1. As a result of their location at the boundary between marine and continental domains, marine caves are affected by wide spatial and seasonal environmental changes. Only recently have benthic foraminifera been recognized as reliable indicators for the ecological zonation of these environments.
2. The present study is focused on two marine caves of the Orosei Gulf, Sardinia, Italy: Bue Marino and Bel Torrente. It investigates the spatial and seasonal variability of benthic foraminiferal assemblages relative to sediment grain size and water parameters (temperature, salinity, pH, and dissolved oxygen) collected during two campaigns in August 2014 and April 2015. The results from 2014 have been partially published.
3. Based on a comparison of the results of the two campaigns, the considerable reduction of foraminiferal abundance in Bel Torrente was deduced to occur because of the strong freshwater flows occurring during the rainy season; in Bue Marino, the less severe water flow allowed the identification of both living and dead foraminifera, although strongly reduced in number. These identifications allowed benthic foraminifera to be used to define the ecological zonation.
4. Entrance, confluence, and transitional ecozones were identified in Bue Marino cave on the basis of species abundance. The second ecozone, not recognized in 2014, was correlated with plant debris at the confluence of the two cave branches. The other two ecozones, which are characterized by the faunal shift from hyaline‐ to agglutinated‐prevalent assemblages, were attributed to the gradient of abiotic parameters detected from the outer to the inner portions of the cave. In both campaigns the same ecozones were recognized in terms of species composition, with exceptions being found to different extents as a result of seasonal variability.
5. As the distribution of foraminiferal ecozones is conditioned by a decreasing gradient of marine influence, long‐term monitoring may be regarded as a promising tool for future studies on sea‐level change.

中文翻译：

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底栖有孔虫作为意大利撒丁岛奥罗塞海洋洞穴中海洋影响的代理

1. 由于它们位于海洋和大陆区域之间的边界，海洋洞穴受到广泛的空间和季节环境变化的影响。直到最近，底栖有孔虫才被认为是对这些环境进行生态分区的可靠指标。
2. 本研究的重点是意大利撒丁岛奥罗塞海湾的两个海蚀洞：Bue Marino和Bel Torrente。本研究调查了在2014年8月和2015年4月的两次运动中收集的底栖有孔虫组合相对于沉积物粒度和水参数（温度，盐度，pH和溶解氧）的空间和季节变化。2014年的结果已部分发表。
3. 比较这两个活动的结果，可以推断贝尔托伦特有孔虫的大量减少是由于雨季期间淡水大量涌入；在马里诺（Bue Marino），虽然水流的数量大大减少，但水流的强度较小，因此可以识别有孔和有孔的有孔虫。这些识别使底栖有孔虫被用来定义生态区划。
4. 根据物种丰富度，确定了Bue Marino洞穴的入口，汇合和过渡生态区。第二个生态区（2014年未发现）与两个洞穴分支汇合处的植物残骸相关。其他两个生态区的特征是动物群从透明到聚集的动物群落转变，这归因于从洞穴外部到内部检测到的非生物参数的梯度。在这两个活动中，在物种组成方面都确认了相同的生态区，但由于季节变化而在不同程度上发现了例外。
5. 由于有孔虫生态区的分布受到海洋影响梯度递减的影响，因此长期监测可能被认为是未来研究海平面变化的有前途的工具。