Macroalgal blooms are increasing world-wide and have negative effects on benthic invertebrates and sediments. These include loss of species diversity and development of hostile sediment environments. This thesis considers ecological effects of Ulva lactuca L., and its mechanical removal on benthic invertebrates and sediments in Avon-Heathcote Estuary, New Zealand. Benthic communities comprised 34 species from 12 groups recorded from seven sites during seasonal general surveys. Dominant groups at each site were Gastropoda and Bivalvia. The most abundant species were Austrovenus stutchburyi, Micrelenchus tenebrosus and Amphibola crenata. Community composition varied significantly between sites, and there were significant site-specific differences in abundances of most species between winter and summer. U. lactuca had the greatest seasonal variation. Several species correlated with U. lactuca biomass, and the strength of correlation for different species varied between sites. There were seasonal changes in sediment physico-chemical variables between sites with greatest change in the silt/clay fraction. The sediment variables silt/clay fraction, dissolved oxygen and temperature correlated with seasonal changes of patterns in benthic community assemblages. A similar study was carried out by Bressington in 2003. In both studies, Bivalvia and Gastropoda were the most abundant groups, with Gastropoda having a higher, and Bivalvia a lower, proportion in the present study compared with 2003. Summer communities were significantly different between the two studies. Compared with 2003 there were higher percentages of sediment pore water and volatile solids present in 2005. Experimental removal of U. lactuca was conducted by mechanical broom at two sites: an open, exposed central sand flat, and McCormacks Bay, a shallow, sheltered mud flat. Removing U. lactuca had several immediate effects. These included a significant decrease in abundance of mobile epifauna (Micrelenchus tenebrosus and Zeacumantus subcarinatus) and an increase in abundance of infauna, including Arthritica bifurca and Austrovenus stutchburyi. There was no effect of U. lactuca removal on Austrovenus stutchburyi condition and 46 days following removal, invertebrate abundances approached pre-removal levels at each site. U. lactuca removal also caused short-term increases in dissolved oxygen and temperature of pore water. The greatest visual impact of removing U. lactuca was to sediments in McCormacks Bay from trampling. It was concluded that the variables having the greatest effect on seasonal species distribution and abundance at each site were temperature and sediment grain size. Differences between the present study and the study in 2003 were due to differences in sampling procedure mainly due to the two different quadrat sizes. Greater accuracy in representing long-term changes in ecosystems would be achieved by using standard sampling protocols. Removal of U. lactuca by mechanical broom was effective and had low impact on benthic invertebrates and physico-chemical variables, but it should be used only in sandy habitats because of severe disturbance to soft-sediment environments. Options for management and control of U. lactuca in Avon-Heathcote Estuary are discussed.

The roles of phosphorus (P) starvation on the induction of intracellular acid phosphatase (ACP; EC 3.1.3.2) activity have been studied in a marine macroalga Ulva lactuca L. In comparison to creasy and dark green appearance in P-sufficient thalli (100 mM NaH2PO4), P-starved thalli (1 mM NaH2PO4) showed less crease and light green appearance. On exposure to 1 mM NaH2PO4, the growth rate, the contents of SRP, PP and P, and tissue C:P and N:P molar ratio decreased at day 3 and the contents of SNRP, TSP and polyphosphate decreased immediately. Intracellular ACP activity increased at day 3 after exposure to 1 mM NaH2PO4 and reached 16 folds of P-sufficient thalli at day 14, while extracellular alkaline phosphatase (AP; EC 3.1.3.1) activity increased at day 2 and reached the plateau after 4 days. Activity staining both on Native PAGE and IEF gel showed the induction of 10 and 9 ACP isoenzymes, respectively. Changes in intracellular ACP and extracellular AP activities were negatively correlated with SRP, SNRP, PP and P contents. After transferred to 100 mM NaH2PO4, the growth rate of 10 day-starvated thalli recovered after 5 days, the contents of SRP¡BSNRP¡BTSP and P, and the C:P and N:P molar ratio recovered to the level of P-sufficient thalli at day 1. When recovered to 100 mM NaH2PO4, extracellular AP activity of 10 day-starvated thalli decreased at day 2 and reached the minimum after day 8, while intracellular ACP activity decreased at day 3 and reached the minimum after day 8. The analog of Pi, Phi (1 mM) inhibited the intracellular ACP and extracellular AP activities induced by P swtarvation. The results of present investigation show that ACP has a role in the enhancement of P availability in U. lactuca via the enzymatically degradation of polyphosphates and organic P when suffers P deficiency.

Macroalgal blooms are increasing world-wide and have negative effects on benthic invertebrates and sediments. These include loss of species diversity and development of hostile sediment environments. This thesis considers ecological effects of Ulva lactuca L., and its mechanical removal on benthic invertebrates and sediments in Avon-Heathcote Estuary, New Zealand. Benthic communities comprised 34 species from 12 groups recorded from seven sites during seasonal general surveys. Dominant groups at each site were Gastropoda and Bivalvia. The most abundant species were Austrovenus stutchburyi, Micrelenchus tenebrosus and Amphibola crenata. Community composition varied significantly between sites, and there were significant site-specific differences in abundances of most species between winter and summer. U. lactuca had the greatest seasonal variation. Several species correlated with U. lactuca biomass, and the strength of correlation for different species varied between sites. There were seasonal changes in sediment physico-chemical variables between sites with greatest change in the silt/clay fraction. The sediment variables silt/clay fraction, dissolved oxygen and temperature correlated with seasonal changes of patterns in benthic community assemblages. A similar study was carried out by Bressington in 2003. In both studies, Bivalvia and Gastropoda were the most abundant groups, with Gastropoda having a higher, and Bivalvia a lower, proportion in the present study compared with 2003. Summer communities were significantly different between the two studies. Compared with 2003 there were higher percentages of sediment pore water and volatile solids present in 2005. Experimental removal of U. lactuca was conducted by mechanical broom at two sites: an open, exposed central sand flat, and McCormacks Bay, a shallow, sheltered mud flat. Removing U. lactuca had several immediate effects. These included a significant decrease in abundance of mobile epifauna (Micrelenchus tenebrosus and Zeacumantus subcarinatus) and an increase in abundance of infauna, including Arthritica bifurca and Austrovenus stutchburyi. There was no effect of U. lactuca removal on Austrovenus stutchburyi condition and 46 days following removal, invertebrate abundances approached pre-removal levels at each site. U. lactuca removal also caused short-term increases in dissolved oxygen and temperature of pore water. The greatest visual impact of removing U. lactuca was to sediments in McCormacks Bay from trampling. It was concluded that the variables having the greatest effect on seasonal species distribution and abundance at each site were temperature and sediment grain size. Differences between the present study and the study in 2003 were due to differences in sampling procedure mainly due to the two different quadrat sizes. Greater accuracy in representing long-term changes in ecosystems would be achieved by using standard sampling protocols. Removal of U. lactuca by mechanical broom was effective and had low impact on benthic invertebrates and physico-chemical variables, but it should be used only in sandy habitats because of severe disturbance to soft-sediment environments. Options for management and control of U. lactuca in Avon-Heathcote Estuary are discussed.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2006. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-138). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T14:02:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 VanessaMFC.pdf: 1244215 bytes, checksum: 2d84570105aa3f980f60bc5ac24ab268 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006-09-11 / Dentre as macroalgas capazes de absorver altas concentra??es de N e P dissolvidos na ?gua, destaca-se a Chlorophyta Ulva lactuca, bastante adapt?vel e resistente ?s adversidades ambientais, como grandes varia??es de temperatura, salinidade, mat?ria org?nica e metais pesados. Trata-se tamb?m de uma esp?cie bastante comum nas ?reas intertidais do litoral norte-riograndense. Devido a suas caracter?sticas ecol?gicas, fisiol?gicas e nutricionais, foi avaliado nesse estudo, o seu potencial como biofiltro na redu??o de NH4+, NO3- e PO4-2, tanto em condi??es controladas como tamb?m em um viveiro de camar?o. No experimento laboratorial, foram utilizados quatro aqu?rios de vidro de 30 x 20 x 20cm com 10L de ?gua, sendo tr?s aqu?rios experimentais contendo 20g de U. lactuca e um controle. O acr?scimo de biomassa foi de 2,92g (22,92 ? 6,29g; p < 0,05) em rela??o ao in?culo inicial de 20g, sob temperatura (28,50 ? 0,58?C), salinidade (35,00 ? 0,00 ), pH (8,26 ? 0,02) e luz constante (250 &#956;mol.m2s-1). O crescimento positivo (1,78 ? 4,38%dia-1; p < 0,05), juntamente com a alta efici?ncia de absor??o de am?nio (83%; p < 0,001), nitrato (83%; p < 0,001) e ortofosfato (53%; p < 0,001), demonstrou que, nessas condi??es, a Ulva lactuca absorveu os nutrientes e aumentou sua biomassa. J? no experimento de campo, realizado na fazenda TECNAR?O, situada no munic?pio de Arez/RN (06? 11 40 Latitude Sul, e 35? 09 37 Longitude Oeste), foram utilizadas tr?s gaiolas de PVC, posicionadas a 12cm da superf?cie da ?gua, cada uma com dimens?es de aproximadamente 59 x 59 x 15cm, onde foram colocadas 200g de U. lactuca. O ganho de biomassa de 3g (203,00 ? 41,02g; p < 0,001) foi muito semelhante ?s condi??es controladas, demonstrando a adaptabilidade da esp?cie em condi??es ambientais vari?veis, onde, apesar da temperatura pouco vari?vel (27,45 ? 0,64?C), houve progressiva diminui??o de salinidade (25 - 15 ), devido ao per?odo de fortes chuvas (34,70 ? 23,78mm). Somado a isso, foram observados v?rios fatores biol?gicos interferindo no viveiro, como a presen?a de ep?fitas, organismos endof?ticos, fouling e a herbivoria por parte dos pr?prios camar?es. Houve aumento nas concentra??es de NH4+ (4,36 ? 1,69 &#956;mol.L-1), NO3- (0,17 ? 0,25&#956;mol.L-1) e PO4-2 (0,41 ? 0,13&#956;mol.L-1), coincidindo com o crescimento da esp?cie at? a terceira semana. Todos os par?metros ambientais analisados, assim como a biomassa e a Taxa de Crescimento Relativo (TCR), obtidos no campo, apresentaram varia??es altamente significativas (p < 0,001). As correla??es observadas entre biomasa e NH4+ (r = 0,82; p < 0,001) e entre biomassa e PO4-2 (r = 0,87; p < 0,001), indicam que esta esp?cie ? capaz de ter um crescimento satisfat?rio nas condi??es eutr?ficas de um viveiro de camar?o, sendo poss?vel seu uso como biofiltro.

Ulva as an aquaculture crop and IMTA component species has received mixed results globally; success has been achieved in South Africa and Israel, whilst in Europe the results have been poor. This project aims to determine if Ulva lactuca is a suitable candidate as an inorganic extractive species component within marine IMTA systems in British Columbia. The inorganic extractive feasibility of U. lactuca was determined with combination of real time growth and nutrient uptake experiments, alongside a SWOT analysis and literature review to reveal the possible potentialities and pitfalls. U. lactuca was cultivated in 680 litre tanks in the effluent of Wolf Eels, Anarrhichthys ocellatus in a recirculation system at the Aquatics facility at the University of Victoria. Growth experiments of wild local U. lactuca strains attained summer growth of up to 17.43% specific daily growth rate, with winter growth of up to 4.26% specific daily growth rate. U. lactuca demonstrates a preference for Ammonia-N uptake over other forms of inorganic nitrogen and a reduced nutrient uptake capacity during dark periods. Nitrate uptake capacity up to 202µm N gDW-1 day-1 was exhibited. These figures display the excellent biological potential of local Ulva lactuca strains to act as an inorganic extractive. However currently, long term maintenance of the crop proved problematic with instability with growth rates and nutrient uptake capacity. Cultivation issues in combination with poor economic outlook will restrict the feasibility of this species to specific types of IMTA system. Beneficial steps towards the deployment of U. lactuca inorganic extractive components would include: (i) the identification of suitable sterile strains or employment of “germling” spore production, (ii) the use of a rotational, light weight, cage cultivation system, (iii) being farmed in combination with a dark period nutrient removal species, such as Chondrus crispus, (iv) being farmed in conjunction with in-situ algivorous species. / Graduate / 0792

Dans un contexte où les inquiétudes environnementales dues à la pollution sont grandissantes à l’échelle globale, la surveillance de la pollution environnementale constitue un enjeu majeur de recherche afin de préserver au mieux un environnement sain et durable. En effet, la surveillance responsable et continue de l’environnement accompagnée par le développement d’alternatives de lutte « verte » contre les nuisibles, pourrait certainement ralentir voir inhiber la propagation de polluants néfastes pour l’ensemble de la biosphère. Dans ce contexte, les objectifs principaux de cette thèse visent d’une part à caractériser la qualité de l’air par une approche basée sur le biomonitoring, et d’autre part à développer un biopesticide d’origine algale permettant la protection des agrumes en post-récolte comme un exemple d’alternative à l’usage des traitements chimiques classiques. Pour répondre au premier objectif, des méthodes d’extraction multi résidus ont dû être développées. Ces méthodes ont été soit spécifiques d’une famille de pesticides tel que les dithiocarbamates, soit plus large et plus générale en considérant de nombreux polluants comme des pesticides, des HAPs et des PCBs. Ces dernières ont été basées soit sur l’ASE-SPE-SPME, soit sur le QuEChERS-SPME, et ont formé le socle des études de biosurveillance environnementale entreprises. Ces études de surveillance ont permis l’évaluation des modifications spatio-temporelles de la qualité de l’air grâce à des espèces naturelles ayant un rôle de capteurs biologique de la pollution environnementale et permettant par la suite l’estimation de la pollution dans des zones bien définies. Pour répondre au second objectif, des extraits aqueux d’algues vertes, Ulva linza et Ulva lactuca, ont été préparés et testés comme antifongiques in vivo et in vitro afin d’étudier leur aptitude à inhiber le développement de Penicillium digitatum sur des agrumes en post récolte. Un potentiel de protection des agrumes en poste-récolte contre ce champignon a été mis en évidence, donnant effectivement l’espoir à la fiabilité de cette approche comme alternative biologique pour le remplacement des pesticides chimiques potentiellement toxiques. / In a context where environmental concerns due to pollution are growing on a global scale, monitoring of environmental pollution is a major research challenge in order to preserve as much as possible a healthy and sustainable environment. Indeed, the responsible and continuous monitoring of the environment escorted by the development of "green" pest control alternatives could certainly decelerate or even inhibit the spread of harmful pollutants into the entire biosphere. In this context, the main objectives of this thesis are intended firstly to characterize air quality by a biomonitoring-based approach and, secondly, to develop a biopesticide of algal origin, that allows the protection of post-harvested citrus fruit, as an alternative to the use of conventional chemical treatments. In order to answer the first objective, multi-residues extraction methods were developed. These methods were either specific to a family of pesticides such as dithiocarbamates or wider and more general regarding numerous pollutants such as pesticides, PAHs and PCBs. The latter were based either on the ASE-SPE-SPME, or on the QuEChERS-SPME, and formed the base of environmental biomonitoring studies undertaken. These monitoring studies allowed the assessment of spatial and temporal changes in air quality through natural species acting as biological sensors of environmental pollution and subsequently allowing the estimation of pollution in well-defined areas. To answer the second objective aqueous extracts of green algae, Ulva linza and Ulva lactuca, were prepared and tested as in vivo and in vitro antifungal agents, in order to study their ability to inhibit the development of Penicillium digitatum on post-harvested citrus fruits. A potential of post-harvested citrus fruits’ protection against this fungus was proved, giving hope to the reliability of this approach as a biological alternative for the replacement of potentially toxic chemical pesticides.