indicator species
multidisciplinary
Plankton
Planktonic ciliates
Salinity
Salinity effects
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spatial analysis
Spatial distribution
Upstream
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Summary:The spatial patterns of planktonic ciliate communities were studied from May to June 2019 in the Nile Delta’s Damietta region, southeastern Mediterranean. The ciliate communities were sampled from twenty-five sites of five stressed domains with spatial gradients of environmental status. A total of 32 ciliate taxa with six dominant species were identified, comprising 21 tintinnids and 11 aloricate ciliates. The abundance and richness of each ciliate group varied geographically and were most strongly influenced by salinity variations; tintinnid ciliates attained high abundance and richness at high salinity sites in the harbour and coastal region and decreased within the estuary upstream. Aloricate ciliates were poorly represented at most sites but were a substantial proportion of upstream estuarine sites. Multivariate/univariate analyses demonstrated that spatial patterns of the ciliate communities were significantly correlated with environmental variables, especially salinity, chlorophyll-a, and nutrients, either alone or in combination with one another. These results indicate that the ciliates can be useful bioindicators in stressed environments while also allowing the detection of impacts on short time scales by rapidly responding to environmental variations.
ISSN:2045-2322
2045-2322
DOI:10.1038/s41598-024-69551-9