The impacts of fine sediment on riverine fish

Elevated fine sediment input from terrestrial and aquatic sources as a result of anthropogenic activity is widely recognized to impact negatively on aquatic ecosystems. In rivers, freshwater fish are exposed to a range of impacts resulting from fine sediment pressures. To date, research on the effects of fine sediments on fish has been concentrated within relatively few families, notably the salmonidae. This paper reviews the literature describing indirect and direct impacts of fine sediment on freshwater fish as a contribution towards enhancing the understanding of the impacts of anthropogenic activities on freshwater ecosystems. We identify the causal mechanisms that underpin the observed negative response exhibited by fish populations to enhanced fine sediment loads, and the variability across different fish species. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Benthic foraminifera from two coastal lakes of southern Latium (Italy). Preliminary evaluation of environmental quality

Benthic foraminifera and sediment texture were studied on a total of 37 samples, collected from two brackish-water coastal basins: Fogliano Lake and Lungo Lake (central Italy). The research was performed as a preliminary low-cost survey to highlight the degree of the environmental stress and to recognize a possible anthropogenic disturbance. The sedimentological and foraminiferal data were processed by bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis. Three distinct assemblages, referable to different environments were recognized for the Fogliano Lake: inner, intermediate and outer lagoon. Only the outer lagoon assemblage was found in the Lungo Lake. The distribution of foraminifera in the Fogliano Lake suggests a natural environmental stress probably due to the ecological instability typical of marginal environments, while the absence of the inner and intermediate lagoon assemblages in the Lungo Lake suggests an environmental disturbance possibly related to human activities. An interdisciplinary survey including geochemical analyses is recommended in order to deduce the nature and degree of pollution in the Lungo Lake.     

人类活动对射阳湖的影响

本文通过对众多历史文献和地方志资料的分析来研究人类活动对射阳湖演变的影响,结果表明,秦汉至南宋时期,范公堤,运河对射阳湖由古泄湖向淡水湖的演变影响很大,其中以范公堤尤甚,由于运河决堤次数少,河流堆积于湖区的泥沙量有限,对射阳湖的淤积作用不大;围湖造田对射阳湖的影响也不大,因此古射阳湖的面积还很大,黄河大规模夺淮的700多年间,尤其是明嘉隆以后射阳湖接受了大量黄河所携泥沙的沉积,不断缩小,运堤与湖堤的修建,使射阳湖洪患不绝,填淤加速,开挖河道宣泄内水,以及围湖造田等地使射阳湖日益萎缩,走向分化,解体,至清末射阳湖已成了一个长条状的河道型湖泊,大部分地区已被淤为荡滩沼泽或者被开垦为农田。     

The success of Gonyostomum semen (Raphidophyceae) in a boreal lake is due to environmental changes rather than a recent invasion

The freshwater microalgal species, Gonyostomum semen, has increased in abundance and distribution in boreal lakes during the past few decades, concerning ecologists and water managers. Due to its rapid spread, G. semen has often been referred to as an invasive species, although it was first described in the 1800s. We hypothesized that G. semen is not an invasive species in Norwegian lakes, and that the increasing success is due to beneficial changes in environmental conditions for this species during the past century. We tested these hypotheses by performing a paleolimnological study of a Norwegian Lake, Skjeklesjøen, with known mass occurrence of G. semen. A specific G. semen pigment biomarker, heteroxanthin, was used to detect this species in layers of a sediment core with known age determinations. Environmental factors in both lake and catchment were further investigated and the relationships with the amounts of G. semen was tested. Our results suggested that G. semen was in fact not an invasive species in this lake the past decades. Several factors were identified as plausible drivers for G. semen in this boreal lake. Between 1874–2016, the increasing levels of G. semen in Lake Skjeklesjøen was most closely correlated with Carbon (C), lake color (measured as absorbance of sediment extracts), Nitrogen (N) and spring temperature. Our results suggest that the rapid increase in G. semen population in this boreal lake over the past 70 years was probably due to a combination of climate change and local anthropogenic activities in the catchment, causing increased browning and increased inputs of organic matter and nutrients.     

近百年来我国西南地区酸沉降背景下湖泊环境变化——来自四面山龙潭湖沉积硅藻证据

大气酸沉降会导致地表水体酸化和富营养化,同时气候变暖也会影响湖泊水体环境,湖泊生态系统如何响应二者相互作用是全球变化研究的热点之一.我国西南地区是全球酸沉降负荷最高的地区之一,然而目前对酸沉降影响下地表水环境变化规律知之甚少.本文以重庆四面山龙潭湖为研究对象,通过沉积岩芯的²¹⁰Pb测年和硅藻分析,并结合流域历史资料数据,揭示龙潭湖过去近百年来水环境变化及其主要驱动因子.结果表明,1926-1968年,龙潭湖以Achnanthidium minutissimum和Encyonema silesiacum占优势;随后,Lindavia bodanica快速增加至峰值后逐渐减少,伴随Aulacoseira alpigena和Aulacoseira ambigua含量上升.硅藻组合中以适应中性和弱碱性水体的属种为主,嗜酸性属种含量很少,表明目前水体总体维持弱碱性,这得益于当地紫色砂页岩和森林土壤对于酸沉降的缓冲作用.尽管目前龙潭湖仍维持弱碱性,1980s以来硅藻推导水体酸碱度下降、中富营养种增加,表明酸沉降降低水体碱度并提高营养水平.气候变暖加剧水体热力分层和营养富集,导致适应扰动、贫营养环境的L.bodanica减少.2010年以来,中富营养属种略有减少反映湖泊富营养化有所减缓.     

Nutrient loadings and deforestation decrease benthic macroinvertebrate diversity in an urbanised tropical stream system

Lotic ecosystems in urban areas are severely impacted by anthropogenic environmental stressors, such as deforestation and nutrient pollution, due to socioeconomic activities in the catchment. To work out measures for identification and mitigation of concurrent multiple stressors to a stream system, it is necessary to assess the relative importance of impacts by the individual stressors. Here we aimed to discriminate the covarying effects of nutrient pollution and deforestation on benthic macroinvertebrate communities in an urbanised tropical stream system. In the Silang-Santa Rosa Subwatershed (SSRS) of Laguna de Bay, benthic macroinvertebrates and physicochemical environments were investigated at 13 sites varying in human population density, riparian canopy, and land-use pattern as indicated by geographic information systems in the catchment. Regression and multivariate analyses were performed to identify the drivers of the biodiversity loss and understand its underlying mechanisms. In the SSRS, where rapid economic growth took place without updating poorly installed wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), domestic activity indicated by human population density in the catchment was the primary factor in generating heavy phosphorous loadings (mean total phosphorus = 0.91; range = 0–1.50 mg/l) that caused hypoxia (mean dissolved oxygen = 2.98; range = 0.13–6.27 mg/l) in stream waters and subsequently reduced macroinvertebrate diversity (mean H’ = 0.91; SD ± 0.61). Nutrient and organic pollution and riparian deforestation explained 53.5% and 9.7% of the variation of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in SSRS, respectively. Given such scenario, additional WWTPs servicing urban developments and improved riparian canopy cover in the SSRS can be both strategic and cost-effective in the initial steps of environmental mitigation in urbanised streams, especially in rapidly developing countries.     

The Estuarine Quality Paradox, Environmental Homeostasis and the difficulty of detecting anthropogenic stress in naturally stressed areas

Estuaries have long been regarded as environmentally naturally stressed areas because of the high degree of variability in their physico-chemical characteristics, for example oxygen, temperature and salinity in the water column and bed sediment dynamics. However, their biota is well-adapted to cope with that stress and so the areas may be regarded as resilient because of that inherent variability; their ability to absorb stress without adverse effects is regarded here as Environmental Homeostasis. Hence these areas may only be regarded as stressful for marine or freshwater-adapted organisms and that for estuarine organisms this environmental stress is regarded as a subsidy whereby they successfully capitalise on the stressful conditions. In addition, using examples of the estuarine fauna and flora, this article indicates that the characteristics of natural stress in estuaries are similar to those for anthropogenic stress. An over-reliance on ecosystem structural features, such as diversity, in quality indicators therefore makes the detection of the anthropogenic stress more difficult. This difficulty is termed the Estuarine Quality Paradox. Because of these difficulties, the article argues that functional characteristics either as well as or rather than structural ones should be used in detecting environmental perturbations in estuaries.     

Seagrass meadows in a globally changing environment

Seagrass meadows are valuable ecosystem service providers that are now being lost globally at an unprecedented rate, with water quality and other localised stressors putting their future viability in doubt. It is therefore critical that we learn more about the interactions between seagrass meadows and future environmental change in the anthropocene. This needs to be with particular reference to the consequences of poor water quality on ecosystem resilience and the effects of change on trophic interactions within the food web. Understanding and predicting the response of seagrass meadows to future environmental change requires an understanding of the natural long-term drivers of change and how these are currently influenced by anthropogenic stress. Conservation management of coastal and marine ecosystems now and in the future requires increased knowledge of how seagrass meadows respond to environmental change, and how they can be managed to be resilient to these changes. Finding solutions to such issues also requires recognising people as part of the social–ecological system. This special issue aims to further enhance this knowledge by bringing together global expertise across this field. The special issues considers issues such as ecosystem service delivery of seagrass meadows, the drivers of long-term seagrass change and the socio-economic consequences of environmental change to seagrass.     

Inter-annual variability of wet season freshwater plume extent into the Great Barrier Reef lagoon based on satellite coastal ocean colour observations

Riverine freshwater plumes are the major transport mechanism for nutrients, sediments and pollutants into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon and connect the land with the receiving coastal and marine waters. Knowledge of the variability of the freshwater extent into the GBR lagoon is relevant for marine park management to develop strategies for improving ecosystem health and risk assessments. In this study, freshwater extent has been estimated for the entire GBR lagoon area from daily satellite observations of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) between 2002 and 2010. To enable a reliable mapping of freshwater plumes we applied a physics-based coastal ocean colour algorithm, that simultaneously retrieves chlorophyll-a, non-algal particulate matter and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM), from which we used CDOM as a surrogate for salinity (S) for mapping the freshwater extent.     

Stability and variations in hydrochemical characteristics of Lake Glubokoe under conditions of a natural reserve

Studies in Lake Glubokoe (Ruzskii District, Moscow Province), which is slightly affected by anthropogenic load, are reported. Its current environmental state is characterized, and the stability and variability of some important hydrochemical characteristics, such as dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide content, pH, nutrient concentrations, water salinity and chemistry is estimated for a long period.     

1988-2018年滇池氮磷比的时空演变特征与原因解析

氮、磷浓度是制约湖泊营养状态和生产力水平的重要环境因子,而氮磷化学计量比是湖泊生态系统的主要指标,因此,判识氮磷比变化趋势及其驱动力对湖泊生态恢复具有重要意义.研究基于19882018年连续观测数据,分析了滇池氮磷浓度和氮磷摩尔比(简称氮磷比)的时空分布演变特征;采用多元线性回归模型分别对滇池草海和外海氮磷比驱动效应进行定量解析,筛选出影响湖体氮磷比变化的潜在驱动因子.结果表明:①19882018年滇池氮磷比呈现显著的线性上升趋势,其中草海和外海氮磷比分别上升1.3和0.7 a^-1.②草海和外海分别在2008年和2004年发生了氮磷比上升突变,突变前上升归因于总氮浓度快速增加,突变后则是由于总磷浓度下降较快.③滇池的氮磷浓度变化主要是受流域氮磷输入负荷、跨流域调水、流域氮磷削减、风速和水位的综合影响,但受控因子在不同区域可能存在差异.④气温是滇池氮磷比变化的主要驱动因子,流域人为氮磷输入差异是滇池氮磷比变化的次要驱动因子.     

抚仙湖、洱海、滇池浮游藻类功能群1960s以来演变特征

作为主要的初级生产者,浮游植物在水生生态系统中扮演着重要的角色,浮游植物的时空分布反映了生态环境的变化.依据浮游植物的形态、生理、生态特点而定义的浮游藻类功能群对藻类的耐受性和敏感性进行了描述,因而浮游藻类功能群的组成是生境特征的良好指示者.对1960s至今抚仙湖、洱海、滇池3个高原湖泊的浮游藻类组成进行分析,并首次将功能群理论运用到这3个湖泊.结果表明,3个湖泊的浮游藻类优势功能群组成在近50～60年间发生了明显的改变:抚仙湖的浮游藻类优势功能群演变过程为C、X2、Lo、F、P(1960s)-H1、C、P(1980s)-P、C、T(1990s)-T(2000年以后);洱海的浮游藻类优势功能群演变过程为J、Lo、MP、C、H1(1960s)-C、H1(1980s)-C、H1(1990s)-C、H1、M(2000年以后);滇池的浮游藻类优势功能群演变过程为J、N、P、MP、Lo(1960s)-J、P、MP、M(1980s)-J、M(1990s)-M(2000年以后).抚仙湖、洱海、滇池水体内的藻类功能群演替趋势特征,即耐低温物种的减少以及喜营养物种的增加,表明3个高原湖泊在近几十年可能受到了气候变暖和营养程度增加的影响.     

Present-Day Conditions of Limnic Ecosystems in the Lower Reaches of the Amu Darya

Present-day state and the functioning conditions of different-type limnic ecosystems in the Amu Darya delta are examined. The ecosystems are subjected to anthropogenic impact at an abrupt decrease in freshwater inflow and a change to another source of water feed.     

Geographic variations in shell growth rates of the mussel Diplodon chilensis from temperate lakes of Chile: Implications for biodiversity conservation

The Chilean lake district includes diverse lentic ecosystems along ca. 700 km of the country (36°–43°S), including the “Nahuelbutan lakes”, “Araucanian lakes” and “Chiloe lakes”. This area is recognized as an important “hot spot” of benthic freshwater biodiversity in Southern South America. In Chilean temperate lakes, increased nutrient loads of P and N caused eutrophication, particularly in the Nahuelbutan Lakes. The freshwater Hyriidae mussel Diplodon chilensis (Gray, 1828) which is one of the most abundant species in Chilean temperate lakes, is known to be very susceptible to eutrophication. This species presents a clear reduction in its geographic ranges and is considered to be a threatened species in many Chilean lakes. In this study, we used a correlative approach to determine how eutrophication-driven changes in the food supply and in geographical parameters of different Chilean lakes affected the shell growth rates of D. chilensis. The results obtained from sclerochronological analyses of the mussel shells suggest an association with a group of environmental variables, including geographical types (negative), such as latitude and altitude, and limnological types (positive), especially phosphorous and turbidity. However, the D. chilensis populations under extreme conditions of turbidity in eutrophic and hypertrophic lakes are extinct or nearly so. The high positive correlation of the mean D. chilensis growth rates with orthophosphate (R=0.76; P<0.05), in relation to dissolved inorganic nitrogen, suggests that P is the major limiting factor of the primary productivity in Chilean temperate lakes. We discuss some implications of our results in terms of the conservation of biodiversity in temperate lake ecosystems at different taxonomic levels.     

人类活动对江汉湖群沼泽化的影响

从破坏植被加速湖泊淤积速度、围湖造田使湖泊日渐萎缩、江湖隔绝促进水生高等植物生长、垸湖沼同体而互相转化等方面论述了人类活动加速了江汉湖群湖泊沼泽化的进程,并提出缓解湖泊沼泽化的措施;人类活动既具有加速湖泊沼泽化进程的作用亦具有延缓甚至逆转沼泽化进程的双向作用。     

江汉湖群基准环境与现代环境中的摇蚊属种组合变化

了解湖泊生态系统基准环境和历史演变规律是进行湖泊生态环境保护和管理的关键.本文研究江汉湖群32个浅水湖泊现代环境和基准环境下的摇蚊组合特征,分析摇蚊组合变化的趋势和影响因素,并探讨了江汉湖群生态和营养参考值.研究发现Paratanytarsus penicillatus-type、Microchironomus tener-type、Cricotopus sylvestris-type、Polypedilum nubifertype、Dicrotendipes nervosus-type、Procladius等为基准环境下的摇蚊优势种.现代环境中Chironomus plumosus-type、Microchironomus tabarui-type、Procladius、Tanypus、Propsilocerus akamusi-type等富营养种明显增多.摇蚊组合CONISS聚类分析结果表明,32个湖泊主要分为3类,其中21个湖泊(第Ⅰ、Ⅱ类)的摇蚊属种与基准环境相比发生了显著变化,主要原因是流域营养盐输入和水生植被的破坏.本研究介绍了摇蚊古生态研究在重建湖泊基准环境方面的应用,并为湖泊管理和生态修复提供参考数据.     

Limnology of four saline lakes in western Victoria, Australia: II. Biological parameters

Major biological parameters of four permanent (Lake Colac, Modewarre, Bolac and Tooliorook), shallow and slightly saline lakes in the volcanic plains of western Victoria, Australia recorded bi-monthly between November 1999–September 2001 are described. Chlorophyll a concentration ranged from 3–29 μg l⁻¹ with peaks in autumn. Phytoplankton taxa recorded were diverse, with Chlorophyta and Bacillariophyta being common. Cyanobacterial blooms were recorded mostly in summer. Zooplankton abundance in the lakes ranged from 12–368 individuals per litre. Rotifera dominated Lake Bolac, Copepoda dominated Lake Modewarre and they co-dominated Lake Colac and Tooliorook. Zooplankton interactions with phytoplankton suggest that simple predator-prey relationships cannot fully explain the trends exhibited and that a more complex model was acting to regulate algal biomass. A decline in the abundance of zooplankton in summer in Lake Modewarre was attributed to predation by high number of exotic larval carp at that time of the year. A total of 25 benthic macroinvertebrate taxa were recorded from Lake Colac, 30 from Modewarre, 22 from Bolac and 35 from Tooliorook. Twenty-one of the 45 taxa identified occurred in at least three lakes. Nine of the 12 taxa that occurred in only one lake were from Lake Tooliorook. Simpson's diversity index was low in Lake Bolac when compared to other three lakes. Lake Modewarre had more benthic individuals (3246 Ind m⁻²) than other three lakes (range 624–1397 Ind m⁻²). The combined contribution of Ostracoda, Amphipoda and Gastropoda dominated the benthos in all the lakes throughout the study period. Macroinvertebrate taxa richness was higher in the present study lakes than recorded from the lakes in the region. Frequency of sampling and number of sampling sites seemed more important in determining species richness than the size and shallowness of the lakes.     

Occurrence conditions of hyperpycnal flows, and their significance for organic-matter sedimentation in a Holocene estuary, Niigata Plain, Central Japan

River floods influence sedimentary environments and ecosystems from the terrestrial to the deep-marine. This study documents the occurrence conditions of hyperpycnal flows generated by river floods and related organic-matter sedimentation for Holocene sediments of the Niigata Plain, Central Japan, based on detailed sedimentary facies, total sulfur and total organic carbon content, diatom assemblages and organic-matter composition. Holocene sediments of the Niigata Plain consist of sand, mud and gravel that were deposited in estuarine and fluvial systems during a sea-level rise (15 000–6800 years BP) and stillstand (after 6800 years BP) following the Last Glacial Maximum. Hyperpycnites are present in the upper part of the estuarine lagoon sediments. The depositional age is considered to be about 5000 years BP. The hyperpycnites comprise two successions of a top fining-up unit and a basal coarsening-up unit, and include abundant terrigenous organic matter and freshwater diatoms. A large volume of freshwater is inferred to have flowed into the lagoon during deposition of the upper part of the lagoon sediments. In consequence, hyperpycnal flows may have readily formed in the lagoon, because the halocline was weak. The hyperpycnal flows also produced a layer of concentrated terrigenous organic matter in the uppermost part of the hyperpycnites. The abundant organic matter on the estuarine floor is inferred to have produced anoxic bottom conditions owing to oxidative decomposition by benthic bacteria.     

Effects of changing climate on ice cover in three morphometrically different lakes

A one‐dimensional hydrodynamic lake model (DYRESM‐WQ‐I) is employed to simulate ice cover and water temperatures over the period 1911–2014. The effects of climate changes (air temperature and wind speed) on ice cover (ice‐on, ice‐off, ice cover duration, and maximum ice thickness) are modeled and compared for the three different morphometry lakes: Fish Lake, Lake Wingra, and Lake Mendota, located in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. It is found that the ice cover period has decreased due to later ice‐on dates and earlier ice‐off dates, and the annual maximum ice cover thickness has decreased for the three lakes during the last century. Based upon simulated perturbations of daily mean air temperatures across the range of ?10°C to +10°C of historical values, Fish Lake has the most occurrences of no ice cover and Lake Wingra still remains ice covered under extreme conditions (+10°C). Overall, shallower lakes with larger surface areas appear more resilient to ice cover changes caused by climate changes.