Return to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Neverland</Emphasis>: Shifting Baselines Affect Eutrophication Restoration Targets

The implicit assumption of many scientific and regulatory frameworks that ecosystems impacted by human pressures may be reverted to their original condition by suppressing the pressure was tested using coastal eutrophication. The response to nutrient abatement of four thoroughly studied coastal ecosystems that received increased nutrient inputs between the 1970s and the 1980s showed that the trajectories of these ecosystems were not directly reversible. All four ecosystems displayed convoluted trajectories that failed to return to the reference status upon nutrient reduction. This failure is proposed to result from the broad changes in environmental conditions, all affecting ecosystem dynamics, that occurred over the 30 years spanning from the onset of eutrophication to the reduction of nutrient levels. Understanding ecosystem response to multiple shifting baselines is essential to set reliable targets for restoration efforts.     

海草床食物链有机碳传递过程的研究进展

海草床是重要的近海生态系统,生产力极高,可为海洋动物提供良好的栖息地和丰富的有机碳食源;人类活动引起近岸海域的富营养化,可能会改变海草床有机碳源组成和性质,进而影响植食动物和次级消费者的摄食过程及其食物链能量传递效率,从而影响海草床的生物资源产出功能。归纳总结了国内外海草床食物链碳传递过程各方面的研究进展,主要包括:①海草床有机碳源组成及食源贡献;②海草床初级消费者对有机碳源的摄食;③海草床食物网营养级结构及其能量传递;④富营养化对海草床有机碳源组分结构及其成分的影响;⑤海草床食物链能量传递效率对富营养化的响应。在此基础上,提出了未来的研究重点:①联合运用总有机物的稳定同位素比值法、脂肪酸标志法和特定化合物稳定同位素分析方法,加强定量研究海草床各有机碳源的贡献、食物网营养结构图谱、关键碳流途径及其季节性变化规律;探究关键消费者成体和幼体的有机碳源差异,弄清生长阶段的食性转化过程。②结合野外观测、原位围隔实验和室内模拟实验,深入探讨富营养化对海草床有机碳源组成(海草与附生藻类等)及其化学成分(营养质量和次生化合物)的影响,海草等初级生产者成分变化对植食动物和次级消费者摄食过程的影响,以及牧食食物链和碎屑食物链的组成和碳传递效率等的响应机制。     

Research Progress of the Transfer Process of Organic Carbon Through Food Chain in Seagrass Bed

Seagrass beds are highly productive coastal ecosystems, which provide good nursery habitat and abundant Organic Carbon Sources (OCS) as food for marine animals. Human activities have led to widespread eutrophication in coastal areas. Eutrophication may alter the composition and properties of OCS, thereby affecting the feeding process of herbivores and secondary consumer, and energy transfer efficiency in food chain. This may affect the production function of biological resource in seagrass beds. Based on the summary of the foreign and domestic researches, primary achievements were systematically reviewed in this paper in five aspects: the composition of OCS and their contribution, feeding process of herbivore, food web structure and energy transfer efficiency, and their responses to eutrophication. Future researches that should be emphasized were also prospected. With the combined application of stable isotope analysis for bulks and tissues, fatty acid biomarkers and compound-specific stable isotope analysis, the quantitative study of the contribution of OCS, food web structure, key carbon flow pathway and their seasonal change patterns should be enhanced. Meanwhile, the differences of OCS between larval and adult stages of key consumers will need to be further examined to clarify the transformation of their feeding habits. Through field investigation, in-situ mesocosm and laboratory simulation experiments, the effects of nutrient increase on the structure (seagrass and epiphyte, etc.) and chemical composition (nutritional quality and secondary compounds, etc.) of OCS, the response of feeding process of herbivore and secondary consumer to the alteration of chemical compounds in primary producers, and the response mechanism of carbon transfer efficiency of the grazing food chain and detritus food chain need to be further studied.     

Challenges and opportunities for science in reducing nutrient over-enrichment of coastal ecosystems

Nutrient over-enrichment has resulted in major changes in the coastal ecosystems of developed nations in Europe, North America, Asia, and Oceania, mostly taking place over the narrow period of 1960 to 1980. Many estuaries and embayments are affected, but the effects of this eutrophication have been also felt over large areas of semi-enclosed seas including the Baltic, North, Adriatic, and Black Seas in Europe, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Seto Inland Sea in Japan. Primary production increased, water clarity decreased, food chains were altered, oxygen depletion of bottom waters developed or expanded, seagrass beds were lost, and harmful algal blooms occurred with increased frequency. This period of dramatic alteration of coastal ecosystems, mostly for the worse from a human perspective, coincided with the more than doubling of additions of fixed nitrogen to the biosphere from human activities, driven particularly by a more than 5-fold increase in use of manufactured fertilizers during that 20-year period. Nutrient over-enrichment often interacted synergistically with other human activities, such as overfishing, habitat destruction, and other forms of chemical pollution, in contributing to the widespread degradation of coastal ecosystems that was observed during the last half of the 20th century. Science was effective in documenting the consequences and root causes of nutrient over-enrichment and has provided the basis for extensive efforts to abate it, ranging from national statutes and regulations to multijurisdictional compacts under the Helsinki Commission for the Baltic Sea, the Oslo-Paris Commission for the North Sea, and the Chesapeake Bay Program, for example. These efforts have usually been based on a relatively arbitrary goal of reducing nutrient inputs by a certain percentage, without much understanding of how and when this would affect the coastal ecosystem. While some of these efforts have succeeded in achieving reductions of inputs of phosphorus and nitrogen, principally through treatment of point-source discharges, relatively little progress has been made in reducing diffuse sources of nitrogen. Second-generation management goals tend to be based on desired outcomes for the coastal ecosystem and determination of the load reductions needed to attain them, for example the Total Daily Maximum Load approach in the U.S. and the Water Franmework Directive in the European Union. Science and technology are now challenged not just to diagnose the degree of eutrophication and its causes, but to contribute to its prognosis and treatment by determining the relative susceptibility of coastal ecosystems to nutrient over-enrichment, defining desirable and achievable outcomes for rehabilitation efforts, reducing nutrient sources, enhancing nutrient sinks, strategically targeting these efforts within watersheds, and predicting and observing responses in an adaptive management framework.     

“A strikingly rich zone”—Nutrient enrichment and secondary production in coastal marine ecosystems

Despite a recent review concluding that there is little or no reason to expect that the production of fish and other animals will increase with nutrient enrichment or eutrophication, there is a variety of evidence that anthropogenic nutrients can stimulate secondary production in marine ecosystems. Unique multiple-year fertilization experiments were carried out over fifty years ago in Scottish sea lochs that showed dramatic increases in the abundance of benthic infauna and greatly enhanced growth of fish as a result of inorganic nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) additions. These experiments appear to have provided a good qualitative model for the responses of the Baltic Sea to nutrient enrichment and resulting eutrophication. Historical comparisons by others have shown that the weight of benthic animals per unit area above the halocline in the Baltic is now up to 10 or 20 times greater than it was in the early 1920s and that the total fish biomass in the system may have increased 8 fold between the early part of the 1900s and the 1970s. While there are no similar data for the highly enriched central and southern North Sea, there is convincing evidence that the growth rates of plaice, sole, and other species have increased there since the 1960s or 1970s. Cross-system comparisons have also shown that there are strong correlations between primary production and the production and yield of fish and the standing crop and production of benthic macrofauma in phytoplankton-dominated marine ecosystems. Concerns over the growing nutrient (especially N) enrichment of coastal marine waters are clearly valid and deserve the attention of scientists and managers, but the recent demonizing of N ignores the fact that nutrients are a fundamental requirement for producing biomass. Decisions regarding the amount of N or P that will be allowed to enter marine ecosystems should be made with the full knowledge that there may be tradeoffs between increases in water clarity and dissolved oxygen and the abundance of oysters, clams, fish, and other animals we desire.     

Controlling Eutrophication along the Freshwater–Marine Continuum: Dual Nutrient (N and P) Reductions are Essential

Expanding human activities along the freshwater to marine continuum of coastal watersheds increasingly impact nutrient inputs, nutrient limitation of primary production, and efforts to reduce nutrient over-enrichment and eutrophication. Historically, phosphorus (P) has been the priority nutrient controlling upstream freshwater productivity, whereas nitrogen (N) limitation has characterized coastal waters. However, changing anthropogenic activities have caused imbalances in N and P loading, making it difficult to control eutrophication by reducing only one nutrient. Furthermore, upstream nutrient reduction controls can impact downstream nutrient limitation characteristics. Recently, it was suggested that only reducing P will effectively control eutrophication in both freshwater and coastal ecosystems. However, controls on production and nutrient cycling in estuarine and coastal systems are physically and chemically distinct from those in freshwater counterparts, and upstream nutrient management actions (exclusive P controls) have exacerbated N-limited downstream eutrophication. Controls on both nutrients are needed for long-term management of eutrophication along the continuum.     

Couplings of watersheds and coastal waters: Sources and consequences of nutrient enrichment in Waquoit Bay,Massachusetts

Human activities on coastal watersheds provide the major sources of nutrients entering shallow coastal ecosystems. Nutrient loadings from watersheds are the most widespread factor that alters structure and function of receiving aquatic ecosystems. To investigate this coupling of land to marine systems, we are studying a series of subwatersheds of Waquoit Bay that differ in degree of urbanization and hence are exposed to widely different nutrient loading rates. The subwatersheds differ in the number of septic tanks and the relative acreage of forests. In the area of our study, groundwater is the major mechanism that transports nutrients to coastal waters. Although there is some attenuation of nutrient concentrations within the aquifer or at the sediment-water interface, in urbanized areas there are significant increases in the nutrient content of groundwater arriving at the shore’s edge. The groundwater seeps or flows through the sediment-water boundary, and sufficient groundwater-borne nutrients (nitrogen in particular) traverse the sediment-water boundary to cause significant changes in the aquatic ecosystem. These loading-dependent alterations include increased nutrients in water, greater primary production by phytoplankton, and increased macroaglal biomass and growth (mediated by a suite of physiological responses to abundance of nutrients). The increased macroalgal biomass dominates the bay ecosystem through second- or third-order effects such as alterations of nutrient status of water columns and increasing frequency of anoxic events. The increases in seaweeds have decreased the areas covered by eelgrass habitats. The change in habitat type, plus the increased frequency of anoxic events, change the composition of the benthic fauna. The data make evident the importance of bottom-up control in shallow coastal food webs. The coupling of land to sea by groundwater-borne nutrient transport is mediated by a complex series of steps; the cascade of processes make it unlikely to find a one-to-one relation between land use and conditions in the aquatic ecosystem. Study of the process and synthesis by appropriate models may provide a way to deal with the complexities of the coupling.     

The Relative Role of Nutrients, Grazing, and Predation as Controls on Macroalgal Growth in the Waquoit Bay Estuarine System

Understanding whether nutrient availability and grazing by consumers can control macroalgal growth is important to mitigate blooms. To assess the effect of long-term nitrogen loading on macroalgae, we ran a field experiment in which we measured growth of green and red macroalgae in estuaries where loads and eutrophication status differed. The relative abundances of consumers differed among estuaries with more grazers in non-eutrophied estuaries, an important interaction of bottom-up and top-down controls. In the estuary with the lowest nitrogen load, grazers controlled green macroalgal growth, but in higher nitrogen-loaded estuaries, where grazing was lower, growth of green macroalgae overwhelmed potential grazer control. The red macroalga was not controlled by grazers, even in the estuary where grazing pressure was highest. In the low-loaded estuary, invertebrate predators exerted top-down control over grazers, but predation effects did not cascade to macroalgae. Bottom-up mechanisms dominated control of macroalgae through an interaction of direct stimulation of growth and indirect alteration of consumer abundances, and thus, long-term nutrient regimes are likely determining potential for bloom formation in Waquoit Bay.     

Interactive effects of nutrient additions and predation on infaunal communities

Nutrient additions represent an important anthropogenic stress on coastal ecosystems. At moderate levels, increased nutrients may lead to increased primary production and, possibly, to increased biomass of consumers although complex trophic interactions may modify or mask these effects. We examined the influence of nutrient additions and interactive effects of trophic interactions (predation) on benthic infaunal composition and abundances through small-scale field experiments in 2 estuaries that differed in ambient nutrient conditions. A blocked experimental design was used that allowed an assessment of direct nutrient effects in the presence and absence of predation by epibenthic predators as well as an assessment of the independent effects of predation. Benthic microalgal, production increased with experimental nutrient additions and was greater when infaunal abundances were lower, but there were no significant interactions between these factors. Increased abundances of one infaunal taxa,Laeonereis culveri, as well as the grazer feeding guild were observed with nutrient additions and a number of taxa exhibited higher abundances with predator exclusion. In contrast to results from freshwater systems there were no significant interactive effects between nutrient additions and predator exclusion as was predicted. The infaunal responses observed here emphasize the importance of both bottom-up (nutrient addition and primary producer driven) and top-down (predation) controls in structuring benthic communities. These processes may work at different spatial and temporal scales, and affect different taxa, making observation of potential interactive effects difficult.     

Size–Density Relationships: a Cross-Community Approach to Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Mediterranean and Black Sea Lagoons

Cross-community scaling relationships (CCSRs), which result from individual density scaling with average individual body size at guild and community levels, enable investigation of energy constraints at high levels of the ecological hierarchy. Here, we studied cross-community scaling relationships in benthic macroinvertebrate guilds in 15 Mediterranean and Black Sea lagoon ecosystems characterized by strong habitat heterogeneity and high energy density, using data already available in the LifeWatch-Italy data portal. The study sought to describe CCSR patterns in lagoon ecosystems, analyzing their variability across habitat and ecosystem types and evaluating the relative influence on individual body size, macroinvertebrate guild density, or both, of proxies of ecosystem properties, including physiographic characteristics and external disturbance, acting as potential drivers. Significant CCSRs were observed in benthic macroinvertebrate guilds in Mediterranean and Black Sea lagoons. They were characterized by high internal variability and slopes less negative than the metabolic scaling theory expectation (b = ?0.75), ranging between b = ?0.27 and b = ?0.50. Lagoon ecosystem typology, inter-lagoon variation, and ecosystem properties explained part of the variation in internal CCSRs, while habitat variation and intra-ecosystem habitat heterogeneity did not show any influence. CCSR intercepts expressing macroinvertebrate-specific densities showed patterns of variation that were consistent with those of proxies of ecosystem energetics and parsimony, such as eutrophication, chemical and physical disturbances, and openness. These relationships highlight the relevance of CCSRs, which enable inferences on the properties, functioning, and ecological status of ecosystems from simple analyses of community structure.     

Hydrologic fragmentation-induced eutrophication in Dove Sound,Upper Florida Keys,USA

Anthropogenic impacts to island systems can have deleterious effects on coastal aquatic ecosystems. These effects can alter water quality, primary production as well as habitat. Land development often fragments hydrologic connectivity within aquatic ecosystems forcing alterations in nutrient transport and increases the potential for eutrophication. Dove Sound, a tidal lagoon located in the Upper Florida Keys on Key Largo, has been subjected to anthropogenic influences of land development during the last century. To investigate these influences a short sediment core was collected from within Dove Sound and investigated using ²¹⁰Pb dating, stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen, and sedimentary pigments. Results indicated that Dove Sound has undergone eutrophication and the primary producer community structure has shifted from dominantly macrophytic to a system that supports substantial algal production. While septic waste was a possible source for eutrophication, low δ¹⁵N did not support this conclusion. However, the timing of the shifts in Dove Sound along with indicators of anoxia leads to the conclusion that fragmentation caused by the construction of a railroad was the root cause. The hydrologic fragmentation reduced the flushing rates, thereby enhancing anoxic conditions in the system and increasing the internal nutrient loading.     

Sedimentary Environment Influences Ecosystem Response to Nutrient Enrichment

As coastal catchment land use intensifies, estuaries receive increased nutrient and sediment loads, resulting in habitats that are dominated by muddy organic-rich sediments. Increased mud (i.e. silt-clay (particles <?63 μm)) content has been associated with negative effects on soft sediment biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, but the simultaneous impact of nutrient enrichment on ecosystem response is unclear. Nutrient recycling and denitrification in estuarine soft sediments represent important ecosystem functions regenerating nutrients for primary producers and regulating the ability to remove excess terrestrially derived nitrogen. To test the effect of sedimentary environment on ecosystem resilience to nutrient perturbation, we experimentally enriched sediments with slow release fertiliser across an intertidal sedimentary gradient (0–24% mud content). The enrichment successfully elevated pore water ammonium concentrations (median 36?×?control) to levels representative of enriched estuaries. Findings show that the sedimentary environment can influence ecosystem function response to nutrient stress. In particular, denitrification enzyme activity was suppressed by nutrient enrichment, but the effect was greater as sediment mud content increased. Furthermore, compared with sandy sediments, sediments with high mud content may restrict nutrient processing (release, uptake or transformation of organic nutrients by the benthos) facilitating ecosystem shifts toward eutrophication. These results show the value of investigating the impacts of stressors in different environmental settings and demonstrate that land use practices that increase the proportion of muddy habitats in estuaries may reduce denitrification which in turn may reduce ecosystem resilience to eutrophication.     

Benthic and Pelagic Primary Production in Different Nutrient Regimes

Benthic flora can contribute significantly to gross primary production (GPP) of shallow coastal waters where light reaches the sea bottom. We quantified and compared benthic and pelagic GPP along nutrient gradients in time and space in the shallow estuary, Limfjorden, Denmark, based on monitoring data combined with historical information. Limfjorden experienced a shift from a pristine, benthic-dominated clear water regime with high total GPP in the early twentieth century to a eutrophic, plankton-dominated regime still with high total GPP in the 1980s when nutrient loadings peaked. Recent reductions in nutrient loadings reduced pelagic GPP, particularly in spring, but water clarity and benthic GPP did not increase correspondingly, so total GPP declined. The most nutrient-rich basins have remained plankton-dominated, with benthic vegetation constrained to shallow waters. The results support existing evidence that total GPP of shallow coastal areas does not increase systematically with eutrophication. Furthermore, the results suggest that total GPP may decline temporarily during oligotrophication as pelagic GPP declines, while feedback mechanisms delay or prevent restoration to a state with benthic dominance of GPP.     

Changes in Coastal Benthic Algae Succession Trajectories and Assemblages Under Contrasting Nutrient and Grazer Loads

Eutrophication plays a crucial role in coastal systems, driving changes in the composition and abundance of flora and fauna with consequent effects for the entire ecosystem. Sensitive to nutrient levels, micro- and macroalgal blooms serve as valuable indicators of eutrophication. The San Antonio Bay (Northern Argentinean Patagonia, 40° 43′ S, 64° 56′ W) provides an appropriate system to study in situ eutrophication processes on coastal communities. In a multi-scale approach, using two different kind of settlement substrates (micro: polyethylene terephthalate, and macro: ceramic), the present study followed benthic algal dynamics over one year, distinguishing changes in natural succession and seasonality. Strong differences were found in the biofilm assemblages after three days, marked by tube dwelling diatoms and Cocconeis spp. under high nutrient-grazer conditions and needle like diatoms (e.g. Nitzschia spp., Tabularia spp.) under lower nutrient-grazer loads. The succession continued by the colonization of macroalgae, with a higher recruitment rate in the nutrient and grazer rich environment with a concomitant higher diversity. Our results show that under higher nutrient-grazer conditions natural benthic succession not only differs in trajectory but in its final taxa composition promoting higher biodiversity and biomass accumulation. In addition, taxa specific substrate preferences interfere with the observed eutrophication pattern, suggesting substrate dependant interrelations between the bloom forming taxa. These findings provide evidence that nutrient enrichment can not only affect an established assemblage but also affect the early succession stages, changing the succession trajectory and thus the final assemblage.     

Lessons learned: The effects of nutrient enrichment on the support of nekton by seagrass and salt marsh ecosystems

Coastal ecosystems such as eelgrass beds and salt marshes have always been valued for their high productivity and rich bounty of fish and shellfish. High plant productivity, complex physical structure, and suitable environmental characteristics combine to create areas of high production of important recreational and commercial species. If we are to successfully manage and restore these ecosystems, it is important to understand the mechanisms by which support of nekton may be affected by nutrient enrichment. A review of the literature suggests that there are some similarities and differences in the effects of nutrient enrichment on the support of nekton by seagrass and salt marsh ecosystems. Nutrient enrichment may compromise the ability of these habitats to support fish and invertebrates before the habitat itself is gone. In both ecosystems, alteration of characteristics within the ecosystem (for example, stem density in seagrass and food webs in marshes) affect the support of nekton, even though the basic ecosystem is still clearly extant. Because of differences in natural ecosystem characteristics, loss of ecosystem function does not occur through the same mechanisms. In seagrass systems, physical structure is usually lost first, followed by alteration of food webs and finally changes in dissolved oxygen. In salt marsh systems, loss of dissolved oxygen may occur early in the process, followed by food web alterations and eventually changes in the physical structure may occur. For both seagrass and salt marsh ecosystems, the mechanisms suggested to operate at the ecosystem-level are often based on relatively small-scale plot experiments that have been conducted in only a few locations. A better understanding of how these ecosystems function across broad geographic regions will be needed to ensure functioning coastal ecosystems.     

Measured and modeled effects of benthic algae on eutrophication in Indian River-Rehoboth Bay, Delaware

A combination of field studies and mathematical modeling was used to examine the role of subtidal benthic algae in the eutrophication processes in two shallow estuarine systems. Field measurements indicated uptake by benthic algae retained ammonium and phosphate in the sediments when light at the sediment surface exceeded ≈150 μE m² s^?1. The measurements were used to calibrate a newly developed model of benthic algal activity. The benthic algal model was coupled with a hydrodynamic model, a eutrophication model, and a sediment diagenesis model. In the simulated ecosystem, benthic algae had a major influence in the intra-annual cycling of nitrogen and phosphorus. When nutrients were abundant in the water column (late winter and spring) they were transferred to the sediments through algal activity. Diagenesis released these nutrients to the water column in summer when nutrients were scarce. As a result of the nutrient transfer, annual primary production in the water column, in the presence of benthic algae, exceeded production in the absence of the algae.     

Global change and the biogeochemistry of the North Sea: the possible role of phytoplankton and phytoplankton grazing

Phytoplankton plays a dominant role in shelf biogeochemistry by producing the major part of organic matter. Part of the organic matter will reach the sediment where diagenetic processes like denitrification, apatite formation or burial will remove nutrients from the biogeochemical cycle. In this article current knowledge on the decadal plankton variability in the North Sea is summarized and possible implications of these changes for the biogeochemistry of the North Sea are discussed. Most of the observed interdecadal dynamics seem to be linked to large-scale oceanographic and atmospheric processes. Prominent changes in the North Sea ecosystem have taken place around 1979 and 1988. In general, the phytoplankton color (CPRS indicator of phytoplankton biomass) reached minimum values during the end of the 1970s and has increased especially since the mid 1980s. Changes with a similar timing have been identified in many time series from the North Sea through the entire ecosystem and are sometimes referred to as regime shifts. It is suggested that the impact of global change on the local biogeochemistry is largely driven by the phyto- and zooplankton dynamics during spring and early summer. At that time the extent of zooplankton–phytoplankton interaction either allows that a large part of the new production is settling to the sediment, or that a significant part of the new production including the fixed nutrients is kept within the pelagic system. The origin of the extent of the phytoplankton–zooplankton interaction in spring is probably set in the previous autumn and winter. In coastal areas, both large-scale atmospheric and oceanographic changes as well as anthropogenic factors influence the long-term dynamics. Due to eutrophication, local primary production nowadays still is up to five times higher than during pre-industrial conditions, despite a decreasing trend. Recently, introduced species have strengthened the filter feeder component of coastal ecosystems. Especially in shallow coastal seas like the Wadden Sea, this will enhance particle retention, shift organic matter degradation to the benthic compartment and enhance nutrient removal from the biogeochemical cycle by denitrification or apatite formation.     

Impacts of Coastal Land Use and Shoreline Armoring on Estuarine Ecosystems: an Introduction to a Special Issue

The nearshore land-water interface is an important ecological zone that faces anthropogenic pressure from development in coastal regions throughout the world. Coastal waters and estuaries like Chesapeake Bay receive and process land discharges loaded with anthropogenic nutrients and other pollutants that cause eutrophication, hypoxia, and other damage to shallow-water ecosystems. In addition, shorelines are increasingly armored with bulkhead (seawall), riprap, and other structures to protect human infrastructure against the threats of sea-level rise, storm surge, and erosion. Armoring can further influence estuarine and nearshore marine ecosystem functions by degrading water quality, spreading invasive species, and destroying ecologically valuable habitat. These detrimental effects on ecosystem function have ramifications for ecologically and economically important flora and fauna. This special issue of Estuaries and Coasts explores the interacting effects of coastal land use and shoreline armoring on estuarine and coastal marine ecosystems. The majority of papers focus on the Chesapeake Bay region, USA, where 50 major tributaries and an extensive watershed (~ 167,000 km²), provide an ideal model to examine the impacts of human activities at scales ranging from the local shoreline to the entire watershed. The papers consider the influence of watershed land use and natural versus armored shorelines on ecosystem properties and processes as well as on key natural resources.     

Is Ocean Acidification an Open-Ocean Syndrome? Understanding Anthropogenic Impacts on Seawater pH

Ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions is a dominant driver of long-term changes in pH in the open ocean, raising concern for the future of calcifying organisms, many of which are present in coastal habitats. However, changes in pH in coastal ecosystems result from a multitude of drivers, including impacts from watershed processes, nutrient inputs, and changes in ecosystem structure and metabolism. Interaction between ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions and the dynamic regional to local drivers of coastal ecosystems have resulted in complex regulation of pH in coastal waters. Changes in the watershed can, for example, lead to changes in alkalinity and CO₂ fluxes that, together with metabolic processes and oceanic dynamics, yield high-magnitude decadal changes of up to 0.5 units in coastal pH. Metabolism results in strong diel to seasonal fluctuations in pH, with characteristic ranges of 0.3 pH units, with metabolically intense habitats exceeding this range on a daily basis. The intense variability and multiple, complex controls on pH implies that the concept of ocean acidification due to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions cannot be transposed to coastal ecosystems directly. Furthermore, in coastal ecosystems, the detection of trends towards acidification is not trivial and the attribution of these changes to anthropogenic CO₂ emissions is even more problematic. Coastal ecosystems may show acidification or basification, depending on the balance between the invasion of coastal waters by anthropogenic CO₂, watershed export of alkalinity, organic matter and CO₂, and changes in the balance between primary production, respiration and calcification rates in response to changes in nutrient inputs and losses of ecosystem components. Hence, we contend that ocean acidification from anthropogenic CO₂ is largely an open-ocean syndrome and that a concept of anthropogenic impacts on marine pH, which is applicable across the entire ocean, from coastal to open-ocean environments, provides a superior framework to consider the multiple components of the anthropogenic perturbation of marine pH trajectories. The concept of anthropogenic impacts on seawater pH acknowledges that a regional focus is necessary to predict future trajectories in the pH of coastal waters and points at opportunities to manage these trajectories locally to conserve coastal organisms vulnerable to ocean acidification.     

Recolonisation by Macrobenthos Mobilises Organic Phosphorus from Reoxidised Baltic Sea Sediments

In recent decades, eutrophication has increased the extent of hypoxic and anoxic conditions in many coastal marine environments. In such conditions, the nutrient flux across the sediment?Cwater interface is a key process controlling the biogeochemical dynamics, and thereby the level and character of biological production. In some areas, management attempts to drive the ecosystem towards phosphorus (P) limitation, which calls for reliable knowledge on the mechanisms controlling P-cycling. We report a well-controlled laboratory experiment on benthic fluxes of P, when shifting from a state of hypoxic and azoic sediments to oxic and zoic bottom conditions. Adding any of three types of macrobenthic fauna (mysid shrimp, pontoporeid amphipod and tellinid clam) to oxygenated aquarium sections resulted in benthic P fluxes that differed consistently from the azoic control sections. All species caused liberation of dissolved organically bound P (DOP) from the sediment, in contrast to the azoic systems. The shrimp and the amphipod also resuspended the sediment, which resulted in a release of P bound to particles (>0.45???m). Dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP) was released during hypoxic conditions, but was taken up after oxygenation, irrespective of the presence or absence of bottom fauna. In the presence of fauna, the uptake of DIP roughly equalled the release of DOP, suggesting that the benthic efflux of DOP following oxygenation and bottom fauna (re)colonisation might be considerable. This is an hitherto overlooked animal-controlled nutrient flux, which is missing from coastal marine P budgets.