Distribution characteristics of microplastics and corresponding feeding habits of the dominant shrimps in the rivers of Chongming Island.

There is increasing global concern regarding microplastics. Rivers play a key role in the transportation and storage of microplastics on the Earth's surface. Here, we aimed to investigate the spatial-temporal variations in the distribution of microplastics in water as well as in the dominant species of the macrobenthic fauna Exopalaemon modestus and Macrobrachium nipponense in the river system of Chongming Island by setting up 16 fixed sampling sites.

Does differential phosphorus processing by plankton influence the ecological state of shallow lakes?

Shallow lakes have a tendency to settle into turbid or clear-water states, the latter having lower concentrations of total phosphorus (TP). However, how P-cycling is affected by and perhaps contributes to maintaining the different states is not well understood, in part because quantifying the processes involved by traditional methods is difficult. To elucidate these processes, we conducted experiments using P-PO as a tracer on samples collected from the unrestored, unvegetated sections of Huizhou West Lake where turbid water prevails as well as the restored, clear-water, macrophyte-rich waters of the lake.

Occurrence and distribution of PAHs and microbial communities in nearshore sediments of the Knysna Estuary, South Africa.

This study investigated the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) occurrence, and their impact on the microbial community and PAH-degrading genera and genes in the Knysna Estuary of South Africa. The results reveal that the estuary exhibits low PAH levels (114.1-356.

Variation in microplastics composition at small spatial and temporal scales in a tidal flat of the Yangtze Estuary, China.

Microplastics are small, degrade slowly, and easily persist in the water column because they are close to neutrally buoyant. Understanding the distribution of microplastics is fundamental to evaluating the ecological risks that they cause and to identifying ways to control microplastics pollution. Most of the existing research on the distribution of microplastics in the coastal zone has focused on large spatial and temporal scales.

The synthesis of Zr-metal-organic framework functionalized magnetic graphene nanocomposites as an adsorbent for fast determination of multi-pesticide residues in tobacco samples.

In this paper, a simple and reliable method has been established to determine the residues of nine pesticides in tobacco by using GC-MS coupled with magnetic solid phase extraction. A novel magnetic Zr-MOF nanocomposite based on graphene was synthesized, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Raman spectroscopy and N adsorption-desorption measurements. The prepared material has the advantage of large surface area (178 m/g), good magnetic response and high thermal stability, which is shown to be suited for the fast enrichment of multi-pesticides in tobacco matrix.

Microplastics and mesoplastics in fish from coastal and fresh waters of China.

Plastic pollution is a growing global concern. In the present study, we investigated plastic pollution in 21 species of sea fish and 6 species of freshwater fish from China. All of the species were found to ingest micro- or mesoplastics.

Effects of sulfamethazine on denitrification and the associated N2O release in estuarine and coastal sediments.

Denitrification is an important pathway of nitrogen removal and nitrous oxide (N2O) production in estuarine and coastal ecosystems, and plays a significant role in counteracting aquatic eutrophication induced by excessive nitrogen loads. Estuarine and coastal environments also suffer from increasing antibiotic contamination because of the growing production and usage of antibiotics. In this study, sediment slurry incubation experiments were conducted to determine the influence of sulfamethazine (SMT, a sulphonamide antibiotic) on denitrification and the associated N2O production.

[Effect of temperature on the eubacteria associated with marine sponge Pachychalina sp].

Unlabelled: Temperature is important factor affecting the bacterial diversity.

Objective: In order to disclose the effect of temperature on the diversity of microorganisms.

Methods: The diversity of microorganisms associated with the sponge Pachychilina sp.

[Seasonal and semi-lunar changes in fish community structure in low salinity intertidal area of Yangtze estuary].

Based on the survey of the fishes in low salinity intertidal area of the Yangtze estuary from spring (May) 2006 to winter (February) 2007, the seasonal and semi-lunar changes of fish species and abundances were analyzed. A total of 53 fish species were collected, most of which belonged to Cyprinidae, followed by Gobiidae, and few of other families. The fish species and average abundance were higher in spring, summer, and autumn than in winter and lower in low tides than in high tides in four seasons.

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN RETRACTED Exergy as an ecological application used in the recovery process of benthic communities.

Exergy, the thermodynamic function that represents the distance of an open system from equilibrium, is proposed as an ecological indicator for summarizing the complex dynamics occurring in a disturbed community during its recovery processes. These complex dynamics can be difficult to capture by using classical indices. In this study, we sampled macrobenthos using the BACI scheme (before versus after; control versus impact) in tidal wetlands of west Chongming Island, China, an area that has been disturbed by ecological engineering measures.