Foraminiferal ecological zonation along a Brazilian mangrove transect: Diversity, morphotypes and the influence of subaerial exposure time.

Two foraminiferal associations comprising only arenaceous species define two distinct environments in a 340 m-long mangrove transect at Cardoso Island, Trapande Bay (Cananeia-Iguape estuarine system, SP, Brazil). The "lower muddy flat" (LMF), from the outer mangrove fringe inwards towards land (100 m), is positioned in the lower plain between 0.04 and 0.23 m above the mean sea level (msl), and remains subaerially exposed between 48.5 and 65.6% of the time. This environment is characterized by higher foraminiferal diversity and evenness (McIntosh's D = 0.54 [plus or minus] 0.21 and Pielou's E = 0.68 [plus or minus] 0.25, respectively) and is dominated by Arenoparrella mexicana and Trochammina inflata, and to a lesser extent by Ammotium directum and Textularia earlandi. The mangrove plant of this segment is a Rhizophoretum with average height of 8.4 [plus or minus] 1.2 m. The sediment is characterized by higher concentration of organic matter (93.5 [plus or minus] 32.3 g dm-3) and metals (e.g. V = 53.4 [plus or minus] 21.8 ppm and Zn = 46.4 [plus or minus] 21.3 ppm). The "upper sandy flat" (USF), 240 m wide along the transect, is positioned in the upper plain between 0.28 and 0.89 m above the msl, and remains subaerially exposed between 69.7 and 98.5% of the time. This environment is characterized by a lower diversity and evenness (D = 0.33 [plus or minus] 0.17 and E = 0.49 [plus or minus] 0.20, respectively). The association is dominated by species T. inflata and Miliammina fusca. The Rhizophoretum exhibits a lower average height of 3.6 [plus or minus] 0.6 m. The sediment is poorer in organic matter (39.3 [plus or minus] 15.0 g dm-3) and metals (e.g. V = 13.0 [plus or minus] 6.8 ppm and Zn = 6.9 [plus or minus] 3.7 ppm). Whereas "elongate" tests (uniserial, biserial and planospiral followed by a uniserial portion) are restricted to the LMF, "spiraled" species dominate the USF. Subaerial exposure time seems to exert a primary influence on species distribution, in addition to salinity and sediment type. Species may be adapted to different exposure times, a factor dependent on their position on the intertidal zone and the tidal regime, which should be taken into account in relative sea level reconstructions based on intertidal foraminifera. These patterns have important implications for studies investigating the ecology and paleoecology of foraminifera and subtle fluctuations in relative sea level during the Quaternary.

O sistema estuarino do Delta do São Francisco-SE: análise ambiental com base no estudo de foraminíferos e tecamebas

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Foraminíferos em testemunho do manguezal do Canal de Bertioga (SP): padrões de estrutura de comunidades aplicáveis em reconstruções paleoambientais

Nowadays, there is a search for knowledgment that could be applied in the solution of the problems caused by petrolific activities involving the environment, like the biodiversity preservation and the ecosystems monitoring and management. Foraminifera (Protista) are used as an important tool to the environment characterizarion, because they answer quickly to the fisic-quimic variations and indicate local alterations. The goal of this job is to create models of foraminiferal communities composition through the screening of subsuperficial samples obtained from a core collect from Bertioga Channel, Baixada Santista (SP), trying to understand the influence of the environmental variations along the time upon the indicator species presence, as well as making paleoenvironmentals reconstructions of the area. A 80 cm-core was removed in the outer edge of marsh adjacent to Bertioga Channel, not far from the confluence with the Itapanhaú River. There are presented in abundance, equitability, diversity and species richness obtained in nine samples along the sediment. The lower part of the core is compound by calcareous species (rotalideos and miliolideos) with domain Ammonia (Biofacies 1) and the intermediate and upper parts contain mainly agglutinated species (Biofacies 2 and 3, which is dominated by species of Ammotium). The qualitative and quantitative study of the microfauna of foraminifera present in the core reveals that in recent decades the sampling area passed from a condition of infra-marginal strip under significant coastal marine influence for the condition of inter-coastal swamp covered with mangrove vegetation. This change indicates that the site has undergone a process of sediment progradation, a phenomenon that may have been timely, localized, or a reflection of a relative fall in sea level at the regional level

Foraminíferos de manguezais do rio Curimataú (RN): estudos sinecológicos com aplicação no setor de petróleo e gás

O sistema estuarino do Rio Curimataú, uma planície lamosa amplamente coberta por vegetação de mangue e relativamente pouco impactada, foi estudado quanto à distribuição espacial da microfauna de foraminíferos e suas condicionantes. Vinte e cinco gêneros e quarenta espécies foram identificadas a partir dos sedimentos superficiais, considerando-se os indivíduos vivos e mortos presentes em 10 pontos ao longo do estuário, dos quais se extraíram ao menos 100 espécimes por amostra. O sistema pôde ser compartimentado em quatro sub-ambientes halínicos (hiperhalino, mesohalino, polihalino e euhalino), correspondentes, respectivamente, a quatro ecofácies de foraminíferos designadas de Ammotium spp., Miliammina fusca, Arenoparrella mexicana e Ammonia spp. Cada um destes segmentos ambientais foi caracterizado segundo os padrões de riqueza, diversidade e equitatividade das espécies. Os resultados deste estudo poderão servir para comparações a serem feitas com outros estuários tropicais modernos (impactados antropicamente ou não) e antigos. Tem aplicação, portanto, no setor de petróleo e gás, sendo de interesse às atividades de gestão ambiental de áreas litorâneas e de investigação da história geológica das bacias sedimentares