Assessing environmental health using ecological indices for soft bottom in sewage-affected rocky shores: The case of the largest seaside resort of SW Atlantic

GARAFFO GRISELDA VALERIA; JAUBET MARÍA LOURDES; BECHERUCCI MARÍA EUGENIA; ELÍAS RODOLFO

MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN

PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2017 p. 233 - 239

0025-326X

Efficient ecological indices can reflect the differences between impacted and nonimpacted sites, leading to significant variations at the contamination spatial scale. Here,we evaluated the spatial-temporal variability of 3 ecological indices (AMBI,M-AMBI, and BENTIX) in response to the distinct levels of sewage contamination. The índices were evaluated in two differentways: including Brachidontes rodriguezii (IBR) and excluding B. rodriguezii (EBR).The fact that mussel beds create a secondary infaunal habitat allows us to test these indices for soft bottoms in areas with rocky bottoms. The effectiveness and the level of agreement of these indices were increased when they were calculated with EBR. BENTIX andM-AMBI produced under- and overestimations of the ecological statusof the studied sites. AMBI (EBR) seems to be better suited for environmental quality assessment in the study area. This index reduces the processing time of samples; thus, the AMBI (EBR) index could be used as a robust management tool for monitoring programs in areas with hard substrate.