Human impacts on large benthic foraminifers near a densely populated area of Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands

Human impacts on sand-producing, large benthic foraminifers were investigated on ocean reef flats at the northeast Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, along a human population gradient. The densities of dominant foraminifers Calcarina and Amphistegina declined with distance from densely populated island...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine pollution bulletin 2010-08, Vol.60 (8), p.1279-1287
Main Authors: Osawa, Yoko, Fujita, Kazuhiko, Umezawa, Yu, Kayanne, Hajime, Ide, Yoichi, Nagaoka, Tatsutoshi, Miyajima, Toshihiro, Yamano, Hiroya
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amphistegina
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Applied ecology
Atolls
Biological and medical sciences
Calcarina
Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution
Environment
Environmental Monitoring - methods
Flats
Foraminifera
Foraminifera - growth & development
Fresh Water - chemistry
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Groundwater
Human impact
Human influences
Humans
Islands
Large benthic foraminifer
Majuro Atoll
Marine
Marine and brackish environment
Micronesia
Nitrogen - analysis
Nutrient
Nutrients
Oceans
Phosphates - analysis
Population Density
Reef island
Reefs
Sea water
Seawater - chemistry
Water Pollutants - analysis
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Human impacts on sand-producing, large benthic foraminifers were investigated on ocean reef flats at the northeast Majuro Atoll, Marshall Islands, along a human population gradient. The densities of dominant foraminifers Calcarina and Amphistegina declined with distance from densely populated islands. Macrophyte composition on ocean reef flats differed between locations near sparsely or densely populated islands. Nutrient concentrations in reef-flat seawater and groundwater were high near or on densely populated islands. δ15N values in macroalgal tissues indicated that macroalgae in nearshore lagoons assimilate wastewater-derived nitrogen, whereas those on nearshore ocean reef flats assimilate nitrogen from other sources. These results suggest that increases in the human population result in high nutrient loading in groundwater and possibly into nearshore waters. High nutrient inputs into ambient seawater may have both direct and indirect negative effects on sand-producing foraminifers through habitat changes and/or the collapse of algal symbiosis.
ISSN:0025-326X
1879-3363
DOI:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2010.03.014