On December 12th, 1999, the oil tanker Erika sank off the southern coast of Brittany (France), releasing 20 000–30 000 tons of heavy oil in the open sea. Among the affected coastal habitats were important nurseries for numerous flatfish species and particularly for the common sole, Solea solea. To investigate the potential impact of the spill on this economically significant resource, we employed Fry's concept of metabolic scope for activity to assess the deleterious effect of fuel exposure on the functional integrity of juvenile sole. Fish were captured from uncontaminated areas and experimentally exposed to contamination conditions mimicking those encountered during the weeks that followed the Erika spill. Using respirometry techniques we measured basal and active metabolic rates, and calculated aerobic metabolic scope, in control and fuel-exposed sole. We then compared the ability of control and fuel-exposed sole to face an episode of reduced oxygen availability. We found that whereas basal metabolic rate was not altered in fuel-exposed fish, active metabolic rate (−27%), and therefore aerobic metabolic scope, were impacted. These changes in metabolic scope were viewed as indicating changes in fishes' ability to face environmental contingencies. Finally the ability of sole to face an episode of reduced oxygen availability was found to be significantly altered following fuel exposure as indicated by a 65% increase in the critical oxygen level. It is concluded that fuel-exposed sole are functionally impaired and less able to face environmental challenges. The link between these results and the recently reported fall in the abundance of the year class that suffered the Erika oil spill is discussed.

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) were analysed in the muscle of various edible marine crustaceans (spider crab, edible crab, velvet swimming crab and Norway lobster) from the Brittany and Normandy coasts (France). The highest concentrations were measured in species collected from Antifer (Seine Bay). PCB and PBDE patterns in crustacean muscles were similar and independent of the geographical area with the predominance of the high chlorinated PCBs (CB 15 3, 138, 118 and 180), and of a few PBDE congeners (BDE47, BDE99, WE 100 and BDE28). Oppositely, dioxin contamination differed with site. The major component in crustaceans from the Seine Bay was 2378-TCDF, whereas specimens from cleaner areas had higher relative concentrations of OCDD. Finally, the comparison of the spider crab contaminant profiles to those measured in mussel and sea bass highlighted two different trends: decapod crustaceans possess relatively strong capacity to metabolise PCBs and PBDEs; however these species might be used as bioindicators for dioxin pollution monitoring in the marine coastal environment. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using recent indices developed, in part, for use under the European Water Framework Directive (AMBI, BENTIX, BOPA BQI, I2EC and the trophic index ITI), the ecological quality status of two highly contaminated environments-the Bay of Seine and the Seine estuary (Eastern English Channel)-was determined on several spatial and temporal scales. Data from 604 observations gathered over a 14-year period (1988-2002) were analyzed, and the results used to show the relationship between biotic indices, environmental variables and classic descriptors (e.g., number of species, total abundance, dominance index, ES(50) and Shannon/Brillouin diversities). Though the specific ecological quality (EcoQ) values calculated with the various indices were different, the overall trend of the results was similar. Synthesizing the values produced by the six indices used in the study allowed attribution of a high to good EcoQ status to the Bay of Seine and a moderate EcoQ to the estuary. The mesh size used when processing samples was proved to have no effect in winter on the EcoQ values for either body of water. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Microorganisms degrading phenolic compounds play an important role in soil carbon cycling. The pcaH gene encoding a key ring-cleaving enzyme of the β -ketoadipate pathway was selected as a functional marker. Using a degenerate primer pair, pcaH fragments were cloned from two soils. The RFLP screening of 150 pcaH clones yielded 68 RFLP families. Comparison of 86 deduced amino acid sequences displayed 70 % identity to known PcaH sequences. Phylogenetic analysis results in two major groups mainly related to PcaH sequences from Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria phyla. This gene constitutes a suitable molecular marker to study the diversity of this functional group.

"This book will be an excellent reference tool for students and professionals in environmental, ecological, agricultural and geological sciences."--Jacket.

Fifteen soil profiles were taken from Ar-Ramtha wastewater treatment plant, 65 km north of Amman. Twelve of them represent soil planted with barley and irrigated with wastewater for the past 2, 5, and 15 years. The remaining three profiles represented a control area that has been only rainfed. Soil samples were collected in four replicates from each depth in each soil profile. Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to study the effect of irrigation with treated wastewater on hydraulic properties of surface and subsurface vertisols. Soil infiltration rate (IR), hydraulic conductivity (HC), and water retention (at 33 kPa and 1.5 MPa) were measured. The application of wastewater for 2, 5, and 15 years reduced soil hydraulic conductivity, whereas the infiltration rate decreased for 2 and 5 years, compared with non-irrigated area. Sites irrigated for 15 years with treated wastewater are characterized by higher percentages of large cracks, therefore revealed the highest infiltration rate. Soil available water changed due to wastewater application in decreasing order of: control (rainfed), 15, 5, 2 years of wastewater application.

With a view to the selection of plants for the re-vegetation of contaminated, semi-arid land, two populations of the perennial species Bituminaria bituminosa (Fabaceae) from the south of Spain were studied: one (“LA”) from a non-contaminated soil and the other (“C2”) from a similar soil having elevated total levels of Pb and Zn (1,112 and 4,249 μg g-¹, respectively). For sand-cultured plants receiving nutrient solution, flow cytometry showed that heavy metals, at the concentrations measured in aqueous extracts from contaminated soils, had only slight genotoxic effects on root tip cell nuclei. Both populations were also grown in both soils, in two pot experiments. In the first, shoot biomass of LA and C2 in the contaminated soil was decreased to similar extents, with respect to the “clean” soil. Tissue heavy metal concentrations were unlikely to have been phytotoxic, except in the case of shoot Zn for population LA, but there were tissue deficiencies of P and K for populations LA and C2, respectively. In the second pot assay, the stimulation of growth by NPK fertiliser confirmed that even though this soil had high total heavy metal levels, nutrient availability was the principal factor limiting growth. The lesser transport of heavy metals (Cd, Mn and Zn) to the shoot by the population from the contaminated site is a factor that should be considered when selecting B. bituminosa lines for the phytostabilisation of such sites.