Effect of crab size and habitat type on the locomotory activity of juvenile shore crabs, Carcinus maenas

Post-settlement processes are a major focus in the study of the dynamics of marine populations and communities. Post-settlement movement of juveniles is an important, but often ignored, process which affects local predator–prey and competitive interactions. We used benthic suction sampling and pitfall traps to examine density and locomotory activity of Carcinus maenas juveniles in different intertidal habitat types in the Rio Mira Estuary, Portugal, to better understand intra-specific interactions in a system where density-dependent processes are known to regulate population dynamics. As expected, significantly higher densities of juvenile shore crabs were found from bare mud compared to densely vegetated habitats. At the time of sampling, small and intermediate stages together outnumbered by far the larger juveniles. Conversely, larger crabs were much more frequent than smaller ones in traps. A locomotory index (LI), i.e. the ratio between crab catch in pitfall traps and their density within their moving range, is proposed as a measure of movement. LI analyses indicated that: (1) movement is an order of magnitude higher in large than small juveniles and much higher in sparse than dense vegetation cover; (2) activity of small juveniles is mostly crepuscular, regardless of vegetation cover; and (3) movement of large juveniles is very limited in dense Zostera patches, but very high in sparsely vegetated areas, during the day and night. These results suggest that small juveniles are relatively protected under dense vegetation cover due to lower mobility of larger crabs, and provide evidence of temporal segregation of activity windows between juvenile crabs of different sizes, which may be a key mechanism to reduce cannibalism and therefore increase the carrying capacity of nursery habitats.     

Influence of the vertical distribution of cyanobacteria in the water column on the remote sensing signal

An increased intensity of cyanobacterial blooms and their potentially harmful effects have attracted the attention of environmental agencies, water authorities and the general public worldwide. Reliable operational monitoring methods of coastal waters, lakes and ponds are needed. Mapping of the surface extent of cyanobacterial blooms with remote sensing is straightforward, but recognizing waters dominated by cyanobacteria throughout the water column and quantitative mapping of cyanobacterial biomass with remote sensing is more complicated. Unlike most algae, cyanobacteria can regulate their buoyancy and move vertically in the water column. We used the Hydrolight 4.2 radiative transfer model and the specific optical properties of three species of cyanobacteria to study the impact of vertical distribution of cyanobacteria on the remote sensing signal. The results show that the vertical distribution of cyanobacteria in the water column has a significant impact on the remote sensing signal. This result indicates that developing remote sensing methods for quantitative mapping of cyanobacterial biomass is much more complex than quantitative mapping of an algal biomass that is uniformly distributed in the top mixed layer of water column.     

Regional and temporal changes in bivalve diversity off the south coast of Portugal

From 2000 to 2006, a total of 75 bivalve species were identified, varying from 29 (spring 2001) to 54 species (spring 2005) per year. Seasonal tendencies in diversity varied according the year, thus the interpretation of long-term and regional scales is essential before drawing any conclusions in other studies. Richness and diversity consistently decreased with depth and increased with sediment grain size (from low in very coarse sand to high in coarse silt). Diversity decreased progressively from 3 to 16 m depth, thus the harsher shallower environments (due to waves and tidal air exposure) showed greater diversity than the most stable areas. Communities in finer sediments were more diverse than those in coarser sand. Evenness showed patterns opposite to diversity, overall.Diversity and evenness maps (produced with multivariate universal kriging), showed that most geographic areas with greater diversity were farer from river outflows and wastewater treatment plants. Two types of geographic pattern were observed: areas with persistently greater bivalve diversity through time and areas that changed locally from year to year. This spatial analysis can be used to establish priority conservation areas for management purposes, and to analyse the persistency of regional diversity patterns. The area with most habitat heterogeneity (Sotavento) corresponded to greatest diversity.There was a positive relationship between Spisula solida and Chamelea gallina landings and bivalve diversity 2 years and 1 year later, respectively. Possibly, local fisheries, by selectively withdrawing the commercial numerically dominant species from the ecosystem, increased diversity 1 to 2 years later, as the ecological niches of the dominants are quickly filled by several other species thereby creating a more even community. On regional scales, no significant impact was found on long-term bivalve diversity in local fisheries,     

Silver in Tokyo Bay estuarine waters and Japanese rivers

Dissolved and particulate concentrations of silver in Tokyo Bay estuarine waters and Japanese rivers were determined in this study. The dissolved silver concentrations in the surface water of Tokyo Bay range from 5.9 to 15.1 pmol kg⁻¹, which is comparable to those in the surface water of the Japan Sea, but two or three times higher than those in the surface water of the open ocean. However, elevated concentrations of dissolved silver are not found in Tokyo Bay compared with those in other highly urbanized estuaries, such as San Francisco Bay (20∼243 pmol kg⁻¹). In the Tokyo Bay estuary, silver typically exhibits non-conservative mixing behavior, which is a common feature in the other estuaries reported previously. Dissolved silver concentrations decrease with salinity from the rivers to the mouth of Tokyo Bay. Silver is efficiently scavenged by suspended particulates, as evidenced by the high conditional distribution coefficients for silver throughout the estuary (log K_d > 5.0 ± 0.6). The silver fluxes into Tokyo Bay via inflowing rivers and atmospheric deposition were estimated as 83 kg y⁻¹ and 15 kg y⁻¹, respectively. A simple budget calculation shows that the silver supplied from rivers and atmosphere must be rapidly scavenged within the Tokyo Bay estuary.     

北部湾悬浮颗粒现场剖面测量与粒度分析

应用LISST-100现场激光粒度仪于2006年8月在北部湾首次进行了悬浮颗粒剖面测量,获得了整个垂直剖面的悬浮颗粒现场粒径分布、体积比和光衰减系数,并计算得到了垂直剖面的总浓度和各层的粒度参数及粒级组成。结果表明,悬浮颗粒自上而下均为双峰分布,只是表层的双峰位于5．57μm和34．4μm,中间层和底层的双峰位于34．4μm和129．4μm。悬浮颗粒体积比自上而下逐渐增大,到达底层时达到最大。光衰减系数的变化趋势与颗粒体积比非常相似,且二者存在很好的相关性,相关系数高达0．98。整个垂直剖面上,表层粒度较细,随着深度增加粒度逐渐变粗,到达底层时粒度最粗。悬浮体总体上正偏,峰态值较小,分选较差。粒度以砂为主,粉砂含量次之,不舍黏土。     

Mechanism on bipolar distribution of Permian brachiopods

By reasearch on geographic distribution, nine genera in bipolar distribution are selected from Permian brachiopods. These taxa originated from middle-high latitude areas in the boreal realm, of which five genera were derived from Late Carboniferous, and other four genera originated from Permian. They were all in bipolar distribution during some different stages in Permian. Specific diversity for each genus was high in the boreal realm, whereas in the Gondwana realm was very low. Perdurability was long in the boreal realm, and short in the Gondwana realm. It was the time when these nine genera came to their maximum diversity that these genera appeared in the Gondwana and formed bipolar distribution; while they also migrated to the low latitude from high latitude. This shows very close relationship between several main cooling events in Permian and the migration of genera from the boreal realm to the Gondwana realm through the Tethys. Therefore, the cooling events might be the main drive which caused these cold-water-type brachiopods migrated to the Gondwana realm and being bipolar distribution. In this process, the planula tolerance to warm water would be another important factor.     

海洋浮游动物多样性及其分布对全球变暖的响应

针对日益加剧的全球增温和生物多样性丧失等现象,结合浮游动物在海洋生态系统中的重要性,从世界各大海域的浮游甲壳类、水母类及毛颚类等群落对海洋表层温度升高及海流变化的响应等方面进行了综述,以期为进一步深入开展相关研究提供参考。     

东营凹陷低渗透油藏分布规律及储层改造效果

东营凹陷2001年之前探明的低渗透油藏主要分布在洼陷带、中央背斜带及北部陡坡带,以沙三段深水浊积扇及沙四段滨浅湖相砂岩滩坝、扇三角洲前缘等沉积体系为主。油藏类型主要是岩性油藏,其次为构造—岩性复合型油藏。低渗透油藏以中深层、常压-超高压、低产、中产为特征,多为特小型、小型油藏,储量丰度为低丰度~特低丰度。低渗透油藏的探井试油过程中,经历了从酸化逐步到压裂的技术发展过程。统计探井的试油效果表明,沙四段碳酸盐含量较高的砂岩低渗透油藏,酸化效果较好;黏土含量较高的沙三段低渗透油藏,压裂效果较好。     

pCO2 and carbon fluxes across sea-air interface in the Changjiang Estuary and Hangzhou Bay

Partial pressure of CO2(pCO2) was investigated in the Changjiang(Yangtze River) Estuary,Hangzhou Bay and their adjacent areas during a cruise in August 2004,China.The data show that pCO2 in surface waters of the studied area was higher than that in the atmosphere with only exception of a patch east of Zhoushan Archipelago.The pCO2 varied from 168 to 2 264 μatm,which fell in the low range compared with those of other estuaries in the world.The calculated sea-air CO2 fluxes decreased offshore and varied from -10.0 to 88.1 mmol m-2 d-1 in average of 24.4 ± 16.5 mmol m-2 d-1.Although the area studied was estimated only 2 × 104 km2,it emitted(5.9 ± 4.0) × 103 tons of carbon to the atmosphere every day.The estuaries and their plumes must be further studied for better understanding the role of coastal seas playing in the global oceanic carbon cycle.