Abstract
The stake of this project is to study the impact of anthropogenic pollution (plastic waste, trace metals...) still strongly present in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region on coastal organism biodiversity. This will be done via an original method based on the study of immune indices. This tool, paired with marine sediment chemistry (bioavailability and pollutant speciation), will allow us estimate with great precision the effects of pollutants on all levels (genes, cells and individuals). Several studies have already shown that anthropogenic pollution alters the immunity of marine animals. The immune system malfunction, boosted by global change and the increase of exotic pathogenic strains that are more or less resistant to many antibiotics, represents one of the most serious threats leading to species extinction in the marine world. Our study will be carried out on intertidal annelids which constitute simple models (small size and simple anatomy) for which the immunity is known and which play a key role in food webs by being preys for many fish during high tide and to birds during low tide. We will carry out a monitoring of annelids populations, evaluate their health status and study their degree of adaptability to environmental stress by associating physiological (immune phenotypes), genetic (population genetics, study of polymorphism in target immunity genes) and marine sediment chemistry (bioavailability and pollutant speciation) approaches. For comparative purposes, two sites were selected for this study: a non-polluted Natura 2000 site, the Authie Bay, and a heavy metal polluted site, the Boulogne port. The ultimate objective will be the protection of sites with high annelid density and diversity, with the aim to maintain fish nursery areas and an important trophic resource for the coastal avifauna.
France