Saldanha Bay,South Africa I: the use of ocean colour remote sensing to assess phytoplankton biomass     

ME Smith  GC Pitcher 《African Journal of Marine Science》2015,37(4):503-512

The efficacy of ocean colour remote sensing in assessing the variability of phytoplankton biomass within Saldanha Bay is examined. Satellite estimates of chlorophyll a (Chl a) were obtained using the maximum peak-height (MPH) algorithm on full-resolution (300?m) data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS). Subsurface Chl a maxima often occur within Saldanha Bay below the mean detection depth of the satellite (1.5?m) during periods of thermal stratification. Consequently, the MPH product was poorly correlated to in situ data from 4?m depth (r² and average relative percentage difference [RPD] of 0.094 and 53% respectively); however, the coefficient of determination was much improved if limited to in situ data collected under conditions of mixing (r² and RPD of 0.869 and 89%, respectively). Composites of monthly MPH Chl a data reveal mean concentrations consistent with in situ seasonal trends of phytoplankton biomass, confirming the capability of the MPH algorithm to qualitatively resolve surface Chl a distribution within the bay.  相似文献   

A tool for site prioritisation of marine protected areas under data poor conditions     

Lydia C.L. Teh  Louise S.L. TehTony J. Pitcher 《Marine Policy》2012

A challenge of managing data poor fisheries lies in overcoming uncertainties associated with a lack of information on biological and socio-economic conditions. This paper focuses on site prioritisation for marine protected areas, a process that usually imposes moderate to heavy demands on data, time, local expertise, and funds. A fuzzy logic decision support tool for zoning marine areas that is suitable for use in data poor conditions is developed. This tool, the Protected Area Suitability Index (PASI), assesses the suitability of sites for protection based on fishers’ preferences for that site and the site’s conservation value. Only eight input attributes are required to run the PASI, which operates on a series of heuristic rules to estimate a site suitability score that ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates that a site is highly suitable for being protected from fishing. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the PASI is relatively robust, and produces reliable results even as the system is degraded by the loss of data. Eighteen actively fished sites and 11 sites that are closed to fishing are assessed to evaluate how well the PASI is able to distinguish differences between sites. The estimated scores are significantly different (p<0.05), whereby non-fished sites are scored as being more suitable for protection than fished sites. The PASI can be used as a decision support tool to facilitate systematic marine spatial management under data poor conditions, especially in the task of identifying suitable sites for protection.  相似文献   

Seasonal and sub-seasonal oxygen and nutrient fluctuations in an embayment of an eastern boundary upwelling system: St Helena Bay     

GC Pitcher  TA Probyn 《African Journal of Marine Science》2017,39(1):95-110

Seasonal, sub-seasonal and spatial fluctuations in bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) were examined in St Helena Bay, South Africa’s largest and most productive embayment, between November 2013 and November 2014. Alongshore bay characteristics were assessed through comparison of variables along the 50-m depth contour. A mean coefficient of variation of 0.35 provided a measure of the relative variability of near-bottom DO concentrations along this contour. Consistently lower DO concentrations in the southern region of the bay in summer and autumn are attributed to enhanced retention. Across-shelf transects captured the seasonal development of hypoxia in relation to the distribution of phytoplankton biomass. Exceptional dinoflagellate blooms form extensive subsurface thin layers preceding the autumn DO minima in the south of the bay, prior to winter ventilation of the bottom waters. The seasonal decline in DO concentrations in the bottom waters was marked by sub-seasonal events of hypoxia, and ultimately anoxia linked to episodic deposition of organic matter, as indicated by increases in bottom chlorophyll-a concentrations. Seasonal changes in bottom water macronutrient concentrations followed trends in apparent oxygen utilisation (AOU), both of which mirrored DO concentrations. In the south of the bay, nitrogen loss through denitrification/anammox in suboxic waters was indicated by a dissolved inorganic N deficit in the bottom waters, which was most pronounced in autumn.  相似文献   

Spatial patterns of sub-tidal seagrasses and their tissue nutrients in the Torres Strait,northern Australia: Implications for management     

James K. Sheppard  Alex B. Carter  Len J. McKenzie  C. Roland Pitcher  Robert G. Coles 《Continental Shelf Research》2008

The distribution and nutritional profiles of sub-tidal seagrasses from the Torres Strait were surveyed and mapped across an area of 31,000 km². Benthic sediment composition, water depth, seagrass species type and nutrients were sampled at 168 points selected in a stratified representative pattern. Eleven species of seagrass were present at 56 (33.3%) of the sample points. Halophila spinulosa, Halophila ovalis, Cymodocea serrulata and Syringodium isoetifolium were the most common species and these were nutrient profiled. Sub-tidal seagrass distribution (and associated seagrass nutrient concentrations) was generally confined to northern-central and south-western regions of the survey area (<longitude 142.60), where mean water depth was relatively shallow (approximately 13 m below MSL) and where sediments were comprised primarily muddy sand to gravelly sand. Seagrass nitrogen and starch content, the most important nutrients for marine herbivores, were significantly correlated with species and with the plant component (above or below ground). For all seagrass species, the above-ground component (shoots and leaves) possessed greater nitrogen concentrations than the below-ground component (roots and rhizomes), which possessed greater starch concentrations. S. isoetifolium had the highest total nitrogen concentrations (1.40±0.05% DW). However, it also had higher fibre concentrations (38.2±0.68% DW) relative to the other four species. H. ovalis possessed the highest starch concentrations (2.76±0.12% DW) and highest digestibility (83.24±0.66% DW) as well as the lowest fibre (27.2±0.66% DW). The high relative abundance (found at 55% of the sites that had seagrass) and nutrient quality characteristics of H. ovalis make it an important source of energy to marine herbivores that forage sub-tidally in the Torres Strait. There were two regions in Torres Strait (north-central and south-western) where sub-tidal seagrass meadows were prevalent and of relatively higher nutritional value. This spatial and nutritional information can be used by local agencies to manage and to protect the ecological, economic and cultural values of the sub-tidal seagrass ecosystems and associated fisheries of the Torres Strait.  相似文献   

An alternative to common envelope evolution     

Martin E. Beer  Lynnette M. Dray  rew R. King  Graham A. Wynn 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2007,375(3):1000-1008

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Sustainable shellfish aquaculture in Saldanha Bay,South Africa     

A Santa Marta  JG Ferreira  GC Pitcher  J Lencart e Silva 《African Journal of Marine Science》2020,42(2):151-166

The carrying capacity for bivalve shellfish culture in Saldanha Bay, South Africa, was analysed through the application of the well-tested EcoWin ecological model, in order to simulate key ecosystem variables. The model was set up using: (i) oceanographic and water-quality data collected from Saldanha Bay, and (ii) culture-practice information provided by local shellfish farmers. EcoWin successfully reproduced key ecological processes, simulating an annual mean phytoplankton biomass of 7.5 µg Chl a l^–1 and an annual harvested shellfish biomass of about 3 000 tonnes (t) y^–1, in good agreement with reported yield. The maximum annual carrying capacity of Small Bay was estimated as 20 000 t live weight (LW) of oysters Crassostrea gigas, or alternatively 5 100 t LW of mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis, and for Big Bay as 100 000 t LW of oysters. Two production scenarios were investigated for Small Bay: a production of 4 000 t LW y^–1 of mussels, and the most profitable scenario for oysters of 19 700 t LW y^–1. The main conclusions of this work are: (i) in 2015–2016, both Small Bay and Big Bay were below their maximum production capacity; (ii) the current production of shellfish potentially removes 85% of the human nitrogen inputs; (iii) a maximum-production scenario in both Big Bay and Small Bay would result in phytoplankton depletion in the farmed area; (iv) increasing the production intensity in Big Bay would probably impact the existing cultures in Small Bay; and (v) the production in Small Bay could be increased, resulting in higher income for farmers.  相似文献   

Assessing vulnerability: an integrated approach for mapping adaptive capacity,sensitivity, and exposure     

Shawn W. Margles Weis  Vera N. Agostini  Lynnette M. Roth  Ben Gilmer  Steven R. Schill  John English Knowles  Ruth Blyther 《Climatic change》2016,136(3-4):615-629

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Flounders follow the tides to feed: Evidence from ultrasonic tracking in an estuary     

Soetikno Wirjoatmodjo  T.J. Pitcher 《Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science》1984,19(2):231-241

Ultrasonically tagged flounders were tracked in the estuary of the River Bann, Northern Ireland, for periods of between 2 and 12 h (11 fish for a total of 92 h and 2·5 km), during their summer residence. Positions were determined by triangulation with two receivers.All fish remained within 400 m of the release point; on average flounders moved about 270 m during one tidal cycle, equivalent to 830 body lengths, or just over 1 body length per minute. Movements were most likely at dusk, but other parameters were not contingent upon time of day, although no data were gathered at dawn. Frequency, direction, distance, speed and duration of movement and turn rate were all significantly contingent upon state of the tide. The movement data are interpreted in terms of feeding behaviour, supported by results from other parts of the study. At high tide flounders made active but meandering searches for food on the inundated mudflats. Similar but faster searches heading downstream on falling tides reflected (a) completion of feeding while littoral invertebrates were still available and (b) avoidance of stranding. Flounders made infrequent but long and linear passages downstream at low tide, when they tended to bury themselves at the edge of the main channel where there was little food. Subsequently, the fish followed the rising tide upstream so that the cycle of movements kept most fish in the same area of the estuary in the short term. It is suggested that tolerance of changing salinities enables flounders, more than other flatfish species, to exploit dense populations of estuarine intertidal invertebrates as food.  相似文献   

Measuring income and projecting energy use     

Hugh M. Pitcher 《Climatic change》2009,97(1-2):49-58

Energy is a key requirement for a healthy, productive life and a major driver of the emissions leading to an increasingly warm planet. The implications of a doubling and redoubling of per capita incomes over the remainder of this century for energy use are a critical input into understanding the magnitude of the carbon management problem. A substantial controversy about how the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios (SRES) measured income and the potential implications of how income was measured for long term levels of energy use is revisited again in the McKibbin, Pearce and Stegman article appearing elsewhere in this issue. The recent release of a new set of purchasing power estimates of national income, and the preparations for creating new scenarios to support the IPCC’s fifth assessment highlight the importance of the issues which have arisen surrounding income and energy use. Comparing the 1993 and 2005 ICP results on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) based measures of income reveals that not only do the 2005 ICP estimates share the same issue of common growth rates for real income as measured by PPP and US $, but the lack of coherence in the estimates of PPP incomes, especially for developing countries raises yet another obstacle to resolving the best way to measure income. Further, the common use of an income term to mediate energy demand (as in the Kaya identity) obscures an underlying reality about per capita energy demands, leading to unreasonable estimates of the impact of changing income measures and of the recent high GDP growth rates in India and China. Significant new research is required to create both a reasonable set of GDP growth rates and long term levels of energy use.  相似文献   

Granites and Their Enclaves: J. Didier, 1973. Elsevier,Amsterdam, 393 pp., Dfl. 100.00     

Wallace S. Pitcher 《Earth》1975,11(2):186-187

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