Distribution quantitative de la meiofaune dans un milieu fortement anthropise : le vieux port de Bizerte (Tunisie)

Abstract

The survey of sediment and hydrological parameters in the old harbor of Bizerte has revealed that this ecosystem knows a high anthropogenic pressure. In this area waters were characterized by weak contents in dissolved oxygen and sediments, rich in fine fraction, were loaded in hydrocarbons and in organic matter. The free-living nematodes, predominant taxa, responded to these disturbances by a significant decrease in their densities and their biomasses and had tendency, notably at the most isolated sites, to penetrate deeply to escape surface sediments highly loaded in hydrocarbons and in organic matter.