Evaluation of the concurrent use of multiple descriptors to detect anthropogenic impacts in marine coastal systems

Abstract

This study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of multiple environmental descriptors to detect anthropogenic impacts in marine coastal system. To achieve this objective, data obtained from an area subjected to different sources of pollution were compared with those of reference areas through multivariate and univariate analyses. The following environmental components were used: metal concentration in sediments, structure of soft-bottom macrozoobenthos assemblages, biometrical and lepidochronological variables of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica, epiphytes and vagile fauna of P. oceanica meadows. Differences between disturbed and reference conditions were clearly detected by chemical analyses and soft-bottom assemblages, Posidonia oceanica descriptors showed variable sensitivity and vagile fauna associated to seagrass meadows did not highlight significant differences between conditions. Results showed the effectiveness of the use of multiple descriptors and both univariate and multivariate approaches to evaluate the ecological quality of coastal marine areas when more sources of pollution are concurrently present.