A guide to species potentially useful as Water Quality
Indicators
Research Report
Kristie Nobes and Sven Uthicke
Australian Institute of Marine Science, Townsville
ISBN 9781921359118
Published August 2008
MTSRF Project 3.7.1 -
Marine and estuarine indicators and thresholds of concern
Introduction
Benthic foraminifera are important in sediment production in
coral reef environments, and many beaches and sediments on the
Great Barrier Reef are dominated by these organisms. A variety of
different species of these single celled animals exist. Several of
these have algal symbionts similar to corals, but these symbionts
come from a variety of algal groups. These foraminifera receive a
part of their energy demands from their symbionts, whereas species
without symbionts rely entirely on feeding for energy intake.
Differences in nutrient and light demand between the species
suggest that foraminifera can be ideal indicators for water
quality. Indeed, in temperate areas a variety of indicator species
exist for different sources of pollution. Foraminifera have also
been shown to be indicators for eutrophication in coral reefs of
the Caribbean and Florida and our recent work supports that this is
the case also for the Great Barrier Reef.
As part of MTSRF Project 3.7.1
Marine and estuarine indicators and thresholds of
concern we investigate the use of foraminifera as
indicators for changes in water quality. The purpose of this
document is to provide a guide for the identification to genus or
species level using pictures obtained by dissection microscopy.
