Unveiling the ecological status of the Arabian Gulf's marine ecosystem: Insights from benthic community analysis.
Mar Pollut Bull
; 205: 116571, 2024 Aug.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38941805
ABSTRACT
This study assessed the ecological health of waters within the Saudi Arabian Exclusive Economic Zone, by utilizing benthic biotic indices with a marine monitoring dataset covering the years 2013 to 2018. This comprehensive evaluation covered a vast expanse, encompassing 67 distinctive sampling locations characterized by a wide range of depth and salinity gradients. The study examined spatial fluctuations in the benthic community and assessed potential correlations with environmental variables, including salinity, depth, sediment texture, total organic carbon, and other relevant factors. The macrobenthic density varied across the study sites, with an average density of 566 ± 120 ind.m-2. The Shannon diversity index ranged from 3.21 and 5.90, with an average of 4.70 ± 0.52. Based on the average AMBI values, all the locations were categorized as either slightly disturbed or undisturbed. Additionally, the M-AMBI analysis indicated that 95.5 % sites were in good or high ecological status.
Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Environmental Monitoring
/
Ecosystem
/
Biodiversity
Limits:
Animals
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
En
Journal:
Mar Pollut Bull
Year:
2024
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Saudi Arabia