INTRACELLULAR OSMOREGULATION IN THE ESTUARINE MOLLUSC VILLORITA CYPRINOIDES VAR. COCHINENSIS (Mollusca: Bivalvia) Hanley

The present investigation is dedicated to understanding various mechanisms of salinity tolerance in the estuarine clam V. cyprinoides var. cochinensis. Even though V. cyprinoids var. cochinensis and V. cyprinoides are found to coexist in the same area, V. cyprinoids is reported to tolerate higher salinities than variety cochinenesis. Variations in the salinity of sea water may affect the aquatic organisms through specific gravity control and variations in osmotic pressure. The specific gravity of most soft tissues is close to that of normal seawater. Many bottom living forms, both attached and motile, have very high specific gravities eg.villorita cyprinoids. Villorita spp. Occurs abundantly in the reaches of the estuary and backwaters of Kerala. In both marine and estuarine forms, it is observed that mantle employs a lesser quantity of amino acids compared to adductor and foot. The regulation of cell volume is not carried out equally in all types of tissues. The capability of salinity tolerance is an aggregate of both the capabilities of extra cellular anisosmotic and intracellular isosmotic regulations in osmoconforming animals. The ultimate aim of water regulation is to regulate the cell volume.T here are slight changes occur in cell volume even in osmoregulators. These studies can also help in revealing the changes brought about in the cellular organelles like lysosomes, which were found to have a role in the osmoregulatory process. The osmoregulatory machinery of estuarine animals is more streamlined for a successful life in the estuarine regime.

Mapping and characterising subtropical estuarine landscapes using aerial photography and GIS for potential application in wildlife conservation and management

Coarse-resolution thematic maps derived from remotely sensed data and implemented in GIS play an important role in coastal and marine conservation, research and management. Here, we describe an approach for fine-resolution mapping of land-cover types using aerial photography and ancillary GIs and ground data in a large (100 x 35 km) subtropical estuarine system (Moreton Bay, Queensland, Australia). We have developed and implemented a classification scheme representing 24 coastal (subtidal, intertidal. mangrove, supratidal and terrestrial) cover types relevant to the ecology of estuarine animals, nekton and shorebirds. The accuracy of classifications of the intertidal and subtidal cover types, as indicated by the agreement between the mapped (predicted) and reference (ground) data, was 77-88%, depending on the zone and level of generalization required. The variability and spatial distribution of habitat mosaics (landscape types) across the mapped environment were assessed using K-means clustering and validated with Classification and Regression Tree models. Seven broad landscape types could be distinguished and ways of incorporating the information on landscape composition into site-specific conservation and field research are discussed. This research illustrates the importance and potential applications of fine-resolution mapping for conservation and management of estuarine habitats and their terrestrial and aquatic wildlife. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects and impacts of physical stress on entrained organisms.

Environmental studies of power plants have recently shifted their emphasis from examination of the effects of heated discharges to studies of the impacts of entire cooling systems. One of the major impacts arises when planktonic organisms are carried into and through a plant with the cooling water. Because of their relatively immobile, free-floating character, planktonic organisms are highly vulnerable to being "entrained" or passively drawn into the cooling water condenser systems of power plants. More than 70% of estuarine animals have planktonic eggs and larvae. The environmental impact of entrainment is related to the composition and abundance of affected organisms, the numbers of organisms in the adjacent waters, survival rates during entrainment as related to natural survival, the ecological roles of entrained organisms, and their reproductive strategies.

Technology and success in restoration, creation, and enhancement of Spartina afferniflora marshes in the United States. Vol. 1: Executive Summary and Annotated Bibliography

Extensive losses of coastal wetlands in the United States caused by sea-level rise, land subsidence, erosion, and coastal development have increased hterest in the creation of salt marshes within estuaries. Smooth cordgrass Spartina altemiflora is the species utilized most for salt marsh creation and restoration throughout the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the U.S., while S. foliosa and Salicomia virginica are often used in California. Salt marshes have many valuable functions such as protecting shorelines from erosion, stabilizing deposits of dredged material, dampening flood effects, trapping water-born sediments, serving as nutrient reservoirs, acting as tertiary water treatment systems to rid coastal waters of contaminants, serving as nurseries for many juvenile fish and shellfish species, and serving as habitat for various wildlife species (Kusler and Kentula 1989). The establishment of vegetation in itself is generally sufficient to provide the functions of erosion control, substrate stabilization, and sediment trapping. The development of other salt marsh functions, however, is more difficult to assess. For example, natural estuarine salt marshes support a wide variety of fish and shellfish, and the abundance of coastal marshes has been correlated with fisheries landings (Turner 1977, Boesch and Turner 1984). Marshes function for aquatic species by providing breeding areas, refuges from predation, and rich feeding grounds (Zimmerman and Minello 1984, Boesch and Turner 1984, Kneib 1984, 1987, Minello and Zimmerman 1991). However, the relative value of created marshes versus that of natural marshes for estuarine animals has been questioned (Carnmen 1976, Race and Christie 1982, Broome 1989, Pacific Estuarine Research Laboratory 1990, LaSalle et al. 1991, Minello and Zimmerman 1992, Zedler 1993). Restoration of all salt marsh functions is necessary to prevent habitat creation and restoration activities from having a negative impact on coastal ecosystems.

Status and trends report on wildlife of the San Francisco Estuary /

Mode of access: Internet.

Glycogen degrading enzymes and their regulation in benthic animals and estuarine fish

Alpha glucan phosphorylase plays a very significant role in glycolysis. The inhibition and activation of this enzyme have significant effect on the rate of glycolysis. The rate of glycolysis is also determined by the interconversion between the active 3 and inactive Q forms of phosphorylase by two specific enzymes called phosphorylase phosphatase and phosphorylase kinase. The allosteric properties and interconversion mechanism reported for well—studied animal muscle phosphorylases do not fall under a general pattern. Studies using purified phosphorylase from marine sources are scanty. Detailed studies using specialised tissues from more marine animals are necessary to find the factors that control the properties and activities of the enzyme. This thesis is an attempt in this direction. The thesis deals with a detailed study of the control of the phosphorylase by both allosterism and interconversion between the g and b forms from four different aquatic animals of different habitat. Phosphorylase frm the four different animal muscles were purified either partially or completely and the kinetic and control properties were studied.

Catchment-specific element signatures in estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) from the Alligator Rivers Region, northern Australia

The concentrations of Na, K, Ca, Mg, Ba, Sr, Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cu, Ni, Cr, Co, Se, U and Ti were determined in the osteoderms and/or flesh of estuarine crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) captured in three adjacent catchments within the Alligator Rivers Region (ARR) of northern Australia. Results from multivariate analysis of variance showed that when all metals were considered simultaneously, catchment effects were significant (P≤0.05). Despite considerable within-catchment variability, linear discriminant analysis (LDA) showed that differences in elemental signatures in the osteoderms and/or flesh of C. porosus amongst the catchments were sufficient to classify individuals accurately to their catchment of occurrence. Using cross-validation, the accuracy of classifying a crocodile to its catchment of occurrence was 76% for osteoderms and 60% for flesh. These data suggest that osteoderms provide better predictive accuracy than flesh for discriminating crocodiles amongst catchments. There was no advantage in combining the osteoderm and flesh results to increase the accuracy of classification (i.e. 67%). Based on the discriminant function coefficients for the osteoderm data, Ca, Co, Mg and U were the most important elements for discriminating amongst the three catchments. For flesh data, Ca, K, Mg, Na, Ni and Pb were the most important metals for discriminating amongst the catchments. Reasons for differences in the elemental signatures of crocodiles between catchments are generally not interpretable, due to limited data on surface water and sediment chemistry of the catchments or chemical composition of dietary items of C. porosus. From a wildlife management perspective, the provenance or source catchment(s) of 'problem' crocodiles captured at settlements or recreational areas along the ARR coastline may be established using catchment-specific elemental signatures. If the incidence of problem crocodiles can be reduced in settled or recreational areas by effective management at their source, then public safety concerns about these predators may be moderated, as well as the cost of their capture and removal. Copyright © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V.

A Biogeographic assessment off North/Central California: In support of the National Marine Sanctuaries of Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay. Phase II - Environmental setting and update to marine birds and animals

NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS) conducts and supports research, monitoring, assessments, and technical assistance to meet NOAA’s coastal stewardship and management responsibilities. In 2001 the Biogeography Branch of NCCOS partnered with NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuary Program (NMSP) to conduct biogeographic assessments to support the management plan updates for the sanctuaries. The first biogeographic assessment conducted in this partnership focused on three sanctuaries off north/ central California: Cordell Bank, Gulf of the Farallones and Monterey Bay. Phase I of this assessment was conducted from 2001 to 2004, with the primary goal to identify and gather the best available data and information to characterize and identify important biological areas and time periods within the study area. The study area encompasses the three sanctuaries and extends along the coastal ocean off California from Pt. Arena to Pt. Sal (35°-39°N). This partnership project was lead by the NCCOS Biogeography Branch, but included over 90 contributors and 25 collaborating institutions. Phase I results include: 1) a report on the overall assessment that includes hundreds of maps, tables and analyses; 2) an ecological linkage report on the marine and estuarine ecosystems along the coast of north/central California, and 3) related geographic information system (GIS) data and other summary data files, which are available for viewing and download in several formats at the following website: http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/products/biogeography/canms_cd/welcome.html Phase II (this report) was initiated in the Fall of 2004 to complete the analyses of marine mammals and update the marine bird colony information. Phase II resulted in significant updates to the bird and mammal chapters, as well as adding an environmental settings chapter, which contains new and existing data and maps on the study area. Specifically, the following Phase II topics and items were either revised or developed new for Phase II: •environmental, ecological settings – new maps on marine physiographic features, sea surface temperature and fronts, chlorophyll and productivity •all bird colony or roost maps, including a summary of marine bird colonies •updated at-sea data CDAS data set (1980-2003) •all mammal maps and descriptions •new overall density maps for eight mammal species •new summary pinniped rookery/haulout map •new maps on at-sea richness for cetaceans and pinnipeds •most text in the mammal chapter •new summary tables for mammals on population status and spatial and temporal patterns

Ecological And Metabolic Studies On Free-Living Nematodes From An Estuarine Mud-Flat

Nematodes from a mud-flat in the river Lynher estuary, Cornwall, U.K., have a population density ranging between 8 and 9 × 106 m−2 in the winter months, corresponding to a dry weight of 1·4 and 1·6 g m−2. They reach a peak abundance of 22·86 × 106 m−2 (3·4 g) in May. About 40 species are present, and the species composition remained seasonally stable over the period of study. Analysis of age-structure suggests that the major species have continuous asynchronous reproduction. Respiration rates of 16 species have been determined at 20 °C using Cartesian diver respirometry. For five species, respiration/body size regressions were obtained in the form log10R = log10a+b log10V, where R = respiration in nl O2 ind−1 h−1 and V = body volume in nl: Mesotheristus setosus (log10a = −0·04,b = 0·74), Sphaerolaimus hirsutus (log10a = 0·11, b = 0·68), Axonolaimus paraspinosus (log10a = 0·00, b = 0·79), Metachromadora vivipara (log10a = −0·59, b = 1·07), Praeacanthonchus punctatus (log10a = 0·00, b = 0·55). For the remaining 11 species, several animals were used in each diver and, by assuming b = 0·75, log10a′ values were calculated: Viscosia viscosa (log10a′ = 0·188), Innocuonema tentabundum (−0·012), Ptycholaimellus ponticus (−0·081), Odontophora setosa (−0·092), Sphaerolaimus balticus (−0·112), Dichromadora cephalata (−0·133), Atrochromadora microlaima (−0·142), Cylindrotheristus normandicus (−0·150), Terschellingialongicaudata (−0·170), Sabatieria pulchra (−0·197), Terschellingia communis (−0·277). These values are compared with recalculated values for other species from the literature. Annual respiration of the nematode community is 28·01 O2 m−2, equivalent to 11·2 g carbon metabolised. Community respiration is compared with figures from N. American saltmarshes. At 20 °C, a respiration of about 61 O2 m−2 year−1 g−1 wet weight of nematodes appears to be typical. Annual production is estimated to be 6·6 g C m−2. The correlation between feeding-group, body-size, habitat and the repiration rate of individual species is discussed.

Respiration Of The Meiobenthic Harpacticoid Copepod Tachidius-Discipes Giesbrecht From An Estuarine Mudflat

The relationships between respiration (R) and body volume (V) for all developmental stages of the harpacticoid copepod Tachidius discipes Giesbrecht have been investigated. The relationships for laboratory-reared animals and animals from the field are significantly different. They are: logR = −0.07 + 1.10 logV for laboratory-reared animals and log R = −0.10 + 0.82 logV for field animals. The effect of temperature on the respiration rate of adult males, over the temperature range 5–20°C, was described by a Q10 of 2.09 ± 0.24. The respiration rate of an adult T. discipes is very similar to that of a similar sized nematode from the same field site and is compared with published data for other harpacticoids.