In situ recovery of bivalve shell characteristics after temporary exposure to elevated CO.

Ocean uptake of carbon dioxide (CO) is causing changes in carbonate chemistry that affect calcification in marine organisms. In coastal areas, this CO-enriched seawater mixes with waters affected by seasonal degradation of organic material loaded externally from watersheds or produced as a response to nutrient enrichment. As a result, coastal bivalves often experience strong seasonal changes in carbonate chemistry.

Nitrogen isotope fractionation in a continuous culture system containing phytoplankton and blue mussels.

An experiment was conducted to examine the fractionation of nitrogen stable isotopes in a continuous culture system containing field collected estuarine phytoplankton and blue mussels, Mytilus edulis. Nitrate and phosphate were added to culture vessels at concentrations above ambient levels and nitrogen isotope ratios (δN) were measured in particulate matter (PM) and blue mussels over the course of the 15-day experiment. The added nutrients resulted in large productivity and chlorophyll increases in the system.

Correction: Land-based drip-irrigated culture of Ulva compressa: the effect of culture platform design and nutrient concentration on biomass production and protein content.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

Land-based drip-irrigated culture of Ulva compressa: The effect of culture platform design and nutrient concentration on biomass production and protein content.

This work developed a laboratory prototype methodology for cost-effective, water-sparing drip-irrigation of seaweeds, as a model for larger-scale, on-land commercial units, which we envision as semi-automated, inexpensive polyethylene sheet-covered bow-framed greenhouses with sloping plastic covered floors, water-collecting sumps, and pumped recycling of culture media into overhead low-pressure drip emitters. Water droplets form on the continually wetted interior plastic surfaces of these types of greenhouses scattering incoming solar radiation to illuminate around and within the vertically-stacked culture platforms. Concentrated media formulations applied through foliar application optimize nutrient uptake by the seaweeds to improve growth and protein content of the cultured biomass.

Controls on the distribution of fluorescent dissolved organic matter during an under-ice algal bloom in the western Arctic Ocean.

In this study we used fluorescence excitation and emission matrix spectroscopy, hydrographic data, and a self-organizing map (SOM) analysis to assess the spatial distribution of labile and refractory fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) for the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas at the time of a massive under-ice phytoplankton bloom during early summer 2011. Biogeochemical properties were assessed through decomposition of water property classes and sample classification that employed a SOM neural network-based analysis which classified 10 clusters from 269 samples and 17 variables. The terrestrial, humic-like component FDOM (ArC1, 4.

Application of fluorescence and PARAFAC to assess vertical distribution of subsurface hydrocarbons and dispersant during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

We evaluated the use of excitation and emission matrix (EEM) fluorescence and parallel factorial analysis (PARAFAC) modeling techniques for monitoring crude oil components in the water column. Four of the seven derived PARAFAC loadings were associated with the Macondo crude oil components. The other three components were associated with the dispersant, an unresolved component and colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM).

Resolving DOM fluorescence fractions during a bloom patch on the Southwest Florida Shelf.

Organic matter can be supplied naturally from land through rivers or produced in the marine environment. Current methods of examining natural bulk dissolved organic matter (DOM) are not able to discriminate multiple sources of DOM. A diagnostic tool to identify DOM sources is critical to determine possible sources of organic nutrients that influence harmful algal bloom (HAB) development.

Determination of brevetoxin in recent marine sediments.

Harmful algal blooms (HAB) of Karenia brevis (K. brevis) produce a suite of lipid soluble polyether brevetoxins, known to cause environmental, health and economic ill effects. There is evidence that K.