Effects of fish farming on nutrients and benthic community structure in the Eastern Aegean (Turkey)

The impact of a sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L., 1758) farm on water quality and benthic community structure was investigated at a fish farm site in Engeceli Bay (western part of Izmir Bay) between April 2001 and February 2002. The characteristics of the water column in the fish farm were investigated in terms of physical and chemical parameters. Concentrations of nitrate, phosphate and ammonium ions in all sampling stations within the Bay were compared with the water quality parameters measured at the outer part of Izmir Bay (Eastern Aegean Sea). While there were significant differences from season to season of the levels of ammonium, orthophosphate, total phosphate and nitrite, there were no significant differences among stations. However, nitrate values and organic carbon contents showed significant differences among sampling stations. A reference station was selected to compare benthic groups. While the reference site is characterized by a sandy bottom with the lowest carbon and highest diversity values, the other stations with silty‐clay bottoms showed higher organic enrichment and lower diversity with increasing abundance of polychaeta. Organic enrichment and particle size of sediments were closely associated with faunal groups particularly with polychaeta and mollusca.     

Coralligenous assemblages along their geographical distribution: Testing of concepts and implications for management

• 1. The coralligenous habitat was studied at the large Mediterranean scale, by applying a standardized, non‐destructive photo‐sampling protocol, developed in the framework of the CIGESMED project.
• 2. The results provided evidence to support the following statements: (a) the assemblage pattern is not homogeneously distributed across the four Mediterranean ecoregions studied (biotic gradients hypothesis); and (b) the assemblage pattern does not change significantly when the information is aggregated to higher taxonomic levels (taxonomic sufficiency hypothesis).
• 3. Surrogate taxonomic categories higher than species, such as genus and family, can be used to reveal the multivariate pattern of the coralligenous assemblages.
• 4. Although preliminary at the pan‐Mediterranean scale, these outcomes set the scene for future comparisons as more data sets become available but also for comparisons between taxonomic and functional patterns.

     

Caffeic acid phenethyl ester and vitamin E moderates IL-1β and IL-6 in bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of Caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE), which has been demonstrated to have antiinflammatory, antiproliferative, anticancerogenic, and antioxidant effects, and vitamin E on IL-1β and IL-6 in bleomycin-induced (BLM-induced) pulmonary fibrosis in rats. Thirty-two Sprague-Dawley rats were divided randomly into four groups as untreated control, bleomycin, bleomycin + CAPE, and bleomycin + vitamin E groups. At the end of the treatment, blood IL-1β and IL-6 levels were quantified. Bleomycin application to the rats resulted in a significant increase in the cytokine levels as compared to the controls. Administration of CAPE and vitamin E prevented the increase of blood IL-1β and IL-6 levels compared to the rats treated with bleomycin alone. Data presented here suggest that CAPE and vitamin E play a protective and moderator role against BLM-induced lung injuries by decreasing the primary inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and IL-6.