Bacterial Communities in the Rhizospheres of Three Mangrove Tree Species from Beilun Estuary, China.

The bacterial communities played important roles in the high productivity mangrove ecosystem. In this study, we investigated the vertical distributions of rhizosphere bacteria from three mangrove species (Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Kandelia candel and Aegiceras corniculatum) in Beilun Estuary, China using high throughput DNA pyrosequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. Phylogenetic analysis showed that bacterial communities from mangrove rhizosphere sediments were dominated by Proteobacteria (mostly Deltaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria), followed by Chloroflexi, Bacteroidetes, Planctomycetes and Acidobacteria. However, the ANOVA analysis on Shannon and Chao1 indices indicated that bacterial communities among sediments of the three mangrove species varied more strongly than the sampling depths. In addition, the PCA result demonstrated that the bacterial communities could be separated into three groups according to the mangrove species. Moreover, the dominated orders Rhodospirillales, GCA004 and envOPS12 were significantly different among sediments of the three mangrove species. The results of this study provided valuable information about the distribution feature of rhizosphere bacteria from Chinese mangrove plants and shed insights into biogeochemical transformations driven by bacteria in rhizosphere sediments.

[Inner- and inter-species differences of mercury concentration in common fishes from the Yellow Sea].

Mercury concentration in marine fishes and its influencing factors are the key problems in the study of mercury biomagnification in marine ecosystems. In order to understand the inner- and inter-species differences of mercury concentration in fishes from the Yellow Sea, a total of 164 marine wild fishes covering nine different species were collected from the area from August to October, 2012. Mercury (total mercury) concentration in fish muscle tissue was measured by a direct mercury analyzer. Body length and wet weight of each sample were also determined. Moreover, feeding habit and trophic level of different species were examined. Hg concentrations (dry weight) in the muscle tissues of the 164 individuals ranged from 0.025 micro x g(-1) to 0.526 microg x g(-1), with an average of (0.124 +/- 0.096) microg x g(-1). By an inner-species analysis, log10 Hg concentration was significantly correlated to their body length and wet weight. Predator fishes with trophic level > 2.8 were more readily to be contaminated by Hg than the filter feeder with trophic level < 2.8. Furthermore, species with higher increasing rate of weight had lower Hg concentration in the muscle due to growth dilution. The results suggest that length and weight are the main factors affecting the inner- species difference of mercury concentration in common fishes from the Yellow Sea, while dietary preference, trophic level and increasing rate of weight are the main factors affecting the inter-species difference from the Yellow Sea.

Methylmercury in fish from the South China Sea: geographical distribution and biomagnification.

We conducted a large-scale investigation of methylmercury (MeHg) in a total of 628 marine wild fish covering 46 different species collected from the South China Sea between 2008 and 2009. Biological and ecological characteristics such as size (length and wet weight), feeding habit, habitat, and stable isotope (δ(15)N) were examined to explain MeHg bioaccumulation in marine fish and their geographical distribution. MeHg levels in the muscle tissues of the 628 individuals ranged from 0.010 to 1.811 µg/g dry wt. Log10MeHg concentration was significantly related to their length and wet weight. Feeding habit and habitat were the primary factors influencing MeHg bioaccumulation. Demersal fish were more likely to be contaminated with MeHg than the epipelagic and mesopelagic varieties. Linear relationships were obtained between Log10(MeHg) and δ(15)N only for one location, indicating that biomagnification was site-specific. Results from this study suggest that dietary preference and trophic structure were the main factors affecting MeHg bioaccumulation in marine fish from the South China Sea.

Ecosystem-based assessment indices of restoration for Daya Bay near a nuclear power plant in South China.

China has adopted nuclear power generation as one of the strategic energy sources to resolve the dilemma between its ever-growing energy demand and the associated environmental issues. To achieve the latter, a systematic assessment of the state of the ecosystem near nuclear power plants and its restoration via ongoing recovery actions would be highly desirable and much needed. Current assessment methods are mostly based on the individual components of the ecosystem and the methods are therefore not integrated. In this paper, we report a set of system-based assessment indices to study the restoration of Daya Bay in Guangdong, China where a nuclear power plant has been in operation for 15 years. The results show that decades of intensive exploitation by the various coastal activities have pushed Daya Bay's ecosystem away from its baseline and its structure and functions are impaired; ecosystem restoration does not make up for the weakening of the ecological carrying capacity due to anthropogenic sea-use, nonetheless, the potential for recovery still exists. The case study suggests that the system-based indices can provide integrated information for ecosystem restoration assessment and management.