Spatiotemporal dynamics of submerged macrophytes in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon

The seasonal and interannual dynamics of the biomass and spatial distribution of a macrophyte meadow were explored in a Mediterranean coastal lagoon (Albufera des Grau, Balearic Islands) from 2002 to 2007. The dynamics in the main physicochemical variables were also analysed to assess the factors involved in the spatiotemporal variability of the submerged macrophytes.     

The Socio-Economic Costs and Benefits of Coastal Habitat Rehabilitation and Creation

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the merits and limitations of using an economics based approach to assess and implement initiatives for coastal habitat rehabilitation and creation. A review of the literature indicates that habitat rehabilitation/creation costs vary widely between and within ecosystems. For coral reefs, costs range from US$ 10,000 to 6.5 million/hectare (ha);¹ for mangroves US$ 3000–510,000/ha; for seagrasses US$ 9000–680,000/ha and for saltmarshes US$ 2000–160,000/ha. A review of the economic benefits derived from various coastal habitats based on a ‘Total Economic Value’ approach (i.e. accounting for direct and indirect uses, and ‘non-uses’) reveals that many thousands of US$ per hectare could ultimately accrue from their rehabilitation/creation. The paper concludes that despite its limitations, the ‘benefit-cost analysis’ framework can play an important role both in assessing the justification of coastal habitat rehabilitation/creation initiatives, and by helping to improve the overall effectiveness of such initiatives.     

Effects of physical phenomena on the distribution of nutrients and phytoplankton productivity in a coastal lagoon

Sea level, salinity, temperature, nitrate, nitrite, phosphate, silicate, chlorophylls a, b and c and their phaeophytins, phytoplankton abundance and phytoplankton productivity time series were generated for the mouth and three interior locations of Bahia San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico, for 10 days during summer of 1979. The samples were taken once every 2 h. This was done to describe space and time variability of these ecological properties and to elucidate the main factors that cause this variability. Upwelling events bring nutrient reach waters near the bay mouth and tidal currents propagate those waters throughout the bay. Nutrient remineralization at the sediments and the effect of turbulence induced by tidal currents and winds increase nutrient concentrations in the interiors of the bay. In comparison with available information on nutrients limited growth of planktonic algae, nutrients seemed not to be limiting to phytoplankton growth during the sampling period. Phytoplankton cell abundances at the extremes of the lagoon are an order of magnitude lower than at the mouth due to greater turbidity. Chlorophyll concentrations at the extremes are about one-third of those of the mouth. Primary productivity decreases from the mouth to the interiors in the same manner as chlorophyll does. There is not a significant difference in cell size between phytoplankton at the bay mouth and those at the extremes of the bay. Primary productivity in the bay is comparable to the productivity maxima of other upwelling areas. There is no clear permanent dominance of diatoms over dinoflagellates, or vice versa, at any location in the bay. The alternation of upwelling and non-upwelling played an important role, together with that of the spring-neap tide cycle, in producing low frequency (< 0.01 cycles h^?1) temporal variability of ecological properties throughout the bay.     

The physical hydrology of a lagoon system on the Pacific coast of Mexico

The annual hydrological cycle of the Caimanero-Huizache lagoon system on the Pacific coast of Mexico was investigated during 1977–1978. There is a well defined wet season during which the lagoons fill with water derived from fluvial inputs and direct precipitation. Water is lost by evaporation and outflow to the sea, the latter process starting as the wet season progresses and being facilitated by a falling mean sea level. Evaporation exceeds in situ precipitation and during the dry season complete desiccation may be prevented by a now rising mean sea level which promotes the flow of seawater into the lagoon basin. A quantitative estimate of the magnitude of these controlling processes is presented and processes bringing about mixing in the lagoons discussed. A brief comparison is made with other lagoon systems on the Pacific coast of Mexico.     

Sea-level fluctuations in the fleet, an English tidal lagoon

Tidal elevation data are presented for places along the length of the Fleet, which is a tidal lagoon behind Chesil Beach on the south coast of England. Harmonic analysis of the data is not able to represent the observations adequately, particularly at the inner end of the lagoon. However, careful inspection of the data shows that the tidal regime is capable of being understood in terms of the non-linear propagation of long waves in very shallow water. Distortion of the tidal wave by unequal progression speeds of high and low water, and the set-up of mean level by frictional effects, are shown to be the important physical mechanisms controlling the observed water level fluctuations. A one-dimensional numerical model which incorporates these processes is able to reproduce the observations satisfactorily. Whilst the model predicts strong effects of wind stress, the meteorological influences in the observed data appear to be largely due to external surges in the English Channel which propagate into the lagoon through its entrance.     

Seasonal factors affecting egg production and viability of eggs of Acartia tonsa Dana from East Lagoon, Galveston, Texas

Egg production and hatching success were determined between March 1981 and March 1982 for the copepod Acartia tonsa Dana from East Lagoon, Galveston, Texas. During three-day experiments in the laboratory, field collected females were fed diets of (1) natural particles collected over the water column, (2) some modification of this and (3) the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii. The latter served to isolate the effects of temperature and salinity from the effects of the natural particle diets on egg production. Specific rates of egg production, i.e. μg egg biomass/μg body biomass/time, were consistently higher per unit carbon than nitrogen.The influence of seasonal factors on egg production was compared. Salinity was inversely correlated with egg production, but had less effect than temperature. Positive correlations with temperature were always higher for specific rates per unit nitrogen than carbon. At 15°C, females produced 0·25 of their body carbon (or nitrogen) as eggs per day, whereas at 28°C, they produced at least their own biomass as eggs per day (up to 1·80). These high rates of A. tonsa were probably due to its reproductive biology and adaptation to the subtropical habitat as well as the high temperatures and food concentrations. The correlation between specific egg production rate and temperature was less with the natural particle diets than with the unialgal diet. This indicated that the quantity or quality of natural particle assemblages in East Lagoon influenced egg production. Egg viability was highest in the spring, but was not related to diet or the percentage of females with spermatophores.     

Distribution of macrobenthic assemblages along a marine gradient in Mediterranean eutrophic coastal lagoons

Coastal lagoons can be characterised by strong environmental changes along the outer marine‐inner brackish gradient, which are reflected in the patterns of distribution of organisms and composition of assemblages. Close to the sea the assemblages are dominated by marine animals, while in the innermost confined areas, there would be estuarine taxa and organisms typical of organically‐enriched areas. During the last decades, human impact has been severe in these habitats and has often profoundly altered the distribution of animals and plants along the gradient. In this study we have analysed the distribution of macrofauna along the outer marine‐inner brackish gradient in five Italian lagoons, affected by severe human disturbance on the Adriatic, Tyrrhenian and Sardinian coasts. We aimed to measure changes in the composition of assemblages according to the distance from the sea, consistent among lagoons and time, after the occurrence of eutrophication, repeated distrophic crisis and other human interventions. We considered existing data from campaigns done during 1994, 1995 and 1999. We arranged different datasets according to the available data, in order to measure the spatial distribution of macrofauna genera with distance from the sea and through time. Analyses showed differences among assemblages related to the gradient. Nevertheless, the species characterizing the assemblages were all typical of organically‐enriched areas, which testified to an impoverishment of diversity and functioning of all these systems.     

Major Ion Chemistry in a Freshwater Coastal Lagoon from Southern Brazil (Mangueira Lagoon): Influence of Groundwater Inputs

This paper characterizes major ion distributions and investigates whether groundwater exerts a major control on the chemical functioning of Mangueira Lagoon, a large (90 km long), shallow (∼4–5 m deep), and fresh coastal lagoon in southern Brazil. Water volumes equivalent to ∼80% of the total annual input are used in the summer for irrigating nearby rice plantations, the most important regional economic activity. While Na⁺ and Cl⁻ are the major ions in local groundwater, Na⁺ and HCO₃⁻ are the most enriched ions in lagoon water. The ion concentrations measured in Mangueira Lagoon were homogeneous, except for a few samples affected by rainwater and groundwater inputs. A shore-normal transect starting at the pump house of a rice irrigation canal indicated strong groundwater input at this canal. In spite of the small volume contribution (∼2% of precipitation), groundwater discharge accounts for 50–70% of major ion inputs into the lagoon, with ∼70% of the groundwater inputs being anthropogenically derived (e.g., from the rice irrigation canals). This may have serious implications for the management of the coastal water resources from Mangueira Lagoon and other similar areas as groundwater associated with agricultural systems may be contaminated by fertilizers and pesticides. The results imply that groundwater should not be neglected in dissolved species’ budgets even when its volume contribution is small.     

210Pb in a tropical coastal lagoon sediment core

Excess ²¹⁰Pb in a core from a Mexican Coastal Lagoon, which has no connection with the sea shows a small but measurable decay over the length of the core, when different approaches were compared (excess and corrected ²¹⁰Pb activity with depth, total and inorganic cumulative weights) significant differences in the values for the sedimentation rate are obtained. The best coefficient correlation was calculated when corrected ²¹⁰Pb activity for the uneven distribution of organic matter and cumulative inorganic weight is considered ($\text{ω}\text{= 0·93 cm yr}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$, R = ?0·86; ω = 0·51 cm yr^?1 for the top 13 cm, R = ?0·90 and 1·52 cm yr^?1 for the interval 14–46 with R = ?0·96).Time frames in the sedimentary column were in agreement between the ²¹⁰Pb calculated time and the appearance of shells fragments probably associated with the disturbances caused by the 1961 hurricane Tara.The surface accumulation rate is equivalent to a mean deposition of 262·5 g m^?2 yr^?1 or organic matter which is minor but comparable to some salt marshes of United States.