Land use (and land management) change is seen as the primary factor responsible for changes in sediment and nutrient delivery to water bodies. Understanding how sediment and nutrient (or constituent) concentrations vary with land use is critical to understanding the current and future impact of land use change on aquatic ecosystems. Access to appropriate land-use based water quality data is also important for calculating reliable load estimates using water quality models. This study collated published and unpublished runoff, constituent concentration and load data for Australian catchments. Water quality data for total suspended sediments (TSS), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) were collated from runoff events with a focus on catchment areas that have a single or majority of the contributing area under one land use. Where possible, information on the dissolved forms of nutrients were also collated. For each data point, information was included on the site location, land use type and condition, contributing catchment area, runoff, laboratory analyses, the number of samples collected over the hydrograph and the mean constituent concentration calculation method. A total of ∼750 entries were recorded from 514 different geographical sites covering 13 different land uses. We found that the nutrient concentrations collected using “grab” sampling (without a well defined hydrograph) were lower than for sites with gauged auto-samplers although this data set was small and no statistical analysis could be undertaken. There was no statistically significant difference (p<0.05) between data collected at plot and catchment scales for the same land use. This is most likely due to differences in land condition over-shadowing the effects of spatial scale. There was, however, a significant difference in the concentration value for constituent samples collected from sites where >90% of the catchment was represented by a single land use, compared to sites with <90% of the upstream area represented by a single land use. This highlights the need for more single land use water quality data, preferably over a range of spatial scales. Overall, the land uses with the highest median TSS concentrations were mining (∼50,000mg/l), horticulture (∼3000mg/l), dryland cropping (∼2000mg/l), cotton (∼600mg/l) and grazing on native pastures (∼300mg/l). The highest median TN concentrations are from horticulture (∼32,000μg/l), cotton (∼6500μg/l), bananas (∼2700μg/l), grazing on modified pastures (∼2200μg/l) and sugar (∼1700μg/l). For TP it is forestry (∼5800μg/l), horticulture (∼1500μg/l), bananas (∼1400μg/l), dryland cropping (∼900mg/l) and grazing on modified pastures (∼400μg/l). For the dissolved nutrient fractions, the sugarcane land use had the highest concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP). Urban land use had the highest concentrations of dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP). This study provides modellers and catchment managers with an increased understanding of the processes involved in estimating constituent concentrations, the data available for use in modelling projects, and the conditions under which they should be applied. Areas requiring more data are also discussed.

In this study, some toxic metal such as Pb, Cd and Hg analyzes have been done in the nearshore surface sediments. Sediment samples have been collected from five parts from the European and Anotolian Shores of the Bosphorus during 2003–2004. Total Pb, Cd and Hg contents vary between <0.01μgg⁻¹ and 238μgg⁻¹; <0.01μgg⁻¹ and 0.92μgg⁻¹; 0.001μgg⁻¹ and 0.45μgg⁻¹, respectively. Contamination Factor (CF) values of Pb and Cd range between 1 and 3 whilst CF values of Hg are lower than 1 in all the stations. It means that there are no Hg metal enrichment by natural or anthropogenic inputs contrary to moderately contamination for Pb and Cd metals throughout the Bosphorus sediments.

Total metal concentrations (Cr, Ni, Cu, Zn, and Pb), acid volatile sulfide and simultaneously extracted metals (AVS–SEM), and heavy metal fractionation were used to assess the heavy metals contamination status and ecological risk in the sediments of the Pearl River Estuary (PRE) and adjacent shelf. Elevated concentrations at estuarine sites and lower concentrations at adjacent shelf sites are observed, especially for Cu and Zn. Within the PRE, the concentration of heavy metals in the western shore was mostly higher than that in the middle shore. The metals from anthropogenic sources mainly occur in the labile fraction and may be taken up by organisms as the environmental parameters change. A combination of total metal concentrations, metal contamination index and sequential extraction analysis is necessary to get the comprehensive information on the baseline, anthropogenic discharge and bioavailability of heavy metals.

Forty-two surface sediment samples collected from the southern coastal East China Sea (ECS) were analyzed for organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The results showed high concentrations of DDTs and parent DDT fractions in the nearshore area, suggesting that there is still a fresh input of these species from non-point sources, probably due to the recent usage of relevant products. However, for HCHs, the high concentrations with elevated β-HCH fraction were focused at the local major river estuaries, indicating that soils-released HCH input was mainly from the major river runoffs. The distribution and composition of OCPs in the coastal ECS could be more prominently controlled by the direct regional inputs rather than the general natural sorption process on particulate organic carbon. DDTs and chlordane are more important for their potential ecotoxicological risk on neighboring benthic community in the nearshore region and the local major river estuaries.

In this study we compared reproductive characteristics and steroid hormone levels in the non-indigenous scleractinian coral, Oculina patagonica, inhabiting contaminated vs. uncontaminated reference sites along the Israeli Mediterranean coast. Our results indicate significantly higher steroid levels in both seawater and coral tissue samples from contaminated sites as compared to reference sites, suggesting that corals tend to accumulate steroids from the surrounding waters. Despite their higher steroid levels, corals from the contaminated sites showed reproductive potential comparable to those of the reference sites. Interestingly, a clear distinction could be seen between corals exposed to pollution for long vs. short durations, with the latter showing a failure to complete gametogenesis. This suggests that reproduction in O. patagonica is susceptible to acute rather than chronic stress. The involvement of adjustment/adaptation processes may explain this species tolerance, and may reflect the ability of O. patagonica to successfully invade new areas in the Mediterranean Sea.

This study provides data concerning the hydrography and water chemistry of the Atlantic region between 29–38° N and 27–31° W, and establishes background values for dissolved Cu, Cd, Pb and As. Three water masses were identified: the Eastern North Atlantic Central Water (ENACW), the Mediterranean Water (MW) and the North Atlantic Deep Water (NADW). The ENACW exhibits a clear meridional gradient of temperature and salinity, with comparatively high values at the southern sites and lower values on the Azores platform. The ENACW, which includes the euphotic zone, also had comparatively high concentrations of oxygen and lower concentrations of nutrients and metals. The Cu, Cd and Pb results suggest that new background concentrations for OSPAR Region V (the Wider Atlantic) should be established as follows: 0.15–13nM for Cu, 0.05–1.4nM for Cd and 0.03–5nM for Pb. The background concentrations of As for OSPAR Region V should be 7–28nM.

The Berre Lagoon has been under strong anthropogenic pressure since the early 1950s. The opening of the hydroelectric EDF power plant in 1966 led to large salinity drops. The zooplankton community was mainly composed of two common brackish species: Acartia tonsa and Brachionus plicatilis. Since 2006, European litigation has strongly constrained the input of freshwater, maintaining the salinity above 15. A study was performed between 2008 and 2010 to evaluate how these modifications have impacted the zooplankton community. Our results show that the community is more diverse and contains several coastal marine species (i.e., Centropages typicus, Paracalanus parvus and Acartia clausi). A. tonsa is still present but is less abundant, whereas B. plicatilis has completely disappeared. Strong predatory marine species, such as chaetognaths, the large conspicuous autochtonous jellyfish Aurelia aurita and the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi, are now very common as either seasonal or permanent features of the lagoon.

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.

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.

Interannual variability (2003–2008) of meiofaunal assemblages were analyzed in sediments beneath fish cages (Impact group) and in areas not affected by aquaculture activities (Control group). Organisms responded with spatial and seasonal variation in meiofauna assemblages, with an abrupt increase of abundances in locations beneath fish cages throughout the study period. This increase was greater during the last sampling year (2008) and mainly due to high abundances of nematodes. Univariate analyses showed differences between control and impacted sites at both sites, however, only significant variations were found in Los Gigantes, which are consistent with seasonal meiofauna variations throughout the study period. These results are partially explained by differences in current velocity between both sampling areas. The Ne/Co index showed the same trend and it seems to be a reliable index in sediment slightly affected by aquaculture wastes. This index is especially recommended in oligotrophic areas (e.g. Canary Islands) where meiofaunal assemblages are poorly represented in terms of abundances.