Cost-effectiveness of the Baltic Sea Action Plan

The governments around the Baltic Sea have agreed on a new set of targets for nutrient load reductions. The major motive for this is new and better knowledge about the link between nutrient loads and water transparency in different parts of the sea. The Baltic Sea Action Plan (BSAP) defines target for transparency in different marine basins, the load reductions necessary to meet transparency targets and a scheme for the distribution of the abatement burden between countries adjacent to the sea.     

泉州湾赤潮藻类优势种演替影响因子探讨

于2006年5—11月对东海泉州湾赤潮监控区设定4个采样站位,进行赤潮常规监测。结果表明,泉州湾藻类优势种由中肋骨条藻(Skeletonema costatum)、太平洋海链藻(Thalassiosira pacifica)、微小原甲藻(Prorocentrum minimum)、尖刺拟菱形藻(Pseudo-nitzschia pungens)、丹麦细柱藻(Leptocylindrus danicus)及旋链角毛藻(Chaetoceros curvisetus)等赤潮生物组成,虽然中肋骨条藻为最主要的优势种,但有3个站位出现了上述优势种的演替。通过深入分析该海域水质营养盐含量及组成结构的动态变化对赤潮藻类优势种演替的影响,发现由于不同的赤潮藻类种群具有各自的生态习性及适应环境的生长增殖策略,海域水质营养盐含量和组成结构的变化,会引起赤潮藻类种群增殖竞争力间强弱的相对变化,而种群增殖竞争力强的种类有可能迅速增殖取代原有的优势种而演替为新的优势种,这是一个动态的过程。     

Extension of a qualitative model on nutrient cycling and transformation to include microtidal estuaries on wave-dominated coasts: Southern hemisphere perspective

Estuaries are dynamic transition zones acting as filters and transformers of nutrients passing from catchments to the sea. We propose an extension to an existing southern hemisphere model on nutrient dynamics in estuaries to include the relatively constricted, microtidal estuaries located along wave-dominated coasts in the region, specifically focusing on the limiting macronutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and on key processes, including physical (e.g. flushing, mixing and sedimentation), geochemical (e.g. flocculation), biochemical (e.g. remineralisation) and biological (e.g. primary production) processes. A simplified model of the physical states (primarily controlled by hydrological characteristics) is used as the basis for the qualitative model, where these are defined in terms of characteristic salinity-induced stratification of the water column, flushing time and the mouth condition. Four physical states are identified: a freshwater-dominated state, freshwater pulsed/recovery state, marine-dominated state and the closed mouth state. The states and their physical characteristics largely resemble that of the earlier model, except that the extended model reflects the dynamics of restricted inlets and introduces the closed mouth state. This model specifically explores the variation within southern African estuarine systems to better inform research and management programmes on the appropriate trophic, temporal and spatial scales at which uncertainties in ecosystem functioning need resolving. It can also be applied to other regions in the southern hemisphere, and even the northern hemisphere, with similar hydrological and estuarine geomorphological characteristics (e.g. the Mediterranean coast, the west coasts of North and South America, and the south-west and south-eastern coasts of Australia).     

Trace element and molecular markers of organic carbon dynamics along a shelf–basin continuum in sediments of the western Arctic Ocean

Molecular organic biomarkers together with trace element composition were investigated in sediments east of Barrow Canyon in the western Arctic Ocean to determine sources and recycling of organic carbon in a continuum from the shelf to the basin. Algal biomarkers (polyunsaturated and short-chain saturated fatty acids, 24-methylcholesta-5,24(28)-dien-3β-ol, dinosterol) highlight the substantial contribution of organic matter from water column and sea-ice primary productivity in shelf environments, while redox markers such as acid volatile sulfide (AVS), Mn, and Re indicate intense metabolism of this material leading to sediment anoxia. Shelf sediments also receive considerable inputs from terrestrial organic carbon, with biomarker composition suggesting the presence of multiple pools of terrestrial organic matter segregated by age/lability or hydrodynamic sorting. Sedimentary metabolism was not as intense in slope sediments as on the shelf; however, sufficient labile organic matter is present to create suboxic and anoxic conditions, at least intermittently, as organic matter is focused towards the slope. Basin sediments also showed evidence for episodic delivery of labile organic carbon inputs despite the strong physical controls of water depth and sea-ice cover. Principal components analysis of the lipid biomarker data was used to estimate fractions of preserved recalcitrant (of terrestrial origin) and labile (of marine origin) organic matter in the sediments, with ranges of 12–79%, 14–45%, and 37–66% found for the shelf, slope, and basin cores, respectively. On average, the relative preserved terrestrial organic matter in basin sediments was 56%, suggesting exchange of organic carbon between nearshore and basin environments in the western Arctic.     

Mise en évidence expérimentale des facteurs nutritifs limitants de la production du micro-nanoplancton et de l'ultraplancton dans une eau côtière de la Méditerranée orientale (Haïfa,Israël)

Enrichment experiments were carried out on seawater samples from the Israeli coast to characterise the nature of nutrient limitation. Phytoplankton chlorophyll, ATP, PC, PN, PP and bicarbonate and orthophosphate uptake rates indicate that phosphorus limitation is more extreme than that of nitrogen. A large increase in total nitrogen observed with P enrichment suggests that a substantial nitrogen fixation is mediated by picocyanobacteria in this kind of oligotrophic mediterranean waters.

     

Nitrate in groundwater and N circulation in eastern Botswana

Nitrate pollution due to deep leaching from pit latrines has caused water supply wells in eastern Botswana to exceed health limits concerning nitrate. It was deduced from the estimated intake of salt and protein by the population that, as an average, about 10 percent of the human nitrogen excretion is leached to the groundwater. This fraction was also found in southern India, where on-the-ground excretion is customary. The nitrogen circulation in general in the savanna ecosystem is not appreciably affected in spite of a large livestock density. Overall nitrate leaching is in the order of 1.5 kg N/ha/y, similar to that in another semiarid area in southern India. However, in India, there seems to be a more diffuse areal leaching from agriculture as well as from villages.Measures to minimize the nitrate leaching could be to plant deep-rooted trees adjacent to pit latrines or to use latrines that separate the urine from the faces for a more near-surface infiltration facilitating plant uptake. Measures to minimize leaching will also lessen the rick for bacterial pollution of the groundwater.     

Geographic variations in shell growth rates of the mussel Diplodon chilensis from temperate lakes of Chile: Implications for biodiversity conservation

The Chilean lake district includes diverse lentic ecosystems along ca. 700 km of the country (36°–43°S), including the “Nahuelbutan lakes”, “Araucanian lakes” and “Chiloe lakes”. This area is recognized as an important “hot spot” of benthic freshwater biodiversity in Southern South America. In Chilean temperate lakes, increased nutrient loads of P and N caused eutrophication, particularly in the Nahuelbutan Lakes. The freshwater Hyriidae mussel Diplodon chilensis (Gray, 1828) which is one of the most abundant species in Chilean temperate lakes, is known to be very susceptible to eutrophication. This species presents a clear reduction in its geographic ranges and is considered to be a threatened species in many Chilean lakes. In this study, we used a correlative approach to determine how eutrophication-driven changes in the food supply and in geographical parameters of different Chilean lakes affected the shell growth rates of D. chilensis. The results obtained from sclerochronological analyses of the mussel shells suggest an association with a group of environmental variables, including geographical types (negative), such as latitude and altitude, and limnological types (positive), especially phosphorous and turbidity. However, the D. chilensis populations under extreme conditions of turbidity in eutrophic and hypertrophic lakes are extinct or nearly so. The high positive correlation of the mean D. chilensis growth rates with orthophosphate (R=0.76; P<0.05), in relation to dissolved inorganic nitrogen, suggests that P is the major limiting factor of the primary productivity in Chilean temperate lakes. We discuss some implications of our results in terms of the conservation of biodiversity in temperate lake ecosystems at different taxonomic levels.     

Large-scale impacts of bottom trawling on shelf primary productivity

Disturbance of the seabed resulting from bottom trawling affects ecosystem processes, such as the rate and magnitude of nutrient regeneration. The potential responses of the plankton community arising from such effects can be modelled, provided that reliable data on the effects on nutrient fluxes are available. In a north Cretan outer continental shelf and upper slope fishing ground (Heraklion Bay, Crete, Eastern Mediterranean) we applied a new field instrument which can simulate the passage of trawl groundropes across the sea floor and made direct seasonal measurements of the rate of dissolved and particulate nutrient releases resulting from seabed disturbance. These observational data were then integrated in a 3D ecosystem model. Results revealed that bottom trawling may trigger off considerable productivity pulses, in addition to pulses from the natural seasonal cycle.     

三峡库区紫色土坡地养分状况及养分流失*

紫色土是三峡库区移民安置区的主要坡地土壤。本研究采用典型区域调查,代表性土壤剖面养分分析,结合实验小区人工降雨的方法,初步研究了发育于侏罗纪紫色砂泥岩母质上紫色土的养分状况、养分流失特点、过程及影响养分流失因素。     

石油烃和营养盐的复合污染对海洋浮游植物的影响Ⅰ. 石油烃对海洋浮游植物吸收营养盐的影响

通过向具有相同营养盐浓度的培养体系中添加不同浓度的石油烃,对中肋骨条藻、赤潮异弯藻、微小亚历山大藻和锥状斯氏藻进行周期性培养,探讨了石油烃对微藻营养盐吸收动力学的影响.结果发现,在开始30min内,微藻对营养盐均有一非耗能的短暂快吸收,随后吸收速率下降并趋于稳定.石油烃对中肋骨条藻和赤潮异弯藻氮、磷的吸收都表现抑制作用,浓度从0.13 mg/L到8.25mg/L的石油烃所呈现的抑制作用基本表现为先减弱后逐渐增强,8.25mg/L浓度的石油烃抑制作用最强.与中肋骨条藻和赤潮异弯藻实验结果不同的是,石油烃对微小亚历山大藻和锥状斯氏藻的氮、磷吸收在低浓度时呈现促进作用,且促进作用的程度随石油烃浓度的增加有先增强后减弱的趋势,在高浓度下促进作用会消失,8.25mg/L的石油烃不表现促进作用.石油烃对微藻营养盐吸收动力学的影响表现出复杂性,这既受石油烃浓度的影响,也与浮游植物的种类有重要关系.