A modelling study of ecosystem dynamics and nutrient cycling in the Humber plume, UK

The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) has been coupled with a two-dimensional depth-averaged transport model of the Humber plume region and run to simulate 1988–1989. Simulations of the spatial and temporal variations in chlorophyll-a, nitrate, phosphate and suspended particulate matter distributions in winter, spring and summer show how the development of the spring bloom and subsequent maintenance of primary production is controlled by the physicochemical environment of the plume zone. Results are also shown for two stations, one characterised by the high nutrient and suspended matter concentrations of the plume and the other by the relatively low nutrient and sediment concentrations of the offshore waters. The modelled net primary production at the plume site was 105 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ and 127 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ offshore. Primary production was controlled by light limitation between October and March and by the availability of nutrients during the rest of the year. The phytoplankton nutrient demand is met by in-situ recycling processes during the summer. The likely effect of increasing and decreasing anthropogenic riverine inputs of nitrate and phosphate upon ecosystem function was also investigated. Modelling experiments indicate that increasing the nitrogen to silicate ratio in freshwater inputs increased the production of non-siliceous phytoplankton in the plume. The results of this model have been used to calculate the annual and quarterly mass balances describing the usage of inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and silicate within the plume zone for the period of the NERC North Sea survey (September 1988 to October 1989). The modelled Humber plume retains 3.9% of the freshwater dissolved inorganic nitrogen, 2.2% of the freshwater phosphate and 1.3% of the freshwater silicate input over the simulated seasonal cycle. The remainder is transported into the southern North Sea in either dissolved or particulate form. The reliability of these results is discussed.     

Climatological annual cycles of nutrients and chlorophyll in the North Sea

A large amount of nutrient and chlorophyll data from the North Sea were compiled and organised in a research data base to produce annual cycles on a relatively fine spatial resolution of 1° in each horizontal direction. The data originate from many different sources and were partly provided by the ECOMOD data base of the Institut fur Meereskunde in Hamburg and partly by ICES in Copenhagen to cover the time range from 1950 to 1994. While the annual cycles of nutrients and chlorophyll derived for the continental coastal zone are representative for the decade 1984–1993 only, those for the remaining parts of the North Sea may be considered climatological annual cycles based on data from more than four decades. The composite data set of climatological annual cycles of medians and their climatological ranges is well suited to serve for validational and forcing purposes for ecosystem models of the North Sea, which have a resolution larger than or equal to 1° in both longitude and latitude. The annual cycles of the macronutrients and chlorophyll presented here for 1° × 1° squares in the North Sea show especially that sufficient observational data exist to provide initial, forcing and validational data for the simulations with the 130-box setup (ND130) of the ecosystem model ERSEM. The annual cycles presented give a clear picture for the whole of the North Sea. The highest concentrations occur at the continental coasts as a result of continued river input, which is added to the ongoing atmospheric input over the North Sea. Also, from the Atlantic Ocean water with relatively high nutrient concentrations enters the North Sea via the northern boundary. In the productive areas on and around the Dogger Bank nutrient concentrations are lower than in the other parts of the North Sea, even in winter. The areas with seasonal stratification have very different annual cycles in the upper (0–30 m) and lower layers (30 m-bottom). The shallow boxes are fully mixed and exhibit a relatively fast increase of nutrient concentrations caused by summer regeneration of nutrients.     

Seasonal Variations of Plankton Food Web Structure in the Coastal Water off Usujiri Southwestern Hokkaido,Japan

The planktonic food web structure in the subarctic coastal water off Usujiri south-western Hokkaido, Japan was investigated from June 1997 to June 1999, based on seasonal biomass data of pico- (<2 µm), nano- (2–10 µm), micro- (10–200 µm) and mesoplankton (>200 µm), and path analysis using the structural equation model (SEM). In spring, microphytoplankton predominated due to diatom bloom, while pico- and nanophytoplankton predominated in the other seasons, except November and December 1997. The seasonal change in size distribution of heterotrophic plankton was almost similar to that of phytoplankton, and mesozooplankton biomass was high in spring. The path analyses suggest that the main channel in the microbial food web could vary according to phytoplankton size composition, indicating not only the classical food chain (microphytoplankton - copepods) but also the indirect route (microphytoplankton - naked dinoflagellates - copepods).     

南海北部海洋生态模型的参数分析及遗传算法优化

海洋生态系统动力学模型是研究海洋生态环境的重要手段。随着模型的发展, 生态参数取值不确定性增加, 对模型结果的影响逐渐增大, 因此模型参数优化显得尤为重要。本研究在南海北部应用一维物理-生态耦合模型, 通过对模型生态参数进行敏感性分析, 获取关键生态参数, 利用遗传算法对参数进行优化。结果表明, 模型中的敏感参数主要集中于浮游植物生长和浮游动物生长、摄食和死亡以及碎屑沉降等过程。针对以上参数利用遗传算法优化, 发现仅加入表层卫星数据, 模型表层和垂向模拟误差分别降低27.80%和21.40%; 加入垂向观测数据, 表层和垂向模拟误差分别降低14.90%和32.70%。遗传算法应用于海洋生态模型的关键参数优化研究, 所获取的参数对模型有明显的改善效果, 提高了耦合模型对生态系统的模拟精度, 为参数优化在三维模型中的应用提供了依据。     

桑沟湾养殖生态系统浮游植物的粒径结构及浮游生物对栉孔扇贝碳需求的贡献

The biomass and size fraction of phytoplankton in terms of chlorophyll a(Chl a) was measured during four cruises conducted in April, July, October 2013 and January 2014 in mariculture area, the Sanggou Bay, China.Results show that total Chl a levels in the surface seawater of the Sanggou Bay generally range from 0.10 to 20.46μg/L, with an average value of 2.13 μg/L. Nano-phytoplankton was the most important size-fraction and accounted for about 65.1% of total Chl a. In order to evaluate the importance of the "protozoan trophic link" for energy transfer from the microbial loop to filter-feeding feeders, Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri was then offered a natural planktonic community as potential prey. Results show that scallops obtained carbon source from natural plankton with the rate of 11 033.05 μg/(g·d). Protists(nanoflagellates and ciliates) were the dominant source of carbon retained by scallop(48.78%). The microbial loop provided 58.45% of the carbon source for farmed scallops. These results indicate that the microbial loop represent a valuable trophic resource in mariculture system of the Sanggou Bay.     

Analysis of the spatial and temporal distributions of ecological variables and the nutrient budget in the Beibu Gulf

Based on a hydrodynamic-ecological model, the temperature, salinity, current, phytoplankton(Chl a),zooplankton, and nutrient(dissolved inorganic nitrogen, DIN, and dissolved inorganic phosphorous, DIP)distributions in the Beibu Gulf were simulated and the nutrient budget of 2015 was quantitatively analyzed. The simulated results show that interface processes and monsoons significantly influence the ecological processes in the gulf. The concentrations of DIN, DIP, phytoplankton and zooplankton are generally higher in the eastern and northern gulf than that in the western and southern gulf. The key regions affected by ecological processes are the Qiongzhou Strait in winter and autumn and the estuaries along the Guangxi coast and the Red River in summer.In most of the studied domains, biochemical processes contribute more to the nutrient budget than do physical processes, and the DIN and DIP increase over the year. Phytoplankton plays an important role in the nutrient budget; phytoplankton photosynthetic uptake is the nutrient sink, phytoplankton dead cellular release is the largest source of DIN, and phytoplankton respiration is the largest source of DIP. The nutrient flux in the connected sections of the Beibu Gulf and open South China Sea(SCS) inflows from the east and outflows to the south. There are 113 709 t of DIN and 5 277 t of DIP imported from the open SCS to the gulf year-around.     

台湾海峡浮游植物生物量和初级生产力的粒级结构及碳流途径

本文研究了1997年8月、1998年2-3月、8月和1999年8月台湾海峡浮游植物生物量和初级生产力的粒级组成、各粒级生物量和初级生产力变动（包括年际变动及其影响因子。结果表明，台湾海峡微型（简称NANO）和微微型浮激植物（简称PICO）占优势，贡献率分别达34%-48%、34%-40%，小型浮游植物（简称MICRO）仅占12%-27%。粒级组成和各粒级生物量存在着明显的季节和年际变化，如1997年夏季三种粒级浮游植物生物量均明显低于其它年份，PICO和MICRO组份呈1998年夏季高于1997年和1999年夏季，而NANO组份则呈1998年夏季低于1997年和1999年夏季。PICO组份对初级生产力的贡献最大，达45%-50%，而NANO和MICRO组份对初级生产力的贡献相近，为19%-32%；PICO组份的同化系数明显高于NANO和MICRO组份。初步分析了初级生产的碳流途径，表明台湾海峡初级生产的碳将有25%经异养细菌的“二次”生产而进入微食物环，36%通过原生动物（主要是异养鞭毛虫）摄食“打包”的作用后进入微食物环，即近60%的初级生产的碳经微食物环的两个起点分别进入微食物环，表明微型生物食物网在该海域生源有机碳转换过程中起重要作用。     

Effect of emersion and immersion on the porewater nutrient dynamics of an intertidal sandflat in Tokyo Bay

Porewater nutrient dynamics during emersion and immersion were investigated during different seasons in a eutrophic intertidal sandflat of Tokyo Bay, Japan, to elucidate the role of emersion and immersion in solute transport and microbial processes. The water content in the surface sediment did not change significantly following emersion, suggesting that advective solute transport caused by water table fluctuation was negligible. The rate of change in nitrate concentration in the top 10 mm of sediments ranged from −6.6 to 4.8 μmol N l⁻¹ bulk sed. h⁻¹ during the whole period of emersion. Steep nutrient concentration gradients in the surface sediment generated diffusive flux of nutrients directed downwards into deeper sediments, which greatly contributed to the observed rates of change in porewater nutrient concentration for several cases. Microbial nitrate reduction within the subsurface sediment appeared to be strongly supported by the downward diffusive flux of nitrate from the surface sediment. The stimulation of estimated nitrate production rate in the subsurface layer in proportion to the emersion time indicates that oxygenation due to emersion caused changes in the sediment redox environment and affected the nitrification and/or nitrate reduction rates. The nitrate and soluble reactive phosphorus pools in the top 10 mm of sediment decreased markedly during immersion (up to 68% for nitrate and up to 44% for soluble reactive phosphorus), however, this result could not be solely explained by molecular diffusion.     

Effects of diesel oil on the polychaete Annelida in model benthic ecosystem

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黄海冷水团新生产力及微食物环作用分析

为了进一步揭示黄海冷水团水域浮游生态系统能流、物流循环的基本动力学特征,利用水层-底栖耦合生态系统垂直3层模型,模拟分析了该水域生源要素的基本特征及年变化特点,并着重分析了初级生产力、新生产力及微食物环作用。通过对黄海冷水团水域初级生产力和新生产力的模拟分析,估算出黄海冷水团年平均初级生产力为228.47mg.m-2.d-1,并根据模型中营养盐的来源估算出f比约为33%。分析模拟结果还表明,在黄海冷水团存在的季节,冷水团水域水层营养盐匮乏,浮游植物生产受限制,仅在晚秋出现了不十分明显的“秋华”。然而,在此时段内,浮游动物的生物量基本和浮游植物为同一量级且量值比较接近,由此可推断微食物环在黄海冷水团能流、物流循环过程中担当了重要的角色。模拟结果表明,浮游动物生长所需的碳约有60%是通过微食物环供给的。与实测及文献结果相比较,模型的模拟结果是合理可信的。     

Simulating the impacts of fishing on central and eastern tropical Pacific ecosystem using multispecies size-spectrum model

The size-spectrum model has been considered a useful tool for understanding the structures of marine ecosystems and examining management implications for fisheries. Based on Chinese tuna longline observer data from the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean and published data, we developed and calibrated a multispecies size-spectrum model of twenty common and commercially important species in this area. We then use the model to project the status of the species from 2016 to 2050 under five c...     

Modelling ecosystem functions and properties at different time and spatial scales in shallow coastal lagoons: An application of the LOICZ biogeochemical model

The Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ) biogeochemical model (LBM) was applied at different temporal and spatial scales in 17 Italian lagoons of the LaguNet network (http://www.dsa.unipr.it/lagunet). A series of alternative assumptions taking into account benthic vegetation and sedimentary fluxes were introduced and compared with the classical LBM approach at various time scales. The reliability of the LBM application to the seventeen Italian lagoons was tested by comparison to a pool of shallow coastal systems from the global LOICZ database with comparable depths and sizes. The nutrient loads of the Italian sites can be considered relatively low, particularly for dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP). Although the median values of estimated internal transformations (source-sink) of both dissolved inorganic phosphorous and nitrogen at the LaguNet sites were comparable with the selected LOICZ sites, the positive and negative extreme values were one order of magnitude lower. Overall, the LBM applications to the Italian sites gave good quality budgets for shallow systems subjected to relatively low nutrient inputs and with a wide range of primary producer communities, including seagrass, macroalgae and phytoplankton. Furthermore, stoichiometry of Carbon:Nitrogen:Phosphorous for the different primary producer groups allowed the integration of previous studies by identifying a series of relationships between nutrient loads and ecosystem functions.     

Top-down modeling and bottom-up dynamics: Linking a fisheries-based ecosystem model with climate hypotheses in the Northern California Current

In this paper we present results from dynamic simulations of the Northern California Current ecosystem, based on historical estimates of fishing mortality, relative fishing effort, and climate forcing. Climate can affect ecosystem productivity and dynamics both from the bottom-up (through short- and long-term variability in primary and secondary production) as well as from the top-down (through variability in the abundance and spatial distribution of key predators). We have explored how the simplistic application of climate forcing through both bottom-up and top-down mechanisms improves the fit of the model dynamics to observed population trends and reported catches for exploited components of the ecosystem. We find that using climate as either a bottom-up or a top-down forcing mechanism results in substantial improvements in model performance, such that much of the variability observed in single species models and dynamics can be replicated in a multi-species approach. Using multiple climate variables (both bottom-up and top-down) simultaneously did not provide significant improvement over a model with only one forcing. In general, results suggest that there do not appear to be strong trophic interactions among many of the longer-lived, slower-growing rockfish, roundfish and flatfish in this ecosystem, although strong interactions were observed in shrimp, salmon and small flatfish populations where high turnover and predation rates have been coupled with substantial changes in many predator populations over the last 40 years.     

印度洋海水营养盐添加模拟实验中浮游植物生长的营养盐限制作用

借助"中国首次环球科学考察航次",在印度洋海区进行了N、Fe、N+Fe以及N+Fe+P的营养盐添加模拟实验。通过对实验过程中水体营养盐浓度、叶绿素a(Chl-a)浓度以及温度等参数进行分析,探讨了添加不同营养盐对该实验海区浮游植物生长的影响。结果表明,N的添加会引起浮游植物的快速爆发,而单独添加Fe并不能刺激浮游植物快速生长,N、P联合作用对浮游植物生长的影响远远大于单独N的作用。另外,在实验海区浮游植物优先利用海水中的硝酸盐,在硝酸根耗尽后,海水中可被利用的P会促进浮游植物的生长。实验过程中水体N/P比值的变化同叶绿素a浓度以及浮游植物生长速度(R)没有可对比性,而且N/P比值与后两者之间的相关性都差,所以认为水体中N/P比值并不能单独决定浮游植物生长。此外,实验水体温度同Chl-a浓度和R值之间相关性分析表明,水体温度虽对浮游植物生长有重要作用,但不能控制浮游植物生长。     

Analysis of primary production in the Seto Inland Sea, Japan, using a simple ecosystem model

A simple model of lower trophic level ecosystem has been created to analyze possible environmental control of primary production in eight sub-areas of the Seto Inland Sea. The primary production rates observed by Hashimotoet al. (1997a) in these sub-areas are well reproduced by the model, including horizontal processes such as horizontal transport of nutrients and vertical processes such as vertical mixing, light intensity and sinking of particulate matter. Without taking account of horizontal processes the model also successfully reproduces the observed primary production rates in some areas, but if fails to reproduce those in the others. This shows that the relative importance of the horizontal transport on the primary production differs are by area. Two time scales,T _z andT _H, are introduced to explain this difference.T _z is a vertical cycling time of material, which is defined as the time during which the stock of the material in the water column is utilized for primary production;T _H is the horizontal transit time of the material. The relative importance of the horizontal process is well explained by theT _H/T _z ratio; that is, the horizontal transport process is important in the areas where this ratio is small. Further the possible mechanisms of nutrient supply for the primary production in each sub-area are investigated using this model.     

Nitrogen uptake in light versus darkness of the seagrass Zostera noltei: integration with carbon metabolism

We conducted a study that shows that light and dark conditions do not affect the uptake rates of ammonium and nitrate by the seagrass Zostera noltei. This is an important advantage over some seaweed species in which these rates are severely reduced at night. In the light, the ammonium uptake rates were initially higher (15 and 20 μmol·g^?1·h^?1) and stabilized at a rate of 5 μmol·g^?1·h^?1 after 1 h, whereas in the dark the rates remained constant at a rate of 10 μmol·g^?1·h^?1 over the first 180 min of incubation. The rates of nitrate uptake in the light were high within the first 120 min of incubation (7.2–11.1 μmol·g^?1·h^?1) and decreased afterwards to lower values (0.8–3.9 μmol·g^?1·h^?1), whereas in the dark the rates fluctuated around 0.0–11.1 μmol·g^?1·h^?1 throughout the whole incubation time (7 h). The soluble sugar content of Z. noltei leaves increased significantly with both ammonium and nitrate incubations in the light, indicating the metabolic outcome of photosynthesis. In the dark, there was no significant variation in either the soluble sugar or in the starch content of leaves, rhizomes or roots in either the ammonium or nitrate incubations. However, the total starch content of plants decreased at night whereas the total soluble sugars increased, suggesting a process of starch catabolism to generate energy with the consequent production of smaller monosaccharide products. The starch content of rhizomes decreased significantly during the light incubations with nitrate but not with ammonium. These results suggest that carbohydrate mobilization is necessary for Z. noltei to account for extra energetic costs needed for the uptake and assimilation of nitrate. Furthermore, our results suggest that nitrate uptake, at least during the day, requires the mobilization of starch whereas the uptake of ammonium does not.     

象山港围隔生态系水质模型研究

在美国环保局开发的WASP(the water quality analysis simulation program,水质分析模拟程序)中的概念模型基础上,运用系统动力学软件Stella9.0.2建立了适用于海洋围隔生态系水质动力学模型.模型包括浮游植物、磷循环、氮循环、碳生化需氧量-溶解氧4个模块,涉及叶绿素a、有机磷、无机磷、有机氮、氨氮、硝酸-亚硝酸盐氮、生化需氧量、溶解氧8个水质指标.利用2010年10月初象山港围隔生态实验数据进行了模型验证和参数率定工作,成功模拟了不同水温条件下围隔水质情况,并确定了30余个模型参数,展现了系统动力学模拟的优势,为揭示象山港海域生态系统的动力学机制,模拟和预测他的变化提供科学依据.     

海马齿浮床对富营养化海湾营养盐削减的模型评价：以东山湾八尺门养殖海域为例

Many coastal seas are severely eutrophic and required to reduce nutrient concentrations to meet a certain water quality standard. We proposed a method for nutrient removal by planting Sesuvium portulacastrum at the water surface using the floating beds in the aquaculture area of the Dongshan Bay as an example, which is an important net-cage culture base in China and where dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphate(DIP) reach 0.75 mg/L and 0.097 mg/L, respectively far exceeding China's Grade IV water quality standards.Numerical simulations were taken using the ecological model, field observations and field plantation experimental results to assess the environmental restoration effects of planting S. portulacastrum at some certain spatial scales. Our field experiments suggested that the herbs can absorb 377 g/m~2 nitrogen and 22.9 g/m~2 phosphorus in eight months with an inserting density of ～60 shoot/m~2. The numerical experiments show that the greater the plantation area is, the more nutrient removal. Plantation in ～12% of the study area could lower nutrients to the required Grade II standards, i.e., 0.2 mg/LDIN≤0.3 mg/L and 0.015 mg/LDIP≤0.03 mg/L.Here the phytoremediation method and results provide helpful references for environmental restoration in other eutrophic seas.