Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent organic pollutants (POP) emitted mainly by human activities due to the incomplete combustion of organic matter (industry, heating, traffic ...). Because of their low rate of degradation, their toxicity and their bioaccumulation, PAHs are main of concern in ecological studies. In this context, the objectives of this thesis were to assess the impact of PAHs on the benthic microflora and meiofauna and apply different techniques of bioremediation (biostimulation, bioaugmentation and combination of both treatments) in order to degrade PAHs, using experimental approach with microcosms.Our results showed that PAHs are toxic for microflora but also for meiofauna of Bizerta lagoon. The toxic effects of these contaminants were demonstrated by the inhibition of bacterial activity in the sediment/water interface and by profound changes in the structure of bacterial communities. PAHs provoked significant changes on meiofaunal community with the selection of nematode species that could be proposed as bioindicators of PAH pollution. Thus, Spirinia parasitifera which significantly (p<0.05) increased in PAH contaminated microcosms, suggesting that it is an "opportunistic» species to PAH pollution. In contrast, Oncholaimus campylocercoïdes, strongly dominant in control microcosms, decreased in PAH contaminated microcosms and seemed to be a ‘‘PAH-sensitive'' species.By analyzing the structure of microbial and meiofaunal community, we observed that the structural role of meiofauna on bacteria community structure was still evident even under PAH contamination despite the toxic effects on meiofauna. However, this structural role of meiofauna disappeared when nutrients were added to the sediment resulting in an almost complete removal of PAHs. Biostimulation seemed to be the most effective bioremediation strategy in the reduction of PAH toxic effects on benthic organisms. Overall, these results suggest that bioremediation using nutrient addition is a promising alternative technique for the degradation of PAHs in coastal polluted environments.