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Microplastic pollution is a growing global concern and a serious threat to aquatic life. Microplastics (MPs) have been found in the natural environment in the last few years. However, levels of microplastic pollution in aquaculture areas of Hainan Island have been less studied than in wild environments. Xincun bay (XC) and Gangmen bay (GM) are lagoons that are rich in fishery resources. Here, we investigated microplastic pollution in 8 surface seawater samples, 17 species of fish, and mussel samples from XC bay and GM bay, Hainan, China. The MPs were isolated from surface seawater, organisms and identified by microscopic, Raman spectroscopic and micro-Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer methods. The mean abundance of MPs in seawater samples was 523 items/m3 and that of fish was 7.1 items/individual and the percentages of microplastics detected in the gastrointestinal tracts (GITs) and gill were 99% and 1%, respectively. MPs were also observed in the soft tissues of mussel samples with a mean abundance of 0.36 ± 0.81 items/individual. Most MPs were identified as polystyrene and their sizes ranged between 0.5 and 5 mm in both seawater and organism samples. Our results indicated that the uptake of microplastics by organisms was closely related to microplastic pollution in the aquaculture environment. Foam pollution is common in organisms and surface seawater in the aquaculture area of our study region, which provides a way for human exposure.

Gillnets are the primary fishing gear used to catch Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) in coastal areas of Newfoundland and Labrador but are known to catch non-target species and produce lower quality fish than live-catch methods. The purpose of this study was to compare the catch efficiency of collapsible cod pots against gillnets near the Gilbert Bay Marine Protected Area (MPA), Labrador, where a reduction in by-catch is needed. Results showed that one cod pot caught half as much Atlantic cod as a gillnet, and pots had a relatively stable catch rate throughout the sampling period, whereas gillnets caught relatively few fish later in the sampling season. Moreover, nearly all fish sampled with pots were caught alive undamaged, whereas most gillnet-caught fish experienced damage or mortality. As a conservation measure pot-fishing would enable fishing within close proximity to the Gilbert Bay MPA and the live-release of visually distinguishable Gilbert Bay cod, thereby mitigating against the negative effects of commercial fishing on this protected Atlantic cod population.

Inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are endangered anadromous fish that have the potential to provide marine-derived nutrients (MDNs) to freshwater ecosystems depending on their population abundance. Salmon have been reintroduced to the Upper Salmon River, but not to the adjacent Point Wolfe River, in Fundy National Park, New Brunswick, Canada. This study determined whether stocking of adult salmon increased the productivity of the river. To examine the incorporation of MDNs, biofilm, leaf litter, Perlidae, Heptageniidae and brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were sampled pre- and post-spawning in 2015–2017 from down- and upstream of a natural barrier in both rivers and analyzed for carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotopes. After salmon spawning in each year, all organisms at the downstream site of the stocked river increased in δ13C and δ15N, with the greatest enrichment in brook trout (δ13C: −23.97‰ to −21.10‰, δ15N: +6.36‰ to +10.73‰). The proportion of MDNs in brook trout after salmon spawning (2015: 23.4%, 2016: 40.7%, 2017: 37.4%) also increased with higher numbers of released adult salmon. Results support the importance of salmon restoration for increasing the proportion of MDNs and productivity in rivers in Atlantic Canada.

The Hangzhou Bay region was home to the Shangshan complex (10,800–8600 cal BP), one of the oldest Neolithic cultures in the world, and a centre of early agriculture based on intensive wet rice cultivation. The current study focuses on environmental factors that possibly influenced the developments of Neolithic cultures south and north of Hangzhou Bay and the origin of rice-based agriculture. Although the beginning of sedentary occupation of the Ningshao Plain south of Hangzhou Bay (ca. 10,800 cal BP) predates that of the Taihu Plain north of Hangzhou Bay (ca. 7200 cal BP) by ca. 3000 years, occupation on the Ningshao Plain gradually declined to a cultural periphery after ca. 6000 cal BP. Unstable hydrological conditions on the Ningshao Plain in response to a higher exposure to marine influence were probably the reason behind this decline. By contrast, Majiabang, Songze, and Liangzhu culture (ca. 7200–4000 cal BP) populations on the Taihu Plain were increasingly protected from marine influence by progradation of the Yangzi Delta after stabilisation of the sea level around ca. 7000 cal BP. Since then, the development of wet rice-based agriculture accelerated in the context of stable wetland environments and an abundant supply of freshwater, leading to the development of the key domestication traits in rice. This contrast highlights the importance of the mid-to late Holocene Yangzi Delta evolution in shaping the development of early agriculture in the Hangzhou Bay region.

Little is known about the distribution and risk levels of nutrients and organic matter (OM) in the surface sediment of shallow submerged macrophyte-dominated lakes. In the current study, sixty surface sediment samples were collected from Xukou Bay, a typical submerged macrophyte-dominated zone in Lake Taihu, China. A 60-day degradation experiment of Potamogeton malaianus, a dominant species in the bay, was done in the laboratory. The results demonstrated that the ranges of total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP), alkali-hydrolyzable nitrogen (AN), available phosphorus (AP), and OM in the surface sediment of the bay were 262.2–2,979.6 mg/kg, 41.2–728.7 mg/kg, 8.6–150.0 mg/kg, 4.4–36.4 mg/kg, and 3.7–50.2 g/kg, respectively. The spatial distributions of TN, OM, and AN concentrations showed similar trends: The highest concentrations were present in the northeastern and southwestern zones, while the TP and AP concentrations were high in the northeastern, central, and southwestern zones. The heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of nutrients and OM in the surface sediment of the bay was associated with aquatic vegetation and anthropogenic activities. The comprehensive risk index and organic nitrogen index revealed that the surface sediment was moderately, interactively contaminated by TN and TP and by organic nitrogen. TN and OM in the northeastern zone were mainly derived from endogenous residues due to the decomposition of aquatic plants, while TN in the southwestern zone was primarily derived from agricultural wastewater. Consequently, targeted measures should be implemented to reduce TN and OM in the surface sediment of macrophyte-dominated lakes.

The cyclones during November in the Bay of Bengal follow two distinct tracks. Analysis for the period 1982–2019 shows that some cyclones movewest-northwestward and make landfall at the Odisha, Andhra Pradesh or Tamil Nadu coast of India, or the Sri Lanka coast, while others move north-northeastwards and make landfall at the West Bengal, Bangladesh or Myanmar coast. Our analysis shows there is a significant difference in the steering winds governing these two different cyclone tracks. The north-northeastward moving cyclones are associated with an anomalous upper-level cyclonic circulation over India which is part of a subtropical Rossby wave train triggered by an anomalous upper-level convergence over the Mediterranean region. This wave train propagates along the subtropical westerly jet from the east Atlantic/Mediterranean region and reaches the Indian subcontinent in 4 days. It induces an anomalous cyclonic circulation over the Indian landmass and provides south-to-north and west-to-east steering over the Bay of Bengal, causing the cyclones to move in a north-northeastward direction. On the other hand, for west-northwestward moving cyclones, there is no Rossby wave intrusion over the Indian subcontinent, hence the cyclones move in a west-northwestward direction assisted by the beta effect and climatological winds which are from east to west over the south and central Bay of Bengal. This shows that the track of cyclones in the north Indian Ocean can be modulated by atmospheric changes in the extratropics and can act as a precursor for the prediction of the track of cyclones in this region.

The Ontario city of Thunder Bay is in the headlines these days for all the wrong reasons. Canada’s highest rates of murder and violent crime. The highest number of hate crimes per capita. Systemic racism embedded in shoddy police investigations. The deaths — many unexplained — of Indigenous students who come to the city for education not available in their remote northern communities.

Coastal methane (CH4) emissions dominate the global ocean CH4 budget and can offset the "blue carbon" storage capacity of vegetated coastal ecosystems. However, current estimates lack systematic, high-resolution, and long-term data from these intrinsically heterogeneous environments, making coastal budgets sensitive to statistical assumptions and uncertainties. Using continuous CH4 concentrations, delta C-13-CH4 values, and CH4 sea-air fluxes across four seasons in three globally pervasive coastal habitats, we show that the CH4 distribution is spatially patchy over meter-scales and highly variable in time. Areas with mixed vegetation, macroalgae, and their surrounding sediments exhibited a spatiotemporal variability of surface water CH4 concentrations ranging two orders of magnitude (i.e., 6-460 nM CH4) with habitat-specific seasonal and diurnal patterns. We observed (1) delta C-13-CH signatures that revealed habitat-specific CH4 production and consumption pathways, (2) daily peak concentration events that could change >100% within hours across all habitats, and (3) a high thermal sensitivity of the CH4 distribution signified by apparent activation energies of similar to 1 eV that drove seasonal changes. Bootstrapping simulations show that scaling the CH4 distribution from few samples involves large errors, and that similar to 50 concentration samples per day are needed to resolve the scale and drivers of the natural variability and improve the certainty of flux calculations by up to 70%. Finally, we identify northern temperate coastal habitats with mixed vegetation and macroalgae as understudied but seasonally relevant atmospheric CH4 sources (i.e., releasing >= 100 mu mol CH4 m(-2) day(-1) in summer). Due to the large spatial and temporal heterogeneity of coastal environments, high-resolution measurements will improve the reliability of CH4 estimates and confine the habitat-specific contribution to regional and global CH4 budgets.

In southern Alaska, Wrangellia-type magnetic crustal character extends from the Talkeetna Mountains southwest through the Alaska Range to the Bristol Bay region. Magnetic data analyses in the Talkeetna Mountains showed that there are mid-crustal differences in the magnetic properties of Wrangellia and the Peninsular terrane. After converting total field magnetic anomaly data to magnetic potential, we applied Fourier filtering techniques to remove magnetic responses from deep and shallow sources. The resulting mid-crustal magnetic characterization delineates the regional magnetic potential domains that correspond to the Wrangellia and Peninsular terranes throughout southern Alaska. These magnetic potential domains show that Wrangellia-type crust extends southwest to the Iliamna Lake region and that it overlaps the mapped Peninsular terrane. Upon reconsidering geologic ties between Wrangellia, Peninsular, and Alexander terranes, we conclude that Peninsular terrane is part of what we here call Western Wrangellia. Western Wrangellia contains the Lower Jurassic Talkeetna volcanic arc and is similar to Wrangellia of the Vancouver Island area, Canada (Southern Wrangellia), which contains the Lower Jurassic Bonanza volcanic arc. Others have previously made this correlation and proposed that the Talkeetna arc-bearing part of southern Alaska was displaced from the Bonanza arc-bearing part of Canada. We generally agree and propose that about 1000 km of dextral displacement along ancestral Border Ranges fault segments and other faults of south-central Alaska separated Western Wrangellia from Southern Wrangellia. We think this displacement was mostly in the Late Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous, perhaps between about 160 and 130 Ma.

The agricultural soils of the Happy Valley-Goose Bay (HV-GB) region of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada are Podzols that are converted from boreal forest and have limited productivity due to their sandy texture, acidity, low soil organic matter (SOM), cation-exchange capacity (CEC), and water and nutrient retention capacity. Although numerous studies advocate biochar for mitigating soil quality problems and enhancing agronomic productivity, there is limited information on managing biochar for boosting the productivity of Podzols under newly converted agricultural lands. A 5 year experiment evaluated the impact of eight biochar rates (0–80 Mg C·ha−1) on soil properties including SOM, CEC, and availability of plant nutrients and metals in agricultural soils of HV-GB. Both immediate and long-term impacts were thus assessed. Biochar generally improved soil fertility indicators. Although the largest rates (40 and 80 Mg C·ha−1) led to the greatest changes, significant changes were also found with rates as low as 10 Mg C·ha−1. Increasing biochar rates had diminishing returns for quality parameters of soil. The impact of biochar decreased with time after application, but the largest rate led to longer lasting effects. Although biochar was incorporated in topsoil, its effects were also measurable in the subsoil, albeit with a temporal delay, usually of 1 year. Thus, given the diminishing returns of increasing biochar rates, and that beneficial effects diminish over years, it is advisable that biochar be added in smaller amounts immediately after conversion, as little as 10 Mg C·ha−1, with regular supplementation as needed.

Long-term studies provide an effective way to assess the ecological impacts of decades-long environmental change in Arctic coastal benthic environments, but are rarely undertaken in the Canadian Arctic. In light of this, historical datasets can be compared with modern samples to examine temporal differences in benthic community structure. Frobisher Bay, Nunavut, provides a unique opportunity to use a historical census to examine the impacts that long-term environmental changes have had on the marine benthos. Between 1967 and 1976, and in 2016, infaunal samples were collected in inner Frobisher Bay and were compared to determine how the molluscan assemblages have changed between the two time periods. Molluscan assemblages in two regions of inner Frobisher Bay (Iqaluit and Cairn Island) were examined to minimize sampling discrepancies between the two time periods. A long-term increase in mean annual air temperature and a decline in the length of the ice cover season were observed. Both regions exhibited some change in sediment composition and quality as well as in molluscan assemblage between the two time periods, and species diversity indices also indicated some change between these time periods. Both the 1967–1976 and 2016 molluscan datasets provide a baseline for future long-term studies in a changing Arctic.

Based on the best-track, outgoing longwave radiation, sea surface temperature and reanalysis data during 1979-2018, statistical and composite analyses are conducted to investigate the characteristics of the southwesterly water vapor transport (WVT) by the Bay of Bengal (BoB) tropical cyclones (TCs) during the South Asian summer monsoon (SASM) transition. The results show that TCs mainly occur several days before (after) the SASM onset (retreat) date in May and October-November, throwing an important impact on southwesterly WVT to China in May and October-November. The WVT are significant in the middle and lower layers during the bimodal periods of BoB TCs with the large values zoned in the east-central BoB, the southeastern Tibetan Plateau, Southwest China and South China. And WVT at 500 hPa is more northward than that at 700 hPa, reaching near 35°N covering the southeastern Tibetan Plateau due to the weakening of the Plateau's blocking effect at upper levels. TCs mainly increase the northward and eastward WVT anomalies compared to the climatological mean. And the large values of the southerly WVT anomalies are located in the lower troposphere at low latitude areas, while those of the westerly WVT anomalies are mainly located in the middle troposphere at high latitude areas. It indicates a enhanced WVT channel in which the southwesterly water vapor jet first climbs northward to the southeastern Tibetan Plateau and then turns eastward to East China under the influence of TCs. Besides, the southwesterly WVT during the TC periods in May is stronger and more widespread than that in October-November, with about twice WVT capacity. However, their maximum contributions to the climatological average are not much difference with the maximum of 12% and 19% occuring in Southwest China during bimodal periods respectively, implying the important role of BoB TCs in WVT.

Walleye (Sander vitreus) are the top nearshore predator in the Bay of Quinte and eastern Lake Ontario, where they have strong ecological and socio-economic impacts. The population is known to migrate seasonally; however, the precise timing and extent are not well defined. This study used acoustic telemetry to provide a fisheries-independent measure of timing, extent, and seasonal distribution of migration in Lake Ontario and to examine the influence of sex, spawning river, size, and year. Annual detection histories were used to determine the timing of migrations into and out of the spawning rivers, departure from the Bay of Quinte post-spawn, and the pre-spawn return to the Bay of Quinte. Sequence analysis was subsequently used to examine how fish occupy defined regions of eastern Lake Ontario annually and identify patterns in migration strategy. Spawning site fidelity was high for both rivers (91–97%) and annual residency within the Bay of Quinte was low (9.5%). Females spent less time in spawning rivers, migrated to the main lake earlier, and generally travelled further than males. Larger fish also migrated to the main lake first and travelled further, and differences in timing between spawning rivers were minor. Annual differences in timing were observed and were most likely related to environmental differences between years. Cluster analysis was used to identify groups of fish which utilized unique annual migration strategies and demonstrated sex and size had an important influence on the variability in annual spatial occupancy, but the importance of spawning river and year was minimal.

Most lake whitefish populations within Lake Michigan are experiencing widespread population declines due to low levels of recruitment. However, the stock within Green Bay is flourishing, and various assessment tools suggest consistent recruitment to the juvenile stage each year. The distribution of offshore and drifting lake whitefish larvae were last described in the 1970s, prior to the resurgence of the southern Green Bay stock and prior to increasing knowledge of adult spawning behavior. We conducted a Green Bay wide survey of lake whitefish larvae over three years to provide an update of larval abundance and distribution and to discern influential biotic and abiotic factors that correlate to larval densities. In contrast with historical studies, our sampling illustrated high densities of larvae in both offshore and nearshore environments. Offshore expansion may be a factor in the population increase, but long term survival effects are still unknown. This study also provides the first documentation of larvae within the southern end of the bay below Chambers Island, WI and near re-colonized rivers. Average overall densities were relatively consistent each year, ranging between 29.5 and 49.6 per 1000 m3. Lake whitefish larvae were patchy in distribution and were associated with warmer and more productive waters at small spatial scales. Larval lake whitefish appear to be distributed widely throughout the entirety of Green Bay during the drift life stage, and we discuss our results in light of re-established river spawning and the overall increase in abundance.

The Great Salt Lake (GSL) is a unique hypersaline system with an understudied phytoplankton assemblage supporting a productive open water ecosystem in the largest embayment of the lake, Gilbert Bay. Determination of phytoplankton by microscopy has practical limitations that can constrain the scope of a study, but DNA metabarcoding may improve upon this through higher taxonomic resolution and the capacity to generate a large volume of assemblage data in comparatively little time. To determine if metabarcoding could replicate microscopy and expand the assessment of GSL phytoplankton, a 23S SSU rRNA metabarcoding and microscopy survey of Gilbert Bay was conducted in 2017 and 2018. Assemblage composition and relative abundances from each method were compared, and spatial and temporal assemblage changes from metabarcoding data were investigated using non-metric multidimensional scaling. Metabarcoding differed from microscopy in multiple taxonomic assignments and relative abundances, with poor correlation for most categories. Diatoms were overrepresented by metabarcoding relative to microscopy, and chlorophytes underrepresented. However, metabarcoding revealed seasonal and spatial patterns in assemblage, detected seasonal patterns within phytoplankton sequences of very low abundance, and detected potential cryptic speciation within the lake’s dominant Dunaliella viridis. Phylogenetic analysis revealed greater phytoplankton diversity than observed before in GSL, but demonstrated the need to improve taxonomic assignment of the resulting sequences, particularly within the diatoms. The expansion of detectable diversity and isolation of DNA sequences that can be traced through time and analyzed against environmental variables make metabarcoding a potentially effective tool for parallel use with microscopy in future GSL research.

Marine bivalve mollusc shells can offer valuable insights into past oceanographic variability and seasonality. Given its ecological and archaeological significance, Mytilus californianus (California mussel) presents the opportunity to examine seasonal and decadal changes recorded in its shell over centuries to millennia. While dark–light growth bands in M. californianus shells could be advantageous for reconstructing past environments, uncertainties remain regarding shell structure, environmental controls of dark–light band formation, and the amount of time represented by a dark–light pair. By analyzing a suite of M. californianus shells collected in 2002, 2003, 2019, and 2020 from Bodega Bay, California, we describe the mineralogical composition, establish relationships among growth band pattern, micro-environment, and collection season, and compare shell structure and growth band expression between the archival (2002–2003) and modern (2019–2020) shells. We identified three mineralogical layers in M. californianus: an outer prismatic calcite layer, a middle aragonite layer, and a secondary inner prismatic calcite layer, which makes M. californianus the only Mytilus species to precipitate a secondary calcite layer. Within the inner calcite layer, light bands are strongly correlated with winter collection months and could be used to reconstruct periods with moderate, stable temperatures and minimal upwelling. Additionally, modern shells have significantly thinner inner calcite layers and more poorly expressed growth bands than the archival shells, although we also show that growth band contrast is strongly influenced by micro–environment. Mytilus californianus from northern California is calcifying differently, and apparently more slowly, than it was 20 years ago.

The Outline of the Development Plan (ODP) for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, (a region formerly know n as the Pearl River Delta – PRD – or the ‘world’s factory’) marks China’s dete...

Palk Bay is a marine protected area with a sensitive ecosystem like coral reefs, seagrass meadows, and mangroves with rich biodiversity. Observations indicate that these ecosystems are at risk from organic contaminants like petroleum hydrocarbon. In view of this Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons (TPHs) were measured in the surface sediments from the Palk Bay. Sediment samples were extracted in n-hexane and quantified using a fluorescence spectrophotometer. The concentrations of TPH varied from 0.78 ± 0.28 to 2.70 ± 0.84 μg/g (wet wt.) and were relatively higher in southern region than the northern. Higher TPH levels at the Bay are attributed to the anthropogenic activities and hydrodynamic characteristics. Analysis of sediment texture and organic carbon can provide insights into the distribution of TPH. Significant correlation was found between the sediment texture with TPHs and TOC. The average proportions of sediment grain sizes were 88.39 ± 3.92% of sand, 70.54 ± 2.24% of loamy sand, 62.22 ± 3.76% of sandy loam, and 29.58 ± 5.59% silt loam. Silt and clay of sediment have more capacity to hold the TPH because of their particle size. This is in consonance with the observed TOC levels in the range of 0.11 ± 0.05% and 2.78 ± 1.12% (dry weight). TPH concentrations are observed within the permissible limits and the data may serve as baseline information for identifying pristine coastal ecosystems like Palk Bay.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), as persistent toxic substances (PTS), have been widely monitored in coastal environment, including seawater and sediment. However, scientific monitoring methods, like ecological risk assessment and integrated biomarker response, still need massive researches to verify their availabilities. This study was performed in March, May, August and October of 2018 at eight sites, Yellow River estuary (S1), Guangli Port (S2), Xiaying (S3), Laizhou (S4), Inner Bay (S5), Outer Bay (S6), Hongdao (S7) and Hongshiya (S8) of Shandong Peninsula, China. The contents of 16 priority PAHs in local seawater and sediment were determined, by which ecological risk assessment risk quotient (RQ) for seawater and sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) were calculated to characterize the PAHs pollution. Meanwhile, multiple biomarkers in the digestive gland of clam Ruditapes philippinarum were measured to represent different biological endpoints, including ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD), glutathione S-transferase (GST), sulfotransferase (SULT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and lipid peroxidation (LPO), by which integrated biomarker response (IBR) was calculated to provide a comprehensive assessment of environmental quality. Taken together, these results revealed the heaviest pollution at S2 as both PAHs concentrations and biomarkers responses reflected, and supported the integrated biomarker response as a useful tool for marine environmental monitoring, through its integration with SQGs.

International audience; In the ocean, mesoscale or submesoscale structures and coastal processes are associated with fine scales. The simulation of such features thus requires the hydrodynamic equations to be solved at high-resolution (from a few hundred meters down to a few tens of meters). Therefore, local mesh refinement is a primary issue for regional and coastal modeling. The AGRIF(adaptive grid refinement in Fortran) library is committed to tackling sucha challenge for structured grids. It has been implemented in MARS3D (Model for Application at Regional Scale), a semi-implicit, free-surface numerical model developed by Ifremer (the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea) for coastal environmental research and studies. As its time scheme uses an alternating-direction implicit (ADI) algorithm, the two-way nesting implementation differs from the one in explicit models. The present paper describes the specifics of the AGRIF introduction and how the nesting preserves some essential properties (mass, momentum and tracer conservations) along with the induced constraints (bathymetric coherence between grids and increase in computation cost). The use and the performance of this new tool are detailed over two configurations that illustrate the wide range of scales and resolutions typically targeted by coastal applications. The first one is based on multiple high-resolution(500 m) grids that pave the coastal ocean over thousands of kilometers,allowing a continuum between the regional and coastal scales. The secondapplication is more local and has a finer resolution (50 m). It targets arecurrent question for semi-enclosed bays, i.e., the renewal time indicator. Throughout these configurations, the paper intends to compare the two-way nesting method with the traditional one-way approach. It highlights how the MARS3D-AGRIF tool proves to be an efficient way to both improve the physical hydrodynamics and unravel ecological challenges.

The river basins of the eastern Gulf Coast lie west of the Atlantic slope and east of the Mississippi River. The region has abundant water resources, including seven major rivers that arise and flow through five physiographic provinces in five states to empty into the Gulf of Mexico. These rivers vary widely in size, hydrology, geomorphology, and water chemistry, but experience a similar climate and exhibit many biological similarities. The dominant physiographic province through which the rivers flow is the coastal plain, more specifically, the sections named the eastern Gulf Coastal Plain and the Floridan. There are five freshwater ecoregions within the eastern Gulf of Mexico region, arranged by longitude. These include portions of the Mississippi Embayment and Florida ecoregions, all of the Mobile Bay and Apalachicola ecoregions, and much of the Florida Gulf ecoregion. Two of these, the Mobile Bay and the Apalachicola, follow watershed boundaries of the Mobile and Apalachicola river basins, whereas the remaining three ecoregions include multiple river basins. All rivers in this region flow from north to south into the Gulf of Mexico, and all are located between 84°W and 91°W longitude and 30°N and 35°N latitude. The eastern Gulf Coast rivers encompass a rich variety of aquatic habitats and resources. This diversity is most evident in the fishes, mollusks, crayfishes, and caddisflies.

Marine fish have been decreasing in abundance over the last few decades due to environmental destruction and human exploitation. The aim of this study was to produce an inventory of the fish in Pusong Bay, Lhokseumawe City, Aceh Province, Indonesia by means of an exploratory survey of the area. The data was analysed descriptively using tables and graphs. A total of 71 species of fish were identified belonging to 54 genera, 37 families and 15 orders. Fish belonging to the Perciformes dominated the area with 33 species or 46.48% of the total number of fish identified. Based on the IUCN red list status, 62% of the species recorded in this study are categorized as of Least Concern, 35% Not Evaluated and 3% Data Deficient. Based on CITES, 71 species of the fish in Pusong Bay are categorized as Not Evaluated. Current data on these fish is important for future evaluations of their status.

The present study aims to determine the proximate, fatty acid and amino acid profiling of consumed fresh narrow-barred Spanish mackerel (Scomberomorus commerson). Landed fish were freshly sampled (total length 33.7-48.7 cm and weight 617-1260 g) from the Yumurtalık Bay (north-eastern Mediterranean Sea) in Turkey during January, February and March. The protein values were highest in January (22.89%) while the and lowest in February (21.38%) and March (21.73%). Lipid and ash values were not significantly differencing among sampling time. The fatty acid data revealed that the saturated fatty acid values were found higher than the polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acid values. In general, the fillets were abundant in palmitic acid (C16:0), stearic acid (C18:0), oleic acid (18:1n-9) and docosapentaenoic acid (C22:6n-3; DHA) values, regardless of the sampled months. DHA value was recorded as 315.08 mg 100g-1 in January, while it increased to 327.55 mg 100g-1 in the March samples. A total of 16 amino acids were determined from the fresh fillets. Compared with the other essential amino acids, the concentration of lysine and leucine were found to be higher in the fillet. At the same time, the lower rates of tryptophan were detected in examined samples for all months. Consequently, this study shows that the narrow-barred Spanish mackerel as a finfish (commercially valuable) from the north-eastern Mediterranean Sea has precious nutritional values that of the protein, fatty acids and amino acids during the sampling period. This fish can be recommended in terms of detected essential fatty acid and amino acid profile that completely nutritious for the human as well as other organisms’ dietary requirements.

The Bay of Bengal (BoB) sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are found to be negatively correlated with the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) rainfall at seasonal, monthly and daily time scales. It is intriguing that the ISM seasonal mean rainfall is reported to be decreasing in the recent decades while no prominent warming has been observed over the BoB. We posit that the reason why BoB warming is not apparent is because BoB surface waters stay largely above the convective threshold of ~ 28 °C and further warming may be perceivable only in terms of an atmospheric response. This is consistent with prominent increase in the latent heat flux (LHF) over BoB during the pre-monsoon season. However such an increasing trend in LHF is not seen for the monsoon season. The increased surface evaporation leading to an increase in LHF over BoB enhances convection aloft which drives a stronger low level pre-monsoon circulation. We hypothesize that the dynamic response of the atmosphere associated with the pre-monsoon circulation changes driven by the BoB warming can explain, at least in part, the observed ISM rainfall trend. This hypothesis is tested by diagnosing SST-forced simulations with the Community Atmosphere Model version 6. The results suggest that the BoB warming does generate dynamic and thermodynamic responses which enhance moisture convergence (divergence) and convection over BoB (central India) during the pre-monsoon season. As a consequence, evapotranspiration is enhanced over the Indian subcontinent leaving the ground drier and colder. The net result is a weaker land–ocean thermal contrast and a weaker monsoon circulation and hence reduced seasonal rainfall totals.

Purpose: Monopolar spindle 1 (MPS1) kinase inhibitor, BAY 1217389 (BAY) synergizes with paclitaxel. This phase I study assessed the combination of BAY with paclitaxel using a novel randomized continuous reassessment method (rCRM) to improve dose determination. Patients and Methods: Patients with solid tumors were randomized to receive oral BAY (twice daily 2-days-on/5-days-off) with weekly paclitaxel (90 mg/m2) or paclitaxel monotherapy in cycle 1. Dose escalation was guided by CRM modeling. Primary objectives were to assess safety, establish the MTD of BAY, and to evaluate the pharmacokinetic profiles for both compounds. Simulations were performed to determine the contribution of the rCRM for dose determination. Results: In total, 75 patients were enrolled. The main dose-limiting toxicities were hematologic toxicities (55.6%). The MTD of BAY was established at 64 mg twice daily with paclitaxel. Inclusion of a control arm enabled the definitive attribution of grade ≥3 neutropenia to higher BAY exposure [AUC0–12 (P< 0.001)]. After determining the MTD, we included 19 patients with breast cancer at this dose for dose expansion. Other common toxicities were nausea (45.3%), fatigue (41.3%), and diarrhea (40.0%). Overall confirmed responses were seen in 31.6% of evaluable patients. Simulations showed that rCRM outperforms traditional designs in determining the true MTD. Conclusions: The combination of BAY with paclitaxel was associated with considerable toxicity without a therapeutic window. However, the use of the rCRM design enabled us to determine the exposure–toxicity relation for BAY. Therefore, we propose that the rCRM could improve dose determination in phase I trials that combine agents with overlapping toxicities.

Globally, exposure to high levels of radon gas is a known health risk. Granite commonly contains high concentrations of uranium and subsequently high exhalation of radon gas. In the Saldanha Bay ar...

Climate change has the potential to alter the physical and chemical properties of water in the Great Lakes Basin, in turn impacting ecological function. This study synthesizes existing research associated with the potential effects of a changing climate on the quality and quantity of groundwater in the Great Lakes Basin. It includes analyses of impacts on (1) recharge, (2) groundwater storage, (3) discharge and groundwater-surface water (GW-SW) interactions, (4) exacerbating future urban development impacts on groundwater, (5) groundwater quality, and (6) ecohydrology. Large spatial and temporal (i.e., seasonal) variability in groundwater response to climate change between regions is anticipated. Most studies combine field observations with modelling, but many have focused only on small/medium basins. At these small scales, groundwater systems are generally projected to be fairly resilient to climate change impacts. However, modelling studies of larger basins (e.g., Grand River, Saginaw Bay, Maumee River) predict an increase in groundwater storage. Uncertainty in model simulations, particularly from climate models that are used to force hydrological models, is a major challenge. There have been too few studies to date that investigate the interplay of climate change and groundwater quality in the Great Lakes Basin to draw conclusions about future groundwater quality and ecohydrology. A summary of methods, models, and technology is provided. Model uncertainty has become an increasingly important topic and is also discussed. The study concludes with a synthesis of the main science needs to understand groundwater impacts in order to adapt to a changing climate in the Great Lakes Basin.

A quantitative analysis of the shoreline migration pattern at various timescales is important to understand the coastal ecosystem and interaction behaviour between sea and land. The sea-level rise due to polar ice and glacier melting has directly affected the coastal environment. The present study attempts to analyze the potential migration characteristics of Jambudwip Island of the Sundarban biosphere in the Bay of Bengal. GIS, Remote Sensing and Statistical analyses have been utilized for this observation. Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) was used to assess the shoreline change over time span. Moreover, Linear Regression Rate (LRR) and End Point Rate (EPR) were used for statistical analysis to measure the rate of change of shoreline during 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. NDVI and single-band threshold method (IR band) has been applied on the Landsat-7 and OLI data to identify the shoreline position. The result showed that the Western part of the island was the most erosive zone and Eastern part is the most accretive zone. Overall, the maximum rate of erosion was 49.08 m/yr and accretion 122.4 m/yr. In consequence, shoreline length has also been changed between 2011and 2017, from approximately 11879.91m to 10374.42 m.

Northern Ireland's Jurassic succession has received relatively little detailed investigation. Late Sinemurian and early Pliensbachian strata are present in parts of north Antrim but they are poorly exposed at outcrop and have been penetrated by just a single borehole, at Portmore, in which parts of the succession are missing. Collecting from White Park Bay over more than two decades, augmented by examination of museum material, has established the presence within the Rathlin (North Antrim) Basin of ammonite zones and subzones additional to those proven in the Portmore Borehole. This suggests that parts of the Sinemurian and Pliensbachian stages, from the Obtusum Zone through to the Davoei Zone, and possibly even higher, may be preserved in onshore or nearshore parts of the basin. Despite the generally poor exposure, the material recovered encompasses more than 40 ammonite species, including several taxa that are poorly represented elsewhere in the UK, of which two, Vicininodiceras dalriatense sp. nov. and Cheltonia howarthi sp. nov., are previously undescribed.

Lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis play a key role in the socioeconomics of the Laurentian Great Lakes region and serve as an important conduit of energy among trophic levels. Lake wide declines in adult abundance creates the need for improved understanding of population dynamics, currently hampered by a lack of early life history information and resolution of subpopulation structure. We predicted that otolith microchemistry had the potential to broaden our understanding of lake whitefish ecology by determining the natal origin of larvae at a resolution (e.g., spawning location) unachievable with other techniques. To test this prediction, in 2017 and 2018, recently hatched, pelagically-drifting lake whitefish larvae were collected from the open waters of Green Bay, Lake Michigan and four large tributaries (Menominee, Fox, Oconto and Peshtigo Rivers), where spawning activity has been recently documented. Linear discriminant function analyses conducted at the broadest level of resolution (i.e., river vs. open-water origin) correctly assigned 80.5% and 75.0% of individuals to their natal location in 2017 and 2018, respectively. Reclassification success at a finer resolution (i.e., specific rivers) ranged from 75.9% in 2017 to 42.1% in 2018. We discuss these promising results with respect to underlying variation in geological features, water chemistry and interannual river conditions that eggs and larvae experience during incubation and before prolonged drift.

Lakes and ponds are dominant components of Arctic landscapes and provide food and water for northern communities. In the Greiner Lake watershed, in Cambridge Bay (Nunavut, Canada), water bodies are small (84% −1) and a high proportion of Cyanobacteria (42.9% of total phytoplankton biovolume). Satellite imagery suggests the lake may have been eutrophic for the last 30 years. We hypothesize that the coupled effects of catchment characteristics and elevated local snow accumulation patterns promote higher nutrient leaching rates from the soils. We recommend further analysis and monitoring as eutrophication could become more widespread with ongoing climate change and the associated increases in temperature, precipitation, and catchment–lake coupling.

The present study applied an ensemble of Bayesian SPARROW models in the eastern Georgian Bay drainage basin informed by multi-agency tributary water quality monitoring data collected in the area. Consistent with our current understanding of the role of wetlands in the Precambrian Shield, our analysis showed that they could be responsible for nearly 30% of the total phosphorus (TP) loading from forested areas and 23% of the delivered TP from the eastern Georgian Bay drainage basin. Agricultural areas contribute over 40% of the TP loading associated with anthropogenic activities, which was two times higher than the predicted nutrient losses per unit area in southern Georgian Bay. This finding raises concerns regarding the likelihood of elevated eutrophication risks from future expansion of agriculture in central and northern Ontario. Considering the uncertainty pertaining to their broader influence, cottage septic fields were estimated to be the second anthropogenic P source after agriculture, accounting for 9% of the delivered TP loading to the downstream outlets into Georgian Bay. Research on eutrophication of coastal embayments in Georgian Bay has historically focused on factors, such as basin morphometry, internal P loading, and dreissenid-mediated nearshore shunt. In this context, our SPARROW model offered an additional perspective by estimating that a significant fraction (≈90%) of the TP loading delivered to the Georgian Bay embayments could be originating from upstream sites, even though our predictions suggested that nearly half (49%) of P loading reaching the stream network deposits on the sediments of inland lakes in central Ontario.

The open ocean region of southern Bay of Bengal (BoB) (~ 5° N–10° N; 87° E–97° E) is characterized as the region of low chlorophyll-a concentration (

The steady demand for fish in the aquaculture sector has led to the study and implementation of new compounds of natural origin which seek to standardize and maximize production by ensuring reproductive performance. Microalgae have emerged as a renewable source with specific nutritive qualities that allows the enhancement of captive breeding, and the use of local strain aims to facilitate cultivation and reduce production costs. Therefore, in this study, the effect of a diet supplemented with a diatom of the genus Grammatophora obtained from La Paz Bay, Mexico, was evaluated on the reproductive performance of 5-year-old Pacific Red snapper (Lutjanus peru). Two isoproteic and isolipidic diets were compared: the control semi-humid diet (R0) and the experimental enriched diet with 3% of Grammatophora sp. silage made by fermentation (R1). Fishes were fed ad libitum 3 months previous to the spawning season during 7 months. Hatching rate was significantly (P

Consumption advice to ensure the health and safety of fish consumers remains urgent to handle the ever-increasing panic over heavy metal toxicity. Moreover, studies of fish consumption rarely focus on the perceptions and awareness of consumers. Considering this, the present study examines the factors determining the willingness to follow fish consumption advice as well as calculate the risk–benefit ratio and produce the vulnerability map followed by formulating fish consumption advice for consumers of two commercially important fish species, tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) and mudfish (Ophiocephalus striatus), in the Laguna de Bay area of the Philippines. Primary data on consumers’ perceptions were collected through a questionnaire, whereas heavy metal contamination data were compiled from the best available literature. We concluded that people’s willingness to adopt consumption advice is mostly dependent on their existing level of fish consumption (P = 0.000). There was no discernible difference in the mean concentration of heavy metals in fish between the dry and wet seasons, with the exception of As concentrations in the samples (t15.75 = 3.72, p

The population of short-beaked common dolphins Delphinus delphis of the Bay of Biscay (northeast Atlantic) has been subjected to potentially dangerous levels of bycatch since the 1990s. As the phenomenon intensifies, it represents a potent threat to the population. Here, we investigated the relationship between bycatch mortality and oceanographic processes. We assumed that oceanographic processes spatiotemporally structure the availability and aggregation of prey, creating areas prone to attract both common dolphins and fish targeted by fisheries. We used 2 datasets from 2012 to 2019: oceanographic data resulting from a circulation model and mortality data inferred from strandings. The latter allows location of mortality areas and quantification of the intensity of mortality events at sea. We fitted a series of spatiotemporal hierarchical Bayesian models using integrated nested Laplace approximations (INLA). Results provided first insights on how bycatch of common dolphins in the Bay of Biscay might be related to key seasonal and dynamic oceanographic features. We showed that from a statistical predictive point of view, the monthly trend of 2019 bycatch mortality could be predicted with few oceanographic covariates. This study highlights how gaining knowledge about environmental influences on interactions between short-beaked common dolphins and fisheries could have great conservation and management value. Identified relationships with oceanographic covariates were complex, as expected given the dynamic aspects of oceanographic processes, dolphins and fisheries distributions. Further research focusing on smaller time scales is needed to elucidate proximal drivers of common dolphin bycatch in the Bay of Biscay.

Inner Ambon Bay is part of Ambon Bay; it is semi-closed area and a small pelagic fish fishing ground, especially anchovy. The anchovy is a zooplankton predator; therefore the existence of anchovy is affected by the abundance of zooplankton. The aims of the research are to obtain information on the composition, density, and spatial distribution of the zooplankton in these waters. Data of zooplankton composition were obtained from sampling by using plankton net at ten observation stations. Meanwhile, data of densities were collected using a scientific hydroacoustic system, BioSonic DTX supported with split-beam technology, on six parallel transect lines and one cross-parallel transect line. Geostatistical analyses technique was used to describe horizontal distributions of zooplankton, and vertical distributions pattern were plot in the graphs. The result shows that the zooplankton community is dominated by Copepod and meroplankton. The highest average density was found in August (9393 ind./m2),while the lowest density was in June (903 ind./m2).