Assessment of coastal management options by means of multilayered ecosystem models

This paper presents a multilayered ecosystem modelling approach that combines the simulation of the biogeochemistry of a coastal ecosystem with the simulation of the main forcing functions, such as catchment loading and aquaculture activities. This approach was developed as a tool for sustainable management of coastal ecosystems. A key feature is to simulate management scenarios that account for changes in multiple uses and enable assessment of cumulative impacts of coastal activities. The model was applied to a coastal zone in China with large aquaculture production and multiple catchment uses, and where management efforts to improve water quality are under way. Development scenarios designed in conjunction with local managers and aquaculture producers include the reduction of fish cages and treatment of wastewater. Despite the reduction in nutrient loading simulated in three different scenarios, inorganic nutrient concentrations in the bay were predicted to exceed the thresholds for poor quality defined by Chinese seawater quality legislation. For all scenarios there is still a Moderate High to High nutrient loading from the catchment, so further reductions might be enacted, together with additional decreases in fish cage culture. The model predicts that overall, shellfish production decreases by 10%–28% using any of these development scenarios, principally because shellfish growth is being sustained by the substances to be reduced for improvement of water quality. The model outcomes indicate that this may be counteracted by zoning of shellfish aquaculture at the ecosystem level in order to optimize trade-offs between productivity and environmental effects. The present case study exemplifies the value of multilayered ecosystem modelling as a tool for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and for the adoption of ecosystem approaches for marine resource management. This modelling approach can be applied worldwide, and may be particularly useful for the application of coastal management regulation, for instance in the implementation of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive

(Table B2) Relative abundances of diatom species used in the Canoco analysis at sediment surface samples from the Chinese inshore waters

Canonical correspondence analysis has been used to analyze and to visualize the relationships between the main species and selected environmental variables in a study of diatoms from surface sediment samples in Chinese inshore waters. The result shows that the diatom distribution in Chinese inshore waters is closely correlated with the environmental variables and that the measured environmental variables account for the major changes of the diatom composition. Winter sea-surface temperature (WST), winter sea-surface salinity (WSS), water depth and summer sea-surface salinity (SSS) play an important role for the diatom distribution. Among the environmental factors, winter sea-surface temperature is the most important, controlling the distribution of diatoms in the surface sediments in Chinese inshore waters, and therefore, it may be potentially reconstructed in palaeoceanographic studies. Three diatom assemblages are distinguished, representing environments with different hydrological characteristics. The temperate-water diatom assemblage may be used as an indicator of the coastal circulation system of Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea. While the warm-temperate water diatom assemblage is closely related to Shanghai-Zhejiang-Fujian coastal currents and Northern Bay coastal currents of South China Sea. The deep water diatom assemblage is a response to that the waters are less controlled by coastal currents, but are more influenced by open sea currents, such as Kuroshio

New dinoflagellate species Protoperidinium haizhouense sp. nov. (Peridiniales, Dinophyceae), its cyst-theca relationship and phylogenetic position within the Monovela group

The number of cingular plates has been used to differentiate Protoperidinium from Peridinium and related genera. Protoperidinium is characterized by the presence of three cingular plates plus a transitional plate (3C+t). However, many Protoperidinium species have been described that exhibit different cingular plate tabulations. How these species should be classified within the genus remains unclear. To address this question, the phylogenetic relationship of four Protoperidinium species, with three or four cingular plates and lacking a transitional plate, were examined in relationship to other Protoperidinium species. These four species were germinated from cysts deposited in surface sediments collected from the East China Sea, the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea. Three of the isolated species, P. tricingulatum, P. americanum and P. parthenopes, were described previously. The fourth is here described as P. haizhouense sp. nov. with the plate formula Po, X, 4′, 3a, 7′′, 3C, 6S, 5′′′, 2′′′′. Differences in the cyst stages of these four species, which can be taxonomically informative, were compared. Partial large subunit ribosomal DNA sequences were obtained by single-cell polymerase chain reaction. Maximum-likelihood and Bayesian inference showed that these four species, P. fukuyoi and Islandinium minutum form a monophyletic clade with maximal support. The genus as a whole, however, appeared polyphyletic. Our results suggest that the presence/ absence of a transitional plate is significant in the phylogeny of Protoperidinium

First record of genera Rutilaria and Trigonium (Bacillariophyta) and 11 diatom taxa (species and varieties) in South China Sea

Diatom taxa in samples collected from the uppermost 1-cm sediment of the South China Sea (SCS) during cruises in 2000, 2001, and 2007 were investigated. Among them, two genera, Rutilaria and Trigonium, and 11 marine taxa (species and varieties) were described for the first time in China. The 11 taxa, Rutilaria radiata, Asterolampra grevillei, Biddulphia turrigera, Cocconeis cyclophora var. decora, Cocconeis ocellata, Dictyoneis marginata, Entogonia davyana, Tryblionella campechiana, Plagiogramma kinkeri, Plagiogramma nankoorense and Trigonium cf. contumax, were mainly extant species, although Rutilaria radiata and Entogonia davyana are fossils. Available data show that these species are mainly present in the eastern and western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean. A large number of taxa newly recorded in this study were previously reported in the Philippines. The presence of these taxa in both locations is likely a result of seawater exchange in the SCS through the Bashi Channel. Taxonomic descriptions, habitats, and distributions of each diatom taxon are provided herein.National Natural Science Foundation of China [40676026, 41076079, 40876079, 40831160519, 40906058]; National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) [2010CB428704

Diatoms from the southwestern continental slope, South China Sea, and their paleoenvironmental significance since the last glacial times

A quantitative study was undertaken on diatoms from cores (SA08-34) obtained from the southwestern continental slope of the South China Sea (SCS). A total of 165 diatom species belonging to 45 genera were identified. We constructed a stratigraphic subdivision and correlation according to the characteristics of diatom assemblages together with 14 C dating and carbonate analysis. We also discuss the sedimentary environment in the sea area since the last glacial times. The research shows that the diatom assemblages coincide with interglacial and glacial times, and changes in diatom abundance reflect the instability of the climate in the southern part of the SCS, such that short-term, temperature descending events correlate with the interglacial interval. The abundance of diatoms is relevant to interglacial and glacial times, since high abundance values were associated with an interglacial interval, and low abundance values with the last glacial maximum. We assume that strong upwelling developed in the interglacial interval, the development of which was influenced by variations of monsoons in the East Asian region. (C) 2009 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences

Diatom distribution in surface sediments from Chinese inshore waters and the relationship to modern environmental variables

Uobičajeno boravište jedna je od personalnih poveznica koja se uz državljanstvo i prebivalište najčešće pojavljuje u području obiteljskog i nasljednog prava. Posebno mjesto zauzima u pravu Europske unije gdje je Sud EU-a u više navrata dao tumačenja toga pojma, posebno u odnosu na dijete. U radu se identificiraju i analiziraju kriteriji koje je Sud EU-a postavio, kao i sudska praksa hrvatskih sudova o tom pitanju