Feeding of benthic foraminifera on diatoms and sewage-derived organic matter: an experimental application of lipid biomarker techniques

Foraminiferal ecology at sewage outfalls has been investigated in numerous field studies over the last 30 years. Foraminifera have been frequently used as biomonitors of sewage pollution since they are both abundant and ubiquitous. Sewage outfalls have been demonstrated to have both positive and negative effects on adjacent foraminiferal populations, but it has never been shown conclusively why sewage affects foraminifera in these ways. Such information on the impact mechanisms of sewage pollution is essential if foraminifera are to be used as sewage pollution biomonitors, and also to understand the ecology of these important protists. One possible cause of a positive effect is the direct consumption of sewage-derived particulate organic matter (POM) by the foraminifera themselves. However this hypothesis has never been tested experimentally. Here, lipid (fatty acid and sterol) biomarker techniques were applied to study the ingestion of two potential food items by the foraminiferan Haynesina germanica in the laboratory. An experiment was conducted to confirm that the laboratory conditions were conducive to the survival and feeding of the foraminifera. In this experiment, foraminifera were provided with the pennate diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum, which was considered to be a suitable food source. After 2 weeks, a four-fold increase in the levels of the diatom fatty acid biomarker, 20:5(n-3), in the foraminifera suggested that they had fed actively on the diatoms and survived under the experimental conditions. These experimental conditions were used in the main experiment, where foraminifera were fed the POM from sewage. Lipid biomarker analysis indicated that H. germanica did not consume secondary treated sewage-derived POM. Neither fatty acid profiles in the sewage nor coprostanol, the diagnostic human faecal sterol, were detected in foraminifera after exposure to the potential sewage food source. However, foraminifera may have consumed bacteria associated with the sewage in the experiment. The findings are discussed in terms of current EU legislation on sewage treatment that has affected the composition of sewage discharges, and therefore possibly reduced the nutritive value of sewage to the marine benthos.     

A numerical model of the internal tide in knight inlet,British Columbia

Abstract

A two‐dimensional, hydrostatic numerical model of the tides in Knight Inlet is compared with observations of velocity and density obtained from three cyclesonde moorings. The observations from a fourth cyclesonde mooring were used to provide boundary data at the open end of the model. The time period in the fjord that the model simulates was a period of high, freshwater runoff, so that the fjord had a distinct, surface layer. The use of high, vertical resolution was avoided by attaching a homogeneous, fresh, surface layer to the top of the model. The density equation was linearized about a mean, fixed density field, and the mixing of density was not allowed.

The model reproduces the semidiurnal (M₂, S₂ and N₂) and diurnal (K₁ and O₁) velocity and density signals in the inlet. The shallow‐water constituents (M₄ and MK₃) are reproduced even though the density equation has been linearized. The fortnightly constituent (MSf) is poorly simulated. When the advection terms in the momentum equation are set to zero, the basic features of the semidiurnal and diurnal constituents are still reproduced, but the shallow‐water constituents are poorly simulated.

The energy flux along the inlet of the M₂ internal tide is insensitive to the advective terms in the momentum equation. The total rate of dissipation of M₂ energy is similar to the energy flux in the M₂ internal tide near the sill, which implies that, according to the model, most of the energy removed from the barotropic tide is fed into the internal tide. The majority of the energy in the M₂ internal tide is dissipated close to the sill of the inlet, but enough of the energy makes its way to the head of the inlet to reflect and set up a recognizable standing wave pattern.     

A Gill Twin Propeller-Vane Anemometer for Flux Measurements During Moderate and Strong Winds

A wind velocity measuring system based on the Gill propeller anemometer is described. A method of calculating the vertical component, which allows for the non-cosine response and avoids the region of stall and nonlinear operation, is presented. A summary of the possible errors in Reynolds stress and drag coefficient estimates is given. A method of establishing the distance constant using field observations is presented. Finally, some preliminary results and some intercomparisons with otheranemometers are described briefly.     

Low‐frequency subsurface current and density fluctuations in the strait of Georgia

Abstract

The depth‐time structure of low‐frequency subsurface current and density fluctuations in central Strait of Georgia is described. The measurements were made between February and May, 1981 with profiling Cyclesondes. The depth range of approximately 50 to 290 m was sampled in water depths of about 325 m. The mean current was cross‐strait and decreased with depth. The low‐frequency current fluctuations occurred predominantly at periods exceeding a week and also decreased with depth. Below about 200 m, there was an increasing tendency for the fluctuations to be aligned with the local topography. The maximum vertical separation for components of current to be significantly coherent was 100 m and was in the lowest frequency band. Currents separated by 4.1 km in the horizontal were correlated in the more energetic north‐south component.     

A Gill twin propeller-vane anemometer for flux measurements during moderate and strong winds

A wind velocity measuring system based on the Gill propeller anemometer is described. A method of calculating the vertical component, which allows for the non-cosine response and avoids the region of stall and nonlinear operation, is presented. A summary of the possible errors in Reynolds stress and drag coefficient estimates is given. A method of establishing the distance constant using field observations is presented. Finally, some preliminary results and some intercomparisons with other anemometers are described briefly.Now at the Institute of Ocean Sciences, Patricia Bay, B.C., Canada.     

The hydrography and biology of a bloom of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi in the northern North Sea

In June/July 1994 a study was made of a small bloom of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi in an area of the North Sea to the east of the Shetland Islands. Observations on the hydrography of the study area indicated the bloom was associated with Atlantic water and was confined to an area in which a stable shallow mixed layer had formed. There was no evidence to suggest association of horizontal physical structure with the bloom development. High cell densities of >1– cells dm⁻³, together with low concentrations of PIC (<50 μg dm⁻³) and detached liths (2– liths cm⁻³) indicated that the bloom was studied at an early stage of development. Biochemical and physiological observations indicated active growth was taking place. The results presented are discussed in comparison with previous studies carried out in both oceanic and shelf seas.     

Deep and intermediate water replacement in the Strait of Georgia

Abstract

We have studied deep‐water replacement processes in the Strait of Georgia using data from two different observational programs. From the monthly hydrographic data of Crean and Ages (1971) we have recognized the propagation of cold, brackish and well oxygenated waters northwards from Boundary Passage at depths between 75 and 200 m. We found a significant correlation over the years 1967–78 between surface cooling and temperature drops at those depths some months later. Measurements at an array of moorings in the central Strait of Georgia (Stacey et al., 1987) revealed the presence during summer months of currents concentrated near the bottom and varying with fortnightly and monthly periods. We have interpreted this phenomenon in terms of gravity currents originating from Boundary Passage during periods of neap tides and introducing at depth salty waters from the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Our analysis confirms in part the validity of the deep‐water replacement mechanisms advanced by Waldichuk; however, we find that wintertime replacement does not usually reach bottom while summertime penetration of waters from the Strait of Juan de Fuca clearly does. Because of the important role played by tidal mixing, monthly sampling is inadequate to resolve and understand the deep‐water replacement processes.     

The Spring Phytoplankton Bloom in the Coastal Temperate Ocean: Growth Criteria and Seeding from Shallow Embayments

A method based on time-series of conductivity, temperature and depth (CTD) profiles which successfully determines favourable phytoplankton growth conditions for the spring bloom in nearshore temperate coastal waters was developed. The potential for shallow embayments to influence phytoplankton species composition in larger adjacent waters was also investigated. At temperate latitudes, such embayments should have favourable phytoplankton growth conditions earlier in the spring than open waters as bathymetry limits vertical mixing and thus increases light availability. The study area was Nanoose Bay, which is connected to the Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Data were collected 2–3 times per week during the winter-spring of 1992 and 1993. A mooring with 5 current meters was placed at the mouth of the bay in 1992. The conservation equation for a scalar was used to estimate the balance between advective transport and biological source and sink terms. Variability in physical conditions and biological response between years was tremendous. Results indicate that seeding from the bay was not possible in 1992 but could have been in 1993. However, to conclusively determine the importance of Nanoose Bay on the spring bloom species composition in the Strait of Georgia, more extensive work is required. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Spectra of surface atmospheric quantities at ocean weathership P

Ten years of surface weather data from Ocean Weather Station P were subjected to spectral analysis. The wind speed and air pressure auto‐spectra reveal large variations at synoptic periods while the auto‐spectra of the sea temperature, air temperature and absolute humidity are dominated by the annual variations. The rotary auto‐spectrum of the wind features a broad peak of activity centered at a period of 3 days. In addition, the spectra of quantities representative of the wind stress and sensible and latent heat fluxes are discussed. Spectra of these surface weather quantities computed for each season show that the activity changes both with respect to the size and frequency of the variations during the course of a year. The cross‐spectra between selected pairs of quantities were also computed and are discussed.     

Trophic position of deep-sea fish—Assessment through fatty acid and stable isotope analyses

To investigate the trophic ecology of two of the dominant families of deep-sea fish (Macrouridae and Moridae) fatty acid and stable isotope analyses were applied to liver and muscle samples of five abundant species from the NE Atlantic. In conjunction with stomach content data these methods made it possible to identify differences in feeding strategies between the five study species as well as variation in feeding in relation to increasing depth and body size. Biomarkers identified strong similarities between Coryphaenoides armatus and Antimora rostrata though differences were found associating C. armatus more with the benthic food web whereas A. rostrata showed stronger links to the pelagic food web. While Lepidion eques was classified as a species linking benthic and benthopelagic food webs, both fatty acid and stable isotope data suggested that Coryphaenoides guentheri fed on an exclusively benthic diet. Coryphaenoides rupestris on the other hand were largely dependent on a copepod-based food web. Ontogenetic changes in feeding were found for both A. rostrata and C. armatus with the indication of a switch from active predation to scavenging occurring with increasing body size. Biomarkers also reflected the seasonal influx from the photic zone though changes were species-specific and probably reflected the variation in prey availability and abundance in response to these inputs. Our findings have thus demonstrated that the combined use of these biomarkers can elucidate trophic specialisations in situations where conventional methods alone previously provided insufficient data.