An experimental analysis of spatial competition in a dense infaunal community: The importance of relative effects

A densely populated soft-sediment community was experimentally analysed for interspecific competition for space in laboratory experiments. No interspecific competitive interactions leading to a decrease in survivorship could be documented over a five-week period. The four most abundant species all coexisted in laboratory microcosms. The two tube-buiding species, the tanaid Leptochelia dubia and the polychaete Rhynchospio arenincola, could not exclude the mobile bivalve Transennella tantilla or the burrowing amphipod Paraphoxus spinosus. None of the species increases its emigration frequency when other species are present. Paraphoxus is found to be a browsing predator on Phynchospio but inflicts no detectable mortality. The coexistence of these species is permitted by virtue of the fact that none of the species can alter the soft-sediment habitat sufficiently to make the habitat unsuitable for the other species.     

环境因子对贝类累积溶解态重金属的影响

对溶解态重金属的吸收是贝类累积重金属的重要来源之一,易受到生物因素和非生物因素的影响。综述溶解氧、温度、空气预暴露、化学物质预暴露等环境因子,诱导的机体代谢过程的改变,对溶解态重金属的累积和转运过程的影响。强调了贝类对溶解态重金属的转运除了被动转运之外,还涉及到需要ATP供能的主动转运过程。     

Bivalves,Tributyltin and Green Tides: Ecosystem-Level Impact?

Filter feeders such as bivalves are increasingly being shown to control phytoplankton blooms in eutrophic estuaries. The possibility of such a top-down effect on macroalgae, however, has not been considered previously even though most green tide algal species reproduce by pelagic swarmers that are equivalent to phytoplankton. This work presents circumstantial evidence from an oyster-culturing French embayment where, despite eutrophication since the mid-1970s, macroalgae did not proliferate until 1982. This was also the year when tributyltin pollution from antifouling paints dropped substantially following a world-wide prime ban that was implemented to save the shellfish industry. From the recorded evolution of the oyster stock, it is shown how tributyltin reduced the bivalve filter capacity within those years and resulted in Enteromorpha swarmers being much more likely to germinate and bloom. This suggests that the green tides had been successively contained by the biological activity and the chemical pressure. The effects of the latter on the former would thus have cascaded to ecosystem-level changes, and so the functional role of bivalves should be evaluated and preserved wherever relevant.     

双壳类分子生物标志物对海水重金属的响应评述

海洋双壳类动物的组织和器官对微量重金属具有高富集能力,诱导机体内的某些分子生物标志物(molecular biomarkers,MBMs)发生变化,可用于指示海水中的重金属污染水平。近10年来,许多学者在双壳类MBMs对海水重金属的响应规律方面进行了研究,其中,金属硫蛋白(MTs)、热激蛋白70(HSP70)、抗氧化防御系统等受到了较多的关注。本文在介绍这些MBMs结构和功能的基础上,重点评述了各种MBMs对海水重金属的响应特征,并提出了影响双壳类MBMs应用于海水重金属监测的因素及进一步研究的方向。     

Biocorrosion by Bivalves

Abstract. A survey of the historical background of chemically boring bivalves and the proposed methods of boring, indications for biocorrosion, observations, and experimental results are provided. The regional impact to the ecosystem is discussed with examples from the N. Adriatic, Caribbean, and E. Pacific. The fossil record of the geologically oldest biocorroders extends back into the Mesozoic, i.e ., U. Triassic for Lithophaga and Jurassic for gastrochaenids.     

Sensitivity to stress of the estuarine bivalve Macoma balthica from areas between the Netherlands and its southern limits (Gironde)

Variation in the sensitivity to stress of Macoma balthica was measured in several French and Dutch estuaries. For adult and juvenile Macoma balthica exposed to copper under conditions of starvation, differences in mortality rate, condition, glycogen, burrowing rate and copper content were assessed. No significant differences were observed between adults and juveniles; the influence of treatment and origin was always evident. Animals from the most southern estuaries, Loire and Gironde, near to the species's southern limit of distribution, showed, in the field, the strongest deviations for the ecophysiological traits measured, and were in the experiments the most sensitive to stress.     

盐度对长江口3种滤食性贝类滤水率、摄食率、同化率的影响

采用实验生态学方法研究了盐度对长江口缢蛏(Sinonovacula constricta)、河蚬(Corbicula fluminea)和光滑河蓝蛤(Potamocorbula laevis)滤水率、摄食率、同化率的影响。缢蛏组设6个盐度梯度(5,10,15,20,25,30),光滑河蓝蛤组设6个盐度梯度(5,10,15,20,25,30),河蚬组设6个盐度梯度(0,5,10,15,20,25),并测定了此3种滤食性贝类的生物学参数。结果显示,3种滤食性贝类的滤水率、摄食率和同化率随着盐度的上升而增加,当上升到一定盐度时达到峰值,然后随着盐度的升高而降低。盐度20时,缢蛏滤水率、摄食率和同化率达到峰值,分别为0.57L/h、5.38mg POM/h和0.72%。盐度10时,光滑河蓝蛤滤水率和同化率达到峰值,分别为0.46L/h和0.53%,摄食率在盐度15时达到峰值3.80mg POM/h。盐度5时河蚬滤水率和摄食率都达到峰值,分别为0.39 L/h和2.48 mg POM/h,同化率在盐度0时已达到峰值0.51%,并随盐度上升而下降。上述结果表明,盐度对3种滤食性贝类的3个摄食生理指标均有显著影响。     

Differential reproductive strategies of two bivalves in the Dutch Wadden Sea

Cerastoderma edule and Mya arenaria are two common bivalve species in European waters. Longevity and maximum size are much greater in the latter species. Because comparison of species life-history strategies states that a long life span (i.e. high annual survival) generally goes with lower fecundity, we hypothesise that reproductive output would be lower in M. arenaria than in C. edule. In the present paper, we studied the reproductive strategies of these two species in an intertidal and a subtidal area of the western Dutch Wadden Sea, by following seasonal changes in absolute and relative weights of somatic and gonadal tissues in these bivalves. Starting of spawning was similar in the two species, around May, except for intertidal M. arenaria, which initiated spawning in August. Individual energy investment in reproduction was similar for the two species but, unlike M. arenaria, C. edule spawned completely, releasing all energy of gonadal mass in the form of gametes. Mya arenaria used the gonad not only for reproduction but also for storage. In the intertidal area, we found a trade-off between longevity and reproduction, i.e. maximum reproductive output (expressed as a proportion of body mass) was higher in C. edule than in M. arenaria. However, since body size is larger and life span longer in M. arenaria than in C. edule, mean lifetime reproductive output per individual must be higher in the first than in the latter. Based on the differences in reproductive strategies of these two species, we hypothesise that the negative effects of warming climate on bivalve population dynamics in the Wadden Sea will be stronger in C. edule than in M. arenaria.     

Associated terrestrial and marine fossils in the late-glacial Presumpscot Formation, southern Maine, USA, and the marine reservoir effect on radiocarbon ages

Excavations in the late-glacial Presumpscot Formation at Portland, Maine, uncovered tree remains and other terrestrial organics associated with marine invertebrate shells in a landslide deposit. Buds of Populus balsamifera (balsam poplar) occurred with twigs of Picea glauca (white spruce) in the Presumpscot clay. Tree rings in Picea logs indicate that the trees all died during winter dormancy in the same year. Ring widths show patterns of variation indicating responses to environmental changes. Fossil mosses and insects represent a variety of species and wet to dry microsites. The late-glacial environment at the site was similar to that of today's Maine coast. Radiocarbon ages of 14 tree samples are 11,907 ± 31 to 11,650 ± 50 ¹⁴C yr BP. Wiggle matching of dated tree-ring segments to radiocarbon calibration data sets dates the landslide occurrence at ca. 13,520 + 95/−20 cal yr BP. Ages of shells juxtaposed with the logs are 12,850 ± 65 ¹⁴C yr BP (Mytilus edulis) and 12,800 ± 55 ¹⁴C yr BP (Balanus sp.), indicating a marine reservoir age of about 1000 yr. Using this value to correct previously published radiocarbon ages reduces the discrepancy between the Maine deglaciation chronology and the varve-based chronology elsewhere in New England.     

Local disappearance of bivalves in the Azores during the last glaciation

The Pleistocene (Eemian) outcrops of Lagoinhas and Prainha, located at Santa Maria Island (Azores), were investigated and their fossil mollusc content reported. These studies revealed that the last glaciation affected two groups of molluscs: the ‘warm‐guest’ gastropods with West African or Caribbean affinities (e.g. Conus spp., Cantharus variegatus, Bulla amygdala, Trachypollia nodulosa) and shallow bivalve species mainly associated with sandy habitats (Ensis minor, Lucinella divaricata, and probably Laevicardium crassum). In this paper we focus on this group of bivalves, which has since locally disappeared from the Azores. We relate the local disappearance of these bivalves in the Azores with the lack of sand in the shelf. The specific characteristics of the Santa Maria shelf combined with the sea‐level drop during the Weichselian prevented deposition of the lowstand deposits and permitted erosion of the previous ones, leaving the shelf without a sediment cover. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.