Emerging conservation challenges and prospects in an era of offshore hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation

Globally, extensive marine areas important for biodiversity conservation and ecosystem functioning are undergoing exploration and extraction of oil and natural gas resources. Such operations are expanding to previously inaccessible deep waters and other frontier regions, while conservation‐related legislation and planning is often lacking. Conservation challenges arising from offshore hydrocarbon development are wide‐ranging. These challenges include threats to ecosystems and marine species from oil spills, negative impacts on native biodiversity from invasive species colonizing drilling infrastructure, and increased political conflicts that can delay conservation actions. With mounting offshore operations, conservationists need to urgently consider some possible opportunities that could be leveraged for conservation. Leveraging options, as part of multi‐billion dollar marine hydrocarbon operations, include the use of facilities and costly equipment of the deep and ultra‐deep hydrocarbon industry for deep‐sea conservation research and monitoring and establishing new conservation research, practice, and monitoring funds and environmental offsetting schemes. The conservation community, including conservation scientists, should become more involved in the earliest planning and exploration phases and remain involved throughout the operations so as to influence decision making and promote continuous monitoring of biodiversity and ecosystems. A prompt response by conservation professionals to offshore oil and gas developments can mitigate impacts of future decisions and actions of the industry and governments. New environmental decision support tools can be used to explicitly incorporate the impacts of hydrocarbon operations on biodiversity into marine spatial and conservation plans and thus allow for optimum trade‐offs among multiple objectives, costs, and risks.     

海洋纤毛虫实验生态学研究 IV:不同人工海水培养液及温度对扇形游仆虫种群增长的影响

为了揭示出海洋纤毛虫在人工海水中及不同温度下的种群动力学,利用实验生态学方法,就4种培养液及2种(17℃和23℃)温度对海洋纤毛虫扇形游仆虫(Euplotesvannus Müller,1786)种群增长的影响进行了初步探讨.结果显示①该种纤毛虫原生动物在4种人工海水培养液中的种群增长率大小顺序为牛肉浸膏培养液>米粒培养液>酵母粉培养液>蛋白胨培养液;②种群密度大小顺序依次为米粒培养液>牛肉浸膏培养液>酵母粉培养液>蛋白胨培养液;③指数增长期及稳定期在米粒培养液中均长于牛肉浸膏培养液;④随着培养温度的升高,种群增长率增大,指数增长期及稳定期缩短;⑤温度系数(Q10)的大小顺序为蛋白胨培养液>牛肉浸膏培养液>米粒培养液>酵母粉培养液.结果表明,米粒人工海水培养液不仅适合于保种培养,而且适合于种群的扩大培养,而牛肉浸膏培养液更适合于种群的快速扩大培养,其他两种培养液则只适合于保种培养.图2表4参13     

南海莺琼盆地沉积环境中厌氧纤维素分解菌的分布与作用

在严格厌氧条件下，研究了驾琼盆地东方１－１－１井垂直剖面不同沉积层地质样品中的厌氧纤维素分解菌．结果表明：厌氧纤维素分解菌在各样品中都存在，但其分布有很大随机性，与样品埋藏深度无相关性，与样品中一些有机物含量，如纤维素、半纤维素也无相关性，厌氧纤维素分解菌数量高的样品，其在生物模拟产甲烷实验中的单位有机质产气量也较高，有显著的相关性．菌体形态主要为杆菌和球菌．     

A review of marine pollution issues in the Caribbean

Marine pollution and coastal degradation have become serious development issues in the Caribbean. Early evidence of marine pollution was mainly anecdotal, but within the last 10--15 years, work conducted by universities and research institutions in the Region has provided the beginnings of a database that identifies several common marine pollution problems. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and the Pan American World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) have also been instrumental in co-ordinating several marine pollution studies. In the English-speaking Caribbean, the University of the West Indies, the Institute of Marine Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute located in St Lucia, have taken a lead role in identifying marine pollution problems in their Sub-Region. For the Wider Caribbean a database for petroleum pollution and marine debris has been developed. Land-based sources of marine pollution have been identified as a major problem, with several hot spots identified in mainland countries and in some of the larger industrialised islands. Organic and nutrient pollution, particularly from sewage, is most widespread and is possibly the most serious marine pollution problem in the Caribbean. A lack of capital investment funds to install the appropriate infrastructure to deal with sewage and other liquid effluents is a major stumbling block to solving the problem of marine pollution in the Caribbean. Other factors include political will and administrative and legal structures to regulate human development activities.     

西太平洋海域海水和雨水的化学特征

本工作测定了西太平洋海域中海水、海水悬浮物和海面上雨水的元素组成和浓度。通过富集因子的计算,探讨海面上雨水中微量元素的富集程度及其来源,讨论了海面上气溶胶粒子大小与洗出因子的关系,结果表明不同质量粒径大小的微量元素在公海上具有相似的洗出因子。     

三种海藻凝集素细胞凝集活性的比较

比较了3种经纯化的海藻凝集素即铁钉菜凝集素（IOL），鹿角沙菜凝集素（HCL0和脆江蓠凝集素（GBL）对红细胞，微藻，细菌，酵母及肿瘤细胞的凝集活性，IOL对供试的动物红细胞均有凝集作用，而HCL和GBL只对部分红细胞产生凝集作用，3种凝集素都不能凝集人的A，O，B型血红细胞。在12种供试的微藻中，有6种单细胞藻类分别被海藻凝集素所凝集，海洋微藻比淡水微藻敏感，盐生杜氏藻均可被3种海藻凝集素所凝集，3种海藻凝集素都能凝集枯草杆菌，但不能凝集胃癌细胞，3种凝集素中，IOL对细胞的凝集作用最好，表3参13     

海洋纤毛虫实验生态学研究Ⅳ:不同人工海水培养液及温度对扇形游仆虫种群增长的影响

为了揭示出海洋纤毛虫在人工海水中及不同温度下的种群动力学，利用实验生态学方法，就4种培养液及2种（17℃和23℃）温度对海洋纤毛虫扇形游仆虫（Euplotes vannus Mailer，1786）种群增长的影响进行了初步探讨．结果显示：①该种纤毛虫原生动物在4种人工海水培养液中的种群增长率大小顺序为：牛肉浸膏培养液〉米粒培养液〉酵母粉培养液〉蛋白胨培养液；②种群密度大小顺序依次为：米粒培养液〉牛肉浸膏培养液〉酵母粉培养液〉蛋白胨培养液；③指数增长期及稳定期在米粒培养液中均长于牛肉浸膏培养液；④随着培养温度的升高，种群增长率增大，指数增长期及稳定期缩短；⑤温度系数（Q10）的大小顺序为：蛋白胨培养液〉牛肉浸膏培养液〉米粒培养液〉酵母粉培养液．结果表明，米粒人工海水培养液不仅适合于保种培养，而且适合于种群的扩大培养，而牛肉浸膏培养液更适合于种群的快速扩大培养，其他两种培养液则只适合于保种培养．图2表4参13     

The Effect of Incremental Reserve Design and Changing Reservation Goals on the Long-Term Efficiency of Reserve Systems

Abstract:  Selecting reserve areas based on percentages, such as 10% or 12% of a bioregion, is common in conservation planning despite widespread admission that such percentages are arbitrary and likely to be inadequate for the conservation of all biodiversity. Reserve systems based on these relatively low percentage targets are likely to require expansion in the future, resulting in the assembly of reserve systems over many years (incremental reserve design). How then will incremental reserve design, such as increasing percentage targets over time, affect the long-term efficiency of marine reserve systems? We used South Australia as a case study to investigate how changing percentage targets affects the contribution of individual planning units to efficient reserve design. Selection frequency counts provided a measure of a planning unit's conservation value. For the majority of planning units, changing targets led to a change in their conservation value indicating, for example, that planning units identified as high-value sites at a low-percentage conservation target may be of lesser importance when targets are increased. Despite the variability in the value of individual planning units at different targets, there was no loss in efficiency from incremental design of reserve systems based on systematic methods compared with purpose-built reserve systems (i.e., the system is assembled in a single iteration). The exception was when incrementally designed systems were based on South Australia's existing marine reserve system—a system developed in an ad hoc method. The result was reserve systems that were less efficient, less compact, and larger in size. This suggests that systematic approaches have an important role for efficient reserve design when there is uncertainty about the target level of reservation .     

海洋病毒--一种新的、潜力巨大的赤潮防治工具

概述了海洋病毒尤其是藻类病毒(包括原核藻类病毒和真核藻类病毒)的研究进展,以及赤潮发生的新态势和目前赤潮防治方法的不足,评析了海洋病毒与赤潮生物的关系,介绍了藻类病毒在赤潮控制方面所取得的一些成果,强调了海洋病毒在生态环境中的重要作用,提出了利用病毒防治赤潮的可能性及有效性,展望了以病毒调控赤潮的前景.参54     

Conservation Biology, Genetically Modified Organisms, and the Biosafety Protocol

Abstract:  Concerns have been raised regarding the potential adverse effects on biological diversity of the use of living modified organisms (LMOs, which are commonly known by similar terms such as genetically modified organisms). At the international level these concerns are addressed in part by an agreement known as the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and include potential toxic effects of insect-resistant crops on nontarget organisms and potential ecological effects of gene flow from modified crops, fish, microorganisms, or insects to wild species or counterparts. We reviewed the protocol's main provisions, including those dealing with risk assessment and risk management, decision making on imports, documentation accompanying shipments, and liability resulting from damages caused by LMOs. A medium-term program of work has been adopted by the parties, which includes the potential contribution of conservation biologists to delivering capacity building, developing risk assessment guidance, evaluating mechanisms of potential ecological damages from LMOs, and other issues. Conservation biologists and other experts have opportunities to influence the negotiations and implementation of the protocol by providing inputs at meetings, offering expertise to governments and organizations, and participating in or developing relevant projects and initiatives. Involvement of conservation biologists in the implementation and further development of the protocol would contribute to its effectiveness.