Search results for "Environmental chemistry"
showing 10 items of 3248 documents
Exploring the presence of pollutants at sea: Monitoring heavy metals and pesticides in loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) from the western Mediterr…
2017
Marine turtles are considered good sentinel species for environmental assessment because of their long lifespan, feeding ecology, habitat use and migratory nature. In the present study, we assessed presence of cadmium, lead and mercury, together with organic pollutants, both in fat and muscle tissue of 25 stranded loggerhead turtles (Caretta caretta) stranded along the Valencian Community coast (East Spain) (43.7±13.5cm). Mean concentrations of Cd, Pb and Hg were 0.04μg/g w.w., 0.09μg/g w.w. and 0.03μg/g w.w. in fat and 0.05μg/g, 0.08μg/g and 0.04μg/g in muscle, respectively. These measures indicate a relatively low mean heavy metal concentration, which may be explained by juvenile size and…
Evaluation and comparison of trace metal accumulation in different tissues of potential bioindicator organisms: Macrobenthic filter feedersStyela pli…
2016
Trace metal concentrations were measured in different tissues of Sabella spallanzanii, Styela plicata, and Mytilus galloprovincialis collected in the Termini Imerese Harbor (Sicily, Italy) to evaluate the potential use of these species as bioindicators. Higher bioaccumulation factors (BAFs) were calculated in the tube of S. spallanzanii, except for As, which had a higher BAF in the branchial crown of the same species. Regarding the other species analyzed, higher BAFs were found in the digestive gland of M. galloprovincialis. An exception was Pb, which was significantly more concentrated in the branchial basket and tunic of S. plicata. The BAFs calculated in the present study show that all t…
Volcanic CO2 seep geochemistry and use in understanding ocean acidification
2020
AbstractOcean acidification is one of the most dramatic effects of the massive atmospheric release of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution, although its effects on marine ecosystems are not well understood. Submarine volcanic hydrothermal fields have geochemical conditions that provide opportunities to characterise the effects of elevated levels of seawater CO2 on marine life in the field. Here, we review the geochemical aspects of shallow marine CO2-rich seeps worldwide, focusing on both gas composition and water chemistry. We then describe the geochemical effects of volcanic CO2 seepage on the overlying seawater column. We also present new g…
25S rDNA-based molecular monitoring of glomalean fungi in sewage sludge-treated field plots
2001
Recycling of sewage wastes in agriculture is likely to affect the biological activity of soils through contamination of ecosystems by pathogens and metallic or organic micropollutants. The impact of sewage sludge spreading under field conditions on arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) formation by a community of glomalean fungi was evaluated using a nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and discriminating primers based on 25S rDNA polymorphisms to detect different fungal species within root systems. Medicago truncatula was grown in soil of field plots amended or not with a composted sewage sludge, spiked or not with organic or metallic micropollutants. Overall AM development in roots decreased with …
Eight decades of sampling reveal a contemporary novel fish assemblage in coastal nursery habitats.
2015
In order to adequately monitor biodiversity trends through time and their responses to natural or anthropogenic impacts, researchers require long time series that are often unavailable. This general lack of datasets that are several decades or longer makes establishing a background or baseline of diversity metrics difficult - especially when attempting to understand species composition changes against a backdrop of climate and ecological variability. Here, we present an analysis of a community of juvenile nearshore fishes based on nearly 8 decades of highly standardized Norwegian survey records. Using multivariate statistical techniques, we: (i) characterize the change in taxonomic communit…
Contributions of terrestrial organic carbon to northern lake sediments
2017
Abstract Sediments of northern lakes sequester large amounts of organic carbon (OC), but direct evidence of the relative importance of their sources is lacking. We used stable isotope ratios of nonexchangeable hydrogen (δ2Hn) in topsoil, algae, and surface sediments in order to measure the relative contribution of terrestrial OC in surface sediments of 14 mountainous arctic and lowland boreal lakes in Sweden. The terrestrial contribution to the sediment OC pool was on average 66% (range 46–80) and similar between arctic and boreal lakes. Proxies for the supply of terrestrial and algal OC explained trends in the relative contribution of terrestrial OC across lakes. However, the data suggest …
Trace element storage capacity of sediments in deadPosidonia oceanicamat from a chronically contaminated marine ecosystem
2016
Posidonia oceanica mat is considered a long-term bioindicator of contamination. Storage and sequestration of trace elements and organic carbon (Corg) were assessed in dead P. oceanica mat and bare sediments from a highly polluted coastal marine area (Augusta Bay, central Mediterranean). Sediment elemental composition and sources of organic matter have been altered since the 1950s. Dead P. oceanica mat displayed a greater ability to bury and store trace elements and Corg than nearby bare sediments, acting as a long-term contaminant sink over the past 120?yr. Trace elements, probably associated with the mineral fraction, were stabilized and trapped despite die-off of the overlying P. oceanica…
Co-inertia multivariate approach for the evaluation of anthropogenic impact on two commercial fish along Tyrrhenian coasts
2019
Abstract Aliphatic hydrocarbon levels were determined by the GC/MS technique in fish livers of Engraulis encrasicolus (Ee) and Trachurus trachurus (Tt), collected from a particular area of the Mediterranean Sea, called GSA 10, which is located exactly in Tyrrhenian Sea between Campania coast and North Sicily coast. The aim was to evaluate their potential use as specific bioindicators towards this class of contaminants. Both Tt and Ee are considered to be pollution monitoring bioindicators, due to their dominance in marine communities and economic fishing interest. Ee showed a higher tendency to bioaccumulate TAHs, due to the lower quantity of fatty acids in liver tissues with respect to Tt.…
Predicting shifting sustainability trade-offs in marine finfish aquaculture under climate change
2018
Defining sustainability goals is a crucial but difficult task because it often involves the quantification of multiple interrelated and sometimes conflicting components. This complexity may be exacerbated by climate change, which will increase environmental vulnerability in aquaculture and potentially compromise the ability to meet the needs of a growing human population. Here, we developed an approach to inform sustainable aquaculture by quantifying spatio-temporal shifts in critical trade-offs between environmental costs and benefits using the time to reach the commercial size as a possible proxy of economic implications of aquaculture under climate change. Our results indicate that optim…