Coastal Fish Diversity in Three Marine Protected Areas and One Unprotected Area in the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic)

Abstract. The coastal fish assemblage in three protected sites and one unprotected area in the Slovenian part of the Gulf of Trieste (Northern Adriatic) was studied. Species composition and richness were comparable at all studied sites, including the control, unprotected area. Differences in fish density between the protected area of Debeli rti? and the unprotected area of Fiesa‐Pacug were revealed using correspondence analysis. Particularly the densities of certain labrid species (Symphodus cinereus and S. roissali) were higher in the protected area. Those differences are attributable to the extended and densely vegetated infralittoral belt of the Debeli rti? area rather than to its protected status.     

The MSY concept in a multi-objective fisheries environment – Lessons from the North Sea

One of the most important goals in current fisheries management is to maintain or restore stocks above levels that can produce the maximum sustainable yield (MSY). However, it may not be feasible to achieve MSY simultaneously for multiple species because of trade-offs that result from interactions between species, mixed fisheries and the multiple objectives of stakeholders. The premise in this study is that MSY is a concept that needs adaptation, not wholesale replacement. The approach chosen to identify trade-offs and stakeholder preferences involved a process of consulting and discussing options with stakeholders as well as scenario modelling with bio-economic and multi-species models. It is difficult to intuitively anticipate the consequences of complex trade-offs and it is also complicated to address them from a political point of view. However, scenario modelling showed that the current approach of treating each stock separately and ignoring trade-offs may result in unacceptable ecosystem, economic or social effects in North Sea fisheries. Setting F_MSY as a management target without any flexibility for compromises may lead to disappointment for some of the stakeholders. To treat F_MSY no longer as a point estimate but rather as a “Pretty Good Yield” within sustainable ranges was seen as a promising way forward to avoid unacceptable outcomes when trying to fish all stocks simultaneously at F_MSY. This study gives insights on how inclusive governance can help to reach consensus in difficult political processes, and how science can be used to make informed decisions inside a multi-dimensional trade-off space.     

南麂列岛火焜岙潮间带底栖纤毛虫物种多样性和群落时空分布

纤毛虫是潮间带沉积物中多样性高且丰度占优势的类群,其群落结构可反映环境状态。于2013年11月(秋季)、2014年2月(冬季)、5月(春季)和8月(夏季)开展了南麂列岛火焜岙砂质潮间带沉积物中纤毛虫物种多样性和群落结构的时空分布研究。结果表明,该生境中底栖纤毛虫物种丰富,共检获148种纤毛虫,涉及19目70余属;纤毛虫的丰度和物种组成呈现显著的季节差异和垂直分层差异。其中,丰度占优势的纤毛虫按食性依次为菌食类群、肉食类群和藻食类群;已非典型的砂隙纤毛虫区系,而是呈现出某些有机质丰富的泥沙质沉积物中的纤毛虫群落的特点,这可能是该生境受人类活动影响的后续效应。但纤毛虫物种多样性较高,这表明尽管存在人类干扰的长期效应,潮间带周边环境良好,对周边居民及设施的动迁等多样性保护措施可能已经产生了向好的结果。     

改性粘土絮凝法对小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)生理生化性质的影响

改性粘土治理赤潮生物的主要原理是絮凝作用,但水体中未被去除的微藻对改性粘土有怎样的生理生化响应尚不清楚。本文以小球藻(Chlorella vulgaris)为模式生物,考察了改性粘土絮凝后水体中残余小球藻生理生化性质的变化情况。研究发现,经改性粘土或原土絮凝后,残余小球藻的生长受到了明显抑制,其丙二醛(malondialdehyde,MDA)含量迅速上升,改性粘土组的MDA含量高于原土组。除了原土组过氧化氢酶(catalase,CAT)活性相比对照组没有明显变化外,改性粘土组和原土组超氧化物歧化酶(superoxide dismutase,SOD)、CAT、抗坏血酸过氧化物酶(ascorbate peroxidase,APX)和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶(glutathione peroxidase,GSH-PX)等酶活,均呈现先上升后下降、并稳定在较高水平的变化趋势。原土组各酶活普遍低于改性粘土组,但GSH-PX活性则相反。结果表明,改性粘土不仅能高效去除水体中的小球藻,而且能够刺激残余的藻细胞积累较多的O2-·和H2O2,从而对藻细胞造成过氧化伤害,抑制未被去除部分海洋微藻的正常生长。     

南黄海新构造运动

定义了南黄海新构造运动的概念;提出了南黄海新构造运动的研究方法;阐明了南黄海新构造运动的机理,即受滨西太平洋构造域控制,是在老构造基础上的继承和发展;描述了南黄海新构造运动的基本特征;总结了南黄海新构造运动的研究意义。     

黑河流域中下游地区植物物种生存域研究

基于对地境和根群的认识, 从系统论的角度首次提出了植物物种地境稳定层及生存域概念, 运用多种理化指标的组合状态对黑河中下游多年生植物物种地境稳定层层位进行了确定, 深度范围为40~100 cm.根据各典型植物物种地境稳定层的水土条件相应地圈划了它们的生存域, 并提出了黑河下游地区植被分布与地境关系的一些新认识.      

Recovery of the biogenic nest habitat of Limaria hians (Mollusca: Limacea) following anthropogenic disturbance

The rate of regrowth of Limaria hians nest material, following a simulated dredging impact, was examined on an extensive L. hians bed off the west coast of Scotland. Within an area of complete coverage of the sea bed by a turf of L. hians nest material, the turf was cleared by diver from 10 × 0.25 m² plots and the sediment subsequently raked to simulate the passage of a scallop dredge. The areal extent and pattern of nest regrowth were recorded after 6 and 12 months. Control plots showed no significant change in 100% nest cover over the year. In the treated plots regrowth generally occurred from extension of peripheral nest material. Over the initial 6 autumn and winter months treatment plots displayed a mean regrowth of 9.2% of the cleared area, increasing to 15% in the second 6-month spring and summer period. However, no significant difference in growth was found between these periods. After 12 months half the treatment plots exhibited <25% nest cover and none of them contained nest of a thickness comparable to the surrounding bed. Conversion of regrowth rates within the treated plots to the rate of nest advance along a linear front, gave a value of 3.2 cm per year, highlighting the susceptibility of this species-rich biotope to scallop dredging.     

Predators on rocky shores in the northern Atlantic: Can the results of local experiments be generalized on a geographical scale?

Experimental manipulations of invertebrate prey and predators on rocky shores have been done by many authors. In the northern Atlantic the predators involved are usually the green crab Carcinus maenas and/or the dogwhelk Nucella lapillus, and the prey species studied are acorn barnacles (balanid Cirripedia), mussels (Mytilus spp.) and winkles (Littorina spp.). Usually the predators are found to have a regulating “top–down” effect on the prey species. In Iceland the acorn barnacle Semibalanus balanoides, the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and the flat periwinkle Littorina obtusata (including to some extent Littorina mariae) are found on rocky shores all around Iceland in what would seem to be near-optimal physical conditions. The predators Carcinus maenas and Nucella lapillus, on the other hand, are relatively southern species that do not thrive on the colder coasts of Iceland. Thus general surveys of different coasts of Iceland would seem to offer opportunities to see whether the results of local experiments can be discerned on a geographical scale (hundreds of km). The roughly 4900 km of the rocky coastline in Iceland was in this study subdivided into four regions, I–IV, according to the commonness or presence of the two predators. With the hope of reducing compounding factors the surveys were confined to sheltered or semi-sheltered fucoid shores, which were further divided into Ascophyllum (more sheltered) and Fucus vesiculosus (less sheltered) shores. Estuaries or other low-salinity environments were avoided. The study was based on 761 stations distributed around the rocky coastline on these two types of shores. The results for barnacles and mussels, being generally more abundant in regions were predators were scarce or absent, and being less common in Ascophyllum than F. vesiculosus shores in contrast to the predatory dogwelks, were in large measure in accord with predictions from experiments indicating “top–down” regulation. The results for the periwinkles, however, suggested that “bottom–up” regulation might be of greater importance, as their density was closely linked to the biomass of macroalgae, while the abundance of predators appeared to have little effect. The periwinkle, although certainly eaten, may not be a preferred prey of the two predators in question in Iceland. This paper forms a link between experimental and observational study approaches.     

Connections between hydrodynamics, benthic landscape and associated fauna in the Balearic Islands, western Mediterranean

Linking the abiotic and biotic traits of ecosystems is a critical step towards understanding their structure and functioning. Here we attempt to determine the connections between the hydrodynamics, benthic landscape and the associated fish communities on the coastal continental shelf off the Balearic Islands (western Mediterranean). Specifically we investigate the role the hydrodynamics play in shaping the benthic landscape, and whether the hydrodynamics affect the composition and structure of demersal fish communities. A realistic numerical model was used to establish the hydrodynamic characteristics of the area. The study area showed high hydrodynamic variability on a medium spatial scale (tens of km) in terms of mean water velocity (ū). Principal component analysis was used to determine the main gradients of macro-epibenthic variability. Redundancy analysis (RDA) was used to model the effect of the hydrodynamics on macro-epibenthic species. RDA was also used to model the effect of the hydrodynamics and macro-epibenthos on the abundance of the associated fish fauna, and on its biomass at a community level using biomass spectra classes. The results showed that the hydrodynamics had a significant influence on the distribution of both macro-epibenthic species and the associated fish species. The latter was also influenced by the macro-epibenthos. Fish size appeared to be a key attribute for the distribution of species across gradients of ū and macro-epibenthic change. Our findings can be applied in ecosystem-based fisheries management, as they show that it is necessary to take into account both the biotic and abiotic traits of the habitats when the habitat use and requirements of the associated species are defined.