Evaluation of the FORAM index in a case of conservation |
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Authors: | Johanna Velásquez Juliana López-Angarita Juan A Sánchez |
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Institution: | 1.Departamento de Ciencias Biológicas-Facultad de Ciencias, Laboratorio de Biología Molecular Marina (BIOMMAR),Universidad de los Andes,Bogotá,Colombia |
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Abstract: | Localized and global impacts are responsible for driving the current decline in coral reef ecosystems. The worldwide debate
over the efficacy of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) as a conservation measure for coral reefs highlights the importance of
acquiring accurate indicators of reef resilience and recovery under stressful conditions. Marine benthic foraminifera, considered
outstanding indicators for environmental changes, are unicellular eukaryotes that inhabit sandy sediments in coral reefs.
There are three kinds of benthic foraminifera: symbiotic, opportunistic, and other small heterotrophic. Symbiosis with microalgae
is not favorable under high nutrient conditions. This study compared the FORAM Index (FI) in different sites inside and outside
MPAs. The index was also compared with coral and algae cover. High FI values are characteristic of healthy oligotrophic reefs
whereas low values represent eutrophicated ecosystems. A community structure analysis was done in order to determine the compositional
change of functional groups, and thus, to test spatially the index efficiency and performance. In general, MPA sites presented
lower indexes compared to Non-MPA sites, probably due to the higher impact of tourism and agriculture in these areas. On the
other hand, the index was not correlated with coral nor algae cover, even though positive and negative trends were found.
Assemblage analyzes corroborated that the symbiotic foraminifers’ high susceptibility is the main source for the index variation,
which was independent of the substrate type from which it was sampled. Our results show both the efficiency of this index
and the importance of its application for evaluating conservation strategies. |
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