This study aimed to determine the role of mangroves as a biofilter of heavy metals. The concentrations of heavy metals, namely copper, mercury, cadmium, zinc, and lead, in the mangroves Rhizophora apiculata, Ceriops tagal, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Lumnitzera racemosa, Xylocarpus granatum, Sonneratia alba, and Bruguiera parviflora at RAWN Park were determined using a Flame atomic absorption spectrophotometer. High concentrations of Cu (83.85μgg−1) and Hg (0.52μgg−1) were found in the tissues of L. racemosa, while high concentrations of Cd (10.81μgg−1), Zn (70.41μgg−1), and Pb (1.36μgg−1) were found in the tissues of B. gymnorrhiza, B. parviflora and C. tagal, respectively. The translocation and bioaccumulation factors of heavy metals by mangroves showed a variety of trends, which indicated the different partitioning and uptake capability of heavy metals in the tissues of various mangrove species. Thus, maintaining high diversity of mangroves is crucial to ensure the health and productivity of coastal zones.

Comparative studies were developed with regard to the criteria emissions of THC - total hydrocarbons, CO - carbon monoxide and NOx - nitrogen oxides, and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylenes). Three four-stroke motorcycles were fuelled with E22 fuel (gasoline with 22% of ethanol). One flex fuel motorcycle was also fuelled with E100, 100% Hydrated Reference Ethanol, and with E61 (61% of ethanol). Criteria emissions were quantified using traditional measurement techniques based on the European Directive 97/24/EC (EURO protocol). To determine the BTEX emissions, gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry was employed. All motorcycles were equipped with a catalyst (TWC) used to reduce the amount of toxic emissions in the exhaust gases. To evaluate the performance of the catalyst, one motorcycle was tested with and without the device. One motorcycle was tested according to two different test protocols, namely, the ECE/TRANS/180 WMTC, also known as the Worldwide Motorcycle Test Cycle, and the EURO protocol. The main results were that toluene emissions were more prevalent than other aromatics. The tests with and without the catalyst showed that after the catalyst was employed the conversion efficiencies for benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene and xylene were 52.3%, 84.0%, 85.0%, and 86.0%, respectively. The results regarding the flex fuel motorcycle show that BTEX emissions decrease with an increase of ethanol in the mixture. Comparing the EURO and WMTC protocols, it was observed that the WMTC protocol generates lower emissions compared to the EURO protocol; however, NOx showed the opposite trend of BTEX.

The study aimed at investigating factors influencing the recovery of the canopy seaweed Cystoseira brachycarpa. A manipulative experiment was done to test if in barren patches the recovery of Cystoseira I) is enhanced by the removal of the urchins, II) is prevented by eutrophication, III) depends on the time of patch clearance and IV) decreases with the distance from Cystoseira bed edge within the barren patch. The effects of the same factors on the structure of the macroalgal assemblage were also tested. Cystoseira recovered abundantly only in clearings where nutrients were not added and urchins were removed. Furthermore, Cystoseira recovered irrespectively of the time the patches were cleared and the distance from the canopy edge. This study showed that the lack of sea urchins at oligotrophic conditions was essential for Cystoseira brachycarpa recruitment, providing evidence that interacting constraints are involved in the recovery of Cystoseira beds.

Green oysters were found within the Mailiao industrial harbor (MIH) located in Central Taiwan. The metal concentrations in seawater (dissolved and particulate phases), sediment and oyster samples collected within the MIH were analyzed to examine the green oysters. The dissolved and particulate metal concentrations ranged within 0.008–1.47μgl−1 and 0.97–799.2mgkg−1, respectively. The Cu concentration in seawater was dominated in the dissolved phase. In contrast, Cr, Pb and Zn in seawater were chiefly present in the particulate phase. The metal concentrations in sediment and oyster samples ranged within 0.02–148.4mgkg−1 and 0.18–1238mgkg−1 (dry W.), respectively. No anomalous values were found in the analyzed samples, except the Cu content in the oyster samples ranged within 274–1238mgkg−1. The relatively high bioconcentration factor of Cu in oyster and the longer exposure time induced the green oysters occurred within the MIH.

The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) family is known to mediate various biological processes in response to diverse environmental pollutants. Although MAPKs are well characterized and studied in vertebrates, in invertebrates the cross-reactivities of MAPKs antibodies were not clearly known in response to environmental pollutants due to limited information of antibody epitopes with material resources for invertebrates. In this paper, we performed phylogenetic analysis of MAPKs genes in the marine rotifer Brachionus koreanus and the copepods Paracyclopina nana and Tigriopus japonicus. Also in rotifer and copepods, several studies of Western blot of MAPK signaling pathways were shown in response to environmental pollutants, including multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), water-accommodated fractions (WAFs) of crude oil, and microplastics. This paper will provide a better understanding of the underlying mechanistic scenario in terms of cross-reactivities of mammalian antibodies in rotifer and copepod.

ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters participate in transporting various substances, including xenobiotics, in or out of cells. However, their genetic information and function in ciliates remain still unclear. In this study, we sequenced and characterized two ABC transporter genes (EcABCB and EcABCC), and investigated the effect of cadmium (Cd) and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) on their function and gene expression, using efflux assay and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively, in the marine ciliate, Euplotes crassus. Sequencing analysis and efflux assay showed that EcABCB and EcABCC are typical ABC transporters, possessing conserved function. Exposure to Cd (≥5mg/L) and B[a]P (≥50.5μg/L) enhanced accumulation of a substrate. A significant increase in the expression of EcABCB and EcABC mRNA was observed at lower concentration in response to Cd and B[a]P. Our findings indicate that Cd and B[a]P could inhibit the efflux function of ABC transporters, leading to cellular toxicity in the ciliate.

To understand the variations of picoplankton (Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, picoeukaryotes, and heterotrophic bacteria) abundances during diatom bloom, the distribution of picoplankton in the Taiwan Bank, South China Sea was investigated using flow cytometry during a Thalassiosira diporocyclus bloom in March 2016. The results indicated an abrupt abundance decrease for Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus, and picoeukaryotes within the bloom area while the abundance of heterotrophic bacteria showed no significant difference between the bloom and non-bloom areas. We found two sub-groups of heterotrophic bacteria: high- and low-nucleic acid content (HNA and LNA) bacteria with HNA dominated in the bloom area whereas LNA dominated in the non-bloom area. Among the picoplankton components, HNA represented the highest (61.1%) carbon biomass in the bloom area while picoeukaryotes represented the highest (37.6%) in the non-bloom area. Our findings implied that heterotrophic bacteria, especially HNA, played an essential role during the diatom bloom.

Phytoplankton entrained into cooling water systems of coastal power stations are subjected to acute chemical stress due to biocides (chlorine) used for biofouling control. They are subsequently released into the environment, where they may survive/recover or succumb. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the susceptibility of a centric (Chaetoceros lorenzianus) and pennate (Navicula sp.) diatom to in-plant administered concentrations of chlorine (0.2–0.5mg/L, TRO). Viability of cells exposed to chlorine was assessed by SYTOX® Green fluorimetry and was compared with other conventional end points like total cell counts, chlorophyll a content and cellular autofluorescence. Results showed a concentration-dependant reduction in viability, chlorophyll a and autofluorescence. C. lorenzianus cells were more susceptible to chlorine compared to Navicula sp. SYTOX® Green staining appears to be a sensitive method to assess chlorine-induced damages. The data show that in-use levels of chlorination can potentially impact entrained organisms; however, they can recover when returned to coastal waters.

Trends in oil rates of beached seabirds reflect temporal and spatial patterns in chronic oil pollution at sea. We analysed a long-term dataset of systematic beached bird surveys along the Belgian North Sea coast during 1962–2015, where extreme high oil contamination rates and consequently high mortality rates of seabirds during the 1960s used to coincide with intensive ship traffic. In the 1960s, >90% of all swimming seabirds that washed ashore were contaminated with oil and estimated oil-induced mortality of seabirds was probably several times higher than natural mortality. More than 50years later oil rates of seabirds have dropped to historically low levels while shipping is still very intense, indicating that chronic oil pollution has significantly declined. The declining trend is discussed in the light of a series of legislative measures that were enacted in the North Sea region to reduce oil pollution.

Reef Check Australia (RCA) has collected data on benthic composition and cover at >70 sites along >1000km of Australia's Queensland coast from 2002 to 2015. This paper quantifies the accuracy, precision and power of RCA benthic composition data, to guide its application and interpretation. A simulation study established that the inherent accuracy of the Reef Check point sampling protocol is high (<±7% error absolute), in the range of estimates of benthic cover from 1% to 50%. A field study at three reef sites indicated that, despite minor observer- and deployment-related biases, the protocol does reliably document moderate ecological changes in coral communities. The error analyses were then used to guide the interpretation of inter-annual variability and long term trends at three study sites in RCA's major 2002–2015 data series for the Queensland coast.