A floating plastic monitoring program was conducted for two years on a weekly basis in Banderas Bay, Mexico. A total of 94 samples were collected from May 2016 to April 2018 in the southern part of the bay. Half (57%) of them contained plastic debris; 79% of it being <5 mm in length. Polypropylene and Polyethylene were the most abundant polymers, accounting for 45% and 43% of the plastic pieces (pp), respectively. The highest abundance of plastic pieces was found in July 2016, with a maximum of 0.3 pp/m³ found in one sample. The amount of floating plastics was significantly higher in the hurricane season compared to the dry season (p < 0.001). This suggests that rainfall may play a significant role in the offload of plastics from land-based sources into the bay.

Mariculture is known to contribute to oxygen depletion, pH decline and accumulation of nutrients and organic matter in sediments. However, studies on the bacterial vertical distribution of mariculture area are very limited. The bacterial abundance in the non-culture site (3.8 ± 0.8 × 10⁹ copies g⁻¹) was significantly higher than that in the three mariculture sites (1.2 ± 0.2 × 10⁹ copies g⁻¹), and bacterial diversity in the non-culture site was significantly higher than that in fish cage-TF (p < 0.05). The vertical distribution profiles of bacteria in non-culture and oyster culture sites were similar but very different from that of fish cage-TF. In addition, significant downward trends in bacterial abundance and diversity were observed as sediment depth increased (p < 0.05), and the most relevant environmental factors were moisture content, total nitrogen, total organic carbon and carbon/nitrogen. The dominant bacterial phyla in sediment were Proteobacteria, Chloroflexi and Bacteroidetes.

Monthly measurements of nitrate, nitrite, ammonium and phosphate at three stations off Kuwait during 2002–2015 revealed considerable inter-annual variability, broadly corresponding to fluctuations in the Shatt-al-Arab River discharge, but a lack of secular increasing trend. Nutrient enrichment experiments during two seasons revealed nitrate uptake, chlorophyll build-up and growth of micro-phytoplankton, even in the presence of ammonium, provided the availability of phosphate. Primary production was mostly nitrogen limited, but anthropogenic nitrogen supply may eventually make it phosphorus limited, especially in summer and in the open Gulf. Anthropogenic nutrient inputs appear to have enhanced biological productivity of the northern Gulf, but heterotrophic consumption, indicated by high respiration rates, probably prevented accumulation of phytoplankton biomass, accounting for the observed lack of chlorophyll increase over the past three decades. Consequently high total organic carbon and emerging hypoxia in the Gulf may lead to expansion/intensification of the oxygen minimum zone of the Arabian Sea.

The interaction of microplastic (MP) with marine organisms is crucial for understanding the significant effect that MP and its additives may have on marine environments. However, knowledge regarding the magnitude of these pollutants in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea and the tropical Red Sea is still scarce. Here we examined the levels of phthalate acid esters (PAEs) and MP in Herdmania momus and Microcosmus exasperatus sampled along the Mediterranean and Red Sea coasts of Israel. High levels of dibutyl phthalate (DBP) and bis (2‑ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) were found in ascidians at the majority of sampling sites, and MP particles were found in ascidians at all sites. As efficient filter-feeders and being widely-distributed, invasive ascidians present fundamental opportunities for the environmental monitoring of microplastic and its additives worldwide. The high levels of pollutants revealed emphasize the need for further research into the magnitude and effects of MP and PAEs in these regions.

Our understanding of ecological processes that lead to ecosystem services is still evolving but ecological research aims to understand the linkages between the ecosystem and services. These linkages can affect trade-offs between different ecosystem services. Understanding these linkages, by considering multiple ecosystem services simultaneously supports management of the environment and sustainable use of resources. The UK marine environment is relatively data rich, yet the links between ecosystem and several ecosystem services and linkages between services are poorly described. A workshop with 35 marine scientists was used to create a conceptual model that links ecosystem components and key processes to four services they provide and to highlight trade-offs between them. The model was subsequently further developed to include pressures and mitigating management measures. The models are discussed in terms of their application to marine data to facilitate evidence-based marine management and their usefulness to communicate management measures with managers and stakeholders.

Global aquaculture discharges are typical anthropogenic carbon and nutrient sources to nearby mangrove forests. In this study, we quantified total organic carbon (TOC), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP) stocks (0–50 cm) in soils from three sites of Kandelia obovata forests with different shrimp-pond discharge histories of 0, 8 and 14 years (i.e. 0DK, 8DK and 14DK, respectively). Results showed that shrimp pond effluents increased soil TOC densities at 8DK. TP densities gradually increased with discharge histories, whereas TN densities were similar between 8DK and 14DK. Besides, IsoSource analyses demonstrated that the high δ¹³C values of shrimp pond effluents contributed 30.00%–33.60% of mangrove soil TOC at 0–10 cm depth. These results suggested that shrimp pond effluents altered soil TOC, TN and TP stocks and added carbon source to mangrove soils, which was related to discharge histories and soil depth. Moreover, the discharge changed carbon and nutrient patterns, which warrant attention.

Often, beach litter monitoring strategies focus only on macro-litter (>25 mm) and do not distinguish between litter left at beaches and litter washed up onshore. We tested inexpensive and user-friendly methods to examine meso-litter (5–25 mm) and large micro-litter (2–5 mm) washed up on German sandy beaches and evaluated our methods regarding the requirements of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. With a sieve accumulation zone monitoring method, tested 41 times, we found 0.2–21.2 litter pieces/m² (⌀ 5.3 pieces/m² ± 8.9). With a bare eye accumulation zone monitoring method, tested 10 times, at other beaches, 9.1–65.6 litter pieces/m² (⌀ 31.8 pieces/m² ± 15.7) were found. Both methods are inexpensive, useful for volunteers, and can be carried out quickly, but are also limited, as they cannot be used regularly. A tested webcam and a modified Braun-Blanquet method turned out to be less suitable.