Laboratory of Sedimentary Basins and Petroleum Geology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Tunis El-Manar, Tunis, Tunisia.
Laboratory of Marine Environment, National Institute of Marine Sciences and Technologies, University of Carthage, Tunisia.
Mar Pollut Bull. 2022 Jun;179:113445. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2022.113445. Epub 2022 May 18.
The intensifying impacts of aridity and water stress on the dynamics and ecological degradation of wetlands in North Africa are often underestimated and largely remain unquantified. To address this deficiency, we assessed decadal changes in the sedimentary, sea surface salinity (SSS), and microfaunistic patterns of the Bizerte Lagoon, a climatically vulnerable area in the southern Mediterranean basin. Findings from sediment transport analysis indicate preferential current dispersion along the lagoon ridge associated with mixtures of sedimentary distributions. The changes in SSS between 2004 and 2016 reveal an increase of approximately 40% in areas where the river flows into the lagoon. Findings from the microfaunistic analysis suggest that over the last few decades, a progressive enrichment of alien marine species has occurred in the lagoon owing to changes in SSS and sedimentation. Results also revealed the unexpected presence of tropical to subtropical Larger B-bearing Foraminifera (LBF) species, which are exogenic to the warm southern Mediterranean coasts. The study findings highlight the impacts of damming and changes in precipitation patterns on the degradation of biodiversity in the Bizerte Lagoon and in other lagoonal systems in North Africa with similar levels of aridity.
干旱和水资源压力对北非湿地动态和生态退化的影响日益加剧，往往被低估，而且在很大程度上仍未量化。为了解决这一不足，我们评估了地中海盆地南部气候脆弱地区比塞大泻湖的沉积、海水表面盐度 (SSS) 和微型动物区系模式的十年变化。沉积物输运分析的结果表明，沿泻湖脊存在优先的水流分散，这与沉积分布的混合有关。2004 年至 2016 年期间 SSS 的变化显示，在河流流入泻湖的区域，SSS 增加了约 40%。微型动物区系分析的结果表明，由于 SSS 和沉积的变化，过去几十年来，泻湖中外来海洋物种的丰度逐渐增加。研究结果还揭示了热带到亚热带富含大 B 的有孔虫（LBF）物种的意外存在，这些物种是温暖的地中海南部海岸的外生种。研究结果强调了水坝建设和降水模式变化对比塞大泻湖及北非其他干旱程度类似的泻湖系统生物多样性退化的影响。
