Statistical and geostatistical analysis of reef sediments for characterizing the impact of eutrophication: the case study of La saline reef (Reunion Island).

@inproceedings{ChazottesGM2011,
 abstract = { La Saline reef, on the western coast of Reunion Island, has been the subject of a scientific survey of its water quality and spatial distribution of benthic communities for over 20 years. This survey has shown that the eutrophication of reef waters, as a consequence of submarine groundwater discharge, is responsible for major disturbances of the ecosystem to the detriment of the coral communities. The eutrophication of reef waters also had an impact on the size and composition of the sediment produced on the reef, with significant consequences to the sediment dynamics, in particular on the exportation of the finest fractions of the sediment out of the reef. This raises the question of the fate of coral reefs exposed to eutrophication and maintenance of their protective role for coastal areas.
Appropriate statistical treatments of environmental data are of major importance in the reconstruction or the spatial analysis of eutrophication effects. Most environmental impact studies on reef ecosystem are based on classical statistical approaches that do not specifically integrate the spatial variability of individual parameters. In this paper, preliminary geostatistical treatments have been tested on sediments that had been collected on La Saline reef in 1991 and 2003. The combination of this geostatistical analysis with results obtained using classical statistical methods allows preliminary understanding of the eutrophication impacts on reef behavior. },
 author = { Chazottes, V. AND Viseur, Sophie AND Pantaine, L. AND Cordier, E. },
 booktitle = { Proc. 31st Gocad Meeting, Nancy },
 title = { Statistical and geostatistical analysis of reef sediments for characterizing the impact of eutrophication: the case study of La saline reef (Reunion Island). },
 year = { 2011 }
}