Comparative genetic structure in two high-dispersal prawn species from the south-west Indian Ocean

The penaeid prawns Fenneropenaeus indicus and Metapenaeus monoceros support shallow-water prawn fisheries in the south-west Indian Ocean. They are sympatric and have similar life histories, including developmental stages that depend on estuarine and marine habitats and a short dispersal duration. Nevertheless, M. monoceros juveniles display a more generalist habitat preference in estuaries and recruit to offshore habitats during a different season than F. indicus. We hypothesised that these differences would affect dispersal patterns, leading to dissimilar geographic genetic structure between the two taxa. Given their short dispersal phase, we also hypothesised that the Mozambique Channel would form a barrier to dispersal between the southeastern African mainland and Madagascar sites. Population differentiation was assessed based on analysis of mitochondrial DNA control-region sequences. Both species displayed high haplotype and low nucleotide diversity. Pairwise ?_ST statistics supported the existence of admixed populations along the African mainland sites for both species, with geographic distance isolating populations at the extremes of the sampled range (Kenya and east coast of South Africa). The Madagascar population differed significantly from African mainland populations. The concordant patterns in population differentiation suggest that F. indicus and M. monoceros can be considered as single African stocks, or fisheries management units.     

青海锡铁山铅锌矿床硫同位素地球化学研究——深源与海水硫的混合

锡铁山铅锌矿床发育较为完整的喷流沉积系统,包括管道相、近喷口相、远端沉积相及各种喷流沉积岩,并有后期改造作用形成的脉状铅锌矿体。本文通过喷流沉积系统各部位硫化物硫同位素的分析,不同部位硫化物硫同位素组成不同,且规律性变化。以黄铁矿分析结果为例,网脉状石英钠长岩δ34S=+0.8‰,代表供给系统的硫化物脉2.95‰,非层状矿体4.48‰,层状矿体3.25‰,炭质片岩为+6.26‰,后期改造型铅锌矿脉为+2.93‰。代表管道相的网脉状石英钠长岩黄铁矿具有深源(幔源)的硫同位素组成,而矿体或大理岩上盘炭质片岩具有海水硫来源的特点。矿体的硫介于二者之间,更靠近炭质片岩的硫化物同位素组成,其来源可能更多受海水硫酸盐的制约,即锡铁山矿床硫具有混合来源性质,主要是海水硫酸盐的还原,部分来源于深部卤水的供给。硫的还原方式以生物细菌还原为主。层状矿体中硫同位素组成由早至晚δ34S逐渐降低,表明层状矿体成矿作用过程中,发生了生物成因的H2S的大量加入。     

Ocean robotics in support of fisheries research and management

South Africa’s small-pelagic fishery is a socio-economically important component of the country’s commercial fisheries sector, second in value only to the demersal trawl fishery. Management of this sector relies on infrequent hydro-acoustic surveys, which provide measures of anchovy Engraulis encrasicolus and sardine Sardinops sagax biomass used in the assessments of stock status and in the development of management plans for the sustainable utilisation of these resources. We demonstrate how technological capabilities in ocean robotics at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) could augment the current resource-intensive hydro-acoustic ship-based survey programme and create opportunities for expanding its spatial and temporal resolution. We successfully implement and demonstrate an autonomous wave glider, fitted with a hydro-acoustic sensor and compare the data to a collocated ‘traditional’ ship-based acoustics survey. In the future these autonomous systems approaches could be seen as a means to lessen the cost burden of the ship-based survey, while at the same time with the added advantage of continuous collection over much wider spatial and temporal domains. This could enable a more reflexive stock management approach taking into account the seasonal characteristics of the fishery and its ecosystem. Gliders thus have potential to increase dramatically the quantity of information available to fisheries managers, thereby reducing uncertainty and contributing to improved management of valuable fish resources. They are likely to contribute to improved knowledge of the ecology of small pelagic fish species off the coast of South Africa in a changing climate and should potentially also permit the collection of biomass data for other marine resources currently not routinely monitored.     

Sea-level estimates during the last deglaciation based on δO and accelerator mass spectrometry C ages measured in Globigerina bulloides

Coupled measurements of δ¹⁸O and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C in a particular species of planktonic foraminifera may be used to calculate sea-level estimates for the last deglaciation. Of critical importance for this type of study is a knowledge of the seasonality of foraminiferal growth, which can be provided by δ¹⁸O measurements of modern shells (core tops, plankton tows). Isotopic (δ¹⁸O, AMS-¹⁴C dating) and faunal records (transfer function sea surface temperature) were obtained from two cores in the North Atlantic at about 37°N. The locations were chosen to obtain high sedimentation rate records removed from the major ice-melt discharge areas of the last deglaciation. Based upon Globigerina bulloides data, four δ¹⁸O-based sea-level estimates were calculated: −67 ± 7 m at 12,200 yr B.P. and −24 ± 8 m at about 8200 yr B.P. for core SU 81-18; −83 ± 10 m at 12,200 yr B.P. and −13 ± 11 m at about 8500 yr B.P. for core SU 81-14. Using a second working hypothesis concerning the seasonability of G. bulloides growth, it is suggested that the sea-level rose by about 40 m during the millennium which followed 14,500 yr B.P.     

Overview and status of estuarine microphytobenthos ecological research in South Africa

This article presents a historical overview of estuarine microphytobenthos (MPB) research in South Africa published over the period 1950 to the present, highlighting major milestones, challenges and estuarine management problems, as well as future research needs within the South African context. The studies that were covered comprise peer-reviewed books and journal articles on relevant research conducted in any estuarine environment during the period reviewed. There was a general increase in MPB research outputs over the decades, from only two publications in the 1950s, to over 20 outputs between 2010 and the present. Whereas the MPB studies in South Africa cover a broad spectrum of themes, the research priorities in these works have changed from taxonomically biased studies to those of ecologically based research. Research in the 1950s and 1960s was exclusively taxonomic in nature, with the first ecological investigation incorporating MPB being produced in the 1970s. By the 1980s, ecological studies dominated the research outputs and this trend has persisted to the present. The 1990s and 2000s saw the rise of research into the role of fresh water as a driver of MPB dynamics, whereas the period 2010 to the present saw an increase in more diverse ecological themes, ranging from an autecological investigation to food-web studies and the assessment of multiple drivers of MPB dynamics. However, the majority of studies have focused on either diatoms or estimates of overall MPB biomass. Moreover, there is a regional underrepresentation that runs broadly along biogeographic lines, with the bulk of the work having been conducted in the warm-temperate and subtropical zones of South Africa. Challenges and future research needs for the region are outlined, as is the need to expand MPB research to include other aspects of the biology and ecology of this flora.     

Evaluating cost-effective strategies for meeting regional CO2 targets

Various climate protocol proposals oblige different industrialized countries to reduce CO₂ and other greenhouse gas emissions. In principle, the total costs of these obligations could be substantially reduced if emission reductions are implemented in regions with low marginal costs for CO₂ reduction. This has been difficult to quantify because of lack of models with suitable regional and sectoral detail. In this paper we perform these calculations by taking advantage of the capability of the IMAGE 2 model to compute regional emissions and costs. Two main options are examined for allocating emission reductions required of industrialized regions in a cost effective manner: (1) allocating them among industrialized regions (2) allocating them among all world regions. The cost savings for each of these options are presented. The main conclusions are that (a) it is of great importance for the cost comparisons of protocols to use a well defined baseline scenario and clearly formulated targets, and (b) large economic benefits, in the order of 35–65%, can accrue from joint-implementation agreements which allocate investments on the basis of net marginal costs of CO₂ emission reduction.     

Integrating disaster risk reduction into post‐disaster reconstruction: A long‐term perspective of the 1931 earthquake in Napier,New Zealand

This article is a long‐term retrospective study of the reconstruction that followed the 1931 earthquake that struck the city of Napier in Hawke's Bay, New Zealand. It particularly focuses on the positive outcomes in reducing the risk of future disaster at both local and national levels. These were facilitated by three key decisions and strategies: (i) reconstruction was initiated immediately after the disaster; (ii) it was designed as a balance between continuity and change; and (iii) it relied on a decentralised, integrative decision‐making process.     

Late Weichselian to Holocene paleoenvironments in the Barents Sea

Paleoceanographic changes since the Late Weichselian have been studied in three sediment cores raised from shelf depressions along a north–south transect across the central Barents Sea. AMS radiocarbon dating offers a resolution of several hundred years for the Holocene. The results of lithological and micropaleontological study reveal the response of the Barents Sea to global climatic changes and Atlantic water inflow. Four evolutionary stages were distinguished. The older sediments are moraine deposits. The destruction of the Barents Sea ice sheet during the beginning of the deglaciation in response to climate warming and sea level rise resulted in proximal glaciomarine sedimentation. Then, the retreat of the glacier front to archipelagoes during the main phase of deglaciation caused meltwater discharge and restricted iceberg calving. Fine-grained distal glaciomarine sediments were deposited from periodic near-bottom nepheloid flows and the area was almost permanently covered with sea ice. The dramatic change in paleoenvironment occurred near the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary when normal marine conditions ultimately established resulting in a sharp increase of biological productivity. This event was diachronous and started prior to 10 ¹⁴C ka BP in the southern and about 9.2 ¹⁴C ka in the northern Barents Sea. Variations in sediment supply, paleoproductivity, sea-ice conditions, and Atlantic water inflow controlled paleoenvironmental changes during the Holocene.     

Rapid fish stock depletion in previously unexploited seamounts: the case of Beryx splendens from the Sierra Leone Rise (Gulf of Guinea)

Fish stocks associated with seamounts may be particularly susceptible to overexploitation. From January to July 2001, the Spanish Oceanographic Institute (IEO) conducted an experimental fishing survey entitled ‘Palguinea-2001’ on the seamounts of the Sierra Leone Rise. Beryx splendens (commonly called alfonsino) is the main commercial demersal fish associated with this area. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of a demersal longline fishery targeting B. splendens on the previously unexploited small Machucambo Seamount over a short time-scale, and also to consider trends in pooled catch rate at another four seamounts. During 110 fishing days at Machucambo, a total catch of 207 tonnes of B. splendens was taken with a fishing effort of 1 309 070 hooks. A spectral analysis and red-noise spectra procedure (REDFIT) algorithm was used to identify the red-noise spectrum from the gaps in the observed time-series of catch per unit effort by weight. Our results show the potential impact of longline fishing pressure on an unexploited ecosystem – after approximately 50 fishing days, the stock appeared to decline substantially, as reflected by a marked drop in catch per unit effort. The apparent rapid decline of the stock might be related to the small size and the virgin state of the Sierra Leone seamounts. The results could be extrapolated to similar small seamounts elsewhere.     

Paleoclimatic variability at frequencies ranging from 1 cycle per 10 000 years to 1 cycle per 1000 years: Evidence for nonlinear behaviour of the climate system

The paleoclimatic variability at frequencies ranging from 10^–4 cycle per year (cpy) to 10^–3 cpy is investigated using a set of three deep-sea cores from the Indian Ocean. Three frequency bands of high paleoclimatic variability are first defined using upper and lower limits of the significant spectral power concentrations: the bands are centered around the spectral maxima located at 10.3, 4.7, and 2.5 kyr. The localisation of spectral lines is then refined by high-resolution spectral analysis.Some of the resulting lines have frequencies which are close to those previously detected in other paleoclimatic records, including the precessional peak at 19 kyr. Additional lines are also in good correspondence with the response of a nonlinear climatic oscillator forced by insolation variations, including peaks at 13 kyr, 10.4 kyr and 9.4 kyr. This correspondence suggests orbital forcing. Moreover for the Indian Ocean which is influenced by the monsoon circulation, it is plausible that the precessional contribution of the forcing interact strongly with the precipitation-temperature feedback used in the model, thus emphasizing the nonlinearity of the response.