Georges Stora

Burial, exportation and degradation of acyclic petroleum hydrocarbons following a simulated oil spill in bioturbated Mediterranean coastal sediments

A field study was conducted in a French Mediterranean littoral (Gulf of Fos) in order to determine the role of bioturbation processes during the bioremediation of oil-contaminated sediments. Inert particulate tracers (luminophores) and Arabian light crude oil were deposited at the surface of sediment cores incubated in situ for 2, 6 and 12 months. After incubation, luminophores and hydrocarbons presented roughly similar depth distributions in the sediment, showing a continuous burial of material until 55 mm depth. Short-chain (< or = n-C25) n-alkanes were totally removed from the sedimentary column after 6 months, whereas approximately 20% of heavier n-alkanes (e.g. n-C30) and of isoprenoid hydrocarbons (pristane (Pr) and phytane (Ph)) remained at the end of the experiment. The determination of the degradation constant and the turn-over rate of individual hydrocarbon indicated that C17-25 n-alkanes were degraded two to three times faster than longer homologues and than pristane and phytane. Using the 17alpha,21beta-C30-hopane as an internal inert reference, we could demonstrate that, after 12 months of in situ incubation, 55% of the losses of the n-alkanes < or = C25 and 35% of the losses of the heavier n-alkanes and of Pr and Ph were due to biodegradation processes. These results demonstrate that the activity of benthic organisms can have a significant influence on the qualitative and quantitative fate of acyclic hydrocarbons following a petroleum contamination in marine coastal sediments.

Effect of bioturbation on denitrification in a marine sediment from the West Mediterranean littoral

Thein vitro effect ofNereis diversicolor on denitrification has been studied in PVC tubes filled with a coastal marine sediment defaunated by sieving. The first aim of the experiment was to determine the effect of sediment defaunation on denitrification (denitrifying population and Denitrifying Enzyme Assays). Sieving induced a loss of 70% of the initial DEA. The number of denitrifying bacteria was 10 times lower than inin situ sediment. In the top two centimetres, the DEA rose by 75% of its initial value, after 82 days. Polychaetes were only added after a return to near pre-disturbance levels to ensure that our data on the effects of their addition would not be disturbed by changes in the sediment.Introduction of Polychaetes increased the denitrifying population and DEA in the first layer (0–2 cm) of the sediment after 15 days. After 45 days, the surface of the polychaete burrows in sediment was 1.3 to 1.5 times higher than after 15 days, resulting in an increase in solute exchange between seawater and the top layer of sediment. An inhibitory effect of oxygen on denitrification was detected in the uppermost layer only.

Effects of uranium-contaminated sediments on the bioturbation activity of Chironomus riparius larvae (Insecta, Diptera) and Tubifex tubifex worms (Annelida, Tubificidae)

Freshwater sediments represent a compartment for accumulation of toxic substances, notably of metallic pollutants such as uranium. However, they also constitute a privileged habitat for many benthic macro-invertebrate species with important roles in the functioning of these ecosystems, particularly through their bioturbation activities. Uranium accumulation in sediments can thus have harmful effects on these organisms (e.g., developmental delay, malformations, mortality). The present study aimed to evaluate the consequences of these effects on the bioturbation activity of Chironomus riparius larvae and Tubifex tubifex worms. These two species, which are widespread in freshwater ecosystems, are characteristic of two different modes of bioturbation: bioirrigation and upward bioconveying, respectively. By quantifying the burial and redistribution of fluorescent particulate tracers (microspheres), sediment reworking induced by these macro-invertebrates was measured after 12d of exposure. Biodiffusion D(b) and bioadvection W rates, as well as several other parameters, were estimated to assess and compare the bioturbation activity of the two species, separately and in combination, between uncontaminated and uranium-spiked sediments. The results reveal that C. riparius larvae were more sensitive to uranium, but their bioturbation activity, even under uncontaminated conditions, had little effect on sediment reworking. Particle mixing was mainly induced by T. tubifex worms, which were only affected by uranium at high concentrations in the sediment. Finally, bioturbation by T. tubifex led to a high degree of uranium release from sediment to the overlying water, which highlights the crucial role of this mostly dominant species on uranium biogeochemical cycles at concentrations existing in naturally contaminated sites.

Influence of Chironomus riparius (Diptera, Chironomidae) and Tubifex tubifex (Annelida, Oligochaeta) on oxygen uptake by sediments. Consequences of uranium contamination.

The diffusive oxygen uptake (DOU) of sediments inhabited by Chironomus riparius and Tubifex tubifex was investigated using a planar oxygen optode device, and complemented by measurements of bioturbation activity. Additional experiments were performed within contaminated sediments to assess the impact of uranium on these processes. After 72h, the two invertebrate species significantly increased the DOU of sediments (13-14%), and no temporal variation occurred afterwards. Within contaminated sediments, it was already 24% higher before the introduction of the organisms, suggesting that uranium modified the sediment biogeochemistry. Although the two species firstly reacted by avoidance of contaminated sediment, they finally colonized it. Their bioturbation activity was reduced but, for T. tubifex, it remained sufficient to induce a release of uranium to the water column and an increase of the DOU (53%). These results highlight the necessity of further investigations to take into account the interactions between bioturbation, microbial metabolism and pollutants.

Hydrocarbon influence on denitrification in bioturbated Mediterranean coastal sediments

An in situ experiment has been carried out inbioturbated Mediterranean coastal marine sediments (Gulfof Fos) in order to study the influence of hydrocarbons ondenitrification after 1, 4 and 6 months. In theabsence of hydrocarbons in the control sediments, the presenceof macrofauna stimulated denitrificationby 160%. This stimulation is induced by sediment reworkingthat favours both direct NO-3 supply fromthe water column and the penetration of O{2}, which in turnstimulated nitrification, the other source ofNO-3 in sediment. The presence of hydrocarbons in theexperimental sediments either stimulated orinhibited the denitrification. The denitrification response tothe presence of hydrocarbon is dependent onthe quantity of matter buried by the macrofauna activity. Insmall quantities, the organic matter relatedto hydrocarbons 120% enhanced the denitrification compared tothe controls. On the other hand, whenburied hydrocarbon concentrations were higher (>100 mgsaturated hydrocarbon fraction kg-1 drysediment), the denitrification was inhibited.On the basis of the results obtained, a descriptive model ofthe patterns of denitrification in relation to the presence ofmacrofauna and the distribution ofhydrocarbons in sediments is proposed.

Time and spatial dynamics of Mediterranean lagoon macrobenthos during an exceptionally prolonged interruption of freshwater inputs

Heavy and constant inputs of freshwater into the north of the Berre lagoon over a period of more than 20 years, due to the diversion of the Durance River, resulted in the total disappearance of the macrobenthos at depths of more than 5 m. Only one community that had adapted well to the brackish conditions had survived on the thin coastal fringe. In 1990, abnormal drought conditions resulted in the interruption of freshwater inputs for a period of 7 months. A study of the changes in the benthic fauna subjected to these new ecological conditions, carried out during the second semester of 1990, shows that the prolonged stoppage of freshwater inputs was marked mainly by the appearance of marine species on the coastal fringe within the brackish community and by the colonization of the azoic bottoms by various macrobenthic species. This recruitment can be attributed to the stable conditions prevailing in the lagoon during this period, with no sharp fluctuations in salinity, no silt discharge and in particular an increase in the dissolved oxygen content in the water column. The colonization that was observed demonstrates that the chemical nature of the Berre lagoon sediments does not constitute a major limiting factor compared to the freshwater inputs.

Food supply impacts sediment reworking by Nereis diversicolor

This study assessed the effects of food supply on sediment reworking by Nereis diversicolor. We hypothesized that food supply would enhance sediment reworking and that the frequency of food supply would affect the intensity of bioturbation. Mesocosm experiments consisted of four treatments: (1) without worms (control cores), (2) with worms and no food supply, (3) with worms and daily food supply, (4) with worms and weekly food supply. Fluorescent particles, used as tracers, were spread over the sediment surface. Sediment reworking was quantified after 28xa0days based on the tracer distribution profiles. Results showed that sediment reworking by N. diversicolor was exclusively due to non-local transport processes. Food supply greatly increased non-local transport coefficients (more than 3 times) in comparison with those measured in the absence of a food supply. However, the intensity of sediment bioturbation by these worms was unaffected by the frequency of food supply. This study showed that environmental conditions affecting the quantity of food supply at the water-sediment interface could strongly influence bioturbation process.

Variabilité spécifique à l'intérieur des groupes fonctionnels. Etude du remaniement sédimentaire de deux bivalves Veneridae, Ruditapes decussatus et Venerupis aurea

Si la determination de groupes fonctionnels, unites elementaires de la diversite fonctionnelle, est indispensable a la comprehension du fonctionnement des ecosystemes, il convient egalement de tenir compte de la variabilite specifique a linterieur de ces groupes. En effet, lincidence des differentes especes dun meme groupe sur les proprietes dun ecosysteme peut fortement varier. Des experiences menees in vitro avec deux especes de mollusques bivalves de sables vaseux, Ruditapes decussatus et Venerupis aurea, ont permis, a laide de traceurs particulaires luminescents, de mettre en evidence un meme type de remaniement sedimentaire, de type biodiffusif, pour les deux especes mais avec des intensites differentes. Lapplication du modele des biodiffuseurs permet destimer un taux de diffusion biologique plus de deux fois superieur pour R. decussatus (Rd* = 14 10−3 cm2 d−1) que pour V. aurea (Rd* = 6,25 10−3 cm2 d−1) et des coefficients de fuite vers la colonne deau evoluant en sens inverse (f* = 0,0135 cm d−1 pour R. decussatus et f* = 0,028 cm d−1 pour V. aurea). Par un enfouissement plus important et plus rapide de la matiere organique qui se depose au niveau de linterface eau-sediment, R. decussatus aura donc un effet different de V. aurea sur les processus de diagenese precoce et sur la disponibilite de la matiere organique au sein de la colonne sedimentaire pour les autres organismes benthiques.

Alteration and release of aliphatic compounds by the polychaete Nereis virens (Sars) experimentally fed with hydrocarbons.

In the laboratory, marine worms were fed with a mixture of algae and several aliphatic hydrocarbons for 15 days. After ingestion by the worms, 34.9% of hydrocarbons are found in the faeces and only 3.1% accumulated in the gut. The comparison between the initial mixture and the faeces shows that the worms digestive process lead to changes in the distribution of the n-alkane mixture. These changes are different from those only due to physical processes in the experimental conditions. In our experiment, no variation in the distribution of hydrocarbons in faeces with time and no microbial hydrocarbon biodegradation were evidenced. Our results suggest that marine worm feeding can substantially affect the fate of hydrocarbons in the sedimentary marine ecosystem by predominantly stimulating dissolution processes.

Functional response of an adapted subtidal macrobenthic community to an oil spill: macrobenthic structure and bioturbation activity over time throughout an 18-month field experiment

An experimental oil spill was carried out in order to assess in situ responses of a macrobenthic community of shallow subtidal sediments historically exposed to petroleum contamination. Both structural and functional (bioturbation activity) parameters of the community, subjected or not to a pulse acute contamination (25,000xa0ppm), were studied for 18xa0months. No difference in the community structure was detected between contaminated and control sediments, from 6 to 18xa0months of experimentation. Vertical distributions of organisms, however, were affected by the presence of oil contamination leading to a deeper burial of some polychaete species. In the same time, changes in sediment-reworking activity and more especially a deeper particle burying in sediments subjected to acute oil contamination were shown. These results highlight the need to complete the analysis of community structure by assessing functional aspects, such as bioturbation activity, a process integrating various aspects of benthic behaviour (e.g. feeding, locomotion, burrow building) in order to estimate real (structural and functional) and long-term effects of oil contamination on benthic communities.