A spatial risk assessment model is developed for the Great Barrier Reef (GBR, Australia) that helps identify reef locations at higher or lower risk of coral bleaching in summer heat-wave conditions. The model confirms the considerable benefit of discriminating nutrient-enriched areas that contain corals with enlarged (suboptimal) symbiont densities for the purpose of identifying bleaching-sensitive reef locations. The benefit of the new system-level understanding is showcased in terms of: (i) improving early-warning forecasts of summer bleaching risk, (ii) explaining historical bleaching patterns, (iii) testing the bleaching-resistant quality of the current marine protected area (MPA) network (iv) identifying routinely monitored coral health attributes, such as the tissue energy reserves and skeletal growth characteristics (viz. density and extension rates) that correlate with bleaching resistant reef locations, and (v) targeting region-specific water quality improvement strategies that may increase reef-scale coral health and bleaching resistance.

The Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) is a marine sentinel for the southern Atlantic Ocean that is a proxy of environmental quality. The presence of marine debris (macro-debris) in the stomach contents of emaciated juvenile penguins stranded from 21°S to 23°S was compared at different times (2000 and 2008), and the debris ingestion pathway was determined. The frequency of marine debris in the stomachs doubled in less than a decade, and flexible plastics remained the main ingested item over time (68–70%). The pelagic octopus, Argonauta nodosa, which inhabits the sea surface, was the most important prey species recovered in the stomach contents. The poor physical condition of the penguins that reach the northern migration limit (study area) reduces the diving capacity of the animals and increases their vulnerability to debris ingestion. Considering their preferred prey and physical condition, we conclude that the penguins likely ingested the marine debris in surface waters.

This work is an overview of all available benthic data collected in the Algerian harbours between 1983 and 2001. So, total of 571 stations were reported in the 10 major Algerian harbours along the Algerian coast (1200km). Two main categories of harbours were distinguished according to their hydrodynamic regime and volume of water exchange between inner harbour basins and the entrance of the harbours. Univariate, multivariate, benthic indices and Biological Traits of Life approaches were applied on stations sampled in the late 1990s and long-term observations in six out of these ten harbours. These approaches assessed the main characteristics and ecological statuses from these south Mediterranean harbours. One of the main characteristics of the Algerian harbours was the very high species diversity (847 species). Although all the fauna was dominated by pollution-tolerant species; some harbours such as Bethioua and Djendjen hosted normal benthic communities as found in the open sea, but also included some pollution indicator species typical of a slight polluted system. On the contrary, the newly constructed port of Skikda showed perturbed benthic communities in relation to hydrocarbon pollution. Biological Traits of Life analysis reinforced the separation of benthic species along a gradient reflecting their sensitivity or tolerance to pollution. This response was related to an increase in organic matter content, probably associated with a general organic and metal contamination, from the entrance of the harbour to the innermost basins in areas with weak circulation, high sedimentation rate and concentrations of pollutants. Except for Oran harbour, where the poor to moderate ecological status remained unchanged with time, the other harbours showed an improvement or a slight degradation. A strategy of long-term monitoring should be promoted, based on a restricted and selected number of stations characteristic of the different basins and water masses occupying the harbours.

This paper analyses the 2016 environmental benchmark performance of the port sector, based on a wide representation of EcoPorts members. This is the fifth time that this study has been conducted as an initiative of the European Sea Ports Organisation (ESPO). The data and results are derived from the Self-Diagnosis Method (SDM), a concise checklist against which port managers can self-assess the environmental management of their port in relation to the performance of the EcoPorts membership. The SDM tool was developed in the framework of the ECOPORTS project (2002–2005) and it is managed by ESPO. A total number of 91 ports from 20 different European Maritime States contributed to this evaluation. The main results are that air quality remains as the top environmental priority of the respondent ports, followed by energy consumption and noise.In terms of environmental management, the study confirms that key components are commonly implemented in the majority of European ports. 94% of contributing ports have a designated environmental manager, 92% own an environmental policy and 82% implement an environmental monitoring program. Waste is identified as the most monitored issue in ports (80%), followed by energy consumption (73%) and water quality (70%).

To evaluate biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) tracers from biogenic precursors, fine particles (PM2.5) were collected using filter-based high-volume samplers from spring-summer of 2015 in the central part of Shanghai, China. The results showed that the isoprene SOA tracers exhibited the highest levels (17.64 ± 9.75 ng m−3) and were always observed along with higher temperatures, which results in a higher tracer formation rate and isoprene emission strength. However, the isoprene SOA tracers showed a weak correlation with the relative humidity (p > 0.05). The isoprene SOA tracers showed remarkable correlations with the [H+] because of the enhanced formation of isoprene SOA in the acidic aerosols. On the basis of these results, 2-methylglyceric acid was determined to have weak correlations with other isoprene tracers, which indicated that it had different formation pathways from those of other isoprene SOA tracers. Cis-pinonic acid had negative correlations with other SOA tracers, indicating that it is the first product in the oxidation process. Furthermore, the isoprene-based tracers (SOCisoprene) were calculated to be 0.031–0.299 μg C m−3 (with an average of 0.114 ± 0.062 μg C m−3), which accounted for more than half of the biogenic SOA. The SOC estimation with SOA tracers (SOC tracer-based) averaged 0.155 ± 0.066 μg m−3, with a range from 0.049 to 0.309 μg m−3 during the sampling period, which amounted to 2.73% OC.

The particulate material was fractionated into 5 size classes (>90μ, 50–90μ, 6–50μ, 1–6μ, and <1μ). DOP was analysed as easily (DOPh, DOPpa) and less easily hydrolysable compounds (DOPox). Based on Vmax, 94% of the high affinity AP activity was due to <50μ cells and 77% to <1μ cells. 83% of the low affinity activity was due to >90μ cells. The high affinity activities were negatively correlated with DOP for the <50μ classes. These correlations came mostly from DOPox. They were more significant when NO3+NO2 concentrations were high, when DIP concentrations were low and when N/P ratio was >10. At lower N/P ratios, AP was more significantly correlated with DIP. The low affinity activities showed significant negative correlation with DIP and with DOP and DOPox for the >90μ class. The inhibition of AP activities by DOPox may originate from stable compounds interfering with DIP for the control of AP synthesis.

Three mangroves located in southern Brazil, Carijós (CA), Rio Tavares (RT) and Itacorubi (ITA), with distinct anthropogenic influences, were assessed with regard to the presence of aliphatic and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). In this study, the n-alkane concentrations ranged from 1.9μg g−1 (CA) to 55.6μg g−1 (ITA) (dry weight). The carbon preference index (CPI) ranged from 2.1 to 7.9 and values for the terrestrial/aquatic ratio (TAR) were >1. Thus, both indexes indicated the predominance of sediment of terrestrial origin, mainly comprised of higher plants. Concentrations of total PAH ranged from 6.8ng g−1 (RT) to 437.3ng g−1 (ITA). The PAH isomeric ratios indicated that these compounds originated mainly from pyrogenic sources. Nevertheless, levels of n-alkanes in the three mangroves were relatively low and they are considered typical of uncontaminated surface sediments, while the level of contamination with PAH was classified as low to moderate.

Toxic air pollution on city streets is a very important issue, as pollutants are associated with adverse health effects, including respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. This study compared commuters' exposures to inhalable suspended particulate matter (PM) for different transportation modes in Xi'an City, China. Four commuting modes—private car, subway, bus and walking—were selected for the study. Commuter exposure concentrations to PM (PM10, PM2.5, PM1.0) were investigated in the following microenvironments: private cars under four ventilation modes, subway trains and station platforms, buses under two different ventilation modes, and pedestrians. Pearson correlation analysis was used to analyze the relationships between commuter PM10, PM2.5 and PM1.0 exposure concentrations under the different commuting modes. A mixed-effect linear model was used to identify the effects of different commuting modes on PM mass and number concentrations in these different traffic microenvironments. The results indicated that the concentration of particulate matter (PM) is significantly influenced by transportation mode as well as by vehicle ventilation systems. Among the four commuting modes, commuters were exposed to the lowest concentrations of PM10 (11.83 ± 7.60 μg m−3), PM2.5 (10.09 ± 6.63 μg m−3) and PM1.0 (9.52 ± 6.17 μg m−3) in a private car with air conditioning recirculation. In contrast, passengers waiting for a train on a subway station platform were exposed to the highest PM concentrations (244.99 ± 43.19 μg m−3). Size fractions of PM differed greatly across PM exposures with the ratio of fine particles to coarser particles (PM2.5/PM10) varying from 45 to 96%.

We characterize particulate matter within the megacity Bogotá, Colombia using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. This work builds on previous efforts to develop representative meteorological simulations and emission inventories. Emissions are dominated by re-suspended particulate matter (PM), which are highly dependent on land-surface characterization and meteorology. We update previous re-suspended PM emission inventories to account for improved meteorological simulations and then we predict daily PM. Incorporating the latest meteorology and land-surface characteristics the re-suspended PM are on average reduced to 43% of their original estimate. The re-suspended PM reductions are caused by natural mitigation impacts on unpaved roads, which is extremely sensitive to relative humidity. With the updated emission inventory, the model predicts daily average PM10 of 59.4 (±1.0) μg/m3 compared to the observed values 58.3 (±0.7) μg/m3 at monitoring stations. The model performs well compared to literature recommended performance statistics except at two stations with outlier mean fractional bias and error. The remaining 10 stations have an overall mean fractional bias of 9.7% (stations ranging from −23.6–44.5%) and overall mean fractional error of 39.1% (stations ranging from 31.9 to 48.4%). Sensitivity analysis shows that both outlier stations are insensitive to the adjustments to resuspended road dust and are likely missing proximate sources from outside of the domain, or unknown sources within the domain. Still, within the core of Bogotá, the model is capturing the variability of mass concentration. Future work should improve the chemical speciation of particulate emissions to better characterize specific source/receptor relationships.

During the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) oil spill, interactions between oil, clay particles and marine snow lead to the formation of aggregates. Interactions between these components play an important, but yet not well understood, role in biodegradation of oil in the ocean water. The aim of this study is to explore the effect of these interactions on biodegradation of oil in the water. Laboratory experiments were performed, analyzing respiration and n-alkane and BTEX biodegradation in multiple conditions containing Corexit, alginate particles as marine snow, and kaolin clay. Two oil degrading bacterial pure cultures were added, Pseudomonas putida F1 and Rhodococcus qingshengii TUHH-12. Results show that the presence of alginate particles enhances oil biodegradation. The presence of Corexit alone or in combination with alginate particles and/or kaolin clay, hampers oil biodegradation. Kaolin clay and Corexit have a synergistic effect in increasing BTEX concentrations in the water and cause delay in oil biodegradation.