Caractérisation d'espèces bioindicatrices pour la surveillance des activités minières et la gestion de l'environnement en milieu récifal et lagonaire (application au lagon de Nouvelle-Calédonie)

Les activités minières constituent la principale ressource économique de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. La présente recherche doctorale a été réalisée afin de développer un système de surveillance de la contamination minière des eaux lagonaires au moyen d organismes marins bioindicateurs : l algue brune Lobophora variegata, les huîtres Malleus regula et Isognomon isognomon et le clam Gafrarium tumidum. Dans ce contexte, la valeur bioindicative de ces espèces vis-à-vis de l Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni et Zn a été de terminée en laboratoire et in situ. L étude en laboratoire du comportement bioaccumulateur des quatre organismes à l aide des techniques de radiotraçage a démontré leur importante capacité de bioaccumulation et de rétention des contaminants sélectionnés. De plus, ces organismes répondent au principal critère que doit rencontrer un bioindicateur : les concentrations mesurées dans les tissus reflètent celles qui sont présentes dans l environnement. Dans les expériences in situ, la mesure des concentrations corporelles en contaminants dans les populations résidentes de clams, d huîtres et d algues a permis de discriminer des sites selon leur degré de contamination. De plus, la transplantation d organismes entre des sites propres et contaminés (et vice versa) a montré que les espèces sont capables de refléter le degré de contamination des sites et qu elles peuvent être utilisées pour surveiller des sites où les espèces ne sont pas naturellement présentes. Ainsi, L. variegata, G. tumidum et I. isognomon sont des bioindicateurs fiables et très prometteurs qui peuvent être utilisés pour la biosurveillance passive et active de la contamination du lagon de Nouvelle-Calédonie.Mining activities constitute the major economic resource of New Caledonia. This doctoral research was realized in order to develop a programme for biomonitoring mining contamination in the New Caledonia coastal waters using marine organisms as bioindicators : the brown alga Lobophora variegata, the oysters Malleus regula and Isognomon isognomon and the clam Gafrarium tumidum. In this context, the bioindicative value of these four organisms for Ag, As, Cd, Co, Cr, Mn, Ni and Zn has been investigated through both laboratory and field experiments. Laboratory investigations of the bioaccumulation behaviour of the four organisms using radiotracer techniques demonstrated their high bioaccumulation and retention capacities for the contaminants tested. Moreover, the organisms respond to the most relevant criteria of a bioindicator species: the contaminant concentrations in organisms actually reflect those occurring in the environment. Field experiments showed that the analysis of contaminant concentrations in resident populations of clams, oysters and algae allowed discriminating sites according to their degree of contamination. In addition, transplantations of organisms between clean and contaminated sites indicated that the species displayed efficient bioaccumulation capacities for the contaminants in situ, and consequently, they can be used to monitor sites where the species were not naturally present. Overall, it is concluded that L. variegata, G. tumidum and I. isognomon are efficient and reliable bioindicator species that may be used for active and passive biomonitoring of mining contamination in the lagoon of New Caledonia.LA ROCHELLE-BU (173002101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Delineation of heavy metal contamination pathways (seawater, food and sediment) in tropical oysters from New Caledonia using radiotracer techniques

International audienceBioaccumulation of Ag, Cd, Co, Cr and Zn was studied in the oysters Isognomon isognomon and Malleus regula, using highly sensitive radiotracer techniques. Metals were readily bioconcentrated from the dissolved phase. Sediment exposures indicated a low bioavailability of sediment-bound metals (3-5 orders of magnitude lower than dissolved metals). In both seawater and sediment experiments, the two oysters displayed similar bioaccumulation behaviour towards all metals but Ag. Indeed, Ag was much more efficiently incorporated and retained in I. isognomon. Metals ingested with food (phytoplankton) were efficiently assimilated (34-77%) and strongly retained in oyster tissues (T-b1/2 >= 20 d). Estimation of the relative contribution of each exposure pathway indicated that for both species sediment was the dominant pathway for Co and Cd, whereas food was the major source of Zn. Regarding Ag, seawater was the main source for I. isognomon (86%), whereas sediment was the predominant route for M. regula (92%)

Prétraitement de données spatialement imprécises pour une classification supervisée basée sur les images satellitaires

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Allometric relationships in the bioconcentration of heavy metals by the edible tropical clam Gafrarium tumidum

International audienceAlthough metal contamination is a problem of major concern in the lagoon of New Caledonia due to intense mining activities conducted on land, very little is known on the metal ecotoxicology of local marine organisms. The clam Gafrarium tumidum was investigated to assess its usefulness as a bioindicator species of metal contamination in this lagoon. More particularly, allometric relationships between metal accumulation and clam size were determined for five common metals in New Caledonian lagoon waters (Cd, Cr, Co, Zn and Ag) using a highly sensitive radiotracer technique. Experimental results showed that allometric relationships were dependent on the element and on the body compartment considered. As a rule, allometric relationships of metal concentration factor were more pronounced in shell than in soft parts. Significant relationships with clam size for Cd, Cr, Co and Zn followed inverse power functions. In contrast, the degree of Ag bioaccumulation was positively correlated with size. In view of the literature on Ag in bivalves, the latter observation suggests the occurrence of a specific detoxification mechanism (sequestration) that would be more efficient in old individuals. Overall, the experimental results indicate that the use of G. tumidum as a bioindicator in monitoring programmes requires selecting individuals of a specific size range in order to obtain comparable information about ambient metal levels. Since the size effect is greatest among smaller individuals, it is recommended to select clams with a shell width greater than 35 mm

Coral reef structural complexity loss exposes coastlines to waves

Coral reefs offer natural coastal protection by attenuating incoming waves. Here we combine unique coral disturbance-recovery observations with hydrodynamic models to quantify how structural complexity dissipates incoming wave energy. We find that if the structural complexity of healthy coral reefs conditions is halved, extreme wave run-up heights that occur once in a 100-years will become 50 times more frequent, threatening reef-backed coastal communities with increased waves, erosion, and flooding

Mesophotic depths hide high coral cover communities in French Polynesia

The rapid decline of shallow coral reefs has increased the interest in the long-understudied mesophotic coral ecosystems (MCEs). However, MCEs are usually characterised by rather low to moderate scleractinian coral cover, with only a few descriptions of high coral cover at depth. Here, we explored eight islands across French Polynesia over a wide depth range (6 to 120 m) to identify coral cover hotspots at mesophotic depths and the co-occurrent biotic groups and abiotic factors that influence such high scleractinian cover. Using Bayesian modelling, we found that 20 out of 64 of studied deep sites exhibited a coral cover higher than expected in the mesophotic range (e.g. as high as 81.8 % at 40 m, 74.5 % at 60 m, 53 % at 90 m and 42 % at 120 m vs the average expected values based on the model of 31.2 % at 40 m, 22.8 % at 60 m, 14.6 % at 90 m and 9.8 % at 120 m). Omitting the collinear factors light-irradiance and depth, these ‘hotspots’ of coral cover corresponded to mesophotic sites and depths characterised by hard substrate, a steep to moderate slope, and the dominance of laminar corals. Our work unveils the presence of unexpectedly and unique high coral cover communities at mesophotic depths in French Polynesia, highlighting the importance of expanding the research on deeper depths for the potential relevance in the conservation management of tropical coral reefs

Coral reef structural complexity loss exposes coastlines to waves

Abstract Coral reefs offer natural coastal protection by attenuating incoming waves. Here we combine unique coral disturbance-recovery observations with hydrodynamic models to quantify how structural complexity dissipates incoming wave energy. We find that if the structural complexity of healthy coral reefs conditions is halved, extreme wave run-up heights that occur once in a 100-years will become 50 times more frequent, threatening reef-backed coastal communities with increased waves, erosion, and flooding

Beneficial micro-organisms for corals (BMC) health investigation within Porites astreoides dominant caribbean coral reef species microbiome

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Coral reef structural complexity loss exposes coastlines to waves

Coral reefs offer natural coastal protection by attenuating incoming waves. Here we combine unique coral disturbance-recovery observations with hydrodynamic models to quantify how structural complexity dissipates incoming wave energy. We find that if the structural complexity of healthy coral reefs conditions is halved, extreme wave run-up heights that occur once in a 100-years will become 50 times more frequent, threatening reef-backed coastal communities with increased waves, erosion, and flooding

Beneficial micro-organisms for corals (BMC) health investigation within Porites astreoides dominant caribbean coral reef species microbiome

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