A surveillance strategy for invasive species of concern in deepwater habitats of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

This report describes a surveillance strategy to detect deepwater invasive species in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. A need for this strategy was identified in the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument Management Plan and the Monument’s Draft Natural Resources Science Plan. This strategy focuses on detecting two species of concern, the octocoral Carijoa riisei and the red alga Hypnea musciformis. Most research on invasive species in the Hawaiian archipelago has focused on shallow water habitats within the limits of conventional SCUBA (0-30 m). Deeper habitats such as mesophotic reefs are much more difficult to access and consequently little is known about the distribution of deepwater invasive species or their impacts. Recent deepwater (>30 m) sightings of H. musciformis and C. riisei, in and near NWHI, respectively, have prompted a call for further research and surveillance of invasive species in deepwater habitats. This report compiles the most up to date information about these two species of concern in deepwater habitats. A literature search and conversations with subject matter experts was used to identify their current distribution, preferred habitat types, optimal detection methods and ways to efficiently sample the vast extent of NWHI. The proposed sampling strategy prioritizes survey effort where C. riisei and H. musciformis are most likely to be found. At coarse spatial scales (tens to hundreds of kilometers), opportunistic observations and distance from the Main Hawaiian Islands, a principal propagule source, are used to identify high-risk islands and banks. At fine spatial scales (meters to tens of kilometers) a habitat suitability model was developed to identify high-risk habitats. The habitat suitability model focused on habitat preferences of C. riisei, since the species is well studied and adequate data exists to map habitats. There was insufficient information to identify suitable habitat for H. muscifomis. Habitat preferences for the algae are poorly understood and there is a lack of data at relevant spatial scales to map those preferences which are known. The principal habitats identified by the habitat suitability model were ledges and the edges of rugose coral reefs, where the shade loving octocoral would likely be found. Habitat suitability maps were developed for seven atolls and banks to aid in survey site selection. The protocol relied on technical divers to conduct visual surveys of benthic habitats. It was developed to increase the efficiency of surveys, maximize the probability of detection, identify important information relevant to future surveys and standardize results. The strategy, model and protocol were tested during a field mission in 2009 at several atolls and islands in NWHI. The field mission did not detect any invasive species among deepwater habitats and much was learned to improve future surveys. Data gaps and improvements are discussed.

Shallow-water benthic habitats of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands

Coral reef ecosystems of the Virgin Islands Coral Reef National Monument, Virgin Islands National Park and the surrounding waters of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands are a precious natural resource worthy of special protection and conservation. The mosaic of habitats including coral reefs, seagrasses and mangroves, are home to a diversity of marine organisms. These benthic habitats and their associated inhabitants provide many important ecosystem services to the community of St. John, such as fishing, tourism and shoreline protection. However, coral reef ecosystems throughout the U.S. Caribbean are under increasing pressure from environmental and anthropogenic stressors that threaten to destroy the natural heritage of these marine habitats. Mapping of benthic habitats is an integral component of any effective ecosystem-based management approach. Through the implementation of a multi-year interagency agreement, NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment - Biogeography Branch and the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) have completed benthic habitat mapping, field validation and accuracy assessment of maps for the nearshore marine environment of St. John. This work is an expansion of ongoing mapping and monitoring efforts conducted by NOAA and NPS in the U.S. Caribbean and replaces previous NOAA maps generated by Kendall et al. (2001) for the waters around St. John. The use of standardized protocols enables the condition of the coral reef ecosystems around St. John to be evaluated in context to the rest of the Virgin Island Territories and other U.S. coral ecosystems. The products from this effort provide an accurate assessment of the abundance and distribution of marine habitats surrounding St. John to support more effective management and conservation of ocean resources within the National Park system. This report documents the entire process of benthic habitat mapping in St. John. Chapter 1 provides a description of the benthic habitat classification scheme used to categorize the different habitats existing in the nearshore environment. Chapter 2 describes the steps required to create a benthic habitat map from visual interpretation of remotely sensed imagery. Chapter 3 details the process of accuracy assessment and reports on the thematic accuracy of the final maps. Finally, Chapter 4 is a summary of the basic map content and compares the new maps to a previous NOAA effort. Benthic habitat maps of the nearshore marine environment of St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands were created by visual interpretation of remotely sensed imagery. Overhead imagery, including color orthophotography and IKONOS satellite imagery, proved to be an excellent source from which to visually interpret the location, extent and attributes of marine habitats. NOAA scientists were able to accurately and reliably delineate the boundaries of features on digital imagery using a Geographic Information System (GIS) and fi eld investigations. The St. John habitat classification scheme defined benthic communities on the basis of four primary coral reef ecosystem attributes: 1) broad geographic zone, 2) geomorphological structure type, 3) dominant biological cover, and 4) degree of live coral cover. Every feature in the benthic habitat map was assigned a designation at each level of the scheme. The ability to apply any component of this scheme was dependent on being able to identify and delineate a given feature in remotely sensed imagery.

Coral health and disease in the Pacific: vision for action

Shallow coral reefs in the IndoPacific contain the highest diversity of marine organisms in the world, with approximately 1500 described species of fish, over 500 species of scleractinian corals, and an estimated 1-10 million organisms yet to be characterized (Reaka-Kudla et al. 1994). These centers of marine biodiversity are facing significant, multiple threats to reef community and habitat structure and function, resulting in local to wide-scale regional damage. Wilkinson (2004) characterized the major pressures as including (1) global climate change, (2) diseases, plagues and invasive species, (3) direct human pressures, (4) poor governance and lack of political will, and (5) international action or inaction. Signs that the natural plasticity of reef ecosystems has been exceeded in many areas from the effects of environmental (e.g., global climate change) and anthropogenic (e.g., land use, pollution) stressors is evidenced by the loss of 20% of the world’s coral reefs (Wilkinson 2004). Predictions are that another 24% (Wilkinson 2006) are under imminent risk of collapse and an additional 26% are under a longer term threat from reduced fitness, disease outbreaks, and increased mortality. These predictions indicate that the current list of approximately 30-40 fatal diseases impacting corals will expand as will the frequency and extent of “coral bleaching” (Waddell 2005; Wilkinson 2004). Disease and corallivore outbreaks, in combination with multiple, concomitant human disturbances are compromising corals and coral reef communities to the point where their ability to rebound from natural disturbances is being lost.

An investigation of survey technologies and modeling techniques for improving deepwater surveys of nonindigenous species in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Nonindigenous species (NIS) are a major threat to marine ecosystems, with possible dramatic effects on biodiversity, biological productivity, habitat structure and fisheries. The Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument (PMNM) has taken active steps to mitigate the threats of NIS in Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). Of particular concern are the 13 NIS already detected in NWHI and two invasive species found among the main Hawaiian Islands, snowflake coral (Carijoa riseii) and a red alga (Hypnea musciformis). Much of the information regarding NIS in NWHI has been collected or informed by surveys using conventional SCUBA or fishing gear. These technologies have significant drawbacks. SCUBA is generally constrained to depths shallower than 40 m and several NIS of concern have been detected well below this limit (e.g., L. kasmira – 256 m) and fishing gear is highly selective. Consequently, not all habitats or species can be properly represented. Effective management of NIS requires knowledge of their spatial distribution and abundance over their entire range. Surveys which provide this requisite information can be expensive, especially in the marine environment and even more so in deepwater. Technologies which minimize costs, increase the probability of detection and are capable of satisfying multiple objectives simultaneously are desired. This report examines survey technologies, with a focus on towed camera systems (TCSs), and modeling techniques which can increase NIS detection and sampling efficiency in deepwater habitats of NWHI; thus filling a critical data gap in present datasets. A pilot study conducted in 2008 at French Frigate Shoals and Brooks Banks was used to investigate the application of TCSs for surveying NIS in habitats deeper than 40 m. Cost and data quality were assessed. Over 100 hours of video was collected, in which 124 sightings of NIS were made among benthic habitats from 20 to 250 m. Most sightings were of a single cosmopolitan species, Lutjanus kasmira, but Cephalopholis argus, and Lutjanus fulvus, were also detected. The data expand the spatial distributions of observed NIS into deepwater habitats, identify algal plain as an important habitat and complement existing data collected using SCUBA and fishing gear. The technology’s principal drawback was its inability to identify organisms of particular concern, such as Carijoa riseii and Hypnea musciformis due to inadequate camera resolution and inability to thoroughly inspect sites. To solve this issue we recommend incorporating high-resolution cameras into TCSs, or using alternative technologies, such as technical SCUBA diving or remotely operated vehicles, in place of TCSs. We compared several different survey technologies by cost and their ability to detect NIS and these results are summarized in Table 3.

Scientific assessment of marine harmful algal blooms

Algae are the most abundant photosynthetic organisms in marine ecosystems and are essential components of marine food webs. Harmful algal bloom or “HAB” species are a small subset of algal species that negatively impact humans or the environment. HABs can pose health hazards for humans or animals through the production of toxins or bioactive compounds. They also can cause deterioration of water quality through the buildup of high biomass, which degrades aesthetic, ecological, and recreational values. Humans and animals can be exposed to marine algal toxins through their food, the water in which they swim, or sea spray. Symptoms from toxin exposure range from neurological impairment to gastrointestinal upset to respiratory irritation, in some cases resulting in severe illness and even death. HABs can also result in lost revenue for coastal economies dependent on seafood harvest or tourism, disruption of subsistence activities, loss of community identity tied to coastal resource use, and disruption of social and cultural practices. Although economic impact assessments to date have been limited in scope, it has been estimated that the economic effects of marine HABs in U.S. communities amount to at least $82 million per year including lost income for fisheries, lost recreational opportunities, decreased business in tourism industries, public health costs of illness, and expenses for monitoring and management. As reviewed in the report, Harmful Algal Research and Response: A Human Dimensions Strategy1, the sociocultural impacts of HABs may be significant, but remain mostly undocumented.

Scientific assessment of freshwater harmful algal blooms

In 2004, Congress reauthorized the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act of 1998 with the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Amendments Act (HABHRCA 2004). The 2004 legislation required the generation of five reports, including this "Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms." HABHRCA 2004 stipulates that this report 1) examine the causes, consequences, and economic costs of freshwater HABs, 2) establish priorities and guidelines for a research program on freshwater HABs, and 3) make recommendations to improve coordination among Federal agencies with respect to research on HABs in freshwater environments. This report is divided into five chapters: Chapter 1 provides the legislative background and process for developing the report, Chapter 2 describes the problem of freshwater and inland HABs in the United States, Chapter 3 outlines the current Federal efforts in freshwater and inland HAB research and response, Chapter 4 discusses the future research priorities, and Chapter 5 delineates opportunities for coordination to advance research efforts. The document is based, in large part, on the proceedings (Hudnell 2008) of the International Symposium on Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Blooms, a meeting convened by EPA and sponsored by a variety of Federal agencies, to describe current scientific knowledge and identify priorities for future research on CyanoHABs. This report offers a plan for coordinating the important research that is currently ongoing in the United States and for guiding future research directions for Federal programs as well as for state, local, private, and academic institutions in order to maximize advancements. To this end, the Interagency Working Group on Harmful Algal Blooms, Hypoxia, and Human Health (IWG-4H) identifies seven priorities, all of equal weight, for freshwater HAB research and response. These priorities represent research areas where there is the greatest potential for progress in freshwater HAB research. This report does not attempt to assess the relative importance of freshwater HAB research compared to other research areas or other priorities for Federal or state investment.

Characterizing Jobos Bay, Puerto Rico: a watershed modeling analysis and monitoring plan

Land-based pollution is commonly identified as a major contributor to the observed deterioration of shallow-water coral reef ecosystem health. Human activity on the coastal landscape often induces nutrient enrichment, hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, toxic contamination and other stressors that have degraded the quality of coastal waters. Coral reef ecosystems throughout Puerto Rico, including Jobos Bay, are under threat from coastal land uses such as urban development, industry and agriculture. The objectives of this report were two-fold: 1. To identify potentially harmful land use activities to the benthic habitats of Jobos Bay, and 2. To describe a monitoring plan for Jobos Bay designed to assess the impacts of conservation practices implemented on the watershed. This characterization is a component of the partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established by the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) in Jobos Bay. CEAP is a multi-agency effort to quantify the environmental benefits of conservation practices used by private landowners participating in USDA programs. The Jobos Bay watershed, located in southeastern Puerto Rico, was selected as the first tropical CEAP Special Emphasis Watershed (SEW). Both USDA and NOAA use their respective expertise in terrestrial and marine environments to model and monitor Jobos Bay resources. This report documents NOAA activities conducted in the first year of the three-year CEAP effort in Jobos Bay. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the project and background information on Jobos Bay and its watershed. Chapter 2 implements NOAA’s Summit to Sea approach to summarize the existing resource conditions on the watershed and in the estuary. Summit to Sea uses a GIS-based procedure that links patterns of land use in coastal watersheds to sediment and pollutant loading predictions at the interface between terrestrial and marine environments. The outcome of Summit to Sea analysis is an inventory of coastal land use and predicted pollution threats, consisting of spatial data and descriptive statistics, which allows for better management of coral reef ecosystems. Chapters 3 and 4 describe the monitoring plan to assess the ecological response to conservation practices established by USDA on the watershed. Jobos Bay is the second largest estuary in Puerto Rico, but has more than three times the shoreline of any other estuarine area on the island. It is a natural harbor protected from offshore wind and waves by a series of mangrove islands and the Punta Pozuelo peninsula. The Jobos Bay marine ecosystem includes 48 km² of mangrove, seagrass, coral reef and other habitat types that span both intertidal and subtidal areas. Mapping of Jobos Bay revealed 10 different benthic habitats of varying prevalence, and a large area of unknown bottom type covering 38% of the entire bay. Of the known benthic habitats, submerged aquatic vegetation, primarily seagrass, is the most common bottom type, covering slightly less than 30% of the bay. Mangroves are the dominant shoreline feature, while coral reefs comprise only 4% of the total benthic habitat. However, coral reefs are some of the most productive habitats found in Jobos Bay, and provide important habitat and nursery grounds for fish and invertebrates of commercial and recreational value.

Synopsis of researcher meeting -- Bottlenose Dolphin Health & Risk Assessment Project, February 22-24, 2005

A meeting was convened on February 22-24, 2005 in Charleston, South Carolina to bring together researchers collaborating on the Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project to review and discuss preliminary health-related findings from captured dolphins during 2003 and 2004 in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), FL and Charleston (CHS), SC. Over 30 researchers with diverse research expertise representing government, academic and marine institutions participated in the 2-1/2 day meeting. The Bottlenose Dolphin HERA Project is a comprehensive, integrated, multi-disciplinary research program designed to assess environmental and anthropogenic stressors, as well as the health and long-term viability of Atlantic bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus). Standardized and comprehensive protocols are being used to evaluate dolphin health in the coastal ecosystems in the IRL and CHS. The Bottlenose Dolphin Health and Risk Assessment (HERA) Project was initiated in 2003 by Dr. Patricia Fair at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Ocean Service/Center for Coastal Environmental Health and Biomolecular Research and Dr. Gregory Bossart at the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution under NMFS Scientific Research Permit No. 998-1678-00 issued to Dr. Bossart. Towards this end, this study focuses on developing tools and techniques to better identify health threats to these dolphins, and to develop links to possible environmental stressors. Thus, the primary objective of the Dolphin HERA Project is to measure the overall health and as well as the potential health hazards for dolphin populations in the two sites by performing screening-level risk assessments using standardized methods. The screening-level assessment involves capture, sampling and release activities during which physical examinations are performed on dolphins and a suite of nonlethal morphologic and clinicopathologic parameters, to be used to develop indices of dolphin health, are collected. Thus far, standardized health assessments have been performed on 155 dolphins during capture-release studies conducted in Years 2003 and 2004 at the two sites. A major collaboration has been established involving numerous individuals and institutions, which provide the project with a broad assessment capability toward accomplishing the goals and objectives of this project.

Distribution of CCR2-64I and SDF1-3 ' A alleles and HIV status in 7 ethnic populations of Cameroon

Limited information is available on the prevalence among rural Africans of host genetic polymorphisms conferring resistance to HIV-1 infection or slowing HIV disease progression.We report the allelic frequencies of the AIDS-related polymorphisms CCR2-64I, SDF1-3#A, and CCR5-D32 in 321 volunteers from 7 ethnic groups in Cameroon. Allelic frequencies differed among the 7 ethnic groups, ranging from 10.8% to 31.3% for CCR2-64I and 0.0% to 7.1% for SDF1-3#A. No CCR5-D32 alleles were found. HIV seroprevalence was 6.9% in the total population and peaked at younger ages in girls and women than in boys and men. Among 15- to 54-year-olds, HIV seroprevalence varied from 2.0% to 11.1% among the village populations. Conditional logistic regression analysis using data from boys and men aged 15 to 54 years showed the number of CCR2-64I alleles to be a significant risk factor for HIV seropositivity (odds ratio per allele adjusted for age and matched on ethnic group = 6.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.3–30.3); this association was not found in women. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that CCR2-64I alleles may delay HIV disease progression without affecting susceptibility to infection among men. We did not observe this relation among women, and other factors, such as multiple pregnancies or maternal stressors (eg, breastfeeding), may have masked any protective effect of CCR2-64I alleles. Further study of this issue among women is warranted. SDF1-3#A did not differ between HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative individuals but wasassociated with increasing age among HIV-seronegative women, suggesting a protective effect against HIV-1 infection.

Discharges and sediments as sources of extracellular alkaline phosphatase in a shallow Chinese eutrophic lake

Total alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) and soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) concentrations were measured in municipal wastewater, and a shallow Chinese freshwater lake receiving it. Activities of Dissolved alkaline phosphatase ( ADAP) in overlying and interstitial water were also analyzed monthly at three sites for several years. The lake was enriched with SRP and alkaline phosphatase by discharge of the wastewater, indicating that the inclusion of APA for estimating water pollution was reasonable. Annual data showed that APA in coarser fraction was significantly higher at the site receiving more wastewaters, both in surface and overlying water, suggesting that resuspension of enzyme most likely occurred in the basin heavily discharged. ADAP was an order of magnitude higher in the wastewater than those in lake waters, and was generally higher in interstitial water, a feature more striking at the site receiving more discharges. Besides, it was irrespectively inhibited by Na2WO4, L-cysteine and EDTA-Na, but stimulated by Cu2+, Zn2+, CTAB and Triton X-100 in interstitial, overlying and surface waters. This similarity of responding patterns to the stressors indicated an analogy between dissolved alkaline phosphatase in water column and that in interstitial water, supporting the hypothesis that the polluted sediments act as source of dissolved alkaline phosphatase in eutrophic lakes.

沙棘(Hippophae rhamnoides L.)在低温和增强UV-B胁迫下的生态生理反应

植物生长和生产力受到自然界各种形式的生物和非生物胁迫因子的影响。这些胁迫包括低温、高温、盐碱、干旱、洪水、重金属、虫害、病害和紫外线辐射等等。而人类活动大大加剧了这些胁迫所带来的影响。由于人类污染而导致臭氧层衰减以及由此产生的地球表面紫外辐射增强已经成为全球气候变化的一个主要方面。UV-B胁迫，甚至当前的辐射水平，所带来的影响已经引起科学工作者的广泛关注。 为了生存和繁殖，植物不得不面临环境中各种潜在胁迫所带来的负面影响。然而，植物生活型的不可移动性决定了其逃避胁迫的局限性。因此，绝大多数植物都是通过对胁迫作出反应，通过修复或者更新组织来降低伤害。而植物应对环境变化的能力则是由其生长模式的种属特异性和本身的遗传组成所决定。在自然界，植物常常同时面临多种胁迫，这些胁迫所引发的植物反应可能具有叠加、协同或者拮抗作用。沙棘是一种具刺、具有固氮功能的多年生雌雄异株灌木，广泛分布于亚欧大陆的温带地区和亚洲亚热带的高海拔地区。在中国，沙棘常常被用作植被恢复中的先锋树种而大量栽培。本文采用沙棘作为模式植物，试图探索木本植物对低温，UV-B辐射增强以及其与干旱的复合胁迫的响应以及沙棘对这些胁迫响应是否具有种群差异性。 对来自南北两个种群的沙棘进行短日照和低温处理，检测了其在抗寒锻炼和抗寒性发育过程中存在的性别差异。结果表明，短日照和低温都分别能够诱导抗寒锻炼的发生，而两者同时存在对所有实验植株抗寒性的大小具有叠加效应。然而，短日照和低温所诱导的抗寒性在两个种群中都具有性别差异性，雄性植株比雌雄植株对短日照和低温更为敏感。同时，南北种群间也存在差异性，北方种群的植物比南方种群的植物对短日照和低温敏感，从而在短日照下抗寒锻炼的发生时间更早，低温诱导的抗寒性更大。短日照和低温诱导植物增加抗寒性的同时伴随着脱落酸的变化。脱落酸的变化因处理，种群和性别的不同而不同。这些生理反应表明不同的沙棘种群，不同的植株性别对同一环境胁迫可能存在不同的生存策略。 比较了来自高低两个海拔的沙棘种群对于干旱和UV-B辐射增强以及两者复合胁迫条件下的生理生态反应。干旱使两个种群中植株总的生物量，总叶面积，比叶面积，叶片含碳量，含磷量，木质素含量和碳氮比显著降低，使根冠比，粗根细根比和叶片脱落酸含量显著增加。干旱而非UV-B使得δ13C 值显著增加。但是，比较而言，来自高海拔的种群对干旱反应更为强烈，而来自低海拔的种群对UV-B更敏感。在UV-B辐射增强的处理下，干旱所诱导的脱落酸的积累被显著抑制。而且我们检测到在一些指标上存在显著的干旱×UV-B交互作用，如两个种群中在总生物量上，低海拔种群中在总叶面积，粗根细根比上，高海拔种群中在比叶面积，δ13C值，木质素含量上都存在明显的交互作用。这些结果表明这两个种群对胁迫具有不同的适应性反应，来自高海拔的种群比来自低海拔的种群更能够抵御干旱和UV-B胁迫。 室外实验表明，UV-B 去除/增补对沙棘高低两个海拔种群的影响都不大。对生物量的积累，植株高度以及一些常见的胁迫反应生理指标比如丙二醛、ABA 和游离脯氨酸都没有显著影响。UV-B 的效应比UV-A 大，植物反应在无UV 和仅有UV-A 的处理间没有什么区别。然而，UV-B 去除的两个处理和UV-B 存在的两个处理间存在显著区别。UV-B 使得两个种群都显著降低了比叶面积(SLA)，但却使长期用水效率增加。但UV-B对光合色素和光合系统II 的影响不大。总体看来，来自低海拔的种群对UV-B 更为敏感。 Plant is adversely affected by various abiotic and biotic stress factors. These stressors includelow temperature, heat, salt, drought, flooding, heavy metal toxicity, wounding by herbivores,infecting by pathogenic microorganisms, ultraviolet (UV) radiation and so on. Variousanthropogenic activities have accentuated the existing stress factors. One of the mostimportant aspects of global change is that of stratospheric ozone depletion caused by seriousanthropogenic pollution and the resulting increase in UV radiation reaching the surface of theEarth. Scientists have become concerned about the effects that considerable UV-B stress, evenat current levels. In order to survive and reproduce, plants have to be able to cope with lots of potentiallyharmful stress factors that are almost constantly present in their environment. Most plants’responses under stress are to neutralize the stress, repairing the damage or regrowing newtissue rather than to avoid it due to their sessile life style. The plant defense capacity dependson plant-specific modular growth patterns and genetic make-up that allows for flexibleresponses to changing environments. Plants usually encounter several stresses simultaneouslyunder field conditions, and the stresses may cause a variety of plant responses, which can beadditive, synergistic or antagonistic. Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), a thorny nitrogen fixing deciduously perennialshrub, which is widely distributed throughout the temperate zones of Asia and Europe and thesubtropical zones of Asia at high altitudes. It has been widely used in forest restoration as thepioneer species in China. In this paper, we used sea buckthorn as a model, tried to get some understand of how plants fight low temperature, enhanced UV-B radiation level and thatcombination of drought. And also, want to know whether does there exist some populationspecific responses to such stressors. Sexual differences in cold acclimation and freezing tolerance development of two contrastingsea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) ecotypes from northern and southern regions inChina were recorded after exposure to short day photoperiod (SD) and low temperature (LT).The results demonstrated that cold acclimation could be triggered by exposing the plants toSD or LT alone, and that a combination of both treatments had an additive effect on freezingtolerance in all plants tested. However, development of freezing tolerance was dependent onthe sex of plants under SD and LT, the males were clearly more responsive to SD and LT thanthe females in both ecotypes studied. On the other hand, development of freezing tolerancewas also ecotype-dependent, the northern ecotype was more responsive to SD and LT than thesouthern ecotype, resulting in earlier cold acclimation under SD and higher freezing toleranceunder LT. Moreover, development of freezing tolerance induced by SD and LT wasaccompanied by changes in ABA levels. These alterations in ABA levels were different indifferent treatments, ecotypes and sexes. Therefore, the differences in SD and LT-inducedphysiological responses showed that the different ecotypes and the different sexes mightemploy different survival strategies under environmental stress. Two contrasting populations from the low and high altitudinal regions were employed toinvestigate the effects of drought, UV-B and their combination on sea buckthorn. Droughtsignificantly decreased total biomass, total leaf area, specific leaf area，leaf carbon (C),phophous (P), lignin content and the ratio of C: N in both populations, and increasedroot/shoot ratio, fine root/coarse root ratio and abscisic acid content (ABA), in bothpopulations. Drought but not UV-B resulted in significantly greater carbon isotopecomposition (δ13C) values in both populations. However, the high altitudinal population wasmore responsive to drought than the low altitudinal population. The drought-inducedenhancement of ABA in the high altitudinal population was significantly suppressed in thecombination of drought and elevated UV-B. Moreover, significant drought × UV-B interactionwas detected on total biomass in both populations, total leaf area and fine root/coarse root inthe low altitudinal population, specific leaf area, δ13C value and leaf lignin content in the high altitudinal population. These results demonstrated that there were different adaptive responsesbetween two contrasting populations, the high altitudinal population exhibited highertolerance to drought and UV-B than the low altitudinal population. A field experiment was conducted to investigate effects of UV-B exclusion/supplementationon two altitudinal populations of sea buckthorn. UV-B exclusion or supplementation had littleeffects on both populations investigated. For instance, the total biomass, plant height andsome physiological index such as Malondialdehyde (MDA), ABA and free proline were notchanged significantly. The UV-B effects are more significant than that of UV-A, nodifferences were found between treatments of excluded UV and excluded UV-B. However,compared with treatments of UV-B exclusion (including absent of UV-B and all UV band),the present of UV-B (including near ambient environment and enhanced UV-B) significantdecreased specific leaf area, and increased long time water use efficiency as evaluated by δ13Cvalue. UV-B had little effects on photosynthetic pigments and Photosystem II (PSII). The lowaltitude population is more sensitive to UV-B than that of the high altitude population.

A Global Crisis for Seagrass Ecosystems

Seagrasses, marine flowering plants, have a long evolutionary history but are now challenged with rapid environmental changes as a result of coastal human population pressures. Seagrasses provide key ecological services, including organic carbon production and export, nutrient cycling, sediment stabilization, enhanced biodiversity, and trophic transfers to adjacent habitats in tropical and temperate regions. They also serve as “coastal canaries,” global biological sentinels of increasing anthropogenic influences in coastal ecosystems, with large-scale losses reported worldwide. Multiple stressors, including sediment and nutrient runoff, physical disturbance, invasive species, disease, commercial fishing practices, aquaculture, overgrazing, algal blooms, and global warming, cause seagrass declines at scales of square meters to hundreds of square kilometers. Reported seagrass losses have led to increased awareness of the need for seagrass protection, monitoring, management, and restoration. However, seagrass science, which has rapidly grown, is disconnected from public awareness of seagrasses, which has lagged behind awareness of other coastal ecosystems. There is a critical need for a targeted global conservation effort that includes a reduction of watershed nutrient and sediment inputs to seagrass habitats and a targeted educational program informing regulators and the public of the value of seagrass meadows.

Ten Years of the Relative Risk Model and Regional Scale Ecological Risk Assessment

It has been 10 years since the publication of the relative risk model (RRM) for regional scale ecological risk assessment. The approach has since been used successfully for a variety of freshwater, marine, and terrestrial environments in North America, South America, and Australia. During this period the types of stressors have been expanded to include more than contaminants. Invasive species, habitat loss, stream alteration and blockage, temperature, change in land use, and climate have been incorporated into the assessments. Major developments in the RRM have included the extensive use of geographical information systems, uncertainty analysis using Monte Carlo techniques, and its application to retrospective assessments to determine causation. The future uses of the RRM include assessments for forestry and conservation management, an increasing use in invasive species evaluation, and in sustainability. Developments in risk communication, the use of Bayesian approaches, and in uncertainty analyses are on the horizon.

A nonlinear model for assessing multiple probabilistic risks: A case study in South five-island of Changdao National Nature Reserve in China

Several methods for estimating the potential impacts caused by multiple probabilistic risks have been suggested. These existing methods mostly rely on the weight sum algorithm to address the need for integrated risk assessment. This paper develops a nonlinear model to perform such an assessment. The joint probability algorithm has been applied to the model development. An application of the developed model in South five-island of Changdao National Nature Reserve, China, combining remote sensing data and a GIS technique, provides a reasonable risk assessment. Based on the case study, we discuss the feasibility of the model. We propose that the model has the potential for use in identifying the regional primary stressor, investigating the most vulnerable habitat, and assessing the integrated impact of multiple stressors. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

主要环境因子对对虾感染白斑综合症的影响研究

白斑综合症病毒（whitespotsyndromevirus,WSSV）是近来危害对虾养殖业的主要病原之一,自出现以来给对虾养殖业带来巨大经济损失.研究表明,对虾病害的发生是对虾自身的健康状况、病原微生物、以及环境条件等各种因素相互作用的结果,因此对虾病毒问题的研究必须从多角度综合考虑,其中研究环境胁迫因子与养殖动物抗病力和病原生物致病能力的相互作用关系是解决病害问题的关键.该文在国家重点基础研究发展规划项目“环境胁迫对对虾抗病力的影响及其人工调控”的支持下,利用从暴发白斑综合症的中国对虾中分离出的白斑综合症病毒（WSSV）源,通过对虾血细胞计数（totalhaemocytecount,THC）、对虾血清酚氧化酶活性（phenoloxidaseactivity,PO）、对虾累计死亡率及平均死亡时间等方面研究,探讨了感染方式、赤潮异弯藻及盐度变化对对虾感染白斑综合症病毒的影响.