Scale-dependent effects of nutrient loads and climatic conditions on benthic and pelagic communities in the Gulf of Finland

Eutrophication and climate change are ranked among the most serious threats to the stability of marine ecosystems worldwide. The effects of nutrient loads and climatic conditions vary in direction, magnitude and spatial extent. To date the factors that are behind the scale-specific spatial and temporal variability are poorly known. In this study we assessed how variability in nutrient loads and climatic conditions at local, gulf and regional scales explained the spatial patterns and temporal trends of zooplankton and benthic invertebrates in the Gulf of Finland. In general both local and gulf scale environmental variability had an important effect on benthic invertebrate species and the variability was mainly due to local nutrient loading, gulf scale temperature and salinity patterns. Zooplankton species were equally affected by environmental variability at all spatial scales, and all nutrient load and climatic condition variables contributed to the models. The combination of variables at all spatial scales did not explain the substantially larger proportion in invertebrate variability than variables at any individual scale. This suggests that large-scale pressures such as nutrient loads and change of climatic conditions may define broad patterns of distribution but within these patterns small-scale environmental variability significantly modifies the response of communities to these large-scale pressures.     

Effects of the suspension feeding mussel Mytilus trossulus on a brackish water macroalgal and associated invertebrate community

The importance of suspension-feeding mussels is particularly apparent in benthic communities; however, the role of this feeding strategy on the development of macroalgal and associated invertebrate communities is in general poorly known. The effect of suspension-feeding mussels Mytilus trossulus on benthic communities was studied in an in situ factorial field experiment in the Northern Baltic Sea over one ice-free season. The experiment was performed under different regimes of wave exposure (low and moderate) and on different sedimentary habitats (soft bottom with high organic content, soft bottom with low organic content, and hard bottom). In general the presence of mussels was associated with increased biomass of filamentous algae, herbivores and deposit feeders and decreased biomass of charophytes. The effect of M. trossulus interacted with the effect of exposure and substrate. Stronger responses were observed in moderately exposed than in sheltered areas. The presence of M. trossulus affected charophytes and deposit feeders on sand with low content of organic matter and filamentous algae on pebbles but not on other substrate types. The magnitude of the effects varied between months. The results suggest that (i) even in dynamic coastal systems the biodeposits and excretions of mussels are at least partly assimilated locally and are not flushed away to the open sea, (ii) the accumulation of faecal material induced elevated growth of deposit feeders, (iii) mussels enhanced the growth of ephemeral macroalgae and reduced the growth of perennial macroalgae, and (iv) together with increasing benthic primary production, mussels indirectly increase the production of herbivores.     

钱塘江河口溶解硅的变化与影响研究

根据2013年~2014年四个季度的调查资料,结合历史数据并采用数理分析与经验模型计算相结合的方法,分析讨论了钱塘江河口溶解硅的分布、年代际变化和潜在影响。结果表明,研究区域受到河流冲淡水和东海海水混合的双重影响,溶解硅的分布与浓度呈现出明显的梯度变化与季节规律,其浓度在秋季最高,夏季次之,春季与冬季较低。近些年来溶解硅的浓度呈降低趋势,较历史水平降低了12%~25%,硅氮比也有大幅度的降低,比值自1.25降低到0.52。钱塘江河口溶解硅浓度降低主要是由于东海低溶解硅浓度海水的稀释造成的,而浮游植物量对溶解硅浓度影响有限。另外,河口叶绿素a含量与历史数据相比也存在明显降低,浮游植物细胞总量和种数都有显著下降;硅藻种类减少了近70%,并出现了绿藻、蓝藻和甲藻等非硅藻类生物,造成这几方面变化的原因很可大程度上与营养盐结构和浓度的变化有关。     

Ecological indices tracking distinct impacts along disturbance-recovery gradients in a temperate NE Atlantic Estuary – Guidance on reference values

Results gathered from a monitoring programme on the Mondego Estuary (Western Coast of Portugal) were compliant with findings drawn from other studies, which pointed out that unstable environments, namely estuarine systems, constitute a great challenge for the use of environmental tools such as ecological indices. The Margalef Index, the Shannon–Wiener Index and AMBI were proposed to evaluate the ecological status of benthic communities in the scope of the European Water Framework Directive (WFD) in Portugal and other European member states. In this system these indices were not equally effective in tracking changes in benthic communities that expressed obvious responses to anthropogenic disturbances (eutrophic situations and severe physical disturbance) and to subsequent impacts' cessation. Natural variability played an important role on the indices' response, with estuarine gradient and habitat heterogeneity affecting the ranges of values obtained, and with extreme climate events slowing down the ongoing recovery process. Nonetheless, both natural and anthropogenic variability during the study period could be satisfactorily detected if we accounted for the information provided by all three indices. Based on the whole range of variation observed (a) as a response to different kinds of impacts, and (b) along recovery gradients, as well as accounting for the natural driving forces acting upon estuarine benthic invertebrate communities, we propose a set of reference values for these three indices. This proposal aims at contributing to the implementation of classification tools within the scope of the European WFD.     

两种甲藻和两种硅藻脂肪酸组成的比较研究

研究了4种海洋微藻的脂肪酸组成。研究结果显示,锥状斯氏藻(Scrippsiella trochoidea)和海洋原甲藻(Prorocentrum micans)的主要脂肪酸有16:0、18:4ω3、18:5ω3、20:3ω6、22:6ω3,中肋骨条藻(Skeletonema costatum)和角毛藻(Chaetoceros sp.)的主要脂肪酸为14:0、16:0、16:1ω7、20:5ω3。两种甲藻和两种硅藻分别都表现出典型的甲藻门和硅藻门的脂肪酸特征。从总脂肪酸、PUFA、ω3和ω6脂肪酸的含量来看,单位干质量的两种甲藻能够比两种硅藻提供更多的脂肪酸类营养物质。但是某些动物生长发育所必需的脂肪酸(如20:5ω3)在硅藻中的含量却高于甲藻。因此实际应用中单种饵料往往不能提供足够的营养物质,通常需要将不同饵料混合以获得营养价值更高的饵料。对4种微藻的脂肪酸组成进行聚类分析和主成分分析,结果不仅反映了4种微藻在分类上亲缘关系的远近,也反映了几种微藻各自的脂肪酸组成特征。     

The cycling and oxidation pathways of organic carbon in a shallow estuary along the Texas Gulf Coast

The cycling and oxidation pathways of organic carbon were investigated at a single shallow water estuarine site in Trinity Bay, Texas, the uppermost lobe of Galveston Bay, during November 2000. Radio-isotopes were used to estimate sediment mixing and accumulation rates, and benthic chamber and pore water measurements were used to determine sediment-water exchange fluxes of oxygen, nutrients and metals, and infer carbon oxidation rates. Using ⁷Be and ²³⁴Th_XS, the sediment-mixing coefficient (D_b) was 4.3 ± 1.8 cm² y⁻¹, a value that lies at the lower limit for marine environments, indicating that mixing was not important in these sediments at this time. Sediment accumulation rates (S_a), estimated using ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb_XS, were 0.16 ± 0.02 g cm⁻² y⁻¹. The supply rate of organic carbon to the sediment-water interface was 30 ± 3.9 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹, of which ∼10% or 2.9 ± 0.44 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹was lost from the system through burial below the 1-cm thick surface mixed layer. Measured fluxes of O₂ were 26 ± 3.8 mmol m⁻² d⁻¹ and equated to a carbon oxidation rate of 20 ± 3.3 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹, which is an upper limit due to the potential for oxidation of additional reduced species. Using organic carbon gradients in the surface mixed layer, carbon oxidation was estimated at 2.6 ± 1.1 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. Independent estimates made using pore water concentration gradients of ammonium and C:N stoichiometry, equaled 2.8 ± 0.46 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. The flux of DOC out of the sediments (DOC_efflux) was 5.6 ± 1.3 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹. In general, while mass balance was achieved indicating the sediments were at steady state during this time, changes in environmental conditions within the bay and the surrounding area, mean this conclusion might not always hold. These results show that the majority of carbon oxidation occurred at the sediment-water interface, via O₂ reduction. This likely results from the high frequency of sediment resuspension events combined with the shallow sediment mixing zone, leaving anaerobic oxidants responsible for only ∼10–15% of the carbon oxidized in these sediments.     

海水升温与氮限制对三角褐指藻生长及光合作用的影响

以硅藻三角褐指藻为实验材料,研究升温(24℃)与氮限制(40μmol/L)对藻细胞生长及光合特性的影响。结果显示,氮限制使得电子从Q_A~-到Q_B的传递受阻,降低了其对光能的吸收利用效率,导致其对高光强的耐受能力下降,从而降低生长速率。而升温并未影响三角褐指藻细胞电子传递速率、单位反应中心耗散的能量(DI_o/RC)、捕获的用于还原Q_A的能量(TR_o/RC)以及吸收的能量(ABS/RC)等,表明升温对其PSⅡ光化学反应影响不显著。但应对高光强时,升温使得藻细胞修复速率降低,导致藻细胞受光抑制明显。本研究表明,相对于温度,氮限制对三角褐指藻细胞光合作用和生长的影响更为显著,而海水升温与氮限制耦合作用会进一步影响三角褐指藻的初级生产贡献。     

硅藻粘附性EPS提取方法的比较研究

底栖硅藻是可见光能照射到的水下表面生物膜中的主要污损生物,胞外多聚物(Extracellular Polymeric Substances,EPS)是硅藻生物膜形成和发育过程中的关键物质,可溶性EPS和粘附性EPS的提取方法不同,对粘附性EPS的分离提取仍没有统一的方法。本研究选用了4种方法提取底栖硅藻(Amphora sp.)粘附性EPS:30℃水浴处理、70℃水浴处理、福尔马林-NaOH处理和阳离子交换树脂处理,研究了不同分离方法条件下,Amphora sp.粘附性EPS中各主要成分的提取量。结果表明,粘附性EPS中各主要成分普遍受提取方法的影响,其中DNA含量变化幅度最大,其次是蛋白质、总糖和糖醛酸含量,硫酸基含量受提取方法的影响最小。低温水浴处理提取效率低,高温水浴处理可能影响EPS的后续分析,阳离子交换树脂提取粘附性EPS的效果较好,但对细胞的破坏最严重,福尔马林-NaOH处理提取的EPS总量最高,提取总糖、糖醛酸的效果最好,而且没有造成严重的细胞破裂。因此福尔马林-Na OH处理是相对均衡和高效的提取硅藻粘附性EPS的方法。     

Variations in distributions of C25 highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) alkenes in the diatom, Haslea ostrearia: influence of salinity

C₂₅ HBI alkenes of the diatom, Haslea ostrearia, have been examined in experiments in which the algae were cultured for up to 10 days at 14–15°C at nine different salinities (15 to 40 per mil). H. ostrearia proved to be an osmotolerant organism and growth was observed at all salinities. After 10 days growth at the lowest and highest salinities of 15 and 40 per mil, the concentrations of 2,10,14-trimethyl-6-methylene-7-(3-methylpent-1-enyl)pentadec-9-ene, which was the only HBI present in any of the samples, averaged 1.2±0.7 and 2.1±0.7 pg cell⁻¹, respectively. These were slightly lower than the HBI concentrations at 25 to 35 per mil (2.8±0.5 pg cell⁻¹). The data indicate that although salinity has an influence on HBI production in H. ostrearia, factors other than salinity are probably more important in controlling the large variations of HBI alkene concentrations and distributions found in sedimentary environments.