Evaluation of a dynamically downscaled atmospheric reanalyse in the prospect of forcing long term simulations of the ocean circulation in the Gulf of Lions

The paper evaluates atmospheric reanalysis as possible forcing of model simulations of the ocean circulation inter-annual variability in the Gulf of Lions in the Western Mediterranean Sea between 1990 and 2000. The sensitivity of the coastal atmospheric patterns to the model resolution is investigated using the REMO regional climate model (18 km, 1 h), and the recent global atmospheric reanalysis ERA40 (125 km, 6 h). At scales from a few years to a few days, both atmospheric data sets exhibit a very similar weather, and agreement between REMO and ERA40 is especially good on the seasonal cycle and at the daily variability scale. At smaller scales, REMO reproduces more realistic spatio-temporal patterns in the ocean forcing: specific wind systems, particular atmospheric behaviour on the shelf, diurnal cycle, sea-breeze. Ocean twin experiments (1990–1993) clearly underline REMO skills to drive dominant oceanic processes in this microtidal area. Finer wind patterns induce a more realistic circulation and hydrology of the shelf water: unique shelf circulation, upwelling, temperature and salinity exchanges at the shelf break. The hourly sampling of REMO introduces a diurnal forcing which enhances the behaviour of the ocean mixed layer. In addition, the more numerous wind extremes modify the exchanges at the shelf break: favouring the export of dense shelf water, enhancing the mesoscale variability and the interactions of the along slope current with the bathymetry.     

Seasonal changes in community composition and trophic structure of fish populations of five salt marshes along the Essex coastline, United Kingdom

European intertidal salt marshes are important nursery sites for juvenile fish and crustaceans. Due to the increasing threat of habitat loss, the seasonal changes of salt marsh fish communities need to be understood in order to appreciate the ecological and economic importance of the saltmarsh habitat. This study was the first in Great Britain to investigate the seasonal changes of salt marsh fish communities and the variation in community structure between closely located marsh habitats. Between February 2007 and March 2008, five marshes on three estuaries of the Essex coastline were sampled using flume nets to block off intertidal creeks at high tide. Fourteen fish species were caught. The community overall was dominated by three species that made up 91.6% of the total catch: the common goby Pomatoschistus microps (46.2% of the total catch), juvenile herring Clupea harengus (24.3%), and juvenile and larval sea bass Dicentrarchus labrax (21.2%). Cluster analysis demonstrated clear seasonal patterns, with some community structures unique to specific marshes or estuaries. The marsh fish community shifts from a highly diverse community during spring, to a community dominated by D. labrax and P. microps in autumn, and low diversity during winter months. Gravimetric stomach content analysis of fish community identified three main trophic guilds; macroinvertivores, planktivores and omnivores. The macroinvertivore feeding guild contained D. labrax and P. microps, the two most frequently occurring species. This investigation demonstrates the importance of British salt marshes as nursery habitats for commercial fish species.     

Bannock Basin,Sirte Abyssal Plain and Conrad Spur: structural relationships between Mediterranean Ridge and its western foreland and implications on the character of the accretionary complex (eastern Mediterranean)

In previous publications, the relationship between the Sirte Abyssal Plain as foreland and the Mediterranean Ridge as accretionary complex was considered to be simple: the foreland is undeformed, the accretionary complex consumes the foreland, the Messinian evaporites control the internal structure of the growing complex. The compilation of our own and published data results in a more complex tectonic pattern and a new geodynamic interpretation. The Sirte Abyssal Plain is imprinted by extensional tectonics which originated independently from and prior to the approaching process of accretion. The structural setting of the pre-Messinian and Messinian Sirte Abyssal Plain is responsible for the highly variable thickness of Messinian evaporites. The foreland setting in the Sirte Abyssal Plain also controls the internal structure of the Mediterranean Ridge, at least between the deformation front and Bannock Basin, following sediment deformation within the accretionary wedge with a dominating inherited SW-NE orientation. The taper angle of the post-Messinian Mediterranean Ridge is unusually small compared with other accretionary wedges. In the studied area, within a distance of about 45 km from the deformation front, there is no appreciable dip in the décollement. Therefore, the slope of the outer 45 km of the Mediterranean Ridge is considered to be caused only by gravitational spreading of Messinian evaporites deposited on the slope of pre-Messinian accretionary wedge. As a consequence, the Mediterranean Ridge underlying such slope is interpreted to belong to the foreland. The allochthonous evaporites overlie autochthonous evaporites of the Sirte Abyssal Plain. The NE-dipping décollement (and thus of the true tectonically driven deformation front) is expected to initiate at about the present position of Bannock Basin. The Sirte Abyssal Plain, the adjacent Cyrene Seamount and neighbouring seafloor relief on the African continental margin are considered to be the product of tectonic segmentation of the continental crust.     

Reproduction in the sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis (Anthozoa: Pennatulacea) from the west coast of Scotland

The sea pen Funiculina quadrangularis (Pallas, 1766) is a species of conservation concern in Scottish coastal waters, due to its restricted geographical distribution and high sensitivity to demersal fishing activities. Reproduction in F. quadrangularis was investigated in a population located in southern Loch Linnhe, west Scotland. This was accomplished through the analysis of trends in oocyte size-frequency distribution and relative fecundity over a 12-month period. Funiculina quadrangularis is dioecious and the study population exhibited a sex ratio of 1:1. Oogenesis in female F. quadrangularis is characterised by the maintenance of a large pool of asynchronously developing oocytes throughout the year, of which a small proportion (<10%) mature with increasing sychronicity and are spawned in midwinter. The reasons for this distinct pattern of oogenesis and winter spawning remain unclear, although the potential influence of environmental cues and the role of endogenous factors in relation to this sea pen's deep-sea habit are discussed. Whilst the duration of oogenesis is prolonged (>12 months), it is proposed that spawning is a brief and synchronous annual event. Relative fecundity is high and is independent of colony size, varying between approximately 500–2000 oocytes per 1 cm rachial midsection. This measure of fecundity exhibited pronounced seasonality and was significantly lower during the post-spawning winter months. Total fecundity in F. quadrangularis is considered to be high; although a small proportion of the total number of oocytes is spawned annually, this is compensated for by large colony size. Funiculina quadrangularis produces large oocytes (>800 μm), indicative of the production of lecithotrophic larvae.     

The divergent environmental characteristics of permanently-open,seasonally-open and normally-closed estuaries of south-western Australia

This study has compared the environmental characteristics of the basins and saline lower reaches of the tributaries of eight estuaries on the south coast of Western Australia, which differ in their degree of connectivity with the ocean. Although four estuaries between 115.1° and 121.8° E along that coast remain permanently open to the ocean, the others only become open when the volume of river discharge is sufficient to breach the prominent sand bars at their mouths, which occurs annually following heavy winter and early spring rainfall in some estuaries (seasonally open) and infrequently in others (normally closed). Estuaries to the west of 118.5° E are predominantly permanently open, e.g. Oyster Harbour, or seasonally open, e.g. Broke, Irwin and Wilson inlets, whereas those further east, e.g. Wellstead Estuary and Hamersley, Culham and Stokes inlets, where annual rainfall and thus discharge are much lower, only become open after exceptionally heavy discharge. In permanently and seasonally-open estuaries, pronounced haloclines and oxyclines are present in the narrow rivers but not the wide basins where the waters are subjected to wind-driven mixing. The extent of cyclical seasonal fluctuations in environmental conditions differed markedly among the three seasonally-open estuaries and between years in one of those systems. These differences reflected variations in the relationship between the volume of fluvial discharge, which is determined by a combination of the amount of local rainfall, catchment size and extent of clearing of native vegetation, and the amount of intrusion by marine waters, which is largely controlled by the size and duration of the opening of the estuary mouth. The mean seasonal salinities in the basins of the three normally-closed estuaries increased over three years of very low rainfall to 64 in the deepest of these estuaries (Stokes Inlet) to 145 in Hamersley Inlet and to 296 in the shallowest estuary (Culham Inlet). These results demonstrate that the environmental characteristics of estuaries on the south coast of Western Australia differ markedly, even among those of the same type, e.g. seasonally-open estuaries or normally-closed estuaries.     

Difficulties in separating hurricane induced effects from natural benthic succession: Hurricane Isabel,a case study from Eastern Virginia,USA

Hurricane Isabel reached the Eastern seaboard of North America on 18 September 2003 causing estimated damage >3 billion US dollars and the death of ∼50 people. Isabel is considered to be one of the most significant tropical cyclones to affect Virginia, since the Chesapeake Potomac Hurricane of 1933 and Hurricane Hazel in 1954. A study of the temporal changes in the benthic fauna pre- and post-hurricane was conducted on an intertidal sandflat within the dynamic barrier island system near Wachapreague, Eastern Virginia. Replicate sediment cores were collected 3 weeks before Isabel made landfall and further samples were collected on 5 occasions over the following 20 months. An immediate effect of Isabel was a doubling in the number of species, a significant increase in invertebrate species diversity (H′) and a rise in opportunistic species and deposit feeders, but a non-significant increase in the total number of organisms. Changes in infauna occurred such that by the end of the study there were significantly increased numbers of species, faunal abundances and community diversity measures, as compared with pre-hurricane samples, suggesting a potentially positive medium-term effect of this hurricane perturbation. The most notable direct effects of the hurricane were on the relative abundances of feeding guilds with a reduction in interface feeders from 87% pre-hurricane to 64% post-hurricane, and an increase in surface deposit feeders from 7% pre-hurricane to 20% post-hurricane. The study highlights potential problems in interpreting post-perturbation data when insufficient pre-perturbation data exist.     

Estimating the economic impact of the Prestige oil spill on the Death Coast (NW Spain) fisheries

This paper presents an estimation of the economic effects of the Prestige oil spill in Galicia, focusing on the Death Coast fisheries and using fish landings as a market technique. Examining the evolution of landings in the Death Coast before and after the accident, the analysis reveals two opposing trends, with landings of some species increasing and those of other species diminishing.     

Establishment and closure of the directed Florida whiting (Menticirrhus americanus) fishery and implications for North Atlantic right whale (Eubalaena glacialis) conservation and management

Today, ocean and coastal marine resource management is extremely complex. Marine resource managers are charged with conserving and managing many diverse species. Southern kingfish (Menticirrhus americanus), commonly known as whiting, are found from southern New England to Florida. During the fall through winter, western North Atlantic right whales (Eubalaena glacialis) are primarily found in the coastal nearshore waters off South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, overlapping the whiting's range and habitat.     

Economic gains of liberalising access to fishing quotas within the European Union

This paper analyses the extent to which specialisation gains can be achieved by liberalising access to fishing quotas within the European Union (EU). Fishing quotas are today exchanged between EU member states at a rate of 4% of total turnover in EU fisheries. Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands are the most active. Only one fourth of these exchanges are permanent. With the management systems in EU fisheries differing among countries, comparative advantages in fisheries exist in member states with the best management practices. Hence, although positive but small specialisation gains exist in EU fisheries today, these gains might potentially be increased by liberalising access to fishing quotas and allowing transferability of quotas between individuals from different countries on a permanent basis. Increasing the gains might, however, affect relative stability.     

Challenges in developing China's marine protected area system

Since the 1980s, there have been continuous increases in the coverage of marine protected areas (MPAs) in China, and a total of 158 MPAs have been declared. The MPA system in China is characterized by (1) decentralised designation and management with reduced control from the central government; (2) a dominance of de jure fully protected MPAs that are often implemented as de facto multiple-use areas; and (3) a lack of objective evaluation processes. To improve China's MPA system requires an appropriate integration of fully protected and multiple-use MPAs, and an approach that balances the advantages of top-down and bottom-up approaches.