Jansen Kronborg (manpull1)

We found that aggregated events of sediment re-suspension had profound negative effects on gamete interactions and Ca2+ signaling at fertilization. The same experimental condition also inflicted marked ultrastructural changes in eggs. Importantly, however, such detrimental effects were inhibited by increased oxygenation. By contrast, the regime of sediment re-working with a longer interval between consecutive turbulent events had only marginal effects. Thus, the current and predicted changes of climate-related disturbance appear to modulate the biological effects of chronic contamination in post-industrial areas, suggesting that environmental rehabilitation via restoration of habitat-forming primary producers such as seagrasses or algal canopies could alleviate the pollutants' effects on resident biota. A responsible approach to marine stock enhancement is an effective approach to restore fishery resources. While the release strategy of target species has been well investigated, the impacts on local ecological equilibrium and habitat qualities have only been poorly considered. In the present study, we evaluated how the macro-benthic food web in Daya Bay was affected by purple sea urchin (Heliocidaris crassispina (Agassiz, 1864) stock enhancement using stable isotope analyses (δ13C and δ15N). Our results indicated that the distribution of local species and trophic diversity were influenced to a certain degree by release of purple sea urchins and changes in the feeding habit of the urchins were observed in line with food abundance, which seasonally varied. When food is abundant, the main food source of sea urchins was microphytobenthos and no significant differences were observed among sites; significant differences in the diet of purple sea urchins were detected when food is less abundant. These results suggested that optimization of the release strategy should include information on seasonal productivity of local recipient sites, food web structure and feeding habits of released species. Such information is essential for building a responsible release approach to maximize production enhancement. The seagrass Cymodocea nodosa and the chlorophyte Ulva rigida growing in the upper sublittoral zones of the Mediterranean Sea are exposed to air during low tides. We compared the desiccation coefficient (k), and the photosynthetic performance (ΔF/Fm') of C. nodosa leaves with and without epiphytes to that of U. rigida. The recovery ability of these two species was assessed by ΔF/Fm', after re-immersion. read more The desiccation coefficient (k) significantly (p  less then  0.01) varied among the three macrophyte materials, while the lowest k values were measured both in C. nodosa leaves with epiphytes and U. rigida. ΔF/Fm' significantly declined with decreasing RWC for all materials, while significant differences in the physiological response were observed between U. rigida and the other two materials. Thallus pieces of U. rigida showed higher desiccation tolerance compared to C. nodosa leaves, with its ΔF/Fm' under 75% degree of dehydration reaching to its initial values thirty (30) minutes after re-immersion, when C. nodosa only reached the 50%. This study provides valuable information on possible changes in the two species distribution under different desiccation scenarios. Nearshore sea-surface manta trawls were carried out monthly at seven sites along the coastline of Mallorca in the Balearic Islands in the Western Mediterranean Sea. Plastic marine debris was present in all trawls (n = 63) with an overall average abundance of 858,029 ± 4,082,964 items/km2 (mean ± standard deviation) and weight of 4,520 ± 22,806 g(DW)/km2 and the micro-plastic fraction (74%) dominating the size class. Polyethylene (LDPE and HDPE) was the most common polymer (70%) with high spatial heterogeneity, especially along the north-western coast. August showed almost two-fold as much plastic as the o