Maintaining stable water quality is one of the key processes for recirculating coral aquaculture. Traditional aquarium systems which mainly utilized a nitrification of nitrifying bacteria attached to the surface of ma...Maintaining stable water quality is one of the key processes for recirculating coral aquaculture. Traditional aquarium systems which mainly utilized a nitrification of nitrifying bacteria attached to the surface of massive artificial filter material are difficult to maintain the oligotrophic conditions necessary for coral aquaculture. This study investigated the removal effects of dissolved inorganic nitrogen（ammonia and nitrate） by live rock（LR）, a key component in the ＂Berlin system＂ coral aquarium. The expression levels of bacterial functional genes, AOA3,amo A and nos Z, were measured on the exterior and interior of LR. The nitrifying and denitrifying bacterial abundance on LR was quantified and the nitrogen nutrient regulatory effects of LR were evaluated. The results demonstrated that LR mainly removed ammonium（NH_4~＋） from the water with a mean efficiency of 0.141 mg/（kg·h）, while the removal of nitrate（NO_3~–） was not significant. Bacterial diversity analysis showed that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria（AOB） were the most common bacteria on LR, which accounted for 0.5%–1.4% of the total bacterial population, followed by denitrifying bacteria, which accounted for 0.2% of the total population, and the ammonia-oxidizing archaea（AOA） were the least common type（〈0.01%）. The low abundance of denitrifying bacteria may be responsible for the poor nitrate（NO_3~–） removal of LR. Thus, other biological filtration methods are needed in coral aquaria to control nitrates generated from nitrification or biological metabolism.展开更多
In recent years, infrastructure construction on coral reefs has been increasingly developed. Therefore, the shallow strata stability of coral reefs in the South China Sea should be evaluated. This study aims to invest...In recent years, infrastructure construction on coral reefs has been increasingly developed. Therefore, the shallow strata stability of coral reefs in the South China Sea should be evaluated. This study aims to investigate the profiles for the shallow strata of coral reefs in the southwest of the Yongshu Reef, particularly in the hydrodynamic marine environment, and to establish a geological model for numerical simulation using Geo-Studio. The shallow strata of the coral reefs include mass gravel, sand gravel, mid-coarse sand, silty sand, fine sand, and reef limestone. The shallow reef slope near the lagoon is similar to a ‘layer cake', in which the side close to the sea is analogous to a ‘block cake'. The simulation results showed that coral reef stability depends on wave loads and earthquake strength and on the physical properties of coral reefs. The factor of safety for the outer reef is greater than 10.0 under static, wave, and seismic conditions; this indicated that the outer reefs were less affected by waves and earthquakes. However, the factor of safety next to the lagoon varied from 0.1 to 5.3. The variation was primarily caused by the thick strata of coral reefs close to the sea(reef limestone, typically with the thickness > 10 m and equivalent to a block). The soil and rock layers in the coral reef strata with thicknesses < 10 m showed weak engineering geological characteristics. Our findings can provide useful information to future construction projects on coral reefs.展开更多
基金The Regional Demonstration of Marine Economy Innovative Development Project under contract No.16PZY002SF18the Xiamen Southern Ocean Research Center Project under contract No.14CZY037HJ11+1 种基金the Guangxi Natural Science Foundation under contract No.2016GXNSFBA380228the China-ASEAN Maritime Cooperation Fund Project under contract No.HX150702
文摘Maintaining stable water quality is one of the key processes for recirculating coral aquaculture. Traditional aquarium systems which mainly utilized a nitrification of nitrifying bacteria attached to the surface of massive artificial filter material are difficult to maintain the oligotrophic conditions necessary for coral aquaculture. This study investigated the removal effects of dissolved inorganic nitrogen（ammonia and nitrate） by live rock（LR）, a key component in the ＂Berlin system＂ coral aquarium. The expression levels of bacterial functional genes, AOA3,amo A and nos Z, were measured on the exterior and interior of LR. The nitrifying and denitrifying bacterial abundance on LR was quantified and the nitrogen nutrient regulatory effects of LR were evaluated. The results demonstrated that LR mainly removed ammonium（NH_4~＋） from the water with a mean efficiency of 0.141 mg/（kg·h）, while the removal of nitrate（NO_3~–） was not significant. Bacterial diversity analysis showed that ammonia-oxidizing bacteria（AOB） were the most common bacteria on LR, which accounted for 0.5%–1.4% of the total bacterial population, followed by denitrifying bacteria, which accounted for 0.2% of the total population, and the ammonia-oxidizing archaea（AOA） were the least common type（〈0.01%）. The low abundance of denitrifying bacteria may be responsible for the poor nitrate（NO_3~–） removal of LR. Thus, other biological filtration methods are needed in coral aquaria to control nitrates generated from nitrification or biological metabolism.
基金funded by the Science and Technology Basic Resources Investigation Program of China(No.2017 FY201406)the Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(No.XDA13010104)+2 种基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.41376063,41606069 and 41776058)the National Basic Research Program of China(No.2013CB956104)the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province in China(Nos.2015A030310374 and 2017A030313243)
文摘In recent years, infrastructure construction on coral reefs has been increasingly developed. Therefore, the shallow strata stability of coral reefs in the South China Sea should be evaluated. This study aims to investigate the profiles for the shallow strata of coral reefs in the southwest of the Yongshu Reef, particularly in the hydrodynamic marine environment, and to establish a geological model for numerical simulation using Geo-Studio. The shallow strata of the coral reefs include mass gravel, sand gravel, mid-coarse sand, silty sand, fine sand, and reef limestone. The shallow reef slope near the lagoon is similar to a ‘layer cake', in which the side close to the sea is analogous to a ‘block cake'. The simulation results showed that coral reef stability depends on wave loads and earthquake strength and on the physical properties of coral reefs. The factor of safety for the outer reef is greater than 10.0 under static, wave, and seismic conditions; this indicated that the outer reefs were less affected by waves and earthquakes. However, the factor of safety next to the lagoon varied from 0.1 to 5.3. The variation was primarily caused by the thick strata of coral reefs close to the sea(reef limestone, typically with the thickness > 10 m and equivalent to a block). The soil and rock layers in the coral reef strata with thicknesses < 10 m showed weak engineering geological characteristics. Our findings can provide useful information to future construction projects on coral reefs.
