Sunken wood habitat for thiotrophic symbiosis in mangrove swamps

Large organic falls to the benthic environment, such as dead wood or whale bones, harbour organisms relying on sulfide-oxidizing symbionts. Nothing is known however, concerning sulfide enrichment at the wood surface and its relation to wood colonization by sulfide-oxidizing symbiotic organisms.In this study we combined in situ hydrogen sulfide and pH measurements on sunken wood, with associated fauna microscopy analyses in a tropical mangrove swamp. This shallow environment is known to harbour thiotrophic symbioses and is also abundantly supplied with sunken wood. A significant sulfide enrichment at the wood surface was revealed. A 72 h sequence of measurements emphasized the wide fluctuation of sulfide levels (0.1–>100 μM) over time with both a tidal influence and rapid fluctuations. Protozoans observed on the wood surface were similar to Zoothamnium niveum and to vorticellids. Our SEM observations revealed their association with ectosymbiotic bacteria, which are likely to be sulfide-oxidizers. These results support the idea that sunken wood surfaces constitute an environment suitable for sulfide-oxidizing symbioses.     

SII型海洋重力仪稳定平台倒台故障分析与处理

SⅡ型海洋重力仪凭借其动态测量精度高、系统可靠性强等优点已日益成为海洋调查中重力测量的重要仪器之一。从SⅡ型海洋重力仪在使用中出现的稳定平台倒台故障着手,分析了平台倒台故障的原因以及处理方法,并对仪器使用中的注意事项以及改进建议作了介绍。     

A comparison of economic performance in the fisheries sector: A short- and long-term perspective

Indicators of the economic performance of fishing vessels are frequently computed in various countries. In this paper, we use different types of information to assess capital value and the economic performance of fishing vessels. On the one hand, field surveys provide technical and financial information on the main components of fishing capital. On the other hand, book values are given in bookkeeping databases. We use both sources of information on fishing capital are used for the same set of vessels, namely the commercial fishing fleet of the French region of Brittany. Based on these two sources, measures of economic performance can be produced for the short term using gross surplus; and for the long term including the cost of capital. The measures of performance obtained are presented and the differences between them are then discussed.     

Systematic marine conservation planning in data-poor regions: Socioeconomic data is essential

Systematic planning for conservation is highly regarded but relies on spatially explicit data that are lacking in many areas of conservation concern. The decision support tool Marxan is applied to a reef system in the central Philippines where 30 marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established in communities without much use of biophysical data. The intent was to explore how Marxan might assist with the legally required expansion to protect 15% of marine waters, and how existing MPAs might affect that process. Results show that biophysical information alone did not provide much guidance in identifying patterns of conservation importance in areas where the data are poor. Socioeconomic data were needed to distinguish among possible areas for protection; but here, as elsewhere in marine environments, the availability of such data was very limited. In the final analysis, local knowledge and integrated understanding of socioeconomic realities may offer the best spatially explicit information. The 30 existing MPAs, which encompassed a small proportion of the reef system, did not limit future options in developing a suite of MPAs on a broader scale. Rather, they appeared to generate the support for MPAs that is obligatory for any larger zoning effort. In summary, establishing MPAs based on community-driven criteria has biological and social value, but efforts should be made to collect ecological and socioeconomic data to guide the continued creation of MPAs.     

Landscape-scale analysis of ecosystem risk and returns: A new tool for ICZM

Management of the coastal zone often focuses on “islands” of high value ecosystems, in terms of economic value or conservation. However, integrated management requires landscape-level analysis of all ecosystem values. The biodiversity portfolio analysis (BPA) method is derived from the logic used in share (equity) portfolio management in terms of balancing within a portfolio the returns with the risks. Optimising the returns from a share portfolio, or a suite of ecosystems in a landscape, is dependent on the relationship between the units in terms of risk and return. Three case studies are then presented to test the applicability of the BPA method at the international (North West Europe), regional (Durham Heritage Coast, UK) and local (part of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, UK) spatial scale. The Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis for NW Europe showed that risk and return were highly correlated in the studied Member States. The ranking of risk and return, with the highest first, was Ireland > UK > France=Netherlands > Belgium. For these Member States the risks to ecosystem service provision were positively correlated with GNI (r=0.97, P<0.01); suggesting that the higher the economic importance of coastal and marine resources in a Member State the more at risk the resources are. The regional and local case studies were more focussed on providing information on which to base Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) decision making; both case studies used stakeholder participation to determine risks and returns. The conclusions from these two case studies show how the BPA method can be useful in terms of setting ICZM priorities and in addressing local coastal issues. The BPA involves making a number of assumptions, however, it does provide coastal managers with a potential tool to strategically plan due to increased awareness of the interaction between the ecosystems in the portfolio.There is a need for such techniques, which involve stakeholder participation and which create objective outcomes, to support the implementation of ICZM.     

Characteristics of developing waves as a function of atmospheric conditions,water properties,fetch and duration

For any specific wind speed, waves grow in period, height and length as a function of the wind duration and fetch until maximum values are reached, at which point the waves are considered to be fully developed. Although equations and nomograms exist to predict the parameters of developing waves for shorter fetch or duration conditions at different wind speeds, these either do not incorporate important variables such as the air and water temperature, or do not consider the combined effect of fetch and duration. Here, the wind conditions required for a fully developed sea are calculated from maximum wave heights as determined from the wind speed, together with a published growth law based on the friction velocity. This allows the parameters of developing waves to be estimated for any combination of wind velocity, fetch and duration, while also taking account of atmospheric conditions and water properties.     

Partially standing wave measurement in the presence of steady current by use of coincident velocity and/or pressure data

In recent years, instrumentation for field flow measurements has become more and more sophisticated. In particular, local pressure and velocity are measured at frequency rates up to at least 2 Hz, which gives information on wave energy. The present work describes the methods for partially standing wave measurement in the presence of current by use of coincident measurements of both horizontal velocity and pressure, or vertical velocity. Reflection calculated from either coincident horizontal and vertical velocities or three-gauge methods are compared. They are based on existing experiments carried out in an ocean wave basin for both regular and irregular waves in the presence of current. Applications to field measurements, out of and in the breaking zones are then presented. In the nearshore, coincident horizontal and vertical velocities far from the bottom, and coincident horizontal velocity and pressure close to the bottom give relevant information concerning partially standing waves.     

Formula for predicting bedload transport rate in oscillatory sheet flows

The method of Wang [Wang, Y.-H., 2007. Formula for predicting bedload transport rate in oscillatory sheet flow. Coastal Engineering 54, 594–601] to predict the wave friction factor is discussed. At the threshold of sediment entrainment the proposed equation produces a wide scatter of data points when plotted against an equation based on the Shields parameter. It is shown that a better correlation coefficient can be obtained by calculating the critical wave friction factor directly from the wave period, as well as the sediment and water properties.     

2009年冬、夏季南海北部超微型浮游生物的分布特征及其环境相关分析

2009年2月(冬季)和8月(夏季)在南海北部海域(nSCS)采用流式细胞术对聚球藻、原绿球藻、超微型光合真核生物3类超微型光合浮游生物和异养浮游细菌的丰度和碳生物量的时空分布特征进行了研究,并分析了其与环境因子之间的关系。结果表明,夏季聚球藻和原绿球藻的平均丰度高于冬季,超微型光合真核生物和异养浮游细菌的丰度反之,为冬季高于夏季。聚球藻、超微型光合真核生物和异养浮游细菌在富营养的近岸陆架海域丰度较高,而原绿球藻高丰度则出现在陆坡开阔海域。在垂直分布上,聚球藻主要分布在跃层以上,跃层以下丰度迅速降低;原绿球藻高丰度主要出现在真光层底部;超微型光合真核生物在水层中的高值同样出现在真光层底部,且与Pico级份叶绿素a浓度分布一致;异养浮游细菌在水体中的分布与聚球藻类似。这些分布格局的差异,取决于环境条件的变化和4类超微型浮游生物生态生理适应性的差异。在超微型光合浮游生物群落中,各类群碳生物量的贡献因季节和海域类型的不同而发生变化:聚球藻在夏季近岸陆架区占超微型光合浮游生物总碳生物量的41%,原绿球藻在陆坡开阔海成为主要贡献者(50%),超微型光合真核生物碳生物量以冬季为高(在近岸陆架区占比68%)。冬、夏季异养浮游细菌碳生物量均高于超微型光合浮游生物碳生物量。