A review of mesocosm experiments on heavy metals in marine environment and related issues of emerging concerns
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REVIEW ARTICLE
A review of mesocosm experiments on heavy metals in marine environment and related issues of emerging concerns Krishna Venkatarama Sharma 1 & Barath Kumar Sarvalingam 1 & Shambanagouda Rudragouda Marigoudar 1 Received: 7 February 2020 / Accepted: 4 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Mesocosms are real-world environmental science tools for bridging the gap between laboratory-scale experiments and actual habitat studies on ecosystem complexities. These experiments are increasingly being applied in understanding the complex impacts of heavy metals, ocean acidification, global warming, and oil spills. The insights of the present review indicate how metals and metal-bound activities impact on various aspects of ecological complexities like prey predator cues, growth, embryonic development, and reproduction. Plankton and benthos are used more often over fish and microbes owing to their smaller size, faster reproduction, amenability, and repeatability during mesocosm experiments. The results of ocean acidification reveal calcification of plankton, corals, alteration of pelagic structures, and plankton blooms. The subtle effect of oil spills is amplified on sediment microorganisms, primary producers, and crustaceans. An overview of the mesocosm designs over the years indicates that gradual changes have evolved in the type, size, design, composition, parameters, methodology employed, and the outputs obtained. Most of the pelagic and benthic mesocosm designs involve consideration of interactions within the water columns, between water and sediments, trophic levels, and nutrient rivalry. Mesocosm structures are built considering physical processes (tidal currents, turbulence, inner cycling of nutrients, thermal stratification, and mixing), biological complexities (population, community, and ecosystem) using appropriate filling containers, and sampling facilities that employ inert materials. The principle of design is easy transportation, mooring, deployment, and free floating structures besides addressing the unique ecosystembased science problems. The evolution of the mesocosm tools helps in understanding further advancement of techniques and their applications in marine ecosystems. Keywords Marine pollution . Natural hazards . Mesocosm . Ecosystem . Sustainable management
Introduction Globally over four billion people live within 400 km of seacoast and teeming populations have a tremendous impact on the quality of coastal and oceanic environments (Hinrichsen 2016). The adverse impacts of anthropogenic activity in coasts such as air and water pollution are also on the rise. Heavy metals are major hazardous substances as they are nondegradable and remain in the ecosystem for relatively long periods. An overview of the recent literature reflects the Responsible editor: Vedula VSS Sarma * Shambanagouda Rudragouda Marigoudar [email protected] 1
National Centre for Coastal Research, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, NIOT Campus, Pallikaranai,
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