Global Journal of Science Frontier Research, H: Environment & Earth Science, Volume 22 Issue 5

also influencing foraminifera fauna, also seen by Narayan and Pandolfi (2010) in a similar subtropical estuarine environment. Results from 2013 and 2014 show dominance of non-SBS Quinqueloculina , and SBS Amphistegina , and Archaias in shallow reef areas of Pirangi corroborated by Araújo and Machado (2008) that found low diversity and evenness at Abrolhos explained by dominance of Quinqueloculina, Amphistegina , and Archaias at shallow, low-energy stations. Quinqueloculina species have become the dominant taxa. After the oil spill in 2019 Archaias became extinct. The extinction of a genera is an acute response of the disaster that will continue to prevent healthy environment to reestablish for many decades. Also, a change from SBF to heterotrophic foraminifers such as Quinqueloculina lamarckiana like we have seen in 2019, after the spill, is also indicating of not well-developed ecosystem. The already low frequency of stained foraminifers in Pirangireefal area that was determined by Eichler and Moura (2020) were described as related to the same factors listed by Bicchi et al. (2002), such as empty tests should be common in reef areas and/or most reef-dwelling foraminifers live attached to reefs, stalks and macro algae, and only empty tests should be found free in the sediment after a reproductive event. Thus, the assemblage, although modified by postmortem processes, is an averaged mosaic of spatially and temporally (at least the last year) varying communities, as shown by Wilson and Ramsook (2007) in the West Indies. In according to Eichler and Moura (2020), Pirangi has marginal environment for reef growth and is unsuitable for recovery after stress events according to the index interpretation proposed by Hallock et al. (2003). This is true especially in areas with tourist activities; indicating stressed environments and that Pirangi is not suitable for coral reef growth, and the oil spill reached an already impacted area. The present study show that Foraminifera can be used as good proxy of reef health and can contribute to the managements plans of the Pirangi reefal area of the National Marine Park by applying knowledge of its foraminifer assemblage to the diagnosis of the region’s environmental health, and by providing a first insight to the pattern in which organic matter is distributed in the sediment across depths. By associating the foraminifer composition with the sedimentological data, we conclude that coarse and fine sand fractions are the controlling parameters on faunal composition at Pirangi, and that depositional energy plays an important role in the transportation and deposition of sediments and the foraminiferal habitat. The presence of reworked Quinqueloculina shows that changes besides the oil spill yet to be identified are occurring in the area and must be taken into consideration in further studies. These changes may be linked to erosion occurring at the beaches near the reefal area that is uncovering relict environments. In the reef area close to the tourist sites and where oil reached the bottom there are low numbers of SBS individuals, and foraminiferal abundance; however, in non-reef areas, there are no individuals at all. Opportunists are dominant in coastal stations where people walk upon the reefs. This is the negative effect of trampling in the coral reefs and has been discussed by Kay and Liddle (1989), and similar consequences of anthropogenic changes are already seen at Pirangi (Eichler et al., 2019). Due to their proximity to the coast, the Pirangi reefs are vulnerable to anthropogenic effects. One of these is the trampling of the biological coverage by the visitors who frequent the reef each year with low to no consciousness. Thus, the data obtained in this study show that disturbances (natural or anthropogenic) can result in a different distribution of the benthic organisms in the reef area, as evidenced by the differences in foraminifera diversity and coverage percentage among the sampling stations. Moreover, these results allow us to infer that the area of Pirangi has undergone changes resulting from human activities and that the differences in biological composition can be used as an important indicator of the health of the Pirangi reef process and development. 1 Global Journal of Science Frontier Research Volume XXII Issue V Year 2022 55 ( H ) Version I © 2022 Global Journals Evidence of Sediment Sterility and Benthic Quality as Deleterious Consequences After the 2019 Oil Spill in Northeastern Brazil The dominance of smaller foraminiferal taxa, including stress-tolerant species, and minimal representation of BSB taxa, indicate unsuitable conditions in these reefal area. Anthropogenic disturbances in coastal marine environments are threatening marine life. Reefs in Pirangi that are trampled by tourists face an eminent coral and foraminiferal community death. Agricultural land use increases amount of sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus, and turbidity in nearby rivers. The oil spill happened on top of all of it. The BSB Foraminifera Amphistegina gibbosa is present at both coastal and deeper stations, however, Amphistegina gibbosa is not found at sites where reefs are walked upon, whereas Amphisorus hemprichii is sometimes present because of its flattened morphology. If interpreted together with live observations, is a reliable tool to reconstruct changes in the coral reef’s health in the past, and long-term assessments are needed in order to improve our knowledge regarding the distribution and ecological importance of Brazilian reef- dwelling foraminifers, as well as to extend the application of the Foraminifera science to large-scale monitoring of this and other reef ecosystems in the southwestern Atlantic. This is a proxy that can be used to evaluate coral reef health in the past, and in the present can be used to evidence areas where benthic communities are supposed to thrive.