Reconstruction of the palaeo-ecological quality status in an impacted estuary using benthic foraminifera: The Santos Estuary (Sao Paulo state, SE Brazil)

Autor(es)

de Jesus, Marcio S. dos S. ^[1] ; Frontalini, Fabrizio ^[2] ; Bouchet, Vincent M. P. ^[3] ; Yamashita, Cintia ^[1] ; Sartoretto, Julie R. ^[1] ; Figueira, Rubens C. L. ^[1] ; de Mello E Sousa, Silvia H. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Univ Sao Paulo, Inst Oceanog, Praca Oceanog 191, Sao Paulo, SP - Brazil

^[2] Univ Urbino Carlo Bo, DiSPeA, Campus Sci Enrico Mattei, I-61029 Urbino - Italy

^[3] Univ Lille, Univ Littoral Cote DOpale, Lab Oceanol & Geosci, CNRS, UMR 8187, LOG, F-59000 Lille - France

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH; v. 162, DEC 2020.
• Citações Web of Science: 0

Resumo

The Santos Estuary (SE Brazil) is a coastal ecosystem with a high ecological importance and has been strongly impacted by human activities over the last century. A multiproxy analysis of sediment core dated by 137Cs, 210Pb and 226Ra activities and based on sediment geochemistry and benthic foraminifera is here used to reconstruct the environmental changes and the variations of the Palaeo-Ecological Quality Status (Palaeo-EcoQS) during the last-120 years. The Palaeo-EcoQS was reconstructed by applying the diversity index Exp(H'bc) based on the benthic foraminiferal fauna. Specifically, the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) allowed to assess the Palaeo-EcoQS during the last-120 years using local reference conditions. Based on our data, the pre-industrial period (-1883-1902) represents the reference conditions with ``Good{''} Palaeo-EcoQS. The-1902-1972 period coincides with the beginning of industrial operations and intensification of coastal urbanization leading to a deterioration of the environmental quality and Palaeo-EcoQS shifting to ``Moderate{''} conditions. Dredging operations in 1972 led to increase the influences of adjacent sea that ultimately resulted in a ``Good{''} Palaeo-EcoQS persisting up to the 1990s. Despite the preservation actions and recovery programs, the 1993-2012 period was characterized by an overall deterioration of the environmental conditions. Indeed, the reconstructed ``Poor{''} to ``Bad{''} Palaeo-EcoQS suggest the ineffectiveness of the remediation actions. This work confirmed that benthic foraminifera are reliable to evaluate EcoQS and Palaeo-EcoQS in estuarine ecosystems. Based on the present findings and previous studies showing the potential of fossil foraminifera to define in situ reference conditions, we recommend the inclusion of foraminifera in the list of biological quality elements within legislations concerning transitional and marine habitats. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 18/14161-0 - Evolução da qualidade ambiental no último século do Estuário de Santos, São Paulo, baseada em uma análise de multi-indicadores
• Beneficiário: Márcio Santana dos Santos de Jesus
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Iniciação Científica
• Processo FAPESP: 19/22902-2 - Evolução da qualidade ambiental durante o último século do Estuário de Santos (São Paulo - Brasil) baseada em uma análise de multi-indicadores
• Beneficiário: Márcio Santana dos Santos de Jesus
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Exterior - Estágio de Pesquisa - Iniciação Científica
• Processo FAPESP: 19/13833-7 - Avaliação da qualidade ambiental do sistema estuarino de Santos, São Vicente e Bertioga, Litoral Sul do Estado de São Paulo: um estudo multiproxies (AQUASAN)
• Beneficiário: Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular
• Processo FAPESP: 11/50581-4 - Suscetibilidade e resistência de sistemas estuarinos urbanos a mudanças globais: balanço hidro-sedimentar, elevação do nível do mar, resposta a eventos extremos
• Beneficiário: Rubens Cesar Lopes Figueira
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Regular