Search for hidden pearl mussel populations at the Russian section of the Baltic Sea

The freshwater pearl mussel Margaritifera margaritifera (L., 1758) is considered to be a critically endangered species. It is important to obtain information on the distribution and status of the surviving populations of the species, but in Russia this work is still problematic due to the size of the country’s territory, combined with the insufficient number of available specialists. “Searching rules” have been proposed to remotely identify potential pearl mussel habitats in rivers. The most important criteria are relating to the lakes found at the rivers’ sources, as well as to the extent of the deforestation along river basins. About 200 watercourses of the Russian section of the Baltic Sea basin were evaluated using these “rules”. As a result, two previously unknown, viable populations were discovered (comprising about 53,000 specimens), while the absence of pearl mussels was made evident among some rivers which were traditionally believed to be their habitats. The obtained data provides an update on the status of pearl mussels in Russian territories located south of the 61 st degree of latitude. There are 10 populations of this species; 4 of them are almost extinct, 6 are relatively numerous but declining. The total number of pearl mussels hardly exceeds 90,000 individuals.     

Research and management priorities for Atlantic marine recreational fisheries in Southern Europe

Marine Recreational Fishing (MRF) is an important activity in Europe, with 9 million fishers and generating annually € 6 billion in direct expenditures. However, there is a lack of data and understanding of MRF in Europe, particularly in Southern countries, which prevents a number of fish stocks from being effectively assessed and managed. In November 2016, a participatory workshop on MRF was held in Vigo (Spain) to identify challenges and opportunities for data collection, and to diagnose key research gaps and management issues for MRF in the Southern European Atlantic. Experts from a wide range of disciplines (researchers, policy makers, fisheries managers and commercial and recreational fishers) highlighted that the management of MRF is a challenge due to complex and dispersed legal frameworks, with multiple administrations involved, and overlapping uses of space with commercial fishing, aquaculture, navigation and tourism, among others. The lack of strong and representative fishing associations hampers research and management initiatives. Effective communication between recreational fishers, researchers and fisheries managers is also lacking. Despite the ecological, social and economic relevance of MRF, there is no systematic and comprehensive collection of information on fishing effort, recreational catches, expenses, social profile and access conditions of European recreational fishers. These data would be useful to avoid biases in the assessment of recreational fisheries due to the great diversity of ecosystems, species and typologies of users. Strategic recommendations and research priorities were also identified to address knowledge gaps and are discussed in the context of the management of MRF across Europe.     

Phytoplankton,macrophytes and benthic diatoms in lake classification: Consistent,congruent, redundant? Lessons learnt from WFD-compliant monitoring in Poland

The lake monitoring programme compliant with the Water Framework Directive has been implemented in Poland since 2007. Currently, the methods for three biological quality elements (BQEs): phytoplankton (the Phytoplankton Multimetric for Polish Lakes, PMPL), macrophytes (the Ecological State Macrophyte Index, ESMI) and phytobenthos (the Diatom Index for Lakes, IOJ) are officially applied and internationally intercalibrated. Based on the monitoring data from 256 lakes surveyed in 2010–2013 and assessed for all the three BQEs, we tested whether the assessment results obtained by the three biological methods were consistent and we searched for the causes of inconsistencies which we found. The lake classifications obtained from the PMPL and ESMI were highly consistent and the relationship between these metrics was relatively strong (R = 0.66, p < 0.001). Both metrics correlated equally strongly with water quality indicators. However, the PMPL and ESMI indicated systematic dissimilarities in the sensitivity to eutrophication between shallow and deep lakes. In shallow lakes, the alarming symptoms of macrophyte community deterioration (lower values of ESMI) occurred at lower nutrient and Chla concentrations and were accompanied by a better status of phytoplankton (higher values of PMPL) than in deep lakes that can be explained by a synergistic effect of inorganic suspended solids and algal growth on water transparency. As a consequence, the positions of phytoplankton and macrophytes as early warning indicators in the eutrophication gradient in shallow lakes were inverted compared to those in deep lakes. Compared to the PMPL and ESMI, the IOJ method gave the least stringent assessment results, with 22% of lakes failing to meet the environmental objectives. The relationships between IOJ and PMPL, and ESMI were relatively weak (R = 0.17, p = 0.008 and R = 0.17, p = 0.007, respectively). Moreover, the phytobenthos index IOJ correlated significantly more weakly with all the water quality indicators than either PMPL or ESMI did. The poor performance of the phytobenthos method in this study may suggest a limited indicator value of this BQE for lake assessment or inappropriate sampling design.     

新疆尼勒克、巩留交界MS6．0地震灾害损失评估与房屋震害特征

新疆尼勒克、巩留交界MS6．0地震震中烈度为Ⅶ度,地震没有造成人员伤亡,但个别民宅倒塌,大量村镇居民房屋遭受中等以上破坏,一些教育、卫生等公房遭破坏;交通和水利设施有一定程度破坏,经及时抢修,未对灾区生产生活产生明显影响。通过实地抽样调查和统计计算,评估出本次地震造成的直接经济损失为67846万元,恢复重建的经费需120349万元。     

A prediction model for important mineral resources in China

Prediction models for mineral resources provide an analytical foundation and method to express the results of resource evaluations. The project “China National Mineral Resources Assessment Initiative” was conducted during 2006–2013, with the aim to determine the location, quantity, and quality of 25 important mineral resources occurring at depths of <1 km. There are currently 80 integrated prediction models on the scale of III–level metallogenic belts in use across China. The Huangshaping Pb–Zn polymetallic deposit, Hunan province, China, is used as a case study to establish methods and processes for developing a mineral resource prediction model that would be used for exploration targeting. The construction of prediction models requires the development of a classification scheme for the proposed prediction method appropriate for the prediction area. An initial metallogenic model is quantitatively transformed to a prospecting model, and then a prediction model. The incorporation of additional methodology, analysis of a comprehensive geological database, and correlation of asymmetric information between the well–explored typical deposit area and regional prediction area, yield an integrated prediction model. This paper also discusses the prediction modeling theory, and presents 12 models used for mineral assessments.     

基于模糊综合评价模型的天津滨海新区湿地生态系统健康评价

以环渤海地区的天津滨海新区湿地为例,运用模糊综合评价模型对湿地生态系统的健康进行了诊断评价。首先从湿地生态特征、整体功能特征和社会经济3方面选取26个评价指标,构建了天津滨海新区湿地生态系统健康的评价体系。评价等级分为很健康、健康、一般、一般病态、疾病5级,运用定量与定性相结合的方法界定等级。运用模糊综合评价模型对天津滨海新区湿地生态系统健康进行诊断,评价综合得分为0.48,健康水平处于疾病状态,主要表现在水质污染严重和水源保证水平低、景观破碎化、功能退化3个方面。     

Actually achieving marine sustainability demands a radical re-think in approach, not 'more of the same'

The UK is committed to meeting a series of ‘high-level marine objectives’ which are required to satisfy national obligations and to meet international commitments for the marine environment. There are more than 16 such international high-level policy driven obligations and commitments, together with more than 18 European and more than 12 of national origin. In the UK, there is an assumption that the current and planned monitoring will provide evidence to demonstrate achievement against these high-level objectives.     

Advances on Assessment of Bioclimatic Comfort Conditions at Home and Abroad

The evaluation of bioclimatic comfort conditions has very important theoretical meaning and practical value, not only beacause it can help travelers choose their favorate holiday destinations, but also because it can provide scientific foundation for the assessment of urban living environment. It has become a hot topic recently, driven by the flourishing tourism and the improvement of people’s living standard. The research history on assessment of bioclimatic comfort conditions, which may date back almost a century, is divided into three peroids based on a detailed survey of literature related to this topic over the past century. The infulential assessment models in each period are introduced. The historical background, basic idea and applicable conditions for each model are described in detail. The research shows that: ①bioclimatic comfort assessment models have been evolved from simple empirical models limited to space and time into complicated, impersonal, and universal energy balance models, which shows the trend of sophistication and objectivity; ②Today, empirical models are still widely used for the assessment of comfortable climates in China, and thus it is important to select the appropriate ones to make sure they are good for use for a study area or in a particular season; ③there are some problems calling for immediate resolution, such as to develop universal assessment models as well as to explore fine scale assessment techniques; ④the evaluation on featured comfortable climates, which might expand the study area of comfortable climates assessment, is an important research direction in the future.     

Application of biomarkers for improving risk assessments of chemicals under the Water Framework Directive: a case study

To answer the requirement of the European Commission's Water Framework Directive (WFD) for biological-effects endpoints to classify the ecological health of aquatic ecosystems, we propose the biomarker response index (BRI). The BRI, based on a suite of biomarkers at different levels of biological response at the individual level, provides an integrated relative measure of the general health status of coastal invertebrates. Using the BRI, the health of mussels (Mytilus edulis) from 10 estuaries classified by the Environment Agency of England and Wales under the WFD was compared. Eight sites were healthier than predicted and two showed a similar health status to that of the predicted point-source pollution risk classification. Results indicate that the BRI offers a potential measure of organism health that can be used in monitoring under the WFD as an additional aid to reduce uncertainty in defining risk classification and to provide better evidence of existing impact.