Bioindication of Bottom Sediments of the Gulf of Finland by the Composition of Meiobenthos in Combination with Biotesting and Chemical Analysis

• Published in: Oceanology (Washington. 1965) 2023-06, Vol.63 (3), p.352-362
• Main Authors: Berezina, N. A., Petukhov, V. A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aquatic crustaceans; Biotesting; Bottom sediments; Bottom water; Chemical analysis; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Hydrocarbons; Hypoxia; Macrofauna; Marine Biology; Meiobenthos; Meiofauna; Metal concentrations; Metals; Oceanography; Organic matter; Phosphates; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Principal components analysis; Sediment; Sediments; Survival; Toxicity; Zoobenthos
• ISSN: 0001-4370; 1531-8508
• DOI: 10.1134/S0001437023030025

The question of the possibility of using meiobenthos to monitor the state of bottom sediments in the Baltic Sea, where bottom macrofauna are unstable due to hypoxia, is of interest. The parameters of meiobenthos and the physicochemical characteristics of bottom sediments and bottom water were studied, and the toxicity of bottom sediments was determined by the survival of the amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus in 10-day tests for 11 stations in the brackish part of the Gulf of Finland (depths of 10–52 m). Principal component analysis revealed two factors explaining 67% of the variability of the variables and groups of stations similar in terms of conditions. Factor 1 combined nine related variables (depth, metal concentrations, sand fraction in bottom sediments, ratio of nematodes and copepods (N/C index), and survival of amphipods), and Factor 2 combined four variables (organic matter and polyaromatic hydrocarbons in BS, phosphates in water and the number of meiobenthos). Thus, bioindication of the environment by meiobenthos is promising, but requires an integrated approach to be applied in monitoring.