This study explores the role of the Nile River damming in shaping the recent benthic ecology in the southeastern Levantine (SL) Basin, the saltiest, hottest and the most oligotrophic basin within the Mediterranean Sea. The spatial distribution and diversity patterns of dead benthic foraminiferal (BF) faunas from the SL shelf were analyzed at 59 stations (40–100 water depths) sampled in August 2011 off the Israeli coast. Distinct dead BF assemblages were determined using multivariate statistical analyses, reflecting ecological preferences and their association with different environmental settings. The dead BF assemblages investigated in the current study were significantly different from the living BF assemblages explored in a previous study at the same stations. Ongoing human activity may explain these discrepancies, especially in the middle shelf, where continuous grain size coarsening, increase in carbonate content and decrease in TOC have occurred since the construction of the Aswan High Dam across the Nile River. These changes comprise (I) modest but clear changes in the lateral distribution of the biotopes, including continuous southward retreat of the southern middle shelf Nilotic biotope, and appearance of more fragmented, small biotopes due to the reduced impact of the Nile littoral cell; (II) dissimilarities in assemblage composition with higher numbers of opportunistic species occurring in the dead assemblages and increasing densities of sensitive taxa in the living assemblages.

这项研究探索了尼罗河大坝在塑造东南黎凡特（SL）盆地，地中海中最咸，最热和最富营养化盆地的底栖生态中的作用。2011年8月，在以色列海岸的59个站点（水深40至100个水深）对SL陆架上有底栖有孔虫（BF）的动物区系进行了空间分布和多样性分析。使用多元统计分析确定了不同的死亡高炉组合，反映了生态偏好及其与不同环境设置的关联。当前研究中研究的死高炉组件与先前研究中在相同站点上探索的活动高炉组件显着不同。持续的人类活动可能解释了这些差异，自从横跨尼罗河的阿斯旺大坝建设以来，特别是在中部大陆架，那里的晶粒连续不断地粗化，碳酸盐含量增加和总有机碳含量下降。这些变化包括（I）生物群落侧面分布的适度但明显的变化，包括南部中层架尼罗河生物群落不断向南退缩，以及由于尼罗河沿岸细胞的影响减少而出现的更破碎的小生物群落; （II）组合组成的差异，死组合中出现机会性物种的数量增加，而活组合中敏感类群的密度增加。这些变化包括（I）生物群落侧面分布的适度但明显的变化，包括南部中层架尼罗河生物群落不断向南退缩，以及由于尼罗河沿岸细胞的影响减少而出现的更破碎的小生物群落; （II）组合组成的差异，死组合中出现机会性物种的数量增加，而活组合中敏感类群的密度增加。这些变化包括（I）生物群落侧面分布的适度但明显的变化，包括南部中层架尼罗河生物群落不断向南退缩，以及由于尼罗河沿岸细胞的影响减少而出现的更破碎的小生物群落; （II）组合组成的差异，死组合中出现机会性物种的数量增加，而活组合中敏感类群的密度增加。