Ecological quality of some Tunisian coast and lagoon locations, by using benthic community parameters and biotic indices

Three Tunisian coastal and lagoon sites, variously affected by human activities, and differing according to their degree of communication with the sea, were studied. The total organic matter content and the granulometry of the sediment were measured and the macro-invertebrates were sampled and identified. Currently due to the lack of an efficient single biotic index for quality assessment, indications from these measurements can contribute to enrich our knowledge of the southern Mediterranean areas. Several biotic indices (AMBI, BENTIX, BOPA, BOPA modified, I2EC, ITI), most of which have been used in the context of the European Water Framework Directive, and some other structural parameters were used. The results show that the Bizerte lagoon, an almost closed area characterized mainly by extreme salinity/temperature and with a strong fluctuation of nutrients, appears biologically more impoverished. The Dkhila coast, which is more open to the sea, however, appears to be less dominated by the principal species. Biotic indices showed that the most polluted areas included the region exposed to urban inputs of Bizerte, the mouth of Hamdoun wadi and the harbour areas. In these locations, benthic macrofauna is dominated by opportunistic species like Capitella capitata, Scolelepis fuliginosa, Prionospio malmgreni, Polydora sp., Cirratulus cirratus and Cirriformia tentaculata. Other stations, which are farther from the sources of disturbance such as the mouths of the principal Wadis, the south of the Bizerte ship canal and the south of the Tunis bay, appear to be in good ecological condition and hosted a variety of sensitive species, Other stations were classified differently by the biotic indices used mainly because of the lack of a real inter-calibration of the various classification methodologies used by these indices.