Trees have been recognized as air quality bioindicators, but they have still not been fully implemented in tropical areas. In this study, bark of Cassia fistula was used to inspect accumulation of air pollutants (metals) emitted from road traffic in the city of Chiang Mai, Thailand. The mean concentrations of metal accumulated on tree bark (ng/cm2) in descending order were Al (1,238) > Fe (707) > Zn (162) » Cu (21.1) » Pb (6.37) > Cr (2.14). Correlations of Enrichment Factors: EFTS (metal concentrations on bark compared to those in soil) among metals were relatively strong (r > 0.6) meaning that they were probably generated from the same sources. Moreover, principal component analysis and cluster analysis of EFTS values revealed that Al and Fe were generated from soil resuspension that were attached on vehicle wheels and on road surfaces, while Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn resulted directly from vehicle emissions. The results lead to the conclusion that tree bark is a good bioindicator for air pollutant accumulation in this area. In addition, pollution indices, including total geoaccumulation index (IGEO-tot) and pollution load index (PLI), were applied to generate air quality maps of the city. The maps illustrated that the most polluted areas in the city are the areas that have high traffic volume and building density, in which hospitals and schools are located. The degree of pollution presented in each area was influenced by both road traffic volume and density of buildings in relation to air ventilation capacity.

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.

With anthropogenic changes, the structure and quantity of nitrogen nutrients have changed in coastal ocean, which has dramatically influenced the water quality. Water quality modeling can contribute to the necessary scientific grounding of coastal management. In this paper, some of the dynamic functions and parameters of nitrogen were calibrated based on coastal field experiments covering the dynamic nitrogen processes in Jiaozhou Bay (JZB), including phytoplankton growth, respiration, and mortality; particulate nitrogen degradation; and dissolved organic nitrogen remineralization. The results of the field experiments and box model simulations showed good agreement (RSD=20%±2% and SI=0.77±0.04). A three-dimensional water quality model of nitrogen (3DWQMN) in JZB was improved and the dynamic parameters were updated according to field experiments. The 3DWQMN was validated based on observed data from 2012 to 2013, with good agreement (RSD=27±4%, SI=0.68±0.06, and K=0.48±0.04), which testifies to the model's credibility.

In general, Synthetic Indexes of sustainability have been applied to specific countries and regions. With some variations, the ones considered simple, such as the case of the Ecological Footprint (EF), have been applied to port areas. The same has not happened with those of a multidimensional nature (Global Synthetics) that still have a minimal and partial presence in the analysis of port sustainability.Understanding that this type of index represents an interesting and novel avenue of research applied to port systems, this contribution analyses and ranks a sample of 16 Spanish Port Authorities that group 23 ports of general interest using a Global Synthetic Index of Sustainability (developed using the four dimensions of sustainable development: economic, institutional, environmental and social).

Microplastics (MPs) are observed to be present on the seafloor ranging from coastal areas to deep seas. Because bioturbation alters the distribution of natural particles on inhabited soft bottoms, a mesocosm experiment with common benthic invertebrates was conducted to study their effect on the distribution of secondary MPs (different-sized pieces of fishing line<1mm). During the study period of three weeks, the benthic community increased MP concentration in the depth of 1.7–5.1cm in the sediment. The experiment revealed a clear vertical gradient in MP distribution with their abundance being highest in the uppermost parts of the sediment and decreasing with depth. The Baltic clam Macoma balthica was the only study animal that ingested MPs. This study highlights the need to further examine the vertical distribution of MPs in natural sediments to reliably assess their abundance on the seafloor as well as their potential impacts on benthic communities.

Mangrove forests play an important role in biogeochemical cycle of C, storing large amounts of organic carbon. However, these functions can be controlled by the high spatial heterogeneity of these intertidal environments. In this study were performed an intensive sampling characterizing mangrove soils under different type of vegetation (Rhizophora/Avicennia/dead mangrove) in the Venezuelan coast. The soils were anoxic, with a pH~7; however other soil parameters varied widely (e.g., clay, organic carbon). Dead mangrove area showed a significant lower amounts of total organic carbon (TOC) (6.8±2.2%), in comparison to the well-preserved mangrove of Avicennia or Rhizophora (TOC=17–20%). Our results indicate that 56% of the TOC was lost within a period of 10years and we estimate that 11,219kgm−2 of CO2 was emitted as a result of the mangrove death. These results represent an average emission rate of 11.2±19.17tCO2ha−1y−1.

We examined whether bacterial assemblages inhabiting the synthetic polymer polyamide are selectively modified during their passage through the gut of Mytilus edulis in comparison to the biopolymer chitin with focus on potential pathogens. Specifically, we asked whether bacterial biofilms remained stable over a prolonged period of time and whether polyamide could thus serve as a vector for potential pathogenic bacteria. Bacterial diversity and identity were analysed by 16S rRNA gene fingerprints and sequencing of abundant bands. The experiments revealed that egested particles were rapidly colonised by bacteria from the environment, but the taxonomic composition of the biofilms on polyamide and chitin did not differ. No potential pathogens could be detected exclusively on polyamide. However, after 7days of incubation of the biofilms in seawater, the species richness of the polyamide assemblage was lower than that of the chitin assemblage, with yet unknown impacts on the functioning of the biofilm community.

The survival of corals worldwide has been seriously threatened by eutrophication events concomitant with the increase in ocean pollution. In the present study, whole transcriptomes of the stony coral Pocillopora damicornis exposed to elevated ammonium were sequenced. A total of 121,366,983 pair-end reads were obtained, and 209,337 genes were assembled, including 42,399 coral-derived and 54,874 zooxanthella-derived genes. Further, a comparison of the control versus stress group revealed 6572 differentially expressed genes. For 1015 significantly upregulated genes, 24 GO terms were overrepresented, among which 3 terms related to apoptosis and cell death induction included one caspase, five bcl-2-like proteins, and two tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member genes. For 5557 significantly downregulated genes, the top 10 overrepresented terms were related to metabolism and signal transduction. These results indicate that apoptosis and cell death could be induced under elevated ammonium, suggesting that metabolic regulation and signal transduction might be involved in the reconstruction of the coral–zooxanthellae symbiotic balance in the stony coral P. damicornis.

This study examines sediment texture, geochemistry and sediment accumulation in cores from four sites in the Veracruz shelf area of the Gulf of Mexico, to assess the inputs of heavy metal(loid)s (and their potential biological impacts) in this carbonate-dominated shelf system, and to examine the rate of sedimentation near to the mouths of the La Antigua and Jamapa Rivers. The use of different pollution indices showed enrichment with Pb in all cores studied, although based on sediment quality guidelines As was the only element that has potential to occasionally cause damage to the benthic organisms present in the area. Heavy metal(loid) and sediment input from terrestrial and coastal sources is limited compared to more proximal, near-shore areas. The sediment core data presented however give a baseline dataset for heavy metal(loid) concentrations in the Veracruz shelf, against which future anthropogenic inputs can be assessed.

This study evaluated the influence of foraging preferences on microplastic ingestion by six marine fish species from the Texas Gulf Coast. A total of 1381 fish were analyzed and 42.4% contained ingested microplastic, inclusive of fiber (86.4%), microbead (12.9% %), and fragment (<1.0%) forms. Despite a substantial overlap in diet, ordination of ingested prey items clustered samples into distinctive species groupings, reflective of the foraging gradient among species. Orthopristis chrysoptera displayed the lowest overall frequency of microplastic ingestion and the most distinctive ordination grouping, indicating their selective invertebrate foraging preferences. Cluster analysis of O. chrysoptera most closely classified microplastic with the ingestion of benthic invertebrates, whereas the ingestion of microplastic by all other species most closely classified with the ingestion of vegetation and shrimp. O. chrysoptera, as selective invertebrate foragers, are less likely to ingest microplastics than species exhibiting generalist foraging preferences and methods of prey capture.