Impact of sewage pollution on two species of sea urchins in the Mediterranean Sea (Cortiou, France): radial asymmetry as a bioindicator of stress. - Université de Bourgogne Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Ecological Indicators Année : 2015

Impact of sewage pollution on two species of sea urchins in the Mediterranean Sea (Cortiou, France): radial asymmetry as a bioindicator of stress.

Résumé

Background The surroundings of the Cortiou sewage are among the most polluted environments of the French Mediterranean Sea (Marseilles, France). So far, no studies have precisely quantified the impact of pollution on the development of organisms in this area. Methods We used a fluctuating asymmetry (FA) measure of developmental instability (DI) to assess environmental stress in two species of radially symmetric sea urchins (Arbacia lixula and Paracentrotus lividus). For six sampling sites (Cortiou, Riou, Maire, East Maire, Mejean, and Niolon), levels of FA were calculated from continuous and discrete skeletal measures of ambulacral length, number of pore pairs and primary tubercles. Results For both species, the most polluted sampling site, Cortiou, displayed the highest level of FA, while the Maire and East Maire sampling sites displayed the lowest levels. A. lixula revealed systematic differences in FA among sampling sites for all characters and P. lividus showed differences in FA for the number of primary tubercles. Conclusions Statistical analyses of FA show a concordance between the spatial patterns of FA among sampling sites and the spatial distribution of sewage discharge pollutants in the Cortiou area. High developmental stress in these sampling sites is associated with exposure to high concentrations of heavy metals and many harmful organic substances contained in wastewater. FA estimated from structures with complex symmetry appears to be a fast and reliable tool to detect subtle differences in FA. Its use in biomonitoring programs for inferring anthropogenic and natural environmental stress is suggested.
Fichier non déposé

Dates et versions

hal-01130174 , version 1 (11-03-2015)

Identifiants

Citer

Yoland Savriama, Leif Christian Stige, Sylvain Gerber, Thierry Pérez, Paul Alibert, et al.. Impact of sewage pollution on two species of sea urchins in the Mediterranean Sea (Cortiou, France): radial asymmetry as a bioindicator of stress.. Ecological Indicators, 2015, 54, pp.39-47. ⟨10.1016/j.ecolind.2015.02.004⟩. ⟨hal-01130174⟩
214 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More