Development of aquatic life criteria in China: viewpoint on the challenge

While more developed countries have a well-established systems to develop water quality criteria (WQC), little research has been done on the adequacy of the current WQC to protect endemic species of China. In order to maintain the health of aquatic ecosystems in China, a series of projects to establish national WQC based on regional characteristics has recently been initiated. However, the establishment of a completely novel methodology would be costly and time consuming. Also, due to the similarities in physiologies and natural histories of classes of aquatic organisms, there is no reason to believe that WQC would not be sufficient to protect unique species in China. This review was undertaken to identify key outstanding issues regarding establishment of aquatic life criteria (ALC) to be applied in China, including prioritization of chemicals, test species, mode of action, field/semi-field data, and methods of aggregating the information and calculating the ALC. This was used to identify the principle issues that need to be addressed in order to better understand the methods for development of criteria for the protection of aquatic life and provide a reference to China and other developing countries committed to the establishment of their own WQC system.     

Marine organisms as heavy metal bioindicators in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman

In the present study, cadmium and lead concentrations were compared in barnacles, ghost shrimps, polychaetes, bivalves, and sediment from ten different locations along the intertidal zone of the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. The results revealed significant differences in the heavy metal concentrations between the organisms with barnacles showing, by far, the highest metal concentrations. The bioaccumulation factor of Cd in different animals follows this pattern with barnacles?>?bivalves?>?polychaetes?>?ghost shrimps, while the pattern for Pb was barnacles?>?polychaetes?>?bivalves?>?ghost shrimps. In most of the stations, sediments showed the lowest lead and cadmium concentrations. Therefore, it is concluded that barnacles with Pb concentrations between 0.17 and 2,016.1 μg/g and Cd concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 147.1 μg/g are the best organisms to be employed in monitoring programs designed to assess pollution with bioavailable metals in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.     

On characteristics of the brown rat,Rattus norvegicus Berk. (1769), in the meadow steppes of the Elbrus variant in the Central Caucasus

The blood system parameters (erythropoiesis in bone marrow, peripheral blood) of brown rat have been studied for the first time in the foothills of the Central Caucasus. Several species-specific features of these parameters have been revealed that distinguishing the brown rat from other representatives of the family Muridae.     

Seasonal ecophysiology of an endangered coastal species,the yellow-horned poppy (Glaucium flavum Crantz)

Glaucium flavum Crantz. is a short-lived perennial herb distributed in coastal zones from the Black Sea to southern, western and north-western Europe. Despite its diminishing area of distribution and potential pharmacological value, little is known about the ecophysiological features of this coastal species. We investigated the photosynthetic performance of G. flavum by measuring gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic pigment concentration and leaf water content over the space of a year in a coastal habitat of SW Spain. We also measured the variation in total concentrations of nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, potassium, calcium and magnesium, in the leaves and soil, throughout the study period. G. flavum showed a high resistance to summer drought conditions which appeared to be due to the high degree of stomatal control. The potential photochemical efficiency of photosystem II showed minimum values during the winter, indicating that low temperatures can produce negative effects within the photosynthetic apparatus. However, the marked decline in net photosynthesis during the winter seems to be mainly related to a loss of metabolic activity. Although leaf nutrient concentrations were, in general, within the normal ranges, phosphorus availability seems to be limited by the high calcium concentrations detected in the soil of the study site. Our study points out the efficiency of the different physiological adaptations of this rare and endangered coastal species in coping with the strong seasonal variability of the Mediterranean climate.     

Ecology of Siberian stone pine (Pinus sibirica Du Tour) and Siberian larch (Larix sibirica Ledeb.) in the Altai mountain glacial basins

Data are presented on the ecology of Siberian stone pine and Siberian larch in recent Altai mountain glacial basins at elevations above 2100 m a.s.l. The representative example of the Aktru basin is used to demonstrate the ranges of tolerance of these tree species to a series of ecological factors.     

Variation in the seed progeny of smooth brome grass,Bromus inermis Leyss., under conditions of chronic irradiation in the zone of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace

Long-term studies have been performed on the seed progeny of B. inermis from test plots established along the radioactive contamination gradient in the zone of the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT), where dose loads on maternal plants and embryos of seeds from chronically irradiated cenopopulations (with natural background radiation taken into account) exceed control values by factors of 2 to 107. Interannual and individual variation in the viability, mutability, and radiosensitivity of the seed progeny has been revealed. Against the background of high interpopulation variation in test parameters in the EURT zone, weather conditions appear to have no significant effect on seed quality, while such effects are appreciable in background cenopopulations. It has been shown that a positive correlation exist between the initial viability of the seed progeny and their radioresistance. Chronic irradiation in a wide dose range induces an increased frequency of different mutations and morphological modifications. The contents of low-molecular antioxidants in seedlings from impact cenopopulations proved to be higher than in the background sample. The results obtained characterize the potential of protective and restorative mechanisms acquired in the course of evolution that allow plants to survive in the changing environment under exposure to technogenic stress.     

Impact of industrial pollution on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) radial growth in the areas of mineral fertilizer factory “Achema”

The aim of research was to assess the changes of annual radial increment of Scots pine forests in the vicinity of intensive and moderate industrial pollution of “Achema” factory producing mineral fertilizers. Our results indicate that the radial growth of the pine tree can be divided into three different periods: growth promotion, growth inhibition and growth recovery. Low levels of nitrogen emissions were beneficial for tree growth: the radial increment in the intensive and moderate pollution zones increased by 15–25% and 10%, respectively compared to control. During the growth inhibition period, the total annual industrial emission was 37–40 kt, and 40–45% radial growth loss was observed for the closest and 15–20% for the most distant stands. The radial growth decrease slowed down and the recovery of damaged stands began in 1990–1992 then air pollution was considerably reduced. The rate of forest recovery was high for the most damaged stands: their radial growth was close to control in 2000–2011.