IO-ASSESSING and surveillance are practical methods to
monitor health status of ecological receptors in the marine
environment. In recent decades, biological indicators have
been widely applied to assess adverse effects of pollutants in
aquatic ecosystems [1]-[4].
Bio-indicators act as receptors, which respond to stressors
by their alternation in population or histological structures [5],
[6]. According to the National Academy of Science, bioindicators are practical in promoting the knowledge of
environmental issues, supporting environmental characteristics
and improving existing methods to assess ecological risk in
the marine environment [5]-[8]. In sediments, macrobenthic
organisms are an important biological indicators of
environmental change due to their close relation to sediments,
high sensibility to chemicals contaminates, and their ability to
absorb and accumulate in different types of compounds,
especially heavy metals [9]-[12].
The major objectives of this project are as follows: (1) to
assess the diversity and distribution of benthic communities,
and (2) to evaluate the ecological condition between several
stations with high degrees of natural variability and different
levels of anthropogenic effects. Information on the ecological
potential of habitat suitability can serve as the utmost