Living benthic foraminifera of southeastern Mediterranean ultra-oligotrophic shelf habitats: Implications for ecological studies

Simona Avnaim-Katav, Ahuva Almogi-Labin, Mor Kanari, Barak Herut

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The Levantine Basin, the saltiest, hottest and the most ultra-oligotrophic basin in the Mediterranean Sea, continues to be affected by recent anthropogenic changes. That includes the long-term influence of the opening of the Suez Canal and the enhanced oligotrophy in this region due to the damming of the Nile River. This study explores the spatial distribution and diversity patterns of living benthic foraminifera in this impacted SE Levantine shelf, between 40 and 100 water depths at 59 sites, sampled in August 2011 off the Israeli coast. Multivariate statistical analyses resulted in the identification of four distinct benthic foraminiferal assemblages, reflecting their ecological preferences distributed within four coherent biotopes with different environmental settings. Two biotopes were identified along the 40 m depth interval: 1. the middle and the southern shelf in which Deuterammina rotaliformis accompanied by Eggerelloides scaber predominate, and their abundance is positively related to Chl-a concentrations and negatively related to total organic carbon (TOC) and fine-grained sediment contents, and 2. the northern middle sandier carbonate rich shelf in which Lessepsian taxa and others calcareous foraminifera such as Quinqueloculina schlumbergeri and Ammonia tepida dominate the assemblage. The other two biotopes that occur between 60 m and 100 m water depths consist of high concentrations of fine-grained sediments, relatively rich with TOC. Hanzawaia rhodiensis, Asterigerinata mamilla and Rosalina spp. reveal a positive relationship with the carbonate-rich sediments of the northern outer shelf biotope. Lagenammina sp, Reophax scorpiurus, Glomospira charoides, Valvulineria bradyana, and Bolivina striatula exhibit a more positive relationship with higher clayey-silty organic rich sediment of the central-southern outer-shelf biotope. A comparison between the living assemblages investigated in the current study and during a previous study in the late 90s, at the same sites, indicates a prominent foraminiferal response to the ongoing human activity in this region. That includes (I) the expansion of some Lessepsian species into ~40 m water depths habitats indicating the availability of suitable bottom water conditions for these species attributed to the increase in ultra-oligotrophy at this water depth. (II) the very recent introduction (either by shipping/aquaculture) of Deuterammina rotaliformis to the Israeli coast, sometime between the late 90s and 2011and its becoming the most dominant species in the southern middle shelf, a region most affected by the ongoing consequences of the damming of the Nile.

Original languageEnglish
Article number106633
JournalEstuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
Volume234
DOIs
StatePublished - 5 Mar 2020
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This study was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Energy Grant, Israel (no. 014-06-211 to AhuvaAlmogi-Labin and Barak Herut) within the project “Research and Monitoring the Israeli Mediterranean continental shelf as a base for sustainable decisions on marine infrastructures”. We thank the Israeli Ministries of Environmental Protection and Energy for partial support in frame of the National Monitoring Program of Israel's Mediterranean coastal waters. We gratefully acknowledge John Hall for the constructive suggestions regarding the sampling design and the crew of the R/V Shikmona (IOLR), for their dedicated work during the sampling campaign. Thanks are due to Yoav Ben-Dor and Gloria Lopez for technical assistance in sample collection. Michael Kitin, Ruth Binstock, Stephen Abrahams, Hadar Elyashiv, Gideon Tibor, Lana Ashkar from the GSI and IOLR, are highly appreciated for the different analyses carried on during this project. Editor Daniel Baird, reviewer Pia Nardelli and the other anonymous reviewer are deeply appreciated for their constructive comments, suggestions and helpful revision resulting in a significantly improved manuscript.

Funding Information:
This study was carried out with the support of the Ministry of Energy Grant, Israel (no. 014-06-211 to AhuvaAlmogi-Labin and Barak Herut) within the project ?Research and Monitoring the Israeli Mediterranean continental shelf as a base for sustainable decisions on marine infrastructures?. We thank the Israeli Ministries of Environmental Protection and Energy for partial support in frame of the National Monitoring Program of Israel's Mediterranean coastal waters. We gratefully acknowledge John Hall for the constructive suggestions regarding the sampling design and the crew of the R/V Shikmona (IOLR), for their dedicated work during the sampling campaign. Thanks are due to Yoav Ben-Dor and Gloria Lopez for technical assistance in sample collection. Michael Kitin, Ruth Binstock, Stephen Abrahams, Hadar Elyashiv, Gideon Tibor, Lana Ashkar from the GSI and IOLR, are highly appreciated for the different analyses carried on during this project. Editor Daniel Baird, reviewer Pia Nardelli and the other anonymous reviewer are deeply appreciated for their constructive comments, suggestions and helpful revision resulting in a significantly improved manuscript.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Anthropic impact
  • Environmental changes
  • Environmental relations
  • Live foraminiferal ecology
  • Redundancy analysis
  • Southeastern Levantine shelf

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oceanography
  • Aquatic Science

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