Residual levels and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in freshwater fishes from Lake Small Bai-Yang-Dian, Northern China

The residual levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the liver, brain, gill and muscle tissues of four common edible freshwater fish species including crucian carp, snakehead fish, grass carp and silver carp collected from Lake Small Bai-Yang-Dian in northern China were measured by GC-MS. The distribution and composition pattern of PAHs in the fish tissues, and the effects of lipid contents in fish tissues and the octanol-water partition coefficient (Kow) of PAHs congeners on them were analyzed. The human health risk of PAHs though fish consumptions was estimated. The following results were obtained: (1) The average residual levels of total PAHs (PAH₁₆) on wet weight base in the different tissues of each fish species ranged from 4.764 to 144.254 ng/g ww. The differences in the average residual levels on wet weight base for PAH₁₆ within four fish species were not statistically significant (P > 0.05); however, these within four fish tissues were statistically significant (P < 0.01). (2) There were very similar distribution patterns of PAH congeners among both the fish tissues and the fish species, as indicated by statistically significant positive interrelationships (R = 0.58-0.97, P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). Low molecular weight (LMW) PAHs predominated the distribution in the fish tissues, accounting for 89.97% of total PAHs. Phe was the most dominant component, according for 37.79% of total PAHs, followed by Ant (18.59%), Flo (12.59%), Nap (10.79%), Fla (9.82%) and Pyr (6.43%). (3) The PAHs residues and distribution in the fish tissues are dependent on both the Kow of PAH congeners and the lipid contents in the fish tissues. There was a significant positive relationship (R = 0.7116, P < 0.0001) between lipid contents and PAHs residual levels. The statistically significant negative relationships (P < 0.05) were found between LogKow and log-transformed PAHs contents on wet weight base for all fish tissues except for the muscle tissue of snakehead fish, the brain and liver tissues of crucian carp. (4) The risk levels of total PAHs were lower than 10⁻⁵ for the muscle tissues of four studied fish species and for the brain tissues of grass carp and snakehead fish; while these were higher than 10⁻⁵ for the brain tissues of crucian carp and silver carp. The risk levels of total PAHs in the liver tissues of four studied fish species except for snakehead fish exceeded 10⁻⁵ for 2-4.5 times. However, the potency equivalent concentration (PEC) of total PAHs in four studied fish tissues were still lower than the maximum permissible BaP limits for crops and baked meat and for plants in the national criterions. The distributions of PAH congeners in fish were well simulated by a level III fugacity model, especially for low molecule weight PAHs.     

Ecological risk assessment based on freshwater consumption dynamic analysis of Xiamen City,China

Freshwater is the lifeline of a city. Shortages in urban water supply and ecological losses occur when freshwater supply capacity and demand are imbalanced. Therefore, systematic research on the risk of freshwater consumption in urban areas is urgently demanded. A scientific understanding of the risk of urban water consumption will contribute to the efficient use of freshwater resources and ensure the stability and sustainable development of cities. Taking Xiamen City as the study area, we evaluated the ecological risk of freshwater consumption scenarios in the years 2020 and 2030 using a multilevel characterization method for urban ecological risk, stepwise regression analysis, and a gray prediction model. The results of our evaluation show that freshwater consumption in Xiamen is highly correlated with the total population, the crop acreage, the proportion of secondary industry, and the treatment rate of domestic sewage. In the 2020 and 2030 scenarios, freshwater consumption in Xiamen City is predicted to increase. Meanwhile, with the construction of water conservancy facilities, the supply capacity of freshwater in Xiamen City will be greatly improved. Therefore, the ecological impacts of freshwater consumption in the 2020 and 2030 scenarios were at the middle and low levels. In this study, the validity of the multilevel characterization method described herein for urban ecological risk has been confirmed. However, calculation of scenario probability is a difficult problem in the framework of this method, and future research should address this issue.     

Community diversity and distribution of ammonia-oxidizing archaea in marsh wetlands in the black soil zone in North-east China

AOA amoA genes in the soils of the two wetlands affiliated with three lineages. The main drivers of AOA community were pH and total organic carbon and ammonium. The soil characteristics rather than the vegetation control the AOA community. Since its first detection, ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) have been proven to be ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. In this study, two freshwater marsh wetlands- the Honghe wetland and Qixinghe wetland – in the black soil zone in North-east China were chosen to investigate the AOA community diversity and distribution in wetland soils with different vegetation and depth. In the Honghe wetland, two sampling locations were chosen as the dominant plant transited from Deyeuxia to Carex. In the Qixinghe wetland, one sample location that was dominated by Deyeuxia was chosen. Samples of each location were collected from three different depths, and Illumina MiSeq platform was used to generate the AOA amoA gene archive. The results showed that the AOA amoA genes in the soils of the two wetlands were affiliated with three lineages: Nitrososphaera, Nitrosotalea, and Nitrosopumilus clusters. The different dominant status of these AOA lineages indicated their differences in adapting to acidic habitat, oxygenic/hypoxic alternation, organic matter, and other environmental factors, suggesting high diversity among AOA in marsh soils. The main driver of the AOA community was pH, along with organic carbon and ammonium nitrogen, which also played an important role combined with many other environmental factors. Thus, soil physiochemical characteristics, rather than vegetation, were the main cause of AOA community diversity in the wetlands in the black soil zone in China.     

Reflections in a Stock Pond: Are Anthropogenically Derived Freshwater Ecosystems Natural, Artificial, or Something Else?

“A skyscraper is as natural as a bird’s nest” –Alan Watts For millennia, people have altered freshwater ecosystems directly through water development and indirectly by global change and surrounding land-use activities. In these altered ecosystems, human impacts can be subtle and are sometimes overlooked by the people who manage them. This article provides two case studies near Boulder, Colorado that demonstrate how perceptions regarding these ecosystems affect their management. These examples are typical of lakes and streams along the Front Range of Colorado that are simultaneously natural and social in origin. Although natural, many of the region’s freshwater ecosystems are affected by ongoing ecologic, hydrologic, chemical, and geomorphic modifications produced by human activity. People and nature are both active participants in the production of these freshwater ecosystems. The concept of “hybridity,” borrowed from geographers and social scientists, is useful for describing landscapes of natural and social origin. Hybrid freshwater ecosystems are features of the humanized landscape and are derived from deliberate cultural activities, nonhuman physical and biological processes, and incidental anthropogenic disturbance. Our perceptions of “natural” freshwater ecosystems and what definitions we use to describe them influences our view of hybrid systems and, in turn, affects management decisions regarding them. This work stresses the importance of understanding the underlying societal forces and cultural values responsible for the creation of hybrid freshwater ecosystems as a central step in their conservation and management.     

Selection of (bio) indicators to assess effects of freshwater use in wetlands: a case study of s’Albufera de Mallorca, Spain

Parc Natural sAlbufera de Mallorca is an internationally recognised resting area for a wide array of migratory birds, and like most wetlands it has many other ecological functions and socio-economic values. In the catchment, in which the wetland is situated, expanding tourism and intensification of agriculture place much pressure on a limited amount of freshwater. The freshwater supply to the wetland decreased due to water-extraction mainly driven by intensification of agriculture in the catchment. As a result saltwater intrusion increased since 1983–1985. This had considerable impacts on the ecological integrity of the wetland as reflected by changes in the state of the aquatic ecosystem. The distribution of submerged plants, less tolerant of salinity, declined or disappeared, while the distribution of species, known to prefer high salinity increased. As a contribution to the development of monitoring programs and management strategies that address both socio-economic and natural water demand, this article will formulate ecological criteria to assess the natural water demand by selection of (bio)indicators within the aquatic ecosystem.     

Environmental Indicators of Habitat Quality in a Migratory Freshwater Fish Fauna

/ In general, diadromous (and particularly amphidromous and catadromous) freshwater fishes decline in frequency of occurrence, change age/size structure, and probably also decline in abundance with increasing elevation and distance upstream from the sea. In freshwater fish faunas with a high proportion of migratory species, as in New Zealand, these changes in occurrence and abundance result in a breakdown of the relationship between fish abundance and habitat quality, making application of the index of biotic integrity (IBI) as a measure of habitat quality problematical since the index depends on the relationship between population metrics and habitat quality. An alternative approach applicable to assessing temporal changes in habitat quality and that uses a large database on fish distributions, involves analysis of the distribution of species across their natural distributions. In this paper we generate curves of occurrence of species across ranges of altitude and distance inland and show, through comparisons of data subsets, that the curves are consistent estimators of species' occurrence and therefore useful as indicators of habitat quality.     

A thermodynamic model of freshwater Antarctic lake ice

Antarctic lakes with simple plankton ecosystems are believed to be sensitive biological indicators of climate change. Models of the physical environment, in particular the ice layer, support understanding of how the ecosystems respond to meteorological variables. This paper describes how data from a previously reported automatic measuring probe and meteorological data from Davis station were used to develop a detailed thermodynamic model of the ice layer on Crooked Lake, one of the largest and deepest freshwater lakes in Antarctica. The general model structure is similar to a previously reported model of sea ice but with modifications specific to the Antarctic freshwater lake case informed by the data. The model inputs are atmospheric variables as well as water temperature, ice albedo and the radiation extinction coefficient for the ice. Heat and radiation fluxes at the ice–air and ice–water boundaries are calculated using equations chosen for their suitability for the Antarctic. In the case of shortwave radiation, equations were fitted to data from the automatic probe. Using the heat fluxes to establish boundary conditions, and incorporating the known thermodynamic properties of ice, the temperature profile within the ice and the resulting growth and melt of the ice can be calculated. The model uses a largely mechanistic approach, with most equations taken from established thermodynamic theories or empirical studies and only one adjustable parameter related to the sensible heat flux from the water, which is not easily calculated from the available data. It was found to accurately reproduce ice temperature and ice thickness data for the year 2003, with r² = 0.89, n = 2005. Finally, the model was simplified to run with air temperature as the only input variable and was shown to perform well—this suggests that freshwater lake ice is affected more by air temperature than any other variable, and is therefore a useful indicator of climate change in its own right.     

Customisation of the decision support system MOIRA-PLUS for applications to the marine environment

The present short communication describes a technique to customise the decision system MOIRA-PLUS for applications to the marine environment. MOIRA-PLUS was originally designed to predict the behaviour of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr in fresh water ecosystems and to evaluate the environmental, social and economic impacts of selected countermeasures aimed at restoring the polluted environment and at reducing the doses to man. An example of application for predicting the concentration of radiocaesium of Chernobyl origin in the Mediterranean Sea is described and discussed. The technique allows the user to easily integrate existing state-of-the-art box models of sea water circulation into the MOIRA-PLUS decision system.     

Measured and modelled tritium concentrations in freshwater Barnes mussels (Elliptio complanata) exposed to an abrupt increase in ambient tritium levels

To improve understanding of environmental tritium behaviour, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) included a Tritium and C-14 Working Group (WG) in its EMRAS (Environmental Modelling for Radiation Safety) program. One scenario considered by the WG involved the prediction of time-dependent tritium concentrations in freshwater mussels that were subjected to an abrupt increase in ambient tritium levels. The experimental data used in the scenario were obtained from a study in which freshwater Barnes mussels (Elliptio complanata) were transplanted from an area with background tritium concentrations to a small Canadian Shield lake that contains elevated tritium. The mussels were then sampled over 88 days, and concentrations of free-water tritium (HTO) and organically-bound tritium (OBT) were measured in the soft tissues to follow the build-up of tritium in the mussels over time.The HTO concentration in the mussels reached steady state with the concentration in lake water within one or two hours. Most models predicted a longer time (up to a few days) to equilibrium. All models under-predicted the OBT concentration in the mussels one hour after transplantation, but over-predicted the rate of OBT formation over the next 24 h. Subsequent dynamics were not well modelled, although all participants predicted OBT concentrations that were within a factor of three of the observation at the end of the study period. The concentration at the final time point was over-predicted by all but one of the models. The relatively low observed concentration at this time was likely due to the loss of OBT by mussels during reproduction.     

A study of radium bioaccumulation in freshwater mussels, Velesunio angasi, in the Magela Creek catchment, Northern Territory, Australia

Freshwater mussels, Velesunio angasi, along Magela Creek in Australia’s Northern Territory were examined to study radionuclide activities in mussel flesh and to investigate whether the Ranger Uranium mine is contributing to the radium loads in mussels downstream of the mine. Radium loads in mussels of the same age were highest in Bowerbird Billabong, located 20 km upstream of the mine site. Variations in the ratio of [Ra]:[Ca] in filtered water at the sampling sites accounted for the variations found in mussel radium loads with natural increases in calcium (Ca) in surface waters in a downstream gradient along the Magela Creek catchment gradually reducing radium uptake in mussels. At Mudginberri Billabong, 12 km downstream of the mine, concentration factors for radium have not significantly changed over the past 25 years since the mine commenced operations and this, coupled with a gradual decrease of the ²²⁸Ra/²²⁶Ra activity ratios observed along the catchment, indicates that the ²²⁶Ra accumulated in mussels is of natural rather than mine origin. The ²²⁸Th/²²⁸Ra ratio has been used to model radium uptake and a radium biological half-life in mussels of approximately 13 years has been determined. The long biological half-life and the low Ca concentrations in the water account for the high radium concentration factor of 30,000-60,000 measured in mussels from the Magela Creek catchment.