scholarly journals Dynamics of Stone Habitats in Coastal Waters of the Southwestern Baltic Sea (Hohwacht Bay)

Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 171
Author(s):  
Gitta Ann von Rönn ◽  
Knut Krämer ◽  
Markus Franz ◽  
Klaus Schwarzer ◽  
Hans-Christian Reimers ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Glacial Till ◽  
Dynamic Processes ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Large Bandwidth ◽  
Sediment Types ◽  
Dynamic Type ◽  
Wave Induced

Cobbles and boulders on the seafloor are of high ecological value in their function as habitats for a variety of benthic species, contributing to biodiversity and productivity in marine environments. We investigate the origin, physical shape, and structure of habitat-forming cobbles and boulders and reflect on their dynamics in coastal environments of the southwestern Baltic Sea. Stone habitats are not limited to lag deposits and cannot be sufficiently described as static environments, as different dynamic processes lead to changes within the physical habitat structure and create new habitats in spatially disparate areas. Dynamic processes such as (a) ongoing exposure of cobbles and boulders from glacial till, (b) continuous overturning of cobbles, and (c) the migration of cobbles need to be considered. A distinction between allochthonous and autochthonous habitats is suggested. The genesis of sediment types indicates that stone habitats are restricted to their source (glacial till), but hydrodynamic processes induce a redistribution of individual cobbles, leading to the development of new coastal habitats. Thus, coastal stone habitats need to be regarded as dynamic and are changing on a large bandwidth of timescales. In general, wave-induced processes changing the physical structure of these habitats do not occur separately but rather act simultaneously, leading to a dynamic type of habitat.

scholarly journals How and to What Degree Does Physical Structure Differ Between Natural and Artificial Habitats? A Multi-Scale Assessment in Marine Intertidal Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferrante Grasselli ◽  
Laura Airoldi
Keyword(s):  
Construction Material ◽  
Structural Complexity ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Natural Habitats ◽  
Artificial Habitats ◽  
The North ◽  
Ecological Consideration ◽  
Abundance And Diversity

Marine infrastructures are increasing, generating a variety of impacts and introducing artificial habitats which have low ecological value and support assemblages that differ significantly from those on natural rocky coasts. While in the past there was little ecological consideration as to how artificial structures were built, now the trend is to look for “greener” designs inspired by or mimicking nature. These greening efforts have had a strong focus on enhancing physical habitat structure to support more diverse assemblages, driven by the untested assumption that artificial habitats lack the physical structure proper to natural habitats. We tested this assumption by comparing five descriptors of physical structure (inclination; exposure; roughness; abundance, and diversity of surface morphological microelements) across a combination of natural and artificial habitats of regular and irregular morphologies (seawalls = artificial regular; cliffs = natural regular; breakwaters = artificial, irregular; and boulder fields = natural irregular) in the North Adriatic Sea. Most structural descriptors were similar between artificial and natural habitats. Only inclination was consistently steeper in the artificial than in the natural habitats. Other minor differences in roughness or in the abundance of some surface microelements were related to the general morphology (regular or irregular) of the habitat rather than to its artificial or natural identity. The outcomes challenge the widespread assumption that artificial habitats lack the physical structure proper to natural habitats and stimulate renewed consideration about other structural and non-structural elements that could enhance the performance and sustainability of artificial marine structures, such as construction material, environmental setting or maintenance. They also encourage a wider reflection about what makes an artificial building surface “greener”: structural complexity is an important ecological parameter, and its deliberate increase will lead to responses in the biota, however, this may not necessarily match “more natural” conditions.

scholarly journals Analysis for Underwater Sound on Natural River Habitat

2018 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 02047
Author(s):  
Jung-Eun Gu ◽  
Sang Hwa Jung ◽  
Joongu Kang ◽  
Hyoseop Woo
Keyword(s):  
Underwater Acoustics ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Habitat Type ◽  
High Water ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Hydraulic Characteristics ◽  
Underwater Sound ◽  
Underwater Acoustic ◽  
Sound Environment

A riffle-pool structure is a representative physical structure of bed in rivers. The change in the physical parameter of the habitat could lead to changes in the sound environment of rivers, which are expressed by underwater acoustics. This change in underwater sound affects fish habitat. In this study, the changes of underwater acoustics were analyzed according to the change of pool-riffle sequence in a natural river. And the correlation between underwater acoustics and hydraulic characteristics was investigated. The survey for underwater acoustics was performed in the Namdae stream where is in Gangwon province. This stream belongs to the Han River basin and the river length is 39.01 km and the catchment area is 127.56 km2. The Namdae stream is a river that accounts for more than 70% of salmon returning to South Korea. The spawning salmon will return to this area around November after growing in the Bering Sea. It is important to manage the fish habitat in this river so there is a lot of research on the enhancement of fish habitat. Hydraulic characteristics were changed by the river bed structure. In this study, we investigated the relationship between underwater acoustic characteristics and hydraulic factors such as riverbed material, flow rate and water depth of each habitat type at 12 sites. The characteristics of underwater acoustic differed relative to different hydraulic factors of the two habitats, which is riffle and pool. The sound pressure level of riffles was relatively higher than that of the pools due to bed materials, shallow depth and high water velocity of riffles. In the future, it is considered that the underwater sound can be utilized as a parameter to evaluate the physical habitat environment of the river.

scholarly journals Ecological ReGional Ocean Model with vertically resolved sediments (ERGOM SED 1.0): Coupling benthic and pelagic biogeochemistry of the south-western Baltic Sea

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagen Radtke ◽  
Marko Lipka ◽  
Dennis Bunke ◽  
Claudia Morys ◽  
Bronwyn Cahill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Nutrient Recycling ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Predictive Capacity ◽  
Formation Pathway ◽  
Sediment Types ◽  
Marine Ecosystem Model ◽  
Reasonable Description

Abstract. Sediments play an important role in organic matter mineralisation and nutrient recycling, especially in shallow marine systems. Marine ecosystem models, however, often only include a coarse representation of processes beneath the sea floor. While these parametrisations may give a reasonable description of the present ecosystem state, they lack predictive capacity for possible future changes, which can only be obtained from mechanistic modelling. This paper describes an integrated benthic-pelagic ecosystem model developed for the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Western Baltic Sea. The model is a hybrid of two existing models: the pelagic part of the marine ecosystem model ERGOM and an early diagenetic model by Reed et al., 2011. The latter one was extended to include the carbon cycle, a determination of precipitation and dissolution reactions which accounts for salinity differences, an explicit description of adsorption of clay minerals and an alternative pyrite formation pathway. We present a one-dimensional application of the model to seven sites with different sediment types. The model was calibrated with observed pore water profiles and validated with results of sediment composition and bioturbation rates collected within the framework of the SECOS project.

scholarly journals Ecological ReGional Ocean Model with vertically resolved sediments (ERGOM SED 1.0): coupling benthic and pelagic biogeochemistry of the south-western Baltic Sea

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hagen Radtke ◽  
Marko Lipka ◽  
Dennis Bunke ◽  
Claudia Morys ◽  
Jana Woelfel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Nutrient Recycling ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Ecosystem Model ◽  
Ocean Model ◽  
Ecosystem Models ◽  
Predictive Capacity ◽  
Sediment Types ◽  
Marine Ecosystem Model

Abstract. Sediments play an important role in organic matter mineralisation and nutrient recycling, especially in shallow marine systems. Marine ecosystem models, however, often only include a coarse representation of processes beneath the sea floor. While these parameterisations may give a reasonable description of the present ecosystem state, they lack predictive capacity for possible future changes, which can only be obtained from mechanistic modelling. This paper describes an integrated benthic–pelagic ecosystem model developed for the German Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the western Baltic Sea. The model is a hybrid of two existing models: the pelagic part of the marine ecosystem model ERGOM and an early diagenetic model by Reed et al. (2011). The latter one was extended to include the carbon cycle, a determination of precipitation and dissolution reactions which accounts for salinity differences, an explicit description of the adsorption of clay minerals, and an alternative pyrite formation pathway. We present a one-dimensional application of the model to seven sites with different sediment types. The model was calibrated with observed pore water profiles and validated with results of sediment composition, bioturbation rates and bentho-pelagic fluxes gathered by in situ incubations of sediments (benthic chambers). The model results generally give a reasonable fit to the observations, even if some deviations are observed, e.g. an overestimation of sulfide concentrations in the sandy sediments. We therefore consider it a good first step towards a three-dimensional representation of sedimentary processes in coupled pelagic–benthic ecosystem models of the Baltic Sea.

scholarly journals Differential effects of exotic Eurasian wild pigs and native peccaries on physical integrity of streams in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarissa Rosa ◽  
Marcelo Passamani ◽  
Paulo Pompeu
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Population Control ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽  
Bank Angle ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Wild Pigs

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) native to Eurasia and Africa, are one of the world’s most widely distributed invasive species. Their impacts on terrestrial environments have been well documented, however little is known about effects on aquatic environments. We used standardized physical habitat surveys to compare the use of streams by invasive wild pig and native white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) and their effects on the physical structure of four first-order streams in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Two of the streams were used solely by wild pigs and two by peccaries. Each stream was subdivided by cross-sectional transects into continuous sections, each 10 m in length, where we measured the intensity of use of species and different variables related to the stream physical habitat. Although both species used the streams, wild pigs altered physical and environmental parameters more, and with greater intensity, than the native peccaries. Wild pigs decreased the stream bank angle and the riparian ground cover, leading to local erosion, increase of fine sediments and wet width, and a decrease in stream depth. We recommend studies to evaluate the biological consequences of the alterations caused by introduced wild pigs that should be conducted with population control plans in environments where the pig is invasive.

scholarly journals Differential effects of exotic Eurasian wild pigs and native peccaries on physical integrity of streams in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clarissa Rosa ◽  
Marcelo Passamani ◽  
Paulo Pompeu
Keyword(s):  
Atlantic Forest ◽  
Population Control ◽  
Environmental Parameters ◽  
Ground Cover ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Brazilian Atlantic Forest ◽  
Bank Angle ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Wild Pigs

Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) native to Eurasia and Africa, are one of the world’s most widely distributed invasive species. Their impacts on terrestrial environments have been well documented, however little is known about effects on aquatic environments. We used standardized physical habitat surveys to compare the use of streams by invasive wild pig and native white-lipped peccaries (Tayassu pecari) and their effects on the physical structure of four first-order streams in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Two of the streams were used solely by wild pigs and two by peccaries. Each stream was subdivided by cross-sectional transects into continuous sections, each 10 m in length, where we measured the intensity of use of species and different variables related to the stream physical habitat. Although both species used the streams, wild pigs altered physical and environmental parameters more, and with greater intensity, than the native peccaries. Wild pigs decreased the stream bank angle and the riparian ground cover, leading to local erosion, increase of fine sediments and wet width, and a decrease in stream depth. We recommend studies to evaluate the biological consequences of the alterations caused by introduced wild pigs that should be conducted with population control plans in environments where the pig is invasive.

Effect of a change in physical structure and cover on fish and fish habitat in freshwater ecosystems – a review and meta-analysis

2007 ◽  
Vol 15 (NA) ◽  
pp. 15-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.E. Smokorowski ◽  
T.C. Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Fish Habitat ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Physical Structure ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Fish Diversity ◽  
Physical Habitat ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Aquatic Resource

Aquatic resource managers are continually faced with construction or site development proposals which, if allowed to proceed, would ultimately alter the physical structure and cover of fish habitat. In the absence of clear quantitative guidelines linking the change in habitat to fish, resource managers often use the change in habitat area as a basis for decisions. To assess the weight of scientific evidence in support of management decisions, we summarized both the observational and experimental freshwater fish-habitat literature. We then extracted data from experimental studies (where possible) for inclusion in a meta-analysis, to provide a more rigorous assessment of the published results of experimental habitat manipulations. We found relatively strong and consistent correlational evidence linking fish and physical habitat features, yet inconsistent evidence when narratively reviewing the experimental literature. On the whole, decreases in structural habitat complexity are detrimental to fish diversity and can change species composition. Increases in structural complexity showed increases, decreases, or no measurable changes in species and (or) communities. The majority of our meta-analyses resulted in supporting a direct link between habitat and fish abundance or biomass, with fish biomass responding most strongly to habitat change. Habitat alterations are most likely to affect individual species or community structure, and thus evaluating the extent of the effect on a biological basis depends on management objectives.

scholarly journals Microbial Organic Matter Degradation Potential in Baltic Sea Sediments Is Influenced by Depositional Conditions andIn SituGeochemistry

2018 ◽  
Vol 85 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. Zinke ◽  
Clemens Glombitza ◽  
Jordan T. Bird ◽  
Hans Røy ◽  
Bo Barker Jørgensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Baltic Sea ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Carbon Cycling ◽  
Marine Sediments ◽  
Abiotic Factors ◽  
Organic Matter Degradation ◽  
Sediment Types ◽  
Polymer Hydrolysis ◽  
Sediment Carbon

ABSTRACTGlobally, marine sediments are a vast repository of organic matter, which is degraded through various microbial pathways, including polymer hydrolysis and monomer fermentation. The sources, abundances, and quality (i.e., labile or recalcitrant) of the organic matter and the composition of the microbial assemblages vary between sediments. Here, we examine new and previously published sediment metagenomes from the Baltic Sea and the nearby Kattegat region to determine connections between geochemistry and the community potential to degrade organic carbon. Diverse organic matter hydrolysis encoding genes were present in sediments between 0.25 and 67 meters below seafloor and were in higher relative abundances in those sediments that contained more organic matter. New analysis of previously published metatranscriptomes demonstrated that many of these genes were transcribed in two organic-rich Holocene sediments. Some of the variation in deduced pathways in the metagenomes correlated with carbon content and depositional conditions. Fermentation-related genes were found in all samples and encoded multiple fermentation pathways. Notably, genes involved in alcohol metabolism were amongst the most abundant of these genes, indicating that this is an important but underappreciated aspect of sediment carbon cycling. This study is a step towards a more complete understanding of microbial food webs and the impacts of depositional facies on present sedimentary microbial communities.IMPORTANCESediments sequester organic matter over geologic time scales and impact global climate regulation. Microbial communities in marine sediments drive organic matter degradation, but the factors controlling their assemblages and activities, which in turn impact their role in organic matter degradation, are not well understood. Hence, determining the role of microbial communities in carbon cycling in various sediment types is necessary for predicting future sediment carbon cycling. We examined microbial communities in Baltic Sea sediments, which were deposited across various climatic and geographical regimes to determine the relationship between microbial potential for breakdown of organic matter and abiotic factors, including geochemistry and sediment lithology. The findings from this study will contribute to our understanding of carbon cycling in the deep biosphere and how microbial communities live in deeply buried environments.

Distribution and depositional history of sediments in Baie des Chaleurs, Gulf of St. Lawrence

1977 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 593-605 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. T. Schafer
Keyword(s):  
Water Depth ◽  
Wave Climate ◽  
Depositional History ◽  
Sediment Distribution ◽  
Modern Sediment ◽  
Sediment Types ◽  
Nearshore Environments ◽  
History Of ◽  
Wave Induced ◽  
Present Pattern

Modern sediment distribution in Baie des Chaleurs is controlled primarily by an interplay of water depth and wave climate. Modern sediment textures range from gravelly sand to silty clays. Much of the central part of the bay is covered by deposits of gravelly sand that are being reworked by wave turbulence and bottom currents. The present pattern of sedimentation started about 6000 years ago, and for about the past 5000 years, different sediment types have developed in various parts of the bay because of an interplay between tidal currents, wave-induced turbulence, and water depth. At present, this interplay is most intense in shallow nearshore environments, especially on the south side of the bay. Evidence cited elsewhere in the literature suggests that Atlantic waters may have flooded the Chaleur Trough as early as 14 000 years ago. This transgression gave way to a temporary regression about 8000 to 10 000 years ago because of a relatively rapid glacial rebound compared with the eustatic sea-level rise. A depositional pattern similar to that observed today probably occurred from 12 000 to 13 000 years B.P. but with more marine conditions than present, extending as far west as Dalhousie, New Brunswick.

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