Metal concentrations are reported for a seagrass ecosystem receiving industrial inputs. δ13C and δ15N isotope ratios were used to establish trophic links. Copper concentrations (dry mass) ranged from <0.01 μg/g in fish species to 570 μg/g (μ = 49 ± SD = 90 μg/g) in the oyster Saccostrea glomerata. Zinc concentrations ranged from 0.6 μg/g in the seagrass Zostera capricorni to 10,800 μg/g in the mud oyster Ostrea angasi (μ = 434 ± 1390 μg/g). Cadmium concentrations ranged from <0.01 μg/g in fish species to 268 μg/g in Ostrea angasi (μ = 6 ± 25 μg/g). Lead concentrations ranged from <0.01 μg/g for most fish species to 20 μg/g in polychaetes (μ = 2 ± 3 μg/g). Biomagnification of metals did not occur. Organisms that fed on particulate organic matter and benthic microalgae had higher metal concentrations than those that fed on detritus. Species physiology also played an important role in the bioaccumulation of metals.

The abundance of microplastics (MPs) in surface water and beach sediment in Southern Sri Lanka covering a distance of 91 km of coastline is reported. MPs were classified according to polymer type, geometry and color of the sites tested 60% showed MP contamination in sand and 70% in surface waters off the coast. The size range of MPs from surface waters and beaches were to 1.5–2.5 mm and 3–4.5 mm, respectively. Majority of these were identified as polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) with some polystyrene (PS) foam at a few sites. Fragments derived from larger debris appears to be the dominant type of MP at most sites and only 2 sites showed virgin pellets that accounted for 14% of the samples collected.

The effects of two plastic-derived chemicals: Bisphenol A (BPA) and di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) were assessed on abundance and physiological responses of the marine toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrim pacificum. During 7days experiment, A. pacificum was exposed to different levels of BPA and DEHP (separately and in mixture). The responses were evaluated and compared with controls. Results showed that A. pacificum was highly sensitive to this contaminants comparing to other phytoplankton species. BPA and DEHP caused the decrease of the biomass (1.2 to 50 times lower relative to the controls), as well as the perturbation of the photosystem and the photosynthetic activity. Nevertheless, our results show a recovery of contaminated cells activity depending on exposure time and BPA and DEHP contamination. This could be related to an adaptation to induced stress or a degradation of BPA and DEHP in the medium.

Non-indigenous species (NIS) can cause substantial change in ecosystems and as marine invasives they can become a major threat to coastal and subtidal habitats. In September 2017 previously unknown and apparently NIS soft corals were detected on a shallow subtidal tropical rocky reef at Ilha Grande Bay, southeast Brazil. The present study aims to identify the species, quantify their distribution, abundance, and their interactions with native species. The most abundant NIS belonged to the recently described genus Sansibia (family Xeniidae) and the less common species was identified as Clavularia cf. viridis (family Clavulariidae). They were found along 170 m of shoreline at all depths where hard substrate was available. Sansibia sp. dominated deeper communities, associated positively with some macroalgal and negatively with the zoantharian Palythoa caribaeorum, which probably provided greater biotic resistance to invasion. Both species are of Indo-Pacific origin and typical of those ornamentals found in the aquarium trade.

The microfibre content of beach sediment samples was established at 175 sampling sites along over 2700 km of South Africa's coastline in 2016 and again in 2017. The average microfibre content was 80 ± 102 F/dm3 in Feb/March 2017 (n = 161), and 87 ± 84 F/dm3 in May/June 2016 (n = 128). These average values, and the observed ranges of 0 to 797 F/dm3 in 2017 and 4 to 772 F/dm3 in 2016, are consistent with global observations. The highest microfibre levels were observed at sampling sites close to large coastal waste water treatment work discharge points. Several instances of temporal variability are observed, only some of which can be associated with seasonal changes in river runoff. This baseline data set is a valuable reference point for identification of priority study sites for more detailed study of marine ecosystem response to microfibre pollution.

Noise pollution distribution in each city around the world is necessarily influenced by its own design. A lot of factor associated to urban planning have a considerable effect on volume of traffic, vehicles distribution, traffic conditions, etc. And it is know that, from a temporal and spatial point of view, the most important source of noise in cities is road traffic. For that, good relationships between urban planning and different factors such as urban density, urban morphology, urban land use, street distribution, street environment and green spaces are being founded. In this way, the fact of finding a sustainable city could be closer, at least with respect to noise pollution. A good knowledge of these relationships would allow better prediction, analysis and prevention of such pollution through an effective design of urban environments. However, although in the first decade of XXI century these relationships were treated in some works, only some aspects of these problems were considered, essentially focused on street functionality. In the last years, this topic has reached more important development and more studies focused on the analysis of the relationships between the distributions of pollution and urbanism. This work makes a revision of spatial sampling methodologies for noise pollution assessment in relation with urban planning and a review of studies that have analysed the relationships between urban noise and different specifics aspects of urban design.

Ashes settling into the sea from volcanic explosions expose suspension-feeding species to reduced seston quality. Adults and juveniles of the mussel Mytilus chilensis were exposed for 15days to the phytoplankton Isochrysis galbana together with various concentrations of ashes. We then quantified impact on survival and physiology. Although no individuals died during the experiment, by the end of the study clearance rates and oxygen consumption rates had decreased substantially, and tissue weight of mussels exposed to the highest ash concentrations declined substantially. Gills showed no physical damage, but did show abundant mucus secretion in response to ash particles. Moreover, as the relative proportions of microalgae to ash in the diet decreased, individuals showed increasing preferential ingestion of microalgal particles. Increased ash content in the diet altered physiological rates and activated distinct particle selection with a high production of pseudofeces and high energy costs, with potential long-term consequences.

Sixteen USEPA priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) were analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Twenty-three samples were collected from the surface sediments of Qinhuangdao coastal wetlands in this survey. This research aimed to identify the PAHs contamination level, composition pattern, pollution sources, and assess the ecological risk of PAHs. The results showed that the sum of PAH concentrations ranged from 341.61ng/g to 4703.80ng/g (mean: 1367.80ng/g), which is higher than the reported values for different wetlands worldwide. Five- and four-ring PAHs (34.08% and 32.97% of Ʃ16PAHs, severally) were predominant in the wetland sediment. The PAH source distribution in the surface sediments was determined using diagnostic ratio and PCA/MLR. Consequently, multiple PAH sources were found. Of the total PAHs, 70.01% was derived from vehicular emission, 25.73% from coke oven, and 4.26% from petroleum-based product spills. The effect range low/effect range median (ERL/ERM) values indicated a low toxicity risk level. However, the DBahA concentrations exceeded the ERL level, and even the ERM level, in some stations. The mean effects range–median quotient (M-ERM-Q) suggests a low ecological risk for the PAHs, but a medium risk for some stations in the coastal wetland sediments.

With INDESO, Indonesia has implemented a system for the monitoring and management of its tuna resources. Despite increasing catch, very few is known about the dynamics and real abundance of tuna species in the Indonesian waters and adjacent oceanic regions. The SEAPODYM model was implemented in an operational chain of production for the Indonesian region to simulate tuna spatial dynamics in realtime. This challenging objective imposed developing a global scale model at coarse resolution to provide initial and boundaries conditions of the regional model. A parameter optimization approach was used to provide the best solution fitting several hundreds of thousand catch observations, over a long historical simulation at coarse resolution. Then downscaling method and regional modelling at high resolution (1/12°x day) were validated to produce realtime and forecast on a weekly basis. The architecture of this application, the approach for its parameterization and some key results are presented and discussed.

Total mercury concentrations ([THg]) were determined in muscle and liver of the bat ray (Myliobatis californica), shovelnose guitarfish (Pseudobatos productus) and banded guitarfish (Zapteryx exasperata). Generalized linear models (GLM) were used to determine the effects of size and sex in [THg] and showed that both are determinants of [THg] in these species. The [THg] in both tissues significantly increased with length especially in sexually mature organisms with a steeper slope for mature male than mature female. This may relate to elasmobranchs sexual dimorphism driven variation in growth rates. Median muscle [THg] was significantly greater than liver in each ray species but there were some individuals with higher liver [THg] than muscle. There were individuals with muscle [THg] higher than the advisory thresholds of 0.2 and 0.5mgkg−1ww (2.4 and 11% of the bat ray; 2.1 and 10% of the shovelnose guitarfish; 12.6 and 45% of the banded guitarfish, respectively).