Scottish Association for Marine Science

About: Scottish Association for Marine Science is a facility organization based out in Oban, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Sea ice & Benthic zone. The organization has 524 authors who have published 1765 publications receiving 70783 citations. The organization is also known as: SAMS & Scottish Marine Station for Scientific Research.

Coping with persistent environmental problems : systemic delays in reducing eutrophication of the Baltic Sea

Abstract: Acknowledgments: The research leading to this paper has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme [FP7/2007-2013] under grant agreement number 226675 "Knowledge-based Sustainable Management for Europe’s Seas." The research was funded also by grants from the Swedish Research Council Formas Project “Regime Shifts in the Baltic Sea Ecosystem” and the strategic program at Stockholm University “Baltic Ecosystem Adaptive Management Program.” Research presented in this paper contributes to the Nordic Centre for Research on Marine Ecosystems and Resources under Climate Change (NorMER), which is funded by the Norden Top-level Research Initiative subprogram "Effect Studies and Adaptation to Climate Change." The authors are grateful to the two anonymous reviewers whose critical comments helped to improve the paper substantially.

Long-Term Ex Situ Conservation of Biological Resources and the Role of Biological Resource Centers

Abstract: The establishment and maintenance of biological resource centers (BRCs) requires careful attention to implementation of reliable preservation technologies and appropriate quality control to ensure that recovered cultures and other biological materials perform in the same way as the originally isolated culture or material. There are many types of BRC that vary both in the kinds of material they hold and in the purposes for which the materials are provided. All BRCs are expected to provide materials and information of an appropriate quality for their application and work to standards relevant to those applications. There are important industrial, biomedical, and conservation issues that can only be addressed through effective and efficient operation of BRCs in the long- term. This requires a high degree of expertise in the maintenance and management of collections of biological materials at ultra-low temperatures, or as freeze-dried material, to secure their long-term integrity and relevance for future research, development, and conservation.

Seasonal variation in plankton community responses of mesocosms dosed with pentachlorophenol.

Abstract: Seasonal variations in plankton community response to pentachlorophenol (PCP) were studied in four mesocosm experiments using enclosures in a small lake. The mesocosms (860 l) were dosed with single applications of technical grade PCP (0, 4, 10, 24, 36, 54, 81 and 121 μg/l PCP) and monitored for 20 days. Multivariate statistical analyses showed that plankton community taxonomic composition varied with season. In winter and spring, communities were most stable in time; species diversity and abundance were lowest in winter. Seasonally, the communities varied little with respect to the dominant species, which were the copepod Calamoecia lucasi, the alga Peridinium sp. and the rotifer Ascomorpha ovalis. The direct effects of the PCP additions varied little between seasons, but indirect effects were evident at lower treatment levels in autumn. Indirect effects were not evident in winter. Minor variations in plankton community responses to PCP with season were apparent in the following order of decreasing sensitivity; autumn ≥ winter/spring ≥ summer. At the species level, C. lucasi showed the largest response. The responses observed were greatest in autumn, with decreased abundance at PCP concentrations ≥ 24 μg/l. In the other seasons, effects were observed at levels of 54 or 81μg/l and higher. Ascomorpha ovalis was the most responding rotifer in winter and spring, whereas Anuraeopsis fissa responded more strongly in autumn and summer. The dinoflagellate alga Peridinium sp. had the largest negative response in all but winter, when Dinobryon cylindricum did. Cryptomonas sp. responded positively to PCP in all seasons, increasing in abundance in the highest treatments, possibly due to reduced grazing pressure, reduced competition, or increased decomposition. The plankton community no-observed effect-concentration (NOEC) was 24–36 μg/l PCP. Results reported here suggest that the Australian and New Zealand water quality guideline values for PCP are sufficient to protect plankton communities against adverse effects.

Ligulate Desmarestia (Desmarestiales, Phaeophyceae) revisited: D. japonica sp. nov. and D. dudresnayi differ from D. ligulata.

Abstract: The phylogeny of ligulate and sulfuric-acid containing species of Desmarestia, occurring worldwide from polar to temperate regions, was revised using a multigenic and polyphasic approach. Sequence data, gametophyte characteristics, and sporophyte morphology support reducing a total of 16 taxa to four different species. (1) D. herbacea, containing broad-bladed and highly branched forms, has dioecious gametophytes. The three other species have monoecious gametophytes: (2) D. ligulata which is profusely branched and, except for one subspecies, narrow-bladed, (3) Japanese ligulate Desmarestia, here described as D. japonica sp. nov., which is morphologically similar to D. ligulata but genetically distant from all other ligulate taxa. This species may have conserved the morphology of original ligulate Desmarestia. (4) D. dudresnayi, including unbranched or little branched broad-bladed taxa. A figure of the holotype of D. dudresnayi, which was lost for decades, was relocated. The taxonomy is complemented by a comparison of internal transcribed spacer and cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (cox1) as potential barcode loci, with cox1 offering good resolution, reflecting species delimitations within the genus Desmarestia.

Manganese Dynamics in the Water Column of the Upper Basin of Loch Etive, a Scottish Fjord

Abstract: The concentrations of dissolved and particulate manganese and iron and of dissolved oxygen in the water column have been measured as a function of depth in the upper basin of Loch Etive, over a 17 month period. For most of this period the bottom water was isolated, which caused low dissolved oxygen concentrations within the water column and concomitant high levels of manganese. The highest concentrations of manganese were close to the bottom. During the study period an overturn event occurred which caused complete mixing of the water column, and flushing of the low oxygen, high manganese deep water. By using published rate constants for the oxidation of Mn2+ and by assuming steady state, we estimate that the oxidation of dissolved Mn2+ (and by implication the return of solid phase manganese to the sediment) occurred at the rate of 2·2–5·4 mmole m−2 d−1, on an areal basis during the period of isolation. Mn2+ efflux experiments gave values of 0·44 and 0·81 mmole m−2 d−1.