BENTHIC INVERTEBRATES OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER1

ABSTRACT: In 1976–77, benthic invertebrates were sampled at four sites in a 410-kilometer reach of the lower Mississippi River to define the communities in the river and to determine differences between communities upstream and downstream from the industrial and municipal complexes of Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana. The most common and most numerous organisms collected were Corbicula and tubificid worms. The benthic community structure of the lower Mississippi River is influenced by substrate type and stability, channel geometry, river velocity, vegetation and organic detritus, and salinity. Sampling stations near the left and right banks had low velocities, and substrate types ranged from medium silt to very fine sand. Burrowing organisms such as tubificids, chironomids, and ephemerid-type mayflies dominated these environments. At the center, left-center, and right-center stations, velocities were higher and substrate materials were coarser than at the bank stations; only Corbicula was present in large numbers. Near the river mouth, salinity and aquatic vegetation greatly affect the benthic community structure. Differences in benthic community structure in the Mississippi River are due primarily to different hydrologic conditions. Industrial and municipal wastes discharged into the river appear to have little or no widespread effects on benthic populations.     

Toxic marine diatoms of Hong Kong:A paleoecological study

To determine whether toxic diatoms in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour have become more common during the last four decades,a gravity core was taken from the anaerobic sediments of Kowloon Bay in the harbour. Analysis of these sediments from a depth of 0-1cm,4-5cm and 9-10cm indicated that 6.4%,2.4% and 1.5% of the diatoms observed at each of these three respective depths belonged to the genus Pseudonitzschia. The abundance of Pseudonitzschia frustules in the surface sediments of Victoria Harbour was significantly higher(p<0.05)than it was in the harbour's deeper and older(ca.1965)sediments. The increase in potentially toxic diatom species over the last 30 years was attributed to a variety of factors including the addition of large amounts of nutrients to Hong Kong's coastal waters as a re- sult of man's activities.     

Community Experiments Using Benthic Chambers: Microbial Significance in Highly Organic Enriched Sediments

The structure of the benthic microbial loop was studied in order to understand heterotrophic pathways in the suboxic sediments of the Rapallo Harbour in autumn, 1996. Sediments were characterized by the large accumulation of organic detritus (17.2 - 21.4 μg chloroplastic pigment equivalents (CPE)g^-1; carbohydrates and proteins: 7.8-16.7 and 6.7-7.5 mg g^-1). Due to the high organic load, benthic bacteria and protozoa displayed extremely high densities (1.4 × 10⁹ cells g^-1 and 26.9 × 10⁵ cells g^-1). Meiofauna, protozoa and bacteria showed an approximate biomass ratio of 1:2:20. the presence of large amounts of organic matter appeared to determine a shift of the benthic size structure toward the increasing dominance of the smaller components of the benthic food webs. These data indicate that the sediments of the Rapallo Harbour were dominated by microbial biomasses to a larger extent than in non-food limited environments, characterized by a lower organic contamination. On the results presented in this study, the microbial dominance in highly organic enriched sediments can be explained with: (1) a reduction of the top-down control and grazing pressure of meio- and macrofauna on the microbial components; (2) the opportunistic composition and high metabolic activity of the microbial components.     

河蚬在我国沉积物毒性评价与鉴定中的应用研究

河蚬作为原产并广泛分布于我国及东南亚的双壳类淡水软体动物,是我国众多水域的底栖优势种。河蚬对水体污染物具有较强累积能力,已成功用于水体沉积物生物富集及生物毒性效应研究。但应用于沉积物毒性鉴别评估(TIE)研究整体上仍处于起步阶段,尚未形成一套标准指标测定方法和技术体系。为此,本研究在调查底栖生物在我国沉积物毒性研究的基础上,以河蚬为主要研究对象,探讨其在我国生态分布等生物学背景,系统分析其对重金属和有机污染物的生物富集特征以及相关生物毒性效应方面的研究进展,以期为河蚬作为我国特色的沉积物毒性鉴别评估(TIE)受试生物提供参考依据。     

Development of an integrated chemical,biological and ecological approach for impact assessment of Mediterranean offshore gas platforms

The pressure for more energy demand is a strong driver for the construction of offshore oil and gas platforms. This also applies to the Adriatic Sea where, since 1960, several gas fields have been commissioned. The continuous expansion of the gas industry may potentially have detrimental effects on marine communities. This may become particularly clear in such a peculiar semi-enclosed basin as the Adriatic Sea, which contains ecosystems that are subject to intensive anthropic pressures, such as unsustainable fishing and inputs of environmental pollutants. To date, still scant information is available on the environmental effects of gas platforms. Thus, to comply with the national Italian legislation and to support the development of protocols for the monitoring of offshore activities, multidisciplinary studies have been conducted and performed by CNR-ISMAR in cooperation with some private and public research institutes. A multidisciplinary approach based on chemical, biological and ecological investigations was performed to evaluate both the water column and the sediment quality near a gas platform. The overall results indicate moderate effects of platform-related environmental stress.     

Selection of Bioindicators of Pollution for Marine Monitoring Programmes

The ultimate management concerns related to toxic chemicals in the marine environment are for the magnitude and extent of biological effects, including those on human health, that may result. Over the past several years, the National Status and Trends (NS&T) Program of the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has supported the development and application of a number of bioeffects measurements, including biochemical indicators of contaminant exposure and of reproductive status in fish, prevalence of histopathological lesions, toxicity bioassays of sediments and water, and benthic community structural features. Some of these measurements have been applied as part of regular sampling at the nationwide network of NS&T sites, while others have been assessed in more intensive, regional studies. Our experience with different indicators is summarized and discussed in relation to a set of monitoring objectives and evaluation criteria. Current conclusions are: (a) iterative application of controlled laboratory experiments and field validation tests are required to verify causality and mechanisms of biological responses to contaminants; (b) contaminant concentrations, indicator species, and local conditions vary considerably in different areas and at different times, requiring the use of different effects measurements oriented toward specific objectives and hypotheses; and (c) tiered, sequential application of a mix of indicators, including direct measurements on indigenous organisms and indirect bioassay approaches, is useful and effective for estimating the magnitude and spatial extent of contaminant bioeffects.     

黄河三角洲水质对底栖动物群落结构的影响

于2019年7月在黄河三角洲国家级自然保护区对水体理化指标和大型底栖动物进行了野外采集及室内分析,获得了研究区水质状况及底栖动物群落的结构特征与空间分布现状.研究结果显示,此次采集到的底栖动物共69种,隶属于4门16目33科37属.底栖动物的平均密度为99.19 ind.·m-2,平均生物量为3.24 g·m-2.AB...     

城市重污染河道水质及底栖附泥藻类生态特征

对苏州市古城区南园水系的水质和藻类1a的监测结果表明,研究区域水质污染主要以NH_4~+-N和TN的严重超标为特征,最大超标倍数可达到5倍以上[按地表水环境质量标准(GB 3838-2002)Ⅴ类水作为基准];经镜检,底栖附泥藻类共34种,种类数以硅、绿和蓝藻类占优势,其数量和生物量极高,达到2 145.5×10~4个/mL,生物量3.524 mg/mL,远高于相同点位浮游藻类监测结果,数量和生物量以硅藻和蓝藻占绝对优势;各门藻类在各河段中分布极不均匀,优势种群多属异养型或两型营养特征,且与河道的污染特征有较密切关系,这些典型藻类包括:蓝藻门(Cyanophyta)中的两栖颤藻(Oscillaria amphibian),硅藻门(Bacillariophyta)中的小环藻(Cyclotella sp.)、直链藻(Melosira sp.)、冠盘藻(Stephanodiscus hantzschii)、舟形藻(Navicula sp.)、菱形藻(Nitzschia sp.)、异极藻(Gomphonema)等.其数量季节变化表现为:夏季>秋季>春季>冬季;而生物量则为:冬季最高,春、夏、秋相对较低,且变幅不大.相关研究成果可为城市重污染河道生态恢复提供参考.     

乌江中上游底栖硅藻群落与阴阳离子、重金属间的关系

首次对乌江中上游底栖硅藻群落组成特点进行定量系统研究,得知其组成基本上呈种类多、丰度小,种类少、丰度大的分布状况。对底栖硅藻丰度和八种离子、重金属间关系进行定量分析后知Hg元素是影响底栖硅藻丰度的第一显著因子,建立了底栖硅藻丰度-汞元素曲线回归方程。可为用硅藻监测、评价河流水质提供理论基础,并为水质预警的硅藻生物指标的研究提供科学依据。     

城市化对河流着生硅藻物种和功能多样性的影响—以深圳市河流为例

着生藻类是河流生态系统的主要初级生产者, 了解城市化对着生藻类多样性的影响对于城市河流管理具有重要意义. 本研究以深圳市河流为例, 研究了河流着生硅藻性状及物种、功能多样性对城市干扰的响应. 研究发现城区和郊区的水质状况差异显著. 城区样点的NH₄⁺-N、NO₂-N、TN、TP和DOC浓度是郊区的3~20倍不等. 水环境的巨大变化也导致了河流着生藻类生物多样性的变化. 城区组物种丰富度、Pielou指数和Simpson指数均显著高于郊区组, 而功能均匀度则显著低于郊区组. 并且在21个硅藻性状中, 有15个性状在城区和郊区组间存在显著差异. 进一步用随机森林模型拟合着生藻类生物多样性与水质指标的关系, 结果发现硅藻性状对城市化反应较其他指标更为敏感. 特别是小型、可动、低共位群和运动群这4个性状指标, 构建的随机森林模型解释率能达到40%~60%, 而生物多样性指数构建的模型解释率只有15%~25%左右. 总体来说, TP和TN是影响城市河流着生硅藻多样性的主要水质指标. 在营养水平高的城市样点. 个体较大、能够移动的硅藻占有主导地位; 而在营养水平较低的郊区样点, 个体较小、有柄的低共位群硅藻更具优势. 我们的研究表明了硅藻性状在响应环境变化方面的敏感性, 硅藻性状是对河流生态状况进行评估的一项重要工具.