scholarly journals Mercury bioaccumulation increases with latitude in a coastal marine fish (Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia)

2017 ◽  
Vol 74 (7) ◽  
pp. 1009-1015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zofia Baumann ◽  
Robert P. Mason ◽  
David O. Conover ◽  
Prentiss Balcom ◽  
Celia Y. Chen ◽  
...  

Human exposure to the neurotoxic methylmercury (MeHg) occurs primarily via the consumption of marine fish, but the processes underlying large-scale spatial variations in fish MeHg concentrations [MeHg], which influence human exposure, are not sufficiently understood. We used the Atlantic silverside (Menidia menidia), an extensively studied model species and important forage fish, to examine latitudinal patterns in total mercury (Hg) [Hg] and [MeHg]. Both [Hg] and [MeHg] significantly increased with latitude (0.014 and 0.048 μg MeHg·g dry weight−1 per degree of latitude in juveniles and adults, respectively). Four known latitudinal trends in silverside traits help explain these patterns: latitudinal increase in MeHg assimilation efficiency, latitudinal decrease in MeHg efflux, latitudinal increase in weight loss due to longer and more severe winters, and latitudinal increase in food consumption as an adaptation to decreasing length of the growing season. Given the absence of a latitudinal pattern in particulate MeHg, a diet proxy for zooplanktivorous fish, we conclude that large-scale spatial variation in growth is the primary control of Hg bioaccumulation in this and potentially other fish species.

2018 ◽  
Vol 75 (9) ◽  
pp. 1562-1562
Author(s):  
Zofia Baumann ◽  
Robert P. Mason ◽  
David O. Conover ◽  
Prentiss Balcom ◽  
Celia Y. Chen ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 2625
Author(s):  
Mahmoud Hayek ◽  
Marie Salgues ◽  
Jean-Claude Souche ◽  
Etienne Cunge ◽  
Cyril Giraudel ◽  
...  

Coastal marine ecosystems provide essential benefits and services to humanity, but many are rapidly degrading. Human activities are leading to significant land take along coastlines and to major changes in ecosystems. Ecological engineering tools capable of promoting large-scale restoration of coastal ecosystems are needed today in the face of intensifying climatic stress and human activities. Concrete is one of the materials most commonly used in the construction of coastal and marine infrastructure. Immersed in seawater, concretes are rapidly colonized by microorganisms and macroorganisms. Surface colonization and subsequent biofilm and biofouling formation provide numerous advantages to these organisms and support critical ecological and biogeochemical functions in the changing marine environment. The new challenge of the 21st century is to develop innovative concretes that, in addition to their usual properties, provide improved bioreceptivity in order to enhance marine biodiversity. The aim of this study is to master and clarify the intrinsic parameters that influence the bioreceptivity (biocolonization) of cementitious materials in the marine environment. By coupling biofilm (culture-based methods) and biofouling (image-analysis-based method and wet-/dry-weight biomass measurement) quantification techniques, this study showed that the application of a curing compound to the concrete surface reduced the biocolonization of cementitious materials in seawater, whereas green formwork oil had the opposite effect. This study also found that certain surface conditions (faceted and patterned surface, rough surface) promote the bacterial and macroorganism colonization of cementitious materials. Among the parameters examined, surface roughness proved to be the factor that promotes biocolonization most effectively. These results could be taken up in future recommendations to enable engineers to eco-design more eco-friendly marine infrastructure and develop green-engineering projects.


2021 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 103396
Author(s):  
Donald J. DePaolo ◽  
Donald M. Thomas ◽  
John N. Christensen ◽  
Shuo Zhang ◽  
Franklin M. Orr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1610
Author(s):  
Branka Vinterhalter ◽  
Nevena Banjac ◽  
Dragan Vinterhalter ◽  
Dijana Krstić-Milošević

The hairy root clones of Gentiana dinarica cl-B, cl-D, cl-3, and cl-14 were cultivated in parallel in diverse simple bioreactors, including temporary immersion systems RITA® (TIS RITA®), bubble column bioreactors (BCB), and Erlenmeyer flasks (EF), and evaluated for biomass production and xanthone content. The obtained results showed that TIS RITA® and BCB containing ½ MS medium with 4% sucrose provided equally good growth conditions in which the majority of the clones displayed the higher percentage of dry matter (DM%), and xanthones norswertianin-1-O-primeveroside (nor-1-O-prim) and norswertianin production than those cultivated in EF. Thin and well branched hairy root clone cl-B grown in BCB for 7 weeks was superior regarding all growth parameters tested, including growth index (19.97), dry weight (2.88 g), and DM% (25.70%) compared to all other clones. Cl-B cultured in TIS RITA® contained the highest amount of nor-1-O-prim (56.82 mg per vessel). In BCB with constant aeration, cl-B accumulated the highest norswertianin content reaching 18.08 mg/vessel. The optimized conditions for cultivation of selected G. dinarica hairy root clones in highly aerated TIS RITA® and BCB systems contribute to the development of bioreactor technology designed for the large scale commercial production of xanthones nor-1-O-prim and norswertianin.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Santibañez ◽  
Luz María de la Fuente ◽  
Elena Bustamante ◽  
Sergio Silva ◽  
Pedro León-Lobos ◽  
...  

The study evaluated the efficacy of organic- and hard-rock mine waste type materials on aided phytostabilization of Cu mine tailings under semiarid Mediterranean conditions in order to promote integrated waste management practices at local levels and to rehabilitate large-scale (from 300 to 3,000 ha) postoperative tailings storage facilities (TSFs). A field trial with 13 treatments was established on a TSF to test the efficacy of six waste-type locally available amendments (grape and olive residues, biosolids, goat manure, sediments from irrigation canals, and rubble from Cu-oxide lixiviation piles) during early phases of site rehabilitation. Results showed that, even though an interesting range of waste-type materials were tested, biosolids (100 t ha-1dry weight, d.w.) and grape residues (200 t ha-1d.w.), either alone or mixed, were the most suitable organic amendments when incorporated into tailings to a depth of 20 cm. Incorporation of both rubble from Cu-oxide lixiviation piles and goat manure into upper tailings also had effective results. All these treatments improved chemical and microbiological properties of tailings and lead to a significant increase in plant yield after three years from trial establishment. Longer-term evaluations are, however required to evaluate self sustainability of created systems without further incorporation of amendments.


Diversity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Murray ◽  
Hannes Baumann

Concurrent ocean warming and acidification demand experimental approaches that assess biological sensitivities to combined effects of these potential stressors. Here, we summarize five CO2 × temperature experiments on wild Atlantic silverside, Menidia menidia, offspring that were reared under factorial combinations of CO2 (nominal: 400, 2200, 4000, and 6000 µatm) and temperature (17, 20, 24, and 28 °C) to quantify the temperature-dependence of CO2 effects in early life growth and survival. Across experiments and temperature treatments, we found few significant CO2 effects on response traits. Survival effects were limited to a single experiment, where elevated CO2 exposure reduced embryo survival at 17 and 24 °C. Hatch length displayed CO2 × temperature interactions due largely to reduced hatch size at 24 °C in one experiment but increased length at 28 °C in another. We found no overall influence of CO2 on larval growth or survival to 9, 10, 15 and 13–22 days post-hatch, at 28, 24, 20, and 17 °C, respectively. Importantly, exposure to cooler (17 °C) and warmer (28 °C) than optimal rearing temperatures (24 °C) in this species did not appear to increase CO2 sensitivity. Repeated experimentation documented substantial inter- and intra-experiment variability, highlighting the need for experimental replication to more robustly constrain inherently variable responses. Taken together, these results demonstrate that the early life stages of this ecologically important forage fish appear largely tolerate to even extreme levels of CO2 across a broad thermal regime.


Author(s):  
R. Zaridze ◽  
V. Jeladze ◽  
V. Tabatadze ◽  
I. Petoev ◽  
M. Prishvin ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaojing Xu ◽  
Yingli Zhou ◽  
Ping Mi ◽  
Baoshan Wang ◽  
Fang Yuan

AbstractLimonium sinuatum, a member of Plumbaginaceae commonly known as sea lavender, is widely used as dried flower. Five L. sinuatum varieties with different flower colors (White, Blue, Pink, Yellow, and Purple) are found in saline regions and are widely cultivated in gardens. In the current study, we evaluated the salt tolerance of these varieties under 250 mmol/L NaCl (salt-tolerance threshold) treatment to identify the optimal variety suitable for planting in saline lands. After the measurement of the fresh weight (FW), dry weight (DW), contents of Na+, K+, Ca2+, Cl−, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline, soluble sugars, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), relative water content, chlorophyll contents, net photosynthetic rate, and osmotic potential of whole plants, the salt-tolerance ability from strongest to weakest is identified as Pink, Yellow, Purple, White, and Blue. Photosynthetic rate was the most reliable and positive indicator of salt tolerance. The density of salt glands showed the greatest increase in Pink under NaCl treatment, indicating that Pink adapts to high-salt levels by enhancing salt gland formation. These results provide a theoretical basis for the large-scale planting of L. sinuatum in saline soils in the future.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Daniel Rios-Arboleda

<p>This research expands the original analysis of Baker and Costa (1987) including data from Europe and South America with the objective to understand if there are emerging latitudinal patterns. In addition, the threshold proposed by Zimmermann et al. (1997) it is evaluated with the data from tropical zones finding that this is a good predictor.</p><p>Mainly, recent Debris Flow occurred in South America are analyzed with the aim of identifying the best risk management strategies and their replicability for developing countries, particularly, the cases that have occurred in Colombia and Venezuela in the last 30 years are analyzed in order to compare management strategies and understand which are the most vulnerable areas to this phenomenon.</p><p>It is concluded that large-scale and multinational projects such as SED ALP are required in South America to better characterize events that have left multiple fatalities (sometimes hundreds of people) and better understand how to manage the risk on densely populated areas.</p><p>Finally, the use of amateur videos is proposed to characterize these events in nations with limited budgets for projects such as SED ALP, methodology that will be described extensively in later works.</p>


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