Preliminary evaluation of the use of phosphogypsum for reef substrate. II. A study of the effects of phosphogypsum exposure on diversity and biomass of aquatic organisms

The effects of cement consolidated phosphogypsum (PG) on marine organisms was investigated under natural conditions in four 1000 m2 estuarine ponds. Two ponds were seeded with 160 kg of PG arranged in aggregations of blocks and two ponds received similar mass of sand/cement blocks. Meiofauna were sampled quarterly and PG did not affect total meiofauna or major taxa (nematodes and copepods) density Abundant species of copepods either were slightly increased in ponds with PG or were inconsistently affected. All ponds were drained after one year. Three species of macroinvertebra tes and 15 species of fishes were collected. Diversity indices showed modest but inconsistent variation among ponds. Only Pond 1 (control) and Pond 4 (experimental) had similar species abundances and all ponds showed unique distributions of biomasses among species. Thus, no differences in community structure attributable to the presence of PG could be detected among benthic invertebrates, natant invertebrates, or fishes.