Reproducibility of spiked-sediment bioassays using the marine benthic amphipod, Corophium volutator

Corophium volutator (Pallas; Amphipoda: Corophiidae) is an ecologically important representative of the infauna of marine sediments and is widely distributed along the north-east American and the west European coasts. Methods for conducting short-term toxicity tests with lindane-spiked sediment using this species were developed. Corophium volutator were used in 10-d lindane-spiked sediment tests conducted on seven occasions throughout the year, to investigate the repeatability of test methods and to quantify differences in sensitivity for lindane due to seasonal field sampling. The 10-d LC₅₀ values found for lindane ranged from 0.78 to 1.49 μg/g dry weight (dw), a relatively small range. Higher values were found in the months of April 1994 and April 1995 (1.46 and 1.49 μg/g, respectively). Positive controls conducted with cadmium (aqueous phase) also revealed lower sensitivity of amphipods in those months. The results however, show that a factor of two difference in LC₅₀ values among tests conducted in different seasons was within the range of expected variability. A study on the size-structure of the wild amphipod population indicated that animals of all size-classes were available throughout the whole year except for the months of April and May. Experiments conducted with organisms of different length-classes revealed that differences in sensitivity to lindane were not size-related. The present study also supports the use of field-collected organisms of ecological relevance, such as C. volutator, in ecotoxicological studies.     

Assessing the feasibility of ecosystem-based fisheries management in tropical contexts

This analysis documents the reasons for emerging interest in ecosystem-based fisheries management (EBFM) and relates this management model to others. It highlights the central challenges to EBFM in the tropical context and examines an ongoing project, Fisheries Improved for Sustainable Harvest (FISH), in the Philippines—likely the first EBFM project in the tropics. The Philippine legal and institutional context provides major governance challenges to EBFM, especially as management is scaled up. A monitoring framework with process and output criteria is applied to FISH to establish progress to date. Major institutional and governance challenges for EBFM will require monitoring, evaluation, and adaptation.     

One-dimensional modelling of individual waves and wave-induced longshore currents in the surf zone

A probabilistic model ( -model) was developed to describe the propagation and transformation of individual waves (wave by wave approach). The individual waves shoal until an empirical criterion for breaking is satisfied. Wave height decay after breaking is modelled by using an energy dissipation method. Wave-induced set-up and set-down and breaking-associated longshore currents are also modelled. Laboratory and field data were used to calibrate and verify the model. The model was calibrated by adjusting the wave breaking coefficient (as a function of local wave steepness and bottom slope) to obtain optimum agreement between measured and computed wave height. Four tests carried out in the large Delta flume of Delft Hydraulics were considered. Generally, the measured H_1/3-wave heights are reasonably well represented by the model in all zones from deep water to the shallow surf zone. The fraction of breaking waves was reasonably well represented by the model in the upsloping zones of the bottom profile. Verification of the model results with respect to wave-induced longshore current velocities was not extensive, because of a lack of data. In case of a barred profile the measured longshore velocities showed a relatively uniform distribution in the (trough) zone between the bar crest and the shoreline, which could to some extent be modelled by including space-averaging of the radiation force gradient, horizontal mixing and longshore water surface gradients related to variations in set-up. In case of a monotonically upsloping profile the cross-shore distribution of the longshore current velocities is reasonably well represented.     

Transport of no. 2 fuel oil between water column,surface microlayer and atmosphere in controlled ecosystems

No. 2 fuel oil hydrocarbons put into the bulk water columns of controlled estuarine ecosystems were found to accumulate in the surface microlayer at the air-water interface. The alkane hydrocarbons were disproportionately enriched in the microlayer compared with the aromatic hydrocarbons. A comparison of hydrocarbon boiling point distributions between bulk water, microlayer and air samples indicated that the oil hydrocarbons underwent extensive weathering by evaporation upon reaching the air-water interface. No evidence was found of increased biodegradation in the microlayer compared with that in the underlying water. A fraction of the high molecular weight alkanes, the least water soluble and least volatile constituents of the oil, appeared to be coated out from the microlayer onto the inner walls of the ecosystems.     

The influence of acoustic emissions for underwater data transmission on the behaviour of harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in a floating pen

To prevent grounding of ships and collisions between ships in shallow coastal waters, an underwater data collection and communication network is currently under development: Acoustic Communication network for Monitoring of underwater Environment in coastal areas (ACME). Marine mammals might be affected by ACME sounds since they use sounds of similar frequencies (around 12 kHz) for communication, orientation, and prey location. If marine mammals tend to avoid the vicinity of the transmitters, they may be kept away from ecologically important areas by ACME sounds. One marine mammal species that may be affected in the North Sea is the harbour porpoise. Therefore, as part of an environmental impact assessment program, two captive harbour porpoises were subjected to four sounds, three of which may be used in the underwater acoustic data communication network. The effect of each sound was judged by comparing the animals' positions and respiration rates during a test period with those during a baseline period. Each of the four sounds could be made a deterrent by increasing the amplitude of the sound. The porpoises reacted by swimming away from the sounds and by slightly, but significantly, increasing their respiration rate. From the sound pressure level distribution in the pen, and the distribution of the animals during test sessions, discomfort sound level thresholds were determined for each sound. In combination with information on sound propagation in the areas where the communication system may be deployed, the extent of the 'discomfort zone' can be estimated for several source levels (SLs). The discomfort zone is defined as the area around a sound source that harbour porpoises are expected to avoid. Based on these results, SLs can be selected that have an acceptable effect on harbour porpoises in particular areas. The discomfort zone of a communication sound depends on the selected sound, the selected SL, and the propagation characteristics of the area in which the sound system is operational. In shallow, winding coastal water courses, with sandbanks, etc., the type of habitat in which the ACME sounds will be produced, propagation loss cannot be accurately estimated by using a simple propagation model, but should be measured on site. The SL of the communication system should be adapted to each area (taking into account bounding conditions created by narrow channels, sound propagation variability due to environmental factors, and the importance of an area to the affected species). The discomfort zone should not prevent harbour porpoises from spending sufficient time in ecologically important areas (for instance feeding areas), or routes towards these areas.     

Mechanisms for marine regime shifts: Can we use lakes as microcosms for oceans?

Although striking regime shifts have been observed in marine systems, mechanistic explanations for these phenomena remain scarce. Here, we review studies of regime shifts in lakes and compare them to what has been found in marine systems to explore the extent to which lakes can be viewed as microcosms for studying essential ecosystem feedbacks in marine systems. We conclude that despite obvious differences, which have been discussed by several authors, lakes are in fact quite similar to oceans in many aspects. In particular, similar mechanisms may be involved in causing alternative attractors (and thus a tendency to show occasional regime shifts) in both systems. A striking similarity exists between the mechanisms that may have caused massive marine anoxic events in the distant past, and the shift of many deep lakes to a mode of anoxic phosphorus recycling. Biotic interactions are relatively poorly understood in the oceans. However, based on what we know from lakes, we expect competitive interactions and diffuse multi-species interactions to be a common cause of alternative attractors in marine communities. In addition, overexploitation traps are an obvious cause of multiple attractors to be expected in the oceans. These should not be limited to direct effects of human overexploitation. Shifts between overexploited and under-exploited states may happen at various trophic levels. Finally, we conclude from observed patterns and theoretical results that implications of alternative attractors will be quite different in benthic and open ocean systems. Benthic regime shifts might happen easily but can be relatively local. By contrast, open ocean shifts might not arise so easily but tend to be impressive in magnitude and scale when they happen.     

Do bottom-intensified diurnal tidal currents shape the alignment of carbonate mounds in the NE Atlantic?

Measurements of near-seabed currents at different carbonate mound locations have demonstrated the presence and influence of bottom-magnified diurnal-period tidal motions. These bottom-trapped waves occur at a depth where the product of local vertical density stratification and seabed slope is a maximum. The seabed currents are magnified significantly if the diurnal forcing period is resonant with the combination of stratification and seabed slope. At the Belgica mounds (eastern Porcupine Sea Bight), there is a correlation between the cross-slope alignment of individual carbonate mounds and the direction of the major axis of the largest (diurnal) tides. The pattern suggests that the enhanced tidal currents play a major role in the shape of developing mounds over a long time period. A similar relation appears to hold at the Logachev mounds (SE Rockall Bank), although less clear because tides are not amplified to the same degree. At other mound locations where enhanced diurnal currents are not present, a more irregular distribution is observed. This suggests that the diurnal currents may be important only at certain carbonate mound locations, and that at these locations a more distinctive alignment of mound structures is produced.