Use of Fully Biodegradable Panels to Reduce Derelict Pot Threats to Marine Fauna

Fishing pots (i.e., traps) are designed to catch fish or crustaceans and are used globally. Lost pots are a concern for a variety of fisheries, and there are reports that 10 – 70% of deployed pots are lost annually. Derelict fishing pots can be a source of mortality for target and bycatch species for several years. Because continual removal of derelict gear can be impractical over large spatial extents, modifications are needed to disarm gear once it is lost. We tested a fully biodegradable panel with a cull or escape ring designed for placement on the sides of a crab pot that completely degrades into environmentally neutral constituents after approximately 1 year. This panel is relatively inexpensive, easy to install, and can be used in multiple fisheries. We used the blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) fishery as a test case because it is a large pot fishery and blue crab pots are similar to traps used in other pot fisheries. We had commercial fishers deploy pots with panels alongside standard pots in Chesapeake Bay (U.S.A.) to assess potential effects of our experimental pots on blue crab catch. We compared the number, biomass, and size of crabs captured between standard and experimental pots and evaluated differences in catch over a crabbing season (March–November) at five locations. There was no evidence that biodegradable panels adversely affected catch. In all locations and time periods, legal catches were comparable in abundance, biomass, and size between experimental and standard pots. Properly designed biodegradable panels appear to be a viable solution to mitigate adverse effects of derelict pots. Uso de Paneles Completamente Biodegradables para Reducir las Amenazas de Vasijas Abandonadas para la Fauna Marina     

Benthic Infaunal Composition and Distribution at an Intertidal Wetland Mudflat

Benthic infaunal communities at Mai Po Inner Deep Bay mudflat, Hong Kong were investigated between August 2002 and August 2003. A total of 55 species belonging to 8 Phyla from more than 99,074 specimens were recorded. The species richness varied between 13 at Station B in August 2002 and 28 at Station D in August 2003 with an average of 21 across the mudflat and the species diversity was low [H′(log₂) = 0.7–3.5 with an average H′ = 2.4]. Seasonal variations were also observed through abundance and biomass across the mudflat among the seasons. The abundance density was between 8,977 individuals m⁻² at Station D in February 2003 and 77,256 individuals m⁻² at Station B in November 2002 and the overall average density was 25,274 individuals m⁻² for the four stations. The benthic infauna were dominated by pollution tolerant species at this wetland mudflat.     

STREAM ASSESSMENTS USING BIOTIC INDICES: RESPONSES TO PHYSICOCHEMICAL VARIABLES1

ABSTRACT: Responses of the Wyoming Stream Integrity Index (WSII), a regionally calibrated multimetric index, were investigated in relation to background elevational changes in water quality and habitat conditions versus accelerated anthropogenic degradation at the watershed scale. Assessments were conducted for three rivers in southeast Wyoming: the Little Medicine Bow River, the Medicine Bow River, and Rock Creek. Pearson correlation coefficients and regression models related “core metrics” and index scores to elevational gradients of physicochemical variables. Velocity, substrate, and weighted habitat values were positively correlated to index scores, while suspended solids was negatively correlated. The exclusive dependence of index scores on physical variables specifies the type of environmental gradients the WSII is most robust in detecting. The individual “core metrics” Plecoptera taxa, Trichoptera taxa, percent Trichoptera without Hydropsychidae, and percent noninsects appeared most sensitive to physical changes and were thus driving associations between index scores and physical variables. Despite strong correlations with physical variables, anomalies existed where habitat conditions were good, unknown stressors existed, or gradients were naturally occurring despite “Poor” index scores (i.e., degraded stream conditions). Such findings illustrate the influence of regional variability on biotic indices and the importance of identifying sufficient reference and impaired stream reaches used to develop and calibrate multimetric indices relying on reference conditions.     

Distribution Pattern of Benthic Invertebrate Communities in Traunsee (Austria) in Relation to Industrial Tailings and Trophy

Traunsee, an oligotrophic Alpine lake, has suffered from inputsof industrial tailings (soda- and salt-mining industries) forseveral decades. The effects of the industrial sludges on thespatial distribution of the littoral and profundal invertebratefauna was investigated along three transects at five dates. Inthe littoral zone, no negative impacts were found. A distinctgradient in faunal composition and diversity was, however,observed along a profundal transect relative to the distance fromthe waste emission. Near the industrial input, the enhanced pH,the substrate instability, and the poor sediment quality forsubstrate- and deposit-feeders were the main factors that loweror prohibit colonization of the industrial sludges. Along atransitional zone between the waste emission and the deepestbasin, recolonization was delayed, but did occur as soon aslayers of a few mm natural sediment seal the sludge. Mobile,epibenthic organisms are the first to settle these areas, whereasrecolonization by tube-building oligochaetes and chironomidsrequires thicker sealings of the industrial sludges. Differencesin the abundance of benthic invertebrates at different profundalsites were not only related to the waste emission, but also tothe influence of the main tributary, the River Traun. Theenhanced availability of allochthonous organic matter wasprobably responsible for high densities of tubificids near theinlet in the South of Traunsee. Moreover, a higher proportion oftolerant oligochaete and ostracod species in the lower profundaloutside the influence of the industrial tailings was interpretedas reflecting the increased trophy of Traunsee in the 1970s,which forced sensitive species to shift to the upper profundalwhen the oxygen climate deteriorated.     

武汉东湖底栖藻类对磷的滞留作用

测定了底栖藻类在武汉东湖沿岸带人工基质上建群时的生物量和藻垫中不同组分的磷含量,结果显示,建群期间底栖藻类的生物量(叶绿素a和无灰干质)与总磷(total phosphorus,TP)含量显著相关.建群早期藻垫中总磷的含量随底栖藻类生物量的缓慢增加而增加,随着以绿藻占优势的底栖藻类群落的发展,生物量呈指数级增加,藻垫的总磷含量也快速增加,两者同时在第28d达到最高峰值(Chl a=54.51μg·cm-2;TP=96.7μg·cm-2).单位生物量的藻垫对磷的滞留作用(TP/Chl a)随着底栖藻类生物量的积累而增强(最高达2.43 μg·μg-1).藻垫中钙磷、铁磷的百分含量相对较高,两者之和接近总磷的80%.除藻类细胞和藻垫中的其它生物含磷外,藻垫负荷的磷还可能来自底栖藻类光合作用所导致的金属磷的沉积、藻垫对水体中颗粒态磷的过滤和对底泥中释放磷的截留.     

江苏省不同营养状况湖泊底栖动物群落结构与多样性比较

为了解江苏省湖泊底栖动物群落结构和多样性并研究其对水环境质量变化的响应,于2012年春秋两季对江苏省16个湖泊51个采样点湖泊底栖动物群落结构与多样性以及湖泊综合营养状态指数进行调查,分析水质指标与底栖动物指数间Pearson相关关系。结果表明,江苏省16个湖泊营养状态指数范围为35.5~66.4,其中约81.2%的湖泊处于轻度-中度富营养状态,表明水质从好到中度污染;湖泊底栖动物优势种为寡毛类的霍甫水丝蚓(Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri),优势度为13.0%;香浓多样性指数(Shannon-Wiener diversity index)范围为0.00~2.20,级别范围由极贫乏到较丰富状态,表明水质污染程度从重度到轻度污染。从全省尺度看,水质评价结果与生物学(香浓多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数和Biotic Index(BI)指数)评价结果存在一定差异。与历史数据相比,江苏省湖泊底栖动物清洁敏感物种减少甚至消失,总体群落结构趋于小型化。16个湖泊水体总氮和总磷与底栖动物密度呈显著负相关,而综合营养状态指数与底栖动物指数(香浓多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数和BI指数)间关系不显著。上述研究结果表明综合营养状态指数无法完全客观反映湖泊水生态健康状况,因此需要综合水质、水文、水生生物、生境状况等因素发展新的评价指标体系。     

太湖苕溪流域氮磷的生物学阈值评估

水体富营养化与氮、磷含量过高密切相关,本研究从悬浮、底栖叶绿素a限值及其与氮、磷的响应关系入手,选择干、支流清晰的太湖苕溪流域作为研究区域,建立河道氮磷阈值评估方法. 90个点位的监测数据表明,苕溪流域总氮污染超标比例高;悬浮叶绿素a与总氮、总磷存在显著相关性,而底栖叶绿素a只与总氮存在显著相关性,与总磷的相关性不显著;根据回归分析、El-Shaarawi经验方程,以及对应的目前公认的悬浮叶绿素a和底栖叶绿素a的限制值(悬浮叶绿素a≤ 5 μg·L^-1,底栖叶绿素≤100 mg·m^-2),苕溪流域干流和支流的总氮阈值相差较大,支流(1.3 mg·L^-1)大于干流(0.9 mg·L^-1),总磷阈值相差不大,约为0.05 mg·L^-1.干、支流有区分的氮磷阈值的限定有利于改善苕溪河流整体水质,对其他类似苕溪、支流较多的河流面源污染控制同样具有借鉴意义.     

深圳湾底栖动物群落结构时空变化环境影响因素分析

2000年春、夏、秋、冬4个季节在深圳湾福田一侧的潮滩上采集了20个底栖动物群落样方．结果表明,深圳湾潮滩底栖动物密度和生物量均有明显的季节变化,但密度的季节变化和生物量季节变化并不完全一致,这与软体动物斜肋齿蜷等的季节变化密切相关。用等级聚类和非线性多维尺度排序分析这些样方群落结构组成的时空变异情况,结果表明,季节和潮区是影响深圳湾底栖动物群落结构组成时空变异的两个最重要因素。     

Deformity frequencies of benthic marine diatoms associated with contaminated sediments in Hong Kong

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