Biomarkers of Exposure and Effects for Assessing Toxicological Risk of Endocrine Disrupters in Top Predators of the Mediterranean Sea     

M. Cristina Fossi  Silvia Casini  Letizia Marsili  Stefania Ancora  Gabriele Mori  Giovanni Neri  Antonella Ausili  Teresa Romeo  Alessandra Moscatelli  Giuseppe Notarbartolo Di  Sciara 《Marine Ecology》2002,23(S1):184-189

Abstract. Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) have the potential to alter hormone pathways that regulate reproductive processes in wildlife and fisheries. In this research the unexplored hypothesis that Mediterranean top predator species (such as large pelagic fish and marine mammals) are potentially at risk due to EDCs is investigated. In the Mediterranean environment, top predators accumulate high concentrations of polyhalogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (PHAHs) and toxic metals, incurring high toxicological risk. Here we illustrate the need to develop sensitive biomarkers for evaluation of toxicological risk in top marine predators (Xiphias gladius, Thunnus thynnus thynnus) and non-lethal techniques, such as non-destructive biomarkers, for the hazard assessment of threatened species exposed to EDCs, such as marine mammals ( Stenella coeruleoalba, Tursiops truncatus, Delphinus delphis and Balaenoptera physalus ).  相似文献   

Meadow fragmentation and reproductive output of the SE Asian seagrass Enhalus acoroides     

Jan E. Vermaat  Rene N. Rollon  Cristina Day A. Lacap  Claire Billot  Filipe Alberto  Hildie M.E. Nacorda  Frank Wiegman  Jorge Terrados 《Journal of Sea Research》2004,52(4):201

Flower and fruit production of the abundant, tall, long-lived, dioecious, surface-pollinating seagrass species Enhalus acoroides (L.) Royle were estimated at seven sites in the reef flats off Bolinao (NW Luzon, The Philippines) featuring different fragmentation of the seagrass meadows. Fragmentation of the seagrass meadow was quantified as cover of E. acoroides and all seagrass species present in 20×20 m plots. E. acoroides and overall seagrass cover were correlated positively. The proportion of female flowers of E. acoroides that developed a fruit increased sharply as overall seagrass cover was around 50%. Apparent sex ratio bore no relationship with overall seagrass cover. This threshold-type of relationship suggests that fragmentation of seagrass meadows can have a major effect on the reproductive output of this species. A possible mechanism underlying these results would be a non-linear increase of the efficiency of trapping the surface-dispersed pollen with increasing seagrass canopy density. This provides the first evidence based on real data that fragmentation can affect the population dynamics of seagrass species.  相似文献   

Cumulative impacts of aggregate extraction on seabed macro-invertebrate communities in an area off the east coast of the United Kingdom     

Keith Cooper  Sin Boyd  John Aldridge  Hubert Rees 《Journal of Sea Research》2007,57(4):288-302

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Distribution of soft-bottom polychaetes in two coastal areas of the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy): Structural analysis     

Maria Cristina Gambi  Adriana Giangrande 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》1986,23(6)

Multidimensional statistical analysis was used to study the polychaete distribution in soft-bottoms of two coastal areas of the Tyrrhenian Sea (Italy), which are influenced by the discharges of the rivers Tiber and Ombrone. In both areas the distributional patterns of these organisms are determined mainly by sediment types and related factors such as hydrodynamics, river input, and sedimentation. The grain-size gradient from the coast to the open sea affects not only species composition, but also species richness, diversity and abundance.In both areas three main communities have been identified: a sandy biocoenosis, a mixed-sediment biocoenosis and a muddy biocoenosis. The sandy coastal community is characterized by only a few species, while the intermediate zone of sandy-mud sediments presents the highest species richness and diversity. At the mouth of the River Tiber the influence of the river is more evident than at the mouth of the River Ombrone. This is due to the Tiber's greater river flow, which determines an environmental uniformity and a ‘cenotic continuum’ from sandy to muddy communities. This does not occur at the mouth of the Ombrone, where the river flow is less important and the polychaete communities are better defined.  相似文献   

Long-term effects of tributyltin compounds on the baltic amphipod, Gammarus oceanicus     

Roy Laughlin  Karin Nordlund  Olof Lindn 《Marine environmental research》1984,12(4):243-271

Amphipod larvae, Gammarus oceanicus, were exposed for 8 weeks to bis(tributyltin) oxide (TBTO) or tributyltin fluoride (TBTF), or for 5 weeks to leachates from tributyltin-containing antibiofouling paints. No larvae survived 8 weeks' exposure to 3 μg/litre TBTO or TBTF. Differential larval survival occurred during exposure to 0·3 gmg/litre of these same compounds. Paint leachates were shown to cause similar toxicity responses at comparable aqueous tributyltin concentrations. An examination of sublethal responses showed slight decreases in growth for larvae exposed to TBTO and to paint leachates, although responses at tributyltin levels below 1 μg/litre were not marked. Whole-animal oxygen consumption rates were not affected by low tributyltin exposure levels. While these studies demonstrate low level toxicity of tributyltins, effects on oxygen consumption and growth do not indicate a mode of action for these compounds.  相似文献   

The recreational fishery off Majorca Island (western Mediterranean): some implications for coastal resource management   总被引：3，自引：0，他引：3  

Morales-Nin  Beatriz; Moranta  Joan; Garcia  Cristina; Tugores  Maria Pilar; Grau  Antoni Maria; Riera  Francisco; Cerda  Margalida 《ICES Journal of Marine Science》2005,62(4):727-739

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Stratigraphic framework of gas accumulations in the Ría de Pontevedra (NW Spain)     

Ruth Durán  Soledad García-Gil  Raquel Diez  Federico Vilas 《Geo-Marine Letters》2007,27(2-4):77-88

Knowledge of marine geological environments in which shallow gas is accumulating is becoming increasingly important in global studies of climate change because a measurable proportion of the total methane source comes from continental margins. Previous studies have revealed that coastal environments represent important geological environments where microbial methane is being generated, is accumulating, and is being released. In the Ría de Pontevedra, at least 4.5 km² of seafloor in the innermost part of the ría is underlain by sediments containing natural gas. Seismic interpretation contributes new findings for the definition of periods and geological environments in which the gas could have been generated, and is accumulating and released in the Ría de Pontevedra. Groundtruthing the seismic data (facies, environments) makes it possible to identify favourable geological environments for gas generation in the sedimentary infill of the Ría de Pontevedra. Sequence stratigraphy based on high-resolution seismic profiles and post-Last Glacial Maximum sea-level records makes it possible to establish the stratigraphic architecture of the ría and to define the periods in which gas could have been generated. The results of this study show that the sedimentary infill is composed of a fifth-order sequence developed since the Last Glacial Maximum. Within this sequence, gas appears to have accumulated in the Holocene deposits associated with the latest transgressive and highstand system tracts. Seismic analysis shows that gas could have been generated in different geological environments in the Ría de Pontevedra. If coastal environments at times of lower sea level were similar to those of the present, organic-rich mud deposits (deposited mainly in lakes, estuaries and floodplains) could have survived transgression and remained buried as potential gas sources in the inner part of the ría.  相似文献   

In situ and satellite observations of the eastward migration of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre     

M.M. Flexas  D. Gomis  S. Ruiz  A. Pascual  P. Len 《Progress in Oceanography》2006,70(2-4):486

During October 2003 an intensive oceanographic survey (BIOMEGA) was carried out in the Alboran Sea, coinciding with a migration event of the Western Alboran Sea Gyre (WAG). The observations gathered during that cruise constitute the first field evidence of a migrated stage of the WAG. In this work we present the main differences between the 3D hydrodynamic fields observed during BIOMEGA and those corresponding to a WAG located at its usual position. The migration of the gyre was followed by satellite (altimetry and sea surface temperature) imagery. The causes of the gyre migration are explored in terms of the quasi-geostrophic tendency equation, in particular of the dynamics governing scales larger than the Rossby radius of deformation. It is shown that the steady state gyre must be almost equivalent barotropic and that the key process to break down the stationarity would be a density advection at gyre scale. The mechanisms to explain the migration of the WAG proposed by previous authors are discussed in light of the explanation proposed in this work.  相似文献   

Effects of crab–halophytic plant interactions on creek growth in a S.W. Atlantic salt marsh: A Cellular Automata model     

Darío R. Minkoff  Mauricio Escapa  Flix E. Ferramola  Silvio D. Maraschín  Jorge O. Pierini  Gerardo M.E. Perillo  Claudio Delrieux 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》2006,69(3-4):403

The Bahía Blanca Estuary (38° 50′ S, and 62° 30′ W) presents salt marshes where interactions between the local flora (Sarcocornia perennis) and fauna (Chasmagnathus granulatus) generate some kind of salt pans that alter the normal water circulation and condition its flow and course towards tidal creeks. The crab–vegetation dynamics in the salt marsh presents variations that cannot be quantified in a reasonable period of time. The interaction between S. perennis plant and C. granulatus crab is based on simple laws, but its result is a complex biological mechanism that causes an erosive process on the salt marsh and favors the formation of tidal creeks. To study it, a Cellular Automata model is proposed, based on the laws deduced from the observation of these phenomena in the field, and then verified with measurable data within macroscale time units. Therefore, the objective of this article is to model how the interaction between C. granulatus and S. perennis modifies the landscape of the salt marsh and influences the path of tidal creeks. The model copies the basic laws that rule the problem based on purely biological factors.The Cellular Automata model proved capable of reproducing the effects of the interaction between plants and crabs in the salt marsh. A study of the water drainage of the basins showed that this interaction does indeed modify the development of tidal creeks. Model dynamics would likewise follow different laws, which would provide a different formula for the probability of patch dilation. The patch shape can be obtained changing the pattern that dilates.  相似文献   

Fluctuations of CaFz(Eu) scintillator background     

Z. Dvořák  K. Štukheil 《Solar physics》1989,123(1):189-192

Background signal of the scintillation detector routinely used for atmospheric Kr-85 counting follows fluctuations, and their connection with cosmic ray variations is searched for. A strong correlation between the 27-day moving average of sunspot numbers and the background is obtained from the 1988 data.  相似文献