Vorob'jova L. Meiobenthos of the Black and Azov seas

Meiobenthos of the Black and Azov Seas. Оn the basis of personal long-term data and a literature survey to work out a scientific concept of the formation of species diversity and qualitative indices of meiobenthos in conditions of enhanced eutrophication of the Black and Azov seas' ecosystems. Sampling and investigations of meiobenthos were carried out according to methods approved at the International Conference on Meiofauna in Tunis, 1969. Samples of meiofauna were taken in deposits of sandy beaches with author's device (certificate N 15 – 25.07.86) on the Black Sea shelf with a Petersen grab (0.4 x 0.25 m2 area). An MBS-1 microscope was used and a computer. Scientific results on revealing the laws governing the formation of species diversity and quantitative indices of meiobenthos during ecological stress allowed to identify groups and species-indicators of marine environmental quality. On the basis of long-term series of observations a qualitative link has been described between the ratio of meiob enthos numbers and biomass (Ntot/Btot). This index may be used in express diagnosis and prognosis of the state of bottom biocenoses during different technogenic loads in coastal ecosystems. The qualitative characteristics and structure of meiobenthos of the northwestern part of the Black Sea (NWBS) the longest and most productive area have been studied for the first time. Personal investigations and analysis of literature data have allowed to change the view on vertical distribution of benthos in the Black Sea, extending its limits towards the shore-supralittoral and the bathyal. For the first time on the basis of personal data the species diversity of Azov Sea meiobenthis and the nature of spatial distribution of qualitative parameters have been described. For the first time meiobenthos has been considered as a factor limiting the density of bottom-feeding fishes which at the stage of larvae, fry or adult feed mostly on meiobenthos. For the first time the main tendencies of development of Black Sea meiobenth os in conditions of eutrophication and other kinds of anthropogenic influence have been studied. The author was the first to use qualitative and quantitative characteristics of meiobenthos for the evaluation and prognosis of the state of marine ecosystems. The criteria worked out by the authors on the evaluation of the quality of the marine environment have been used for a number of projects and themes: Conducting complex ecological monitoring of the Ukrainian shelf of the Black and Azov seas for the aim of diagnosis and prognosis of their ecosystems,, working out recommendations on protection, rehabilitation and sustainable use (NAMIT, N g/p 0196V002402) ; Local monitoring of the marine environment in the area of the Yuzhniy marine trading port, and elaboration of recommendations for decreasing the ecological damage (N g/p 0197V00089); Trophic ties and bioenergetics of coastal ecotones in the Black and Azov seas (N g/p 0197V003262); The study of the influence of the Odessa Priport Plant on the pelagic and be nthic components of the ecosystems of the Grigorievsky liman (1996–1997) Environmental Assesment N g/p 0197V003263; Elaboration of the scientific fundamentals of integrated use of resources of the shelf and protection of the coastal zone of the Black and Azov seas (N g/p 0197V003264), during feasibility studies at local and regional levels. The author's elaborations have been used by the regional antilandslide agency in Odessa for solving the problem of reconstruction of shoreline reinforcements in the northwestern Black Sea shelf. Hydrobiology, ecology, zoology.