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Status of macrobenthic community of Manifa-Tanajib Bay System of Saudi Arabia based on a once-off sampling event |
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| Authors: | Joydas T V Krishnakumar P K Qurban Mohammad A Ali Said M Al-Suwailem Abdulaziz Al-Abdulkader Khaled |
| Institution: | a Center for Environment and Water, Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, P.O. Box No. 1995, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia b Marine Core Lab, King Abdulla University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, Saudi Arabia c Environmental Protection Department, Saudi Aramco, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia |
| Abstract: | Shallow water bays located in the western Arabian Gulf experience harsh environmental conditions. Some of these bays, including Manifa-Tanajib Bay System (MTBS), were also exposed to the 1991 oil pollution event. This study investigates the status of the macrobenthos in MTBS during 2006. This bay system is characterized by very shallow inner bays with elevated salinity and temperature compared to the rest of the bay area. As a result mainly of the hyper salinity, the inner bay communities are distinct from the outer bay communities. Overall, fairly high species richness with several rare species was observed. High Shannon-Wiener diversity values and ABC plots indicated the healthy status of the polychaete communities, while BOPA index indicated slightly polluted status in 20% of the stations. The oil sensitive amphipods were not completely re-colonized in 20% of the stations, even after 15 years of recovery from the 1991 oil spill. |
| Keywords: | Macrobenthos Polychaetes BOPA index Saudi Arabia Arabian Gulf 1991 Oil spill |
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