Ecological consequences of dredged material disposal in the marine environment: a holistic assessment of activities around the England and Wales coastline

This study provides a holistic perspective on the ecological effects of dredged material disposal, both intertidally and subtidally. A number of numerical techniques (univariate, distributional, multivariate and meta-analysis) were used to assess impacts at 18 different disposal sites. The analyses revealed that ecological effects associated with dredged material disposal were dependent on the numerical techniques used, and that impacts were disposal-site specific. Disposal-site communities were generally faunistically impoverished to varying degrees, and impacts following intertidal placement were comparable to those of subtidal placement. We conclude that any assessment of the consequences of dredged material disposal to the coastal environment must take account of site-specific variation in prevailing hydrographic regimes and in ecological status, along with information on the disposal activity itself (mode, timing, quantity, frequency and type of material). As would be expected, variability in the latter presents a significant challenge in attempts to generalise about environmental and ecological impacts.     

用摄影测量的光束平差法处理经纬仪观测值及其在工业测量中的应用

本文研究了用摄影测量光束平差法处理经纬仪观测值以解决工业应用中控制网精确测量的。为了证明光束法等效于传统的三维网解法，需要将角度观测值转换成虚拟的像片坐标并进行相应的误差传播，文中为此提出了一种投影的数学模型。此外，还研究了在光束平差法中使用未置平经纬仪的观测值。研究中对两个网进行了试验：一个是工业测量中的控制网，另一个是实验室试验控制网。利用第一个网对光束平差法和传统的三维网法进行比较，结果是：     

Benthic macroinvertebrates as indicators of environmental deterioration in a large microtidal estuary

This study tested the hypothesis that, during recent years, the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of the large basin of the Swan-Canning Estuary has changed in ways consistent with deteriorating environmental conditions in that estuary. Between 1986/7 and 2003/4, the compositions of that fauna altered markedly at the species and even family levels. Thus, the densities and number of species of molluscs, and especially of crustaceans, which are particularly susceptible to environmental stress, declined, while those of the more tolerant polychaetes increased. However, taxonomic distinctness declined consistently only at one of the four widely-spaced sampling sites and the dispersion of samples did not differ markedly between periods, indicating that the benthic fauna has not undergone such extreme changes as in the nearby Peel-Harvey Estuary. It is thus proposed that benthic macroinvertebrates can act as important indicators of the severity of environmental degradation in microtidal estuaries in regions where such perturbations are increasing.     

Biological neutralization of chlor-alkali industry wastewater

The present work reports biological neutralization of chlor-alkali industrial effluent by an alkaliphilic bacterium, isolated from the Gujarat coast, which was identified as Enterococcus faecium strain R-5 on the basis of morphological, biochemical and partial 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The isolate was capable of bringing down the pH of waste water from 12.0 to 7.0 within 3 h in the presence of carbon and nitrogen sources, with simultaneous reduction in total dissolved solutes (TDS) up to 19-22%. This bacterium produced carboxylic acid, as revealed by FT-IR analysis, which facilitated neutralization of alkaline effluent. The presence of unconventional raw materials viz. Madhuca indica flowers or sugar cane bagasse as carbon and nitrogen sources could effectively neutralize alkaline effluent and thus making the bioremediation process economically viable. The time required for neutralization varied with size of inoculum. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on biological neutralization of a chlor-alkali industrial effluent.     

The use of benthic macroinvertebrates to establish a benchmark for evaluating the environmental quality of microtidal, temperate southern hemisphere estuaries

Establishment of a benchmark against which deleterious changes to an estuary can be evaluated requires validating that it has not been subjected to detrimental anthropogenic perturbations and then identifying the biological features which are indicative of a pristine condition and can thus be employed as indicators for detecting and monitoring departures from the natural state. The characteristics of the benthic macroinvertebrate fauna of an essentially pristine, seasonally-open estuary in Western Australia (Broke Inlet) have been determined and compared with those previously recorded for a nearby eutrophic, seasonally-open estuary (Wilson Inlet). Density was far lower in Broke than Wilson. Compositions differed radically at all taxonomic levels, with polychaetes contributing less, and crustaceans more, to the abundance in Broke. Average taxonomic distinctness was greater for Broke than both Wilson and 16 other temperate southern hemisphere estuaries, whereas the reverse was true for variation in taxonomic distinctness, emphasizing that Broke Inlet is pristine.     

Sulphur partitioning in sediments and biodeposits below mussel rafts in the Ria de Arousa (Galicia, NW Spain)

Forty four core samples were analyzed to determine sediment particle size, total organic carbon (TOC), total inorganic carbon (TIC), total nitrogen and total sulphur. Sequential extraction of S was also carried out, differentiating AVS (acid volatile sulphide), elemental S, organic S and pyrite S. The results obtained show that the presence of mussel rafts causes intense changes in the physicochemical composition and properties of the sea floor in the Ria de Arousa. The percentage of silt and clay, TOC, TIC and total N were significantly higher in the biodeposit than in the sediment. In contrast, there were no differences between the biodeposit and the sediment in terms of pH (8.0-8.7) and redox potential. The sediment and biodeposit were always anoxic, with values of redox potentials below -100 mV. In accordance with these conditions, the dominant fraction of S was pyrite S (FeS(2)). The AVS fraction and elemental S were present at low concentrations, except in the uppermost part of each core. Pyrite was relatively stable when the biodeposit and sediment were maintained in suspension for 8 days in oxic sea water; unlike the AVS fraction, which disappeared within a few hours.