Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India

Benthic foraminifera to assess ecological quality status of Kaduvaiyar and Uppanar estuaries, Southeast coast of India

 

Volume 61 Issue 2

R. Punniyamoorthy, P. Partha Sarathy, G. Mahadevan, P. Selvaraj, V. Bharathidasan and P. Murugesan

10.6024/jmbai.2019.61.2.2048-08

Abstract

In the present study, the ecological conditions of Kaduvaiyar and Uppanar estuaries and its adjacent coastal waters was studied by using foraminiferans as a veritable tool. A total of 43 species of foraminifera belonging to 33 genera, 26 families, and 7 orders were recorded in this study. The occurrence of Ammonia beccarii, Ammonia tepida, Bolivina hantkeniana, Elphidium subevolutum and Rosalina globularis was relatively higher. Among the Orders, Rotallida and Miliolida were found to be the dominant groups. Diversity, expressed as the effective number of species (exp H’bc) was found lower in Uppanar estuarine stations (highly polluted sites), whereas the higher values were recorded in coastal stations of Kaduvaiyar Estuary (relatively pristine quality sites). The EcoQS values ranged between 5.0 (UE-1) and 73.3 (KC-LS). This study proves that EcoQS indices are robust tool for assessing the ecological quality of the stressed ecosystem.

 

Keywords

 Foraminifera, EcoQS indices, heavy metal, estuaries, Kaduvaiyar, Uppanar

 

Date : 30-03-2020