Managed realignment as compensation for the loss of intertidal mudflat: A short term solution to a long term problem?

Intertidal mudflats are critical to the functional ecology of estuaries yet large areas are being lost as a result of land claim, erosion and coastal squeeze. This study examines whether managed realignment (at Paull Holme Strays, Humber estuary) can realistically achieve compensation for the loss of intertidal mudflat in the long term. Typical estuarine species quickly colonised the site with the total number of species recorded from the site as a whole being almost equal to that in the reference area within one year. Comparable biomass between the two areas was achieved after 2 years. However, organism abundance remains an order of magnitude lower within the realignment site compared to outside. Community structure within the realignment has changed from one characterised by terrestrial/freshwater organisms and early colonising species to one composed of typically estuarine species. However, the developing benthic communities only represent those typical of the estuary in areas of low elevation and high inundation frequency. Rapid accretion has favoured saltmarsh colonisation in much of the realignment site and this is expected to increase as accretion proceeds with invertebrate colonisation being inhibited by increasing elevation. Hence, realignment to restore intertidal mudflats can only be a short term solution in sites of high tidal elevation and in a dynamic and turbid estuary with high natural accretion rates, such as the Humber.     

Contemporary initiatives on the future of the International Whaling Commission

In his term as Chairman of the International Whaling Commission between 2006 and 2009, Dr BillHogarth championed a process for finding a way forward for the IWC. In parallel with, and in places intertwined with the Hogarth Initiative, a number of other initiatives attempting to move the IWC forward have been proposed by a range of stakeholders; both governments and NGOs. This paper traces the more important suggestions, commenting on their likelihood of success.     

Carbon flux in the northwest Mediterranean estimated from microbial production

Spring profiles of microbial production derived from the dark incorporation of tritiated leucine and tritiated thymidine in the northwest Mediterranean show an exponential decline with depth. Assuming this to represent a steady-state balance between microbial respiration and the downward flux of carbon, the downward flux is estimated as (1−/)p/b, where p is the microbial production, their gross growth efficiency and b the coefficient of exponential decline with depth. Summer profiles, ranging over about 3° of latitude and 4° of longitude, were well fitted by a two-component exponential decline, suggesting two distinct microbial substrates. Values of b for the more rapidly declining component varied between 0.01 and 0.06 m⁻¹ according to location. In the case of the slower component, b was estimated as 0.002 m⁻¹, and did not vary significantly over the region. Estimated fluxes of carbon at the surface are 123–335 mg m⁻² d⁻¹ for the fast and 95 mg m⁻² d⁻¹ for the slow component. Below about 200 m, carbon flux is dominated by the slow component. Flux estimates are compatible with flux estimates from sediment traps in the same region. The observed changes between the spring and summer profiles, combined with the horizontal homogeneity of the summer profiles below 200 m, are consistent with a downward transport of about 5–10 m d^–1, implying a significant dispersive component to the observed fluxes.     

Changes in North Sea macrofauna communities and species distribution between 1986 and 2000

The North Sea Benthos Project 2000 was initiated as a follow-up to the 1986 ICES North Sea Benthos Survey with the major aim to identify changes in the macrofauna species distribution and community structure in the North Sea and their likely causes.The results showed that the large-scale spatial distribution of macrofauna communities in the North Sea hardly changed between 1986 and 2000, with the main divisions at the 50 m and 100 m depth contours. Water temperature and salinity as well as wave exposure, tidal stress and primary production were influential environmental factors on a large (North Sea-wide) spatial scale.The increase in abundance and regional changes in distribution of various species with a southern distribution in the North Sea in 2000 were largely associated with an increase in sea surface temperature, primary production and, thus, food supply. This can be most likely related to the North Sea hydro-climate change in the late 1980s influenced by the variability in the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). Only one cold-temperate species decreased in abundance in 2000 at most of the stations. Indications for newly established populations of offshore non-native species were not found.Differences in macrofauna community structure on localised spatial scales were predominantly found north of the 50 m depth contour off the British coast along the Flamborough Head Front towards the Dogger Bank, off the coast of Jutland and at the Frisian Front. These changes were most likely attributed to stronger frontal systems in 2000 caused by the increased inflow of Atlantic water masses in relation to the hydro-climate change in the late 1980s.     

A standardised sampling protocol for robust assessment of reach-scale fish community diversity in wadeable New Zealand streams

The New Zealand fish fauna contains species that are affected not only by river system connectivity, but also by catchment and local-scale changes in landcover, water quality and habitat quality. Consequently, native fish have potential as multi-scale bioindicators of human pressure on stream ecosystems, yet no standardised, repeatable and scientifically defensible methods currently exist for effectively quantifying their abundance or diversity in New Zealand stream reaches. Here we report on the testing of a back-pack electrofishing method, modified from that used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, on a wide variety of wadeable stream reaches throughout New Zealand. Seventy-three first- to third-order stream reaches were fished with a single pass over 150–345 m length. Time taken to sample a reach using single-pass electrofishing ranged from 1–8 h. Species accumulation curves indicated that, irrespective of location, continuous sampling of 150 stream metres is required to accurately describe reach-scale fish species richness using this approach. Additional species detection beyond 150 m was rare (<10%) with a single additional species detected at only two out of the 17 reaches sampled beyond this distance. A positive relationship was also evident between species detection and area fished, although stream length rather than area appeared to be the better predictor. The method tested provides a standardised and repeatable approach for regional and/or national reporting on the state of New Zealand's freshwater fish communities and trends in richness and abundance over time.     

Ethnohistoric and Geoarchaeological Landscape Chronology at Kawaihae,Leeward Hawai‘i Island

The royal court of the Kamehameha Dynasty in Kawaihae, Hawai‘i Island, presents an unequalled opportunity to examine the ethnohistoric rendering of a cultural landscape, in comparison to the geoarchaeological record of physical transformation of this same landscape. Beneath the surface, earlier occupation layers predate the historic royal precinct of the A.D. 1790s through 1820s. Drawing on results of 19 controlled excavations, point‐specific cultural activities are situated within the last several centuries of natural terrain formation, beginning A.D. 1200–1400 and ending A.D. 1830–present. Geoarchaeological excavations provide the means to place the stratified cultural deposits, occupational horizons, and activity areas in the context of depositional history, environmental transformation, and changing social circumstances in a continuous sequence. The material‐based geoarchaeological landscape chronology and the ethnohistorically defined cultural landscape are combined for a more holistic view than either one could provide independently.     

Correlation of environmental and cultural chronology in New Caledonia

A case study in New Caledonia explores the changes in the natural and cultural setting at the end of the Lapita period in the first millennium B.C. After the mid‐Holocene highstand, sea level fell about 1.5 m, thereby enlarging coastal plains, altering previous mangrove and marshy settings, and transforming nearshore marine environments. Many of these changes occurred gradually over several centuries, but the termination of finely decorated Lapita pottery coincided with the first signs of loss of coastal habitat optimal for marine‐based horticulturalists in the first millennium B.C. Organized village compounds and extensively cultivated landscapes emerged much later, in the first millennium A.D. The results suggest that, although the Lapita phenomenon represents the founding ancestry of Oceanic societies, it also represents the end of an era and way of life that eventually could not be maintained in a changing world. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.