We compare the environmental characteristics and bacterial communities associated with two rushes, Juncus maritimus and Bolboschoenus maritimus, and adjacent unvegetated habitat in a salt marsh subjected to historical mercury pollution. Mercury content was higher in vegetated than unvegetated habitat and increased with sampling depth. There was also a significant relationship between mercury concentration and bacterial composition. Habitat (Juncus, Bolboschoenus or unvegetated), sample depth, and the interaction between both, however, explained most of the variation in composition (∼70%). Variation in composition with depth was most prominent for the unvegetated habitat, followed by Juncus, but more constrained for Bolboschoenus habitat. This constraint may be indicative of a strong plant–microbe ecophysiological adaptation. Vegetated habitat contained distinct bacterial communities associated with higher potential activity of aminopeptidase, β-glucosidase and arylsulphatase and incorporation rates of ¹⁴C-glucose and ¹⁴C-acetate. Communities in unvegetated habitat were, in contrast, associated with both higher pH and proportion of sulphate reducing bacteria.

Southern California is an increasingly urbanized hotspot for surfing, thus it is of great interest to assess the human illness risks associated with this popular ocean recreational water sport from exposure to fecal bacteria contaminated coastal waters. Quantitative microbial risk assessments were applied to eight popular Southern California beaches using readily available enterococcus and fecal coliform data and dose-response models to compare health risks associated with surfing during dry weather and storm conditions. The results showed that the level of gastrointestinal illness risks from surfing post-storm events was elevated, with the probability of exceeding the US EPA health risk guideline up to 28% of the time. The surfing risk was also elevated in comparison with swimming at the same beach due to ingestion of greater volume of water. The study suggests that refinement of dose-response model, improving monitoring practice and better surfer behavior surveillance will improve the risk estimation.

In this study, we investigated the influence of low level contamination by copper, lead and zinc on the functioning of estuarine sandflat ecosystems by comparing the strength and variability of relationships between benthic macrofauna and fluxes (oxygen and nutrients) at three clean and three mildly contaminated sites. Specifically, as indicators of ecosystem functioning, we examined relationships between bivalve biomass, total benthic respiration and ammonium release, and ammonium uptake and benthic primary production. Furthermore, a small amount of organic matter was added to experimental plots at all sites (35g/0.2m²) to evaluate stress-on-stress responses relative to controls. Relationships were strongest at the clean sites (steepest slopes, highest r² values, lowest p-values) and weakest at the mildly contaminated sites and in organically enriched plots. Our results suggest that changes in ecosystem functioning may be occurring at mild (<ERL) levels of pollution that are unlikely to cause widespread mortality of macrofauna.

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.

Coastal and inshore areas of the Great Barrier Reef lagoon receive substantial amounts of material from adjacent developed catchments, which can affect the ecological integrity of coral reefs and other inshore ecosystems. A 5-year water quality monitoring dataset provides a ‘base range’ of water quality conditions for the inshore GBR lagoon and illustrates the considerable temporal and spatial variability in this system. Typical at many sites were high turbidity levels and elevated chlorophyll a and phosphorus concentrations, especially close to river mouths. Water quality variability was mainly driven by seasonal processes such as river floods and sporadic wind-driven resuspension as well as by regional differences such as land use. Extreme events, such as floods, caused large and sustained increases in water quality variables. Given the highly variable climate in the GBR region, long-term monitoring of marine water quality will be essential to detect future changes due to improved catchment management.

The distributions, annual sedimentation and atmospheric deposition flux of heavy metals have been studied in sediments of the South Yellow Sea (SYS), in order to evaluate their levels and pollution status. The higher concentrations of heavy metals were generally found in the central part of the SYS, which may be associated with the organic matters due to their high affinity to the metals. According to the calculated enrichment factor (EF) of the studied metals, Cd in the sediments posed a high risk to local environments, while Mn, Hg, Pb and Zn were at moderate risk levels. Sedimentation fluxes study in the SYS showed that most heavy metals were deposited in the Chinese offshore. Annual dry deposition flux of these metals indicated that the particulate heavy metals deposition via atmosphere also play an important role in biogeochemical cycles in the SYS.

Three microorganisms were assayed to evaluate the microbiological quality in the seawater at a resort on the Mexican Pacific coast, and to test for possible associations among the titers of the various bacteria, their possible correlations with environmental conditions, and with the location of potential wastewater outflows. Significant microorganism levels were found (at Caletilla beach, Hornos beach, and Papagayo beach, respectively: for Enterococcus 157, 153, and 149, for C. perfringens 35, 89, and 56, for S. aureus 244,137, and 279CFU/100ml), often in excess of the presently set guideline values. In general, bacterial titers were higher during rainy season than in dry season. For S. aureus, in both seasons, highest concentrations were found at 3pm, the time of highest tourist presence at the beaches. Our results argue for the use of these three microorganisms as part of a set of indicators in the routine microbiological evaluation of Mexican beachwaters.

Sediment contamination by metals poses risks to coastal ecosystems and is considered to be problematic to dredging operations. In Brazil, there are differences in sedimentology along the Large Marine Ecosystems in relation to the metal distributions. We aimed to assess the extent of Al, Fe, Hg, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn contamination in sediments from port zones in northeast (Mucuripe and Pecém) and southeast (Santos) Brazil through geochemical analyses and sediment quality ratings. The metal concentrations found in these port zones were higher than those observed in the continental shelf or the background values in both regions. In the northeast, metals were associated with carbonate, while in Santos, they were associated with mud. Geochemical analyses showed enrichments in Hg, Cd, Cu, Ni and Zn, and a simple application of international sediment quality guidelines failed to predict their impacts, whereas the use of site-specific values that were derived by geochemical and ecotoxicological approaches seemed to be more appropriate in the management of the dredged sediments.

Total mercury (Hg) and methylmercury (MeHg) were analyzed in near surface sediments (0–2cm) and biota (zooplankton, macro-invertebrates, finfish) collected from Narragansett Bay (Rhode Island/Massachusetts, USA) and adjacent embayments and tidal rivers. Spatial patterns in sediment contamination were governed by the high affinity of Hg for total organic carbon (TOC). Sediment MeHg and percent MeHg were also inversely related to summer bottom water dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations, presumably due to the increased activity of methylating bacteria. For biota, Hg accumulation was influenced by inter-specific habitat preferences and trophic structure, and sediments with high TOC and percent silt–clay composition limited mercury bioavailability. Moreover, hypoxic bottom water limited Hg bioaccumulation, which is possibly mediated by a reduction in biotic foraging, and thus, dietary uptake of mercury. Finally, most biota demonstrated a significant positive relationship between tissue and TOC-normalized sediment Hg, but relationships were much weaker or absent for sediment MeHg. These results have important implications for the utility of estuarine biota as subjects for mercury monitoring programs.

The impacts of ocean acidification on coastal biofilms are poorly understood. Carbon dioxide vent areas provide an opportunity to make predictions about the impacts of ocean acidification. We compared biofilms that colonised glass slides in areas exposed to ambient and elevated levels of pCO₂ along a coastal pH gradient, with biofilms grown at ambient and reduced light levels. Biofilm production was highest under ambient light levels, but under both light regimes biofilm production was enhanced in seawater with high pCO₂. Uronic acids are a component of biofilms and increased significantly with high pCO₂. Bacteria and Eukarya denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profile analysis showed clear differences in the structures of ambient and reduced light biofilm communities, and biofilms grown at high pCO₂ compared with ambient conditions. This study characterises biofilm response to natural seabed CO₂ seeps and provides a baseline understanding of how coastal ecosystems may respond to increased pCO₂ levels.