Pollution is a common stress in the marine environment and one of today's most powerful agents of selection, yet we have little understanding of how anthropogenic toxicants influence mechanisms of adaptation in marine populations. Due to their life history strategies, marine invertebrates are unable to avoid stress and must adapt to variable environments. We examined the genetic basis of pollut...

Soft tissues of species of marine fauna; crabs (Crustacea), oysters (Pelecypoda, Bivalvia), sea stars (Asterroidea), sea urchin (Echinoidea) and bony fishes (Osteichtyes) sampled along the Kenya-Mombasa coastal region were analyzed to determine the levels of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). Analysis was done using gas chromatography with an electron capture detector. This study showed that mar...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widespread in marine ecosystems and originate from natural sources and anthropogenic activities. PAHs enter the marine environment in two main ways, corresponding to chronic pollution or acute pollution by oil spills. The global PAH fluxes in marine environments are controlled by the microbial degradation and the biological pump, which plays a role in...

Fishing constitutes one of the most significant threats to marine biodiversity and ecosystem function, documented by a growing body of information on the numerous impacts to populations, community structure, and habitats (Dayton et al., 1995; Roberts, 1995; Jennings and Polunin, 1996). Besides the more obvious effects on species population structure, fishing activities may also reduce the struc...

pollutions. recently, both persian gulf and gulf of oman are experiencing several types of pollution including oil spills and heavy metal pollutions as well as harmful algal bloom (hab) caused by biological and environmental changes. theiroccurrence of the red tide or harmful algal bloom during fall and winter 2008-2009 caused numerous unknown factors in the strait of hormuz, persian gulf and g...

Macroalgal blooms of Hypnea musciformis and Ulva fasciata in coastal waters of Maui only occur in areas of substantial anthropogenic nutrient input, sources of which include wastewater effluent via injection wells, leaking cesspools and agricultural fertilizers. Algal dN signatures were used to map anthropogenic nitrogen through coastal surveys (island-wide and fine-scale) and algal deployments...

Oceans represent more than 95% of the world’s biosphere and are among the richest sources of biodiversity on Earth. However, human activities such as shipping and construction of marine infrastructure pose a threat to the quality of marine ecosystems. Due to the dependence of most marine animals on sound for their communication, foraging, protection, and ultimately their survival, the effects o...

Chemical pollutants include such things as petrochemicals, dissolved metals, fertilizers and organic pesticides. Chemical pollutants are most concentrated adjacent to heavily populated areas, industry, intensive agriculture and military activities. Consequently, the adverse impacts of marine pollution are most apparent in the nearshore environment (state and territorial waters) (Green 1997). Th...