Uncovering potential mangrove microbial bioindicators to assess urban and agricultural pressures on Martinique island in the eastern Caribbean Sea

Overview & Synopsis

Martinique's mangroves, which cover 1.85 ha of the island (<0.1 % of the total area), are considerably vulnerable to local urban, agricultural, and industrial pollutants. Unlike for temperate ecosystems, there are limited indicators that can be used to assess the anthropogenic pressures on mangroves. This study investigated four stations on Martinique Island, with each being subject to varying anthropogenic pressures. An analysis of mangrove sediment cores approximately 18 cm in depth revealed two primary types of pressures on Martinique mangroves: (i) an enrichment in organic matter in the two stations within the highly urbanized bay of Fort-de-France and (ii) agricultural pressure observed in the four studied mangrove stations. This pressure was characterized by contamination, exceeding the regulatory thresholds, with dieldrin, total DDT, and metals (As, Cu and Ni) found in phytosanitary products. The mangroves of Martinique are subjected to varying degrees of anthropogenic pressure, but all are subjected to contamination by organochlorine pesticides. Mangroves within the bay of Fort-de-France experience notably higher pressures compared to those in the island's northern and southern regions. In these contexts, the microbial communities exhibited distinct responses. The microbial biomass and the abundance of bacteria and archaea were higher in the two less-impacted stations, while in the mangrove of Fort-de-France, various phyla typically associated with polluted environments were more prevalent. These differences in the microbiota composition led to the identification of 65 taxa, including Acanthopleuribacteraceae, Spirochaetaceae, and Pirellulaceae, that could potentially serve as indicators of an anthropogenic influence on the mangrove sediments of Martinique Island