Separate and Combined Effects of Estuarine Stress Gradients and Disturbance on Oyster Population Development on Restored Reefs

Disturbance combined with the effects of multiple stress gradients can produce biotic outcomes that are complex and perhaps not predictable based on knowledge of the individual stress variables. We analyzed oyster (Crassostrea virginica) colonization of novel substrate via structural equation modeling (SEM) to test cause-and-effect multivariate models posed a priori as hypotheses. We separately analyzed long-term data on water quality (WQ), canal flow, and rainfall to determine drivers of chlorophyll a for use in the oyster SEM. The best oyster SEM for adult (R ² = 0.74) and small <20-mm (R ² = 0.48) oyster abundances combined WQ stress gradients produced by normal canal flow with disturbance caused by extremely high flow. There was a ?0.26 direct negative effect of increasing salinity during normal canal flow on the small oyster size class possibly reflecting undocumented increases in marine predators and a negative total effect (negative indirect + direct effects) of the salinity gradient on adult oysters. Very low salinity occurring during extreme (disturbance) canal flows produced large negative direct and total effects on small oysters, but no significant total effect for adult oysters. Chlorophyll a (Chl-a) during normal canal flow had negative total effects on small oysters but positive total effects on adult oysters. The effect of max Chl-a on adult oysters was strongly negative during disturbance-level canal flow. Turbidity during normal canal flow had no effect on small or adult oysters. However, during disturbance flows, the maximum turbidity had strong negative effects. Stress and disturbance from freshwater releases impacted oyster recruitment and survival, affecting the colonization and growth of oysters.     

Development of passive sampling devices for bioavailable contaminants of current and emerging concern: Waitemata Harbour case study

Bioavailable contaminant concentrations are an important component in assessing environmental effects as they directly affect ecosystem health. Shellfish contaminant monitoring programmes have traditionally filled this requirement but are being phased out in some jurisdictions. Passive sampling devices (PSDs) have the potential to replace shellfish monitoring; however, there are still knowledge gaps to address before this can occur. This study assessed the suitability of three different PSDs in providing the required information to replace shellfish monitoring. PSDs were deployed at three historic mussel monitoring sites with different levels of urban influence in the Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. Contaminants of interest were urban heavy metals, plus current and emerging organic contaminants. PSDs provided extremely low detection limits and, for some contaminants, very strong correlations to shellfish. PSDs can currently complement shellfish in monitoring, but it is premature to make conclusions as to the suitability of PSDs in replacing shellfish monitoring until more information is available.     

Species‐specific photosynthetic responses of symbiotic zoanthids to thermal stress and ocean acidification

Increasing sea‐surface temperatures and ocean acidification (OA) are impacting physiologic processes in a variety of marine organisms. Many sea anemones, corals and jellies in the phylum Cnidaria form endosymbiotic relationships with Symbiodinium spp. (phylum Dinoflagellata) supply the hosts with fixed carbon from photosynthesis. Much work has focused on the generally negative effects of rising temperature and OA on calcification in Symbiodinium‐coral symbioses, but has not directly measured symbiont photosynthesis in hospite or fixed carbon translocation from symbiont to host. Symbiodinium species or types vary in their environmental tolerance and photosynthetic capacity; therefore, primary production in symbiotic associations can vary with symbiont type. However, symbiont type has not been identified in a large portion of Symbiodinium?cnidarian studies. Future climate conditions and OA may favor non‐calcifying, soft‐bodied cnidarians, including zoanthids. Here we show that two zoanthid species, Palythoa sp. and Zoanthus sp., harboring different symbiont types (C1 and A4), had very different responses to increased temperature and increased partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂), or dissolved CO₂, and low pH. Thermal stress did not affect carbon fixation or fixed carbon translocation in the Zoanthus sp./A4 association, and high pCO₂/low pH increased carbon fixation. In contrast, both thermal stress and high pCO₂/low pH greatly inhibited carbon fixation in the Palythoa sp./C1 association. However, the combined treatment of high temperature and high pCO₂ increased carbon fixation relative to the treatment of high temperature alone. Our observations support the growing body of evidence that demonstrates that the response of symbiotic cnidarians to thermal stress and OA must be considered on a host‐specific and symbiont‐specific basis. In addition, we show that the effects of increased temperature and pCO₂ on photosynthesis may change when these two stressors are combined. Understanding how carbon fixation and translocation varies among different host?symbiont combinations is critical to predicting which Symbiodinium associations may persist in warm, acidified oceans.     

Suburban Food Security: Walkability and Nutritional Access in Metropolitan Detroit

This article explored the relationship between the local food environment and walkability in the socioeconomically diverse, inner-ring suburbs of metropolitan Detroit. The availability and cost differentials of food were surveyed using a modified version of the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey for Stores (NEMS–S), and a geographic information system–based method was designed to map walkability relative to licensed food retail establishments. Results showed that minority communities lack access to fresh produce and nutritionally adequate foods, which is compounded by limited mobility. By incorporating local-based economic incentives, low-income communities can better align neighborhood goals of obtaining nutritionally adequate food (and other services) with economic opportunity.     

Modeling Nonprofit Resilience in Long-Term Recovery in Christchurch,New Zealand

Following the 2010–2011 earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, many nonprofit organizations changed or expanded services to address emergent or compounded risks. This research is based on interviews with thirty local community nonprofit managers and discussions with five staff focus groups conducted in 2014. Preexisting nonprofits with flexible organizational structures and emergent nonprofits succeeded in providing services during the emergency response and early recovery phases; nonprofits contracted with the government were better suited for long-term recovery. Shared resources among nonprofit agency connections contributed to successful transitions from response to recovery. Similar organizational resilience factors might occur in other major cities following disasters.     

Basin evolution of Upper Cretaceous–Lower Cenozoic strata in the Malargüe fold‐and‐thrust belt: northern Neuquén Basin,Argentina

The Andean Orogen is the type‐example of an active Cordilleran style margin with a long‐lived retroarc fold‐and‐thrust belt and foreland basin. Timing of initial shortening and foreland basin development in Argentina is diachronous along‐strike, with ages varying by 20–30 Myr. The Neuquén Basin (32°S to 40°S) contains a thick sedimentary sequence ranging in age from late Triassic to Cenozoic, which preserves a record of rift, back arc and foreland basin environments. As much of the primary evidence for initial uplift has been overprinted or covered by younger shortening and volcanic activity, basin strata provide the most complete record of early mountain building. Detailed sedimentology and new maximum depositional ages obtained from detrital zircon U–Pb analyses from the Malargüe fold‐and‐thrust belt (35°S) record a facies change between the marine evaporites of the Huitrín Formation (ca. 122 Ma) and the fluvial sandstones and conglomerates of the Diamante Formation (ca. 95 Ma). A 25–30 Myr unconformity between the Huitrín and Diamante formations represents the transition from post‐rift thermal subsidence to forebulge erosion during initial flexural loading related to crustal shortening and uplift along the magmatic arc to the west by at least 97 ± 2 Ma. This change in basin style is not marked by any significant difference in provenance and detrital zircon signature. A distinct change in detrital zircons, sandstone composition and palaeocurrent direction from west‐directed to east‐directed occurs instead in the middle Diamante Formation and may reflect the Late Cretaceous transition from forebulge derived sediment in the distal foredeep to proximal foredeep material derived from the thrust belt to the west. This change in palaeoflow represents the migration of the forebulge, and therefore, of the foreland basin system between 80 and 90 Ma in the Malargüe area.     

Absolute measurements and computed values for Martian irradiance between 10.5 and 12.5 μm

The combination of seasonal and orbital changes in Martian insolation result in complex latitude dependent surface temperature variations that effect the total radiance of the planet as seen from the earth. These surface temperature variations have been calculated, based upon a computer simulation of the thermal environment of the planet. The temperature variations are then integrated to yield the total radiance of the planet as seen from the earth as a function of time. The absolute radiance of Mars was measured on April 4, 1971, with a balloon-borne radiometer system operating in the wavelength range between 10.5 and 12.5 μm. The average brightness temperature of the Mars disk determined from these measurements was 254°K with a 1 σ error of 4°K.     

Indigenous participation in coastal management in the Northern Territory, Australia: issues and options

The issue of Aboriginal participation in coastal management is pressing in the Northern Territory of Australia, given the current extent of Aboriginal land ownership and the potential for the proliferation of native title claims over the sea. This paper discusses Aboriginal involvement in coastal activities in the Northern Territory and identifies the extent to which coastal areas are owned by Aboriginal communities. Northern Territory law provides for sea closures adjacent to Aboriginal-owned land which restrict access to and use of such areas. Problems and opportunities associated with sea closures are examined. Two other Acts, relating to Sacred Sites and Native Title, are also important in determining indigenous rights over coastal and marine areas. Future possibilities for a negotiated outcome on indigenous sea rights are put forward.