Modelling and forecasting long-term dynamics of Western Baltic macrobenthic fauna in relation to climate signals and environmental change

Long-term macrobenthos data from Kiel Bight in the Western Baltic collected between 1968 and 2000 have been correlated with the winter NAO index (North Atlantic Oscillation Index) and other environmental data such as temperature, salinity and oxygen content in the bottom water in order to detect systematic patterns related to so far unexplained abiotic signals in the dynamics of zoobenthic species assemblages. The benthos data come from a cluster of five stations (Süderfahrt/ Millionenviertel) in Kiel Bay. Our investigations concentrated on the macrobenthic dynamics with a focus on the number of species m^− 2 (species richness). Using logarithms and the time series analysis approach of Box/Jenkins (ARIMA modelling, transfer function modelling) it was shown that species richness was strongly influenced by the winter NAO (adjusted for a linear time trend within the 1968-2000 period) and salinity (with a shift/lag of four years). Bootstrapping experiments (i.e. sampling from the error process) and analysis of prediction power (by means of the one- or more-years leaving-out method) showed that the parameter estimates behaved in a stable way, leading to a relatively robust model.     

Estimating Deep Seafloor Interface and Volume Roughness Parameters Using the Multibeam-Hydrosweep System

Utilizing a hull-mounted, multinarrow beam echosounder onboard RV Polarstern, we measured variation of acoustic backscatter with incidence angles at two different sites in the Southern Oceans (Agulhas Plateau and the Riiser Larsen Sea). We modeled the data, using a composite roughness model, including water-sediment interface roughness and sediment volume roughness parameters. The model effectively uses the near normal incidence angle backscatter to determine the seafloor interface roughness parameters employing Helmholtz-Kirchhoff theory. Beyond 20° incidence angles, an application of Rayleigh-Rice theory is made by using a necessary splicing technique (combining both of the theories at 20° incidence angle). The estimated interface and volume roughness parameters are found to be in accordance with the known area geology.     

Lysosomal injury and MFO activity in the liver of flounder (Platichthys flesus L.) in relation to histopathology of hepatic degeneration and carcinogenesis

Flounder (Platichthys flesus L.), 18–48 cm total length were sampled in the mouth of the Elbe River during a 3-year interdisciplinary project ‘Fish Diseases in the Wadden Sea’. Lysosomal changes (lysosomal membrane stability) and the activity of biotransforming enzymes (MFOs/EROD) were measured parallel to investigations of ultrastructural changes in liver cells, tissue pathologies and macroscopically visible changes. The aim of the study was to investigate if these cyto- and biochemical parameters were able to reflect contaminant induced biological effects. Interlinking of the results of the MFO activity to the pathological alterations observed at the electron- and light-microscopic levels as well as during macroscopic inspection of identical individuals evidenced that the activity of the biotransformation enzymes (EROD) was not induced in healthy livers, increased considerably with the onset of liver changes and dropped again in those livers with degenerative, preneoplastic and neoplastic lesions. In contrast, concurrent studies of lysosomal membrane stability measured in parallel showed a decrease with the onset and progression of liver lesions from reversible to irreversible, neoplastic change.     

Benthic photosynthesis in submerged Wadden Sea intertidal flats

In this study we compare benthic photosynthesis during inundation in coarse sand, fine sand, and mixed sediment (sand/mud) intertidal flats in the German Wadden Sea. In situ determinations of oxygen-, DIC- and nutrient fluxes in stirred benthic chamber incubations were combined with measurements of sedimentary chlorophyll, incident light intensity at the sediment surface and scalar irradiance within the sediment. During submergence, microphytobenthos was light limited at all study sites as indicated by rapid response of gross photosynthesis to increasing incident light at the sea floor. However, depth integrated scalar irradiance was 2 to 3 times higher in the sands than in the mud. Consequently, gross photosynthesis in the net autotrophic fine sand and coarse sand flats during inundation was on average 4 and 11 times higher than in the net heterotrophic mud flat, despite higher total chlorophyll concentration in mud. Benthic photosynthesis may be enhanced in intertidal sands during inundation due to: (1) higher light availability to the microphytobenthos in the sands compared to muds, (2) more efficient transport of photosynthesis-limiting solutes to the microalgae with pore water flows in the permeable sands, and (3) more active metabolic state and different life strategies of microphytobenthos inhabiting sands.     

Effects on UDP glucuronosyl transferase, glutathione transferase, DT-diaphorase and glutathione reductase activities in rainbow trout liver after long-term exposure to PCB

In the present study, long-term exposure to PCB resulted in marked induction of the xenobiotic biotransformation enzymes UDP glucuronosyl transferase, glutathione transferase and DT-diaphorase (measured as menadione reductase and DCPIP reductase) in rainbow trout 15 or 20 weeks post-injection during the experimental period. The increase of the phase II enzymes were paralleled by a marked increase of the glutathione reductase activity. These results indicate that prolonged exposure to PCB results in increased production of organo-radicals.     

A giant three-stage submarine slide off Norway

One of the largest submarine slides known, The Storegga Slide, is located on the Norwegian continental margin. The slide is up to 450 m thick and has a total volume of about 5,600 km3. The headwall of the slide scar is 290 km long and the total run-out distance is about 800 km. The slide involved sediments of Quaternary to Early Tertiary age and occurred in three stages. Earthquakes combined with decomposition of gas hydrates are believed to be the main triggering agents for the slides. The first slide event is tentatively dated to be about 30,000 to 50,000 years B.P. and the two last major events are dated to be at 6,000 to 8,000 years B.P.