Bayrón-Arcelay, Margarette

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    Spatial distribution of Benthic Foraminifera in La Parguera, Puerto Rico: applying geostatistics and morphometrics for potential bio monitoring
    (2018) Bayrón-Arcelay, Margarette; Acosta-Mercado, Dimaris; College of Arts and Sciences – Sciences; Montalvo-Rodríguez, Rafael; Santos-Flores, Carlos J.; Department of Biology; Morales-Payán, José Pablo
    Since 1960, benthic foraminifera have been used as bio-indicators of temporal and spatial anthropogenic impacts (i.e. heavy metal pollution, sewage disposal, etc.) in coastal ecosystems. However, knowledge about their diversity, spatial distribution and morphological responses across coastal landscapes in the Caribbean lags behind. Yet, spatial structure of the richness and abundance of benthic foraminifera could provide information about potential disturbances and the conservation status of the ecosystems. Moreover, it could serve as background information for further trophic web studies in marine ecosystems. In addition, morphological variations of the benthic foraminifera could serve as a potential index for indicating different gradients of turmoil (i.e. anthropogenic activities). In an effort to increase our knowledge of the diversity, spatial distribution and morphological variations of benthic foraminifera, 60 sediment samples of 60mL from different islets in La Parguera, Puerto Rico were manually collected. Once in the laboratory, samples were stained in Rose Bengal to quantify dead and live foraminiferal assemblages. Afterwards, the spatial distribution was analyzed using geostatistical techniques and morphological changes were analyzed using geometric morphometric techniques. In general, the spatial distribution of benthic foraminifera in La Parguera showed a clear difference between the islets. Plus, the spatial distribution of the community parameters (i.e. abundance and species richness) was different between dead and live foraminiferal assemblages. In addition, the benthic foraminifera Bolivina lowmani showed a morphological response to the percentage of mud in the sediment. Based on these results, we conclude, that spatial distribution data and morphological variations of a species group (i.e., foraminifera) provides real reference data and base knowledge for monitoring the relative ecosystem changes throughout time. The level of resolution provided by benthic foraminifera can better support conservation efforts.