Intertidal Benthic Invertebrates and Sediment Stability at the Mouth of Delaware Bay

From December 1970 to December 1972, the monthly species composition, density, species richness, and biomass of marine macroscopic invertebrates were quantitatively studied from a wave-protected, intertidal sand flat at the mouth of Delaware Bay. Considerable erosion, transportation, and deposition of sand occurred throughout the study period. The fauna was extremely flexible and resilient in its response to a gradient of considerable sediment mobility. This response was similar in scope to one recognized along the coast of California. Comparison of the local biota with other sand flats and beaches from Maine to South Carolina showed that (1). haustoriids were among the dominant species, (2). densities were roughly comparable, and (3). secondary species were similar. Based on the biological index value, three species contained 87.8% of the fauna from the Cape Henlopen tide flat. These species were the polychaete Scoloplos fragilis and the amphipod Neohaustorius biarticulatus, which were characteristic of sand bars, and the polychaete Heteromastus filiformis, which was more characteristic of troughs or depressions. Mean density varied considerably both monthly and annually with almost no cyclic repetition for any of the three species. There was evidence to indicate that specific habitat requirements of a few species can strongly affect the structure which emerges for a total fauna. Morphology, behavior, physiology, and reproductive strategy are aspects of biology which link dominant benthic species of intertidal sand beaches together.     

The Energetics of Asexual Reproduction and Colony Formation in Benthic Marine Invertebrates

There are several formsof individual and colon) organizationavailable to benthic marine invertebrates with indeterminategrowth In particular anthozoan coelenterates exhibit three suchforms of organization 1 solitary individuals without asexualreproduction 2 colonies or clonal groups with determinate polypsize and indeterminate colony size and 3 colonies or clonalgroups with both indeterminate polyp size and indeterminatecolonyor clone size The last group includes species where asexualreproduction is continuous and those where it is limited toa single season of the year A model is presented which definesthree optimal sizes for indeterminately growing organisms 1optimal size for a solitary individual 2 optimal size of a polypwithin a colony and 3 optimal size at asexual division The optimaare derived by maximizing the difference between energy intakeand energetic cost Simulations allow prey size and habitat qualityto vary and derive predictions of optimal size and organizationfor each case Individual and clonal growth rates are modelledfor the case where asexual reproduction is limited to a singleseason and poly p sizes within clones are compared The modelpredicts that the three torms of organization among anthozoanpolyps are related primarily to the size distribution of prey     

Benthic community structures in the North Sea

Coherent assemblages of marine benthic species have been recognized from the early twentieth century, and the classical papers of Petersen (1914, 1918) were based on studies of limited areas in the North Sea. In 1986, a synoptic survey of the North Sea north to 57°N was undertaken by a group of ten laboratories from seven North Sea countries. The results of this survey have recently been published (Heip et al., 1992a, b; Künitzer et al., 1992; Huys et al., 1992), and some of the results are summarized in this paper. The analysis of the macrofauna is based on slightly more than 700 taxa. In general, the North Sea macrofauna consists of northern species extending south to the northern margins of the Dogger Bank, and southern species extending north to the 100 m depth line. The central North Sea is an area of overlap of southern and northern species, especially around the 70 m depth contour. Consistent groupings of species are recognized that were summarized in seven faunal groupings. Macrofaunal body weight, density and diversity increase linearly towards the north. Macrofaunal biomass for the whole area averages 7 g adwt. m⁻² and decreases from south to north. Distribution patterns and trends within the meiofauna were very different. Nematodes, which are the dominant taxon overall, are least abundant in the sandy sediments of the Southern Bight, then increase to a maximum around 53° 30′ N and slowly decrease again towards the north. Copepod density and diversity are highest in the Southern Bight, due to the presence of many interstitial species. A large number of species new to science were recorded by the North Sea Benthos Survey and about 1500 species are expected to occur. Copepods show very distinct assemblages according to water depth and sediment type. The contrasting patterns in latitudinal gradients of body weight and number of species of macro- and meiofauna can be only partially explained. Latitude and sediment characteristics, such as grain size and content in plant pigments, and water depth, determine part of the variance in species composition, density and biomass of the benthic fauna, but the patterns that are observed are different for different benthic groups, requiring careful consideration as to their use in biological monitoring procedures. Distributions are related to current patterns in the North Sea, annual temperature variations and availability of food. However, large parts of the variance in many parameters remain unexplained.     

Benthic Invertebrates Associated with a Serpulid Polychaete Assemblage in a Temperate Estuary

Hydroides dianthus (Verrill), a serpulid polychaete which secretes calcareous tubes, provides microhabitats for a variety of benthic invertebrates in Delaware Bay. These microhabitats function as biologically generated refuges and physical heterogeneities for at least 54 species. Dominance was measured by the biological index value which yielded 12 taxa that comprised 90% by number of the serpulid assemblage. These taxa included seven polychaetes, two amphipods, Nematoda, Oligochaeta, and Harpacticoida. In addition to the refuges provided by the serpulids, it was concluded that this temperate serpulid assemblage was comparable in function but not scale to calcareous biogenic assemblages in lower latitudes.     

Reproduction of Antarctic Benthic Marine Invertebrates: Tempos, Modes, and Timing

Work on the life histories of common antarctic benthic marineinvertebrates over the past several decades demands a revisionof several widely held paradigms. First, contrary to expectationsderived from work on temperate species, there is little or noevidence for temperature adaptation with respect to reproduction(gametogenesis), development, and growth. It remains to be determinedwhether the slow rates of these processes reflect some inherentinability to adapt to low temperatures, or are a response tofeatures of the antarctic marine environment not directly relatedto low temperature, such as low food resources. Secondly, contraryto the widely accepted opinion designated as "Thorson's rule,"pelagic development is common in many groups of shallow-watermarine invertebrates. In fact in some groups, such as asteroids,pelagicdevelopment is as prevalent in McMurdo Sound, the southern-mostopen-water marine environment in the world, as in central California.In other taxonomic groups, especially gastropods, there doesseem to be a genuine trend toward non-pelagic development fromtropical to antarctic latitudes. Although this trend has beenpredicted by theoretical models, its underlying causes appearto be group specific rather than general. Thirdly, pelagic lecithotrophicdevelopment, often considered to be of negligible importance,occurs in many shallow-water antarctic marine macroinvertebrates.Pelagic lecithotrophy may be an adaptation to a combinationof poor food conditions in antarctic waters most of the yearand slow rates of development. Nevertheless, some of the mostabundant and widespread antarctic marine invertebrates havepelagic planktotrophic larvae that take very long times to completedevelopment to metamorphosis. These species areparticularlyprevalent in productive regions of shallow water (<30 m),which are frequently disturbed by anchor ice formation, andthe production of numerous pelagic planktotrophic larvaemayrepresent a strategy for colonization. Although planktotrophiclarvae tend to be seasonal in occurrence, their production isnot linked particularly closely to the mid-summer pulse of phytoplanktonproduction. These larvae show no evidence of starvation, evenduring times when phytoplankton abundance is very low, and theymay depend on unusual sources of food, such as bacteria. Howthey escape the selective conditions that apparently led toa predominance of non-feeding modes of development in antarcticmarine invertebrates remains as a major challenge for antarcticmarine biology.     

The Impact of Chemical Compounds on Benthic Invertebrates from the Danube and Danube Delta Systems

The aim of this study is to assess freshwater sediment in terms of biological and preliminary toxicological control linked to a series of variables along the Danube River and Danube Delta systems. The research is focused on eight points of the Romanian sector in the summer to autumn of 2012. Results show a high concentration of metals, pesticides, and petroleum products in sediment samples in the monitored period. The survey is designed to gauge the total chemical pollution effects on the composition, living, and growth of benthic organisms. To assess the toxic hazard of contaminated sediment samples, a microbiotest with meiobenthic ostracods Heterocypris incongruens was performed with evaluation of mortality and growth-inhibition percentages. The preliminary results showed an increase of sediment toxicity, in terms of growth inhibition (>80%), especially at Murighiol and Ivancea. The chemical pressures alongside the temporal conditions were important variables which affected benthic communities. Low benthic diversity was found in the Isaccea–St. Gheorghe Branch sector of the Danube River. In terms of ecological status, the study reveals that the Danube and Danube Delta ecosystem are eutrophic systems equilibrated for good ecological status.     

Influence of Intermittent Hydropeaking on the Longitudinal Zonation Patterns of Benthic Invertebrates in a Mountain Stream

The longitudinal zonation patterns of invertebrate species were studied in the River Oriège (Pyrénées, France) from 920 to 819 m a.s.l. At 912 m a.s.l., the river receives hypolimnetic water diverted from a nearby reservoir lake, and the natural flow may be enhanced several times a day from 1 to 11 m³ s^—1 in summer and winter, and from 5 to 15 m³ s^—1 during spring spates. During hydropeaking, the water was cooled in summer and slightly warmed in winter, but this was attenuated 3500 m downstream from the plant. Invertebrate densities were recorded in July (end of spates) and October (low flow period) at ten sampling sites : a reference site upstream of the hydrostation's discharge point (site 1), and nine sites each 400 m below the outlet (sites 2—10). The longitudinal distribution of invertebrate taxa was studied using Factorial Analyses, taxa and sites were clustered using Analysis of Dynamic Cluster. The hydroelectric facility did not clearly modify the qualitative composition of the benthic fauna, but clearly affected the longitudinal zonation of several populations. The low abundance of several species below the outlet reflected the impact of both hydropeaking and zonation. These species were high mountain species, the density of which decreases towards downstream sites in the Pyrenees, and low mountain species, the density of which naturally decreases towards upstream sites. Some taxa disappeared in the regulated section, so their distribution in the River Oriège was primarily influenced by hydropeaking. Finally, some taxa preferentially lived in the lower section of the river where the impact of peaking flows was strongly attenuated, so their longitudinal distribution was first governed by their natural longitudinal zonation. Under this kind of river regulation (natural discharge and temperature except during periods of power generation, intermittent hydropeaking from a separate reservoir) modifications of the thermal regime had a minor effect on the population dynamics, unlike hydraulic disturbances which strongly influenced the structural attributes of benthic communities.     

Hydromedusae of the Mediterranean Sea

Mediterranean hydromedusae can be classified in several categories: common species, widely distributed throughout the Mediterranean and rare species reported from the Pacific, Indian or Atlantic Oceans; seasonal species comprising cold-season species with a boreal affinity and warm-season species with a hot to temperate affinity; neritic and mid-ocean species; surface species and meso-, infra-, and bathypelagic species. Holoplanktonic species are known to be associated with stable hydrological conditions (offshore waters, deep waters, summer and winter homothermy), whereas meroplanktonic species are more likely to be found in more disturbed hydrological conditions (coastal waters, surface waters, spring and autumn periods of temperature fluctuation). A general pattern of medusa distribution is established based upon comparative study throughout the Mediterranean.     

Plastic Accumulation in the Mediterranean Sea

Concentrations of floating plastic were measured throughout the Mediterranean Sea to assess whether this basin can be regarded as a great accumulation region of plastic debris. We found that the average density of plastic (1 item per 4 m²), as well as its frequency of occurrence (100% of the sites sampled), are comparable to the accumulation zones described for the five subtropical ocean gyres. Plastic debris in the Mediterranean surface waters was dominated by millimeter-sized fragments, but showed a higher proportion of large plastic objects than that present in oceanic gyres, reflecting the closer connection with pollution sources. The accumulation of floating plastic in the Mediterranean Sea (between 1,000 and 3,000 tons) is likely related to the high human pressure together with the hydrodynamics of this semi-enclosed basin, with outflow mainly occurring through a deep water layer. Given the biological richness and concentration of economic activities in the Mediterranean Sea, the affects of plastic pollution on marine and human life are expected to be particularly frequent in this plastic accumulation region.     

国际马铃著中心着力应对全球气候变暖

面对中亚和西南亚的气候变化,来自国际马铃薯中心(CIP)的马铃薯材料有助于农民加强粮食和收入保障.国际马铃薯中心(CIP)一个为期3年的项目,已经培育出高产量的马铃薯品种,并经过测试,可以更好地适应如塔吉克斯坦、乌兹别克斯坦、印度和孟加拉国等国家的干旱和高温.目前,至少有20万农户从该项目中受益,给农民带来可靠的收成,同时,也给消费者带来更稳定的价格.     

Benthic Diatoms of the Russian Waters of the Sea of Japan and Adjacent Sea Areas

Russian Journal of Marine Biology - This review analyzes the current state of knowledge of the microphytobenthos in the Russian waters of the Sea of Japan and adjacent sea areas. A retrospective...     

Feeding ecology of Mediterranean razorfish Xyrichthys novacula in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Central Mediterranean Sea)

The stomach contents of 196 razorfish ( Xyrichthys novacula ), collected in the Tyrrhenian Sea (Ponza Island, Italy) between July and December 1994, were examined in order to assess the diet and to analyse size-related dietary variation of the species. The diet of X. novacula showed a strict relationship with well-sorted fine sand (SFBC) benthic species, mostly Mollusca and Echinodermata, as pointed out by the analysis at the specific level of the stomach contents. Mollusca Pelecipoda, essentially Acanthocardium tuberculatum and Echinodermata, with Echinocardium cordatum , made up 90% of the volume of prey of X. novacula. Mysidacea and Gastropoda were frequent but volumetrically less important. The study showed that male and female X. novacula were not effectively segregated by trophic dimension in the study area. The niche overlap between males and females in prey composition was pronounced, as evidenced by the significantly high values of Schoener's index with larger males that showed a greater tendency towards predation of large prey. The increment in length (L.I.) in males, despite a decrease in the percentage body weight increment (B.W.I.), could represent the result of a male reproductive feature: the lack of sperm competition allows the males much more energy to devote to growth than do that of the females of this species.     

Talking about Climate Change and Global Warming

The increasing prevalence of social networks provides researchers greater opportunities to evaluate and assess changes in public opinion and public sentiment towards issues of social consequence. Using trend and sentiment analysis is one method whereby researchers can identify changes in public perception that can be used to enhance the development of a social consciousness towards a specific public interest. The following study assessed Relative search volume (RSV) patterns for global warming (GW) and Climate change (CC) to determine public knowledge and awareness of these terms. In conjunction with this, the researchers looked at the sentiment connected to these terms in social media networks. It was found that there was a relationship between the awareness of the information and the amount of publicity generated around the terminology. Furthermore, the primary driver for the increase in awareness was an increase in publicity in either a positive or a negative light. Sentiment analysis further confirmed that the primary emotive connections to the words were derived from the original context in which the word was framed. Thus having awareness or knowledge of a topic is strongly related to its public exposure in the media, and the emotional context of this relationship is dependent on the context in which the relationship was originally established. This has value in fields like conservation, law enforcement, or other fields where the practice can and often does have two very strong emotive responses based on the context of the problems being examined.     

Size and Performance of Juvenile Marine Invertebrates: Potential Contrasts Between Intertidal and Subtidal Benthic Habitats

Newly settled or hatched juveniles of marine benthic invertebratesgenerally experience very high mortality. Juvenile mortalitycan profoundly affect adult populations, but little is knownabout how individual variation in juvenile quality affects performance.Several recent studies have demonstrated that differences insize, larval nutrient stores, or larval feeding history canstrongly affect the performance (measured as growth and survivorship)of juveniles. Additional research suggests that the strengthof the effect of juvenile size on performance may be mediatedby variation in environmental stress in the intertidal, a habitatcharacterized by strong fluctuations in abiotic factors. Themajor sources of juvenile snail mortality are likely to differin intertidal and subtidal habitats; abiotic stresses relatedto exposure, such as desiccation, are important in the intertidalbut far less severe in subtidal environments. Previously observedtrends in hatching or settlement size between intertidal andsubtidal species from three gastropod taxa may be due to differingselective regimes acting on initial juvenile size.     

Responses of Estuarine Benthic Invertebrates to Sediment Burial: The Importance of Mobility and Adaptation

Estuarine benthic organisms are frequently subjected to disturbance events caused by hydrodynamic processes that disrupt and move the sediment in which the animals reside, however the mechanisms by which physical disturbance processes affect infaunal and epifaunal populations and communities remain poorly resolved. The responses of three infaunal and two epifaunal estuarine benthic species to sediment disturbance (burial) were compared in laboratory experiments. Overburden stress (kPa) was calculated to quantify the force exerted on organisms by sediment burial for 6 d. At the levels tested (0–16 kPa), increasing overburden stress did not significantly decrease survival or growth of juvenile burrowing bivalves, Macoma balthica (Linnaeus). Survival of juveniles and adults of the tubiculous polychaete Streblospio benedicti (Webster) and neonates of the burrow-forming amphipod Leptocheirus plumulosus (Shoemaker) declined exponentially with increasing overburden stress. The mean S. benedicti survival rate was 4% of the control at an overburden stress of ≈4 kPa, while an overburden stress of 12 kPa was necessary to comparably reduce survival of L. plumulosus. At the low levels of overburden stress used in the experiments with epifauna (≤0.2 kPa), juvenile oyster Crassostrea virginica (Gmelin) did not suffer significant mortality at an overburden stress of 0.1 kPa. In contrast, the epifaunal tunicate Molgula manhattensis (DeKay) exhibited significant mortality when partially (one or two siphons exposed) or completely buried under sediment with an overburden stress of 0.2 kPa. Species-specific response to burial varied as a function of motility, living position, and inferred physiological tolerance of anoxic conditions while buried. We conclude that some benthic species exhibit mechanical and possibly physiological adaptations that may allow them to survive deposition events of the magnitude commonly encountered in estuarine environments.     

Global Climate Change and the Origin of Modern Benthic Communities in Antarctica

Marine benthic communities living in shallow-water habitats(<100 m depth) in Antarctica possess characteristics reminiscentof Paleozoic marine communities and modern deep-sea communities.The absence of crabs and sharks, the limited diversity of teleostsand skates, the dominance of slow-moving invertebrates at highertrophic levels, and the occurrence of dense ophiuroid and crinoidpopulations indicate that skeleton-breaking predation is limitedin Antarctica today, as it was worldwide during the Paleozoicand as it is in the deep sea today. The community structureof the antarctic benthos has its evolutionary roots in the Eocene.Data from fossil assemblages at Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsulasuggest that shallow-water communities were similar to communitiesat lower latitudes until they were affected by global cooling,which accelerated in the late Eocene to early Oligocene. Thatlong-term cooling trend ultimately resulted in the polar climateand peculiar community structure found in Antarctica today.Declining temperatures beginning late in the Eocene are associatedwith the disappearance of crabs, sharks, and most teleosts.The sudden drop in predation pressure allowed dense ophiuroidand crinoid populations to appear and flourish. These late Eoceneechinoderm populations exhibit low frequencies of sublethaldamage (regenerating arms), demonstrating that there was littleor no predation from skeleton-breaking fish and decapods. Currentscenarios of global climate change include predictions of increasedupwelling and consequent cooling in temperate and subtropicalupwelling zones. Limited ecological evidence suggests that suchcooling could disrupt trophic relationships and favor retrogradecommunity structures in those local areas.     

A Scanning Electron Microscope Study of the Branchial Sac of Benthic Filter-feeding Invertebrates (Ascidians)

Abstract With the critical point method, well preserved samples of ascidian gills have been obtained for a study by scanning electron microscopy. The electron micrographs illustrate the different stages in the structural complexity of the branchial sac in four species: Clavelina lepadiformis (Müller 1776) represents the simplest stage where the gill sheet is formed by a single screen with slits; Ciona intestinalis (Linné 1767) and Phallusia mammillata (Cuvier 1815) which exhibit intermediate stages with a secondary screen superimposed on the first, thus increasing the active surface. Maximum gill extent and, consequently, a maximum contact with the water carrying particles is observed in Styela plicata (Lesueur 1823) with the formation of gill folds. Our observations also demonstrate a morphological analogy between the zones exhibiting a positive reaction to proteolytic enzymes (chymotrypsin-like): namely the concave edge of the gill papillae of Ciona and Phallusia, the languets of the dorsal lamina of Phallusia, the folds of the longitudinal bars of Styela.     

Response of Benthic Invertebrates to Disturbance From Stream Restoration: The Importance of Bryophytes

The response of benthic invertebrates to disturbance from stream restoration was studied in the Reinikankoski rapids, central Finland. I hypothesized that stream bryophytes could act as a refugium for invertebrates. The restoration procedure destroyed nearly half of the bryophytes present at the study reach, and invertebrate densities decreased sharply immediately after the restoration. Within 2 weeks, invertebrates had recolonized the disturbed reach, and within 1 month peak numbers were attained. Invertebrates showed a clear association with bryophytes, especially after the restoration. My study shows that invertebrate recovery can be relatively fast in winter, and underlines the importance of stream mosses as invertebrate habitat and refugia. They should be taken in consideration in stream restoration projects by leaving patches of stream bottom intact.