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Bioindication of Bottom Sediments of the Gulf of Finland by the Composition of Meiobenthos in Combination with Biotesting and Chemical Analysis

  • MARINE BIOLOGY
  • Published:
Oceanology Aims and scope

Abstract

The question of the possibility of using meiobenthos to monitor the state of bottom sediments in the Baltic Sea, where bottom macrofauna are unstable due to hypoxia, is of interest. The parameters of meiobenthos and the physicochemical characteristics of bottom sediments and bottom water were studied, and the toxicity of bottom sediments was determined by the survival of the amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus in 10-day tests for 11 stations in the brackish part of the Gulf of Finland (depths of 10–52 m). Principal component analysis revealed two factors explaining 67% of the variability of the variables and groups of stations similar in terms of conditions. Factor 1 combined nine related variables (depth, metal concentrations, sand fraction in bottom sediments, ratio of nematodes and copepods (N/C index), and survival of amphipods), and Factor 2 combined four variables (organic matter and polyaromatic hydrocarbons in BS, phosphates in water and the number of meiobenthos). Thus, bioindication of the environment by meiobenthos is promising, but requires an integrated approach to be applied in monitoring.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank A.A. Maksimov for sample collection.

Funding

The work study supported by the ER90 HAZLESS project of the Russia–Estonia Cross-Border Cooperation Program for 2014–2020 and the Ministry of Education and Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, state task no. 122031100274-7.

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  1. Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg, Russia

    N. A. Berezina & V. A. Petukhov

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  1. N. A. Berezina
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Correspondence to N. A. Berezina.

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Berezina, N.A., Petukhov, V.A. Bioindication of Bottom Sediments of the Gulf of Finland by the Composition of Meiobenthos in Combination with Biotesting and Chemical Analysis. Oceanology 63, 352–362 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023030025

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437023030025

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