Urbanization reduces resource use efficiency of phytoplankton community by altering the environment and decreasing biodiversity

Urbanization often exerts multiple effects on aquatic and terrestrial organisms, including changes in biodiversity, species composition and ecosystem functions. However, the impacts of urbanization on river phytoplankton in subtropical urbanizing watersheds remain largely unknown. Here, we explored the effects of urbanization on phytoplankton community structure（i.e., biomass, community composition and diversity） and function（i.e., resource use efficiency） in a subtropical river at watershed sca...     

洪泽湖底栖动物群落结构及水质季节变化分析

为阐明洪泽湖底栖动物的群落结构及水质变化状况,采用生物多样性指数法、综合污染指数、CCA分析等方法,对洪泽湖的底栖动物群落结构空间布局及其水质状况进行了季度调查,探究环境因子对底栖动物生长的影响规律.结果 表明:(1)底栖动物种类以甲壳纲、多毛纲、双壳纲为主;(2) CPI分析表明,TN、TP是洪泽湖主要的超地表水Ⅲ类...     

The functional and physiological status of Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea; Amphipoda) exposed to secondary treated wastewater

Climate change scenarios predict lower flow rates during summer that may lead to higher proportions of wastewater in small and medium sized streams. Moreover, micropollutants (e.g. pharmaceuticals and other contaminants) continuously enter aquatic environments via treated wastewater. However, there is a paucity of knowledge, whether extended exposure to secondary treated wastewater disrupts important ecosystem functions, e.g. leaf breakdown. Therefore, the amphipod shredder Gammarus fossarum was exposed to natural stream water (n = 34) and secondary treated wastewater (n = 32) for four weeks in a semi-static test system under laboratory conditions. G. fossarum exposed to wastewater showed significant reductions in feeding rate (25%), absolute consumption (35%), food assimilation (50%), dry weight (18%) and lipid content (22%). Thus, high proportions of wastewater in the stream flow may affect both the breakdown rates of leaf material and thus the availability of energy for the aquatic food web as well as the energy budget of G. fossarum.     

Testing the Potential for Predictive Modeling and Mapping and Extending Its Use as a Tool for Evaluating Management Scenarios and Economic Valuation in the Baltic Sea (PREHAB)

We evaluated performance of species distribution models for predictive mapping, and how models can be used to integrate human pressures into ecological and economic assessments. A selection of 77 biological variables (species, groups of species, and measures of biodiversity) across the Baltic Sea were modeled. Differences among methods, areas, predictor, and response variables were evaluated. Several methods successfully predicted abundance and occurrence of vegetation, invertebrates, fish, and functional aspects of biodiversity. Depth and substrate were among the most important predictors. Models incorporating water clarity were used to predict increasing cover of the brown alga bladderwrack Fucus vesiculosus and increasing reproduction area of perch Perca fluviatilis, but decreasing reproduction areas for pikeperch Sander lucioperca following successful implementation of the Baltic Sea Action Plan. Despite variability in estimated non-market benefits among countries, such changes were highly valued by citizens in the three Baltic countries investigated. We conclude that predictive models are powerful and useful tools for science-based management of the Baltic Sea.     

Spatial variations of macrozoobenthos and sediment nutrients in Lake Yangcheng: Emphasis on effect of pen culture of Chinese mitten crab

We determined the effect of Chinese mitten crab (CMC) pen culture on the quantified spatial distribution of the macrozoobenthic community and sediment nutrients in Lake Yangcheng. Redundancy analysis indicated that water temperature, macrophyte occurrence, sediment type, and crab culture were the main environmental factors that influence the spatiotemporal macrozoobenthic distribution. Macrozoobenthic assemblages in the lake were characterized by eutrophic indicator species. In the most polluted estuaries, the abundance and diversity indices of the whole community and abundance of chironomids and oligochaetes were significantly depressed, and sediment carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) were significantly enhanced compared with those in the western, middle (MB), and eastern basin (EB). Crab culture in this lake had significant effects on the species composition of the macrozoobenthic community in one of three CMC culture pens (CP), and generally depressed the abundance of most chironomid and oligochaete species. Significantly increased diversity, evenness, sediment carbon and nitrogen content, and sediment C:P ratio in the CP were found compared with those in the three basins. However, no conspicuous difference in sediment P content between the CP and the two basins of MB and EB was detected. Our results showed that the enhanced diversity and evenness of macrozoobenthos might be associated with the joint effect of macrophyte planting and crab predation, and macrophyte planting may modify the effects of CMC culture by leading to disproportional accumulation of C and N in the sediment relative to P in the CP of the lake.     

乌江中上游水体营养状况底栖硅藻指示性属种的研究

首次对乌江中上游底栖硅藻和水环境因子间关系进行系统定量研究。对底栖硅藻和水环境因子进行主成分分析和相关分析。结果表明,总磷是影响底栖硅藻属种分布的第一显著因子。利用加权平均回归方法,计算出底栖硅藻属种对总磷指标响应的生态最佳值和忍耐值,提取出的Nitzschia frustulum(Kütz.)Grun.、Nitzschia fonticola Grun.、Nitzschiapalea(Kütz.)W.Sminth、Surirella angusta Kütz.Nitzschia amphibia Grun.等17种硅藻是乌江中上游河流富营养化发生的指示性属种。而Achnanthes minutissima Kütz.、Cymbella affinis、Diatoma vulagaris Bory、Navicula protracta(Grun.)Cleve等9种硅藻是乌江中上游中营养化水体的指示性属种,对较低营养水体有一定的指示意义。底栖硅藻指示性属种的提取对富营养化河流的治理和合理利用提供科学依据,为用硅藻监测、评价水质和建立河流水质监测体系提供理论基础。     

Testing sediment biological effects with the freshwater amphipod Hyalella azteca: the gap between laboratory and nature

The freshwater amphipod, Hyalella azteca, is widely used in laboratory sediment toxicity and bioaccumulation tests. However, its responses in the laboratory are probably very different from those in the field. A review of the literature indicates that in its natural habitat this species complex is primarily epibenthic, derives little nutrition from the sediments, and responds primarily to contaminants in the overlying water column (including water and food), not sediment or porewater. In laboratory sediment toxicity tests H. azteca is deprived of natural food sources such as algal communities on or above the sediments, and is subjected to constant light without any cover except that afforded by burial into the sediments. Under these constraining laboratory conditions, H. azteca has been reported to respond to sediment or porewater contamination. In nature, contamination of overlying water from sediment is less likely than in the laboratory because of the large, generally non-static sink of natural surface water. H. azteca does not appear to be the most appropriate test species for direct assessments of the bioavailability and toxicity of sediment contaminants, though it is probably appropriate for testing the toxicity of surface waters. Toxic and non-toxic responses will be highly conservative, though the latter are probably the most persuasive given the exposure constraints. Thus H. azteca is probably a suitable surrogate species for determining sediments that are likely not toxic to field populations; however, it is not suitable for determining sediments that are likely toxic to field populations.     

Characteristics of Resuspension,Settling and Diffusion of Particulate Matter in a Water Column

Experiments were conducted in order to characterize the distributions of concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) in water columns of lakes and reservoirs. The experiments, in a reduced model of the water column, used a set of oscillating grids. Runs were done with particles denser than water as well as with light particles. The results were in good agreement with analytical solutions for steady-state, and non-steady-state conditions. An approximate analytical solution was derived and found to be in agreement with the full solution. The threshold for resuspension was measured, and characterized in terms of a modified Shields parameter, which is appropriate to a zero-shear environment. All experiments showed that the distribution of SPM exhibited a layer near the bottom that is thought to be analogous to the benthic nepheloid layer (BNL) observed in larger lakes. The thickness of the nepheloid layer increases with the turbulence intensity.     

Impact of aquacultures on the marine ecosystem: Modelling benthic carbon loading over variable depth

In order to be used within Environmental Impact Assessment study, we have developed a three-dimensional particle tracking model for prediction of benthic carbon loading (BCL) caused by fish farms. The model is based on stochastic differential equations for particle transport consistent with the well-known semi-empirical advection/diffusion equation. It requires only easily obtainable input data in the form of measured current record, the source location and a specification of local bathymetry. The model accounts for advection by long-term residual and tidal currents, turbulent diffusion, realistic bathymetry and variations in daily (monthly or yearly) emissions from fish farm.Here, we concentrate on the changes in sedimentation pattern caused by various bathymetric shapes. Examination of idealized cases reveals where and why we can expect the worst impact on benthic communities. For future reference, these results will be included into guidelines for fish farming.     

南麂列岛潮间带底栖藻类与环境的关系探讨

根据南麂列岛的国胜岙,大沙岙和上马鞍等３条潮间带的底栖藻类监测结果,结合同区域的水质及底质环境质量,初步评价了该３个区栖藻类的生态种群,密度,形状及季节变化与环境质量之间的关系。