Using Museum collections to assess the impact of industrialization on mussel (Mytilus edulis) calcification.

Mytilus edulis is a commercially and ecologically important species found along the east coast of the United States. Ecologically, M. edulis improves water quality through filtration feeding and provides habitat formation and coastal protection through reef formation.

Crystal orientation mapping and microindentation reveal anisotropy in Porites skeletons.

Structures made by scleractinian corals support diverse ocean ecosystems. Despite the importance of coral skeletons and their predicted vulnerability to climate change, few studies have examined the mechanical and crystallographic properties of coral skeletons at the micro- and nano-scales. Here, we investigated the interplay of crystallographic and microarchitectural organization with mechanical anisotropy within Porites skeletons by measuring Young's modulus and hardness along surfaces transverse and longitudinal to the primary coral growth direction.

Coral-associated nitrogen fixation rates and diazotrophic diversity on a nutrient-replete equatorial reef.

The role of diazotrophs in coral physiology and reef biogeochemistry remains poorly understood, in part because N fixation rates and diazotrophic community composition have only been jointly analyzed in the tissue of one tropical coral species. We performed field-based N tracer incubations during nutrient-replete conditions to measure diazotroph-derived nitrogen (DDN) assimilation into three species of scleractinian coral (Pocillopora acuta, Goniopora columna, Platygyra sinensis). Using multi-marker metabarcoding (16S rRNA, nifH, 18S rRNA), we analyzed DNA- and RNA-based communities in coral tissue and skeleton.

Toward Sustainable Environmental Quality: Priority Research Questions for Asia.

Environmental and human health challenges are pronounced in Asia, an exceptionally diverse and complex region where influences of global megatrends are extensive and numerous stresses to environmental quality exist. Identifying priorities necessary to engage grand challenges can be facilitated through horizon scanning exercises, and to this end we identified and examined 23 priority research questions needed to advance toward more sustainable environmental quality in Asia, as part of the Global Horizon Scanning Project. Advances in environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry, biological monitoring, and risk-assessment methodologies are necessary to address the adverse impacts of environmental stressors on ecosystem services and biodiversity, with Asia being home to numerous biodiversity hotspots.

An update of the Pb isotope inventory in post leaded-petrol Singapore environments.

Pb is a trace metal that tracks anthropogenic pollution in natural environments. Despite recent leaded petrol phase out around Southeast Asia, the region's growth has resulted in continued exposure of Pb from a variety of sources. In this study, sources of Pb into Singapore, a highly urbanised city-state situated in the central axis of Southeast Asia, are investigated using isotopic ratios and concentrations.

Borehole density on the surface of living Porites corals as an indicator of sedimentation in Hong Kong.

Borehole density on the surface of Porites has been used as an indicator of water quality in the Great Barrier Reef. We assessed the relationship between borehole density on Porites and eight water quality parameters across 26 sites in Hong Kong. We found that total borehole densities on the surface of Porites at 16 of the studied sites were high (>1000individualsm(-2)), with polychaetes being the dominant bioeroders.

Wet season upwelling and dry season chlorophyll-a describe interannual growth rates of Porites in southern China.

Southern China hosts coral communities in marginal environments that are characterized by low linear extension rates, low coral cover and/or no reef formation, thus providing natural laboratories to study coral communities with below average growth rates. Here we compare the annual linear extension rates over 10 years (range 1.2 to 11.

Two centuries of limited variability in subtropical North Atlantic thermocline ventilation.

Ventilation and mixing of oceanic gyres is important to ocean-atmosphere heat and gas transfer, and to mid-latitude nutrient supply. The rates of mode water formation are believed to impact climate and carbon exchange between the surface and mid-depth water over decadal periods. Here, a record of (14)C/(12)C (1780-1940), which is a proxy for vertical ocean mixing, from an annually banded coral from Bermuda, shows limited inter-annual variability and a substantial Suess Effect (the decrease in (14)C/(12)C since 1900).

Temporal distributions of anthropogenic Al, Zn and Pb in Hong Kong Porites coral during the last two centuries.

A 182-year long record of trace metal concentrations of aluminum, zinc and lead was reconstructed from a massive Porites coral skeleton from southeastern Hong Kong to evaluate the impacts of anthropogenic activity on the marine environment. Zn/Ca and Pb/Ca ratios fluctuate synchronously from the early 19th century to the present, indicating that the marine environment has been anthropogenically influenced since industrialization. Additionally, land reclamation, mining, and ship building activities are recorded by elevated Al/Ca ratios from 1900 to 1950.