Integrating Benthic Foraminifera and Heavy Metal Proxies to Evaluate the Environmental Quality of Safaga Bay, Red Sea Coast, Egypt

Abstract

Coastal ecosystems are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic activities associated with tourism development and maritime traffic. This study evaluates the environmental quality of a coastal sector using an integrated approach combining sediment characteristics, heavy metal concentrations, and benthic foraminiferal assemblages. Nineteen surface sediments were collected and analyzed for trace metals using ICP-MS, while benthic foraminiferal assemblages were quantified, and ecological indices were calculated. Results reveal elevated concentrations of trace metals at coastal stations, closely associated with high TOM and fine-grained sediments, indicating significant anthropogenic inputs. These stations are characterized by low species richness, reduced Shannon diversity, high dominance, low living foraminiferal percentages, high malformed individuals, and markedly low FoRAM values, reflecting stressed environmental conditions. Opportunistic taxa such as Ammonia tepida dominate impacted sites, whereas sensitive carbonate-producing taxa (Quinqueloculina lamarckiana, Coscinospira hemprichii, Elphidium striatopunctatum, Elphidium crispum) prevail at less disturbed stations. Multivariate analyses clearly separate polluted coastal stations from relatively unimpacted offshore sites. The combined geochemical and biological evidence demonstrates that tourism-related activities and ship effluents exert a strong negative influence on benthic ecosystems. Benthic foraminifera, together with heavy metals, provide an effective and sensitive tool for assessing anthropogenic impacts and coral reef health for sustainable coastal management of Safaga Bay.