Ecotoxicity of contaminated sediments, a matter of bioavailability

1998 ◽  
Vol 37 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 225-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. H. B. M. Kaag ◽  
E. M. Foekema ◽  
M. C. Th. Scholten
Keyword(s):  
Dreissena Polymorpha ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Macoma Balthica ◽  
Contaminated Sediments ◽  
Suspension Feeding ◽  
Simple Relationship ◽  
Filter Feeder ◽  
Arenicola Marina ◽  
The Baltic

Marine and freshwater mesocosm-scale experiments with contaminated sediments have shown that there is a direct relationship between the accumulated contaminant levels and the feeding habits of the organisms used. The highest levels of PAHs and PCBs were found in the sediment feeding lugworm Arenicola marina and in Tubifex worms. The levels of contaminants in the suspension feeding mussels Mytilus edulis and the zebra mussels, Dreissena polymorpha, were not influenced by the contaminant content of the sediments, but were related instead to the level of contaminants in the sea water above. Intermediate levels were found in the baltic tellin, Macoma balthica, which is a filter feeder as well as a deposit feeder, depending on the availability of food. These results show that there is no simple relationship between contaminant concentration in the sediments and bioavailability. Higher levels of contaminants do not necessarily lead to higher levels of these contaminants in Arenicola, due to differences in the sediment structure and the ageing of the contamination. On the other hand, toxic effects are related to the internal concentrations of certain chemicals. The internal concentrations observed in Arenicola may provide a good estimation of the true bioavailability of sedimentary contaminants and can also be used as an indicator for potential environmental effects.

On the feeding habits of Aphrodita aculeata and commensal polynoids

1980 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 833-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Mettam
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Feeding Habits ◽  
Macoma Balthica ◽  
Water System ◽  
Hermit Crabs ◽  
Beach Sand ◽  
Corophium Volutator ◽  
Nereis Virens ◽  
Slow Moving ◽  
Potential Food

A recent review of polychaete diets (Fauchald & Jumars, 1979) considered aphroditids to be slow-moving carnivores, taking microscopic prey if nothing else is available but specializing in slow-moving or sessile prey. This opinion was based on remarks by Day (1967) and on two documented gut analyses of Aphrodita aculeata (Blegvad, 1914; Hunt, 1925). Other reports in the literature were either derived from these few original statements or else gave unsubstantiated accounts of the type of food taken.In 1964 the late Gunnar Thorson told me that he had seen a specimen of A. aculeata swallowing a large Nereis virens and likened it to a hedgehog eating a snake. This vivid analogy puts Aphrodita in a rather different light, as an active predator capable of dealing with relatively large, powerful prey. In fact Hunt (1925) had recorded remains of ‘Pectinaria, Lumbriconereis, Polynoidae and Nereidae’ in 24 out of 26 specimens containing food. Very young crabs and hermit crabs were recorded in five guts and a nemertean in one. Blegvad (1914) recorded the chief food to be other worms, especially sabellids and terebellids, besides nemerteans, from examination of 50 specimens, 35 of which were empty.I have kept A. aculeata, obtained from Millport and from Plymouth, in bowls containing several centimetres depth of beach sand in a closed-circuit sea-water system. Worms without sand took no interest in items offered as food, neither did worms which had emerged from the sand and were wandering over the surface, but buried worms fed readily. A variety of living animals was given as potential food including Macoma balthica, Corophium volutator, Nephtys hombergi and Nereis diversicolor.

COMPARATIVE CHARACTERISTIC OF SEA RADIANCE COEFFICIENT SPECTRA MEASURED REMOTELY IN COASTAL WATERS OF FIVE SEAS

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Rostovtseva ◽  
Vera Rostovtseva ◽  
Igor Goncharenko ◽  
Igor Goncharenko ◽  
Dmitrii Khlebnikov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Calibration Method ◽  
Aral Sea ◽  
Comparative Characteristic ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
North East ◽  
The North ◽  
Water Constituents ◽  
Characteristic Features ◽  
The Baltic

Sea radiance coefficient, defined as the ratio of the sunlight reflected by the water bulk to the sunlight illuminating the water surface, is one of the most informative optical characteristics of the seawater that can be obtained by passive remote sensing. We got the sea radiance coefficient spectra by processing the data obtained in measurements from board a moving ship. Using sea radiance coefficient optical spectra it is possible to estimate water constituents concentration and their distribution over the aquatory of interest. However, thus obtained sea radiance coefficient spectra are strongly affected by weather and measurement conditions and needs some calibration. It was shown that practically all the spectra of sea radiance coefficient have some generic peculiarities regardless of the type of sea waters. These peculiarities can be explained by the spectrum of pure sea water absorption. Taking this into account a new calibration method was developed. The measurements were carried out with the portative spectroradiometers from board a ship in the five different seas: at the north-east coast of the Black Sea, in the Gdansk Bay of the Baltic Sea, in the west part of the Aral Sea, in the Kara Sea with the Ob’ Bay and in the Philippine Sea at the coast of Taiwan. The new method of calibration was applied to the obtained spectra of the sea radiance coefficient that enabled us to get the corresponding absorption spectra and estimate the water constituents concentration in every region. The obtained concentration estimates were compared to the values obtained in water samples taken during the same measurement cycle and available data from other investigations. The revealed peculiarities of the sea radiance coefficient spectra in the aquatories under exploration were compared to the corresponding water content and some characteristic features were discussed.

scholarly journals DNA Markers Reveal Genetic Associations among 11,000-Year-Old Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) Found in the Baltic Sea with the Present-Day Gene Pools in Lithuania

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 317
Author(s):  
Darius Danusevičius ◽  
Jurata Buchovska ◽  
Vladas Žulkus ◽  
Linas Daugnora ◽  
Algirdas Girininkas
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Scots Pine ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Pcr Amplification ◽  
Balkan Peninsula ◽  
Gene Pools ◽  
Genetic Associations ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Assignment Probability ◽  
The Baltic

We aimed to extract DNA and amplify PCR fragments at the mitochondrial DNA Nad7.1 locus and 11 nuclear microsatellite loci in nine circa 11,000-year-old individuals of Scots pine found at the bottom of the Baltic sea and test the genetic associations with the present-day gene pool of Scots pine in Lithuania. We followed a strict anticontamination protocol in the lab and, simultaneously with the aDNA specimens, tested DNA-free controls. The DNA was extracted by an ATMAB protocol from the ancient wood specimens sampled underwater from Scots pine stumps located circa 20–30 m deep and circa 12 km ashore in western Lithuania. As the references, we used 30 present-day Lithuanian populations of Scots pine with 25–50 individuals each. The aDNA yield was 11–41 ng/μL. The PCR amplification for the mtDNA Nad7.1 locus and the nDNA loci yielded reliable aDNA fragments for three and seven out of nine ancient pines, respectively. The electrophoresis profiles of all the PCR tested DNA-free controls contained the sizing standard only, indicating low likelihood for contamination. At the mtDNA Nad7.1 locus, all three ancient Scots pine individuals had the type A (300 bp) allele, indicating postglacial migration from the refugia in Balkan peninsula. The GENECLASS Bayesian assignment tests revealed relatively stringer and consistent genetic associations between the ancient Scots pine trees and the present-day southern Lithuanian populations (assignment probability 0.37–0.55) and several wetlands in Lithuania. Our study shows that salty sea water efficiently preserves ancient DNA in wood at the quality levels suitable for genetic testing of trees dated back as far as 11,000 years before present.

scholarly journals Physiological responses of Macoma balthica to copper pollution in the Baltic

1999 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 431-439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Sokolowski ◽  
Maciej Wolowicz ◽  
Herman Hummel ◽  
Roelof Bogaards
Keyword(s):  
Physiological Responses ◽  
Macoma Balthica ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Copper Pollution

Modeling Transit Flow Through Port Gates and Connecting Channel in Baltic Sea—Liepaja Port—Liepaja Lake System

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vilnis Frishfelds ◽  
Juris Sennikovs ◽  
Uldis Bethers ◽  
Jens Murawski ◽  
Andrejs Timuhins
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Lake System ◽  
The North ◽  
Transit Flow ◽  
Trade Channel ◽  
Calm Weather ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Baltic

This study investigates a water transport features by extending Copernicus Marine Environment Service (CMEMS) to the Liepaja coast-port-channel-lake system with a two-way nested model. The Liepaja lake and Liepaja port are connected by Trade channel. The Liepaja port has three gates—the openings in wave breakers connecting the port aquatory with the Baltic sea. Each of gates has a corresponding dredged channel for securing the navigation. A hydrodynamic model is set up to study the flow and water level in this system. The area of the port gates, port and Trade channel are resolved by 33 m grid. The model results are verified against currents and sea level observations inside/outside port, Trade channel and Liepaja lake. Results and observations show that strong currents occur in the Trade channel in case of rapid sea level change in Baltic sea despite the Trade channel is rather shallow at the connection with Liepaja lake. The northern part of the Liepaja lake gets filled with brackish water during storm surge events. The channel has notable alternating current also during a relatively calm weather due to the port seiches. Long and narrow shape of the channel implies the Helmholtz type oscillations between the lake and the port with a period in approximately semidiurnal range. Hydrodynamic simulations describe well these oscillations but the phase of hourly scale oscillations in the port may differ in case of weak external forcing. Water exchange is significantly increased by the transit (gate to gate) sea currents. This transit flow usually occurs between South or Central gate and the North gate carrying sea water into the port. Northward flow of the surface layer is more characteristic in the port aquatory due the prevailing south-western winds. There are intense morphological processes at the coastline and underwater slope near the Liepaja port due to a sandy western coastline of Latvia, long fetch of the waves and strong currents at the port gates. Liepaja port is one of the Latvian ports in HywasPort operational service of hydrodynamics, waves and siltation.

Starch in the Oceans

1968 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1269-1284 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam S. Bursa
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
Benthic Algae ◽  
Virgin Islands ◽  
Starch Grains ◽  
The North ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Mass Mortalities ◽  
And Chemical Properties

Starch observed in arctic waters of Canada, in the Baltic and Mediterranean seas, in the North Atlantic and Indian oceans, and in the waters about Bermuda, the Virgin Islands, and Jamaica is formed mostly in Gymnodinioideae, benthic algae, and higher aquatic plants and rarely in planktonic Chlorophyceae. In these phytoflagellates the fragile pellicle breaks when there are critical changes in salinity, temperature, or pressure and is subsequently decomposed by bacteria. The starch retains its shape after destruction of the protoplast, and accumulates in large quantities in aquatic habitats. Standing crops of free starch grains mark past blooms and mass mortalities of phytoplankton. The largest potato-like starch grains found in the oceans appear to be derived from the ocellar lenses of Warnoviaceae.Though Protozoa and various herbivores may ingest free planktonic starch, they were not observed to digest it. Large standing crops of starch and monosaccharides derived from amylolysis may affect nutrition in some animals, and influence the optical and chemical properties of sea water. Amylogenesis in some dinoflagellates starts from chondriosomes which are specialized in this process. In Prorocentrideae starch is formed within the ectoplasmic reticulum.

scholarly journals Density and Absolute Salinity of the Baltic Sea 2006–2009

2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1757-1817 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Feistel ◽  
S. Weinreben ◽  
H. Wolf ◽  
S. Seitz ◽  
P. Spitzer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Equation Of State ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Fresh Water ◽  
Decadal Variability ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Large Area ◽  
The Baltic Sea ◽  
Sulphate Content ◽  
Density Anomaly ◽  
The Baltic

Abstract. The brackish water of the Baltic Sea is a mixture of ocean water from the Atlantic/North Sea with fresh water from various rivers draining a large area of lowlands and mountain ranges. The evaporation-precipitation balance results in an additional but minor excess of fresh water. The rivers carry different loads of salts washed out of the ground, in particular calcium carbonate, which cause a composition anomaly of the salt dissolved in the Baltic Sea in comparison to Standard Seawater. Directly measured seawater density shows a related anomaly when compared to the density computed from the equation of state as a function of Practical Salinity, temperature and pressure. Samples collected from different regions of the Baltic Sea during 2006–2009 were analysed for their density anomaly. The results obtained for the river load deviate significantly from similar measurements carried out forty years ago; the reasons for this decadal variability are not yet fully understood. An empirical formula is derived which estimates Absolute from Practical Salinity of Baltic Sea water, to be used in conjunction with the new Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater 2010 (TEOS-10), endorsed by IOC/UNESCO in June 2009 as the substitute for the 1980 International Equation of State, EOS-80. Our routine measurements of the samples were accompanied by studies of additional selected properties which are reported here: conductivity, density, chloride, bromide and sulphate content, total CO2 and alkalinity.

Ionic Regulation of the Baltic and Fresh-Water Races of the Isopod Mesidotea (Saduria) Entomon (L.)

1968 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. C. CROGHAN ◽  
A. P. M. LOCKWOOD
Keyword(s):  
Fresh Water ◽  
Sea Water ◽  
Sodium Concentration ◽  
Relative Volume ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Ionic Regulation ◽  
Sodium Influx ◽  
Active Uptake ◽  
Concentrated Solution ◽  
The Baltic

1. The isopod Mesidotea entomon has colonized the Baltic and certain Swedish lakes since the end of the last Ice Age. 2. The ionic regulation of Baltic animals and fresh-water animals (L. Mälaren) has been compared. 3. It has been possible to adapt Baltic animals to very dilute media, but 5% Askö sea water (5.5 mM/l. Na) appears to be the limit of adaptation. The haemolymph sodium concentration of Baltic animals from the very dilute media was considerably lowered. 4. The haemolymph sodium concentration in Mälaren animals is high (250 mM/l. Na) and comparable with that in Baltic animals in much more concentrated solution. The haemolymph ionic ratios of the Baltic and freshwater animals are similar. The Cl:Na ratio rises slightly in the more concentrated haemolymph samples. 5. From the concentration of ions in the haemolymph and in the total body water, the relative volume of the haemolymph was calculated. Mälaren animals appear to have a much larger haemolymph volume. 6. The permeability of the animals was determined from the rate of loss of sodium into de-ionized water. The permeability of the Mälaren animals is considerably reduced compared to the Baltic animals. Permeability is not related to the medium to which the animals had been adapted. 7. The sodium influx was determined using 22Na. The rate of active uptake was calculated from this. The maximal rate of active uptake was similar in Baltic and Mälaren animals. The sodium concentration of the medium at which active uptake was half maximum (KM) was considerably lower in Malaren animals than in Baltic animals. 8. The evolution of Mesidotea as a fresh-water animal is interpreted as a result of a reduction in permeability of the external surfaces to NaCl and an increase in the affinity of the active transport mechanism enabling the animal to maintain the haemolymph NaCl concentration in a steady state in fresh water.

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