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Combined assessment of bacteriological and environmental indicators of fecal contamination in Agadir bay ecosystems (South-West Morocco)

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Abstract

This study was carried out to assess the microbiological quality of two coastal ecosystems of Agadir Bay: Oued Souss estuary and Agadir beach (Atlantic coast of Morocco). The study revolves on the effect of environmental parameters on the fecal bacteria populations between March 2018 and February 2019. Environmental parameters and bacterial enumeration of fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci were performed for water, bivalves (Donax trunculus and Scrobicularia plana) and sediments. Standardized methods of conventional microbiology were used for the enumeration of fecal indicator bacteria. The physicochemical parameters showed seasonal fluctuations following those of climatic conditions. With a total of 72 samples, Oued Souss and Agadir beach have almost the same trend of fecal coliforms loads around 4.95, 4.73 and 2.19 log10 CFU/g in sediment, bivalve and water, respectively. For fecal streptococci, Agadir beach recorded a maximum of 5.47 log10 CFU/g for both sediments and bivalves and 1.95 log10 CFU/g for water. However, higher values were observed at Oued Souss estuary with an average of 6.55, 5.84 and 2.08 log10 CFU/g in sediment, bivalve and water compartment, respectively. The ratios of fecal coliforms to fecal streptococci represented maximum values in Spring (3.73) and Winter (2.31) for Agadir beach and in summer (1.03) for Oued Souss estuary. The principal component analysis was applied to determine the contribution of environmental parameters to the abundance of fecal indicator bacteria. Overall, these findings show the effect of environmental parameters on the evolution of fecal contamination in the studied sites.

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Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Ibn Zohr University and the faculty of sciences for the help provided during the sampling periods.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aquatic System Laboratory: Marine and Continental Environment, Faculty of Sciences Agadir, Department of Biology, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir, Morocco

    A. Chahouri, N. El Ouahmani, A. El Azzaoui, B. Yacoubi, A. Banaoui & A. Moukrim

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  1. A. Chahouri
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  2. N. El Ouahmani
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  3. A. El Azzaoui
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  4. B. Yacoubi
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  6. A. Moukrim
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Contributions

Abir Chahouri designed the experiments, collected data, performed the analysis, wrote the draft, reviewed the paper. Nadia El Ouahmani helped during the collection and analysis of data. Ahmed El azzaoui performed the statistical analysis. Bouchra Yacoubi supervised the work and reviewed the draft. Ali Banaoui supervised the work, designed the experiments and reviewed the draft. Abdellatif Moukrim supervised the work, designed the experiments and reviewed the draft.

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Correspondence to A. Chahouri.

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Editorial responsibility: Anna Grobelak.

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Chahouri, A., El Ouahmani, N., El Azzaoui, A. et al. Combined assessment of bacteriological and environmental indicators of fecal contamination in Agadir bay ecosystems (South-West Morocco). Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol. 19, 3819–3832 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03380-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13762-021-03380-5

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