2022 Vol. 41, No. 6

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2022-06 Cover
2022, 41(6)
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Contents
2022-6 Contents
2022, 41(6): 1-2.
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Editorial
Dynamics of ecosystems and anthropogenic drivers in the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem
Jun Sun, Yinfeng Guo, Gyung Soo Park, Andrew Hudson
2022, 41(6): 1-3. doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2055-8
Abstract:
Articles$Dynamics of ecosystems and anthropogenic drivers in the Yellow Sea Large Marine Ecosystem
Environmental effects of mariculture in China: An overall study of nitrogen and phosphorus loads
Jihong Zhang, Wenguang Wu, Yuchen Li, Yi Liu, Xinmeng Wang
2022, 41(6): 4-11. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1909-9
Abstract:
Eutrophication in coastal area has become more and more serious and mariculture potential is a main cause. Although there are some quantitative research on nutrient loads in national and global perspective, the calculation method problems make the results controversial. In this paper, the farming activities are divided into fed culture types (include cage culture and pond culture) and extractive culture types (e.g. seaweed, filter-feeding shellfish culture). Based on the annual yield of China in 2019 and feed coefficient of fed culture types and carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and phosphorus (P) content of extractive culture types, the annual nutrient loads was estimated. The results showed that to coastal region of China (1) annual nutrient released by fed culture types were about 58 451 t of N, 9 081 t of P, and annual nutrient removed by harvest of extractive culture types were 109 245 t of N, 11 980 t of P and 1.86×106 t of C. Overall, the net amount of nutrient removed annually by mariculture industry were 50 794 t of N and 2 901 t of P. (2) The nutrient released from mariculture industry influenced nutrient stoichiometry. Pond farming and seaweed farming had the potential of increasing the molar concentration ratio of N and P (N:P), while cage farming and bivalve farming decreased the N:P. (3) Due to different mariculture types and layouts in the coastal regions in China, N and P loading were regional different. Among the coastal regions in China, net release of nutrient from mariculture occurred only in Hainan and Guangxi regions, while in the other regions, N and P were completely removed by harvest. We suggest decrease the amount of fed culture types and increase the amount of integrated culture with extractive culture types. This study will help to adjust mariculture structure and layout at the national level to reduce the environmental impact.
Radium-traced nutrient outwelling from the Subei Shoal to the Yellow Sea: Fluxes and environmental implication
Jian’an Liu, Dongyan Liu, Jinzhou Du
2022, 41(6): 12-21. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1930-z
Abstract:
The Subei Shoal is the largest sandy ridge in the southern Yellow Sea and is important source for nutrient loading to the sea. Here, the nutrient fluxes in the Subei Shoal associated with eddy diffusion and submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) were assessed to understand their impacts on the nutrient budget in the Yellow Sea. Based on the analysis of 223Ra and 224Ra in the field observation, the offshore eddy diffusivity mixing coefficient and SGD were estimated to be 2.3×108 cm2/s and 2.6×109 m3/d (16 cm/d), respectively, in the Subei Shoal. Combined the significant offshore decreasing gradients of nutrient in seawater of the Subei Shoal, the spatially integrated nutrient outwelling fluxes to the Yellow Sea were 262−1 465 μmol/(m2·d) for DIN, 5.2−21 μmol/(m2·d) for DIP and 711−913 μmol/(m2·d) for DSi. Compared to the riverine input, atmospheric deposition and mariculture, nutrient outwelling from the Subei Shoal might play an important role in nutrient budget of the Yellow Sea. These nutrient fluxes could provide 4.1%−23% N and 1.3%−5.3% P requirements for the primary productivity, and the deviated DIN/DIP ratios have the potential to affect the growth of phytoplankton in the marine ecosystem of the Yellow Sea.
Estimating seasonal habitat suitability for migratory species in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea: A case study of Tanaka’s snailfish (Liparis tanakae)
Yunlong Chen, Xiujuan Shan, Dingyong Zeng, Harry Gorfine, Yinfeng Xu, Qiang Wu, Tao Yang, Xianshi Jin
2022, 41(6): 22-30. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1912-1
Abstract:
Acquiring a comprehensive and accurate understanding of habitat preference is essential for species conservation and fishery management, especially for mobile species that migrate seasonally. Presence and absence data from field surveys are recommended when available due to their high reliability. Using field survey data, we investigated seasonal habitat suitability requirements for Tanaka’s snailfish (Liparis tanakae) in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea (BSYS) via a machine-learning method, random forests (RFs). Five environmental and biologically relevant variables (bottom temperature, bottom salinity, current velocity, depth and distance to shore) were used to build the ecological niches between the presence/absence data and suitable habitat. In addition, the degree to which false absence data might impact model performance was evaluated. Our results indicated that RFs provided accurate predictions, with seasonal habitat suitability maps of L. tanakae differing substantially. Bottom temperature and salinity were identified as important factors influencing the distribution of L. tanakae. False absence data were found to have negative effects on model performance and the decrease in evaluation metrics was usually significant (P<0.05) after 30% or more errors were added to the absence data. Through identifying highly suitable areas within its geographic range, our study provides a baseline for L. tanakae that can be further applied in ecosystem modelling and fishery management in the BSYS.
Distribution and invasion of Spartina alterniflora within the Jiaozhou Bay monitored by remote sensing image
Jianbu Wang, Zhaoyang Lin, Yuanqing Ma, Guangbo Ren, Zijun Xu, Xiukai Song, Yi Ma, Andong Wang, Yajie Zhao
2022, 41(6): 31-40. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1907-y
Abstract:
Spartina alterniflora as an alien invasive plant, poses a serious threat to the ecological functions of the coastal wetland of the Jiaozhou Bay. As of 2019, the distribution area of S. alterniflora in the Jiaozhou Bay has reached more than 500 hm2. For this reason, combined with field surveys, remote sensing monitoring of the invasion S. alterniflora in the Jiaozhou Bay has been carried out. To accurately identify S. alterniflora within the Jiaozhou Bay coastal wetland, we used a new method which is an implement of deep convolutional neural network, and by which we got a higher accuracy than the traditional method. Based on distribution of S. alterniflora extracted by the proposed method, the temporal and spatial distribution characteristics of S. alterniflora were analyzed. And then combined with environmental factors, the invasion mechanism of S. alterniflora in the Jiaozhou Bay was analyzed in detail. From the monitoring results, it can be seen that S. alterniflora in Jiaozhou Bay is mainly distributed in the beaches near the Yanghe River Estuary and its southern side, the Dagu River Estuary and the Nügukou. Spartina alterniflora first broke out near the Yanghe River Estuary and gradually spread to the tidal flats near the Nügukou. The Dagu River Estuary is dominated by S. anglica, whose area has not changed much over the years, and a small amount of S. alterniflora has invaded later.
Distribution of phytoplankton in the East China Sea and the southern Yellow Sea in spring in relation to environmental variables and dimethylsulfide compounds
Jiawei Zhang, Yanghang Chen, Xueyan Ren, Vishal Patil, Lin Sun, Xuesong Li, Junrong Liang, Jun Zhang, Yahui Gao, Changping Chen
2022, 41(6): 41-53. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1913-0
Abstract:
The coastal ecosystems are highly sensitive to climate change and are usually influenced by variations in phytoplankton communities and water physiochemical factors. In the present study, the phytoplankton community, chlorophyll a (Chl a) and their relationships with environmental variables and dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) were investigated in spring 2017 (March 24 to April 16) in the East China Sea (26.0°–33.0°N, 120.0°–128.0°E) and southern Yellow Sea (31.0°–36.0°N, 120.0°–125.0°E). The spatial distributions of phytoplankton species composition and cell density were investigated by qualitative and quantitative methods and were compared with historical data to study phytoplankton species succession in the survey area. The results showed that there were 275 phytoplankton species belonging to 90 genera and 6 phyla in the survey area, of which 208 species belonged to 62 genera of Bacillariophyta and 56 species belonged to 20 genera of Pyrrophyta. The dominant phytoplankton species were Skeletonema dohrnii, Chaetoceros vanheurckii and Prorocentrum donghaiense. The phytoplankton cell densities ranged from 0.06×104 cells/L to 418.73×104 cells/L, with an average value of 21.46×104 cells/L. In spring, the average ratio of Bacillariophyta/Pyrrophyta was 41.13 for the entire study area. The areas with high phytoplankton cell density were mainly distributed in the northern South Yellow Sea and offshore waters of the East China Sea. According to a canonical correspondence analysis among phytoplankton and environmental parameters, the water Chl a concentrations were notably consistent with phytoplankton cell density (P<0.001), and both showed significant negative correlations with salinity and nitrite (P<0.05) and significant positive correlations with dissolved oxygen and pH (P<0.001). There was a significant positive correlation between diatom (both in cell density and in dominant species) and DMS (P<0.05), which indicated that diatoms play a greater role in DMS production in this investigated area.
Long-term nutrient variation trends and their potential impact on phytoplankton in the southern Yellow Sea, China
Yan Wang, Yongjian Liu, Hao Guo, Haibo Zhang, Dongmei Li, Ziwei Yao, Xiaocheng Wang, Chuan Jia
2022, 41(6): 54-67. doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2031-3
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The concentration and composition of nutrients, such as N, P, and Si, respond to biogeochemical processes and in turn, impact the phytoplanktons’ community structure and primary production. In this study, historical data was systematically analyzed to identify long-term variations in nutrient trends, red tide frequency, phytoplankton community abundance, and dominant species succession in the southern Yellow Sea (SYS). Results showed that N/P concentration ratios dramatically increased as a function of increasing dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations, and Si/N concentration ratios were generally larger than 1, indicating that N limitation morphed to P limitation and potentially to Si limitation, which impacted the phytoplankton community. Furthermore, inter-annual trends over the past 50 years show that phytoplankton community abundance has been higher in spring and summer, relative to autumn and winter. Moreover, with respect to red tide frequency, diatom abundance gradually decreased, while that of dinoflagellates gradually increased. Dominant species succession showed that the phytoplankton community exhibited an evident tendency to transform from diatoms to dinoflagellates. These research results clearly depict the presence of an important correlation between the phytoplankton community and nutrient structure in the SYS.
Winter distribution of diatom assemblages along the coastline of R. O. Korea in 2010
Joon Sang Park, Kyun-Woo Lee, Seung Won Jung, Taek-Kyun Lee, Hyoung Min Joo
2022, 41(6): 68-77. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1929-5
Abstract:
Diatoms are a globally successful and eukaryotic photosynthetic organism with an ornamented silica external wall. The relationship between their valve morphology and habitat means that diatoms can be used as bioindicators to characterize the aquatic environment. To estimate the differential distribution and diversity of diatom assemblages along the coastal line, we collected phytoplankton samples from 114 coastal sites of waters of R. O. Korea. We applied the unweighted pair-group technique using the arithmetic averages clustering method to cluster the sampling sites, apart from those where the biota consisted of other groups, such as dinoflagellates, into four regions: the Yellow Sea, South Sea, southern East Sea, and northern East Sea. Indicator species analysis in each region led to the selection of tychoplanktonic, chain-forming, attached species to substrates and psychrophilic indicator diatoms, respectively, each of which represented a planktonic lifestyle associated with one of the four regions. This study shows the diatom assemblages to serve as bioindicators of Korean coastal water in winter, and the subsequent seasonal survey will provide a starting point for the improved understanding of Korean diatom-based ecoregions, in both time and space.
Two drifting paths of Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during 2019−2020
Chao Yuan, Jie Xiao, Xuelei Zhang, Mingzhu Fu, Zongling Wang
2022, 41(6): 78-87. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1894-z
Abstract:
The macroalgal blooms of floating brown algae Sargassum horneri are increasing in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during the past few years. However, the annual pattern of Sargassum bloom is not well characterized. To study the developing pattern and explore the impacts from hydro-meteorologic environment, high resolution satellite imageries were used to monitor the distribution, coverage and drifting of the pelagic Sargassum rafts in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from September 2019 to August 2020. Sargassum blooms were detected from October 2019 to June 2020 and presented two successive drifting paths that both initiated from around 37°N. The first path spanned smaller spatial scale and shorter period, starting with a bloom of 3 km2 distribution area near the eastern tip of Shandong Peninsula in late October 2019 and drifted southwards, hit the Pyropia aquaculture area in early January 2020, then vanished in the northwest of East China Sea (ca. 32°N) around end of January. The second path began with a large distribution area of 23 000 km2 east of 123°E in late January 2020, firstly moved southwards in the central Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea (north of 29°N) till late April, then turned northwards with monsoon wind and vanished from late June to August. The mean sea surface temperature of 8°C to 20°C in the Sargassum bloom areas corresponded to in situ observed temperature range for vegetative growth and floating of S. horneri. There was no observed floating Sargassum blooms during July through September in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea. The results indicate that floating S. horneri is unable to complete life cycle in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea, and provide insights to the future management of Sargassum blooms. Further studies are needed to validate the pattern and source of annual Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.
Articles$Marine Chemistry
Fluxes of riverine nutrient to the Zhujiang River Estuary and its potential eutrophication effect
Li Zhang, Yumin Yang, Weihong He, Jie Xu, Ruihuan Li
2022, 41(6): 88-98. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1919-7
Abstract:
The Zhujiang River Estuary is becoming eutrophic due to the impact of anthropogenic activities in the past decades. To understand nutrient dynamics and fluxes to the Lingdingyang water via four outlets (Humen, Jiaomen, Hongqimen and Hengmen), we investigated the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of dissolved nutrients in the Zhujiang River Estuary, based on fourteen cruises conducted from March 2015 to October 2017, covering both wet (April to September) and dry (October to March next year) seasons. Our results showed that riverine fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved silicate (DSi) into the Lingdingyang water through four outlets varied seasonally due to the influence of river discharge, with the highest in spring and the lowest in winter. However, riverine flux of phosphate exhibited little significant seasonal variability. Riverine nutrients into the Lingdingyang water most resulted through Humen Outlet. The estuarine export fluxes of DIN out of the Zhujiang River Estuary derived from a box model were higher than fluxes of riverine nutrients in May, likely due to the influence of local sewage, while lower than riverine flux in August. The export fluxes of phosphate were higher than the fluxes of riverine phosphate in May and August. In contrast, large amounts of DSi were buried in the estuary in May and August. Although excess DIN was delivered into the Zhujiang River Estuary, eutrophication effect was not as severe as expected in the Zhujiang River Estuary, since the light limitation restricted the utilization of nutrients by phytoplankton.
Responses of nutrient biogeochemistry and nitrogen cycle to seasonal upwelling in coastal waters of the eastern Hainan Island
Nan Zhou, Sumei Liu, Guodong Song, Yunyan Zhang, Lingyan Wang, Xiaoyan Ning
2022, 41(6): 99-113. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1934-8
Abstract:
The coastal upwelling has profound influence on the surrounding ecosystem by supplying the nutrient-replete water to the euphotic zone. Nutrient biogeochemistry was investigated in coastal waters of the eastern Hainan Island in summer 2015 and autumn 2016. From perspectives of nutrient dynamics and physical transport, the nutrient fluxes entered the upper 50 m water depth (between the mixed layer and the euphotic zone) arisen from the upwelling were estimated to be 2.5−5.4 mmol/(m2·d), 0.15−0.28 mmol/(m2·d), and 2.2−7.2 mmol/(m2·d) for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), phosphate (DIP), and dissolved silicate (DSi), respectively, which were around 6- to 12-fold those in the background area. The upwelled nutrients supported an additional plankton growth of (14.70±8.95) mg/m2 for chlorophyll a (Chl a). The distributions of nitrate δ15N and δ18O above the 300 m water depth (top of the North Pacific Intermediate Water) were different among the upwelling area, background area in summer, and the stations in autumn, and the difference of environmental and biogeochemical conditions between seasons should be the reason. The higher DIN/DIP concentration ratio, nitrate concentration anomaly, and lower nitrate isotope anomaly (Δ(15, 18)) in the upper ocean in summer than in autumn indicated the stronger nitrogen fixation and atmospheric deposition, and the following fixed nitrogen regeneration in summer. The higher values of Chl a and nitrate δ15N and δ18O within the euphotic zone in autumn than the background area in summer suggested the stronger nitrate assimilation in autumn. The differences in relatively strength of the assimilation, nitrogen fixation and atmospheric deposition, and the following remineralization and nitrification between the two seasons made the higher δ18O:δ15N and larger difference of enzymatic isotope fractionation factors 15ε and 18ε for nitrate assimilation in summer than in autumn above the North Pacific Tropical Water.
Temperature coefficient of seawater pH as a function of temperature, pH, DIC and salinity
Yubin Hu
2022, 41(6): 114-118. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1955-3
Abstract:
pH is a measure of the hydrogen ion activity in a solution, which is a function of temperature. Under normal seawater conditions, it is well constrained. Nowadays, with an increasing interest in complex environments (e.g., sea ice), a better understanding of the temperature change on pH under extreme conditions is needed. The objective of this paper was to investigate the temperature coefficient of the seawater pH (∆pH/∆T) over a wide range of temperature, pH, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and salinity by a method of continuous pH measurement with the temperature change, and to verify the application of CO2SYS for pH conversion under extreme conditions (on the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) scale and the total proton scale). Both experimental results and CO2SYS calculations showed that ∆pH/∆T was slightly affected by temperature over the range of 0°C to 40°C and by pH (at 25°C) from 7.8 to 8.5. However, when pH was out of this range, ∆pH/∆T varied greatly with pH value. According to the experimental results, changes in DIC from 1 mmol/kg to 5 mmol/kg and salinity from 20 to 105 had no significant effect on ∆pH/∆T. CO2SYS calculations showed a slight increase in ∆pH/∆T with DIC on both the NBS scale and the total proton scale; and underestimated ∆pH/∆T at high salinity (i.e., beyond the oceanographic range) on the NBS scale. Nevertheless, CO2SYS is still suitable for pH conversion even under extreme conditions by simply setting the input values of DIC and salinity in CO2SYS within the oceanographic range (e.g., DIC=2 mmol/kg and S=35).
Articles$Marine biology
Comparative mitochondrial genome analysis of Varunidae and its phylogenetic implications
Ying Zhang, Li Gong, Xinting Lu, Zengliang Miao, Lihua Jiang, Bingjian Liu, Liqin Liu, Pengfei Li, Xu Zhang, Zhenming Lü
2022, 41(6): 119-131. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1927-7
Abstract:
Complete mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) can indicate phylogenetic relationships, as well as useful information for gene rearrangement mechanisms and molecular evolution. Currently, the phylogenetic location of the genus Varuna (Brachyura: Varunidae) has not been well resolved mainly because of limited representatives (only two extant species). Here, we determined a new mitogenome of this genus (Varuna litterata) and added the published mitogenomes to reconstruct the phylogeny of Varunidae. The 16 368-bp mitogenome contains the entire set of 37 genes and a putative control region. The characteristics of this newly sequenced mitogenome were described and compared with the other 15 Varunidae mitogenomes. All 16 analyzed mitogenomes have identical gene order and similar molecular features. The sliding window and genetic distance analyses demonstrate highly variable nucleotide diversity, with comparatively low variability of COI and COII, and high variability of ND6. The nonsynonymous/synonymous substitution rates (dN/dS ratio) analysis shows that all 13 PCGs are under purifying selection and ATP8 gene evolves under the least selective pressure. Twelve tRNA genes, two rRNAs, one PCG, and the putative control region are found to be rearranged with respect to the pancrustacean ground pattern gene order. Tandem duplication/random loss model is adopted to explain the large-scale gene rearrangement events occurring in Varunidae mitogenomes. Phylogenetic analyses show that all Varunidae species are placed into one group, and form a sister clade with Macrophthalmidae. Nevertheless, the phylogenetic relationships within Varunidae are not completely consistent based on the two different datasets used in this study. These findings will contribute to a better understanding of gene rearrangement and molecular evolution in Varunidae mitogenomes, as well as provide insights into the phylogenetic studies of Brachyura.
Seasonal variation of Caligus rotundigenitalis infestation on the host fish Etroplus suratensis from the Cochin Backwaters, southwest coast of India
Jemi Job N, A A Mohamed Hatha, C K Radhakrishnan
2022, 41(6): 132-136. doi: 10.1007/s13131-021-1904-1
Abstract:
Investigation of four edible fishes (Etroplus suratensis, Oreochromis mossambicus, Lates calcarifer, Chanos chanos) collected from a fish landing center along Cochin Backwaters has done for caligid infestation. Of these, caligids were detected only from Etroplus suratensis and was identified to be Caligus rotundigenitalis. Parasites were attached to the inner side of operculum of host which indicates strong site preference. The annual observation of prevalence, mean intensity and abundance were found to be 19.21%, 1.051 and 0.202 respectively. Variation of prevalence with respect to the different length groups of E. suratensis has discussed in this paper. Damages of the inner side of operculum and increase in mucous production were noticed as a result of copepod attachment.
Articles$Marine Technology
Assessment of theoretical approaches to derivation of internal solitary wave parameters from multi-satellite images near the Dongsha Atoll of the South China Sea
Huarong Xie, Qing Xu, Quanan Zheng, Xuejun Xiong, Xiaomin Ye, Yongcun Cheng
2022, 41(6): 137-145. doi: 10.1007/s13131-022-2015-3
Abstract:
This study assesses the accuracy and the applicability of the Korteweg-de Vries (KdV) and the nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) equation solutions to derivation of dynamic parameters of internal solitary waves (ISWs) from satellite images. Visible band images taken by five satellite sensors with spatial resolutions from 5 m to 250 m near the Dongsha Atoll of the northern South China Sea (NSCS) are used as a baseline. From the baseline, the amplitudes of ISWs occurring from July 10 to 13, 2017 are estimated by the two approaches and compared with concurrent mooring observations for assessments. Using the ratio of the dimensionless dispersive parameter to the square of dimensionless nonlinear parameter as a criterion, the best appliable ranges of the two approaches are clearly separated. The statistics of total 18 cases indicate that in each 50% of cases, the KdV and the NLS approaches give more accurate estimates of ISW amplitudes. It is found that the relative errors of ISW amplitudes derived from two theoretical approaches are closely associated with the logarithmic bottom slopes. This may be attributed to the nonlinear growth of ISW amplitudes as propagating along a shoaling thermocline or topography. The test results using three consecutive satellite images to retrieve the ISW propagation speeds indicate that the use of multiple satellite images (>2) may improve the accuracy of retrieved phase speeds. Meanwhile, repeated multi-satellite images of ISWs can help to determine the types of ISWs if mooring data are available nearby.