Quality Of Marine Ecosystems Research Articles

Composition and Distribution of Microeukaryotic Communities in the Surface Sediments of Five Geographic Regions of Bohai Sea Based on 18S rDNA Amplicon Sequencing

The Bohai Sea is a semi-enclosed shallow water that is influenced by both natural and anthropogenic stressors. However, the microeukaryotic communities and environmental factors that affect them in different regions remain largely unclear. We investigated microeukaryotic communities in surface sediments from five geographic regions using high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rDNA gene. The Miaodao Archipelago, Yellow River Estuary, and Central Bohai Sea had the highest Shannon and Simpson indices of the eukaryotic communities, while the Yellow River Estuary exhibited the highest Chao1 index. The microeukaryotic communities in surface sediments were mainly composed of Dinoflagellata, Bacillariophyta, Ciliophora, Cercozoa, and Protalveolata. Thalassiosira has a relatively high abundance at the Liaodong Bay and Central Bohai Sea, possessing the proportion of 41.70% and 38.10%, respectively, while Gonyaulax was the most abundant taxa in the Bohai Bay, occupying a proportion of 57.77%. Moreover, a negative correlation between diatoms and dinoflagellates was observed. Phosphorus, nitrogen, salinity, temperature, and silicate were major environmental determinants of microeukaryotic composition. Microeukaryotic communities in the surface sediments, especially for the composition and ratio of diatoms to dinoflagellates, reflected the environmental quality of marine ecosystems. Overall, these microeukaryotic community compositions provide a reliable indicator for monitoring the level of marine eutrophication in the Bohai Sea.

Assessing the Benthic Ecological Quality in the Intertidal Zone of Cheonsu Bay, Korea, Using Multiple Biotic Indices

With the growing global focus on marine environmental conservation and management, it is imperative to evaluate the ecological quality of marine ecosystems accurately. In this study, we employed seven biotic indices, namely the AZTI marine biotic index (AMBI), BENTIX, benthic opportunistic polychaetes amphipods index (BOPA), benthic pollution index (BPI), multivariate AZTI marine biotic index (M-AMBI), abundance biomass comparison (W-value), and Shannon diversity index (H’), to assess the benthic ecological quality in the intertidal zone of Cheonsu Bay, South Korea. Except for the H’ and W-value, the indices (AMBI, BENTIX, BOPA, BPI, and M-AMBI) suggest that the ecological quality at most stations in the intertidal zone of Cheonsu Bay was acceptable. Furthermore, the influx of a large amount of eutrophic freshwater has impacted the intertidal zone of Cheonsu Bay, but the applicability of the seven biotic indices requires further investigation.

KE ARAH PENGURUSAN KAWASAN PERLINDUNGAN MARIN YANG LESTARI: PERSPEKTIF TEMUBUAL MENDALAM BERSAMA SAINTIS

Efforts to expand Marine Protected Areas (MPA) are very important to ensure continued generation of ocean resources and sources of income. The health and quality of marine ecosystems need to be preserved and restored to ensure that these marine ecosystems can continue to supply resources and services such as fisheries, tourism and recreation opportunities, as well as protection from disasters such as climate change, erosion and tsunamis. It should be emphasized that the protection of this marine area does not mean that access to coastal areas and oceans is closed and the implementation of any activity is completely prevented. On the other hand, control mechanisms will be applied to ensure low-impact socio-economic activities can be carried out sustainably and any uncontrolled development and use of resources can be monitored. This study examines the issues that influence the current planning of sustainability management in marine parks in an effort to expand the network of MPA while maintaining the sustainability of existing MPA. Qualitative methods are used in this study through in-depth interviews with scientists who are involved in marine park research with the Fisheries Department. The results of the study found that effective governance and strict enforcement of regulations can lead to the success of sustainable MPA management and subsequently able to increase the number of MPA. Therefore, there is an advocacy of improvement especially from a management perspective where the informants of this study suggest the concept of seascape management which is a management approach based on ecosystem services of marine areas. The responsibility for the sustainability of this MPA does not depend entirely on government institutions alone but requires the efforts and cooperation of various parties.

Characterization factors for ocean acidification impacts on marine biodiversity

AbstractRising greenhouse gas emissions do not only accelerate climate change but also make the ocean more acidic. This applies above all to carbon dioxide (CO2). Lower ocean pH levels threaten marine ecosystems and especially strongly calcifying species. Impacts on marine ecosystem quality are currently underrepresented in life cycle assessments (LCAs). Here, we developed characterization factors for the life cycle impact assessment of ocean acidification. Our main contribution was developing new species sensitivity distributions (SSDs), from which we derived effect factors for different impact perspectives: Marginal, linear, and average changes for both the past and four future emission scenarios (RCP2.6, RCP4.5, RCP6.0, and RCP8.5). Based on a dataset that covered five taxa (corals, crustaceans, echinoderms, fishes, molluscs) and three climate zones, we showed significantly higher sensitivities for strongly calcifying than slightly calcifying taxa and in polar regions compared to tropical and temperate regions. Experimental duration, leading to acute, subchronic, or chronic toxicological endpoints, did not significantly affect the species sensitivities. With ocean acidification impacts still accelerating, the future‐oriented average effects are higher than the marginal or past‐oriented average effects. While our characterization factors are ready for use in LCA, we also point to opportunities for improvement in future developments.

The High Risk of Bivalve Farming in Coastal Areas With Heavy Metal Pollution and Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria: A Chilean Perspective.

Anthropogenic pollution has a huge impact on the water quality of marine ecosystems. Heavy metals and antibiotics are anthropogenic stressors that have a major effect on the health of the marine organisms. Although heavy metals are also associate with volcanic eruptions, wind erosion or evaporation, most of them come from industrial and urban waste. Such contamination, coupled to the use and subsequent misuse of antimicrobials in aquatic environments, is an important stress factor capable of affecting the marine communities in the ecosystem. Bivalves are important ecological components of the oceanic environments and can bioaccumulate pollutants during their feeding through water filtration, acting as environmental sentinels. However, heavy metals and antibiotics pollution can affect several of their physiologic and immunological processes, including their microbiome. In fact, heavy metals and antibiotics have the potential to select resistance genes in bacteria, including those that are part of the microbiota of bivalves, such as Vibrio spp. Worryingly, antibiotic-resistant phenotypes have been shown to be more tolerant to heavy metals, and vice versa, which probably occurs through co- and cross-resistance pathways. In this regard, a crucial role of heavy metal resistance genes in the spread of mobile element-mediated antibiotic resistance has been suggested. Thus, it might be expected that antibiotic resistance of Vibrio spp. associated with bivalves would be higher in contaminated environments. In this review, we focused on co-occurrence of heavy metal and antibiotic resistance in Vibrio spp. In addition, we explore the Chilean situation with respect to the contaminants described above, focusing on the main bivalves-producing region for human consumption, considering bivalves as potential vehicles of antibiotic resistance genes to humans through the ingestion of contaminated seafood.

The Marine Carbonate System at Maluku and Sulawesi Seas

Maluku and Sulawesi Sea s are parts of Indonesian Large Marine Ecosystem in the east area which has an important role for Indonesian fisheries activities. Those areas are facing the climate change phenomena that could change their marine ecosystem quality. Marine carbonate system is very important for controlling the circulation of CO 2 between the atmosphere and the ocean as well as regulating the pH value of waters. We conducted in situ measurement of marine carbonate system parameters (pH, Total Alkalinity, Total CO 2 (TCO 2 ) and pCO 2 ) during IJEP cruise on September 2016 to analyses spatial variations of the marine carbonate system in the Northwest Monsoon period. The results of marine carbonate system showed that in general Maluku and Sulawesi Sea s are under super saturation of CO 2 or acts as source of CO 2 which have range value of sea surface partial of CO 2 (pCO 2 ) between 280 – 500 µatm. Spatial distribution of sea surface pH values measured with optical sensor at study sites showed varied between 8,03 – 8,15. Measurement results of Total alkalinity (TA) by using titration method varied between 2300 – 2400 µmol/Kg meanwhile range value of TCO 2 was 2300 – 2500 µmol/Kg at surface waterand it’s increased through the deep water with the range value of TCO 2 was 2500 – 2800 µmol/Kg at deeper layer of water.Characteristic of marine carbonate system between Maluku and Sulawesi Sea s was different in the Southeast monsoon period indicates complex marine biogeochemistry processes influences those system .

Meiofaunal communities in four Adriatic ports: Baseline data for risk assessment in ballast water management

Ports receive a variety of contaminants related to a wide range of anthropogenic activities – including ship ballast water (BW) – that ultimately find their way to sediments. Benthic meiofauna from four Adriatic ports (Ancona, Trieste, Koper, and Split) was assessed for the main environmental pollutants, to evaluate the effects of human activities on meiobenthos and identify the most appropriate descriptor to assess the ecological quality of marine ecosystems. Sediment analysis demonstrated that Trieste and Split were the most contaminated ports, followed by Koper and Ancona. All meiofaunal parameters showed high spatial and temporal variability, in line with the marked heterogeneity of the four ports. Sand, total organic carbon, and pollutants seemed to be the variables that best explained meiofaunal patterns. Community structure and rare taxa were the meiofaunal descriptors that reflected the environmental status and biological response most accurately. The present data suggest that meiofauna can be used to assess the biological impact of BW.

Making Marine Noise Pollution Impacts Heard: The Case of Cetaceans in the North Sea within Life Cycle Impact Assessment

Oceans represent more than 95% of the world’s biosphere and are among the richest sources of biodiversity on Earth. However, human activities such as shipping and construction of marine infrastructure pose a threat to the quality of marine ecosystems. Due to the dependence of most marine animals on sound for their communication, foraging, protection, and ultimately their survival, the effects of noise pollution from human activities are of growing concern. Life cycle assessment (LCA) can play a role in the understanding of how potential environmental impacts are related to industrial processes. However, noise pollution impacts on marine ecosystems have not yet been taken into account. This paper presents a first approach for the integration of noise impacts on marine ecosystems into the LCA framework by developing characterization factors (CF) for the North Sea. Noise pollution triggers a large variety of impact pathways, but as a starting point and proof-of-concept we assessed impacts on the avoidance behaviour of cetaceans due to pile-driving during the construction of offshore windfarms in the North Sea. Our approach regards the impact of avoidance behaviour as a temporary loss of habitat, and assumes a temporary loss of all individuals within that habitat from the total regional population. This was verified with an existing model that assessed the population-level effect of noise pollution on harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) in the North Sea. We expanded our CF to also include other cetacean species and tested it in a case study of the construction of an offshore windfarm (Prinses Amalia wind park). The total impact of noise pollution was in the same order of magnitude as impacts on other ecosystems from freshwater eutrophication, freshwater ecotoxicity, terrestrial acidification, and terrestrial ecotoxicity. Although there are still many improvements to be made to this approach, it provides a basis for the implementation of noise pollution impacts in an LCA framework, and has the potential to be expanded to other world regions and impact pathways.

Detection of human fecal contamination by nifH gene quantification of marine waters in the coastal beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The identification of fecal pollution in aquatic ecosystems is one of the requirements to assess the possible risks to human health. In this report, physicochemical parameters, Escherichia coli enumeration and Methanobrevibacter smithii nifH gene quantification were conducted at 13 marine waters in the coastal beaches of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and conductivity, carried out by mobile equipment, revealed varied levels due to specific conditions of the beaches. The bioindicators' enumerations were done by defined substrate method, conventional, and real-time PCR. Six marine beach sites (46%) presenting E. coli levels in compliance with Brazilian water quality guidelines (<2500 MPN/100mL) showed nifH gene between 5.7×109 to 9.5×1011 copies. L-1 revealing poor correlation between the two approaches. To our knowledge, this is the first inquiry in qPCR using nifH gene as a biomarker of human-specific sources of sewage pollution in marine waters in Brazil. In addition, our data suggests that alternative indicator nifH gene could be used, in combination with other markers, for source tracking studies to measure the quality of marine ecosystems thereby contributing to improved microbial risk assessment.

Fishing for answers? Impacts of marine ecosystem quality on coastal tourism demand

This article examines the impact of marine ecosystem quality on inbound coastal tourism in the Baltic, North Sea, and Mediterranean countries. Using marine protected areas (MPAs) and the fraction of overexploited species as a proxy for marine ecosystem quality, we apply an autoregressive distributed lag model in a destination–origin panel setup. The empirical findings suggest that the presence of MPAs and the fraction of overexploited species have a considerable impact on inbound coastal tourism. Moreover, the impact of the overexploitation index on tourism is persistent and its short-term (current) impact constitutes 65% of the long-term impact. The results underscore the importance of marine ecosystem quality for inbound coastal tourism and its overall impact that may exceed the impact of tourists’ income. We also find that government performance is crucial for inbound tourism.

Monitoring of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a produced water disposal area in the Potiguar Basin, Brazilian equatorial margin.

The Potiguar Basin has oil and gas production fields offshore and onshore. All treated produced water (PW) from these fields is discharged through submarine outfalls. Although polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are minor constituents of PW, their input into the marine ecosystem is environmentally critical due to potential ecological hazards. A 2-year monitoring program was conducted in the vicinity of the outfalls to evaluate PAH bioaccumulation in marine life from PW discharges. The study was performed using transplanted bivalves Crassostrea brasiliana and semipermeable membrane devices (SPMDs) to measure PAH concentrations via bioaccumulation and in seawater. The bioaccumulation of PAH in transplanted bivalves reached up to 1105ngg(-1) in the vicinity of the monitored outfall. Significantly lower PAH concentrations were found in the reference area in comparison to the studied area around the outfalls. Time-integrated PAH concentrations in seawater ranged from 38 to 0.3ngL(-1) near the outfalls and from 10ngL(-1) to not detected in the reference area. Both measurement techniques were found to be effective for determining a gradient of descending PAH concentrations from the outfalls. In addition, this study also evaluated the bioavailability of PAH for local marine biota and provided information about the influence of PW discharges on the water quality of marine ecosystems.

Identifying the Link between Coastal Tourism and Marine Ecosystems in the Baltic, North Sea, and Mediterranean Countries

This paper examines the impact of marine ecosystem quality on inbound coastal tourism in the Baltic, North Sea, and Mediterranean countries. Given extensive empirical findings in ecological science, we use marine protected areas (MPAs) and the fraction of species that are shed in each country’s exclusive economic zone that are overexploited or collapsed as a proxy for marine ecosystem quality. We use an autoregressive distributed lag model in a destination-origin panel set up. The empirical findings of this paper suggest that MPAs have a negative direct effect on tourism. However, this effect is reversed when the interaction terms with economic variables are included. Also, by using the fraction of species that are overexploited as an indicator of the deterioration of marine ecosystem quality, we find a considerable negative impact of this index on inbound coastal tourism. The short-term (current) impact of this index on tourism constitutes less than half of the long-term impact. Results provide valuable information for policy makers, suggesting that measures enhancing marine ecosystem quality should be considered in addition to conventional tourism policies focused on price.

Structural and functional indices show similar performance in marine ecosystem quality assessment

Reliable ecosystem quality assessment of marine environments is increasingly important due to mounting pressures attributable to human activities. Biotic indices are widely used in studies to describe communities and indicate the ecological state of systems. This study focuses on benthic macroinvertebrate-based biotic indices for the assessment of ecosystem health. Indices used in ecosystem health assessment in the marine environment have mainly focussed on measuring structural components of the system while more recently the measurement of functional components has been highlighted. In this study the performance of traditional diversity indices based on structural components of benthic macroinvertebrate communities, indices developed for the EU Water Framework Directive, and indices which are based on functional biological traits of species were compared. The results indicated that while functional indices may provide a more detailed assessment of the benthic communities than structural indices, the overall outcome is broadly similar for both types of indices. This suggests measurement of functional indices may be unnecessary for routine monitoring purposes, although they may have value in revealing more specific aspects of change in a system.

Microbes and their use as Indicators of Pollution

Two thirds of the Earth is covered by water and about 99.7% of water found on this planet is contained in the oceans and seas. Marine ecosystems are an important resource not only for the extraordinary variety of life they host but also for the multiple activities that occur in them (i.e. recreational and productive activities like tourism, aquaculture and fimaritime shipping and traffi c; exploitation of energy resources like oil and gas extraction; pipelines and submarine cables location; uses for military activities, and others). Th e anthropic impacts on the marine environment are particularly evident in coastal areas, which are the most vulnerable to pressures [1], and are exposed to urban, agriculture runoff and industrial discharges - with their load of organic and inorganic particles, xenobiotics and other contaminants, oil spill, heavy metals, etc - with consequent impairment of water quality and alterations of ecosystem functioning. Th e awareness of the increasing threats caused by the anthropic pressure over marine ecosystem explains the growing interest towards the protection of marine environments, which has recently been shown by the issue of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC) [2]. Th is Directive deals with the set up of monitoring plans and the adoption of measures for the achievement of Good Environmental Status (GES) by 2020. Th e GES is the environmental status of marine waters under which the ecological diversity and viability of the seas and oceans are preserved, in order to keep them clean, healthy and productive; the use of the marine environment must be in a sustainable way, safeguarding its potential for uses and activities for present and future generations. Th e defi nition of GES varies according to the diff erent sub-regions (i.e. for the Mediterranean Sea, the Western Mediterranean Sea, the Adriatic Sea and the Ionian and Central Mediterranean Sea). Specifi c criteria and indicators are set to achieve qualitative and quantitative targets, acting on the pressures and in order to reduce the impacts. Th e Marine Strategy is based on an integrated “ecosystem” approach and aims at becoming the environmental pillar of the future Maritime Policy of the European Union. Preservation of the Mediterranean waters from contamination is particularly needed due to the central role of this basin for most of the European, African and Middle East Countries. Th e use of natural resources must match with the maintenance of optimal productivity levels and health status. To achieve such an objective, it is needed to identify some sustainability limits of marine ecosystems, which must be respected in all human activities. Safeguard and protection of areas at risk must rely on the continuous observation of parameters describing the health status of each marine ecosystem. In this context, monitoring of biological indicators is suggested, as they play a fundamental role in the description and prediction of environmental changes. Particularly, the use of marine microorganisms is recommended to assess the quality of marine ecosystems, in parallel with physical and chemical parameters, due to their ubiquitous distribution in seawaters, high biomass turnover and quick response to environmental variations [3]. Bacteria or their antigens, genes or metabolic pathways can be used as suitable markers of contamination [4].

The FOBIMO (FOraminiferal BIo-MOnitoring) initiative—Towards a standardised protocol for soft-bottom benthic foraminiferal monitoring studies

The European Community Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) was established to provide guidelines for monitoring the quality of marine ecosystems. Monitoring the status of marine environments is traditionally based on macrofauna surveys, for which standardised methods have been established. Benthic foraminifera are also good indicators of environmental status because of their fast turnover rates, high degree of specialisation, and the preservation of dead assemblages in the fossil record. In spite of the growing interest in foraminiferal bio-monitoring during the last decades, no standardised methodology has been proposed until today. The aim of the FOraminiferal BIo-MOnitoring (FOBIMO) expert workshop, held in June 2011 at Fribourg, Switzerland, which assembled 37 scientists from 24 research groups and 13 countries, was to develop a suite of standard methods. This paper presents the main outcome of the workshop, a list of motivated recommendations with respect to sampling devices, sample storage, treatment, faunal analysis and documentation. Our recommendations fulfil the criteria imposed both by scientific rigour and by the practical limitations of routine studies. Hence, our aim is to standardise methodologies used in bio-monitoring only and not to limit the use of different methods in pure scientific studies. Unless otherwise stated, all recommendations concern living (stained) benthic foraminiferal assemblages. We have chosen to propose two types of recommendations. Mandatory recommendations have to be followed if a study wants to qualify as sound and compatible to the norms. The most important of these recommendations are the interval from 0 to 1 cm below the sediment surface has to be sampled, and an interface corer or box corer that keeps the sediment surface intact is to be used for offshore surveys. A grab sampler must not be deployed in soft sediments. Three replicate samples are to be taken and analysed separately. Samples are to be washed on a 63-μm screen, and the living benthic foraminiferal fauna of the > 125 μm fraction is to be analysed. Splits are to be picked and counted entirely, and all counted foraminifera from at least one replicate per station have to be stored in micropalaeontological slides. Census data, supplementary laboratory data and microslides have to be archived. Advisory recommendations are to sample in autumn, to have a sample size of 50 cm 2 or a tube of 8 cm inner diameter, to use > 70% ethanol as a preservative, rose Bengal at a concentration of 2 grams per litre for staining, and a staining time of at least 14 days. The split size should be defined by a target value of 300 specimens, heavy liquid separation should be avoided, and the 63–125 μm fraction or deeper sediment levels may be considered in some environments. We are convinced that the application of this protocol by a large number of scientists is a necessary first step to a general acceptance of benthic foraminifera as a reliable tool in bio-monitoring studies. ► Benthic foraminifera are proposed for monitoring the quality of marine ecosystems. ► No standardised methodology has been proposed until today. ► The FOBIMO initiative developed a suite of standard methods. ► They concern sampling devices, storage, treatment, faunal analysis and documentation. ► The application will help to establish foraminifera as a tool in bio-monitoring.

The importance of setting targets and reference conditions in assessing marine ecosystem quality

Assessing benthic quality status of marine and transitional water habitats requires to set up both: (i) tools (i.e. indices) to assess the relative quality of the considered habitat, and (ii) reference conditions for which such indices can be computed and used to infer the absolute ecological status (ES) of the considered habitat. The development of indices, their comparison and the assessment of the causes of their discrepancies have been largely discussed but less attention has been paid to the methods used for the setting of adequate reference conditions, although this step is clearly crucial for the sound assessment of ES. This contribution reviews the approaches available in setting both reference conditions (pristine areas, hindcasting, modelling and best professional judgment) and targets (baseline set in the past, current baseline and directional/trends). We scored the use of pristine or minimally impacted conditions as the best single method; however, the other methods were judged as adequate then combined with best professional judgment. The case of multivariate AMBI (AZTI's Marine Biotic Index) is used to highlight the importance of setting correct reference conditions. Hence, data from 29 references, including 14 countries from Europe and North America, and both coastal (15 cases) and transitional (17 cases) waters, have been used to study the response of multivariate AMBI to human pressures. Results show that the inability of this index to detect human pressure is in most cases linked with the use of inappropriate methods for setting reference conditions.

Influence of macrofauna long-term natural variability on benthic indices used in ecological quality assessment

An essential prerequisite for the assessment of the ecological quality of marine ecosystems is the understanding of the natural variability and its effect on the performance of quality indices. This study is focused on the long-term natural variability of diversity, biotic and multimetric indices by using long-term macrofauna data of a coastal area in the southern North Sea (1978–2005). The univariate and most biotic and multimetric indices respond significantly on specific natural disturbance events such as cold winters, but the strength of response varied between indices as well as between events. As a result, the ecological quality status can decrease over a range of 3 (out of 5) classification units. The overall ecological quality was good to high, but an increase of indices occurred from the mid 1980s onwards due to changes in the climate regime. This long-term variability has to be considered within ecological quality assessment schemes.

Economic value of damage caused by marine bio-invasions: lessons from two European case studies

Abstract Nunes, P. A. L. D., and Markandya, A. 2008. Economic value of damage caused by marine bio-invasions: lessons from two European case studies. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 65: 775–780. We illustrate the use of alternative, non-market valuation methods to estimate the economic value of the social damage caused by marine bio-invasions. First, we present and discuss the motivation to perform an economic valuation of marine ecosystem quality in general and the protection of marine ecosystems against invasive species in particular. Second, we examine in detail two empirical applications of economic value assessment of social damage attributable to marine bio-invasions. One of these looks at ballast water management programmes in Rotterdam harbour, the Netherlands, and the second investigates management practices for the Manila clam in Venice Lagoon. Finally, we explore the relevance of this economic information for cost–benefit analysis and policy guidance.