United Kingdom: projects/activities

Directory entires that have specified United Kingdom as the primary or lead country for the project/activity and are included in the AMAP, ENVINET, SAON and SEARCH directories. To see the full list of countries, see the countries list. The specified country may not be the geographic region where the activity is taking place - to select a geographic region, see the list of regions.

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Displaying: 1 - 18 of 18
1. Microalgae as Cell Factories for Chemical and Biochemical Products

• To survey and document the state of the art in microalgal technology • To examine legislative and regulatory matters connected with the field • To bring together the various information on European algal collections into a single on-line portal • To develop the on-line database into a comprehensive tool for dissemination of knowledge pertaining to microalgae and microalgal research • To investigate current barriers to the use of microalgae and identify possible future uses of microalgae and microalgal technology • To help steer the direction of European research • To carry out technology transfer to the end users within the network, with measurable benefits for efficiency • To ensure the strategy involves dissemination to end-users outside the network partners • To ensure network cohesion and good communication between the partners • To develop an ongoing ‘virtual institute’ model and lay the groundwork for future RTD projects

Biological effects Food webs
2. Mitigation of effects of high power sonars on marine mammals

• This proposal is to develop a reliable method for forecasting the occurrence of marine mammals based on time of year, location and oceanographic conditions. • The work will exploit components of existing NERC-funded research within the core science programmes of SMRU and SAMS. • Pre-existing data on marine mammal aggregations lead us to believe that the proposed method has a high probability of success. • The main study area will be the Sea of the Hebrides and the Minch. • Historical data on marine mammal sightings will be supported by an observational programme, including the use of acoustics and satellite and radio tags. • Simultaneous oceanographic data will be collected during the above programme, supplementing the extensive SAMS archive of time-series from this area. • A proposed operational monitoring network in the southern Minch will be adapted to add acoustic observations to the planned suite of physical and chemical sensors. • The datasets will be analysed using a variety of statistical techniques to yield a practical relationship between observables (local oceanographic conditions, season, location) and species abundance. • The validity of this relationship as an operational tool will be tested in a variety of scenarios. • The work is expected to run from the summer of 2002 to the summer of 2005.

Biological effects Fish Geophysics Marine mammals
3. The prediction of marine mammal aggregations by reference to oceanographic observables in the seas to the north and west of the Hebrides

• There is a clear need to predict the occurrence of marine mammals in order to minimise the possible harmful impact of military sonar activities, some of which have recently received extensive public media exposure. • No military or civilian method currently exists to predict the possibility of encountering marine mammals. • The proposed work will exploit components of existing NERC-funded research within the core science programmes of SAMS and SMRU to develop a predictive tool that will link marine mammal occurrence to classical oceanographic observables. • Pre-existing data on marine mammal aggregations lead us to believe that the proposed method has a high probability of success. • The main study area will be the open seas to the north and west of the Hebrides. • Existing NERC-funded SAMS cruises in this area will collect oceanographic data, supplementing remotely sensed imagery and the extensive SAMS archive of time-series from this area. • A key element in achieving the proposal objective (and in furthering NERC science objectives) will be the recruitment of SMRU observers and equipment to SAMS cruise complements so that marine mammal sightings may be linked directly to the oceanographic research programme. • Additional SMRU deployments on board vessels of opportunity will increase the density of the observational programme. • The suitability of SOSUS acoustic data as an indicator of marine mammal presence will be investigated. • The datasets will be analysed using a variety of statistical techniques to yield a practical relationship between observables (local oceanographic conditions, season, location) and species abundance. • The value of the relationship as an operational tool will be tested in a variety of scenarios. • The work is expected to run from the summer of 2002 to the summer of 2005.

Biological effects Fish Geophysics Marine mammals
4. Reducing the environmental impact of sea cage fish farming through the cultivation of seaweeds

Although the most visible effect of fish cage aquaculture is the output of particulate organic waste, 80% of the total nutrient losses from fish farming are plant-available as potentially eutrophicating substances. This project will assess the ability of commercially important seaweeds, cultivated in the immediate vicinity of caged fish, to reduce the impact of such nutrient releases. The algae cultivated in high nutrient sites will be tested as a food source for humans and for cultivated shellfish, and a model of the distribution of dissolved contaminants from sea-cage fish farms will be developed to predict the impact of introducing algal cultivation at any site.

Pathways Biological effects Fish Spatial trends Environmental management Contaminant transport Food webs Sediments Pesticides Temporal trends Ecosystems
5. Environmental sensitivity of cold water corals

Distribution • What is the current distribution of coral colonies in the North Sea? • Where are coral colonies located on the structures? • Do any colonies show evidence of exposure to drill cuttings? Monitoring & Environmental Recording • What hydrodynamic regime and levels of suspended particulate material are coral colonies exposed to? • Does the coral skeleton retain an archive of any past contamination? • Does skeletal growth vary over time and does this correlate with any past contamination? • How variable is the rate of coral growth and does this correlate with any environmental variables? Environmental Sensitivity • What effect does increased sediment load have on coral behaviour and physiology? • What effect does exposure to discharges (e.g. cuttings and produced water) have on coral behaviour and physiology? • Are such exposures realistic in the field?

Shelf seas Biological effects Pollution sources Environmental management Contaminant transport Petroleum hydrocarbons Oceanography Biodiversity Local pollution Ecosystems
6. The Effects of Turbidity on Marine Fishes

(a) To assemble and further develop an integrative methodology for in situ evaluation of the effects of turbidity and hypoxia on fish physiological and/or behavioural performance. (b) To determine experimentally the threshold values beyond which oxygen and turbidity levels are liable to alter fish physiological and/or behavioural performance. (c) To integrate the results obtained in a conceptual and predictive model. Main expected achievements: [1] establishment of a link between laboratory studies, studies in mesocosms and field studies, using the most advanced techniques for monitoring behaviour in various environmental conditions. [2] an understanding of the impact of water turbidity and oxygenation on three major components of the behavioural repertoire of fish: habitat selection, predator-prey interactions and schooling-aggregation. [3] Predictive ability for the effect of the environmental variables studied on ecologically relevant behaviour.

Shelf seas Biological effects Fish Environmental management Local pollution Food webs
7. Arctic islands of genetic diversity or fragments of an ancient clone

Arctic islands of genetic diversity or fragments of an ancient clone. The history and future of Dryas octopetala in a changing environment.

Biological effects Climate change
8. Biopolar investigations of physiological stress susceptibility and responses in microbes and arthropods

Seasonal ozone depletion in now occurring both in the Arctic and Antarctic, thus increasing levels of UV-B radiation reaching polar bilogical systems.

Biological effects UV radiation
9. Benthic processes in the Arabian Sea: mechanistic relationships between benthos, sediment biogeochemistry and organic matter cycling

1. To quantify benthic community parameters for all size classes of fauna across the Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) 2. To make a detailed assessment across the OMZ of a) sediment accumulation, mixing and irrigation rates and depths and b) environmental factors acting as controls on faunal activity 3. To characterise solid phase and porewater geochemistry of sediments across the OMZ 4. To assess a) faunal digestive Organic Matter (OM) alteration, b) the relative importance of chemo- and photosynthetic food sources, and c) benthic food web structure, across the OMZ 5. To determine porewater profiles and benthic solute fluxes in situ, and to assess faunal OM assimilation and trophic relationships by monitoring tracers during shipboard and in situ incubations 6. To obtain high resolution porewater profiles of oxygen and other key analytes, free of pressure and other effects potentially introduced by core recovery 7. To determine in situ oxygen consumption rates and benthic fluxes 8. To use labelled tracers to assess mixing and irrigation rates, faunal OM assimilation, and size-selective ingestion and mixing 9.To determine sediment denitrification and sulfate reduction rates and their contributions to OM remineralisation

Biological effects Oceanography Geochemistry Sediments
10. Development of monitoring guidelines and modelling tools for environmental effects from Mediterranean aquaculture (MERAMED)

1. To undertake a review of procedures used in the regulation and monitoring of marine cage fish farms in Norway, Scotland and elsewhere to be used as the basis for creating an appropriate set of protocols, monitoring systems and techniques for the control of such farms in Mediterranean conditions 2. To carry out a field research programme to provide appropriate data on the environmental impact of marine cage fish farms in a range of conditions in the eastern Mediterranean. 3. To develop a predictive model to simulate the environmental response at Mediterranean sea cage farms to differing cage stocking levels and feeding regimes. This will be designed as a management tool for both the industry and regulatory authorities.

Biological effects Sources Aquaculture Mapping Discharges Pollution sources Environmental management Contaminant transport Modelling Local pollution Sediments Ecosystems
11. UK Marine environmental change network

1. Establish a network to measure environmental change in marine waters by undertaking long-term research and monitoring 2. Maintain and enhance existing long-term research programmes 3. Restart important discontinued long-term research programmes 4. Develop a quality controlled database of long-term marine data series 5. Deliver and interpret long-term and broad scale contextual information to inform water quality monitoring 6. Demonstrate the benefits of preserving and networking long-term time series programmes

Biological effects Mapping Climate variability Environmental management Climate change Modelling Biodiversity Data management
12. Oceanographic Applications to Eutrophication in Regions of Restricted Exchange (OAERRE)

1. Observations of the physics of vertical and open boundary exchange in Regions of Restricted Exchanges (REEs), leading to improved parameterisation of these processes in research and simplified models. 2. Study of the phytoplankton and pelagic micro-heterotrophs responsible for production and decomposition of organic material, and of sedimentation, benthic processes and benthic-pelagic coupling, in RREs, with the results expressed as basin-scale parameters. 3. Construction of closed budgets and coupled physical-biological research models for nutrient (especially nitrogen) and organic carbon cycling in RREs, allowing tests of hypotheses about biogeochemistry, water quality and the balance of organisms. 4. Construction of simplified 'screening' models for the definition, assessment and prediction of eutrophication, involving collaboration with 'end-users', and the use of these models to analyse the costs and benefits of amelioration scenarios.

Pathways Biological effects Sources Catchment studies Spatial trends Pollution sources Environmental management Contaminant transport Local pollution Sediments Temporal trends Ecosystems Eutrophication
13. BIOFiltration & AQuaculture: an evaluation of hard substrate deployment performance with mariculture developments

1. To quantify the effectiveness of the biofilters in reducing the impacts of mariculture across Europe from both an economic and environmental perspective. 2. To determine the best design and placements of the biofilters, accounting for differences in geography, hydrology, nutrient input etc. between countries. 3. To examine the environmental and regulatory options governing the use of the biofilters at the end of their life-span and to provide detailed economic analyses of biofilter use compared to existing filtration methods.

Biological effects Fish Discharges Pollution sources Environmental management Contaminant transport Modelling Local pollution Food webs Sediments Diet Ecosystems
14. Diversity and function of the bacterial flora of the toxic alga Gymnodinium catenatum Graham

1. To descirbe and compare the phylogenetic diversity and distribution of the total bacterial flora associated with G catenatum cysts and vegetative cells. 2. To culture and identify bacteria from G catenatum, and identify/characterise any bacteria capable of autonomous PST production in G. catenatum 3. To examine the effect of cyst surface sterilisation and re-introduction of bacteria on PST production in G catenatum 4. Survey bacteria for quorum sensing capability (cell signaling) and detect in situ quorum sesing in xenic G. catenatum cultures, relating to toxicity development. 5. Develop molecular markers of cross species quorum sensing, facilitating analysis of quorum sensing in uncultivated bacteria.

Pathways Biological effects Sources Fish Environmental management Food webs Human health Ecosystems Human intake
15. Correlation between algal presence in water and toxin presence in shellfish

1. Analysis of existing data from the current shellfish monitoring programmes in order to design a suitable sampling strategy 2. Ideentification of toxic algal species in UK waters 3. Construction of a detailed time-series at several key sites in the UK for toxic phytoplankton and shellfish toxin occurence 4. Comparison of the genotype versus toxicity of suspected toxic species between sites

Pathways Biological effects Algal Biology Fish Contaminant transport Exposure Food webs Ecosystems Human intake
16. The ecological effects of sealice treatment agents

1. To determine the effects of each of several sealice treatment chemicals on macrofaunal assemblages 2. To determine the effects of each of several sealice treatment chemicals on zooplankton assemblages 3. To determine the effects of each of several sealice treatment chemicals on meiofaunal assemblages 4. To determine the effects of each of several sealice treatment chemicals on benthic diatom assemblages 5. To determine the effects of each of several sealice treatment chemicals on phytoplankton assemblages 6. To determine the effects of each of several sealice treatment chemicals on macroalgal and littoral assemblages 7. To measure the concentrations of each of several sea lice treatment chemicals in the environment post-treatment 8. To determine the significant correlations between ecosystem responses, time and therapeutant concentration to determine the proportion of the observed environmental variance attributal to the treatments against a background of responses due to other parameters such as waste organic materials and nutrients 9. To model the dispersion and or depostion of farm wastes including of each of several sea lice treatment chemicals in the marine environment post treatment and to incorporate terms relating to the toxicity of these chemicals to certain parts of the ecosystem (e.g. the macrofauna)

Biological effects Hydrography Mapping Fish Discharges Environmental management Contaminant transport Modelling Food webs Sediments Pesticides Diet Ecosystems
17. A new generation of biocides for control of fish lice in fish farms and biofilms on submerged materials

1. To develop a system of photoactive biocides for treating sea lice and biofouling (Further details in confidence)

Biological effects Mapping Fish Discharges Environmental management Contaminant transport Modelling Exposure Photosensitisation Local pollution Pesticides Photodynamic Marine mammals
18. Rearing protocols for Atlantic halibut larvae during transition from endogenous to exogenous nutrition

1. To describe the ontogeny of foraging behaviour of halibut larvae, and to determine any detrimental effects of current commercial rearing practices in terms of structural damage, developmental abnormalities and behavioural competence 2. To investigate the resistance of larvae to handling in relation to developmental stage, in order to determine the most appropriate stage for handling and to devise non-damaging handling methods 3. To investigate whether larvae exhibit temperature, or salinity preferences at critical developmental stages, by means of behavioural observations in temperature/salinity gradients and by subjecting larvae to different acclimation regiemes in rearing tanks 4. To develop husbandry protocols that reduce the incidence of surface aggregation and that enable larvae to be retained in UK upwelling tanks for the optimal duration, in terms of handling resistance, behavioural competence and feed initiation success 5. To determine the optimum conditions for transferring larvae to first feeding tanks, by investigating responses to physical, chemical and biological parameters, including mechanisms by which microalgae 'green water' promote or enhance feed ingestion 6. To obtain a reproducible benefical microbial flora during the early stages of larval rearing, with the aim of establishing an industry -relevant probiotic approach at the feed initiation stage

Biological effects Fish Diet