Bio-monitoring of coral reef health based on benthic foraminifera in Soma Bay, Safaga, Red Sea Coast-Egypt: Application of standard FoRam Index

The natural heritage of the coral reef in the Red Sea coast at the north of the Safaga City offers great economic opportunities in the field of tourism investment. The area is under continuous development and the construction of the resort will reach its peak in a short time. The bio-monitoring of the degradation of coral reefs is an obligation to keep these natural resources. The Foraminifera in Reef Assessment and Monitoring (FORAM index) offers the best systematic methodology for bio-monitoring approaches that become standardized in the recent years. FORAM index is used to control the coral reef health in Soma Bay north of Safaga City. The study is supported by topographical and statistical analyses. The topographical analysis revealed the occurrences of four valleys that extend from land into the sea as well as the concentration of the resort constructions at the sea outlet of these valleys. The statistical analyses of the foraminiferal association included the cluster and principal component techniques. Three microtypes are distinguished in Soma bay. Each of these microtypes is found to be dominated by one of the functional groups used in the calculation of FORAM index. These microtypes are larger (symbionts-bearing) foraminifera dominated microtype 1, heterotrophic foraminifera rich microtype 2 and stress tolerant rich microtype 3. The values of the FORAM index range between 3.9 and 6.7 which are in general above the threshold values of the optimum environmental conditions required for healthy reef building corals. These values should be used as a background for the future studies of the FORAM index in the region. The FORAM index provides an excellent tool for coral reef health, and its periodic application is highly recommended for the sustainable development of economic activities and ecotourism on the Red Sea coast.