Assessment of non-point sources of fecal pollution in coastal waters of Puerto Rico and Trinidad

Traditional and molecular methods (PCR) were used to detect, quantify and identify the source of fecal pollution in coastal sites of Puerto Rico and Trinidad. Enterococci and Escherichia coli standard plate counts were used as a general indicator of fecal contamination while the PCR detection of Bifidobacteria adolescentis and human or bovine specific Bacteroidales were used to examine potential sources. Seven of 14 sites in Trinidad including Maracas Bay which is a major public beach contained significant fecal contamination based on enterococci numbers counts exceeding established thresholds for areas of direct contact. Forty six percent of the 27 stations in Puerto Rico were over the established thresholds for enterococci and 49% according to E. coli counts. About 31% of the stations examined in Puerto Rico had evidence of human derived fecal contamination. Human fecal pollution was detected in only one station from Trinidad. Bovine derived contamination was detected only once.     

Distribution of viral and bacterial pathogens in a coastal canal community

Significant concentrations of human enteric viruses and bacteria were found to be present in the water and sediment of a coastal canal community into which secondarily treated sewage was being discharged.     

Underwater noise pollution in a coastal tropical environment

Underwater noise pollution has become a major concern in marine habitats. Guanabara Bay, southeastern Brazil, is an impacted area of economic importance with constant vessel traffic. One hundred acoustic recording sessions took place over ten locations. Sound sources operating within 1 km radius of each location were quantified during recordings. The highest mean sound pressure level near the surface was 111.56 ± 9.0 dB re 1 μPa at the frequency band of 187 Hz. Above 15 kHz, the highest mean sound pressure level was 76.21 ± 8.3 dB re 1 μPa at the frequency 15.89 kHz. Noise levels correlated with number of operating vessels and vessel traffic composition influenced noise profiles. Shipping locations had the highest noise levels, while small vessels locations had the lowest noise levels. Guanabara Bay showed noise pollution similar to that of other impacted coastal regions, which is related to shipping and vessel traffic.     

Assessment of butyl- and phenyltin pollution in the coastal environment of Korea using mussels and oysters

Butyl- and phenyltin residues in bivalves were quantified around the coast of Korean peninsula in 1995–1998 and 2001. Butyltin compounds were detected at all the sites surveyed, whereas phenyltins were detected at 41 out of 67 sites in 1995–1998. Tributyltin (TBT) concentrations in bivalves ranged 48–2800 ng Sn/g on dry weight basis. Triphenyltin (TPT) concentrations ranged <3–1820. The mean TPT concentration was 3.5 times less than that of TBT. Spatial distribution of TBT was closely related to boating and dry-docking activities. TPT concentration in bivalves showed significant correlation with TBT. Concentrations of TBT in bivalves, 2001 are not significantly changed compared to those in 1995–1998. However, TPT concentrations in bivalves steeply decreased in 2001. High concentration of TBT and lesser extent TPT and their nation-wide distribution indicate that organotins are one of major organic pollutants in the marine environment of Korea.     

鄱阳湖河湖交错带重金属污染对微生物群落与多样性的影响

鄱阳湖河湖交错带是鄱阳湖流域内河流生态系统与湖泊生态系统之间的界面区域,该区域物种多样性丰富,承接了五大河流的来水,是重要的污染缓冲区和净化区.本文研究了鄱阳湖河湖交错带重金属污染对微生物群落结构和微生物多样性的影响,结果表明,已测的重金属(汞、铜、锌、铅和镉)均有不同程度的污染,其中,铅、汞污染最严重,水质标准为Ⅳ类以上,其他重金属均为Ⅱ类;高通量测序结果表明,鄱阳湖河湖交错带微生物群落主要有变形菌门、放线菌门、拟杆菌门和疣微菌门4类,平均含量分别为58.31%、13.63%、9.69%和1.33%.多样性指数分析结果表明,昌江与乐安河交汇处(R9点位)与鄱阳湖出长江口(H11点位)的微生物多样性指数(Chao 1、Shannon和Simpson指数)最高,万家桥(N2点位)与赣江入湖口(W6点位)微生物多样性指数最低.研究表明,受重金属污染严重的区域通常会使微生物群落丰度降低,然而R9和H11点位重金属污染严重,但微生物多样性却较丰富,说明微生物多样性不仅仅受单一因子影响,而是多重因子共同影响.     

The impact of wastewater treatment effluent on microbial biomasses and diversities in coastal sediment microcosms of Hangzhou Bay

Disposal of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluent into sea, a typical anthropogenic disturbance, may influence many environmental factors and change the coastal microbial community structure. In this study, by setting up coastal sediment microcosms perturbed by WWTP effluent, the changes of microbial community structure under different degree of disturbances were investigated. Quantitative PCR (qPCR) and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) were used to analyzed the biomass and biodiversity. High throughput sequencing analysis was used to identify the classification of the microorganisms. Our study suggested that low ratio of WWTP effluent may stimulate dominant species, which increase the biomass but decrease the biodiversity; while high ratio of WWTP effluent may depress all species, which decrease the biomass but increase the biodiversity. In other words, the impact was dose-dependent. The changes of microbial community structure may provide a metric for water environmental assessment and pollution control.     

The role of surfactants in coastal sea pollution

An analysis of the physico-chemical aspects in the distribution of pollutants in the presence of surfactants is reported for coastal marine waters. Three different situations are considered in the interaction of surfactants with soluble components and particle dispersions. The environmental and human health risk is considered as a function of the partition phenomena at the air/water interface and of the effects of weather conditions. The MBAS/Cl⁻ ratio is suggested as an index for assessing coastal sea pollution.     

Environmental impact of extensive dredging in a coastal marine area

An area of the Thyrrenian Sea in the Gulf of Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, was investigated before, during and after extensive dredging operations to create an access channel for oil tankers to reach a refinery. The observed abiotic parameters were not greatly affected, but the benthic macrofauna was completely eliminated from the dredged area. Recolonization of this area by the macro-benthos was very rapid. Six months after dredging, benthic communities had main structural parameters very similar to those of the predredging period and neighbouring non-dredged areas. However the 6-month post dredging communities still showed a noticeable qualitative dissimilarity with respect to the predredging period and neighbouring non-dredged areas. Communities in the neighbouring non-dredged zones were unaffected by the large scale dredging. These results are only in fact in agreement with those reported in previous investigations into the effects of dredging of the benthic biota. They suggest that the environmental impact of this human induced disturbance may be quite variable from case to case, also in dependence of the concomitant action of other pollutants.     

Correlations between microbial indicators, pathogens, and environmental factors in a subtropical Estuary

The objective of this study was to evaluate whether indicator microbes and physical–chemical parameters were correlated with pathogens within a tidally influenced Estuary. Measurements included the analysis of physical–chemical parameters (pH, salinity, temperature, and turbidity), measurements of bacterial indicators (enterococci, fecal coliform, Escherichia coli, and total coliform), viral indicators (somatic and MS2 coliphage), viral pathogens (enterovirus by culture), and protozoan pathogens (Cryptosporidium and Giardia). All pathogen results were negative with the exception of one sample which tested positive for culturable reovirus (8.5 MPN/100 L). Notable physical–chemical parameters for this sample included low salinity (<1 ppt) and high water temperature (31 °C). Indicator bacteria and indicator virus levels for this sample were within average values typically measured within the study site and were low in comparison with levels observed in other freshwater environments. Overall results suggest that high levels of bacterial and viral indicators were associated with low salinity sites.     

Hypoxia and benthic community recovery in Korean coastal waters

Low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia and/or anoxia) has become a major cause of change to the benthic component of ecosystems around the world. We present the response of a benthic community to hypoxia in organically enriched environments in Korean coastal waters. Disturbances due to low dissolved oxygen (DO), and organic enrichment altered community dynamics, result in defaunation during summer hypoxia with delayed recolonization occurring in winter. As DO decreased, the number of taxa, their abundance and biomass of macrofauna dropped significantly at inner bay stations in Chinhae Bay and Youngsan River estuarine bay affected by hypoxia. With the return of normoxic conditions in Chinhae Bay, recolonization was initiated by opportunistic species, with a 1-4months lag. The polychaetes, Sigambra tentaculata, Mesochaetopterus sp., and Lumbrineris longifolia, were most persistent under hypoxia. The first recolonizers were the polychaetes Paraprionospio pinnata, S. tantaculata, Glycinde gurjanovae and Nectoneanthes multignatha and the bivalve Theora fragilis. The second group of colonizers included the polychaetes Capitella capitata, Mesochaetopterus sp. and L. longifolia, and the bivalve Raetellops pulchella. Hypoxic and near anoxic conditions resulted in mass mortality in Chinhae Bay and Youngsan River estuarine bay, but communities did partially recover after return to normoxic conditions despite delayed recolonization.     

Impacts of pollution on coastal and marine ecosystems including coastal and marine fisheries and approach for management: a review and synthesis

The history of aquatic environmental pollution goes back to the very beginning of the history of human civilization. However, aquatic pollution did not receive much attention until a threshold level was reached with adverse consequences on the ecosystems and organisms. Aquatic pollution has become a global concern, but even so, most developing nations are still producing huge pollution loads and the trends are expected to increase. Knowledge of the pollution sources and impacts on ecosystems is important not only for a better understanding on the ecosystem responses to pollutants but also to formulate prevention measures. Many of the sources of aquatic pollutions are generally well known and huge effort has been devoted to the issue. However, new concepts and ideas on environmental pollution are emerging (e.g., biological pollution) with a corresponding need for an update of the knowledge. The present paper attempts to provide an easy-to-follow depiction on the various forms of aquatic pollutions and their impacts on the ecosystem and organisms.     

Factors controlling variability in nearshore fecal pollution: The effects of mortality

A suite of physical–biological models was used to explore the importance of mortality and fluid dynamics in controlling concentrations of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) at Huntington Beach, CA. An advection–diffusion (AD) model provided a baseline to assess improvements in model skill with the inclusion of mortality. Six forms of mortality were modeled. All mortality models performed better than the AD model, especially at offshore sampling stations, where model skill increased from <0.18 to >0.50 (Escherichia coli) or <?0.14 to >0.30 (Enterococcus). Models including cross-shore variable mortality rates reproduced FIB decay accurately (p < 0.05) at more stations than models without. This finding is consistent with analyses that revealed cross-shore variability in Enterococcus species composition and solar dose response. No best model was identified for Enterococcus, as all models including cross-shore variable mortality performed similarly. The best model for E. coli included solar-dependent and cross-shore variable mortality.     

The initial assessment of trace metal pollution in coastal sediments

Coastal sediments are important hosts for pollutant trace metals, but analytical difficulties can prevent them being included in routine environmental monitoring programmes. In order to identify a suitable approach to the problem, an established simple technique has been evaluated for the initial assessment of trace metal pollution in coastal sediments. The technique, which involves leaching the samples with cold 0.5 N HCl, has been applied to surface sediments from two Greek gulfs and has been shown to provide a rapid, inexpensive way of initially establishing the gross degree to which a sediment population has been subjected to trace metal pollution from the overlying waters.     

Nonpoint source pollution control effectiveness of riparian forests along a coastal plain river

A detention-time model of water quality buffer zones is used to evaluate the nonpoint source pollution control effectiveness of riparian forests in a two-county area of the lower Tar River basin, North Carolina. Soil map units, which represent specific combinations of soil, topography, and vegetation characteristics, are compared in terms of their relative ability to filter nitrate in agricultural runoff. All typical riparian forests provide significant water quality protection, but there is a wide variation in buffer effectiveness. This suggests a need for flexibility in determining buffer widths. A range of 15–80 m is appropriate for the soil-landform-vegetation complexes found in riparian zones within the study area. Buffer widths of 60 m — and often much less — are generally adequate on the soils likely to be used for agricultural production.