Stabilizing properties of a high-biomass benthic community in a fluctuating ecosystem

Besides the beneficial use of dredged material, sustainable relocation, which means keeping the sediments in the natural aquatic material circulation, is one goal for handling dredged material in the port of Hamburg. Decreasing contamination the River Elbe and new dredged material guidelines provide a basis for this. With comprehensive investigations, near- and far-field transport and the effects of relocation regarding the water quality and the benthic community were determined thus deveoloping conditions for future operating strategies.

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Benthic community populations near two adjacent northern pulpmill discharges

Water Science & Technology ◽

10.2166/wst.1997.0563 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 35 (2-3) ◽

pp. 381-388 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G. P. Thomas ◽

N. Munteanu

Keyword(s):

Benthic Community ◽

Ecological Model ◽

Relative Proportion ◽

Benthic Invertebrate ◽

Treated Effluent ◽

Spatial Confounding ◽

Spatial Approach ◽

Pulp And Paper Effluent ◽

Taxonomic Groups ◽

Benthic Invertebrate Communities

Benthic invertebrate communities were investigated as part of the federal Environmental Effects Monitoring programs conducted as required by the amended Pulp and Paper Effluent Regulations (PPER) of the federal Fisheries Act. A Refiner Mechanical (RMP) and larger Kraft pulpmill, both situated on a northern, BC reservoir, discharge secondary-treated effluent within 5 km of each other. Efforts to independently distinguish potential effects associated with these individual discharges were complicated by the proximity of the diffusers, their location within a complex ecological region of a reservoir, and the presence of temporal and spatial confounding influences. A comprehensive examination of the benthic community structure involved the combined assessment of several endpoints (total population numbers, relative proportion of taxonomic groups, and species richness). A tiered, spatial approach, based on a reservoir ecological model (Thornton et al., 1981), was adapted to assess and distinguish community structures and reservoir- and mill-related influences. Results suggested that effects associated with the two different mills could be distinguished based on subtle and distinct differences in benthic community profiles.

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Interactions between a planktivorous fish and planktonic microcrustaceans mediated by the biomass of aquatic macrophytes

Journal of Plankton Research ◽

10.1093/plankt/fbaa061 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Bárbara Angélio Quirino ◽

Franco Teixeira de Mello ◽

Sabrina Deosti ◽

Claudia Costa Bonecker ◽

Ana Lúcia Paz Cardozo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aquatic Macrophyte ◽

Plant Biomass ◽

Flow Speed ◽

Trophic Niche ◽

Planktivorous Fish ◽

Low Flow ◽

High Biomass ◽

Predator Prey ◽

Cladoceran Species ◽

Macrophyte Biomass

Abstract Habitat complexity is recognized to mediate predator–prey relationships by offering refuge or not. We investigated the availability of planktonic microcrustaceans and the diet of a planktivorous fish (Hyphessobrycon eques) at different levels (low, intermediate and high) of aquatic macrophyte biomass. Sampling was carried out in a river with low flow speed, located in a Neotropical floodplain. We collected fish and microcrustaceans in macrophyte stands with variations in biomass. There were no differences in microcrustacean density in the water among the levels of macrophyte biomass, but microcrustacean richness and diet composition of H. eques differed. Microcrustacean richness and trophic niche breadth of the planktivorous fish were higher in high biomass stands. There was high consumption of a small cladoceran species in low macrophyte biomass, which was replaced by larger species, such as copepods, in intermediate and high biomass. Thus, the selection of some species was different among the biomass levels. These results suggest that plant biomass plays an important role in the interaction between fish and microcrustaceans, and prey characteristics such as size, escape ability and energy value make them more or less subject to predation by fish according to habitat structuring.

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Shift in polar benthic community structure in a fast retreating glacial area of Marian Cove, West Antarctica

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-80636-z ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hanna Bae ◽

In-Young Ahn ◽

Jinsoon Park ◽

Sung Joon Song ◽

Junsung Noh ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Community Structure ◽

Benthic Community ◽

Adaptive Strategy ◽

Ecological Impacts ◽

Glacier Retreat ◽

Benthic Diatoms ◽

Subtidal Zone ◽

Benthic Community Structure ◽

Community Shift ◽

Global Issue

AbstractGlacier retreat is a major long-standing global issue; however, the ecological impacts of such retreats on marine organisms remain unanswered. Here, we examined changes to the polar benthic community structure of “diatoms” under current global warming in a recently retreated glacial area of Marian Cove, Antarctica. The environments and spatiotemporal assemblages of benthic diatoms surveyed in 2018–2019 significantly varied between the intertidal (tidal height of 2.5 m) and subtidal zone (10 and 30 m). A distinct floral distribution along the cove (~ 4.5 km) was characterized by the adaptive strategy of species present, with chain-forming species predominating near the glacier. The predominant chain-forming diatoms, such as Fragilaria striatula and Paralia sp., are widely distributed in the innermost cove over years, indicating sensitive responses of benthic species to the fast-evolving polar environment. The site-specific and substrate-dependent distributions of certain indicator species (e.g., F. striatula, Navicula glaciei, Cocconeis cf. pinnata) generally reflected such shifts in the benthic community. Our review revealed that the inner glacier region reflected trophic association, featured with higher diversity, abundance, and biomass of benthic diatoms and macrofauna. Overall, the polar benthic community shift observed along the cove generally represented changing environmental conditions, (in)directly linked to ice-melting due to the recent glacier retreat.

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Metabolic engineering in woody plants: challenges, advances, and opportunities

aBIOTECH ◽

10.1007/s42994-021-00054-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shu Yu ◽

Cody S. Bekkering ◽

Li Tian

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Metabolic Engineering ◽

Ecosystem Services ◽

Plant Transformation ◽

Woody Plants ◽

Woody Plant ◽

High Biomass ◽

Generation Times ◽

Wide Range ◽

Biochemical Diversity

AbstractWoody plant species represent an invaluable reserve of biochemical diversity to which metabolic engineering can be applied to satisfy the need for commodity and specialty chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and renewable energy. Woody plants are particularly promising for this application due to their low input needs, high biomass, and immeasurable ecosystem services. However, existing challenges have hindered their widespread adoption in metabolic engineering efforts, such as long generation times, large and highly heterozygous genomes, and difficulties in transformation and regeneration. Recent advances in omics approaches, systems biology modeling, and plant transformation and regeneration methods provide effective approaches in overcoming these outstanding challenges. Promises brought by developments in this space are steadily opening the door to widespread metabolic engineering of woody plants to meet the global need for a wide range of sustainably sourced chemicals and materials.

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