Exchange fluxes of nutrients between sediment and sea water in the Bohai Sea

Investigations of sediment-water fluxes of nutrients in the Bohai Sea were carried out in September - October 1998 and April - May 1999. The exchange fluxes of nutrients between sediment and sea water were determined by incubating the core-top sediments with overlying water aerated with air. The benthic fluxes of NO3- , NO2- , NH4+ , DIN, DON and TON in the first cruise and the flux-es of NO3 , NO2- , NH4+ , DIN, DON, TDN, PO43- , DOP and TDP in the second cruise were measured. The exchange fluxes of nutrients in fall were higher than in spring. The benthic nutrient fluxes represented 15% -55% of nutrient budgets in the Bohai Sea.

Distribution of nutrients and eutrophication assessment in the Bohai Sea of China

Water samples were collected in 120 stations in the Bohai Sea of China to analyze the distribution of dissolved nutrients and assess the degree of eutrophication in August 2002. The result shows that the average concentration of DIN increased and the PO4-P concentration sharply decreased compared to the previous data of corresponding period. The high concentrations of DIN and PO4-P occurred in coastal waters, especially in the bays and some river estuaries, while the high concentrations of SiO3-Si in the surface and middle depth occurred in the central area of the Bohai Sea. The average ratio of DIN/PO4-P was much higher than the Redfield Ratio （16：1）. Apparently, PO4-P was one of the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growing in the sea. The average concentrations of DON and DOP were higher than their inorganic forms. The results of eutrophication assessment show that 22.1% of all stations were classified as violating the concentration levels of the National Seawater Quality Standard （GB 3097-1997） for DIN and only 3.9% for PO4-R The average eutrophication index in the overall area was 0.21±0.22 and the high values occurred in Bohai Bay, Liaodong Bay and near the Yellow River estuary. This means that the state of eutrophication was generally mesotrophic in the Bohai Sea, but relatively worse in the bays, especially some river estuaries.

Modeling Study of Seasonal Variation of the Pelagic-Benthic Ecosystem Characteristics of the Bohai Sea

Based on experiment data of the Sino-German comprehensive investigations in the Bohai Sea in 1998 and 1999, a simple coupled pelagic-benthic ecosystem multi-box model is used to simulate the ecosystem seasonal variation. The pelagic sub-model consists of seven state variables： phytoplankton, zooplankton, TIN, TIP, DOC, POC and dissolved oxygen （DO）. The benthic sub-model includes macro-benthos, meiobenthos, bacteria, detritus, TIN and TIP in the sediment. Besides the effects of solar radiation, water temperature and the nutrient from sea bottom exudation, land-based inputs are considered. The impact of the advection terms between the boxes is also considered. Meanwhile, the effects of the micro- bial-loop are introduced with a simple parameterization. The seasonal variations and the horizontal distributions of the ecosystem state variables of the Bohai Sea are simulated. Compared with the observations, the results of the multi-box model are reasonable. The modeled results show that about 13% of the photosynthesis primary production goes to the main food loop, 20% transfers to the benthic domain, 44% is consumed by the respiration of phytoplankton, and the rest goes to DOC. Model results also show the importance of the microbial food loop in the ecosystem of the Bohai Sea, and its contribution to the annual zooplankton production can be 60%-64%.

Distributions of Inorganic Nutrients in the Bohai Sea of China

To study the contents and distribution of inorganic nutrients in the Bohai Sea of China, two cruise surveys were undertaken in August (summer) 2000 and January (winter) 2001, respectively. A total of 595 water samples were collected from 91 stations and five nutrients, i.e., nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphate and silicate, were analyzed for each sample. The results show that the average concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) in the Bohai Sea in winter (6.529 μmol L -1) is significantly higher than that in summer (3.717 μmol L -1). The phosphorus concentration in winter (0.660 μmol L -1) is also significantly higher than that in summer (0.329 μmol L -1). Mean silicate concentration in winter (7.858 μmol L -1) is, however, not significantly different from that in summer (7.200 μmol L -1). Nutrients also vary considerably in different areas in Bohai Sea. DIN concentration in the Laizhou Bay (4.444 μmol L -1), for example, is significantly higher than those in the Bohai Bay (2.270 μmol L -1) and Bohai Strait (2.431 μmol L -1), which is caused by the discharge of large amounts of nitrogen into Laizhou Bay via Yellow River. The nutrients show different vertical distribution patterns. In summer, nutrients in bottom layer are generally richer than those in surface and middle layers. In winter, however, nutrients are not significantly different in different layers. Compared with historic data, DIN contents have increased continually since the early 1980 s. Based on atomic ratios of different nutrients, nitrogen is still the limiting factor for algal growth in the Bohai Sea.

Annual Cycle and Budgets of Nutrients in the Bohai Sea

The environmental problems in the Bohai Sea have become more serious in the last decade. High nutrient concentration contributes much to it. A Sino-German cooperation program has been carried out to improve the understanding of the ecosystem by observations and modelling. A three-dimensional ecosystem model, coupled with a physical transport model, is adopted in this study. The simulation for the year 1982 is validated by the data collected in 1982/1983. The simulated annual mean nutrient concentrations are in good agreement with observations. The nutrient concentrations in the Bohai Sea, which are crucial to the algal growth, are high in winter and low in summer. There are depletion from spring to summer and elevation from autumn to winter for nutrients. The nutrients’ depletion is a response to the consumption of the phytoplankton bloom in spring. Internal recycle and external compensation affect the nutrient cycle. Their contributions to the nutrient budgets are discussed based on the simulated results. Production and respiration are the most important sink and source of nutrients. The process of photosynthesis consumes 152 kilotons-P and 831.1 kilotons-N while respiration releases 94.5 kilotons-P and 516.6 kilotons-N in the same period. The remineralization of the detritus pool is an important source of nutrient regene- ration. It can compensate 23 percent of the nutrient consumed by the production process. The inputs of phosphates and nitrogen from rivers are 0.55 and 52.7 kilotons respectively. The net nutrient budget is -3.05 kilotons-P and 31.6 kilotons-N.

Benthic nutrient recycling in shallow coastal waters of the Bohai Sea

Sediment-water fluxes of N and P species in the Bohai Sea were investigated in Septem-ber-October 1998 and April-May 1999. The benthic fluxes of nutrient species were determined by incubating sediment core samples with bottom seawater bubbled with air or nitrogen. -2NO,+4NH, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and phosphorus (DOP), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and phosphorus (TDP), and -34PO showed a net exchange flux from seawater to sediment, while -3NO, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and -23SiO were released from sediment to seawater in the Bohai Sea. Sediment-water nutrient exchange increases DIN and reduces the phosphorus load in the Bohai Sea. The release of silicate from sediment to overlying seawater reduces potential silicate limitation of primary production resulted from decrease of riverine discharge. The exchange flux of nutrients showed no obvious seasonal variation. The present study showed that the concentrations and composition of nutrients in the water column were affected by suspended sediment, and that not all the exchangeable phosphate in sediment could be released via sediment resuspension.

Historic changes in flux of matter and nutrient budgets in the Bohai Sea

Over the past four periods （ 1959--1960, 1982--1983, 1992--1993, and 1998--1999）, the ecosystem of the Bohai Sea changed due to both a significant decrease of river water discharge from the Huanghe River and a reduction of precipitation. The shifts in nutrient chemistry could result in changes in the phytoplankton composition with an increased potential for non-diatom algal blooms. Simple box model was used to estimate the water - mass balance and nutrient budgets for the Bohai Sea. Water budgets indicate that the residual flow changed from out of the Bohai Sea before 1993, but became inflow to the Bohai Sea after then. The nutrient budgets developed indicate that the Bohai Sea was a sink for nutrients except for phosphate in 1959--1960 and 1982-- 1983 and for silicate in 1982--1983. Net water flow transports nutrients out of the Bohai Sea in 1959--1960, 1982--1983 and 1992--1993, but into the sea in 1998--1999 due to climate changes, such as precipitation and subsequent freshwater discharge. The residual fluxes of nutrients are minor relative to atmospheric deposition and riverine inputs. Conversions of phosphate values to carbon by stoichiometric ratios were used to predict that the system was net heterotrophic before 1982--1983 and net autotrophic after then. Nutrient budgets can explain the change of nutrient concentrations in the Bohai Sea except nitrates, which should include the surface runoff.

A three-dimensional coupled physical-biological model study in the spring of 1993 in the Bohai Sea of China

A three-dimensional （3-D） coupled physical and biological model was used to investigate the physical processes and their influence on the ecosystem dynamics of the Bohai Sea of China. The physical processes include M2 tide, time - varying wind forcing and river discharge. Wind records from 1 to 31 May in 1993 were selected to force the model. The biological model is based on a simple, nitrate and phosphate limited, lower trophic food web system. The simulated results showed that variation of residual currents forced by M2 tide, fiver discharge and time-varying wind had great impact on the distribution of phytoplankton biomass in the Laizhou Bay. High phytoplankton biomass appeared in the upwelling region. Numerical experiments based on the barotropic model and baroclinic model with no wind and water discharge were also conducted. Differences in the results by the baroclinic model and the barotropic model were significant： more patches appeared in the baroclinic model comparing with the barotropic model. And in the baroclinic model, the subsurface maximum phytoplankton biomass patches formed in the stratified water.

Distribution and phenogenetic diversity of Synechococcus in the Bohai Sea, China

Synechococcus is one of the most abundant picocyanobacteria in marine ecosystem,and the absence of Prochlorococcus would make it indispensable as a primary producer in the Bohai Sea,North China.However,the abundance distribution and genetic diversity of Synechococcus in this region have rarely been reported.In this study,the distribution pattern of Synechococcus abundance was investigated during four cruises in April,June,August,and November from 2018 to 2019,moreover,its phenogenetic diversity was studied based on high-throughput sequencing of the cpe BA operon.The results demonstrate that phycoerythrin-containing Synechococcus was most abundant in August when temperature was high and oxygen saturation was low.During this period,Synechococcus pigment type(PT)2 was abundant in the Bohai Bay and Laizhou Bay under conditions of high nutrient concentration,temperature,and turbidity.In comparison,PT3,especially those clusters characterized with high or variable ratio of phycourobilin and phycoerythrobilin,was predominant in the Bohai Strait and Liaodong Bay under conditions of high salinity,pH,and oxygen saturation.Furthermore,co-occurrence correlations using network analysis revealed that Synechococcus PTs were related to 15.37%-43.48%of the prokaryotic genera.Synechococcus PT3c/PT3d and PT2 were the most important PTs in the network.The hierarchical clustering revealed that taxa co-occurred with Synechococcus PTs diff ered among samples.It could be attributed to the substance exchange and the environmental impact,which calls for more studies in the future.

Nutrients concentration and changes in decade-scale in the central Bohai Sea

The nutrients contents and distributions are discussed briefly, based on the data obtained in 1998～1999. Besides explanation of the results,a 20 a time series data of nutrients and biological parameters for central Bohai Sea are reviewed. It is found that both concentration and relative content of nutrients have been changed dramatically. The increase of nitrogen and decrease of phosphate and silicate led to the dramatically increase of N/P ratio and the decrease of Si/N ratio. The situation of nitrogen limiting in central Bohai Sea is gradually changing to that of relative lack of phosphate and silicate. The decrease of the Huanghe River input to the Bohai Sea may be responsible for this change. These in turn may limit the growth of diatom and thus promote the development of pyrrophyta if other conditions (e.g. temperature and hydrodynamics) are suitable. We conclude that this may be the major inducement factor of pyrrophyta red tide in the Bohai Sea.

Potential impacts of Three Gorges Dam in China on the ecosystem of East China Sea

The Changjiang River in China was dammed in 2003. The possible changes in matters fluxes from the river downstream after the completion of Three Gorges Dam and their potential impacts on the ecosystem of the East China Sea are discussed . The estuarine and coastal waters in the East China Sea were heavily fertilized by the inflow of nutrient-rich freshwater from the Changjiang River, which has led to severe eutrophication and frequent harmful algal blooms ,thus worsening the ecosystem health in this area. Analy- sis showed that the nutrient loadings are very likely to be reduced in the lower Changjiang River due to the construction of Three Gorges Dam. Especially for the total phosphorus, the discharges to the East China Sea will be reduced by one-third, which would relieve the severe eutrophication in this area. However, the expected decrease in the riverine silicate discharge would lead the ratio of silicon to nitrogen to be much less than 1 in the estuarine and coastal waters and thus may cause an elevation of flagellate growth. The changes in the annual water discharges and their seasonal distributions below the dam will be minor. Reduction of suspended particulate matter loading, due to the sedimentation behind the dam, will reduce the nutrient loadings of the particulate form especially for phosphorus, and decrease the turbidity of estuarine and coastal waters. On the other hand, this may enhance the erosion of the delta and the coasts as well as modifythe benthic ecosystem.

The preliminary study of the high chlorophyll in the central Bohai Sea in summer

In the central Bohai Sea, both historical data and in situ observations show that the distribution of high chlorophyll concentration is consistent with warm water. The previous studies confirm that the warm water is caused by a joint effect of wave and tidal mixing. In this paper, the authors have coupled the Princeton ocean model （POM） with a biochemical model to further investigate the formation of the high chlorophyll concentration. When the wave mixing is excluded, the water temperature is lower and the chlorophyll concentration is also lower than the observation. However, if the wave mixing is included, strong wave mixing in the upper layer brings the warm water downward and nutrients upward so that both temperature and nutrients tend to be uniformly high from the surface to the bottom. This provides an environment which is favorable for the growth of the phytoplankton. Therefore the chlorophyll concentration, as a symbol of phytoplankton, shows high value in the central Bohai Sea. In conclusion, the wave mixing plays an important role in the formation of high chlorophyll concentration in the central Bohai Sea.

Model study on Bohai ecosystem 2. Annual cycle of nutrient-phytoplankton dynamics

Using the coupled bio-physical model described in the first paper of this series of studies, the annual variations of algae biomass and nutrient concentration in the Bohai Sea are simulated. Modeled results show that the onset of spring bloom is induced by high nutrient stocks stored in winter, though the initial time is earlier in shallow waters than in deep waters, for which the evolution of the vertical stratification in deep waters plays an important role; on the other hand, newly added river-berne nutrients and resuspending sediment-berne nutrients are responsible for the outburst of autumn blooms. On the basis of modeled results, it is also found that the BS ecosystem, as a whole, is limited by nitrogen all the year round, though the phosphorus limitation is apparent in the Laizhou Bay where the ratio of nitrogen concentration to phosphorus concentration is higher than 16 due to the contribution of newly added nutrient species from Huanghe River discharges.

A model to assess fundamental and realized carrying capacities of island ecosystem:A case study in the southern Miaodao Archipelago of China

Research on carrying capacity, aiming at maintaining the limited ability of the Earth＇s life supporting system to sustain human development, requires a comprehensive and ecosystem-based approach to monitor and assess the localized sustainability of coupled social and ecological systems. A definition termed the ecosystem-based carrying capacity of island（EBCCI） was developed in this paper of which the indices of fundamental and realized carrying capacities of island（FCCI and RCCI） were highlighted to emphasize the inter-dependencies between social systems and ecological systems. In order to avoid the difficulties and uncertainties of direct assessment, the related assessment model was established on the basis of synthetic evaluation of inherent and external factors affecting the EBCCI. The southern Miaodao Archipelago（SMA） located in the intersection of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, China, was taken as a typical example to acquire integrated recognition of the island ecosystem and its carrying capacity so as to discuss its sustainable development. The index scores of FCCI and RCCI in the SMA were 0.818 5 and 0.712 9 out of 1.0, respectively, with acceptable uncertainties. The results showed a relatively well capacity to sustain progress and relatively well realization of the carrying capacity of island ecosystem, owing to a well capacity of ecologically regulating, general performance of both ecologically supporting and resource provisioning, and a relatively high level of social supporting system. The study implied that it was critical to optimize the inter-dependencies and to sustain the relative balance between social systems and ecological systems so as to improve the RCCI and further facilitate the sustainability of SMA. The approach proposed in this paper provides a powerful tool which is well applicative to the regional level of an oceanic island or archipelago to study the sustainable development and can be further popularized to the coastal zone.

环渤海河流营养盐的向海输送及环境效应

对2017年枯水期、2019年丰水期、2020年丰水期和2021年丰水期环渤海24条主要入海河流溶解态无机营养盐向海输送的浓度、比值和通量进行了分析.结果表明:环渤海河流溶解无机氮(DIN)浓度在世界河流中处于较高水平,硝酸盐(NO_(3)^(-))为DIN的主要赋存形态,溶解硅(DSi)和溶解无机磷(DIP)浓度较低.环渤海河流每年向渤海输送约0.61Gmol氨盐(NH_(4)^(+))、0.24Gmol亚硝酸盐(NO_(2)^(-))、4.85Gmol NO_(3)^(-)、0.02Gmol DIP和3.27Gmol DSi.环渤海小河流在环渤海河流营养盐的向海输送中扮演着重要作用,尤其是DIP的输送可以占入海河流总通量的80%以上;小河流单位流域面积DIN、DIP和DSi输送通量均高于黄河.与世界河流相比,环渤海河流向海输送的营养盐比例失衡,具有高氮磷比、高硅磷比和低硅氮比的特点,磷限制显著.环渤海河流营养盐向海输送和结构失衡可能会进一步影响到渤海的初级生产和生态环境演变,值得深入研究.

Development and Application of a Marine Ecosystem Dynamic Model

A nutrient-phytoplankton-zooplankton-detritus （NPZD） type of marine ecosystem model was developed in this study,and was further coupled to a three-dimensional primitive-equation ocean circulation model with a river discharge model and a solar radiation model to reproduce the dynamics of the low nutrition level in the Bohai Sea （BS）.The simulation results were validated by observations and it was shown that the seasonal variation in the phytoplankton biomass could be characterized by the double-peak structure,corresponding to the spring and summer blooms,respectively.It was also found that both nitrogen and phosphate declined to the lowest level after the onset of the summer bloom,since the large amounts of nutrients were exhausted by phytoplankton for photosynthesis,and the concentrations of nutrients could resume in winter after a series of the biogeochemical-physical processes.By calculating the nitrogen/phosphorus （N/P） ratio,it is easy to see that the phytoplankton dynamics is nitrogen-limited as a whole in BS,though the phosphorus limitation may occur in the Yellow River （YR） Estuary where the input of riverine nitrogen is much more than that of phosphate.

渤海环境污染现状及研究进展

近十几年来,在人类活动和全球气候变化多重压力下,渤海的环境污染越来越严重,并导致了海水富营养化加剧、赤潮频发、低氧增多等一系列的生态环境灾害,备受科研工作者的关注.本文综述了传统污染物(包括营养盐、重金属、有机氯农药、多环芳烃和多氯联苯)和新污染物(包括阻燃剂、抗生素、全氟烷基化合物和微塑料)在渤海中的污染现状及其在海洋生物中的潜在生态风险状况;同时也介绍了渤海主要的生态环境问题及其特点;最后结合研究过程中发现的问题提出了几点未来研究的重点方向.旨在为打赢“十四五”期间渤海重点海域攻坚战提供参考和理论基础.

二十年来渤海生态环境参数的演化和相互关系

通过系统分析近 2 0a来渤海中部海域 3a( 1 982～ 1 983,1 992～ 1 993,1 998～ 1 999年 ) 1 0航次的生态环境特征参数的变化 ,描述了变化趋势 ,初步讨论了各特征参数之间的相互关系。研究发现 ,近 2 0a来 ,渤海中部营养盐的浓度和结构 (N/P和Si/N)均发生了显著变化 ,表现为 :硝酸盐、亚硝酸盐、总无机氮持续增加 ,活性磷和硅显著降低 ,N/P值升高 ,Si/N值下降。N/P值 3a的五月和十月平均值分别为 1 64、5 2 4和 1 6 1 2 ,Si/N值分别为 1 3 2、3 87和 1 32。渤海中部海域氮限制的状况正在逐步改变 ,活性硅和磷从供给充分改变为硅和磷限制的临界 ;渤海营养盐结构若按此趋势演化 ,必将造成磷和硅限制。黄河口及毗邻海域磷很低 ,不是渤海磷的主要来源 ,而氮和硅主要由黄河输入 ,近几年来黄河断流减少了主要由风化过程产生的硅的入海量 ,而农用化肥的流失总量并未改变 ,这是造成上述变化趋势的主导因子。渤海赤潮近几年频发 ,硅的减少使硅藻生长受到了较大压力 ,从而间接地助长了甲藻的生长可能是一个重要原因。

渤海氮磷营养盐的循环和收支

近年来无机氮与活性磷酸盐已成为渤海主要的污染物质 .为了解氮、磷营养盐的循环规律 ,建立了一个生物、物理耦合的三维生态模型 ,模拟了渤海氮磷营养盐循环 ,估算了它们的收支情况 .渤海营养盐浓度从春季到夏季下降 ,秋季到冬季上升 ,4～ 9月为消耗期 ,1 0～ 3月为补充期 .磷酸盐冬季最高值位于渤海湾 ,辽东湾西北部全年都维持了比较高的浓度 ;无机氮的高值区始终位于莱州湾黄河口附近 .光合作用和呼吸作用是营养盐最大的源和汇 ,碎屑的矿化可以补充光合作用消耗的营养盐的 30 % .河流输入每年可以补充P 0 5 5× 1 0 3t和N 5 2 7×1 0

小型桡足类在海洋生态系统中的功能作用

依据渤海周年的中型浮游动物网样品 ,研究了小型桡足类的优势种小拟哲水蚤(Paracalanusparvus)、强额拟哲水蚤 (Paracalanuscrassirostris)和双刺纺锤水蚤 (Acartiabifilosa)生物量的季节变动、分布和年产量 ,并与渤海大型桡足类的优势种中华哲水蚤 (Calanussinicus)进行了比较。结果表明 ,三种小型桡足类成体的年产量分别为 2 4 .89、1 0 .83和 1 9.5 4mgC/(m3·a) ,中华哲水蚤的年产量为 1 8.30mgC/(m3·a)。小型桡足类主要分布在近岸 ,特别是渤海湾和莱州湾 ,这里正好是许多经济鱼类的产卵场和育幼场 ;而中华哲水蚤主要分布在中央水域。小型桡足类的高峰季节持续时间长 ,从 4月到 1 0月 ,覆盖了几乎所有仔稚鱼大量出现的月份 ;而中华哲水蚤高峰季节持续时间短 ,仅 6月和 7月。另外 ,在粒度上 ,小型桡足类的卵、无节幼体、桡足幼体和成体都比中华哲水蚤等大型桡足类小了一个数量级 (按体积计 ) ,特别适合作为仔稚鱼的饵料。因此认为 ,在近海生态系统中 。