Water quality in the inshore Great Barrier Reef lagoon: Implications for long-term monitoring and management

Coastal and inshore areas of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon receive substantial amounts of material from adjacent developed catchments, which can affect the ecological integrity of coral reefs and other inshore ecosystems. A 5-year water quality monitoring dataset provides a 'base range' of water quality conditions for the inshore GBR lagoon and illustrates the considerable temporal and spatial variability in this system. Typical at many sites were high turbidity levels and elevated chlorophyll a and phosphorus concentrations, especially close to river mouths. Water quality variability was mainly driven by seasonal processes such as river floods and sporadic wind-driven resuspension as well as by regional differences such as land use. Extreme events, such as floods, caused large and sustained increases in water quality variables. Given the highly variable climate in the GBR region, long-term monitoring of marine water quality will be essential to detect future changes due to improved catchment management.     

Terrestrial pollutant runoff to the Great Barrier Reef: An update of issues, priorities and management responses

The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is a World Heritage Area and contains extensive areas of coral reef, seagrass meadows and fisheries resources. From adjacent catchments, numerous rivers discharge pollutants from agricultural, urban, mining and industrial activity. Pollutant sources have been identified and include suspended sediment from erosion in cattle grazing areas; nitrate from fertiliser application on crop lands; and herbicides from various land uses. The fate and effects of these pollutants in the receiving marine environment are relatively well understood. The Australian and Queensland Governments responded to the concerns of pollution of the GBR from catchment runoff with a plan to address this issue in 2003 (Reef Plan; updated 2009), incentive-based voluntary management initiatives in 2007 (Reef Rescue) and a State regulatory approach in 2009, the Reef Protection Package. This paper reviews new research relevant to the catchment to GBR continuum and evaluates the appropriateness of current management responses.     

Developing multimetric indices for monitoring ecological restoration progress in salt marshes

Effective tools for monitoring the status of ecological restoration projects are critical for the management of restoration programs. Such tools must integrate disparate data comprised of multiple variables that describe restoration status, including the condition of environmental stressors, landscape connectivity, ecosystem resilience, and ecological structure and function, while communicating these concepts effectively to a wide range of stakeholders. In this paper we describe the process of constructing multimetric indices (MMIs) for monitoring restoration status for restoration projects currently underway on the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia. During this process, an initial suite of measurements is filtered for response and sensitivity to ecosystem stressors, eliminating measurements that provide little information and reducing future monitoring efforts. The retained measurements are rescaled into comparable domain metrics and assembled into MMIs. The MMIs are presented in terms of established restoration theories, including restoration trajectory and restoration endpoint targets.     

Assessing sound exposure from shipping in coastal waters using a single hydrophone and Automatic Identification System (AIS) data

Underwater noise from shipping is a growing presence throughout the world's oceans, and may be subjecting marine fauna to chronic noise exposure with potentially severe long-term consequences. The coincidence of dense shipping activity and sensitive marine ecosystems in coastal environments is of particular concern, and noise assessment methodologies which describe the high temporal variability of sound exposure in these areas are needed. We present a method of characterising sound exposure from shipping using continuous passive acoustic monitoring combined with Automatic Identification System (AIS) shipping data. The method is applied to data recorded in Falmouth Bay, UK. Absolute and relative levels of intermittent ship noise contributions to the 24-h sound exposure level are determined using an adaptive threshold, and the spatial distribution of potential ship sources is then analysed using AIS data. This technique can be used to prioritize shipping noise mitigation strategies in coastal marine environments.     

西安北郊草店村河漫滩沉积与洪水变化

根据野外考察、粒度分析及历史文献资料,研究了西安北郊草店村剖面在距今900~660 a形成的渭河漫滩沉积和洪水变化。结果表明,在距今900~660 a形成的草店村剖面洪水沉积分层明显,能够指示洪水事件和洪水深度。草店村剖面洪水沉积厚度为5.25 m,可划分为26个沉积层,指示了26次规模不同的洪水事件。洪水沉积厚度和粒度成分显示,草店村剖面的26个洪水事件发生时河漫滩上的洪水深度均大于2.2m;剖面下部第17~第26层沉积时漫滩上的洪水深度为4.0~7.0 m,河床水深为6.2~8.5 m;中部第8~第16层沉积时漫滩上的洪水深度为3.0~5.0 m,河床水深为6.6~9.0 m左右;上部第1~第7层沉积时漫滩上的洪水深度为2.2~3.0 m,河床水深为7.2~8.6 m。草店村剖面中部和下部的洪水沉积以中砂和细砂为主,剖面上部以粉砂和极细砂为主,指示的洪水规模比距今120 a来西安渭河洪水显著大。草店村剖面中的第12、16~26层代表的是特大洪水事件。西安北郊渭河在距今900~660 a发生的大洪水主要是由当年降水量的明显增加引起的。     

陕西洛川黄土剖面上部土层水分入渗规律与含水条件研究

采用双环入渗法研究了洛川L1—S4各层土壤水分入渗特点,并利用各层孔隙度、磁化率、CaCO3含量资料研究了各层土壤含水空间发育特征及其成因。结果表明:洛川城西剖面黄土层稳定入渗率大于红褐色古土壤层,水分入渗达到稳定状态所需的时间比红褐色古土壤层长。黄土层孔隙度高,含水空间较大,利于形成含水层;红褐色古土壤层孔隙度低,含水空间较小,利于形成隔水层。土层含水空间的大小是由气候条件控制的成壤作用强弱造成的。黄土层含水性较好是冷干气候决定的成壤作用较弱造成的,红褐色古土壤层隔水性较好是温湿气候决定的成壤作用较强造成的。对剖面渗水实验数据用3个入渗公式进行拟合,发现通常采用的3个经验公式均适用于描述L1—S4土壤入渗规律。     

西安北郊渭河河漫滩沉积与洪水事件

根据西安北郊相家巷河漫滩沉积剖面中180个样品的颗粒分析和历史文献资料记载,研究了西安北郊相家巷漫滩沉积代表的洪水事件。研究表明:西安北郊相家巷剖面洪水沉积分层明显,对洪水的发生和短期降水量变化反映清楚。相家巷剖面洪水沉积厚度约为5.40m,可划分为28个层,指示发生了28次大小不同的洪水事件。剖面中的洪水沉积以中、粗砂和细砂为主,指示当时的洪水规模比近120年来关中渭河洪水明显大。这28次洪水事件发生时高漫滩上的洪水深度均大于2.2m,剖面中的第12、14、19~28层代表特大洪水事件。西安北郊相家巷洪水沉积代表的大规模洪水主要是由当年降水量的明显增加引起的。     

巴丹吉林典型高大沙山粒度分布规律研究

选巴丹吉林沙漠典型高大沙山(1 605 m)为研究对象,对沙山沉积物进行系统采样分析。结果表明,巴丹吉林沙漠典型高大沙山(1 605 m)粒度组成中细砂含量最高,中砂次之;粗砂、极细砂和粗粉砂含量均较少,胶粒、粘粒、细粉砂未出现。迎风坡沉积物粒度比背风坡细。迎风坡砂粒大小均匀、分选好,迎风坡沉积物颗粒较背风坡总体要均匀。沙山迎风坡和背风坡沉积物由坡脚至顶部粒径总体变细,砂粒大小趋于均匀,分选变好,偏度和峰态由波动趋于稳定。大沙山迎风坡下部侵蚀作用为主,背风坡中上部以风力堆积为主,下部以重力堆积为主。     

黄土高原350～280ka PB气候迁移研究

根据野外调查和室内鉴定、分析了黄土高原350~280 ka PB前后的气候迁移变化问题。资料表明,在地处黄土高原南缘的陕西长安少陵塬第3层古土壤形成中晚期和第4层古土壤形成的早期有代表荒漠草原环境的石膏发育,指示当时黄土高原气候发生了显著的干旱化与大幅度的荒漠草原南迁,与现在这个地区气候相比,气候带向南迁移了约4个纬度,也说明在这段时间内荒漠草原广布于黄土高原。石膏的发育还揭示,在350~280 ka PB前后黄土高原气候发生了性质的转变,第3层古土壤发育中晚期和第4层古土壤发育早期最少各有一个时期气候特别冷干,当时该区已基本不受夏季风的影响,并处于冬季风气候控制的环境下。     

Toxicogenomic analysis of immune system-related genes in Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) exposed to heavy oil

Heavy oil contamination is one of the most important environmental issues. Toxicities of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), including immune toxicities, are well characterized, however, the immune toxic effects of heavy oil, as a complex mixture of PAHs, have not been investigated. In the present study, we selected Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus) as a model organism, and observed alteration of immune function by the exposure to heavy oil. To analyze the expression profiles of immune system-related genes, we selected 309 cDNAs from our flounder EST library, and spotted them on a glass slide. Using this cDNA array, alteration of gene expression profiles was analyzed in the kidneys of flounders exposed to heavy oil. Six Japanese flounders (mean body weight: 197 g) were acclimated to laboratory conditions at 19-20 degrees C. Three fish were exposed to heavy oil C (bunker C) at a concentration of 3.8 g/L for 3 days, and the others were kept in seawater without heavy oil and used as the control. After the exposure period, the fish were transferred into control seawater and maintained for 4 days, and then they were dissected and their kidneys were removed. Total RNA was extracted from the kidney samples to use in gene expression analyses. The microarray detected alteration of immune system-related genes in the kidneys of heavy oil-exposed flounders, including down-regulation of immunoglobulin light chain, CD45, major histocompatibility complex class II antigens and macrophage colony-stimulating factor precursor, and up-regulation of interleukin-8 and lysozyme. These results suggest that pathogen resistance may be weakened in heavy oil-exposed fish, causing a subsequent bacterial infection, and then proinflammatory genes may be induced as a defensive response against the infection. Additionally, we found candidate genes for use as biomarkers of heavy oil exposure, such as N-myc downstream regulated gene 1 and heat shock cognate 71 kDa proteins.