The open top chamber (OTC) method was used in a farmland to study the influence of different levels of O3 concentrations (40 ppb, 80 ppb and 120 ppb) on the enzymatic activity and metabolite contents of the antioxidation system of the winter wheat leaves during the jointing, heading and milk stage. The protective effect of exogenous spermidine (Spd) against the antioxidation of winter wheat under the O3 stress was investigated. With the increasing O3 concentrations and fumigation time, the injuries of the winter wheat leaves were observed to be more serious. For instance, when the O3 concentration reached 120 ppb, the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and nitrate reductase (NR) in the jointing stage decreased by 50.3%, 64.9%, 75.5% and 92.9%, respectively; peroxidase (POD) and glutathione reductase (GR) increased by 45.1% and 80.5%, respectively; the contents of malondialdehyde (MDA), ascorbic acid (AsA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) increased by 314.3%, 8.4% and 31.7%, respectively; and the soluble protein (SP) content decreased by 47.5%. The O3 stress also had significant impact on the contents of proline (Pro), NO3––N and NH4+–N of the winter wheat leaves. During the heading stage, when the O3 concentration was 40 ppb and 80 ppb, the content of Pro was 163.9% and 173.2% higher than that in the control group, respectively. But under 120 ppb, it was decreased by 42.4%. Exogenous application of Spd increased the activities of SOD, POD, CAT, APX and GR, as well as the contents of GSH and SP, but decreased the contents of MDA and AsA. This indicates that Spd is an effective antioxidant to relieve the O3 stress on winter wheat leaves, thereby might be applicable to protect winter wheat from the harm of O3.

Mercury and selenium were assessed in the sailfish, Istiophorus platypterus, from the Eastern Pacific. Sixty-seven individuals were sampled, muscle, liver, kidney, gonads and the prey found in the stomach contents were isolated during fishing 2011–2013 tournaments. Hg exhibited the following pattern (μgg−1 wet weight): liver (0.57±0.07)>muscle (0.56±0.04)>kidney (0.44±0.08)>gonad (0.14±0.01). The maximum concentration of Se was found in kidneys (14.1±1.9μgg−1), and the minimum in muscles (0.67±0.03μgg−1). High Se:Hg ratios were found for muscle (4.1±0.3), kidney (132.4±12.1), liver (54.0±4.4) and gonads (88.2±7.9); Hg:Se molar ratios were several orders of magnitude lower (muscle<0.4 and liver, kidney and gonad<0.03). Sailfish feed mainly on fishes and cephalopods with low Hg levels (<0.13μgg−1), these results indicate biomagnification of Hg and Se. The muscle of I. platypterus should be consumed (according the provisional tolerable weekly intake) by people cautiously so as not to exceed the recommended intake of 215g per week.

The Ixtoc-I oil spill occurred in 1979 in shallow waters (50m) of the Bay of Campeche, Mexico. Although it is known that a large portion of the released oil from this second largest accidental marine oil spill in history reached the surface, to date there has been no attempt to document the surface footprint and trajectory of the released oil. Our study attempts to fill this knowledge gap using remote sensing data collected by Landsat/MSS and CZCS. Both showed the same general patterns of oil trajectory to the northwest and north, nearly parallel to the coastline of the western Gulf of Mexico (GoM) with possible oil landing on Mexican and Texas beaches. Field observations at selected beaches and islands along the coast of the western and southern GoM during and after the spill confirmed these satellite-based findings, which were also used to help in planning a recent field campaign to collect sediment samples in the southern GoM.

Environmental pollution control is one of the most important goals in pollution risk assessment. In this sense, modern and precise tools that allow scientists to quantify and predict air pollution are of particular interest. In this study, we describe an air quality evaluation in terms of particulate matter having a diameter < 10μm (PM10), using a gamma–Poisson process. PM10 measurements from 2007 to 2013 at 24 air quality monitoring stations of Ministry of Environment and Urbanization (Turkey), was used to predict air pollution levels in Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. We assume that the number of PM10 peaks follows a Poisson process and PM10 amount of each peak fits a gamma distribution. The findings indicate that daily average of number for the threshold exceedance of PM10 concentration is 1.3 for all monitoring stations. The probability of exceedance the PM10 concentration threshold once a day is 0.35 for all monitoring stations. The results also show that the probabilities of total PM10 concentrations exceeding threshold are rapidly decreasing after 158μg/m3 which will occur in one day. The average of daily total PM10 concentration is 148μg/m3, the average of monthly total PM10 concentration is 4 437μg/m3, and the average of yearly total PM10 concentrations is 53 984μg/m3. It is found that there is a moderate correlation between the number of threshold exceedances and the total PM10 concentrations in Central Anatolia Region. Thus, it was concluded that gamma–Poisson process could be promising for air pollutant prediction for a given period of time.

Two Source oils and five field collected oil residues from the Deepwater Horizon incident were chemically characterized. Water accommodated fractions (WAFs) of the Source oils and two of the field-weathered oils were prepared to evaluate the impact of natural weathering on the chemical composition and the acute toxicity of the WAFs. Toxicity test species representing different tropic levels were used (the primary producer Skeletonema costatum (algae) and the herbivorous copepod Acartia tonsa). The results suggest that the potential for acute toxicity is higher in WAFs from non-weathered oils than WAFs from the field weathered oils. The Source oils contained a large fraction of soluble and bioavailable components (such as BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethyl benzene, xylenes) and naphthalene), whereas in the surface collected oils these components were depleted by dissolution into the water column as the oil rose to the surface and by evaporative loss after reaching the sea surface.

Effects of Cu-loading on macrofaunal recolonization were examined in Shelter Island Yacht Basin (San Diego Bay, California). Sediments with high and low Cu levels were defaunated and Cu-spiked, translocated, and then placed back into the environment. These demonstrated that the alteration observed in benthic communities associated with Cu contamination occurs during initial recolonization. After a 3-month exposure to sediments with varying Cu levels, two primary colonizing communities were identified: (1) a “mouth assemblage” resembling adjacent background fauna associated with low-Cu levels that was more diverse and predominantly dominated by surface- and subsurface-deposit feeders, burrowers, and tube builders, and (2) a “head assemblage” resembling adjacent background fauna associated with high-Cu concentrations, with few dominant species and an increasing importance of carnivores and mobile epifauna. Cu loading can cause reduced biodiversity and lower structural complexity that may last several months if high concentrations persist, with a direct effect on community functioning.

In this paper, we postulate a unique environmental triggering sequence for primary outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS, Acanthaster planci) on the central Great Barrier Reef (GBR, Australia). Notably, we extend the previous terrestrial runoff hypothesis, viz. nutrient-enriched terrestrial runoff→elevated phytoplankton ‘bloom’ concentrations→enhanced COTS larval survival, to include the additional importance of strong larvae retention around reefs or within reef groups (clusters) that share enhanced phytoplankton concentrations. For the central GBR, this scenario is shown to occur when El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) linked hydrodynamic conditions cause the ‘regional’ larval connectivity network to fragment into smaller ‘local’ reef clusters due to low ocean current velocities. As inter-annual variations in hydrodynamic circulation patterns are not amenable to direct management intervention, the ability to reduce the future frequency of COTS outbreaks on the central GBR is shown to be contingent on reducing terrestrial bioavailable nutrient loads ~20–40%.

Coastal reclamation (CR) is a prevailing approach to solve the contradiction between the land shortage and the growing demand of living space for human beings. In general, environmental impact assessment (EIA) focuses on evaluating the feasibility of individual coastal reclamation project (CRP). However, few studies have investigated the cumulative effect of multiple CRPs on surrounding environment. In this study, an integrated framework based on coastal hydrodynamics was established, and then applied to the feasibility evaluation of multiple CRPs for future coastal management in Haizhou Bay, China. The results indicated that three out of five reclamation projects were feasible and the remaining two were forbidden in the study area, whereas EIA approves of all the CRPs. It provides a scientific reference for effective management of coastal reclamation and future environmental impact researches when new CRPs are proposed.

A multi-biomarker approach was developed to evaluate responses of European flounder (Platichthys flesus) in three contrasted estuaries over the English Channel: the Canche (pristine site), Tamar (heavy metals and PAHs contamination) and Seine (heavily pollution with a complex cocktail of contaminants). The condition factor and several biomarkers of the immune system, antioxidant enzymes, energetic metabolism and detoxification processes were investigated in young-of-the-year (0+) and one-year-old (1+) flounder. Results underlined the difference between the pristine site and the Seine estuary which showed a lower condition factor, a modulation of the immune system, a higher Cytochrome C oxidase activity, and an up-regulation of BHMT expression. The moderate biomarker responses in the Tamar fish could be linked to the specific contamination context of this estuary. Flounder life history traits were analyzed by otolith microchemistry, in order to depict how the fish use their habitat and thus respond to chemical stress in estuaries.

Rapid assessment surveys of non-indigenous species (NIS) of sessile invertebrates were made at seven marinas in NW France and 10 marinas in SW England in 2010, and repeated in 2013. Fourteen NIS were recorded, 12 of which were seen on both coasts. Site occupancy differed between the opposite sides of the western English Channel. In Brittany, most species occurred at most sites in both 2010 and 2013. In 2010, site occupancy in Devon & Cornwall was distinctly lower; by 2013, the difference compared to Brittany had narrowed considerably, largely because of rapid colonisation of additional sites by species that were infrequent in 2010. Three more of the recent NIS are present in Devon & Cornwall but have still not become widespread. It is concluded that the recently introduced fouling animals studied here are longer established in NW France than in SW England, and have probably spread northwards across the Channel.