Effects of Desertification Caused by Lithophaga lithophaga (Mollusca) Fishery on Littoral Fish Assemblages along Rocky Coasts of Southeastern Italy

Abstract:  We surveyed shallow, rocky reefs in southwestern Apulia (Mediterranean Sea) to assess the effects on coastal fish assemblages of the date mussel (  Lithophaga lithophaga ) fishery, an illegal practice that strips the rocky reef bare. We visually sampled fish four times over 15 months at three locations, one affected by date-mussel fishery and two controls. The fish assemblage at the affected location differed significantly from those at the control locations over all sampling times. Herbivorous fishes, sparids, and labrids (genus Symphodus ) contributed most to the differences between the affected location and controls. Lower densities of Symphodus spp. were observed at the affected location, whereas detritivorous fishes were recorded exclusively at control sites. Small serranids and sparids showed temporal trends that differed between the affected location and the control locations. Our results suggest that the date-mussel fishery affects fish assemblages chiefly through reduction of arborescent macroalgae (contributing to habitat complexity and primary production) and emphasize the need for more effective policing against this destructive practice.     

重金属在牡蛎(Crassostrea virginica)中的生物积累及其影响因素的研究

牡蛎软体，贝壳和沉积物中Ｃｄ、Ｃｒ、Ｃｕ、Ｆｅ、Ｍｎ、Ｐｂ和Ｚｎ等重金属元素被同步分析研究，研究结果表明，重金属在牡蛎中的生物积累是牡自身的新陈代谢、重金属元素的地球化学性质和环境诸因素综合影响的结果，其中牡蛎斩生理作用对重金属在软体中的积累产生的影响尤为重要，而贝壳中重金属的积累对来自环境的影响更为敏感。     

石油污染对牡蛎超显微结构毒性效应的研究

采用电子显微镜观察石油污染对牡蛎生殖腺和肝胰腺组织细胞的毒性作用。结果显示,石油污染对牡蛎具有明显的慢性毒害作用,50 mg／L浓度组,实验10 d的牡蛎,其组织细胞受石油污染不明显;当实验时间为30 d时,出现明显的毒性效应,细胞核核膜肿胀,染色质聚集并边际化,细胞核崩解,细胞坏死,组织萎缩,线粒体的变化较其他细胞器对石油污染较敏感,受损坏的程度较重。     

A reflection on four impactful Ambio papers: The biotic perspective: This article belongs to Ambio’s 50th Anniversary Collection. Theme: Climate change impacts

Climate change represents one of the most pressing societal and scientific challenges of our time. While much of the current research on climate change focuses on future prediction, some of the strongest signals of warming can already be seen in Arctic and alpine areas, where temperatures are rising faster than the global average, and in the oceans, where the combination of rising temperatures and acidification due to increased CO₂ concentrations has had catastrophic consequences for sensitive marine organisms inhabiting coral reefs. The scientific papers highlighted as part of this anniversary issue represent some of the most impactful advances in our understanding of the consequences of anthropogenic climate change. Here, we reflect on the legacy of these papers from the biotic perspective.     

牡蛎壳生物滤池处理含盐污水中的硝化特性

采用牡蛎壳为曝气生物滤池填料,以含NaCl的生活污水为处理对象,在SBR操作条件下,系统考察进水NaCl浓度、曝气时间及进水pH值等对硝化性能的影响。结果表明,进水NaCl浓度为10~15 g/L时,平均氨氮去除率可稳定在97%以上;较高浓度NaCl对亚硝酸化菌活性影响较弱,对硝酸化菌活性影响较强,特别是在日曝气时间少于12 h时,其出水中亚硝氮的含率大于50%;当进水pH值在6~9变化时,反应器内pH值可稳定在6.5~7.5,硝化性能良好,表明牡蛎壳填料可为硝化反应提供碱度。     

Waste oyster shell as a kind of active filler to treat the combined wastewater at an estuary

Estuaries have been described as one of the most difficult environments on Earth. It is difficult to know how to treat the combined wastewater in tidal rivers at the estuary, where the situation is very different from ordinary fresh water rivers. Waste oyster shell was used as the active filler in this study in a bio-contact oxidation tank to treat the combined wastewater at the Fengtang Tidal River. With a middle-experimental scale of 360 ma/day, the average removal efficiency of COD, BOD, NH3-N, TP and TSS was 80.05%, 85.02%, 86.59%, 50.58% and 85.32%, respectively, in this bio-contact oxidation process. The living microbes in the biofilms on the waste oyster shell in this bio-contact oxidation tank, which were mainly composed of zoogloea, protozoa and micro-metazoa species, revealed that waste oyster shell as the filler was suitable material for combined wastewater degradation. This treatment method using waste oyster shell as active filler was then applied in a mangrove demonstration area for water quality improvement near the experiment area, with a treatment volume of 5 × 10^3 m^3/day. Another project was also successfully applied in a constructed wetland, with a wastewater treatment volume of 1 ×10^3 m^3/day. This technology is therefore feasible and can easily be applied on a larger scale,     

海州湾海洋牧场人工鱼礁投放对营养盐的影响

为了解海州湾海洋牧场人工鱼礁投放对营养盐的影响,基于2008—2015年间共24个航次水质调查资料,分析了海州湾海洋牧场鱼礁区和对照区活性磷酸盐(PO_4~(3-)-P)、活性硅酸盐(SiO_3~(2-)-Si)和溶解无机氮(DIN)的浓度、组成及营养盐结构的变化.同时,比较了鱼礁区和对照区营养盐的变化,初步分析了人工鱼礁投放量与营养盐的相关性,尝试探索人工鱼礁投放对营养盐浓度与结构的影响.结果表明,鱼礁区和对照区PO_4~(3-)-P、SiO_3~(2-)-Si浓度均呈现出秋季夏季春季的特点,且鱼礁区高于对照区.DIN在鱼礁区和对照区也呈现出同样的季节变化特点,但鱼礁区的变化幅度显著大于对照区.海洋牧场人工鱼礁的投放使鱼礁区PO_4~(3-)-P和DIN浓度增加.受热力学平衡的影响,对照区DIN浓度也出现了增加,而PO_4~(3-)-P受人工鱼礁投放的影响小.鱼礁区和对照区SiO_3~(2-)-Si受人工鱼礁投放影响均不明显.另外,海洋牧场DIN组成也发生了改变,2012年前NO_3~--N为DIN主要组成,之后为NH_4~+-N.营养盐结构分析显示,海州湾海洋牧场营养盐对浮游植物主要表现为磷限制.     

Assessing Anchor Damage on Coral Reefs: A Case Study in Selection of Environmental Indicators

Because environmental conservation can remove scarce natural resources from competing uses, it is important to gain support for conservation programs by demonstrating that management actions have been effective in achieving their goals. One way to do this is to show that selected significant environmental variables (indicators) vary between managed and unmanaged areas or change over time following implementation of a management regime. However, identifying indicators that reflect environmental conditions relevant to management practices has proven difficult. This paper focuses on developing a framework for choosing indicators in a coral reef habitat. The framework consisted of three phases: (1) information gathering to identify candidate variables; (2) field-testing candidate variables at sites that differ in intensity of human activity, thus identifying potential indicators; and (3) evaluating potential indicators against a set of feasibility criteria to identify the most useful indicators. To identify indicators suitable to measure the success of a management strategy to reduce anchor damage to a coral reef, 24 candidate variables were identified and evaluated at sites with different intensities of anchoring. In this study, measures that reflected injuries to coral colonies were generally more efficient than traditional measures of coral cover in describing the effects of anchoring. The number of overturned colonies was identified as the single most useful indicator of coral reef condition associated with anchoring intensities. The indicator selection framework developed here has the advantages of being transparent, cost efficient, and readily transferable to other types of human activities and management strategies.     

Sustainable Development in Small Island Developing States

This paper explores the status of sustainable development in small island developing states (SIDS), through the presentation of a case study on the Maldives, which is a typical small island developing state in the Central Indian Ocean. At the outset, a brief history of sustainable development as related to SIDS on the international agenda is outlined, starting from Rio to Barbados to Johannesburg. SIDS are expected to face many challenges and constraints in pursuing sustainable development due to their ecological fragility and economic vulnerability. It is the position of this paper that issues related to environmental vulnerability are of the greatest concern. A healthy environment is the basis of all life-support systems, including that of human well-being and socio-economic development. Priority environmental problems are: climate change and sea-level rise, threats to biodiversity, threats to freshwater resources, degradation of coastal environments, pollution, energy and tourism. Among these, climate change and its associated impacts are expected to pose the greatest threat to the environment and therefore to sustainable development. For small islands dependent on fragile marine ecosystems, in particular on coral reefs, for their livelihoods and living space, adverse effects of climate change such as increased frequency of extreme weather events and sea-level rise will exacerbate the challenges they already face. It is concluded that the paper path from Rio to Barbados to Johannesburg has made significant progress. However, much remains to be done at the practical level, particularly by the developed countries in terms of new and additional efforts at financial and technical assistance, to make sustainable development a reality for SIDS.     

Metal Concentration in Oyster, Crassostrea Gigas, and Sediment in Ann-Ping Mariculture Ground, Taiwan

This study was to assess the metal contamination in oyster tissue grown in the Ann-ping mariculture ground in Taiwan. the information generated from this work also revealed general metal pollution problem for Taiwan's oyster farmers. Oysters, Crassostrea gigas, and surficial sediments collected from ten locations in Ann-ping mariculture ground in Taiwan for metals concentration (Cu, Zn, Pd, Cd, Fe and Mn) were performed. Analytical results indicated that the yearly averaged oyster copper concentrations (μg g^-1, wet weight) in oyster soft parts from Ann-ping increased from 21.3±4.1 in 1993; 24.1±6.8 in 1994; 36.8±11.9 in 1995 to 43.9±23.1 μg g^-1, wet weight, in the 1996 raising season. the mean oyster copper concentration reached a level of 50 μg g^-1, wet weight, in December 1996. This increasing trend of metal concentration in oyster tissue indicates a potential pollution source which may pose a potential disaster as green oyster incidence, which occurred on the Charting coast in 1986, in Taiwan. Sediment samples in Ann-ping mariculture ground were also collected and examined. the seasonal variation of the copper concentration in surficial sediment from Ann-ping did not show an increasing trend as observed in oyster tissue.