Hypoxia in the Baltic Sea: Biogeochemical Cycles, Benthic Fauna, and Management

Hypoxia has occurred intermittently over the Holocene in the Baltic Sea, but the recent expansion from less than 10 000 km² before 1950 to >60 000 km² since 2000 is mainly caused by enhanced nutrient inputs from land and atmosphere. With worsening hypoxia, the role of sediments changes from nitrogen removal to nitrogen release as ammonium. At present, denitrification in the water column and sediments is equally important. Phosphorus is currently buried in sediments mainly in organic form, with an additional contribution of reduced Fe-phosphate minerals in the deep anoxic basins. Upon the transition to oxic conditions, a significant proportion of the organic phosphorus will be remineralized, with the phosphorus then being bound to iron oxides. This iron-oxide bound phosphorus is readily released to the water column upon the onset of hypoxia again. Important ecosystems services carried out by the benthic fauna, including biogeochemical feedback-loops and biomass production, are also lost with hypoxia. The results provide quantitative knowledge of nutrient release and recycling processes under various environmental conditions in support of decision support tools underlying the Baltic Sea Action Plan.     

Mitigation of eutrophication caused by wastewater discharge: A simulation-based approach

Mitigation of eutrophication, intensified by excessive nutrient load discharge in wastewaters regulated by restrictive legal requirements, remains one of today’s most important global problems. Despite implementation of the Water Framework Directive, the Urban Wastewater Directive and the HELCOM recommendations, the actual condition of surface water is still not satisfactory. In response to the above, the study presents an alternative approach for surface water protection against eutrophication based on the selection of appropriate nutrient removal technologies. An activated sludge model simulation was used to enable the identification of environmentally justified nutrient removal systems with lowest eutrophication potential of treated wastewater conditioned by bioavailable nutrient forms content. Based on the outcome of the study, the 3-stage Bardenpho system was identified as the most efficient for bioavailable phosphorus removal, while the Johannesburg system proved to have the highest efficiency for bioavailable nitrogen removal. The proposed eutrophication mitigation approach underlines the need for a reconsideration of current legal regulations which ignore nutrient bioavailability and key eutrophication limiting factors.     

太湖水质指标相关性与富营养化特征分析

为研究太湖第一阶段治理水质富营养化的特征，根据1999年10月采样数据，对总磷、总氮等与富营养化相关的水质指标进行了统计分析。发现透明度与叶绿素a之间并未表现出显著的相关性，而在聚类图中，悬浮物与总磷、总氮显示出密切关系。指出农村面源仍是太湖中营养物质的重要来源。     

Antibiotic resistant bacteria/genes dissemination in lacustrine sediments highly increased following cultural eutrophication of Lake Geneva (Switzerland)

This study investigates faecal indicator bacteria (FIB), multiple antibiotic resistant (MAR), and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs), of sediment profiles from different parts of Lake Geneva (Switzerland) over the last decades. MARs consist to expose culturable Escherichia coli (EC) and Enterococcus (ENT) to mixed five antibiotics including Ampicillin, Tetracycline, Amoxicillin, Chloramphenicol and Erythromycin. Culture-independent is performed to assess the distribution of ARGs responsible for, β-lactams (blaTEM; Amoxicillin/Ampicillin), Streptomycin/Spectinomycin (aadA), Tetracycline (tet) Chloramphenicol (cmlA) and Vancomycin (van). Bacterial cultures reveal that in the sediments deposited following eutrophication of Lake Geneva in the 1970s, the percentage of MARs to five antibiotics varied from 0.12% to 4.6% and 0.016% to 11.6% of total culturable EC and ENT, respectively. In these organic-rich bacteria-contaminated sediments, the blaTEM resistant of FIB varied from 22% to 48% and 16% to 37% for EC and ENT respectively, whereas the positive PCR assays responsible for tested ARGs were observed for EC, ENT, and total DNA from all samples. The aadA resistance gene was amplified for all the sediment samples, including those not influenced by WWTP effluent water. Our results demonstrate that bacteria MARs and ARGs highly increased in the sediments contaminated with WWTP effluent following the cultural eutrophication of Lake Geneva. Hence, the human-induced changing limnological conditions highly enhanced the sediment microbial activity, and therein the spreading of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes in this aquatic environment used to supply drinking water in a highly populated area. Furthermore, the presence of the antibiotic resistance gene aadA in all the studied samples points out a regional dissemination of this emerging contaminant in freshwater sediments since at least the late nineteenth century.     

Ammonium and nitrate tolerance in lichens

Since lichens lack roots and take up water, solutes and gases over the entire thallus surface, these organisms respond more sensitively to changes in atmospheric purity than vascular plants. After centuries where effects of sulphur dioxide and acidity were in the focus of research on atmospheric chemistry and lichens, recently the globally increased levels of ammonia and nitrate increasingly affect lichen vegetation and gave rise to intense research on the tolerance of lichens to nitrogen pollution. The present paper discusses the main findings on the uptake of ammonia and nitrate in the lichen symbiosis and to the tolerance of lichens to eutrophication. Ammonia and nitrate are both efficiently taken up under ambient conditions. The tolerance to high nitrogen levels depends, among others, on the capability of the photobiont to provide sufficient amounts of carbon skeletons for ammonia assimilation. Lowly productive lichens are apparently predisposed to be sensitive to excess nitrogen.     

海水鱼类网箱养殖的环境效应及多营养层次的综合养殖

海水鱼类网箱养殖是世界主要渔业国家(如挪威、日本等)广泛开展的一种高密度、集约化的养鱼方式,这种养殖方式在给广大从业者带来巨大经济、社会效益的同时,对环境也造成了不可忽视的负面影响。开展多营养层次的综合养殖(IMTA)是缓解这一环境压力的有效途径,鱼类养殖过程中释放出的二氧化碳、氮、磷等物质,由无机提取单元(大型藻类)来吸收,粪便和残饵等微小颗粒则成为有机提取单元(滤食性贝类)的饵料,较大的颗粒物质沉到海底后,可以为腐食性单元(海参等)提供食物,通过这种养殖模式,最大限度地实现系统内营养物质的高效利用,在减轻养殖对环境压力的同时,使系统具有较高的容纳量和食物产出能力。     

浙江省长潭水库水质特征研究

通过对长潭水库进行长期定点的监测和分析,对2006～2011年间长潭水库pH、透明度(SD)、总氮(TN)、总磷(TP)、生化需氧量(BOD)、溶解氧(DO)、叶绿素a的营养状态指数TLI(Chla)等各项指标的达标率以及营养状态进行了整体的分析和评价。结果表明:长潭水库水体现状为中度富营养状态,并以此为指导提出了相应的治理措施,以期为居民的供水安全提供保障。     

电厂温排水对水库生态环境的影响

本文报告了电厂温排水对陡河水库生态环境的影响。结果表明,陡河水库年均水温比对照水体洋河水库提高2.8～4.8℃。溶解氧随着水温而变化,但从未低于5.0mg/l,增温后水体中各种营养盐类含量呈增加趋势,水体富营养化明显。     

土著微生物修复城市小型湖泊实验研究

利用生物制剂及生物修复技术对鞍山市英泽湖进行了净化治理.研究结果表明,经过8～30 d的生物净化,该湖水中的COD、植物营养元素浓度及浊度都有了大幅度的下降.其中COD降至20 mg/L以下,去除率达到70%以上;氨氮降至0.2 mg/L以下,去除率达97%;总磷降低至0.02 mg/L以下,去除率达到60%以上;浊度...     

应用生态动力学模型评价上海淀山湖富营养化控制方案

近年来,由于淀山湖入湖河流和环湖污水排放,淀山湖水质严重富营养化,夏季高温季节蓝藻水华时有发生。基于最近开展的比较系统的大规模水文、水质、生物同步监测和底质氮磷营养盐释放通量实验,进行入湖氮磷营养盐通量计算分析。通过建立淀山湖水动力一生态动力学耦合模型,利用同步实测和历史资料进行水动力模型和生态动力学模型的率定验证,模拟典型风场作用下的淀山湖三维流场特征;利用生态动力学模型系统研究淀山湖氮磷营养盐和藻类的时空变化和演替规律,初步掌握淀山湖的富营养化过程;综合评价了污染负荷削减、水力调度（水体停留时间）等措施对控制淀山湖富营养化的作用,明确磷是淀山湖藻类生长的关键营养盐限制因子。模型预测结果表明,磷负荷削减50％以上才能使淀山湖夏季蓝藻生物量开始下降;削减90％以上的营养盐负荷才能有效抑制蓝藻水华;水体停留时间的长短是藻类是否过度繁殖的重要条件,加大引水流量,减少淀山湖水体停留时间是有效控制蓝藻水华的重要途径;目前阶段,与控制营养盐负荷（50％）相比,增大引水流量可以更有效地降低蓝藻暴发时的生物量。