The Benthic Community used as Bioindicator for Assessment of the Quality of a Moroccan Coastal Ecosystem: Moulay Bousselham Lagoon

Abstract

Assessment and monitoring of the quality of lagoon systems involves a set of biological tools and parameters which aim to classify areas according to their degree of pollution. Benthic population is considered as an excellent indicator of quality of aquatic-ecosystems, due to their general characteristics and diversity. The objective of our work is to evaluate the health status of Moulay Bousselham lagoon based on its benthic population, applying biological indices (AMBI, M-AMBI, BENTIX, Trophic Index (TI)) to compare the information given by each. Our study focused on 3 stations, Rjila (st1), Sfiha (st2) and Laâcha (st3). The effect of any modification of the environment, whether natural or artificially induced, is evaluated using biological indices that allow early detection of change signals in response to any stress. All biotic indices have highlighted disturbances in the lagoon. BENTIX and M-AMBI did not allow the discrimination of stations while parameters of diversity, equitability, specific richness, as well as biological indices TI and AMBI reflected a greater imbalance for st3. The use of benthic stand in this study allowed to deduce that Moulay Bousselham lagoon is classified in an intermediate state which tends towards pollution.