Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Arctic Research Centre, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark.
Sci Total Environ. 2018 Jun 1;626:1243-1258. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.01.173. Epub 2018 Feb 19.
New economic developments in the Arctic, such as shipping and oil exploitation, bring along unprecedented risks of marine oil spills. Microorganisms have played a central role in degrading and reducing the impact of the spilled oil during past oil disasters. However, in the Arctic, and in particular in its pristine areas, the self-cleaning capacity and biodegradation potential of the natural microbial communities have yet to be uncovered. This review compiles and investigates the current knowledge with respect to environmental parameters and biochemical constraints that control oil biodegradation in the Arctic. Hereby, seawaters off Greenland are considered as a case study. Key factors for biodegradation include the bioavailability of hydrocarbons, the presence of hydrocarbon-degrading bacteria and the availability of nutrients. We show how these key factors may be influenced by the physical oceanographic conditions in seawaters off Greenland and other environmental parameters including low temperature, sea ice, sunlight regime, suspended sediment plumes and phytoplankton blooms that characterize the Arctic. Based on the acquired insights, a first qualitative assessment of the biodegradation potential in seawaters off Greenland is presented. In addition to the most apparent Arctic characteristics, such as low temperature and sea ice, the impact of typical Arctic features such as the oligotrophic environment, poor microbial adaptation to hydrocarbon degradation, mixing of stratified water masses, and massive phytoplankton blooms and suspended sediment plumes merit to be topics of future investigation.
北极地区新的经济发展，如航运和石油开采，带来了前所未有的海洋溢油风险。在过去的石油灾难中，微生物在降解和减少溢油影响方面发挥了核心作用。然而，在北极地区，特别是在其原始地区，自然微生物群落的自净能力和生物降解潜力尚未被发现。本综述总结和调查了目前关于控制北极地区石油生物降解的环境参数和生化限制的知识。为此，以格陵兰岛附近海域为例进行研究。生物降解的关键因素包括碳氢化合物的生物可利用性、烃降解细菌的存在以及营养物质的可用性。我们展示了这些关键因素如何受格陵兰岛附近海域海水的物理海洋条件以及包括低温、海冰、阳光状况、悬浮泥沙羽流和浮游植物水华等特征在内的其他环境参数的影响，这些都是北极的典型特征。基于所获得的见解，对格陵兰岛附近海域的生物降解潜力进行了初步定性评估。除了低温和海冰等明显的北极特征外，富营养化环境、微生物对烃类降解的适应性差、分层水团混合以及大规模浮游植物水华和悬浮泥沙羽流等典型北极特征的影响也值得作为未来研究的课题。
