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Mineralization of dissolved carbohydrates in tropical and temperate inshore waters
the breeding season were found to have rubber threads in their gizzards. The corpses containing elastic were found in three different years and in three different parts of eastern Britain. In three of the birds the thread was of an identical, square-sectioned type. This suggests that elastic thread is a fairly common and widespread pollutant in the North Sea which, because it has not been found in other auks, is being selectively taken, or at least retained in their gizzards, by puffins. The material may have been picked up at points some distance away from the location of the corpses as this species is known to move over considerable areas of the North Sea and usually winters out of sight of land. When this paper was first drafted we were not aware that elastic thread had previously been reported as a contaminant in puffins, or indeed in any other birds. Recently, however, Berland (1971) has reported that two out of nine puffins shot off the coast of Hordaland, Norway on 15 February 1970 contained a number of thin, bright red rubber threads in their stomachs, while R. F. Yule (personal communication) also found elastic thread in the gizzards of nine out of sixty-one puffins found dead in eastern Scotland during March 1969. Similar material, in the form of elastic bands or rings forming collars round their necks, has been shown to be affecting fish in the Danube delta (Anon, 1971) and has also been found around the neck of a dogfish Squalus acanthias off southern Norway (Berland, 1971). The significance of the elastic thread in relation to
the health of the puffins ingesting it has yet to be determined, but it could be of importance as a mortality factor. Further studies are being made in an attempt to assess the frequency of its occurrence in puffins and its SOurCe. Acknowledgements: For technical assistance in the laboratory we thank Mrs H. M. Hanson and in connection with the identification of possible sources of the elastic, Dr R. G. J. Shelton, H. J. Stem's Laboratory Ltd, and Mr C. R. Wintrip. Puffin corpses were kindly provided by Drs J. C. Coulson, J. J. M. Flegg, J. J. D. Greenwood, C. M. Perrins, Mr M. J. Hudson and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
J. L. F. PARSLOW D. J. JEFFERIES
Nature Conservancy, Monks Wood Experimental Station, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon. Anon (1971). Elastic band pollution. Mar. Poll. Bull., 2: 165. Berland, B. (1971). Piggha og lundefugl reed gummistrik. Fauna (Blindern). 24, 35-37. Flegg, J. J. M. (1971). Puffins in peril. B.T.O. News, 4~: 1-2. Greenwood, J. J. D. (1969). Oil pollution of the east coast of Britain, February and March 1969. Mar. Poll. Bul., No. 17 (November 1969), 12-14. Greenwood, J. J. D., Donally, R. J., Feare, C. J., Gordon, N. J. & Waterston, G. (1971). A massive wreck of oiled birds: northeast Britain, winter 1970. Scott. Birds, 6: 235-250. Lockley, R. M. (1953). Pu~ns. London. Parslow, J. L. F. (1967). Changes in status among breeding birds in Britain and Ireland. Brit. Birds, 60: 2-47, 177-202. Parslow, J. L. F., Jefferies, D. J. & French, M. C. (in press). Ingested pollutants in Puffins and their eggs. Btrd Study, 19 (March 1972).
Mineralization of dissolved carbohydrates in tropical and temperate inshore waters Terminal oxidation of plant carbohydrates has been in ~ h a m p t o n Water and in the Vdlar on the south-east Indian coast. Rates of glucose breakdown are higher in ~ t e titan in tropical waters. The high rates of bacterial activity in Soutltampton Water may be due to urban bactedal lmllutlom Marine organic detritus is subjected to three major concurrent processes, disintegration, solubilization and mineralization. An aspect of the mineralization process was studied in a temperate area, Southampton Water (U.K., 50055' N, 1°25 ' W) and a tropical area in the Vellar estuary (India, 11030 ' N, 79045' E). Both localities were known for their high productivity (Savage, 1969) and it was envisaged that the higher temperatures and shallower waters in the Vellar estuary would produce the higher rate of (bacterial) breakdown of dissolved organic matter (Krishnamurthy, 1966). Since plants may represent at least 90 per cent of the marine biomass and are often largely composed of carbohydrates, the following reaction might be significant in detritus mineralization: plant material •> soluble carbohydrates ~. carbon dioxide + water. In this study measurements were made of the potential of water samples to carry out the terminal oxidative step of the above reaction.
Surface water samples were taken with a bucket from a boat at the stations shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The experiment was carried out during January and February 1969 at Southampton by J. D. Redmond and Porto Novo by J. Austin. Triplicate 250 ml samples were innoculated with sufficient carbohydrate D-glucose and D-ribose) to give a concentration of about 5 mg per cent. The Southampton samples were maintained at 5°C and 22°C, while the Vellar samples were incubated in the absence of a cold room at an ambient temperature of about 27°C. At intervals aliquots were withdrawn and analysed for carbohydrate content by a modification of the method of Dubois, Gills, Hamilton, Rebers and Smith (1956). In our procedure 1 ml water sample was mixed with 1 ml 5 per cent phenol solution followed by the rapid addition of 5 ml concentrated sulphuric acid. After 20 rain the optical density at 490 nm was recorded and compared with a glucose calibration graph. A fall in carbohydrate content of the water samples was taken as evidence of bacterial degradation. The rates of loss of carbohydrate have been calculated from decay graphs for the glucose and ribose content of innoculated water samples in terms of half life (days). These data are shown in Table 1. The data in Table 1 show that glucose degradation decreased on proceeding towards the open sea from the 45
TABLE 1 Half life (days) of Glucose and Ribose in innoculated water samples. Area
Glucose
Station
A (Southampton B (Southampton Temperate C (Southampton D (Southampton E (Solent)
Tropical
5" Docks) Docks) Water) Water)
22 ~
14 ~ ~ 25 7>26
1 (River Vellar) 2 (River Vellar) 3 (Kille backwater) 4 (KiUe backwater and mangrove swamp) 5 lKille backwater and mangrove swamp) 6 (Bay of Bengal} Distilled water
Ribose 27 ~
3 4 ,~ 9 10
5°
22 ':
18 16
3 4
8
~
~30" ~26"
9 8
--~ -
"
21 •
~
27 °
--. --~>36"
~-30"
I1 9
10 ~- 17' 45
*Decay rates in these samples were indistinguishable from that in the distilled water control. estuary at Southampton and from the inner swamp at Porto Novo. In spite of this similarity between the two areas there was a marked difference in the rates of glucose breakdown in the temperate (22°C incubation) and tropical samples. The temperate samples incubated with glucose at 5°C were also more active than those from comparable tropical stations. The higher ambient temperature and higher rate of productivity at Porto Novo was accompanied by lower rates of gtucose mineralization. Extrapolated glucose decay data suggest that samples from tropical stations 2 and 6 were as sterile as a distilled water control run under the same conditions. Only in the mangrove swamp, where massive amounts of vegetable material are deposited, does there appear to be any significant mineralization in the tropical area. It has been suggested that the relatively slow rate of mineralization in the swamp may be due to bacteriocidal secretions of the mangrove plants (Raymont, private communication).
It is proposed that the greater mineralization rates for the Southampton samples are a consequence of urban bacterial pollution rather than indigenous marine detrital breakdown. Urban pollution is obviously present in the vicinity of the large industrial Southampton complex (population about 300,000) and station B is in the vicinity of a sewage works effluent discharge. That such pollution is absent from the River Vetlar (stations 1 and 2) in spite of the adjacent town of Porto Novo (population about 30,000) can be explained by the fact that the traditional Indian method of waste disposal is by deposition on land. Since the experiment appears to have measured mainly urban pollution the method might be useful for pollution monitoring. Some analyses suggest ribose is more refractory than glucose but nevertheless subject to the same general mineralization factors.
79045, E \R.Test • 50°55'N
~_~
/ (R. Itchen t)SOUTHAMPTON
PORTO
NOVO
Bay of Bengal
.11°30"N
.Vellar
,
5Km
,
ISLE
OF WIGHT
1°25"W I Fig.
46
1 Southampton sampling stations A, B, C, D & E
i ,IK ,
\
-Jd
Fig. 2 Porto Novo sampling stations, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
the health of the puffins ingesting it has yet to be determined, but it could be of importance as a mortality factor. Further studies are being made in an attempt to assess the frequency of its occurrence in puffins and its SOurCe. Acknowledgements: For technical assistance in the laboratory we thank Mrs H. M. Hanson and in connection with the identification of possible sources of the elastic, Dr R. G. J. Shelton, H. J. Stem's Laboratory Ltd, and Mr C. R. Wintrip. Puffin corpses were kindly provided by Drs J. C. Coulson, J. J. M. Flegg, J. J. D. Greenwood, C. M. Perrins, Mr M. J. Hudson and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
J. L. F. PARSLOW D. J. JEFFERIES
Nature Conservancy, Monks Wood Experimental Station, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon. Anon (1971). Elastic band pollution. Mar. Poll. Bull., 2: 165. Berland, B. (1971). Piggha og lundefugl reed gummistrik. Fauna (Blindern). 24, 35-37. Flegg, J. J. M. (1971). Puffins in peril. B.T.O. News, 4~: 1-2. Greenwood, J. J. D. (1969). Oil pollution of the east coast of Britain, February and March 1969. Mar. Poll. Bul., No. 17 (November 1969), 12-14. Greenwood, J. J. D., Donally, R. J., Feare, C. J., Gordon, N. J. & Waterston, G. (1971). A massive wreck of oiled birds: northeast Britain, winter 1970. Scott. Birds, 6: 235-250. Lockley, R. M. (1953). Pu~ns. London. Parslow, J. L. F. (1967). Changes in status among breeding birds in Britain and Ireland. Brit. Birds, 60: 2-47, 177-202. Parslow, J. L. F., Jefferies, D. J. & French, M. C. (in press). Ingested pollutants in Puffins and their eggs. Btrd Study, 19 (March 1972).
Mineralization of dissolved carbohydrates in tropical and temperate inshore waters Terminal oxidation of plant carbohydrates has been in ~ h a m p t o n Water and in the Vdlar on the south-east Indian coast. Rates of glucose breakdown are higher in ~ t e titan in tropical waters. The high rates of bacterial activity in Soutltampton Water may be due to urban bactedal lmllutlom Marine organic detritus is subjected to three major concurrent processes, disintegration, solubilization and mineralization. An aspect of the mineralization process was studied in a temperate area, Southampton Water (U.K., 50055' N, 1°25 ' W) and a tropical area in the Vellar estuary (India, 11030 ' N, 79045' E). Both localities were known for their high productivity (Savage, 1969) and it was envisaged that the higher temperatures and shallower waters in the Vellar estuary would produce the higher rate of (bacterial) breakdown of dissolved organic matter (Krishnamurthy, 1966). Since plants may represent at least 90 per cent of the marine biomass and are often largely composed of carbohydrates, the following reaction might be significant in detritus mineralization: plant material •> soluble carbohydrates ~. carbon dioxide + water. In this study measurements were made of the potential of water samples to carry out the terminal oxidative step of the above reaction.
Surface water samples were taken with a bucket from a boat at the stations shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The experiment was carried out during January and February 1969 at Southampton by J. D. Redmond and Porto Novo by J. Austin. Triplicate 250 ml samples were innoculated with sufficient carbohydrate D-glucose and D-ribose) to give a concentration of about 5 mg per cent. The Southampton samples were maintained at 5°C and 22°C, while the Vellar samples were incubated in the absence of a cold room at an ambient temperature of about 27°C. At intervals aliquots were withdrawn and analysed for carbohydrate content by a modification of the method of Dubois, Gills, Hamilton, Rebers and Smith (1956). In our procedure 1 ml water sample was mixed with 1 ml 5 per cent phenol solution followed by the rapid addition of 5 ml concentrated sulphuric acid. After 20 rain the optical density at 490 nm was recorded and compared with a glucose calibration graph. A fall in carbohydrate content of the water samples was taken as evidence of bacterial degradation. The rates of loss of carbohydrate have been calculated from decay graphs for the glucose and ribose content of innoculated water samples in terms of half life (days). These data are shown in Table 1. The data in Table 1 show that glucose degradation decreased on proceeding towards the open sea from the 45
TABLE 1 Half life (days) of Glucose and Ribose in innoculated water samples. Area
Glucose
Station
A (Southampton B (Southampton Temperate C (Southampton D (Southampton E (Solent)
Tropical
5" Docks) Docks) Water) Water)
22 ~
14 ~ ~ 25 7>26
1 (River Vellar) 2 (River Vellar) 3 (Kille backwater) 4 (KiUe backwater and mangrove swamp) 5 lKille backwater and mangrove swamp) 6 (Bay of Bengal} Distilled water
Ribose 27 ~
3 4 ,~ 9 10
5°
22 ':
18 16
3 4
8
~
~30" ~26"
9 8
--~ -
"
21 •
~
27 °
--. --~>36"
~-30"
I1 9
10 ~- 17' 45
*Decay rates in these samples were indistinguishable from that in the distilled water control. estuary at Southampton and from the inner swamp at Porto Novo. In spite of this similarity between the two areas there was a marked difference in the rates of glucose breakdown in the temperate (22°C incubation) and tropical samples. The temperate samples incubated with glucose at 5°C were also more active than those from comparable tropical stations. The higher ambient temperature and higher rate of productivity at Porto Novo was accompanied by lower rates of gtucose mineralization. Extrapolated glucose decay data suggest that samples from tropical stations 2 and 6 were as sterile as a distilled water control run under the same conditions. Only in the mangrove swamp, where massive amounts of vegetable material are deposited, does there appear to be any significant mineralization in the tropical area. It has been suggested that the relatively slow rate of mineralization in the swamp may be due to bacteriocidal secretions of the mangrove plants (Raymont, private communication).
It is proposed that the greater mineralization rates for the Southampton samples are a consequence of urban bacterial pollution rather than indigenous marine detrital breakdown. Urban pollution is obviously present in the vicinity of the large industrial Southampton complex (population about 300,000) and station B is in the vicinity of a sewage works effluent discharge. That such pollution is absent from the River Vetlar (stations 1 and 2) in spite of the adjacent town of Porto Novo (population about 30,000) can be explained by the fact that the traditional Indian method of waste disposal is by deposition on land. Since the experiment appears to have measured mainly urban pollution the method might be useful for pollution monitoring. Some analyses suggest ribose is more refractory than glucose but nevertheless subject to the same general mineralization factors.
79045, E \R.Test • 50°55'N
~_~
/ (R. Itchen t)SOUTHAMPTON
PORTO
NOVO
Bay of Bengal
.11°30"N
.Vellar
,
5Km
,
ISLE
OF WIGHT
1°25"W I Fig.
46
1 Southampton sampling stations A, B, C, D & E
i ,IK ,
\
-Jd
Fig. 2 Porto Novo sampling stations, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6