Research Progress in Area 2 方向 ( 二 ) 課題進展 133 Abstract The transport of nutrients and pollutants, and more recently plastics, from land-based sources have been identified as greatly affecting the health and safety of many marine environments. However, quantifying patterns in contamination across food webs and pinpointing pollution sources can be especially complex in dynamic marine environments. Stable isotope analyses (SIA), especially compound-specific SIA of amino acids (CSIA-AA), can facilitate the construction of high-resolution maps of food webs and the identification of basal energy and nutrient sources without the need for additional analyses. Dr. Wyatt’s group plans to apply cutting-edge CSIA-AA approaches to understand relationships between oceanographic drivers, trophic structure, and the accumulation of pollutants and contaminants in coastal environments and resources. Such understanding is essential to guide efforts to improve the health and safety of marine environments and reduce the impacts of intensive aquaculture systems. Research Activities and Progress • Systematic review of the application of stable isotopes to coral reef ecology; • Two seasons of field work completed around Hong Kong (winter and summer), involving extensive sampling of environmental and organismal samples for stable isotope analyses; • Processed and analyzed isotope in coral reef samples from Hong Kong, the Philippines and a cruise in the northern South China Sea; • Completed the establishment of protocols for compound-specific isotope analysis of amino acid. Key Findings • Highlighted the current gaps in coral reef stable isotope research and identified promising areas for future work, including underutilized isotope tracers (including sulphur); • Quantified the effects of tissue treatments on isotope offsets, establishing a recommendation for the removal of lipid and urea isotope effects in elasmobranch (shark and ray) tissue; • Demonstrated the utility of multiple tracers (including sulphur isotopes) from multiple tissues to elucidate the trophic ecology of planktivorous fishes across a semi-enclosed tropical embayment subject to anthropogenic pressures. Research Output Publication 2 Trained personnel 4 Stable Isotope Analyses for Coastal Pollution Monitoring and Remediating Planning Prof. Alex S.J. Wyatt The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Fig 1. Mean δ13C and δ15N values for nine commonly measured sources in coral reef systems (Skinner et al., 2022, Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review).
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