中国近海浮游桡足类中华哲水蚤（Calanussinicus Brodsky）的分子系统地理学和种群遗传结构研究

Planktonic copepod Calanus sinicus is the dominant meso-zooplankton in the Northwest Pacific Ocean. To better understand its population dynamics and phylogeographic patterns, 243 C. sinicus individuals were collected from seven locations across the shelf waters of China and its population genetics was studied by mitochondrial DNA cytochrome oxidase I(mtCOI) sequences analyses. Thirty-nine different sequences, or haplotypes, were detected with moderate haplotype diversity(h=0.749) and low nucleotide diversity(π=0.003) for all populations. The evolutionary divergence between geographic populations varied from 0.24% to 0.37%, indicative of very limited genetic differentiation. Visualized minimum spanning network(MSN) and phylogenetic analysis of all the detected haplotypes did not reveal any clear phylogeographic pattern. Furthermore, AMOVA data showed no significant spatial population differentiation existed among the individuals collected across China shelf waters. Pairwise FST values showed that population collected from northwest of the East China Sea(ECS) displayed a low difference to other populations. Mismatch distribution analyses and neutrality tests indicated that C. sinicus might undergo a demographic/population expansion. No significant population genetic structuring was detected, indicating an extensive gene flow among the C. sinicus populations. Our results provide molecular evidence for the hypothesis that C. sinicus in the northwestern South China Sea in winter is transported from the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea by the China Coastal Current during the northeast monsoon period.     

Changes in Venice Lagoon dynamics due to construction of mobile barriers

The MoSE project (construction of mobile barrier to safeguard the Lagoon of Venice) entails changes to the structure of the lagoon's inlets. This could have consequences for the areas near the inlets and for the dynamics of the lagoon ecosystem as a whole. In order to predict the effects of the proposed alterations on the hydrodynamics of the lagoon, a well-tested hydrodynamic-dispersion model was applied. Simulations were carried out considering both idealised and realistic tide and wind scenarios.     

Evaluating coastal scenery using fuzzy logic: Application at selected sites in Western Black Sea coastal region of Turkey

Coastal areas of the world are under treat due to the conflicting requirements of functions such as habitation and/or recreation, which affect the strategic asset of coastal scenery itself. Coastal managers, together with planners, need coastal landscape inventories, where the quality of coastal scenery is a part of the inventory. In order to provide an evidence-based approach for sound coastal management decisions, [Ergin et al., 2004] and [Ergin et al., 2006] developed a novel technique ‘coastal scenic evaluation’ (CSE), which addresses the evaluation of coastal scenery. The CSE technique utilizes fuzzy logic to derive values obtained from a checklist of 26 physical and human parameters. The methodology enables the calculation of an evaluation index (D), which categorizes the scenic values of coastal sites into five distinct classes. Using this technique, coastal scenic evaluations were carried out at 34 selected sites on the Western Black Sea coast of Turkey. Based on the calculated D values, a five-class differentiation was obtained for the selected sites, to provide baseline information for any envisaged subsequent management plans for these areas.     

Community involvement in fisheries management: Experiences in the Gulf of Thailand countries

This paper examines the involvement of coastal communities in fisheries management among the countries of the Gulf of Thailand—Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. Initiatives to decentralize management to local governing bodies, to utilize traditional management methods and to engage in community agreements to protect local resources are explored. An examination of recent experiences indicates some movement toward more local involvement in management. However, the study also leads to several suggestions for the future: in Vietnam and Cambodia, there is a need for significant legislation to control fisheries operations and greater clarity of the role of communities in management; in Malaysia, there is an overall need for more support to local fisheries management; and in Thailand, the need is for greater support of local-level enforcement and monitoring activities.     

Integrating Uncertainty Theories with GIS for Modeling Coastal Hazards of Climate Change

Prediction of coastal hazards due to climate change is fraught with uncertainty that stems from complexity of coastal systems, estimation of sea level rise, and limitation of available data. In-depth research on coastal modeling is hampered by lack of techniques for handling uncertainty, and the available commercial geographical information systems (GIS) packages have only limited capability of handling uncertain information. Therefore, integrating uncertainty theory with GIS is of practical and theoretical significance. This article presents a GIS-based model that integrates an existing predictive model using a differential approach, random simulation, and fuzzy set theory for predicting geomorphic hazards subject to uncertainty. Coastal hazard is modeled as the combined effects of sea-level induced recession and storm erosion, using grid modeling techniques. The method is described with a case study of Fingal Bay Beach, SE Australia, for which predicted responses to an IPCC standard sea-level rise of 0.86 m and superimposed storm erosion averaged 12 m and 90 m, respectively, with analysis of uncertainty yielding maximum of 52 m and 120 m, respectively. Paradoxically, output uncertainty reduces slightly with simulated increase in random error in the digital elevation model (DEM). This trend implies that the magnitude of modeled uncertainty is not necessarily increased with the uncertainties in the input parameters. Built as a generic tool, the model can be used not only to predict different scenarios of coastal hazard under uncertainties for coastal management, but is also applicable to other fields that involve predictive modeling under uncertainty.     

Application of a Biological Tool for Estimating Current Annual Rates of Erosion and Deposition in Modern Coastal Environments: A Case Study in the Bay of Bengal Coast

The marine polychaete Diopatra cuprea (Bosc) produces tubes that protrude above the sediment surface. To the part above the sediment surface the worm attaches foreign particles. A sharp boundary separates the parts above and below the sediment surface. With subsequent erosion, part of the tube without attached particles becomes exposed and this exposed part indicates the amount of erosion. With subsequent sedimentation, the tubes are enlarged upward and the sharp boundary is found below the sediment surface indicating the amount of subsequent sedimentation. This mode of construction of tubes during an average life span of two years renders tubes as simple but excellent natural tools for precise and easy measurement of the latest annual rates of erosion and deposition in coastal areas, data that are essential for the solving of coastal engineering and geoenvironmental problems. Comparison of this tool with expensive long-term coastal profiling data in four areas in the Bay of Bengal coast indicates its correctness and high applicational value. This revised model can be applied to modern coastal environments only for calculating latest annual rates of both erosion and deposition as correctly as latest physical techniques. Being based on the similar organosedimentary principle, it distinctively contrasts with the earlier model of Myers which provides information on the amount of sediment accumulation only without any time connotation and, it may generate erroneous results if applied to the geologic past unless some limitations evolved in the processes of dewatering, compaction, lithification and diagenesis are removed.     

Landscape-scale analysis of ecosystem risk and returns: A new tool for ICZM

Management of the coastal zone often focuses on “islands” of high value ecosystems, in terms of economic value or conservation. However, integrated management requires landscape-level analysis of all ecosystem values. The biodiversity portfolio analysis (BPA) method is derived from the logic used in share (equity) portfolio management in terms of balancing within a portfolio the returns with the risks. Optimising the returns from a share portfolio, or a suite of ecosystems in a landscape, is dependent on the relationship between the units in terms of risk and return. Three case studies are then presented to test the applicability of the BPA method at the international (North West Europe), regional (Durham Heritage Coast, UK) and local (part of South Uist, Outer Hebrides, UK) spatial scale. The Biodiversity Portfolio Analysis for NW Europe showed that risk and return were highly correlated in the studied Member States. The ranking of risk and return, with the highest first, was Ireland > UK > France=Netherlands > Belgium. For these Member States the risks to ecosystem service provision were positively correlated with GNI (r=0.97, P<0.01); suggesting that the higher the economic importance of coastal and marine resources in a Member State the more at risk the resources are. The regional and local case studies were more focussed on providing information on which to base Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) decision making; both case studies used stakeholder participation to determine risks and returns. The conclusions from these two case studies show how the BPA method can be useful in terms of setting ICZM priorities and in addressing local coastal issues. The BPA involves making a number of assumptions, however, it does provide coastal managers with a potential tool to strategically plan due to increased awareness of the interaction between the ecosystems in the portfolio.There is a need for such techniques, which involve stakeholder participation and which create objective outcomes, to support the implementation of ICZM.     

Anoxia over the western continental shelf of India: bacterial indications of intrinsic nitrification feeding denitrification

Studies on the Arabian Sea coastal anoxia have been of immense interest, but despite its ecological significance there is sparse understanding of the microbes involved. Hence, observations were carried out off Goa (15 degrees 30'N, 72 degrees 40'E to 15 degrees 30'N, 72 degrees 59'E) to understand the processes that mediate the changes in various inorganic nitrogen species in the water column during anoxia. Water column chemistry showed a clear distinct oxic environment in the month of April and anoxic condition in October. Our study based on microbial signatures indicated that oxygen deficit appeared as a well-defined nucleus almost 40 km away from the coast during the oxic period (April) and spreads there after to the entire water column synchronizing with the water chemistry. Striking results of net changes in inorganic nitrogen species in nitrification blocked and unblocked experimental systems show that denitrification is the predominant process in the water column consuming available nitrate ( approximately 0.5 microM) to near zero levels within approximately 72 h of incubation. These observations have been supported by concomitant increase in nitrite concentration ( approximately 4 microM). Similar studies on denitrification-blocked incubations, demonstrate the potential of nitrification to feed denitrification. Nitrification could contribute almost 4.5 microM to the total nitrate pool. It was found that the relation between ammonium and total dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) pool (r=0.98, p<0.001, n=122) was significant compared to the latter with nitrite and nitrate. The occurrence of high ammonium under low phosphate conditions corroborates our observations that ammonium does not appear to be locked under low oxygen regimes. It is suggested that ammonium actively produced by detrital breakdown (ammonification) is efficiently consumed through nitrification process. The three processes in concert viz. ammonification, nitrification and denitrification appear to operate in more temporal and spatial proximity than hitherto appreciated in these systems and this gives additional cues on the absence of measurable nitrate at surface waters, which was earlier attributed only to efficient algal uptake. Hence we hypothesize that the alarming nitrous oxide input into the atmosphere could be due to high productivity driven tighter nitrification-denitrification coupling, rather than denitrification driven by extraneous nitrate.     

Missing the boat: Critical threats to coral reefs are neglected at global scale

Coral reefs have experienced a global decline due to overfishing, pollution, and warming oceans that are becoming increasingly acidic. To help halt and reverse this decline, interventions should be aimed at those threats reef experts and managers identify as most severe. The survey included responses from 170 managers, representing organizations from 50 countries and territories, and found that respondents generally agreed on the two major threats: overfishing and coastal development. However, resource allocation did not match this consensus on major threats. In particular, while overfishing receives much attention, coastal development and its attendant pollution are largely neglected and underfunded. These results call for a re-examination of how resources are allocated in coral reef conservation, with more attention given to aligning how money is spent with what are perceived to be the primary threats.