Seeing the ocean through the eyes of seabirds: A new path for marine conservation?

Seeing the ocean through the eyes of seabirds could help meet the challenges of managing common-pool marine resources both in protected and unprotected areas. First, seabirds are top-predators, exposed to all threats affecting the oceans, and this makes them ideal sentinel organisms for monitoring changes within marine ecosystems. Second, seabirds cross both ecological and political boundaries, and following their movements should help making interdependencies within and between marine ecosystems more visible. Third, seabirds are conspicuous and often charismatic animals, which interact differently with different groups of stakeholders and provide the opportunity to acknowledge and discuss each other's values and interests. In this paper, we present these research avenues using a seabirds’ view, for tackling marine conservation and management issues, and we give operational examples of implementation based on our work in the English Channel.     

夏季辽东湾西部海域大型底栖动物群落结构与多样性

为了解夏季辽东湾西部海域大型底栖动物群落结构与多样性,作者于2009年8月对六股河口外海域15个站位进行了大型底栖动物调查。整个研究海域共采到大型底栖动物124种,其总平均丰度为(2824±1537)个/m2,总平均生物量为(22.01±38.58)g/m2。利用相对重要性指数和优势度指数所确定的前三位优势种一致,分别为二齿半尖额涟虫(Hemileucon bidentatus)、深钩毛虫(Sigambra bassi)和独指虫(Aricidea fragilis),其余优势种存在细微差异。各站位香农-维纳多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数和Margalef丰富度指数均呈现河口和中部海域低,近岸和外围海域高的分布规律。在50%相似度水平上,可将研究海域划分为4个群落。研究结果表明:研究海域底栖环境整体清洁,底层水环境因子对大型底栖动物群落的影响较弱。     

不同饵料种类、投喂方式及环境条件对凡纳滨对虾相对摄食量的影响

为提高对虾养殖过程中的饵料利用率并减少养殖废水的排放,作者以凡纳滨对虾(Litopenaeus vannamei)为实验对象,研究了不同饵料种类、投喂方式、体质量、充气量、光照强度、水温及盐度对其相对摄食量的影响。结果表明:配合饲料组对虾的相对摄食量显著高于冰鲜虾肉组;连续单颗投喂时对虾的相对摄食量较高;相对摄食量随对对虾体重升高而显著(P0.01)下降,而且不同规格的对虾在竞争条件下平均相对摄食量会降低;充气量6 L/min组对虾的相对摄食量明显高于另外两组;弱光环境下对虾的相对摄食量较高;水温和盐度对相对摄食量的影响极显著(P0.01),在32℃时对虾获得最大相对摄食量,在盐度为5时相对摄食量最小,高盐度下组间差异不显著(P0.05)。因此,在实际生产中应采取少量多次的投饵策略,并根据环境条件的变化合理的调整投饵量。     

Protection of marine birds and turtles at St Brandon’s Rock,Indian Ocean,requires conservation of the entire atoll

A survey of seabirds and turtles at St Brandon’s Rock, 400 km north of Mauritius, was undertaken in 2010. We estimated that 1 084 191 seabirds comprising seven breeding species and excluding non-breeders were present at the archipelago and we counted 279 turtle tracks and nesting pits of green turtles Chelonia mydas. Hawksbill turtles Eretmochelys imbricata were also present. Analyses of 30 different islets that make up the atoll showed that the seabird species mostly partitioned their use of islets based on islet size, with four species preferring larger islets and two species preferring smaller islets. Alien species introduced historically are still present and other threats, such as shipwrecks, remain. We propose conservation and other measures that should adequately protect the birds, turtles and coral reef by treating the atoll as a system.     

Back to the future: reflections and directions of South African marine bioinvasion research

Biological invasions continue to increase around the world, with impacts on many coastal marine systems. Here we review the South African marine invasion literature which, despite the field being relatively new, has grown to have significant presence in both the local and international arenas. Of the 79 papers reviewed, 70% focused on the establishment and spread of alien species, with modes of transport and introduction largely overlooked. An emphasis was also apparent towards field studies, in particular survey work, with few experimental studies. The overwhelming majority of papers focused on a single species, the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis, reflecting the scale of this invasion and the tractable nature of rocky shores as study systems. With the exception of this one species, the impacts of marine alien species have rarely been quantified. We suggest that future research extends the taxonomic coverage of present work and develops a better understanding of the mechanisms of introduction, establishment and spread of marine alien species. Through an experimental approach, the drivers of altered ecological patterns and processes resulting from invasions should be addressed, providing insight into associated impacts. This approach will maintain the local applicability and international relevance of South African marine invasion research.     

长江口邻近海域夏季大型底栖生物群落特征

本文根据2014年6月长江口邻近海域大型底栖生物的调查资料, 采用优势度指数, 物种多样性指数、丰富度指数、均匀度指数, Bray-Curtis相似性聚类和非参数多维标度排序(nMDS)标序方法, 分析了长江口邻近海域夏季大型底栖生物的群落特征。本次调查共采集大型底栖生物135种, 其中多毛类66种, 甲壳动物33种, 棘皮动物14种, 软体动物13种, 其他类群9种。调查海域的大型底栖生物平均丰度为122.2ind/m₂,平均生物量为7.8g/ m₂。丰度、生物量和多样性指数在不同海区间的空间差异均不显著。大型底栖生物在20%的相似性水平上可以划分为8个群组,各站位间相似性水平较低。ABC曲线表明,伴随海岸带开发及人类活动的持续影响, 长江口邻近海域底栖生境的稳定性受到轻微扰动, 建议继续开展长期连续的监测, 为研究长江口海域环境变化和大型底栖生物群落演替提供基础资料。     

温石棉通过活性氧激活线粒体通路诱导A549细胞凋亡的机制研究

探讨活性氧(reactive oxygen species,ROS)在温石棉激活线粒体通路诱导A549凋亡中的作用。采用不同浓度温石棉粉尘染毒人肺上皮细胞(A549)后,MTT法检测细胞存活率,流式细胞术检测ROS抑制剂N-乙酰半胱氨酸(N-acetyl-L-cysteine,NAC)预处理前后的细胞凋亡率、胞内ROS水平及线粒体膜电位,Western Blot法检测各组细胞半胱天冬氨酸蛋白酶3(caspase-3)、p53蛋白表达水平。实验结果显示,温石棉可降低A549细胞存活率,呈现时间-剂量效应关系;NAC可显著减少胞内ROS水平、阻止线粒体膜电位下降,并下调caspase-3、p53蛋白的表达水平,抑制部分细胞凋亡的发生。表明ROS可通过诱导p53蛋白过表达,激活线粒体凋亡通路,诱导A549细胞发生凋亡。     

Late Quaternary chironomid community structure shaped by rate and magnitude of climate change

Much is known about how climate change impacts ecosystem richness and turnover, but we have less understanding of its influence on ecosystem structures. Here, we use ecological metrics (beta diversity, compositional disorder and network skewness) to quantify the community structural responses of temperature-sensitive chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) during the Late Glacial (14 700–11 700 cal a bp ) and Holocene (11 700 cal a bp to present). Analyses demonstrate high turnover (beta diversity) of chironomid composition across both epochs; however, structural metrics stayed relatively intact. Compositional disorder and skewness show greatest structural change in the Younger Dryas, following the rapid, high-magnitude climate change at the Bølling–Allerød to Younger Dryas transition. There were fewer climate-related structural changes across the early to mid–late Holocene, where climate change was more gradual and lower in magnitude. The reduced impact on structural metrics could be due to greater functional resilience provided by the wider chironomid community, or to the replacement of same functional-type taxa in the network structure. These results provide insight into how future rapid climate change may alter chironomid communities and could suggest that while turnover may remain high under a rapidly warming climate, community structural dynamics retain some resilience.     

中国晚泥盆世至早三叠世楔叶类植物多样性研究*

化石类群的分类单元多样性和形态多样性变化是生物宏演化的2个基本方面,而以往的研究对于后者的关注较少。晚古生代的楔叶类植物易于识别,化石记录丰富,但针对这一类群多样性演化的研究还较为缺乏。基于华北板块、华南板块晚泥盆世至早三叠世楔叶类植物属、种以及叶片形态编码数据库,对楔叶类植物宏演化历程进行详细研究。中国(华北板块和华南板块)楔叶类植物的属、种丰富度在晚古生代呈现出不稳定的持续增长,表现为晚泥盆世的初始兴盛、早石炭世杜内期至早二叠世萨克马尔期的缓慢上升、早二叠世萨克马尔期至晚二叠世吴家坪期的快速上升;晚二叠世长兴期,总体的属种多样性骤减;每百万年属种多样性在二叠纪—三叠纪之交亦有明显降低。华南板块楔叶类植物的属种多样性总体上小于华北板块,达到峰值的时间为卡匹敦期—吴家坪期,而华北楔叶类植物的属级多样性在空谷期—沃德期达到峰值。中国楔叶类植物叶片的形态多样性的剧烈变化与属种丰富度并不同步,表现为法门期至韦宪期较小,在宾夕法尼亚亚纪达到峰值,随后稍微下降并在二叠纪的大部分时段保持平稳。在晚古生代的叶片形态演化过程中,楔叶类植物的叶面积由小变大、叶片由深裂至不裂、叶尖形状由分裂变为圆形或钝圆、叶轮中的叶从大小相等到大小不等并出现叶镶嵌,这可能与当时植物群落中林下层光照强度的变化有关。     

日照港和邻近锚地及其入境船舶压舱水中浮游植物群集结构的特征

根据2003年10月到2004年3月间日照港和邻近锚地水域及其船舶压舱水中的浮游植物调查资料,对浮游植物的群集结构和压舱水对其影响进行了初步研究。结果表明,日照港的浮游植物群集主要由温带沿岸性物种组成,以硅藻为主,还有少量的甲藻。对比船舶压舱水中浮游植物群集发现:压舱水中浮游植物群集和本地群集结构有很大的差异,有害物种在压舱水中所占的比例较高。