Distribution and diving of harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) in Svalbard

The distribution, movements and diving of high-arctic harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) were studied in Svalbard, Norway, from 1992 to 1995. A total of 14 seals were equipped with satellite transmitters at Prins Karls Forland (ca. 78°30′N 12°E). These gave data on position, but ten also gave information on dive depths (N ∼ 160,000) and dive durations (N ∼ 162,000). Dive-depth frequencies show that ∼50% of the diving is shallower than 40 m, and that 95% of the diving is shallower than 250 m. Based on dive-duration frequencies, ∼50% of the dives lasted 2–4 min, 90% of the dives lasted less than 7 min, and 97% were shorter than 10 min. All but three seals stayed in the tagging area. Accepted: 6 October 2000     

Polychaete assemblages and sediment pollution in a harbour with two opposing entrances

The harbour at Ceuta is one of the most important harbours in the Strait of Gibraltar. The sediments are moderately polluted with organic matter and heavy metals but the harbour has two opposing entrances and a connecting channel which increases water renewal and dissolved oxygen across the harbour. For these special conditions, the value of the soft bottom polychaete community as a bioindicator, and possible advantages of the presence of two harbour entrances on biotic assemblages, were studied. Twenty-one stations were selected, and 27 variables were measured in the sediment of each station. The polychaete species richness and Shannon diversity values were similar inside and outside the harbour. Nevertheless, the Pielou evenness index was significantly higher in the external stations due to high densities of some species of polychaetes such as Pseudomalacoceros tridentata and Capitella capitata inside the harbour. The multivariate approach based on polychaete species composition was much more sensitive than univariate analyses at discriminating between internal and external stations. The pollution gradient and granulometric parameters were the main factors affecting polychaete distribution. Polychaete species richness and diversity in sediments inside Ceuta harbour were higher than in conventional harbours due to the positive effects of increased water renewal. These results should be taken into consideration in design, construction and remodelling of future harbours.Communicated by: H.-D. Franke     

Species-abundance-biomass responses by estuarine macrobenthos to sediment chemical contamination

Macrobenthic community responses can be measured through concerted changes in univariate metrics,including species richness, total abundance, and totalbiomass. The classic model of pollution effects onmarine macrobenthic communities recognizes thatspecies/abundance/biomass (SAB) curves varydistinctively in a nonlinear manner with the magnitudeof organic enrichment. For example, at moderatelevels of organic enrichment, small-bodiedopportunistic species boost the abundance curve, whilespecies richness falls. Ratios among the metrics formuseful indicators of how the community changes withorganic enrichment. However, the classic SAB model isbased on organic enrichment effects over small spatialand temporal scales, and the applicability of the SABmodel to sediment chemical contamination and acrossbroad natural estuarine gradients is largely unknown. Here, SAB responses were examined with respect toprimary gradients in metals and organic chemicalsbased on an extensive dataset comprising 319 estuarinesites from throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Each SAB metric was first adjusted with respect to thethree primary natural estuarine gradients, salinity,depth, and sediment silt/clay content. Adjusted SABrelationships varied in their details with respect todifferent classes of sediment contamination, but alltypes of SAB stress responses appear to exhibitsimilar basic characteristics. As in the SAB model,all three SAB metrics were notably low at the highestconcentrations of both metal and organic-chemicalcontaminants. Moreover, rapid decreases in the B/Aratio with increasing contamination supported theconcept that relatively long-lived, large-bodied,equilibrium taxa decline markedly at highconcentrations of toxicants.     

Synergistic impacts of sediment contamination and dam presence on river functioning

1. Dam presence is commonly associated with strong accumulation of polluted sediments. In spite of this context of multiple stressors, physical effects are often solely considered in the ecological assessment of the dam impacts. 2. We studied four ‘reservoir/downstream reach’ systems differing in levels of sediment contamination in reservoirs. Using assemblages and biotrait (i.e. ecological or biological attribute) responses of macroinvertebrate communities and leaf litter breakdown, we examined the individual effects and potential interactions between sediment contamination and dam presence along the gradient of ecotoxic pressure. 3. Leaf breakdown rates ranged from 0.0044° per day in the most contaminated reservoir to 0.0120° per day in the reference reservoir. Comparisons of community trait profiles among reservoirs highlighted a gradient of trait responses to sediment contamination. 4. In the absence of toxic contamination, the dam‐induced modifications in biotraits of invertebrate assemblages were not related to a reduction of leaf litter breakdown. Conversely, contaminated sediment in reservoir induced strong functional disturbances (i.e. bioecological shifts and reduction of leaf litter breakdown) downstream of dams. 5. Key biotrait categories positively related to leaf litter breakdown rate have been identified. They corresponded mainly to shredders and/or small‐sized (<0.5 cm) insects, using aquatic (e.g. crawlers) or aerial (e.g. fliers) active dispersal strategies. In addition, trait categories positively correlated to contamination level have been considered as ‘response’ traits. They corresponded to large‐sized (>4 cm) species, having several generations per year (polyvoltin), using asexual reproduction and/or disseminating by drift (aquatic, passive). 6. In the current context of ecological continuity restoration, this study has identified the risks associated with the presence of historical contamination in the run‐of‐river reservoirs for downstream ecosystem health.     

Particle pathways of Niagara river water in Lake Ontario affecting bottom sediment contamination

The results of integrated multidisciplinary studies of the transport and pathways of toxic contaminants entering Lake Ontario through the Niagara River are summarized. The factors controlling the transport and distribution of contaminants are: (i) Niagara River mixing characteristics; (ii) prevailing local wind conditions and large scale lake-wide circulation features, and (iii) suspended sediment load and the partitioning of the contaminants onto the suspended solids. Physical limnological studies included a variety of direct measurements to delineate the nearfield and farfield mixing characteristics of the river plume in terms of the prevailing winds and large scale lake circulation. In the nearfield region of the plume, around the river mouth, contaminant transport was affected by the initial momentum and buoyancy of the river water mass and a sharp thermal front that is generally present through the stratified season. After the initial momentum is dissipated, the weakly buoyant river plume responds to the prevailing winds and lake-wide circulation. Adsorbed contaminants rapidly settle once the initial momentum of the river plume is dissipated but the dissolved contaminants are transported into the farfield regions in the lake and after becoming entrained in the strong south shore eastward flowing boundary current are carried toward the St. Lawrence River outflow. Only about ten percent of this eastward flowing transport exits via the St. Lawrence River, the remainder is recirculated back into the main lake. A contaminant transport model of the Niagara River Plume incorporating a hydrodynamic model, observed plume mixing characteristics and chemical partitioning was used to simulate the compartmental distribution (adsorbed vs dissolved) of selected toxic chemicals distribution observed in the nearfield region of the plume.     

Structure of bacterial communities along a hydrocarbon contamination gradient in a coastal sediment

The bacterial diversity of a chronically oil-polluted retention basin sediment located in the Berre lagoon (Etang-de-Berre, France) was investigated. This study combines chemical and molecular approaches in order to define how the in situ petroleum hydrocarbon contamination level affects the bacterial community structure of a subsurface sediment. Hydrocarbon content analysis clearly revealed a gradient of hydrocarbon contamination in both the water and the sediment following the basin periphery from the pollution input to the lagoon water. The nC17 and pristane concentrations suggested alkane biodegradation in the sediments. These results, combined with those of terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the 16S rRNA genes, indicated that bacterial community structure was obviously associated with the gradient of oil contamination. The analysis of bacterial community composition revealed dominance of bacteria related to the Proteobacteria phylum (Gamma-, Delta-, Alpha-, Epsilon- and Betaproteobacteria), Bacteroidetes and Verrucomicrobium groups and Spirochaetes, Actinobacteria and Cyanobacteria phyla. The adaptation of the bacterial community to oil contamination was not characterized by dominance of known oil-degrading bacteria, because a predominance of populations associated to the sulphur cycle was observed. The input station presented particular bacterial community composition associated with a low oil concentration in the sediment, indicating the adaptation of this community to the oil contamination.     

Microbial community structures in anoxic freshwater lake sediment along a metal contamination gradient

Contamination, such as by heavy metals, has frequently been implicated in altering microbial community structure. However, this association has not been extensively studied for anaerobic communities, or in freshwater lake sediments. We investigated microbial community structure in the metal-contaminated anoxic sediments of a eutrophic lake that were impacted over the course of 80 years by nearby zinc-smelting activities. Microbial community structure was inferred for bacterial, archaeal and eukaryotic populations by evaluating terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) patterns in near-surface sediments collected in triplicate from five areas of the lake that had differing levels of metal contamination. The majority of the fragments in the bacterial and eukaryotic profiles showed no evidence of variation in association with metal contamination levels, and diversity revealed by these profiles remained consistent even as metal concentrations varied from 3000 to 27 000 mg kg⁻¹ total Zn, 0.125 to 11.2 μ pore water Zn and 0.023 to 5.40 μ pore water As. Although most archaeal fragments also showed no evidence of variation, the prevalence of a fragment associated with mesophilic Crenarchaeota showed significant positive correlation with total Zn concentrations. This Crenarchaeota fragment dominated the archaeal TRFLP profiles, representing between 35% and 79% of the total measured peak areas. Lake DePue 16S rRNA gene sequences corresponding to this TRFLP fragment clustered with anaerobic and soil mesophilic Crenarchaeota sequences. Although Crenarchaeota have been associated with metal-contaminated groundwater and soils, this is a first report (to our knowledge) documenting potential increased prevalence of Crenarchaeota associated with elevated levels of metal contamination.     

Mortality in Svalbard reindeer

Mortality rates in Svalbard reindeer followed the "U"-shaped pattern, with higher mortality rate among calves and old animals than in middle aged individuals. Assuming a stable population size, the mortality data predict a 16.2% annual mortality and recruitment rate among 6 months and older animals, and a male:female sex ratio of 48.5:51.5 among 1-yr old and older. Both predictions are supported by field data. Female mortality rate increased and differed from the male rate in the age interval 2-4 yr, while the male rate increased sharply and differed permanently from the female rate in the age interval above 6 yr. First and last breeding are thought to cause the increased mortality among 2–4 and 11–13 yr-old females. Increased involvement in rutting activities with age associated with lower grazing activity and depletion of fat reserves probably cause the increasing mortality rate among the 6+ yr males. Maximum life span was 17 yr in females and 12 yr in males. Apart from the unknown but possibly high neonatal calf-mortality, only few animals died during summer or during the rut in autumn. Death among calves, yearlings and most of the females occurred before antler-shedding in May-June. Most of the 2-yr and older males died after antler shedding, which occurs from December among the oldest and during April-May among the younger males. Hence, the major part of the mortality takes place in spring. The lack of visible subcutaneous and femur fat in most carcasses indicated starvation as the major mortality cause.     

High levels of sediment contamination have little influence on estuarine beach fish communities

While contaminants are predicted to have measurable impacts on fish assemblages, studies have rarely assessed this potential in the context of natural variability in physico-chemical conditions within and between estuaries. We investigated links between the distribution of sediment contamination (metals and PAHs), physico-chemical variables (pH, salinity, temperature, turbidity) and beach fish assemblages in estuarine environments. Fish communities were sampled using a beach seine within the inner and outer zones of six estuaries that were either heavily modified or relatively unmodified by urbanization and industrial activity. All sampling was replicated over two years with two periods sampled each year. Shannon diversity, biomass and abundance were all significantly higher in the inner zone of estuaries while fish were larger on average in the outer zone. Strong differences in community composition were also detected between the inner and outer zones. Few differences were detected between fish assemblages in heavily modified versus relatively unmodified estuaries despite high concentrations of sediment contaminants in the inner zones of modified estuaries that exceeded recognized sediment quality guidelines. Trends in species distributions, community composition, abundance, Shannon diversity, and average fish weight were strongly correlated to physico-chemical variables and showed a weaker relationship to sediment metal contamination. Sediment PAH concentrations were not significantly related to the fish assemblage. These findings suggest that variation in some physico-chemical factors (salinity, temperature, pH) or variables that co-vary with these factors (e.g., wave activity or grain size) have a much greater influence on this fish assemblage than anthropogenic stressors such as contamination.     

Haulout behaviour of High Arctic harbour seals (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phoca vitulina vitulina</Emphasis>) in Svalbard,Norway

Haulout behaviour of harbour seals, living at the northern limit of their distributional range on Svalbard, Norway, was investigated from June to August 2000 using a combination of low-tide counts performed during boat surveys, hourly counts through 12- or 24-h cycles at specific haulout sites, and telemetric data from 37 VHF-tagged seals. The largest aggregations of seals were found at Skarvnes, a site where numbers increased steadily through the summer, reaching a peak during the moulting period in August. At this site, season/date, time of day, tidal state and temperature all significantly influenced the number of animals ashore. At the second most frequented haulout site, at Sørøya, season/date, time of day, temperature and cloud cover significantly affected the number of seals using the site. Pups were found predominantly at Sørøya (7.8 pups±6.3 SD, N=53 counts); they were less common at Skarvnes (1.0 pups±0.2 SD, N=95 counts). Haulout patterns varied by age and sex class in accordance with the demands of lactation, mating and moult. Our limited data on mother-pup pairs suggest that they are closely associated during the nursing period, spending approximately 50% of their time hauled out together. Post lactation, most adult females left haulout areas for periods of up to several days. The haulout behaviour of adult males suggested that they adjusted their behaviour to follow female distribution and movement patterns during the breeding period. Most juveniles and adults of both sexes stayed ashore for prolonged periods during moulting, which took place first in juveniles, then in adult females and finally in adult males. The results of our study show that the basic haulout behaviour patterns of harbour seals at Svalbard are similar to this species behaviour at lower latitudes.     

Status of the harbour porpoise in Greenland

In Greenlandic waters the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) has been observed around the southern part of Greenland from Ammassalik on the east coast to Avanersuaq in northwest Greenland. The main distribution lies between Sisimiut and Paamiut in central west Greenland. Catch statistics from 1900 to 1993 indicate an annual average take of 668 harbour porpoises, ranging from 27 to 1531 animals. A decline in the reported catch has been recorded since 1980. Harbour porpoises are mainly caught between April and November, with a peak during June to October. Five fish species, crustaceans and squids have been found in stomach contents of harbour porpoises in Greenlandic waters. There are no indications that environmental issues such as organochlorines, heavy metals, oil or noise have constituted any threat to harbour porpoises in Greenland. No reports of ice entrapments of harbour porpoises have yet been made in Greenland, as is the case for white whales and narwhals on the west coast of Greenland. Disease patterns of harbour porpoise have not been studied in Greenland and incidents of mass mortality have never been recorded. Killer whales are sparse along the west Greenland coast and are not believed to constitute a threat to the harbour porpoise population. In Greenland no estimates on stock size are available, and a monitoring programme is needed if the impact of the catch is to be evaluated. Received: 10 February 1997 / Accepted: 26 September 1997     

Megabenthic commmunities in the waters around Svalbard

 Composition and distribution of megabenthic communities around Svalbard were investigated in June/July 1991 with 20 Agassiz trawl and 5 bottom trawl hauls in depths between 100 and 2100 m. About 370 species, ranging from sponges to fish, were identified in the catches. Species numbers per station ranged from 21 to 86. Brittle stars, such as Ophiacantha bidentata, Ophiura sarsi and Ophiocten sericeum, were most important in terms of constancy and relative abundance in the catches. Other prominent faunal elements were eunephthyid alcyonarians, bivalves, shrimps, sea stars and fish (Gadidae, Zoarcidae, Cottidae). Multivariate analyses of the species and environmental data sets showed that the spatial distribution of the megabenthos was characterized by a pronounced depth zonation: abyssal, bathyal, off-shore shelf and fjordic communities were discriminated. However, a gradient in sediment properties, especially the organic carbon content, seemed to superimpose on the bathymetric pattern. Both main factors are interpreted as proxies of the average food availability, which is, hence, suggested to have the strongest influence in structuring megabenthic communities off Svalbard. Received: 28 April 1995/Accepted: 18 November 1995     

A review of the genus Hebeloma in Svalbard

Between 1960 and 2009, regular visits to Svalbard were made and a number of Hebeloma spp. were collected by several mycologists. We have studied 249 such collections, many from the Herbarium in Oslo (O) and from the private herbarium of the first author. The collections represent 17 different species. Of the 17 species, five (H. louiseae, H. pallidolabiatum, H. perexiguum, H. pubescens and H. spetsbergense) are only known from Svalbard. In this paper we discuss the habitat and apparent associates of the 17 species recorded, as well as their frequency of occurrence within our sample, and compare this with our data from other regions of the northern hemisphere. A further analysis compares the records we have from the collection of basidiomes with data published from root analysis of mycorrhizal associates on Svalbard. Root associate data strongly suggest the occurrence of an unknown Hebeloma species, not close to any of the infrageneric groups known to occur in arctic habitats.     

Diversity of microbial eukaryotes in Kongsfjorden,Svalbard

Microbial eukaryote diversity was assessed in Arctic Kongsfjorden (Svalbard), by constructing SSU rDNA clone libraries. Samples were collected from different depths at the outer basin in summer (2006), plus an additional one glacial and one sediment sample. The libraries displayed diversity based on 284 full-length sequences. Four main phyla, namely, Alveolates, Stramenopiles, Cercozoans, and Metazoans were often screened in this fjord. Alveolate occupied the highest percentage of taxa in the library of surface sea water, besides the Metazoan-related clones. Moreover, dinoflagellates, diatoms, and pico-Prasinophytes were detected as prevalent phytoplankton through the analysis of libraries. Questions related to the quantity of these phytoplankton and their roles in the microbial food loop arose from an ecological viewpoint.     

Age-dependent genetic structure of arctic foxes in Svalbard

Arctic foxes are highly mobile arctic predators with a very weak population genetic structure over large parts of their range. Less is, however, known about the more local genetic structure within regions. Here, we analyze genotypes at 12 microsatellite loci for 561 arctic foxes trapped in the high-arctic archipelago Svalbard and investigate the genetic structure in three different age classes. Significant linkage disequilibrium, deficit of heterozygotes, genetic differentiation, and a decrease in relatedness with distance among animals trapped in their first winter suggested that some litter mates remain in proximity of each other during the first winter. This pattern was stronger for females than for males, indicating male-biased juvenile dispersal, and weaker for older animals. There was no genetic differentiation among adult foxes harvested in different hunting areas. The foxes from the protected area around Hornsund were however more differentiated than expected based on geographic distance alone, suggesting a possible disrupting effect of harvest on the spatial genetic structure in the rest of Svalbard. Our results also indicated a possible kin structure among adult females, suggesting natal philopatry, but further investigations will be needed to reach firm conclusions concerning kin structure in arctic foxes.     

Transmission of lungworms of harbour porpoises and harbour seals: Molecular tools determine potential vertebrate intermediate hosts

Harbour porpoises (Phocoena phocoena) and harbour seals (Phoca vitulina) from German waters are infected by six species of lungworms (Metastrongyloidea). These nematodes parasitise the respiratory tract, are pathogenic and often cause secondary bacterial infections. In spite of their clinical and epidemiological significance, the life cycle and biology of lungworms in the marine environment is still largely unknown. Regions of ribosomal DNA (ITS-2) of all lungworms parasitising harbour porpoises and harbour seals in German waters were sequenced to characterise and compare the different species. The phylogenetic relationship among the lungworm species was analysed by means of their ITS-2 nucleotide sequences and the species-specific traits of the ITS-2 were used to screen wild fish as possible intermediate hosts for larval lungworms. Molecular markers were developed to identify larval nematodes via in-situ hybridisation of tissues of harbour porpoise and harbour seal prey fish. Potential wild intermediate fish hosts from the North Sea were dissected and found to harbour larval nematodes. Histological examination and in-situ hybridisation of tissue samples from these fish showed lungworm larvae within the intestinal wall. Based on larval ITS-2 nucleotide sequences, larval nematodes were identified as Pseudalius inflexus and Parafilaroides gymnurus. Turbot (Psetta maxima) bred and raised in captivity were experimentally infected with live L1s of Otostrongylus circumlitus and ensheathed larvae were recovered from the gastrointestinal tract of turbot and identified using molecular tools. Our results show that fish intermediate hosts play a role in the transmission of metastrongyloid nematodes of harbour porpoises and harbour seals.     

Earlier pupping in harbour seals,Phoca vitulina

The annual reproductive cycle of most seal species is characterized by a tight synchrony of births. Typically, timing of birth shows little inter-annual variation. Here, however we show that harbour seals Phoca vitulina from the Wadden Sea (southeast North Sea) have shortened their yearly cycle, moving parturition to earlier dates since the early 1970s. Between 1974 and 2009, the birth date of harbour seals shifted on average by −0.71 d yr⁻¹, three and a half weeks (25 days) earlier, in the Dutch part of the Wadden Sea. Pup counts available for other parts of the Wadden Sea were analysed, showing a similar shift. To elucidate potential mechanism(s) for this shift in pupping phenology, possible changes in population demography, changes in maternal life-history traits and variations in environmental conditions were examined. It was deduced that the most likely mechanism was a shortening of embryonic diapause. We hypothesize that this could have been facilitated by an improved forage base, e.g. increase of small fishes, attributable to overfishing of large predator fishes and size-selective fisheries.     

Predation of Svalbard reindeer by polar bears

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are believed to be obligate predators on marine mammals, and particularly, on two species of seals. This paper reports on observations of polar bears preying (n=7) and scavenging (n=6) on Svalbard reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhyncus). Similar to their closest evolutionary ancestor, the brown bear (U. arctos), polar bears are opportunistic and will prey on ungulates. Reindeer are likely of minor importance to the foraging ecology of polar bears in Svalbard, but the observations suggest behavioural plasticity in response to a novel prey item. Accepted: 26 March 2000     

Cold tolerance and dehydration in Enchytraeidae from Svalbard

When cooled in contact with moisture, eight species of arctic Enchytraeidae from Svalbard were killed by freezing within minutes or hours at −3 and −5 °C; an exception was Enchytraeus kincaidi which survived for up to 2 days. When the temperature approached 0 °C the enchytraeids apparently tried to escape from the moist soil. The supercooling capacity of the enchytraeids was relatively low, with mean supercooling points of −5 to −8 °C. In contrast, specimens of several species were extracted from soil cores that had been frozen in their intact state at −15 °C for up to 71 days. Compared to freezing in a moist environment, higher survival rates were obtained during cooling at freezing temperatures in dry soil. Survival was recorded in species kept at −3 °C for up to 35 days, and in some species kept at −6 °C for up to 17 days. Slow warming greatly increased survival rates at −6 °C . The results strongly suggest that arctic enchytraeids avoid freezing by dehydration at subzero temperatures. In agreement with this, weight losses of up to ca. 42% of fresh weight were recorded in Mesenchytraeus spp. and of up to 55% in Enchytraeus kincaidi at water vapour pressures above ice at −3 to −6 °C. All specimens survived dehydration under these conditions. Accepted: 12 December 1997