Marine sediment preserves a useful archive for contaminants and other properties that associate with particles. However, biomixing of sediments can smear the record on a scale of years to thousands of years, depending on sedimentation rate and on the depth and vigour of mixing within a particular sediment. Where such mixing occurs, dates can no longer be associated with discrete sediment depths. Nevertheless, much can still be learned from biomixed profiles, provided that mixing is accounted for. With no modelling at all, it is possible to calculate an inventory of a contaminant at a site and a maximum possible sedimentation rate, and to determine whether the contaminant has increased or decreased over time. Radiodating the core with ²¹⁰Pb permits the estimation of sedimentation and mixing rates, which can be combined with the surface contaminant concentration to estimate an approximate flux of the contaminant. Numerical models that incorporate sedimentation and mixing rates (determined using ²¹⁰Pb and other transient signals with known deposition histories) can provide the basis to propose plausible histories for contaminant fluxes.

Influences of marine cage culture and monsoonal disturbances, northeasterly (NE) and southwesterly (SW) monsoons on the proximal marine environment were investigated across a gradient of sites in a semi-enclosed bay, Magong Bay (Penghu Islands, Taiwan). Elevated levels of ammonia produced by the cages were the main pollutant and distinguished the cage-culture and intermediary zones (1000m away from the cages) from the reference zone in the NE monsoon, indicating currents produced by the strong monsoon may have extended the spread of nutrient-enriched waters without necessarily flushing such effluents outside Magong Bay. Moreover, the levels of chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity were distinguishable between two seasons, suggesting that resuspension caused by the NE monsoon winds may also influence the water quality across this bay. It indicated that the impacts of marine cage culture vary as a function of distance, and also in response to seasonal movements of water driven by local climatic occurrences.

Total dissolved Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd concentrations, speciation, fluorescence of organic matter and toxicity for sea urchin development have been studied during three years in water samples of three of the most industrialized harbours in North Coast of Spain: Vigo, Bilbao and Pasajes. Total metal concentrations were below 0.4nM for Cd and generally below 2nM for Pb. Zn and Cu levels were higher (2.8–9nM Cu and 15–234nM Zn) and denoted an anthropogenic enrichment. Ligand concentrations were usually between 50 and 200nM for Cu and between 6 and 80 for Pb and Zn. Organic matter and speciation analysis yielded complementary information to characterize the samples, but no correlation was present between the parameters calculated by both methods. Samples were tested for toxicity with sea urchin embryo bioassay and three samples were toxic but the toxicity could not be explained with the metal levels here measured.

Sorption of anionic perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) on marine sediment was investigated in detail. It was found that solution ionic composition and sediment-specific parameters played important roles in affecting the sorption of PFOS. The results indicated that sorption of PFOS in seawater to marine sediments was strong (∼10 times higher than that in freshwater) and nonlinear (Freundlich nF values of 0.77–0.96). The sorption affinity was well correlated with sediment organic carbon content, indicating the importance of hydrophobic interactions. At a PFOS aqueous concentration of 10μg/L, PFOS distribution coefficients increased with the increasing salinity in solution, with an average rate of 0.48±0.03log units per a log unit of salinity. Further studies demonstrated that among common ions contributing to the salinity in seawater, dissolved calcium and magnesium are dominantly responsible for the sorption-enhancing effect of salinity for PFOS. This work will aid in better understanding of PFOS sorption mechanisms, and be useful for fate modeling of this class of contaminants in the marine environment.

Responses of bioindicator candidates for water quality were quantified in two studies on inshore coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). In Study 1, 33 of the 38 investigated candidate indicators (including coral physiology, benthos composition, coral recruitment, macrobioeroder densities and FORAM index) showed significant relationships with a composite index of 13 water quality variables. These relationships were confirmed in Study 2 along four other water quality gradients (turbidity and chlorophyll). Changes in water quality led to multi-faceted shifts from phototrophic to heterotrophic benthic communities, and from diverse coral dominated communities to low-diversity communities dominated by macroalgae. Turbidity was the best predictor of biota; hence turbidity measurements remain essential to directly monitor water quality on the GBR, potentially complemented by our final calibrated 12 bioindicators. In combination, this bioindicator system may be used to assess changes in water quality, especially where direct water quality data are unavailable.

Riverine freshwater plumes are the major transport mechanism for nutrients, sediments and pollutants into the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) lagoon and connect the land with the receiving coastal and marine waters. Knowledge of the variability of the freshwater extent into the GBR lagoon is relevant for marine park management to develop strategies for improving ecosystem health and risk assessments. In this study, freshwater extent has been estimated for the entire GBR lagoon area from daily satellite observations of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) between 2002 and 2010. To enable a reliable mapping of freshwater plumes we applied a physics-based coastal ocean colour algorithm, that simultaneously retrieves chlorophyll-a, non-algal particulate matter and coloured dissolved organic matter (CDOM), from which we used CDOM as a surrogate for salinity (S) for mapping the freshwater extent.

Significant efforts are invested in field studies using fish, and it is important to optimize the number of organisms collected to evaluate the possible impacts of contamination. This paper provides ecotoxicologists with the approximate numbers of fish needed to identify statistically significant differences among samples using physiological indices and biochemical markers of fish health. The numbers of fish to collect are reported for ethoxyresorufin-o-deethylase (EROD); ethoxycoumarin-o-deethylase (ECOD), serum sorbitol dehydrogenase (sSDH), stress proteins, gonadosomatic index, liver somatic index, condition factor, and biliary metabolites of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. The number of fish to collect was as few as four for ECOD activity (with a power of 80%), but as high as 106 for CF (with a power of 95%). Achieving statistical significance between sites does not help in the interpretation of the biological significance of a parameter, but well-planned field samplings will maximize the chances of correctly identifying areas of concern.

Atoll lagoons display a high diversity of trophic states due mainly to their specific geomorphology, and probably to their level and mode of human exploitation. We investigated the functioning of the Ahe atoll lagoon, utilized for pearl oyster farming, through estimations of photosynthetic parameters (pulse amplitude modulation fluorometry) and primary production (¹³C incorporation) measurements of the size structured phytoplankton biomass (<2μm and >2μm). Spatial and temporal scales of variability were surveyed during four seasons, over 16months, at four sites within the lagoon. While primary production (P) was dominated by the picophytoplankton, its biomass specific primary productivity (Pᴮ) was lower than in other atoll lagoons. The variables size fraction of the phytoplankton, water temperature, season, the interaction term station*fraction and site, explained significantly the variance of the data set using redundancy analysis. No significant trends over depth were observed in the range of 0–20m. A clear spatial pattern was found which was persistent over the seasons: south and north sites were different from the two central stations for most of the measured variables. This pattern could possibly be explained by the existence of water cells showing different water residence time within the lagoon. Photoacclimation strategies of the two size fractions differed through their light saturation coefficient (higher for picophytoplankton), but not through their maximum photosynthetic capacity (ETRₘₐₓ). Positive linear relationships between photosynthetic parameters indicated that their dynamic was independent of light availability in this ecosystem, but most probably dependent on nutrient availability and/or rapid changes in the community structure. Spatial and temporal patterns of the measured processes are then further discussed in the context of nutrient availability and the possible role of cultured oysters in nutrient recycling.

In July 2001, the National Museum of Marine Biology and Aquarium, co-sponsored by the Kenting National Park Headquarters and Taiwan’s National Science Council, launched a Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program to monitor anthropogenic impacts on the ecosystems of southern Taiwan, specifically the coral reefs of Kenting National Park (KNP), which are facing an increasing amount of anthropogenic pressure. We found that the seawater of the reef flats along Nanwan Bay, Taiwan’s southernmost embayment, was polluted by sewage discharge at certain monitoring stations. Furthermore, the consequently higher nutrient and suspended sediment levels had led to algal blooms and sediment smothering of shallow water corals at some sampling sites. Finally, our results show that, in addition to this influx of anthropogenically-derived sewage, increasing tourist numbers are correlated with decreasing shallow water coral cover, highlighting the urgency of a more proactive management plan for KNP’s coral reefs.

Degradation of coastal ecosystems in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), Australia, has been linked with a decline in water quality from land-based runoff. This paper examines the reduction in current end-of-catchment loads required for total suspended solids (TSS) and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) to achieve GBR water quality guidelines. Based on first-order estimates of sustainable pollutant loads, current TSS and DIN loads would need to be reduced by approximately 7000ktons/y (41%) and 6000tons/y (38%), respectively. Next, these estimated reductions for TSS and DIN are compared with Reef Plan targets for anthropogenic sediment (−20% by 2020) and nitrogen (−50% by 2013) loads. If successful, these targets will accomplish approximately 40% of TSS and 92% of DIN load reductions required to achieve sustainable loads to the GBR lagoon. These first-order estimates elucidate the need to establish ecologically relevant targets for river pollutant loads to the GBR for management and policy.