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Benthic foraminifera as bioindicators of coral reef health

Nature Reviews Earth & Environment volume 4, page 733 (2023)Cite this article

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Coral reef ecosystems are one of Earth’s vital marine environments, providing many ecosystem services including coastal protection, faunal nursery, and biodiversity. However, these ecosystems are threatened by various global and local stressors caused by human activities. Long-term monitoring tools, such as bioindicators, are needed to inform and support effective management actions to protect coral reefs.

Benthic foraminiferal assemblages are being used as reef health indicators in Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR), Salinas, Puerto Rico. Measurements of environmental parameters such as temperature, salinity, and organic carbon in lagoonal and fore-reef sites exhibit spatial and seasonal changes. The fore-reef foraminiferal assemblages were dominated by Amphistegina (algal-symbiont-bearing taxa), indicating that the water quality is suitable for coral development. Whereas the lagoonal stations were dominated by smaller heterotrophic species such as Discorbis and Quinqueloculina, reflecting the dominance of opportunistic and small taxa groups in habitats with fine sediments and abundant organic content. The influence of environmental parameters on benthic foraminiferal assemblages makes them a useful bioindicator tool for monitoring changes in water quality to determine the potential for coral reef accretion in JBNERR.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks the Latinas in Earth and Planetary Sciences: GeoLatinas for their commitment to support Latinas in Geoscience and their guidance with writing this piece. Also, thanks go to Gisela A. Morán for translating this article into Spanish. The author is grateful to the Jobos National Estuarine Research Reserve staff for their support and trust.

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  1. College of Marine Science, University of South Florida, Saint Petersburg, FL, USA

    Angelique Rosa Marín

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  1. Angelique Rosa Marín
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Correspondence to Angelique Rosa Marín.

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Rosa Marín, A. Benthic foraminifera as bioindicators of coral reef health. Nat Rev Earth Environ 4, 733 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00451-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-023-00451-8

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