THE PRELIMINARY BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY IN MIDIA HARBOUR - BLACK SEA – ROMANIA

Ana Bianca Pavel, Priscila Opreanu, Irina Catianis, Dan Grosu, Costin Ungureanu

INCD GeoEcoMar, Bucharest – Romania

Midia Harbour is located on the Black Sea coast, about 13.5 km north of the port-city of Constanta. It was designed and built to provide facilities for industrial and petrochemical adjacent activities. In marine harbour areas, the study of benthic populations under the influence of pollution sources provides data regarding the level of pollution in the area depending on the degree of degradation of the biological community; at the same time, it reveals biological data concerning the resistance of various organisms to altered environmental conditions. Taking into consideration the industrial activities in the Midia Harbour area, this study is of particular importance regarding not only pollution-tolerant benthic invertebrates but species richness in general. In order to determine the status of marine water quality inside and in the vicinity of the Midia Harbour, water and sediment samples were collected and subjected to a series of physico-chemical measurements. As a result of biological assessment 14 groups of the following macrozoobenthic groups (Bryozoa, Turbellaria, Polychaeta, Oligochaeta, Bivalvia, Gastropoda, Gammaridae, Cirripedia, Cumacea, Corophiidae, Decapoda, Hydrozoa, Chironomidae larvae, fish - Gobius sp.) and two meiobenthic groups (Nematoda and Harpacticoida) were identified and studied. The zoobenthic associations were quite similar within the harbour aquatorium and outside the surrounding area. Most species undergo limits of comparable biological tolerances in the case of high anthropic influence and ecological stress factors. The constant presence of several opportunistic species of polichaetes Neanthes succinea and Polydora cornuta was noticed, these species being common both in marine harbour environments and in the open sea. Concerning the bivalves Mytilus galloprovincialis, Mya arenaria, Abra ovata and Scapharca inequivalvis we can say that these species are more resistant to severe environmental conditions, having a better ability to withstand environmental alterations.

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