Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation

Aquavoltaics, which integrates solar power with aquaculture, offers a promising solution to land-use conflicts between food and energy production while aligning with sustainable development goals. Despite the burgeoning of aquavoltaics, the environmental impacts of photovoltaic (PV) in aquaculture r...

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Main Authors: Shuang Guo, Zhenglin Yu, Chaowei Hou, Han Wang, Tongtong Jiang, Lei Pang, Xiao Cong, Qing Wang, Xiutang Yuan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-04-01
Series:Aquaculture Reports
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513425000729
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author Shuang Guo
Zhenglin Yu
Chaowei Hou
Han Wang
Tongtong Jiang
Lei Pang
Xiao Cong
Qing Wang
Xiutang Yuan
author_facet Shuang Guo
Zhenglin Yu
Chaowei Hou
Han Wang
Tongtong Jiang
Lei Pang
Xiao Cong
Qing Wang
Xiutang Yuan
author_sort Shuang Guo
collection DOAJ
description Aquavoltaics, which integrates solar power with aquaculture, offers a promising solution to land-use conflicts between food and energy production while aligning with sustainable development goals. Despite the burgeoning of aquavoltaics, the environmental impacts of photovoltaic (PV) in aquaculture remain poorly understood. We investigated annually the effects of PV on coastal pond environments and cultivated animals. Our results indicated that compared with non-PV pond (nPVP), light intensity in shaded areas of the PV pond (PVP) was significantly reduced by 80.5 ± 12.0 %, thereby water temperature decreased by 1.20 ± 1.25 °C. Plankton species composition showed no significant differences between the two groups. However, Pyrrophyta abundance increased significantly during spring, and zooplankton abundance was significantly reduced in PVP. Sea cucumbers digestive enzyme activities remained unaffected throughout the year. However, aestivation durations were shortened by 12 days in sub-adults and by 1 day in adults in PVP. Piecewise structural equation modeling revealed that light intensity negatively affected temperature, phytoplankton and organic matter (OM), while temperature and phytoplankton negatively affected zooplankton in PVP. Our study demonstrated that PV can effectively reduce water temperatures, enhance sea cucumbers growth by shortening aestivation durations, and have no impact on plankton compositions and sea cucumbers digestive physiology. However, the increased abundance of Pyrrophyta warrant further attention. These findings provide valuable insights into the sustainable development of integrating PV with sea cucumber aquaculture in coastal ponds.
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spelling doaj-art-d9b410ed24514fdc9ec75842e52c630f2025-08-20T01:57:40ZengElsevierAquaculture Reports2352-51342025-04-014110268610.1016/j.aqrep.2025.102686Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivationShuang Guo0Zhenglin Yu1Chaowei Hou2Han Wang3Tongtong Jiang4Lei Pang5Xiao Cong6Qing Wang7Xiutang Yuan8Research and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR ChinaResearch and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR ChinaResearch and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR ChinaLudong University, Yantai 264025, ChinaYantai University, Yantai 264005, ChinaResearch and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR ChinaResearch and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR ChinaResearch and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR ChinaResearch and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China; Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao Marine Science and Technology Center, Qingdao 266237, PR China; Corresponding author at: Research and Development Center for Efficient Utilization of Coastal Bioresources, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, PR China.Aquavoltaics, which integrates solar power with aquaculture, offers a promising solution to land-use conflicts between food and energy production while aligning with sustainable development goals. Despite the burgeoning of aquavoltaics, the environmental impacts of photovoltaic (PV) in aquaculture remain poorly understood. We investigated annually the effects of PV on coastal pond environments and cultivated animals. Our results indicated that compared with non-PV pond (nPVP), light intensity in shaded areas of the PV pond (PVP) was significantly reduced by 80.5 ± 12.0 %, thereby water temperature decreased by 1.20 ± 1.25 °C. Plankton species composition showed no significant differences between the two groups. However, Pyrrophyta abundance increased significantly during spring, and zooplankton abundance was significantly reduced in PVP. Sea cucumbers digestive enzyme activities remained unaffected throughout the year. However, aestivation durations were shortened by 12 days in sub-adults and by 1 day in adults in PVP. Piecewise structural equation modeling revealed that light intensity negatively affected temperature, phytoplankton and organic matter (OM), while temperature and phytoplankton negatively affected zooplankton in PVP. Our study demonstrated that PV can effectively reduce water temperatures, enhance sea cucumbers growth by shortening aestivation durations, and have no impact on plankton compositions and sea cucumbers digestive physiology. However, the increased abundance of Pyrrophyta warrant further attention. These findings provide valuable insights into the sustainable development of integrating PV with sea cucumber aquaculture in coastal ponds.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513425000729AquavoltaicsApostichopus japonicusCoastal pondEnvironmental effectDigestive physiology
spellingShingle Shuang Guo
Zhenglin Yu
Chaowei Hou
Han Wang
Tongtong Jiang
Lei Pang
Xiao Cong
Qing Wang
Xiutang Yuan
Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
Aquaculture Reports
Aquavoltaics
Apostichopus japonicus
Coastal pond
Environmental effect
Digestive physiology
title Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
title_full Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
title_fullStr Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
title_full_unstemmed Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
title_short Integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture: Environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
title_sort integrating photovoltaic with sea cucumber aquaculture environmental impacts and holothurian digestion and aestivation
topic Aquavoltaics
Apostichopus japonicus
Coastal pond
Environmental effect
Digestive physiology
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352513425000729
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