Tropical dead zones and mass mortalities on coral reefs.

Degradation of coastal water quality in the form of low dissolved oxygen levels (hypoxia) can harm biodiversity, ecosystem function, and human wellbeing. Extreme hypoxic conditions along the coast, leading to what are often referred to as "dead zones," are known primarily from temperate regions. However, little is known about the potential threat of hypoxia in the tropics, even though the known risk factors, including eutrophication and elevated temperatures, are common. Here we document an unprecedented hypoxic event on the Caribbean coast of Panama and assess the risk of dead zones to coral reefs worldwide. The event caused coral bleaching and massive mortality of corals and other reef-associated organisms, but observed shifts in community structure combined with laboratory experiments revealed that not all coral species are equally sensitive to hypoxia. Analyses of global databases showed that coral reefs are associated with more than half of the known tropical dead zones worldwide, with >10% of all coral reefs at elevated risk for hypoxia based on local and global risk factors. Hypoxic events in the tropics and associated mortality events have likely been underreported, perhaps by an order of magnitude, because of the lack of local scientific capacity for their detection. Monitoring and management plans for coral reef resilience should incorporate the growing threat of coastal hypoxia and include support for increased detection and research capacity.

First insights into the biodiversity and biogeography of the Southern Ocean deep sea.

Shallow marine benthic communities around Antarctica show high levels of endemism, gigantism, slow growth, longevity and late maturity, as well as adaptive radiations that have generated considerable biodiversity in some taxa. The deeper parts of the Southern Ocean exhibit some unique environmental features, including a very deep continental shelf and a weakly stratified water column, and are the source for much of the deep water in the world ocean. These features suggest that deep-sea faunas around the Antarctic may be related both to adjacent shelf communities and to those in other oceans. Unlike shallow-water Antarctic benthic communities, however, little is known about life in this vast deep-sea region. Here, we report new data from recent sampling expeditions in the deep Weddell Sea and adjacent areas (748-6,348 m water depth) that reveal high levels of new biodiversity; for example, 674 isopods species, of which 585 were new to science. Bathymetric and biogeographic trends varied between taxa. In groups such as the isopods and polychaetes, slope assemblages included species that have invaded from the shelf. In other taxa, the shelf and slope assemblages were more distinct. Abyssal faunas tended to have stronger links to other oceans, particularly the Atlantic, but mainly in taxa with good dispersal capabilities, such as the Foraminifera. The isopods, ostracods and nematodes, which are poor dispersers, include many species currently known only from the Southern Ocean. Our findings challenge suggestions that deep-sea diversity is depressed in the Southern Ocean and provide a basis for exploring the evolutionary significance of the varied biogeographic patterns observed in this remote environment.

Wastewater input reductions reverse historic hypereutrophication of Boston Harbor, USA.

This paper documents the changes that followed large nutrient (N and P) and organic matter input reductions to a major metropolitan marine bay, Boston Harbor (USA). Before input reduction, its N and P inputs fell in the upper range of the < 1-> 300 gN m-2 year-1 and < 0.1-> 40 gP m-2 year-1 for coastal systems. Elevated nutrient and organic matter inputs are recognized causes of coastal eutrophication. Treatment upgrades and then diversion of its wastewater discharges offshore, lowered its N, P, and organic C inputs by 80-90%. The input decreases lowered its trophic status from hypereutrophic to eutrophic-mesotrophic. With the reversal of hypereutrophication, pelagic production and phytoplankton biomass decreased, and the nitrogen limitation relative to phosphorus limitation increased. Benthic metabolism and dissolved inorganic N fluxes decreased, and benthic-pelagic coupling was altered. Bottom-water dissolved oxygen, already at healthy levels, increased, and seagrass expanded. Coastal management requires that the changes, following the nutrient and organic matter input reductions implemented to address eutrophication, be understood. Boston Harbor's recovery, because its water column was vertically well mixed and marine, was more pronounced than in many other systems.

Is it possible to assess the ecological status of highly stressed natural estuarine environments using macroinvertebrates indices?

Several biotic indices have been proposed for the assessment of the ecological status of benthic macroinvertebrates in marine waters, although none have been generally accepted. When it comes to assessing highly stressed natural environments, such as estuaries, the controversy and uncertainty is much higher than for any given normal index. In this article, we test the behavior and suitability of different biotic indices proposed under the perspective of the Water Framework Directive (S, H, AMBI, M-AMBI, BQI, W-statistic, Taxonomic distinctness) for the assessment of estuaries in northern Spain. The low species richness and dominance of a few tolerant species in the characteristic community of these estuaries presented a challenge to the application of the biotic indices tested. Combined approaches that integrate different aspects of water quality and ecosystem functionality could increase the reliability of the ecological assessment of these transitional waters.

Hypoxia and benthic community recovery in Korean coastal waters.

Low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia and/or anoxia) has become a major cause of change to the benthic component of ecosystems around the world. We present the response of a benthic community to hypoxia in organically enriched environments in Korean coastal waters. Disturbances due to low dissolved oxygen (DO), and organic enrichment altered community dynamics, result in defaunation during summer hypoxia with delayed recolonization occurring in winter. As DO decreased, the number of taxa, their abundance and biomass of macrofauna dropped significantly at inner bay stations in Chinhae Bay and Youngsan River estuarine bay affected by hypoxia. With the return of normoxic conditions in Chinhae Bay, recolonization was initiated by opportunistic species, with a 1-4months lag. The polychaetes, Sigambra tentaculata, Mesochaetopterus sp., and Lumbrineris longifolia, were most persistent under hypoxia. The first recolonizers were the polychaetes Paraprionospio pinnata, S. tantaculata, Glycinde gurjanovae and Nectoneanthes multignatha and the bivalve Theora fragilis. The second group of colonizers included the polychaetes Capitella capitata, Mesochaetopterus sp. and L. longifolia, and the bivalve Raetellops pulchella. Hypoxic and near anoxic conditions resulted in mass mortality in Chinhae Bay and Youngsan River estuarine bay, but communities did partially recover after return to normoxic conditions despite delayed recolonization.

Modeling the effect of hypoxia on macrobenthos production in the lower Rappahannock River, Chesapeake Bay, USA.

Hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay has substantially increased in recent decades, with detrimental effects on macrobenthic production; the production of these fauna link energy transfer from primary consumers to epibenthic and demersal predators. As such, the development of accurate predictive models that determine the impact of hypoxia on macrobenthic production is important. A continuous-time, biomass-based model was developed for the lower Rappahannock River, a Bay tributary prone to seasonal hypoxia. Phytoplankton, zooplankton, and macrobenthic state variables were modeled, with a focus on quantitatively constraining the effect of hypoxia on macrobenthic biomass. This was accomplished through regression with Z': a sigmoidal function between macrobenthic biomass and dissolved oxygen concentration, derived using macrobenthic data collected from the Rappahannock River during the summers of 2007 and 2008, and applied to compute hypoxia-induced mortality as a rate process. The model was verified using independent monitoring data collected by the Chesapeake Bay Program. Simulations showed that macrobenthic biomass was strongly linked to dissolved oxygen concentrations, with fluctuations in biomass related to the duration and severity of hypoxia. Our model demonstrated that hypoxia negatively affected macrobenthic biomass, as longer durations of hypoxia and greater hypoxic severity resulted in an increasing loss in biomass. This exercise represents an important contribution to modeling anthropogenically impacted coastal ecosystems, by providing an empirically constrained relationship between hypoxia and macrobenthic biomass, and applying that empirical relationship in a mechanistic model to quantify the effect of the severity, duration, and frequency of hypoxia on benthic biomass dynamics.

Bioturbation in a declining oxygen environment, in situ observations from Wormcam.

Bioturbation, the displacement and mixing of sediment particles by fauna or flora, facilitates life supporting processes by increasing the quality of marine sediments. In the marine environment bioturbation is primarily mediated by infaunal organisms, which are susceptible to perturbations in their surrounding environment due to their sedentary life history traits. Of particular concern is hypoxia, dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations ≤2.8 mg l(-1), a prevalent and persistent problem that affects both pelagic and benthic fauna. A benthic observing system (Wormcam) consisting of a buoy, telemetering electronics, sediment profile camera, and water quality datasonde was developed and deployed in the Rappahannock River, VA, USA, in an area known to experience seasonal hypoxia from early spring to late fall. Wormcam transmitted a time series of in situ images and water quality data, to a website via wireless internet modem, for 5 months spanning normoxic and hypoxic periods. Hypoxia was found to significantly reduce bioturbation through reductions in burrow lengths, burrow production, and burrowing depth. Although infaunal activity was greatly reduced during hypoxic and near anoxic conditions, some individuals remained active. Low concentrations of DO in the water column limited bioturbation by infaunal burrowers and likely reduced redox cycling between aerobic and anaerobic states. This study emphasizes the importance of in situ observations for understanding how components of an ecosystem respond to hypoxia.

Assessing coastal benthic macrofauna community condition using best professional judgement--developing consensus across North America and Europe.

Benthic indices are typically developed independently by habitat, making their incorporation into large geographic scale assessments potentially problematic because of scaling inequities. A potential solution is to establish common scaling using expert best professional judgment (BPJ). To test if experts from different geographies agree on condition assessment, sixteen experts from four regions in USA and Europe were provided species-abundance data for twelve sites per region. They ranked samples from best to worst condition and classified samples into four condition (quality) categories. Site rankings were highly correlated among experts, regardless of whether they were assessing samples from their home region. There was also good agreement on condition category, though agreement was better for samples at extremes of the disturbance gradient. The absence of regional bias suggests that expert judgment is a viable means for establishing a uniform scale to calibrate indices consistently across geographic regions.

Hypoxia, nitrogen, and fisheries: integrating effects across local and global landscapes.

Anthropogenic nutrient enrichment and physical characteristics result in low dissolved oxygen concentrations (hypoxia) in estuaries and semienclosed seas throughout the world. Published research indicates that within and near oxygen-depleted waters, finfish and mobile macroinvertebrates experience negative effects that range from mortality to altered trophic interactions. Chronic exposure to hypoxia and fluctuating oxygen concentrations impair reproduction, immune responses, and growth. We present an analysis of hypoxia, nitrogen loadings, and fisheries landings in 30 estuaries and semien-closed seas worldwide. Our results suggest that hypoxia does not typically reduce systemwide fisheries landings below what would be predicted from nitrogen loadings, except where raw sewage is released or particularly sensitive species lose critical habitat. A number of compensatory mechanisms limit the translation of local-scale effects of hypoxia to the scale of the whole system. Hypoxia is, however, a serious environmental challenge that should be considered in fisheries management strategies and be a direct target of environmental restoration.

Spreading dead zones and consequences for marine ecosystems.

Dead zones in the coastal oceans have spread exponentially since the 1960s and have serious consequences for ecosystem functioning. The formation of dead zones has been exacerbated by the increase in primary production and consequent worldwide coastal eutrophication fueled by riverine runoff of fertilizers and the burning of fossil fuels. Enhanced primary production results in an accumulation of particulate organic matter, which encourages microbial activity and the consumption of dissolved oxygen in bottom waters. Dead zones have now been reported from more than 400 systems, affecting a total area of more than 245,000 square kilometers, and are probably a key stressor on marine ecosystems.

A review of approaches for classifying benthic habitats and evaluating habitat quality.

We have assessed the current state of knowledge relative to methods used in assessing sub-tidal benthic habitat quality and the classification of benthic habitats. While our main focus is on marine habitat, we extensively draw on knowledge gained in freshwater systems where benthic assessment procedures are at an advanced stage of maturity. We found a broad range of sophistication/complication in terms of the methods applied in assessing and mapping benthic habitats. The simplest index or metric involved some assessment of species richness, while the most complicated required utilizing multi-variate analysis. The simplest mapping attempts equated physical substrate with benthic habitat while the most sophisticated relied on extensive environmental preference and groundtruth data for species of concern. The leading edge of methods for benthic habitat mapping involves combining the advances in optical and acoustic methods that allow for routine classifying and mapping of the seafloor with biological and habitat data for species of concern. The objective of this melding of dispirit methods is to produce benthic habitat maps with broad system wide coverage and sound biological underpinning. It is clear that the disparity in information density between the physical and biological sides of the equation currently hinder applicability and acceptability of benthic habitat mapping efforts. In addition to the lack of basic information on the biological and environmental tolerances of targeted species, the proliferation of metrics for characterizing and assessing biological conditions further clouds the usefulness of any broad scale mapping attempt. The problem of data density mismatch between physical and biological methods will likely not be solved until acoustic methods can routinely resolve the elusive biological components that make a physical substrate a habitat.