Island benthic assemblages: With examples from the Late Ordovician of Eastern Australia

The Benthic Assemblage (B.A.) concept, developed by A.J. Boucot two decades ago principally for continental marine margins, is extended to offshore island settings. Characteristics of modern island biotas, including ecological displacement, and the effects of r and K selection, can be identified in Late Ordovician volcanic islands of central New South Wales. Two variants of B.A.1 are represented, a quiet‐water lingulide biofacies, and a rough‐water rhynchonellide biofacies. The quiet‐water Eodinobolus biofacies occupied a B.A.1–2 position, onshore of and sheltered by a Tetradium wave‐baffle (B.A.2). The offshore shelfal high diversity strophomenide biofacies is equivalent to B.A.3. Remnants of periplatformal B.A.4–5 communities are recognised in allochthonous limestone breccias which were displaced downslope into graptolitic B.A.6 sediments. Steeper offshore gradients, typical of islands, laterally compress the B.A. profiles, and also contribute to downslope slumping. Ecological displacement in island environments results in extension of the habitat range of species into adjacent B.A.s. Reefs complicate the usual B.A. profile by introducing distinct sheltered and turbulent water environments. These characteristics may have applicability in interpretation of islands throughout the Palaeozoic record.     

A practical protocol to assess impacts of unplanned disturbance: a case study in Tuggerah Lakes Estuary,NSW

Summary Environmental managers are often confronted with unplanned or accidental disturbances that may lead to environmental impacts. Procedures for detecting or measuring the size of such impacts are complicated because of the lack of data available before the disturbance and because of the intrinsic variability of most natural measures. Here, a protocol for detecting impacts is illustrated for single‐measure variables (numbers of individual species) and multivariate measures (relative abundances of invertebrates in assemblages). The present paper describes a case concerning drainage of acidified water into an estuary due to construction of a drainage channel in an area of wetland for which there had been no prior investigations (i.e. no ‘before’ data). The spatial extent of any impact was also unknowable. Sampling was, therefore, designed to allow for impacts of only a few tens of metres (using control sites 50 m from the mouth of the channel) and impacts covering much larger areas (500 m and 1 km from the mouth of the channel). Invertebrates in the mud around the channel and in control sites were sampled in replicated cores and the amount of seagrass in each core was weighed. Average abundances of invertebrate animals and weights of seagrass were compared, as was variation among samples in potentially impacted and control sites (using univariate analyses of variance). Sets of species were compared using multivariate methods to test the hypothesis that there was an impact at one of the scales examined. In fact, there was no evidence for any sort of impact on the fauna or seagrasses; the disturbance was a short‐term pulse without any obvious or sustained ecological response. One consequence of the study was that the local council was able to demonstrate no impact requiring remediation and no penalties were imposed for the unapproved construction of the channel. The implications of this type of study after an environmental disturbance are discussed. The present study identifies the need for clear definition of relevant hypotheses, coupled with rigorous planning of sampling and analyses, so that reliable answers are available to regulators and managers.     

Ecology of Some Ricefields in Japan as Exemplified by Some Benthic Fauna,with Notes on Management

The role of tubificids and mud snails in the ricefield ecosystem was elucidated using their ecology as a basis for highlighting problems in the strategy of recycling between agricultural and urban activities. Tubificid oligochaetes occur in high densities in ricefields where irrigation water is polluted with sewage, high organic matter content is present in the soil and when highly toxic insecticides are not used. High tubificid densities reduce and even eliminate weeds, change the composition and density of bacteria and increase the density of zooplankton. Also they serve as a high quality source of food for fish comparable to that of insects. Conditions that promote a healthy growth of tubificids obviate or reduce the need for weedicides and high levels of inorganic fertilizers. Mud snails which thrive in ricefields have been used as an important source of protein food for humans in rural Japan. The snails can consume a sludge-reed compost mixture used as a fertilizer in ricefields. However the high heavy metal content in the sludge is accumulated by the snails which are thus unfit for human consumption. Based on these results and the known ecology of tubificids and the snails, a possible recycling system comprising sewage sludge, reeds, fish, insects and egrets using these two kinds of benthic organisms is proposed.     

梯级水坝运行对漫湾库区底栖动物群落结构及分布格局的影响

底栖动物是对水生态系统退化和生境条件改变最为敏感的生物类群之一,同时也是开展梯级水坝水生态系统变化和演替研究的指示生物.本研究以国际生物多样性保护及水电梯级开发生态影响研究的热点地区澜沧江中下游为例,以澜沧江干流兴建的第一座水坝漫湾库区为研究区域,分别于2011和2016年开展底栖动物定点采样,并结合其蓄水前(自然河段,1996年)和单级水坝蓄水初期(1997年)的历史调研数据,全面分析了梯级水坝运行前后漫湾库区底栖动物群落的结构、分布格局及演变趋势.结果表明: 漫湾库区底栖动物群落的优势种组成逐渐由寡毛纲和昆虫纲种类演变为软体动物门类占绝对优势;沿库区生境的纵向梯度变化,底栖动物密度和生物量均表现为升高的趋势,而静水区增加更为显著;对底栖动物功能摄食群的分析表明,静水区由掠食者和收集者占优势演变为滤食者类占绝对优势;梯级水坝运行后,采用生物指数评价结果表明,2016年库区综合水质指标明显优于2011年.漫湾库区底栖动物群落的演变与上游梯级小湾水坝的调度运行及库区的水文状况和泥沙淤积情况密切相关,并随着梯级水坝的运行处于动态变化之中.     

Effect of seasonal hypoxia on the benthic foraminiferal community of the Louisiana inner continental shelf: The 20th century record

A species census in sediment core samples reveals significant changes in the composition of the Louisiana-shelf benthic foraminiferal community in the past century; these changes can be explained by an increase in the severity of seasonal hypoxia in bottom waters. Agglutinated and porcelaneous orders living in water depths less than 60 m suffered a noticeable decline during this time. In particular, the genus Quinqueloculina was severely affected by the progression of hypoxia, and nearly disappeared from parts of the study area. In contrast, several hyaline taxa, especially Nonionella basiloba, Buliminella morgani, and Epistominella vitrea, tolerated the progressive oxygen depletion well. Results of cluster and principal components analyses of the foraminiferal assemblage data match the observed species distribution trends and indicate that seasonal hypoxia on the Louisiana shelf, related to eutrophication and water stratification, worsened in the past century, even near the outer edge of the present-day zone of spring and summer oxygen depletion. The temporal trends in the foraminiferal record correspond to that of fertilizer use in the U.S. and nitrogen loading in the Mississippi River, suggesting that the anthropogenic factor has been particularly strong in the development of coastal hypoxia since the early 1940s.     

渤海浒苔属绿藻调查

于2009年至2010年对渤海及其周边10个沿海城市和6个岛屿的浒苔属绿藻进行了调查,初步确定该海区缘管浒苔、肠浒苔、扁浒苔、浒苔、条浒苔5个种类的地理分布情况。并对生物量进行了评估。与历史资料相比,渤海中辽东湾、渤海湾和莱州湾三个湾内的浒苔多样性和生物量下降明显或保持较低水平,湾周边地区则维持较高水平。此外,在近海人工基质上,以浒苔属为主的绿藻相对于红藻、褐藻分布更为广泛。     

Microbial diversity along a sediment detrital particle size gradient

We studied the structural organization of microbial decomposer communities by comparing patterns of genetic complexity over a template defined by site, season and detrital particle size. Epibenthic sediment samples were collected monthly from a Lake Erie coastal wetland and a small woodland stream, and sieved into five fine particulate organic matter (FPOM) size ranges: 1000–500 (500), 500–250 (250), 250–125 (125), 125–63 (63) and 63–38 (38) m. Whole community DNA-DNA hybridizations were used to compare the structural similarity of the microbial communities associated with each sample. Microbial community heterogeneity increased as particle size decreased, and declined from a summer maximum to a late winter minimum. Cluster analysis of hybridization scores partitioned the communities into two groups: one associated with the 500, 250 and 125 m fractions and a second with the 63 and 38 m fractions. The larger particles were easily recognized as comminuted plant detritus; the smaller particles were amorphous, presumably formed through the aggregation of dissolved organic carbon. This disjunction in particle morphology and microbial community diversity that occurs at about 100 m appears to delineate two trophic resources whose origin and fate may be largely independent.     

Archaea of the Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group are abundant,diverse and widespread in marine sediments

Members of the highly diverse Miscellaneous Crenarchaeotal Group (MCG) are globally distributed in various marine and continental habitats. In this study, we applied a polyphasic approach (rRNA slot blot hybridization, quantitative PCR (qPCR) and catalyzed reporter deposition FISH) using newly developed probes and primers for the in situ detection and quantification of MCG crenarchaeota in diverse types of marine sediments and microbial mats. In general, abundance of MCG (cocci, 0.4 μm) relative to other archaea was highest (12–100%) in anoxic, low-energy environments characterized by deeper sulfate depletion and lower microbial respiration rates (P=0.06 for slot blot and P=0.05 for qPCR). When studied in high depth resolution in the White Oak River estuary and Hydrate Ridge methane seeps, changes in MCG abundance relative to total archaea and MCG phylogenetic composition did not correlate with changes in sulfate reduction or methane oxidation with depth. In addition, MCG abundance did not vary significantly (P>0.1) between seep sites (with high rates of methanotrophy) and non-seep sites (with low rates of methanotrophy). This suggests that MCG are likely not methanotrophs. MCG crenarchaeota are highly diverse and contain 17 subgroups, with a range of intragroup similarity of 82 to 94%. This high diversity and widespread distribution in subsurface sediments indicates that this group is globally important in sedimentary processes.     

福建崇武沿海野生经济底栖海藻资源

福建崇武沿海有底栖海藻46种。其中野生经济底栖海藻34种(蓝藻门1种,绿藻门8种,红藻门17种,褐藻门8种)。文中对这些海藻的经济价值及资源开发利用进行阐述。     

Effects of sewage waste stabilization lagoon effluent on stream invertebrates

The ecological impact of discharge to streams of domestic sewage waste stabilization lagoon effluent was investigated. Benthic invertebrates were compared upstream and downstream of discharges to eight New Zealand streams where effluent dilution ranged from 6- to 484-fold. The percentage of common invertebrate taxa whose density changed significantly (ANOVA, P<0.05) downstream declined in proportion with the log of the effluent dilution (r=-0.87) and increased with downstream increase in benthic respiration (r=0.91) and several intercorrelated indicators of organic enrichment (log biochemical oxygen demand, r=0.91; log suspended solids (SS), r=0.84). However, these changes in invertebrate densities did not always reflect degraded community structure. The nature and direction of changes suggests a subsidy-stress gradient of responses. Increases in SS of > 4 g m^-3 were associated with significant changes in density of > 50 percent of the common taxa and > 50 percent reduction of the densities of the sensitive Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT). However, EPT densities increased by up to 50 percent at lower organic solids loadings. No general relationships were found between relative densities of functional feeding groups and metabolic or water quality variables. These findings confirm that early warning of enrichment stress is more easily seen at the species level than at the functional level.     

珠江口底栖动物生态学研究

采泥样调查所获底栖动物一般为体形较小,活动能力较弱的种类,往往是一些底层鱼类和虾类等良好的天然饵料。珠江口海域渔业资源丰富,是中国南海区的主要渔场之一,因此,对该海域饵料底栖动物进行研究有重要意义。通过1999年9月和2000年4月分别对珠江口底栖生物进行的两个航次的采泥样调查,分别鉴定出底栖动物15衙睡21种,共计32种。底栖动物的优势种,秋季为光滑河篮蛤Potamocorbula laevis(Hinds)(Y=0.387),春季为光滑河篮蛤（Y＝0．464）和欧虫Owenia fusformis Delle Chiaje(Y=0.120)。平均个体数量和生物量,春季为591.7ind./m^2和26.7g/m^2,秋季为85.0ing./m^2和7.4g/m^2;而在各类群生物中,软体动物占绝大部分,其次为多毛类,其它各类群所占比例都不足5％。生物多样性,个体数量和生物量的分布均呈由北向南增加的趋势。另外,与近20a中的历史资料相比,珠江口底栖动物个体数量变化不大,除2000年春季较高为591.7ind./m^2外,其变化范围在72.4-128ing./m^2之间。春季生物量除1991年较高为27．0g/m^2外,变化不是很大,大约10g/m^2;但秋季生物量呈明显下降趋势,1980年为30.1g/m^2,1990年为27.8g/m^2,1999年秋季急剧下降至7.4g/m^2。此外,从底栖动物各大类群的百分组成变化情况来看,一般以软体动物个体数量（22．7％－83．2％）和生物量（57．9％－82．5％）都最高;多毛类的个体数量百分组成占第二倍,其范围是13．4％－52．3％;其它各类群的百分组成除个别时候所占比例较大外,一般都较小。