ALBERT

Description: Fish stocks have made surprising comebacks in the North and Baltic seas. But much remains to be done. Beginning in January, new EU laws will impose more sustainable practices with stricter quotas and by-catch rules.

Description: Micro-Raman spectroscopy has been used on adult bivalve shells to investigate organic and inorganic shell components but has not yet been applied to bivalve larvae. It is known that the organic matrix of larval shells contains pigments, but less is known about the presence or source of these molecules in larvae. We investigated Raman spectra of seven species of bivalve larvae to assess the types of pigments present in shells of each species and how the ratio of inorganic : organic material changes in a dorso-ventral direction. In laboratory experiments, we reared larvae of three clam species in waters containing different organic signatures to determine if larvae incorporated compounds from source waters into their shells. We found differences in spectra and pigments between most species but found less intraspecific differences. A neural network classifier for Raman spectra classified five out of seven species with greater than 85% accuracy. There were slight differences between the amount and type of pigment present along the shell, with the prodissoconch I and shell margin areas being the most variable. Raman spectra of 1-day-old larvae were found to be differentiable when larvae were reared in waters with different organic signatures. With micro-Raman spectroscopy, it may be possible to identify some unknown species in the wild and trace their natal origins, which could enhance identification accuracy of bivalve larvae and ultimately aid management and restoration efforts.

Description: On the Earth, the atmosphere, ocean, and land interact with each other. For example, an atmospheric pressure system directly influences the Sea Surface Heights (SSHs) in a barometric sense; the associated wind transfers momentum from the atmosphere into the ocean, which alters the ocean currents affecting again the SSHs. The integrated effects of all motion components directly influence the angular momentum of the Earth, while the integrated effect of all mass variations alters the Earth’s inertia. Both can excite the Earth Orientation Parameters (EOPs). In this study, we use the Community Earth System Model (CESM) to simulate mass and motion variations within a coupled climate system. The modeled mass and motion variations of all subcomponents are used to compute the total excitation functions, which then are compared to very precise global EOP observations, provided by the International Earth Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS). For further reference, the modeled excitation functions of the subcomponents are compared to operational excitations, provided by the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). This allows an evaluation of the global model behavior and of the subcomponents. Further, regions of particularly high influence on the excitations as well as regions of especially strong dynamical coupling are identified. Four CESM experiments were performed, one reference experiment featuring solely natural variations, while the others separate the influence of (I) a coupled ocean component; (II) the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and (III) anthropogenic forcings, e.g. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and ozone depleting substances (ODS). The modeled EOPs are in good agreement with the reference data sets, but reveal an slight overestimation of the modeled atmospheric mass component in the North Pacific for annual to interannual timescales, leading to deviations in the X1 component. Analyzing variations among the CESM experiments reveal (I) the complete absence of interannual subtropical tropospheric jet variability when using a climatological ocean; (II) a significantly increased atmospheric mass variation in the arctic region in the absence of a QBO; and (III) hardly any modeled effect of the global dynamics with respect to anthropogenic forcings. Finally, the North Pacific - a region with particularly strong atmosphere-ocean coupling - is investigated, highlighting wind driven ocean mass variations within the model and GRACE observations. The identified significant wind patterns explain the modeled ocean mass variations and can be directly projected onto ERA-Interim data in order to estimate the independent GRACE observations. The here presented relation between the ERA-Interim winds and the GRACE gravity field observations supporting the following two conclusions: (I) ERA-Interim winds can be used to further refine GRACE observations; (II) GRACE observations contain assimilation worthy information for atmospheric models.

Description: The stratigraphic successions exposed in Wadi El Mizeira have been dated through the analysis of the calcareous nannofossil assemblages. The results of this study indicate that the successions comprise the Santonian-Late Maastrichtian (Sudr Formation), the Paleocene (Esna Formation) and the Early Eocene (Thebes Formation). The following biozones were recognized: Late Santonian, CC16 Zone; Late Santonian/Early Campanian, CC17 Zone; Early Campanian, Aspidolithus parcus Zone (CC18) Zone; Late Maastrichtian, CC25c Zone; Early Paleocene (Late Danian), NP3 Zone and NP4 Zone; Late Paleocene (Thanethian-Selandian), NP5 Zone; Early Eocene, NP9b Zone, NP10a Zone, NP11 Zone, NP12 Zone and NP14 Zone. Several stratigraphic hiatus were recorded in the studied interval including the absence of Cretaceous nannofossil Zones CC19 to CC25b and CC26 as well as the early Paleocene Zones NP1 and NP2 and probably the basal part of Zone NP3, in addition to the absence of the Zones NP6 and NP7/8. These hiatus may be attributed to environmental conditions, structural activity and/or post depositional processes. This work represents the first attempt to evaluate the nannofossil taxa of the Wadi El Mizeira, Northeastern Sinai.

Description: Hemigrapsus sanguineus (Asian Shore Crab) has shown a remarkable ability to colonize rocky intertidal communities along the east coast of the United States since its introduction in the late 1980s and is an important predator of juvenile Mytilus edulis (Blue Mussel) in invaded habitats. In this study, we used two field-caging experiments and the Kaplan-Meier model to assess the impact of predation by Asian Shore Crab on the survival of juvenile Blue Mussels in an intertidal habitat of western Long Island Sound along the Connecticut coastline. Five treatment levels (high-density enclosure, low-density enclosure, exclosure, partial cage, and open plot) were used in the 2007 experiment. The high-density enclosure treatment was omitted in the 2010 experiment since there was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of mussels surviving between low- and high-density crab treatments in 2007. In 2007, we measured a statistically significant difference in mussel mortality between exclosure and crab-enclosure cages, with crabs lowering the median survival time for mussels from 15.4 to 7.6 days. In 2010, we again measured a statistically significant difference in mussel mortality between exclosure and crab-enclosure cages, suggesting a crab effect on mussel survival. In the 2010 experiment, approximately 25% of the mussel mortality was attributable to crab predation, which reduced median survival time for mussels from 12.8 to 5.6 days. The median survival time for mussels exposed to the full complement of factors affecting survival (open plots and partial cages) was only 2–3 days. Our study shows that predation by Asian crabs may account for up to 25% of the Blue Mussel mortality in the intertidal zone at Black Rock Harbor. Further studies focusing on the importance of other biotic and abiotic factors are needed to understand the apparent declines in Blue Mussel populations and the interannual variability in recruitment success in this area.

Description: Surface sediments of thermokarst lakes along the temperature gradient were sampled in northwestern Siberia. The lakes were distributed through three environmental zones: typical tundra, southern tundra and forest-tundra, which were all situated within the continuous permafrost zone. Our investigation showed that the cladoceran communities in the lakes of the region are represented by diverse, abundant communities as reflected by the taxonomic richness and high diversity indices. The differences in the cladoceran assemblages were related to the limnological and geographical position, vegetation type, climate and water chemistry. The constrained redundancy analysis (RDA) indicated that the TJuly, water depth and both sulphate (SOf ~) and silicium (Si4*) concentrations statistically significant (p 〈 0.05) explained the variance in the cladoceran assemblage.

Description: Tephra provides regional chronostratigraphical marker horizons that can link different climate archives with highly needed accuracy and precision. The results presented in this work exemplify, however, that the intermittent storage of tephra in ice sheets and during its subsequent iceberg transport, especially during glacial stages, constitutes a potential source of serious error for the application of tephrochronology to Nordic Seas and North Atlantic sediment archives. The peak shard concentration of the rhyolitic component of the North Atlantic Ash Zone II (NAAZ-II) tephra complex, often used to correlate marine and ice core records in Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3, is shown to lag the eruption event by ca. 100–400 years in some North Atlantic and Norwegian Sea cores. While still allowing for a correlation of archives on millennial timescales, this time delay in deposition is a major obstacle when addressing the lead–lag relationship on short timescales (years to centuries). A precise and accurate determination of lead–lag relationships between archives recording different parts of the climate system is crucial in order to test hypotheses about the processes leading to abrupt climate change and to evaluate results from climate models. Copyright # 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Description: Marine phytoplankton blooms are annual spring events that sustain active and diverse bloom-associated bacterial populations. Blooms vary considerably in terms of eukaryotic species composition and environmental conditions, but a limited number of heterotrophic bacterial lineages — primarily members of the Flavobacteriia, Alphaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria — dominate these communities. In this Review, we discuss the central role that these bacteria have in transforming phytoplankton-derived organic matter and thus in biogeochemical nutrient cycling. On the basis of selected field and laboratory-based studies of flavobacteria and roseobacters, distinct metabolic strategies are emerging for these archetypal phytoplankton-associated taxa, which provide insights into the underlying mechanisms that dictate their behaviours during blooms.

Description: An increasing body of research emphasizes that various biological processes in marine organisms are affected due to the uptake of anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 by the ocean in a process termed as ocean acidification (OA). The magnitude and direction of OA effects varies greatly among species and genotypes, highlighting different capabilities to adapt to increasing CO2. Direct OA impacts can be expected in the biochemical and elemental composition of primary producers (PP), which may be transferred to higher trophic levels, while indirect impacts can derive from altered trophic interactions as OA can modify plankton community composition. Fatty acids (FA) are the main component of lipids and cell membranes, with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) having additional important physiological and metabolic roles. Phytoplankton is the main source of essential biomolecules for heterotrophs as they cannot synthesize them de novo. Transference of organic essential macromolecules, in particular PUFA from phytoplankton-to-zooplankton-to-fish is a key factor influencing the life cycle of many organisms including humans. In the present work was investigated how OA influences the food quality of primary producers in terms of their fatty acid makeup at specie and community level, and how these OA-driven changes in the algae affect the fatty acid profile and life cycle of consumers. A combination of short- and long-term experiments on individual algal species, interaction between a single primary producer and one consumer, and natural plankton communities encompassing several producers and consumers were conducted in laboratory and natural conditions. In the short-term experiments at species level, the first and second laboratory study showed that CO2 can affect the biochemical composition of the diatoms Thalassiosira pseudonana and Cylindrotheca fusiformis, reducing their PUFA content; additionally the second diatom showed a reduced amount of amino acids. The interaction between a single primary producer and one consumer showed that when T. pseudonana cultured under high CO2 was used to feed the copepod Acartia tonsa, it affected their FA composition, severely impaired development and egg production rates. This demonstrated that a direct OA-driven shift in algal food quality can influence the reproduction success of upper trophic levels. At the community level, the third study conducted in a North Sea natural plankton assemblage subjected to a CO2 gradient showed that OA can modify phytoplankton community structures by favoring small phytoplankton cells with a comparatively low PUFA content. This community shift reduced PUFA content in primary producers was linked to a gradual PUFA decline in the dominant copepod species Calanus finmarchicus. In contrary, the fourth study revealed that the natural plankton community of the Baltic Sea experienced small differences in the algal community composition between CO2 treatments. The PUFA profile of the PP was influenced by phosphorus availability in the mesocosms, which was reflected by the PUFA composition of the copepod Acartia tonsa and Eurytemora affinis, but showed no significant CO2-related changes. This indicates that OA can affect the plankton community composition and its associated PUFA content, however this effect is lower in environments where communities are exposed to natural occurring high CO2 fluctuations like in the Baltic Sea, and that other essential nutrients have a stronger influence in the algal FA profile when present in limited amounts. In the long term experiments at species level, the fourth study determined that the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi and the diazotrophic cyanobacterium Trichodesmium sp. cultured over a thousand generations at high CO2 conditions showed a change in their FA content and composition. The FA profile of both algae presented a differentiate adaptation to high CO2 and particularly PUFA, which have metabolic functions in the cells, displayed evidence of adaptive evolution in both algae. These results highlight the diversity of OA responses among single plankton species and communities and that changes in biomolecular composition at the base of the marine food web are transferred to primary consumers. The thesis also highlights that the magnitude and direction of CO2-effects likely depends on the CO2 conditions and fluctuations the organisms are adapted to.