Association of the scallop Patinopecten yessoensis and epibiotic barnacle Balanus rostratus: inter‐specific interactions and trophic relationships determined by fatty acid analysis

Marine mollusks provide shelter to epibiotic organisms which settle on the outer surface of their hard shells. Epibionts can exert beneficial or detrimental effects on the host mollusk. In this study, the ecology of the association of the commercially valuable marine mobile scallop Patinopecten (=Mizuhopecten) yessoensis with its epibiotic barnacle Balanus rostratus was investigated. Fatty acid analysis was performed to determine the trophic relationships between these species. The distribution of fatty acid markers in this scallop species suggests an important contribution of diatoms, flagellates and animal material in its diet. The fatty acid analysis indicated a predominance of diatoms in the diet of the adult barnacles and some detrital input into the diets of young individuals. It was found that adult barnacles may compete with the scallops for food sources such as diatoms and zooplankton. It was revealed that with a negligible biomass of epibionts, the interactions between the barnacle and scallop may be regarded as commensalisms. An increase in the weight of epibiotic barnacles resulted in decreases in the weights and shell heights of the scallops, testifying to the adverse influence of a high biomass of epibionts on their host.     

沱江浮游植物群落特征及水质评价

为合理评价沱江水质现状,于2013年丰水期(8月)和枯水期(11月)对沱江浮游植物及主要水质指标进行采样调查。结果显示:(1)丰水期综合营养状态指数TLI(∑)较高,尤其是上游江段,变化范围为47.4—64.6,平均56.3;枯水期TLI(∑)变化范围为43.4—48.1,平均44.6。(2)检出浮游植物88种(属),主要为绿藻、硅藻和蓝藻。丰、枯水期浮游植物群落主要组分分别为绿藻+硅藻+蓝藻和硅藻+绿藻+隐藻。优势度分析显示,丰水期优势种主要为梅尼小环藻(Cyclotella meneghiniana)、微小平裂藻(Merismopedia tenuissima)、拉氏拟柱孢藻(Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii)等,枯水期主要为脆杆藻(Fragilaria sp.)、尖尾蓝隐藻(Chroomonas acuta)、线形舟形藻(Navicula graciloides)等。(3)丰水期浮游植物的多样性指数H?、丰富度指数d、均匀度指数J均值分别为3.66、6.21和0.69,枯水期分别为3.67、4.12和0.88。(4)聚类分析与单因素方差分析结果表明沿江水坝建设与空间分布格局对NH4+与浮游植物群落结构已有影响,表现出水坝上游湖泊型藻类数量增加、上游江段浮游植物密度高于下游江段的趋势。(5)分类回归树模型显示,营养水平与物种丰富度较高但均匀度偏低的水体中,浮游植物密度易出现高值。综合以上情况,沱江水质已处于中到富营养状态,尤其是丰水期与较上游的江段,富营养化程度更高。为预防水华的发生,出现丰富浮游植物种类的地段更应加强监控,尤其是丰水期上游的大坝坝上江段。     

红海湾远海梭子蟹Portunus pelagicus的食物组成及营养位置分析

利用稳定同位素技术;分析了2015年5月在红海湾海域采集的远海梭子蟹Portunus pelagicus及其潜在食物的碳（δ13C）和氮（δ15N）稳定同位素比值;通过稳定同位素混合模型（SIAR）;估算不同食物对远海梭子蟹食性的相对贡献。结果表明:远海梭子蟹的δ13C值在-18.1‰~-14.1‰之间;δ15N值的范围为9.8‰~13.8‰;平均值分别为-16.9‰±1.3‰和12.1‰±2.3‰。δ13C和δ15N值的变化范围均较大;表明远海梭子蟹食物来源广泛、多样。远海梭子蟹的食物主要由双壳贝类、螺类、鱼类、头足类、虾类、蟹类和藻类组成。SIAR模型计算结果显示:藻类为远海梭子蟹的主要食物;其平均贡献为32.5%;双壳贝类的相对食性贡献为21.9%;虾类、螺类、鱼类和蟹类的平均贡献差异较小;分别为9.7%、9.7%、9.6%和9.3%;头足类的贡献最低;仅为7.3%。此外;根据δ15N值及营养位置的计算公式得出:远海梭子蟹在红海湾海域位于2.91±0.68营养级。远海梭子蟹的7类潜在食物中;藻类的营养位置最低;为1.21±0.58;其次为双壳贝类;为2.00±0.25;蟹类、螺类、虾类和鱼类的营养位置分别为2.85±0.33、2.87±0.26、3.01±0.16和3.08±0.18;头足类的最高;为3.41±0.17。     

Oceanographic controls on shallow‐water temperate carbonate sedimentation: Spencer Gulf,South Australia

Spencer Gulf is a large (ca 22 000 km²), shallow (<60 m water depth) embayment with active heterozoan carbonate sedimentation. Gulf waters are metahaline (salinities 39 to 47‰) and warm‐temperate (ca 12 to ?28°C) with inverse estuarine circulation. The integrated approach of facies analysis paired with high‐resolution, monthly oceanographic data sets is used to pinpoint controls on sedimentation patterns with more confidence than heretofore possible for temperate systems. Biofragments – mainly bivalves, benthic foraminifera, bryozoans, coralline algae and echinoids – accumulate in five benthic environments: luxuriant seagrass meadows, patchy seagrass sand flats, rhodolith pavements, open gravel/sand plains and muddy seafloors. The biotic diversity of Spencer Gulf is remarkably high, considering the elevated seawater salinities. Echinoids and coralline algae (traditionally considered stenohaline organisms) are ubiquitous. Euphotic zone depth is interpreted as the primary control on environmental distribution, whereas seawater salinity, temperature, hydrodynamics and nutrient availability are viewed as secondary controls. Luxuriant seagrass meadows with carbonate muddy sands dominate brightly lit seafloors where waters have relatively low nutrient concentrations (ca 0 to 1 mg Chl‐a m^?3). Low‐diversity bivalve‐dominated deposits occur in meadows with highest seawater salinities and temperatures (43 to 47‰, up to 28°C). Patchy seagrass sand flats cover less‐illuminated seafloors. Open gravel/sand plains contain coarse bivalve–bryozoan sediments, interpreted as subphotic deposits, in waters with near normal marine salinities and moderate trophic resources (0·5 to 1·6 mg Chl‐a m^?3) to support diverse suspension feeders. Rhodolith pavements (coralline algal gravels) form where seagrass growth is arrested, either because of decreased water clarity due to elevated nutrients and associated phytoplankton growth (0·6 to 2 mg Chl‐a m^?3), or bottom waters that are too energetic for seagrasses (currents up to 2 m sec^?1). Muddy seafloors occur in low‐energy areas below the euphotic zone. The relationships between oceanographic influences and depositional patterns outlined in Spencer Gulf are valuable for environmental interpretations of other recent and ancient (particularly Neogene) high‐salinity and temperate carbonate systems worldwide.     

What future for primary aluminium production in a decarbonizing economy?

Aluminium is an energy intensive material with an environmental footprint strongly dependent on the electricity mix consumed by the smelting process. This study models prospective environmental impacts of primary aluminium production according to different integrated assessment modeling scenarios building on Shared Socioeconomic Pathways and their climate change mitigation scenarios. Results project a global average carbon intensity ranging between 8.6 and 18.0 kg CO₂ eq/kg in 2100, compared to 18.3 kg CO₂ eq/kg at present, that could be further reduced under mitigation scenarios. Co-benefits with other environmental indicators are observed. Scaling aluminium production impacts to the global demand shows total emission between 1250 and 1590 Gt CO₂ eq for baseline scenarios by 2050 while absolute decoupling is only achievable with stringent climate policy changing drastically the electricity mix. Achieving larger emission reductions will require circular strategies that go beyond primary material production itself and involve other stakeholders along the aluminium value chain.     

Structural geometry of orogenic gold deposits: Implications for exploration of world-class and giant deposits

With very few exceptions, orogenic gold deposits formed in subduction-related tectonic settings in accretionary to collisional orogenic belts from Archean to Tertiary times. Their genesis, including metal and fluid source, fluid pathways, depositional mechanisms, and timing relative to regional structural and metamorphic events, continues to be controversial. However, there is now general agreement that these deposits formed from metamorphic fluids, either from metamorphism of intra-basinal rock sequences or de-volatilization of a subducted sediment wedge, during a change from a compressional to transpressional, less commonly transtensional, stress regime, prior to orogenic collapse. In the case of Archean and Paleoproterozoic deposits, the formation of orogenic gold deposits was one of the last events prior to cratonization. The late timing of orogenic gold deposits within the structural evolution of the host orogen implies that any earlier structures may be mineralized and that the current structural geometry of the gold deposits is equivalent to that at the time of their formation provided that there has been no significant post-gold orogenic overprint. Within the host volcano-sedimentary sequences at the province scale, world-class orogenic gold deposits are most commonly located in second-order structures adjacent to crustal scale faults and shear zones, representing the first-order ore-forming fluid pathways, and whose deep lithospheric connection is marked by lamprophyre intrusions which, however, have no direct genetic association with gold deposition. More specifically, the gold deposits are located adjacent to ～10°-25° district-scale jogs in these crustal-scale faults. These jogs are commonly the site of arrays of ～70° cross faults that accommodate the bending of the more rigid components, for example volcanic rocks and intrusive sills, of the host belts. Rotation of blocks between these accommodation faults causes failure of more competent units and/or reactivation and dilation of pre-existing structures, leading to deposit-scale focussing of ore-fluid and gold deposition.Anticlinal or antiformal fold hinges, particularly those of 'locked-up' folds with ～30° apical angles and overturned back limbs, represent sites of brittle-ductile rock failure and provide one of the more robust parameters for location of orogenic gold deposits.In orogenic belts with abundant pre-gold granitic intrusions, particularly Precambrian granitegreenstone terranes, the boundaries between the rigid granitic bodies and more ductile greenstone sequences are commonly sites of heterogeneous stress and inhomogeneous strain. Thus, contacts between granitic intrusions and volcano-sedimentary sequences are common sites of ore-fluid infiltration and gold deposition. For orogenic gold deposits at deeper crustal levels, ore-forming fluids are commonly focused along strain gradients between more compressional zones where volcano-sedimentary sequences are thinned and relatively more extensional zones where they are thickened. World-class orogenic gold deposits are commonly located in the deformed volcano-sedimentary sequences in such strain gradients adjacent to triple-point junctions defined by the granitic intrusions, or along the zones of assembly of micro-blocks on a regional scale. These repetitive province to district-scale geometrical patterns of structures within the orogenic belts are clearly critical parameters in geology-based exploration targeting for orogenic gold deposits.     

Responses of two trophic levels to patch enrichment along a New Zealand stream continuum

We carried out a benthic survey and two experiments in runs at eight sites down the Kakanui River (South Island, New Zealand) during summer low flows, to investigate the interaction between nutrients, periphyton, and macro‐grazers. Benthic periphytic biomass was generally low (< 20 mg m^‐2 chlorophyll a) at most sites, but high densities of macro‐grazers (mainly snails) were observed at six of the eight sites. Chlorophyll a and cellular P concentrations were generally higher on artificial substrates in the first‐ to third‐order tributaries, compared with downstream. Macro‐grazer densities (mainly snails) were also highest in the second‐ and third‐order tributaries. Enrichment of patches with N and P did not translate into significant increases in chlorophyll a concentrations. Instead there was a general increase in macro‐grazers, and an increase in the relative abundance of Cocconeis placentula. In a second experiment, the chlorophyll a level was five‐fold higher on the substrates where macro‐grazers were excluded and there was no significant response of chlorophyll a to nutrient addition on these substrates. On the grazed substrates, densities of snails and caddis‐larvae were two‐fold higher with N+P enrichment. These experiments provided evidence for a tight coupling between first and second trophic levels, and strong grazer control of periphyton, in this river.     

Oligochaete distribution patterns in two German hardwater lakes of different trophic state

We investigated the effect of contrasting trophic conditions on the distribution and dominance patterns of Oligochaeta species assemblages in lake sediments and their relation to the environmental variables depth, season, and substrate. The study was performed on the highly eutrophic Lake Haussee and the oligotrophic Lake Stechlin, both hardwater lakes in the Baltic Lake District of Northern Germany. Quantitative monthly and seasonal sampling took place over one year at 14 representative sites, covering littoral and profundal sediments of both lakes. Between-lake differences in the profundal were clearcut with an absence of any zoobenthos in Lake Haussee and a peculiar meiobenthic species assemblage in Lake Stechlin (Collado et al. 1999). Between-lake differences in the littoral, however, were small and mainly attributable to a small number of species exclusive to Lake Stechlin and an overall higher abundance of oligochaetes, especially naidids, in Lake Haussee. Species-richest family in both lakes were Naididae; Tubificidae were dominant in Lake Stechlin; in Lake Haussee Tubificidae and Naididae were equally abundant. Most striking were diversity of habitat types and species distribution patterns in the littoral. Multivariate analysis (CA, CCA) showed that the distribution patterns of oligochaete species assemblages are significantly correlated with depth, season and substrate. Depth is the major factor when the whole water body is considered. When confining to the littoral, species abundance and distribution are strongly related to seasonality and substrate type. Naididae show, in general, maximal abundances in autumn and summer and a preference for plants, plant debris and soft sediments; Tubificidae are more abundant in spring and prefer mineral substrate. The relation between seasonality, substrate and food availability is discussed.