Table 5.— U.S. institutions, investigators, and projects in Controlled Ecosystem Pollution Experiment (CEPEX) 



Organization 



Investigator 



Project title 



University of Alaska, 

 Marine Science Institute 



University of California at San Diego, 

 Institute of Marine Resources 



University of California, 



Scripps Institution of Oceanography 



University of Georgia, 



Skidaway Institute of Oceanography 



University of Miami, Rosenstiel School of 

 Marine and Atmospheric Science 



Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution 



J. J. Goering 

 A. Hattor 



J. R. Beers 



R. W. Eppley 



0. HolmHansen 

 W. H. Thomas 



F. Azam 



D. W. Menzel 

 H. L. Windom 



M. R. Reeve 



G. W. Grice 

 R. F. Vaccaro 



Nitrogen and Silicon Regeneration in Controlled 

 Aquatic Ecosystems 



The Role of Microzooplankton in an Environmental 



Effects Program 



Kinetics of Nutrient Assimilation by Phytoplankton 



Effects of Pollutants on Marine Phytoplankton and 

 Bacterial Communities 



Integrated Field Studies and Operations 

 Heavy Metal Variations in Natural and Polluted Eco- 

 systems 



The Role of Zooplankton in an Environmental Effects 

 Program 



Zooplankton Population Assessment 



The Complementary Role of Heterotrophic Microbial 



Measurements in an Environmental Effects Program 



that were continued until early 1975. 



During the engineering feasibility studies, scientists con- 

 ducted experiments on the effects of selected pollutants on 

 ecosystems. Plankton trapped inside the enclosures went through 

 an ecological sequence common to waters surrounding the en- 

 closures. The experiments using V<4 -scale enclosures included 

 measuring the effects of low concentrations of copper, mercury, 

 and petroleum hydrocarbons. The results of the copper experi- 

 ment showed that low concentrations (10 and 50 ppb) of 

 copper caused an immediate mortality of zooplankton species, 

 followed by the development of bacterial and plankton popula- 

 tions that appear to tolerate low-level copper concentrations. 

 The mercury experiments were similar to those of copper. Mer- 

 cury, however, was toxic to these organisms at lower concen- 

 trations (0.25 to 1.0 ppb) and the effects were not as rapidly 

 detectable as those of copper. One interesting result was that 

 bacteria exposed to either copper or mercury showed an in- 

 creased tolerance to the other metal. 



Preliminary findings from the petroleum hydrocarbon ex- 

 periments were more striking than those from the copper 

 experiments. At low concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons 

 (approximately 10 to 200 ppb) there was an enhancement of 

 primary productivity among certain marine organisms. How- 

 ever, more recent studies have shown that water extracts of 

 fuel oils at concentrations between 40 to 60 ppb caused a rapid 

 population decrease followed by species shifts in these lower 

 tropic levels. The research suggests that the hydrocarbon con- 

 centration in the water column decreases within a few days 

 after introduction. This could be the result of the absorption 

 of these compounds to particulate matter, including dying 

 plankton, which carries them to the bottom where they are 

 degraded by bacteria in the sediment. Certain phytoplankton, 

 (microflagellate and pennate diatom species) show tolerance 



to the fuel oils used and rapidly increase in numbers when 

 less tolerant species (diatoms) die off. 



Efforts are being made to separate the effect of pollutants 

 on plant populations from the effects caused by changes in 

 grazing pressure and predatory stress on grazers. At present 

 CEPEX is not considering the effects of pollutants on benthic 

 organisms. 



Biological Effects Data 



Results of biological effects studies submitted to NOAA 

 Environmental Data Service's National Oceanographic Data 

 Center follow. 



NODC Accession No.: 76-0377 

 Organization: Skidaway Institute of Oceanography 

 Investigator: D. W. Menzel 

 Project title: CEPEX: Integrated Field Studies 

 Grant No.: IDO73-09763 



Data report: Controlled Ecosystem Pollution Experiment 

 (CEPEX) Reduced Data Report No. 1, Mercury Experiment, 

 June 2-July 14, 1975. This report contains background envi- 

 ronmental data collected in the vicinity of the experimental 

 enclosures, as follows: depth, temperature, salinity, phosphate, 

 silicate, ammonia, nitrate, nitrite, chlorophyll-a, primary pro- 

 duction, and total available photosynthetic quanta. 



Pollutant Transfer and Biological Effects 

 Bibliography 



Benson, A. A. and R. F. Lee. 1975: The role of wax in oceanic 

 food chains, Sci. Amer. 232(3) :76-86. 



Butler, J. N.. J. C. Harris, and K. Fine. 1973: Preliminary gas 

 chromatographic analysis of pelagic tar samples from 

 MARMAP survey. Harvard U., Cambridge, Mass. 



