Search results for "Benthic zone"
showing 10 items of 265 documents
Marine biodiversity as source of new drugs
2013
Life in the oceans has an extraordinary biodiversity, including most of plant and animal taxa. Ecological pressures, including competition for space, the fouling of the surface, predation, and successful reproduction have led to the evolution of secondary metabolites and proteins with various biological activities (Cammarata et al. 2011; Maisano et al. 2013). Therefore, marine biodiversity is an exceptional reservoir of natural products, with different structural features from those of terrestrial natural products (Ireland et al. 1988). Only less than 1% of the natural products isolated from marine organisms have been examined for pharmacological activities (Fusetani 2000). These molecules …
Seasonal dynamics of biomarkers in infaunal clam Macoma balthica from the Gulf of Riga (Baltic Sea)
2014
Abstract Biomarkers are often regarded as “early warning” signals of environmental pollution; however seasonal changes are mentioned as one of the most important factor that influences the activity of biomarkers. The aim of our study was to assess the importance of seasonal variation of selected contaminant biomarkers in Macoma balthica to provide background information for further environmental surveys in the Gulf of Riga. Seasonal variation of biomarkers (acetylcholinesterase (AChE), catalase (CAT), glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione- S -transferase (GST)) was measured in infaunal clam M . balthica from the southern part of the Gulf of Riga. The majority of biomarkers (GST, CAT an…
Effects of microplastics on the functional traits of aquatic benthic organisms: A global-scale meta-analysis
2021
Microplastics are widespread in the aquatic environment and thus available for many organisms at different trophic levels. Many scientific papers focus their attention on the study of the effects of microplastics on different species at individual level. Here we performed a global scale meta-analysis focusing our work on the study of the effect of microplastics on the functional traits of aquatic benthic organisms. Overall, microplastics showed a moderate negative effect on the examined functional traits of benthic organisms. Our results show that some crucial functional traits, such as those linked to behaviour and feeding, appear to be unaffected by microplastics. In contrast, traits rela…
Food resource partitioning between two sympatric temperate wrasses
2017
The present study analysed two sympatric wrasses, Thalassoma pavo and Coris julis, with similar sizes and morphologies, that are widespread in the reef habitats of the Mediterranean and the eastern Atlantic coast. Ocean warming has induced the northward movement of T. pavo, whereas C. julis has been moving to deeper habitats. In addition, under conditions of high slope of the sea bottom, T. pavo occupies shallow habitats and C. julis is in greater abundance in deeper habitats. By investigating stomach contents and prey availability in the benthos, we assessed whether the two wrasses exploit food resources by choosing different prey within the same habitat both under co-existence and segreg…
Benthic Invertebrates in Relation to Acidity in Finnish Forest Lakes
1990
In order to examine the effects of acidity on abundance and community structure of the benthic invertebrates in forest lakes and to evaluate the applicability of certain benthic animals as early warning indicators of lake acidification, 140 lakes, situated mainly in southern Finland, were studied by quantitative and qualitative sampling methods.
Biogenic methane contributes to the food web of a large, shallow lake
2013
Summary Biogenic methane as an alternative carbon and energy source for freshwater organisms has been receiving increasing attention, but the phenomenon is still poorly understood for shallow lakes. We measured the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures (δ13C, δ15N) for key groups of pelagic and benthic organisms, including crustacean zooplankton, chironomid larvae, young-of-the-year and adult fish, to assess whether biogenic methane contributes to pelagic and benthic food webs in a large, shallow lake, Lake Vortsjarv, Estonia. In the southern part of the lake, covered by macrophytes, crustacean zooplankton showed strong seasonal variation of δ13C, with the lowest values occurring in…
Seasonal benthic nepheloid layer in the Gulf of Riga, Baltic Sea: Sources, structure and geochemical interactions
2005
Abstract The sources of particles, as well as the geochemical structure and interfacial exchange were studied for the summer benthic nepheloid layer of the shallow (50 m) Gulf of Riga. The material was sampled at nine stations during three cruises of August 2001–2003 with a main focus on the deep waters. Suspended particulate matter (SPM) and its major (N, Si, P, Al, Fe, Mn, Ca) elements were determined as the principal parameters. The results indicate the summer benthic nepheloid layer as an important component of the environmental regime of the Gulf of Riga. The nepheloid layer develops as a result of the near-bottom hydrodynamics and a corresponding saline structure below the thermocline…
Modeling the Response of the Planktonic Microbial Community to Warming Effects in Maritime Antarctic Lakes
2014
Abstract In this chapter, we describe the design and prognoses given by the simulation of an ecological model dealing with the functioning of the microbial community of a maritime Antarctic lake, whose main ecological features are also reported. The model is based on carbon fluxes through the planktonic community and the carbon subsides from the benthic mosses covering the lake bottom and microbial mats spread over the lake’s catchment. It describes the dynamics of the bacterioplankton, phytoplankton, and organic matter, both particulate and dissolved, during the austral summer, with temperature and solar radiation as the main forcing functions driving the response of the modeled state vari…
Biological indices applied to benthic macroinvertebrates at reference conditions of mountain streams in two ecoregions (Poland, the Slovak Republic)
2013
The study was carried out from 2007 to 2010 in two ecoregions: the Carpathians and the Central Highlands. The objectives of our survey were to test the existing biological index metric based on benthic macroinvertebrates at reference conditions in the high- and mid-altitude mountain streams of two ecoregions according to the requirements of the EU WFD and to determine which environmental factors influence the distribution of benthic macroinvertebrates. Our results revealed statistically significant differences in the values of the physical and chemical parameters of water as well as the mean values of metrics between the types of streams at the sampling sites. RDA analysis showed that the t…
Potential for large-bodied zooplankton and dreissenids to alter the productivity and autotrophic structure of lakes.
2014
While limnological studies have emphasized the importance of grazers on algal biomass and primary production in pelagic habitats, few studies have examined their potential role in altering total ecosystem primary production and it's partitioning between pelagic and benthic habitats. We modified an existing ecosystem production model to include biotic feedbacks associated with two groups of large-bodied grazers of phytoplankton (large-bodied zooplankton and dreissenid mussels) and estimated their effects on total ecosystem production (TEP), and the partitioning of TEP between phytoplankton and periphyton (autotrophic structure) across large gradients in lake size and total phosphorus (TP) co…