Effects from maritime scrubber effluent on phytoplankton and bacterioplankton communities of a coastal area, Eastern Mediterranean Sea

Life cycles and reproduction of Rhizostomeae

Marine species are moving beyond their native geographical ranges in response to climate change and shifts in other abiotic conditions, establishing populations at higher latitudes. At the same time, species are introduced into new marine regions as a consequence of an increasingly connected world. The success of such range expansions, whether from shifts associated with climate change or human-mediated introductions, depends on the biotic interactions and environmental conditions at the recipient site and/or the capacity of species to adapt to these new conditions. Originating from a special session held at the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) Aquatic Sciences Meeting 2021, the present Theme Section (TS) brings together the current research on 2 interrelated marine ecological topics: (1) invasive species in a warming ocean, and (2) climate-mediated species range shifts. Our investigation of the temporal trends in publications highlights that only one-tenth of studies on marine invasive species examine the species’ interaction with ocean warming. The topic of range shifting species receives slightly more attention than climate driven invasions, but both exhibited a comparable, similarly fast-growing publication rate. Overall, the papers in this TS provide evidence that global warming, and occasionally environmental degradation, are crucial factors altering the distribution of both marine invasive species and range-shifting species. Even though the published literature and even the contributions to this TS only infrequently focus on the interaction between these 2 topics, we propose that future collaboration between scientists from both fields would advance our understanding of the impact of global warming on the shifting distributions of native and invasive species and would allow the development of conservation and management plans in a warming ocean.

Species range shifts, biological invasions and ocean warming

Contamination of oilfield chemicals (OFCs) by benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) is increasingly becoming a severe environmental security issue. There is an urgent need to develop a rapid and accurate method for B[a]P detection in OFCs. In this study, B[a]P hapten was designed using computer aided molecular design. A high-affinity, specific, and matrix-insensitive monoclonal antibody (mAb) with IC50 values of 6.77 ng/mL was obtained. Based on this mAb, we developed a rapid gold nanoparticle-based immunochromatographic strip assay (GICA) with double T-line mode for on-site detection of B[a]P in OFCs samples. The GICA exhibited excellent detection performance in OFCs samples with strong acidity, strong alkalinity, and deep color. Under optimal conditions, the proposed method detected B[a]P in OFCs at 0.42-300 mg/kg, and limit of detection was 0.23-1.07 mg/kg. The recovery rate was 88-106% with a coefficient of variation of 1.46-6.35%. Confirmed by natural positive OFCs samples and high-performance liquid chromatography, this GICA is accurate and reliable, with great potential for rapid and cost-effective on-site detection. 

Quantitative immunochromatographic assay for rapid and cost-effective on-site detection of benzo[a]pyrene in oilfield chemicals.

Ecology of Rhizostomeae

Marine sediments are ecologically-important environments that act as a long-term depository for different contaminants from natural and anthropogenic sources. We investigated the response of crude-oil and gas-condensate spills on benthic microbial populations in the oligotrophic southeastern Mediterranean Sea using costume-design benthocosms. Additions of crude oil and gas condensate significantly changed the sediment’s chemical properties, with 2-fold elevated levels of total organic carbon (TOC) and up to ∼ 6-fold higher concentration of total polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (∑PAHs) relative to unamended sediments. Naphthalene and benzo(a)pyrene were the dominant species comprising the PAHs in both the crude-oil and gas-condensate treatments (29–43% and 26–35%, respectively). Porewater PO4 3+ drastically declined throughout the experiment, whereas NO2 − + NO3 − decreased ∼100 days post hydrocarbons addition and then increased in the remaining ∼100 days till the conclusion of the experiment. This temporal variability in NO2 − + NO3 − hints that hydrocarbon pollution may affect the interplay between benthic denitrification and N2 fixation, thus affecting nutrient limitation for benthic heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton. Moreover, our results show that crude oil and gas-condensate usually lead to a decline in benthic autotrophic microbial biomass (50–80%), while heterotrophic bacterial abundances remained unchanged, and bacterial production rapidly increased (maximal 1,600%, crude-oil > gas-cindensate). These effects were prolonged and lasted several months post hydrocarbons addition, highlighting the sediments as a repository for oil contaminants. Amplicon sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene revealed hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria including Methylophaga, Ponticaulis and Alcanivorax genera post crude-oil addition and Actinobacterota 67–14 lineage following gas-condensate amendments. Our results may enable applying a better science-based environmental policy for the benthic marine environment.

Effects of crude oil and gas condensate spill on coastal benthic microbial populations

Since first reported in the eastern Mediterranean in the 1970s, the swarm-forming scyphomedusa, Rhopilema nomadica , has been continuously expanding westward. We examined the effect of temperature on the benthic stages of this jellyfish (polyps, podocysts, and strobilae) to assess whether it can survive and reproduce in the western Mediterranean temperature regime (12.2-26.2°C). In the first experiment, polyps and podocysts were maintained at 4 constant temperatures (12, 18, 24, and 30°C) for 55 d. In the second experiment, temperatures were gradually reduced over 14 d, kept constant for 18 d, and then gradually brought back to 25°C. High temperatures proved beneficial to polyp survival and asexual reproduction, yet in some cases, polyps were able to survive temperatures as low as 12°C. Strobilation occurred at temperatures between 22 and 30°C. Podocyst production, excystment, and strobilation all take place following a temperature increase, and excystment of podocysts occurs mainly during the first 2 wk following podocyst production. We propose that the role of podocysts in R. nomadica is mainly to increase the current season’s polyp population, contributing to swarm formation rather than as a means to maintain polyp populations during harsh environmental conditions. Since polyps are able to survive winter temperatures in the western basin (12°C) and reproduce by podocysts and strobilation during summer temperatures (24°C), thermal constraints will probably not restrict the expansion of R. nomadica into the western Mediterranean. Expected future climate change conditions will increase the performance and range expansion of this species. 

/pdf/rising-seawater-temperatures-affect-the-fitness-of-rhopilema-3uaf3ksq.pdf

Rising seawater temperatures affect the fitness of Rhopilema nomadica polyps and podocysts and the expansion of this medusa into the western Mediterranean

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Effects of crude oil and gas condensate spill on coastal benthic microbial populations

Rising seawater temperatures affect the fitness of Rhopilema nomadica polyps and podocysts and the expansion of this medusa into the western Mediterranean