5th Annual World Congress of Marine Biotechnology-2015
Qingdao, China
The spatial variability of trace element bioaccumulation processes:
Tools to environmental management
Dr. Jonathan Richir
STARESO SAS
Calvi - France
Laboratory of Oceanology
University of Liege - Belgium
Numerical Ecology of Aquatic Systems
University of Mons - Belgium
Abstract
As transitional environments, coastal meadows are particularly vulnerable to pollution. Trace elements
remain contaminants of concern because of their persistence, their ability to accumulate in biota and their
toxicity. Local, regional, national and cross-border programs are thus initiated to monitor their
environmental occurrence. Sentinel organisms, or bioindicators, have been widely used to this end since
they accumulate the bioavailable and thus potentially toxic fraction of contaminants. In the framework of
the STARECAPMED project, the accumulation of trace elements in the seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.)
Delile was studied at different spatial scales: along a radial (100 m scale), in a bay (1 km scale), along the
French Mediterranean littoral (10-100 km scale) and along the whole Mediterranean coastline (100-1000
km scale). Results showed that the contamination of the sampled shoots could vary as much at opposite
scales. This benthic primary producer accumulates contaminants sequestered in the sediments, in addition
to their dissolved fraction in the water column. The sediments also offer a time integration of coastal
pollution and thus amplify the pollution signal recorded by the seagrass, resulting in the observed spatial
variability. These results demonstrate that the in-depth knowledge of the ecology of the monitored
bioindicator and the interactions it shares with its environment cannot be ignored. Such failure could lead to
erroneous interpretations of the levels of contamination of monitored sites, and points out the need to define
a sampling strategy based on the monitoring objectives and the selected bioindicator.
Biography
Dr. Jonathan RICHIR, from 2013 Scientific Collaborator of the Oceanology Research Unit of the
University of Liege (ULg), Belgium, in 2014 Senior Research Associate at the Institute of Marine Sciences
of the University of Portsmouth, United Kingdom, in 2015 Scientific Coordinator of the STARECAPMED
project at the Marine and Oceanographic Research Station STARESO SAS, France, now Assistant
Professor in the Numerical Ecology of Aquatic Systems group at the University of Mons, Belgium. Born in
Namur, Belgium, in 1981. License in Biology (2004), Diploma of Specialized Studies in Applied Biology
(2005), Master in Oceanography (2007). He publicly defended his Doctoral Thesis on the ecotoxicology of
trace elements in 2012, with unanimous congratulations of the Jury. His research, which revolves primarily
around the ecology and the ecotoxicology of trace elements, fits into the framework of European Policies
and Directives related to coastal environment issues. This work is co-authored with Pr. Sylvie GOBERT,
head of the Oceanology Research Unit. Master in Oceanography, Dr. in Sciences (2002), she teaches at the
ULg (Biologic Oceanography, Pelagic Oceanography, Marine Ecology, Marine Plant Ecology …). Her
researches focus on seagrasses, marine food webs, ecotoxicology, diagnostic tools, ecological health status
indices, trace elements, stable isotopes, nutrients, seascapes … The others co-authors of this work are Dr.
5th Annual World Congress of Marine Biotechnology-2015
Qingdao, China
Pierre Lejeune, director of the STARESO, and Drs. Gilles Lepoint and Krishna Das from the Oceanology
Research Unit of the ULg whose main domains of research respectively focus on the trophic ecology of
aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and on the toxicology and ecotoxicology of marine vertebrates.