Coastal Ecosystem Health Research Articles

Estimating economic and environmental trade-offs of managing nitrogen in Australian sugarcane systems taking agronomic risk into account

Use of chemical agricultural inputs such as nitrogen fertilisers (N) in agricultural production can cause diffuse source pollution thereby degrading the health of coastal and marine ecosystems in coastal river catchments. Previous reviewed economic assessments of N management in agricultural production seldom consider broader environmental impacts and uncertain climatic and economic conditions. This paper presents an economic risk framework for assessing economic and environmental trade-offs of N management strategies taking into account variable climatic and economic conditions. The framework is underpinned by a modelling platform that integrates Agricultural Production System sIMulation modelling (APSIM), probability theory, Monte Carlo simulation, and financial risk analysis techniques. We applied the framework to a case study in Tully, a coastal catchment in north-eastern Australia with a well-documented N pollution problem. Our results show that switching from managing N to maximise private net returns to maximising social net returns could reduce expected private net returns by $99 ha−1, but yield additional environmental benefits equal to $191 ha−1. Further, switching from managing N to maximise private returns in years with the highest profit potential (hereafter, good years) to maximising mean social net returns could reduce expected private profits in good years by $277 ha−1, but yield additional environmental benefits equal to $287 ha−1. We contend that it is essential to incorporate farmer risk behaviour and environmental impacts in analyses that inform policies aimed at enhancing adoption of management activities for mitigating deterioration of the health of coastal and marine ecosystems due to diffuse source pollution from agricultural production.

Invasive Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) Eradication and Native Crab Recovery

AbstractInvasive smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel) eradication is important for the health of many coastal ecosystems. An integrated regime of continuous submergence after clear mowing, with three interval levels between mowing and submergence (5, 10, and 15 d) and three submergence depths (20, 30, and 50 cm), was implemented in cofferdams enclosing invader populations along a Chinese coast. In July of the following year, after the roots of mowed S. alterniflora had been submerged for 12 mo, some ramets grew under the regime with an interval of 15 d and the regime with a submergence depth of 20 cm, but no ramets occurred under the regimes with submergence depths of 30 or 50 cm and intervals of 5 or 10 d. Four crab species were documented: Helice tridens tientsinensis Rathbun, Sesarma dehaani H. Milne-Edwards, Ocypode stimpsoni Ortmann, and Chiromantes haematocheir de Haan. Biomass and abundance values of crab species in the cofferdams were similar to those in the mudflats but different from those in smooth cordgrass populations. Thus, the treatment of submergence after mowing, which was implemented in the cofferdams, can control S. alterniflora and provide a mudflat-like habitat that promotes crab recovery if this treatment uses the proper combination of submergence depth and interval between mowing and submergence.

Quantifying the effectiveness of shoreline armoring removal on coastal biota of Puget Sound.

Shoreline armoring is prevalent around the world with unprecedented human population growth and urbanization along coastal habitats. Armoring structures, such as riprap and bulkheads, that are built to prevent beach erosion and protect coastal infrastructure from storms and flooding can cause deterioration of habitats for migratory fish species, disrupt aquatic–terrestrial connectivity, and reduce overall coastal ecosystem health. Relative to armored shorelines, natural shorelines retain valuable habitats for macroinvertebrates and other coastal biota. One question is whether the impacts of armoring are reversible, allowing restoration via armoring removal and related actions of sediment nourishment and replanting of native riparian vegetation. Armoring removal is targeted as a viable option for restoring some habitat functions, but few assessments of coastal biota response exist. Here, we use opportunistic sampling of pre- and post-restoration data for five biotic measures (wrack % cover, saltmarsh % cover, number of logs, and macroinvertebrate abundance and richness) from a set of six restored sites in Puget Sound, WA, USA. This broad suite of ecosystem metrics responded strongly and positively to armor removal, and these results were evident after less than one year. Restoration responses remained positive and statistically significant across different shoreline elevations and temporal trajectories. This analysis shows that removing shoreline armoring is effective for restoration projects aimed at improving the health and productivity of coastal ecosystems, and these results may be widely applicable.

Assessment of metals bioaccumulation and bioavailability in mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis exposed to outfalls pollution in coastal areas of Casablanca

The present work aims to study the metallic contamination of four sampling sites located nearby major sewage outfalls of the Casablanca coast (Morocco), using indigenous mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis as bioindicators of pollution. This research offered the opportunity to study trace metals bioaccumulation mechanisms, which represent a major factor in assessment processes of the pollution effects in coastal ecosystem health. The bioavailability and the bioaccumulation of trace metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Pb) were evaluated in order to compare the metallic contamination in mussels’ tissues and find a possible correlation with physiological parameters of this filter feeding species. Our results showed a significant spatiotemporal variation of bioaccumulation, compared to control. A significant correlation coefficient between metals (Zn and Pb) bioavailability and physiological index (CI) was revealed in mussels from the most polluted location. The seasonal variation of trace metal accumulation was also raised; the highest values recorded during the dry period.

Water Quality Drivers in 11 Gulf of Mexico Estuaries

Coastal water-quality is both a primary driver and also a consequence of coastal ecosystem health. Turbidity, a measure of dissolved and particulate water-quality matter, is a proxy for water quality, and varies on daily to interannual periods. Turbidity is influenced by a variety of factors, including algal particles, colored dissolved organic matter, and suspended sediments. Identifying which factors drive trends and extreme events in turbidity in an estuary helps environmental managers and decision makers plan for and mitigate against water-quality issues. Efforts to do so on large spatial scales have been hampered due to limitations of turbidity data, including coarse and irregular temporal resolution and poor spatial coverage. We addressed these issues by deriving a proxy for turbidity using ocean color satellite products for 11 Gulf of Mexico estuaries from 2000 to 2014 on weekly, monthly, seasonal, and annual time-steps. Drivers were identified using Akaike’s Information Criterion and multiple regressions to model turbidity against precipitation, wind speed, U and V wind vectors, river discharge, water level, and El Nino Southern Oscillation and North Atlantic Oscillation climate indices. Turbidity variability was best explained by wind speed across estuaries for both time-series and extreme turbidity events, although more dynamic patterns were found between estuaries over various time steps.

Hierarchical Synthesis of Coastal Ecosystem Health Indicators at Karimunjawa National Marine Park

The coastal ecosystem of Karimunjawa National Marine Park (KNMP) is facing various pressures, including from human activity. Monitoring the health condition of coastal ecosystems periodically is needed as an evaluation of the ecosystem condition. Systematic and consistent indicators are needed in monitoring of coastal ecosystem health. This paper presents hierarchical synthesis of coastal ecosystem health indicators using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Hierarchical synthesis is obtained from process of weighting by paired comparison based on expert judgments. The variables of coastal ecosystem health indicators in this synthesis consist of 3 level of variable, i.e. main variable, sub-variable and operational variable. As a result of assessment, coastal ecosystem health indicators consist of 3 main variables, i.e. State of Ecosystem, Pressure and Management. Main variables State of Ecosystem and Management obtain the same value i.e. 0.400, while Pressure value was 0.200. Each main variable consist of several sub-variable, i.e. coral reef, reef fish, mangrove and seagrass for State of Ecosystem; fisheries and marine tourism activity for Pressure; planning and regulation, institutional and also infrastructure and financing for Management. The highest value of sub-variable of main variable State of Ecosystem, Pressure and Management were coral reef (0.186); marine tourism pressure (0.133) and institutional (0.171), respectively. The highest value of operational variable of main variable State of Ecosystem, Pressure and Management were percent of coral cover (0.058), marine tourism pressure (0.133) and presence of zonation plan, regulation also socialization of monitoring program (0.53), respectively. Potential pressure from marine tourism activity is the variable that most affect the health of the ecosystem. The results of this research suggest that there is a need to develop stronger conservation strategies to facing with pressures from marine tourism activities.

Exposure of coastal ecosystems to river plume spreading across a near-equatorial continental shelf

The Berau Continental Shelf (BCS) in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, harbours various tropical marine ecosystems, including mangroves, seagrass meadows and coral reefs. These ecosystem are located partly within reach of the Berau River plume, which may affect ecosystem health through exposure to land-derived sediments, nutrients and pollutants carried by the plume. This study aims (1) to assess the exposure risk of the BCS coastal ecosystems to river plume water, measured as exposure time to three different salinity levels, (2) to identify the relationships between these salinity levels and the abundance and diversity of coral and seagrass ecosystems, and (3) to determine a suitable indicator for the impacts of salinity on coral reef and seagrass health. We analysed hydrodynamic models, classified salinity levels, and quantified the correlations between the salinity model parameters and ecological metrics for the BCS systems. An Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOF) analysis revealed three modes of river plume dispersal patterns, which strongly reflect monsoon seasonality. The first mode, explaining 39% of the variability, was associated with the southward movement of the plume due to northerly winds, while the second and third modes (explaining 29% and 26% of the variability, respectively) were associated with the northeastward migration of the plume related to southwesterly and southerly winds. Exposure to low salinity showed higher correlations with biological indicators than mean salinity, indicating that low salinity is a more suitable indicator for coastal ecosystem health. Significant correlations (R2) were found between exposure time to low salinity (days with salinity values below 25 PSU) with coral cover, coral species richness, seagrass cover, the number of seagrass species, seagrass leaf phosphorus, nitrogen, C:N ratio and iron content. By comparing the correlation coefficients and the slopes of the regression lines, our study suggests that coral reefs are more susceptible to low salinity levels exposure than seagrass meadows. Regarding the risk of corals being exposed to low salinity, nearshore and northern barrier reefs were classified as “high risk”, the middle barrier reef as “medium to high risk” and southern barrier reefs as “medium risk”. Further offshore, the oceanic reefs were classified as “low risk”. Regarding the seagrass meadows, the nearshore region was categorized as “high risk”, the barrier reef as “medium to low risk” and oceanic reefs as “low risk”. This study contributes to assessing the potential impacts of salinity on the BCS ecosystems, and further provides a knowledge base for marine conservation planning.

Facing the future: Conservation as a precursor for building coastal territorial cohesion and resilience

Abstract On a global scale, most of the coastal zones in the world are undergoing rapid and accelerating changes. This coastal syndrome combines two major trends: one linked to the growth of coastal populations, habitat, transport and industrial infrastructures (assets); the other linked to the influence of climate change and its effects in terms of sea‐level rise, increased frequency of extreme weather events, acidification and increase in ocean surface temperature, both affecting the health of coastal ecosystems. This situation is also reflected in the increase in coastal engineering solutions, which have significant impacts on coastal hydrodynamics and natural ecosystems. This extremely dynamic context calls for an evolution in conservation and spatial planning strategies in order to better anticipate changes that may affect not only the sustainability of both the distribution and health of natural ecosystems, but also the relevance of conservation efforts. Marine and coastal protected areas help preserve ecological services, and reduce the risks faced by coastal communities. Therefore, it can be argued that the effectiveness of these conservation units will depend on the ability, (i) to take into account their territorial context, and also (ii) to base the management decisions on a prospective and sufficiently anticipated (future‐oriented) approach. MPA management must be proactive to cope with such rapid changes. The Nexus approach, promoted by the IUCN Commission on Ecosystem Management ‐ coastal ecosystem group (CEM/CEG), places marine and coastal spatial planning as a key integrative element linking conservation, adaptation to climate change and coastal risk reduction, and as a part of no‐regret adaptation strategies. This paper highlights the main factors that characterize current coastal dynamics, and then briefly presents three future‐oriented pilot operations, implemented in Western Africa at different scales. These operations illustrate how MPAs must become structuring elements for the organization and development of coastal territories if they are to contribute to the resilience of coastal systems and to ensure their own long‐term sustainability.

Effects of Microbial and Heavy Metal Contaminants on Environmental/Ecological Health and Revitalization of Coastal Ecosystems in Delaware Bay

The presence of heavy metals, excess nutrients, and microbial contaminants in aquatic systems of coastal Delaware has become a public concern as human population increases and land development continues. Delaware's coastal lagoons have been subjected to problems commonly shared by other coastal Mid-Atlantic states: turbidity, sedimentation, eutrophication, periodic hypoxic/anoxic conditions, toxic substances, and high bacterial levels. The cumulative impact of pollutants from run-off and point sources has degraded water quality, reduced the diversity and abundance of various fish species, invertebrates, and submerged aquatic vegetation. The effects are especially pronounced within the manmade dead end canal systems. In this article, we present selected case studies conducted in the Delaware Inland Bays. Due to the ecological services provided by bivalves, our studies in Delaware Inland Bays are geared towards oysters with special focus on the microbial loads followed by the water quality assessments of the bay. The relationships between oysters (Crassostrea virginica), microbial loads and nutrient levels in the water were investigated. The heavy metal levels monitored near the waste water treatment plant in the inland bays are marginally higher than the recommended EPA limits Also, our studies confirmed that aerobic bacteria and Vibrionaceae levels are salinity dependent. Total bacteria in oysters increased when nitrate and total suspended solids increased in the waters. Studies such as these are important because every year millions of Americans consume raw oysters. Data collected over the last ten years from our studies may be used to build a predictive index of conditions that are favorable for the proliferation of human pathogenic bacteria. Results from this study will benefit the local community by helping them understand the importance of oyster aquaculture and safe consumption of oysters while making them appreciate their ecological and commercial values. This will also be of tremendous help to the commercial shellfish aquaculture farms to predict poor conditions to prevent oysters’ consumption when bacterial levels are high in water.

Effects of salinity on oil dispersant toxicity in the grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio

Chemical dispersants can be a useful tool to mitigate oil spills, but the potential risks to sensitive estuarine species should be carefully considered. To improve the decision making process, more information is needed regarding the effects of oil spill dispersants on the health of coastal ecosystems under variable environmental conditions such as salinity. The effects of salinity on the toxicity of two oil dispersants, Corexit® 9500 and Finasol® OSR 52, were examined in this study. Corexit® 9500 was the primary dispersant used during the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill event, while Finasol® OSR 52 is another dispersant approved for oil spill response in the U.S., yet considerably less is known regarding its toxicity to estuarine species. The grass shrimp, Palaemonetes pugio, was used as a model estuarine species. It is a euryhaline species that tolerates salinities from brackish to full strength seawater. Adult and larval life stages were tested with each dispersant at three salinities, 5, 20, and 30 ppt. Median acute lethal toxicity thresholds and oxidative stress responses were determined. The toxicity of both dispersants was significantly influenced by salinity, with greatest toxicity observed at the lowest salinity tested. Larval shrimp were significantly more sensitive than adult shrimp to both dispersants, and both life stages were significantly more sensitive to Finasol than to Corexit. Oxidative stress in adult shrimp, as measured by increased lipid peroxidation activity, occurred with exposure to both dispersants. These data will assist environmental managers in making informed decisions regarding dispersant use in future oil spills.

Putting transdisciplinary research into practice: A participatory approach to understanding change in coastal social-ecological systems

As the health of many coastal ecosystems declines, there is an increasingly urgent need for research that transcends academic disciplines and can respond to complex environmental problems. While the benefits of transdisciplinary research are widely recognised, there are institutional and practical constraints on researchers wishing to put these approaches into practice. In this paper we seek to understand how incorporating participatory elements into research design and data collection can enhance the benefits of a transdisciplinary approach and improve outcomes for scientists and users of research. To do so, we describe and reflect on a transdisciplinary research project conducted in a large industrial port in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area, Australia. Drawing on experiential observation and theoretical contributions from across the literatures on transdisciplinary and participatory research, we also develop an integrated research framework that can be applied across contexts. The research demonstrates that incorporating participatory techniques during the research scoping phase can help researchers to develop a transdisciplinary research programme that can both strengthen research outcomes and ensure their relevance to coastal communities and decision makers.

Detecting and assessing Spartina invasion in coastal region of China: A case study in the Xiangshan Bay

Spartina alterniflora is one of exotic plants along the coastal region in China. It was introduced as an important engineering approach to ecological restoration in the later 1970s. However, owing to its good adaptability and strong reproductive capacity, the introduced species is explosively spreading along the coastal region quickly and resulting in a significant impact on the health and safety of coastal wetland ecosystems. It is imperative to quantify the spatial extent and the rate of S. alterniflora sprawl in order to assess its ecological damages and economic impacts. Remote sensing techniques have been used to address these challenges but large unsuccessful due to mixed spectral properties. In this study, a hybrid method was proposed for S. alterniflora detection using medium resolution remote sensing images by integrating both spatial and spectral features of S. alterniflora. The hybrid method consists of two phases: (1) delineation of intertidal zone as the potential area of S. alterniflora distribution and (2) extraction of S. alterniflora fraction distribution with a mixture pixel analysis. The proposed method was tested at the Xiangshan Bay on the east coastal region of Zhejiang Province, China, and mapped the spatial extent of S. alterniflora with Landsat datasets in the 2003, 2009 and 2014. The results showed that, the S. alterniflora has grown exponentially over past 10 years. In 2003, the total area of S. alterniflora was about 590 hm2, but quickly reached to 1 745 hm2 in 2009, and 5 715 hm2 in 2014. With a rate of approximately 10-folds growth within a decade, the invasive species almost occupied all muddy beaches to become the most dominant coastal salt vegetation in this region. It is believed that the strong biological reproductive capacity was the primary reason for such quick spread and at the same time human reclamation activities were also believed to have facilitated the environmental conditions for S. alterniflora sprawl.

Contaminants in Queen Conch (Strombus gigas) in Vieques, Puerto Rico

Pollution has the potential to negatively alter coastal ecosystem health, including fisheries species, through direct impacts, food web effects and habitat degradation. Vieques is an island municipality of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, which lies off the east coast of the main island. In addition to normal pollution stressors associated with human activities, Vieques was also the site of a military bombing range from the 1940s until 2003. There is significant local concern about potential negative impacts of pollution from these and other activities on fisheries stocks, as well as seafood as a vector for toxic contaminants to enter the human food supply. In this study, queen conch (Strombus gigas) tissues were analyzed for a suite of contaminants: metals, the pesticide DDT (and its degradation products), and energetic compounds (associated with munitions) from three areas around the island. The magnitude of contamination found in queen conch was within the range of values reported in other studies in the Caribbean, suggesting that the levels of these selected contaminants present in conch in Vieques are not unusual for the region.

Effects of seashore reclamation activities on the health of wetland ecosystems: A case study in the Yellow River Delta, China

Seashore reclamation is an important way that humans utilize the oceans. In recent years, expansion of seashore reclamation activities has seriously disturbed natural coastal systems, and especially wetland ecosystems. In this paper, using China's Yellow River Delta as a case study, we evaluated the effects of seashore reclamation activities on the health of coastal wetland ecosystems. We defined a comprehensive assessment index system based on the pressure-state-response model and used the model to explore how wetland health responded to reclamation activities, including the construction of tidal embankments and ports, land reclamation, road construction, and upstream dam construction. We found that the pressure intensity index for seashore reclamation activities ranged from 0.39 to 0.77, and increased until the late 1990s. From 1950 to 2010, increasing pressure on the wetlands caused the comprehensive state and health indices to decrease from 0.87 to 0.51 and from 0.64 to 0.52, respectively; both indicate severe risks to ecosystem health. The comprehensive health index decreased continuously until about 2000, then improved. There were strong negative correlations between the comprehensive health and pressure indices and the reclamation activity pressure index (both R2 > 0.80, p < 0.05). A sensitivity analysis indicated that the assessment model was robust with respect to the effects of tidal embankment and dam construction. Our results indicate that alleviating the reclamation pressure, especially tidal embankment and dam construction, would significantly improve wetland ecosystem health. Our study will help seashore managers assess the combined effects of existing reclamation activities on coastal wetlands, and support future reclamation activity planning.

Linking sewage pollution and water quality to spatial patterns of Porites lobata growth anomalies in Puako, Hawaii

Sewage pollution threatens the health of coastal populations and ecosystems, including coral reefs. We investigated spatial patterns of sewage pollution in Puako, Hawaii using enterococci concentrations and δ15N Ulva fasciata macroalgal bioassays to assess relationships with the coral disease Porites lobata growth anomalies (PGAs). PGA severity and enterococci concentrations were high, spatially variable, and positively related. Bioassay algal δ15N showed low sewage pollution at the reef edge while high values of resident algae indicated sewage pollution nearshore. Neither δ15N metric predicted PGA measures, though bioassay δ15N was negatively related to coral cover. Furthermore, PGA prevalence was much higher than previously recorded in Hawaii and the greater Indo-Pacific, highlighting Puako as an area of concern. Although further work is needed to resolve the relationship between sewage pollution and coral cover and disease, these results implicate sewage pollution as a contributor to diminished reef health.

Study on the cumulative impact of reclamation activities on ecosystem health in coastal waters

The purpose of this study is to develop feasible tools to investigate the cumulative impact of reclamations on coastal ecosystem health, so that the strategies of ecosystem-based management can be applied in the coastal zone. An indicator system and model were proposed to assess the cumulative impact synthetically. Two coastal water bodies, namely Laizhou Bay (LZB) and Tianjin coastal waters (TCW), in the Bohai Sea of China were studied and compared, each in a different phase of reclamations. Case studies showed that the indicator scores of coastal ecosystem health in LZB and TCW were 0.75 and 0.68 out of 1.0, respectively. It can be concluded that coastal reclamations have a historically cumulative effect on benthic environment, whose degree is larger than that on aquatic environment. The ecosystem-based management of coastal reclamations should emphasize the spatially and industrially intensive layout.

Impacts of and adaptation to inter-decadal marine climate change in coastal China seas

The coastal China areas stretching from tropical to temperate zone represent major environmental and economic assets. However, knowledge of climate change and its impact in coastal seas, which is very critical for marine resource and risk-management issues, is relatively poor compared with that on land. Here, we show that the coastal China seas experienced a long-term surface warming with a rate of 0.015 °C year−1 and an obvious sea level rise along the coast, particularly along the East China Sea with a rate of more than 3.2 mm year−1 since the late 1950s. The Eurasian atmospheric circulation underwent clearly inter-decadal changes in the past decades due to the tropical ocean thermal changes including warming hiatus and conversely influenced the higher latitude coastal marine conditions through regional air–sea interaction. Marine climate variables including sea surface temperature, sea surface height, and atmospheric cyclonic circulation have formed a favourable condition for phytoplankton blooms such as harmful algae blooms (e.g. red tides) and Enteromorpha prolifera blooms (green tides). These algae blooms could strongly lower oxygen levels in the seawater and have been posing threats for the health of coastal and marine ecosystems since the late 1970s. The impacts and key risks of climate change risks in coastal China seas and the coastal zone are reviewed and analysed as follows: frequent occurrences of red tides and green tides, distribution shifts of marine species and changes in their seasonal behaviour, reduction of coastal habitat, decline of marine ecosystem services, flooding and coastal inundation, seawater intrusion, and threats to coastland community security and marine industries, etc. Furthermore, the accumulated effects of human activity, such as reclamation, sewage discharge, and overfishing, have led to an apparent increase in climate-related vulnerabilities. Adaptation issues and risk-management strategies in response to climate change are discussed and proposed as well.

The economic value of freshwater inputs to an estuarine fishery

Abstract The health of many estuarine and coastal ecosystems depends on upstream hydrology; however, there is limited information on the economic effects of restricting freshwater flow to the coast. We investigate the role of freshwater inputs on the blue crab fishery in Georgia, USA. Blue crabs are known to respond to salinity changes in the estuaries in which they reside, and declining freshwater flow to the coast over the last 50 years is correlated with increases in average estuarine salinity and falling commercial harvests. A structural, bioeconomic model reveals freshwater inputs have significant effects on fishery outcomes. Simulations of a counterfactual minimum-flow standard for three different rivers, set at 25% of 50-year averages, suggest such a policy would result in measurable benefits for the fishery, improving profits by 35% ($1.7 million) during the period 2002–2012 in the three fishing areas for which data were available. Aggregating the necessary additional water releases to achieve this standard yields an approximate average value of water of between $1 and $7 per acre-foot.

Time series monitoring of water quality and microalgal diversity in a tropical bay under intense anthropogenic interference (SW coast of the Bay of Bengal, India)

In recent decades, material fluxes to coastal waters from various land based anthropogenic activities have significantly been enhanced around the globe which can considerably impact the coastal water quality and ecosystem health. Hence, there is a critical need to understand the links between anthropogenic activities in watersheds and its health. Kakinada Bay is situated at the SW part of the Bay of Bengal, near to the second largest mangrove cover in India with several fertilizer industries along its bank and could be highly vulnerable to different types of pollutants. However, virtually, no data is available so far reporting its physicochemical status and microalgal diversity at this bay. In order to fill this gap, we conducted three time series observations at a fixed station during January, December and June 2012, at this bay measuring more than 15 physical, chemical and biological parameters in every 3h over a period of 36h in both surface (0m) and subsurface (4.5m) waters. Our results clearly depict a strong seasonality between three sampling months; however, any abnormal values of nutrients, biological oxygen demand or dissolved oxygen level was not observed. A Skeletonema costatum bloom was observed in December which was probably influenced by low saline, high turbid and high Si input through the river discharge. Otherwise, smaller diatoms like Thalassiosira decipiens, Thalassiothrix frauenfeldii, and Thalassionema nitzschioides dominated the bay. It is likely that the material loading can be high at the point sources due to intense anthropogenic activities, however, gets diluted with biological, chemical and physical processes in the offshore waters.

Health, wealth, and education: the socioeconomic backdrop for marine conservation in the developing world

Interacting drivers and pressures in many parts of the world are greatly undermining the long-term health and wellbeing of coastal human populations and marine ecosystems. How- ever, we do not yet have a well-formed picture of the nature and extent of the human poverty of coastal communities in these areas. In this paper, we begin to fill the gap and present a multi- dimensional picture of the wellbeing of coastal communities, using nationally representative sur- vey data to examine the health, wealth, and educational status of households in over 38000 com- munities across 38 developing countries. In general, we found high levels of poverty across the 3 dimensions (health, wealth, and education) analyzed, but each dimension also showed large heterogeneity within and across countries. We found that coastal communities had statistically significant higher levels of wellbeing than non-coastal communities. Coastal children were less stunted, less poor, and more likely to live in a higher educated household when compared to non-coastal households. However, we found that across coastal communities, rural coastal com- munities had 1.5 times lower height-for-age standard deviation scores (representing high child- hood stunting rates), were 4 times more likely to be poor, and were 1.6 times more likely to have low levels of educational attainment. A deeper understanding of human wellbeing along coasts is critical for generating wider social and more long-term economic benefits with respect to coastal marine management.