To investigate the temporal and spatial behavior of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), daily data of PM10 and PM2.5 mass concentrations were collected from five air–quality monitoring stations in Chengdu from March 2013 to February 2014. In this period, the daily average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 were 156.6 and 99.5μg/m3, respectively, which exceeded both the Chinese ambient air–quality standards for PM and the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO). Higher mass concentrations of both PM10 and PM2.5 were observed in winter and spring, indicating that meteorological parameters play an important role. Although PM mass concentrations were evidently lower than reported in previous studies, the average PM2.5/PM10 ratio in this study was higher, indicating that fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution has become more serious. Weekly variations of PM concentrations were analyzed to estimate the impact of traffic restriction policies. The results show that the highest concentrations of particles were observed on Mondays and the lowest on Thursdays. Weekend effects were also obvious, which were mainly attributed to human activities.

Fish species have attracted considerable interest in studies assessing biological responses to environmental contaminants. In this study, the attention has been focussed on fishbone of selected fish species from a highly polluted marine area, Augusta Bay (Italy, Central Mediterranean) to evaluate if toxicant elements had an effect on the mineralogical structure of bones, although macroscopic deformations were not evident. In particular, an attempt was made to evaluate if bone mineral features, such as crystallinity, mineral maturity and carbonate/phosphate mineral content, determined by XR-Diffraction and FT-IR Spectroscopy, suffered negative effects due to trace element levels in fishbone, detected by ICP-OES. Results confirmed the reliability of the use of diffractometric and spectroscopic techniques to assess the degree of crystallinity and the mineral maturity in fishbone. In addition, in highly polluted areas, Hg and Cr contamination induced a process of premature aging of fishbone, altering its biochemical and mineral contents.

Human activity is contributing increasing noise to marine ecosystems. Recent studies have examined the effects of boat noise on marine fishes, but there is limited understanding of the prevalence of this type of sound source. This investigation tracks vessel noise on three reefs in the US Virgin Islands National Park over four months in 2013. Ambient noise levels ranged from 106 to 129dBrms re 1μPa (100Hz–20kHz). Boat noise occurred in 6–12% of samples. In the presence of boat noise, ambient noise in a low-frequency band (100–1000Hz) increased by >7dB above baseline levels and sound levels were significantly higher. The frequency with the most acoustic energy shifted to a significantly lower frequency when boat noise was present during the day. These results indicate the abundance of boat noise and its overlap with reef organism sound production, raising concern for the communication abilities of these animals.

We investigated bottom-water hypoxia induced by freshwater discharge from two artificial dykes into Chunsu Bay (CSB), Korea, during the summer of 2010. Field observations and model results of the dynamic and water-quality parameters indicated that the triggering mechanism of the hypoxia was strong stratification formed by the freshwater discharge from both dykes, which limited the dissolved oxygen (DO) supply in bottom water. Beneath the pycnocline, DO was consumed by sediment oxygen demand (SOD) during the summer. To investigate these processes, model experiments were conducted using a simplified DO budget model coupled with a 3D hydrodynamic model. The DO concentration in the northern part of CSB reached hypoxic conditions very quickly after 3.4days of discharge and lasted 18days until normal conditions resumed. In sum, in the CSB, marked stratification and its maintenance played a critical role in hypoxia in bottom water.

Oil spill identification relies usually on a wealth of chromatographic data which requires advanced data treatment (chemometrics). A simple approach based on Kohonen neural networks to handle three-dimensional arrays is presented. A suite of 28 diagnostic ratios was considered to monitor six oils along four months. It was found that some traditional diagnostic ratios were not stable enough. In particular, alkylated PAHs (e.g. 1-methyldibenzothiophene, 4-methylpyrene, 27bbSTER and the TA21 and TA26 triaromatic steroids) seemed less resistant to medium-weathering than biomarkers. One (or two) ratios were found to differentiate each product: 30O, 28ab (and 25nor30ab), C3-dbt/C3-phe, 27Ts, TA26 and 29Ts characterized Ashtart, Brent, Maya, Sahara, IFO and Prestige oils, respectively.

Compositions, changes and biomass of attached Ulva species on Porphyra rafts along the radial sandbank in the Yellow Sea were investigated, and potential contributions to green tides was analyzed. Ulva prolifera, Ulva flexuosa and Ulva linza were all appeared throughout the investigated period. U. prolifera and U. flexuosa dominated attached Ulva population on Porphyra rafts. Attached Ulva species biomass showed obviously spatial and temporal variations. Temperature, Ulva microscopic propagules and human activities were main factors to influence attached Ulva species biomass. The total attached Ulva species biomass was more than 20,000 fresh weight tons in April, and the green tide causative species U. prolifera accounted 51.03% in April 2013 before green tides occurred. The high biomass of attached Ulva species would contribute most to green tides in the Yellow Sea. But how attached Ulva species on Porphyra rafts contributing to green tides in the Yellow Sea should be further studied.

Posidonia oceanica is a marine angiosperm endemic from the Mediterranean. Despite their protection, its meadows are regressing. The economic valuation of ecosystem services (ES) assesses the contribution of ecosystems to human well-being and may provide local policy makers help in territorial development. To estimate the economic value of P. oceanica seagrass and the meadows that it forms to better account its presence in coastal development, identification and assessment of ES provided are first performed. Then goods and benefits (GB) and their economical values are estimated. In total, 25ES are identified and 7GB are economically evaluated. The economic value of GB provided by P. oceanica ranges between 25.3 million and 45.9 million€/year which means 283–513€/ha/year. Because of the lack of existing available data, only 7GB linked to 11/25ES have been estimated. Despite this overall undervaluation, this study offers a value for coastal development policies to take into account.

Marine litter is a significant environmental problem inherently linked to individuals’ purchasing, use and disposal behaviour. This research examined 176 British schoolchildren’s (aged 8–13years) baseline marine litter understanding and self-reported actions, and tested the impact of an educational intervention. All children participated in the educational intervention and completed a pre- and post-intervention questionnaire. At baseline, children were quite concerned about marine litter and recognised some of the causes and impacts of the problem. Children also reported taking a number of actions to help solve the problem. After the intervention, children were significantly more concerned, had a better understanding of the causes and negative impacts, and reported engaging in more actions to reduce the potential causes of marine litter. Understanding the perceptions and behaviours of children is crucial as they represent current and future actors and a potentially important source of social influence among their peers, parents and community.

The use of passive sampling methods for monitoring hydrophobic organic chemicals frequently requires the determination of equilibration times and partition coefficients in the laboratory. These experiments are often carried out by exposing passive samplers in a finite water volume, and errors are easily made when the obtained results are applied to the field, where water volumes are essentially infinite. The effect of water volume on the equilibration rate constant is discussed, using a mechanistic model. Application of this model to two literature reports illustrates that aqueous concentrations in the field may be underestimated by a factor of 10 or more, when the water volume effect is neglected. Finally, it is shown that the concept of “sorption capacity” (sampler mass times partition coefficient) allows for a more intuitive understanding of the passive sampling process in small and large water volumes, which may reduce the risk of laboratory-field extrapolation errors.

Urban development in coastal settings has increased the input of nitrogen into estuaries globally, in many cases changing the composition of estuarine ecosystems. By focussing on three adjacent estuaries with a gradient of anthropogenic N loadings, we used stable isotopes of N and C to test for changes due to increased anthropogenic N input on the structure of some key trophic linkages in estuaries. We found a consistent enrichment in δ15N corresponding to increased anthropogenic N at the three ecosystem levels studied: fine benthic organic matter, grazing invertebrate, and planktivorous fish. The degree of enrichment in δ15N between fine benthic organic matter and the grapsid crab Parasesarma erythrodactyla was identical across the three sites. The glassfish Ambassis jacksoniensis showed lower levels of enrichment compared to basal food sources at the higher N-loaded sites, suggesting a possible effect of anthropogenic N in decreasing food-chain length in these estuaries.