ROBUST: The ROle of BUffering capacities in STabilising coastal lagoon ecosystems

“Buffer capacities” has been defined in ecology as a holistic concept (e.g., Integration of Ecosystem Theories: A Pattern, second ed. Kluwer, Dordrecht, 1997, 388pp), but we show that it can also be worked out in mechanistic studies. Our mechanistic approach highlights that “buffering capacities” can be depleted progressively, and, therefore, we make a distinction between current and potential “buffering capacities”. We have applied this concept to understand the limited “local stability” in seagrass ecosystems and their vulnerability towards structural changes into macro-algal dominated communities. We explored the following processes and studied how they confer buffering capacities to the seagrass ecosystem: (i) net autotrophy is persistent in Zostera noltii meadows where plant assimilation acts as a sink for nutrients, this contrasted with the Ulva system that shifted back and forth between net autotrophy and net heterotrophy; (ii) the Z. noltii ecosystem possesses a certain albeit rather limited capacity to modify the balance between nitrogen fixation and denitrification, i.e., it was found that in situ nitrogen fixation always exceeded denitrification; (iii) the nitrogen demand of organoheterotrophic bacteria in the sediment results in nitrogen retention of N in the sediment and hence a buffer against release of nitrogen compounds from sediments, (iv) habitat diversification in seagrass meadows provides shelter for meiofauna and hence buffering against adverse conditions, (v) sedimentary iron provides a buffer against noxious sulfide (note: bacterial sulfide production is enhanced in anoxic sediment niches by increased organic matter loading). On the other hand, in the coastal system we studied, sedimentary iron appears less important as a redox-coupled buffer system against phosphate loading. This is because most inorganic phosphate is bound to calcium rather than to iron. In addition, our studies have highlighted the importance of plant–microbe interactions in the seagrass meadows.     

流沙湾冬、春季大型海藻的微量元素分析

采用微波消解法和AFA、ICP-MS对流沙湾2008年冬春季21种大型海藻的微量元素进行了分析。结果表明,As、Cu、Pb、Cr、Se、Fe、Mn在细江蓠体内含量最高,分别为8.90、34.35、24.26、68.12、12.04、26777.20、400.16mg/kg;Hg在海蕴体内含量最高,达6.90mg/kg;Zn在鼠尾藻体内含量最高,为277.37mg/kg;Cd在石花菜体内含量最高,为6.77mg/kg;Ba在海门冬体内含量最高,为127.02mg/kg。各藻类对各重金属元素的综合富集能力由强到弱依次为细江蓠拟刚毛藻水云海蕴鼠尾藻海门冬条浒苔小珊瑚肠浒苔蜈蚣藻礁膜大石花菜石花菜半盐生单歧藻团扇藻长石莼宽扁叉节藻穗状鱼浒苔喇叭菜海头红刚毛藻,显示出藻类对各重金属元素综合富集能力因藻而异。各元素被藻类富集的量从大到小依次为FeMnBaZnCrCuPbAsSeCdHg,显示出藻类对营养元素的富集要大于对毒性元素的富集。各藻类对各重金属的富集系数从几倍至几十万倍不等,最高是细江蓠对Fe的富集,其次为海蕴对Hg的富集,最差为刚毛藻对Se的富集,其富集系数分别为204875.29、13800.00、3.48。聚类分析结果显示细江篱的富集能力最强,是多种重金属污染海域修复的首选生态环境材料。但对重金属复合污染海域进行生物修复,应有针对性地选择数种富集能力较强的大型海藻组成修复生物群落。     

Dissolved organic matter fluorescence spectroscopy as a tool to estimate biological activity in a coastal zone submitted to anthropogenic inputs

Here we report on an investigation of the three-dimensional excitation-emission-matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectra of unconcentrated water samples collected in 1996, 1998 and 1999 at a site particularly propitious for macro-algae development. The degradation of these macro-algae was studied to determine the influence of their exudates on natural water EEM fluorescence spectra. This work demonstrates that biological activity is one of the major factors involved in the formation of the blue-shifted fluorescence band observed in marine waters (β component Ex/Em=310–320 nm/380–410 nm); our study also shows that fluorescence can be used to evaluate the biological activity both quantitatively and to determine its different phases.