Salinity, mineralogy, porosity, and hydrodynamics as drivers of carbon burial in urban mangroves from a megacity.

Mangrove ecosystems are an important blue carbon store but exhibit considerable variation in soil carbon stocks globally. Unravelling the conditions controlling carbon stock is critical for assessing current and future carbon budgets. Mangrove soil biogeochemical cycles can strongly influence carbon storage capacities. We thus investigated carbon sequestration and the environmental parameters shaping variability in biogeochemical cycling and carbon storage in sediment samples from four mangrove sites along an estuarine-to-marine gradient in Hong Kong, a megacity. Our results showed that organic matter in Hong Kong mangroves is sourced principally from autochthonous mangrove plants. Total nitrogen was higher in the freshwater-influenced sites and supplied from different sources. Marine-influenced sites had larger sulfur fractionations, reflecting higher marine-sourced sulfate concentrations and indicating a relatively open sulfate system. We estimated an average organic carbon stock of 115 ± 8 Mg C ha-1 in the upper 100 cm soil layer placing Hong Kong mangroves at the lower end of the global spectrum of the soil carbon stock. Carbon accumulation was found to be driven by a combination of higher total organic matter inputs, soil fluxes, and porosity. Notably, despite having the highest mass-specific soil organic carbon contents, Mai Po had the lowest integrated soil organic carbon storage (77 ± 3 Mg C ha-1). This was primarily due to lower sediment density and higher tidal pumping leading to a decrease in carbon retention. Total organic matter input, sediment characteristics, and hydrodynamics were the main factors influencing soil organic carbon storage. Overall, our results suggest that (1) while multiple parameters can enhance soil organic carbon content and increase carbon storage capacities, (2) hydrodynamics and sediment characteristics can increase the potential for leakage of carbon, and (3) high carbon content does not always equal high carbon sequestration and stock.

Comparison of partial replacement of fishmeal with soybean meal and EnzoMeal on growth performance of Asian seabass Lates calcarifer.

This study explored the impact of fishmeal replacement by commercial soybean meal (SM) and EnzoMeal (EZM) on Asian seabass Lates calcarifer growth performance using six diets. The six diets comprised two sources of plant proteins with three levels each, including 300 g kg-1 soybean meal (SM30), 300 g kg-1 EnzoMeal (EZM30), 400 g kg-1 soybean meal (SM40), 400 g kg-1 EnzoMeal (EZM40), 500 g kg-1 soybean meal (SM50), and 500 g kg-1 EnzoMeal (EZM50). The soybean level was shown to significantly affect the final fish weight, weight gain, specific growth rate (SGR), survival, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and apparent digestibility coefficient (ADC). Further, the plant meal type significantly affected the final weight, weight gain, feed intake, ADC, and body lipid content. The highest final weight was observed in the SM30 group, and the lowest final weight was in the EZM50 group. Fish fed EZM had lower body weight than those fed soybean meal at the same inclusion level. However, once the fish had adapted to the EZM diet the fish weight variation was low. At the 300 g kg-1 and 400 g kg-1 inclusion levels the fish fed EZM showed significantly higher ADC than those fed soybean. The pepsin activity of fish fed EZM at 300 g kg-1 and 400 g kg-1 was higher than those fed soybean meal at the same levels. The enterocyte height in the hindgut of fish fed SM40 and SM50 was significantly higher than those fed EZM40 and EZM50, respectively. This study indicates that EZM could be a potential source of plant protein to replace fishmeal in fish feed as it contains high protein and low anti-nutritional factors. However, the major endpoint measurements on fish performance suggest that low feed intake constrains further EZM inclusion beyond 300 g kg-1 in the diet.

Nutrition and water temperature regulate the expression of heat-shock proteins in golden pompano larvae (Trachinotus ovata, Limmaeus 1758).

Understanding fish larval development is of a great interest for aquaculture production efficiency. Identifying possible indicators of fish larvae stress could improve the production and limit the mortality rate that larval stage is subjected to. Heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and heat-shock factors (HSFs) are well known as indicators of response to many kinds of stressor (e.g., environmental, morphological, or pathological changes). In this study, golden pompano larvae were raised at different temperatures (23 °C, 26 °C, and 29 °C), as well as three different diets (Artemia nauplii unenriched, Artemia nauplii enriched with Nannochloropsis sp., and Artemia nauplii enriched with Algamac 3080), and the expression of HSP60, HSP70, HSF1, HSP2, and GRP94 were monitored. While stress genes were widely expressed in the larval tissues, HSP60 and HSP70 were principally from the gills and heart; HSF1 principally from the muscle, brain, and heart; and GRP94 principally from the head kidney and spleen. Golden pompano larvae were found to be more sensitive to thermal changes at later larval stage, and 29 °C was showed to likely be the best condition for golden pompano larval development. Nannochloropsis sp.-enriched Artemia nauplii treatment was found to be the most appropriate feed type with moderate relative expressions of HSP60, HSP70, HSF1, HSF2, and GRP94.