Biogeochemical conditions controlling the intensity of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) outbreak caused by Alexandrium blooms: Results from 6-year field observations in Jinhae-Masan Bay, Korea.

Previous field observations from 2018 to 2019 revealed that paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) caused by the blooms of toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium species occurred under low concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and high concentrations of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and humic-like fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOMH) in Jinhae-Masan Bay, Korea. In this study, we obtained more data for DIN, DON, FDOMH, and Alexandrium cell density from 2020 to 2023 to further validate environmental conditions for the PSP outbreak. We also measured total hydrolyzed amino acids (THAA) to determine the bioavailability of DON fueling the PSP outbreak. Over the 6-year observations, there was a consistent pattern of low DIN concentrations and high DON and FDOMH concentrations during the PSP outbreak periods. The Alexandrium cell densities, together with the PSP toxin concentrations, increased rapidly under this environmental condition. The PSP outbreak occurs when a large amount of DIN originating from the stream waters near the upstream sites is transformed into DON by biological production before entering the PSP outbreak area. The produced DON is characterized by high bioavailability based on the various AA-derived indices (enantiomeric ratio, degradation index, non-protein AA mole%, and nitrogen-normalized AA yield). In addition, the intensities of PSP outbreaks are mainly dependent on the conversion stage of DIN to DON and enhanced FDOMH. We found that the strong PSP outbreak occurred consistently under a low level of DIN (<1.0 µM) and high levels of DON (>9.0 µM) and FDOMH (>1.5 R.U.). Thus, our results suggest that the monitoring data of environmental conditions can be used to predict the PSP outbreak in the coastal oceans.

Long-term changes in the concentrations of nutrients in the marginal seas (Yellow Sea, East China Sea, and East/Japan Sea) neighboring the Korean Peninsula.

We examined the changes in the concentrations of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and phosphorus (DIP) in the surface waters of the Yellow Sea (YS), the southern sea (SS) of Korea, and the East/Japan Sea (ES) from 1995 to 2021. These marginal seas neighboring the Korean Peninsula maintained nutrient concentrations approximately an order of magnitude higher than those in the Kuroshio waters, indicating extraordinarily large terrestrial source inputs. Generally, the DIN concentration in the YS increased gradually due to the accumulation of terrestrial inputs, while the nutrient concentrations in the ES declined gradually mainly due to enhanced water stratification. The SS showed the maximum DIN concentrations around 2005, associated with freshwater influence. In Korean coastal waters within ~10 km from the coastline, nutrient concentrations declined sharply during this period due to decreased terrestrial nutrient inputs. The rapid changes in the nutrient levels in these seas may significantly alter biological production.

Significant contribution of coastal fish-farm activities to the inventory of trace elements in coastal waters: Traced by ammonia and rare earth elements.

In this study, we investigated the influence of fish-farm activities on the inventory of trace elements (Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu) in the coastal waters off the fish-farm plants on Jeju Island, Korea. NH4+ and rare earth elements (REEs) were used as tracers to examine the production and removal processes. Relatively higher concentrations of trace elements were observed in the coastal waters and significantly correlated with NH4+. Our results suggest that the excess dissolved trace elements in the coastal waters could be mainly produced inside fish farms, together with the production of NH4+ and light-REEs (La to Nd). Although dissolved trace elements were found to be partially scavenged onto particles in the fish-farm rearing waters, indicated by the significant removal of particle-reactive Ce, these particles would be eventually discharged into the coastal ocean and release the dissolved trace elements back into the water columns.

Origins and characteristics of dissolved organic matter fueling harmful dinoflagellate blooms revealed by δ13C and D/L-Amino acid compositions.

We measured the concentrations of dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), total hydrolyzable amino acids (THAA), fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), phytoplankton pigments, and δ13C-DOC during the summer of 2019 in the harmful dinoflagellate bloom regions of the southern coast of Korea. In the harmful dinoflagellate bloom region, the concentrations of inorganic nitrogen were depleted, inhibiting the growth of diatoms, while the concentrations of dissolved organic components (nutrients, DOC, FDOM, and amino acids) which fuel dinoflagellates were unusually high. Thus, we attempted to investigate the origins and characteristics of DOM which fuels the harmful dinoflagellate blooms. The δ13C-DOC values (- 22.2‰ to - 18.2‰) indicate that the elevated DOC concentrations result from in-situ biological production rather than terrestrial inputs. The enantiomeric (D/L) ratios of THAA indicate that dissolved organic nitrogen was more labile in the early stage of harmful dinoflagellate bloom and became more refractory in the final stage. Our results suggest that the marine production of bioavailable DOM plays an important role in initiating and sustaining harmful dinoflagellate blooms.

Conditions of nutrients and dissolved organic matter for the outbreaks of Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) in Jinhae Bay, Korea.

We measured the concentrations of nutrients, fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), and photosynthetic pigments in seawater during the springs of 2018 and 2019 in Jinhae Bay, Korea. The samplings were carried out during the severe and weak outbreaks of paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) in April 2018 and March 2019, respectively. The additional sampling campaigns were carried out before and after the PSP outbreak for the comparison. During the severe PSP outbreak, lower salinities, higher organic and total nutrients, and higher humic-like FDOM were observed. Although the environmental condition of April 2018 is favorable for the growth of dinoflagellates, the lowest peridinin (dinoflagellate index) and highest fucoxanthin (diatom index) concentrations were observed amongst all sampling periods. Thus, our results suggest that PSP could be more effectively produced by dinoflagellates in the course of the ecological shift by interspecific competition under the environmental condition favorable for dinoflagellates.

Tracing the sources of nutrients fueling dinoflagellate red tides occurring along the coast of Korea using radium isotopes.

It is a well held concept that the magnitude of red-tide occurrence is dependent on the amount of nutrient supply if the conditions are same for temperature, salinity, light, interspecific competition, etc. However, nutrient sources fueling dinoflagellate red-tides are difficult to identify since red tides usually occur under very low inorganic-nutrient conditions. In this study, we used short-lived Ra isotopes (223Ra and 224Ra) to trace the nutrient sources fueling initiation and spread of Cochlodinium polykrikoides blooms along the coast of Korea during the summers of 2014, 2016, and 2017. Horizontal and vertical distributions of nutrient concentrations correlated well with 224Ra activities in nutrient-source waters. The offshore red-tide areas showed high 224Ra activities and low-inorganic and high-organic nutrient concentrations, which are favorable for blooming C. polykrikoides in competition with diatoms. Based on Ra isotopes, the nutrients fueling red-tide initiation (southern coast of Korea) are found to be transported horizontally from inner-shore waters. However, the nutrients in the spread region (eastern coast of Korea), approximately 200 km from the initiation region, are supplied continuously from the subsurface layer by vertical mixing or upwelling. Our study highlights that short-lived Ra isotopes are excellent tracers of nutrients fueling harmful algal blooms in coastal waters.

Significant and conservative long-range transport of dissolved organic nutrients in the Changjiang diluted water.

The Changjiang River is one of the main nutrient sources in the northwestern Pacific marginal seas. However, most of the previous studies have neglected the long-range transport (>200 km) of riverine nutrients since they are rapidly consumed. In this study, we examined the long-range transport (200-800 km) of nutrients in the surface layer during the summer of 2017. The plots of nutrients against salinity display that dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) was conservative over ~800 km, while more than 99% of the dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) was removed within 200 km. As a result, in the study region, DON concentrations (avg. 7.0 ± 1.3 µM), which are minor in the river water, were much higher than DIN concentrations (avg. 0.28 ± 0.26 µM). Both nutrients, N and P, showed a similar pattern. Our results suggest that dissolved organic nutrients play a critical role on the long-range transport of riverine nutrients in surface waters and subsequent ecosystem changes.

Green tide development associated with submarine groundwater discharge in a coastal harbor, Jeju, Korea.

We measured the magnitude of submarine fresh groundwater discharge (SFGD) and associated nutrient inputs to Jocheon harbor, on Jeju Island, Korea, during four sampling periods, in order to determine the link between SFGD and Ulva sp. green tide development. Good correlations among salinity, 222Rn, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in harbor seawater suggest that SFGD is the major source of DIN and fresh water since there are no surface runoffs. Using a 222Rn mass balance model, SFGD to the harbor was estimated to be 5.8 ± 2.3 × 104 m3 d-1. The DIN inputs through SFGD enhanced DIN concentrations in harbor seawater approximately 10-fold of those in the open-ocean (outer harbor) seawater. Results from mesocosm experiments showed that the growth rate of U. pertusa increased by 160% on average due to the enhanced DIN concentrations (from 1 to 24 µM) through SFGD in this harbor. Thus, we conclude that DIN inputs through SFGD cause the green tide development in Jocheon harbor and perhaps in other green tide regions where river inputs are absent.

Growth and uptake kinetics of nitrate and phosphate by benthic microalgae for phytoremediation of eutrophic coastal sediments.

In the present study, the effect of monochromatic light (blue, yellow and red) and mixed wavelength on the nutrient uptake and growth kinetics of benthic microalgae Achnanthes sp., Amphora sp., Navicula sp. and Nitzschia sp. were investigated. The maximum uptake rate (ρmax) for nitrate and phosphate obtained by short-term experiments were high in the order of blue, mixed, red, yellow wavelength, and among the 4 benthic microalgae, Nitzschia sp. was the highest ρmax. The half-saturation constant (Ks) was higher than other taxon. The specific maximum growth rate (µmax') and minimum cell quota (q0) for the nitrogen and phosphorus-limited condition, Nitzschia sp. showed the highest µmax' and q0 values among the 4 benthic microalgae. These results suggest that the benthic microalgae are adapted to high nutrient concentration. In particular, Nitzschia sp., which have a higher capability of storage and uptake, may be a useful species for phytoremediation.

Ecological significance of alkaline phosphatase activity and phosphatase-hydrolyzed phosphorus in the northern part of Gamak Bay, Korea.

We investigated the ecological significance of alkaline phsophatase (APase) and alkaline phosphatase-hydrolyzable phosphorus (APHP) in the northern part of Gamak Bay, Korea. APase activity was detectable throughout the year, and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) concentration and APase activity are highly correlated and can be regarded as an indicator of DIP-limiting conditions. Also, a strong linear positive correlation between APase activity and Chl a concentration indicated that the major part of APase activity may have been induced by phytoplanktons. The APHP proportion in dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) was above ca. 30% from winter to spring and below ca. 15% from summer to autumn due to freshwater discharge and uptake by phytoplankton. APHP may play an important role in species competition in coastal area such as northern part of Gamak Bay where DIP is limiting. Thus, APase induction by phytoplanktons may be ecologically significant, allowing dominance by these organisms under DIP-limiting conditions.