Hydrological trends and the evolution of catchment research in the Alptal valley,central Switzerland

When the observation of small headwater catchments in the pre-Alpine Alptal valley (central Switzerland) started in the late 1960s, the researchers were mainly interested in questions related to floods and forest management. Investigations of geomorphological processes in the steep torrent channels followed in the 1980s, along with detailed observations of biogeochemical and ecohydrological processes in individual forest stands. More recently, research in the Alptal has addressed the impacts of climate change on water supply and runoff generation. In this article, we describe, for the first time, the evolution of catchment research at Alptal, and present new analyses of long-term trends and short-term hydrologic behaviour. Hydrometeorological time series from the past 50 years show substantial interannual variability, but only minimal long-term trends, except for the ~2°C increase in mean annual air temperature over the 50-year period, and a corresponding shift towards earlier snowmelt. Similar to previous studies in larger Alpine catchments, the decadal variations in mean annual runoff in Alptal's small research catchments reflect the long-term variability in annual precipitation. In the Alptal valley, the most evident hydrological trends were observed in late spring and are related to the substantial change in the duration of the snow cover. Streamflow and water quality are highly variable within and between hydrological events, suggesting rapid shifts in flow pathways and mixing, as well as changing connectivity of runoff-generating areas. This overview illustrates how catchment research in the Alptal has evolved in response to changing societal concerns and emerging scientific questions.     

铜藻(Sargassum horneri)在营养限制胁迫后对NH4-N的超补偿吸收研究

以经济马尾藻铜藻(Sargassum horneri)为研究材料,研究了其在营养限制胁迫后对NH_4-N的超补偿吸收情况。实验分营养限制和恢复营养两个阶段进行,每个阶段均设置饥饿处理组、饱和处理组和正常对照组。铜藻在低营养限制胁迫(饥饿)下培养10天后,恢复营养盐培养3天,分别采用次溴酸盐氧化法和锌镉还原法测定培养液中的NH_4-N和NO_3-N的浓度。本文研究发现,饥饿处理组中铜藻吸收氨氮的速率远高于正常对照组和饱和处理组,在恢复培养第一天时,饥饿处理组对NH_4-N的吸收速率最高为14.94μmol/(g·h),与正常对照组及饱和处理组间差异显著。在恢复培养的后两天,三个处理组中铜藻对NH_4-N的吸收速率差异慢慢变小,直至最后几乎相同。三组对NO_3-N没有表现出较高的吸收,最高仅为6.15μmol/(g·h),结果表明:氮源包括NH_4-N和NO_3-N时,铜藻优先选择吸收NH_4-N。实验后称重测定生长速率:对照组、饥饿处理组和饱和组生长率(SGR)分别为8.48%、8.86%、8.01%,ANOVA方差分析表明,三者存在显著差异(P=0.0320.05),从而证实了铜藻也存在超补偿生长的现象。     

Variations in the natural abundance of 15N in estuarine suspended particulate matter: A specific indicator of biological processing

In this study, the ¹⁴N:¹⁵N ratio of suspended particulate material collected from the Tamar river estuary, south-west England, is described. Three populations of particles, distinguishable by their ¹⁵N content, were observed. This investigation has shown that populations of estuarine particles are generated by biological transformations in situ and that the ¹⁵N content of estuarine particles does not merely reflect hydrodynamic mixing of the freshwater and seawater source particulate material.     

Arsenic incorporation in a salt marsh ecosystem

Replicate portions of a Delaware salt marsh were enclosed in cylindrical microcosms and exposed to elevated levels of inorganic arsenic (arsenate). All biotic and abiotic components in dosed cylinders rapidly incorporated arsenic. Spartina blades showed the greatest arsenic enrichment, with dosed plants incorporating arsenic concentrations an order of magnitude higher than controls. Spartina detritus and sediments also exhibited greatly elevated arsenic concentrations. Virtually all of the arsenic was incorporated into plant tissue or strongly sorbed to cell surfaces. Thus, elevated arsenic concentrations in estuarine waters will be reflected in living and non-living components of a salt marsh ecosystem, implying that increased arsenic will be available to organisms within the marsh ecosystem.     

Upwelling and river runoff as sources of dissolved nitrous oxide to the Alsea estuary,Oregon

Surface waters of Alsea Bay, an unpolluted estuary on the Oregon coast, were analysed for nitrous oxide, nitrate and nitrite on a weekly or biweekly basis during the summer of 1979. The estuary was found to be a variable source of N₂O to the atmosphere. Large and rapid increases in the concentrations of N₂O, NO₃^?, and NO₂^? occurred at the beginning of the sampling period and are attributed to the influx of nutrient-rich upwelling water into the estuary with the tide. The subsequent decline in concentrations of nitrate, nitrite and nitrous oxide over the remainder of the summer is attributed to a decrease in upwelling intensity, a decline in nitrification rates and to assimilatory nitrate reduction. Measurements of nitrous oxide at six stations along the Alsea River were also made in September and October before and after the onset of the rainy season. Samples taken after flood conditions were established were systematically 50% higher than pre-flood samples. The data suggest that soil runoff results in elevated concentrations of N₂O in rivers.     

Progresses in geology and hazards analysis of Tianchi Volcano

A number of different lahars have been recognized from a systematic survey of a mapping project. The high setting temporamre feature of the deposits indicates a relationship between the lahar and the Millennium eruption event of Tianchi Volcano. The lahars caused a dramatic disaster. Recognize of the huge avalanche scars and deposits around Tianchi Volcano imply another highly destructive hazard. Three types of different texture of the avalanche deposits have been recognized. There was often magma mixing processes during the Millennium eruption of Tianchi Volcano, indicating a mixing and co-eruption regime of the eruption.     

Accumulation of Zn,Cu and Cd by crabs and barnacles

The crab Carcinus maenas (L.) and the barnacle Elminius modestus Darwin were exposed to a range of dissolved concentrations of Zn, Cu and Cd for 21 days in artificial seawater. Accumulation of Zn and Cu by crabs has been interpreted in terms of the presence of a regulation mechanism to maintain constant body concentrations (83·2 ± 19·4 μg Zn g^?1 dry wt.; 39·8 ± 9·8 μg Cu g^?1 dry wt.) under varying external dissolved metal levels, until a threshold dissolved metal concentration (c. 400 μg Zn l^?1; c. 170 μg Cu l^?1) beyond which net accumulation of metal begins. Cadium appears to be accumulated by C. maenas at all exposures with no evidence for regulation of body cadmium concentrations. Exposure of E. modestus to Zn, Cu or Cd caused net accumulation of the respective metal in the bodies of the barnacles, with no evidence for regulation of body metal concentrations.     

Nitrogen uptake,ammonium oxidation and nitrous oxide (N2O) levels in the coastal waters of western Cook Strait,New Zealand

Vertical measurements of $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$, $\text{NO}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and N₂O concentrations, $\text{NO}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ and $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ uptake, and $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ oxidation rates were measured at 5 sites in western Cook Strait, New Zealand, between 31 March and 3 April 1983. Nitrate increased with depth at all stations reaching a maximum of 10.5 μg-atom $\text{NO}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}\text{N l}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ at the most strongly stratified station whereas $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ was relatively constant with depth at all stations (～0.1 μg-atom $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}\text{N l}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$). The highest rates of $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ oxidation generally occurred in the near surface waters and decreased with depth. N₂O levels were near saturation with respect to the air above the sea surface and showed no obvious changes during 24 h incubation. $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ oxidation by nitrifying bacteria may account for about 30% of the total $\text{NH}{}_4{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ utilization (i.e. bacterial+agal) and, assuming oxidation through to $\text{NO}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}$, may supply about 40% of the algal requirements of $\text{NO}{}_3{}^{\mathrm{?}}$ in the study area. These results suggest that bacterial nitrification is of potential importance to the nitrogen dynamics of the western Cook Strait, particularly with respect to the nitrogen demands of the phytoplankton.     

Is Precipitation the Dominant Controlling Factor of High Inorganic Nitrogen Content in the Changjiang River and Its Mouth？

The main reasons for the high content of inorganic N and its increase by several times in the Changjiang River and its mouth during the last 40 years were analysed in this work. The inorganic N in precipitation in the Changjiang River catchment mainly comes from gaseous loss of fertilizer N, N resulting from the increases of population and livestock, and from high temperature combustions of fossil fuels. N from precipitation is the first N source in the Changjiang River water and the only direct cause of high content of inorganic N in the Changjiang River and its mouth. The lost N in gaseous form and from agriculture non-point sources fertilizer comprised about 60% of annual consumption of fertilizer N in the Changjiang River catchment and were key factors controlling the high content of inorganic N in the Changjiang River mouth. The fate of the N in precipitation and other N sources in the Changjiang River catchment are also discussed in this paper.     

Modelling the effect of low soil temperatures on transpiration by Scots pine

For ecosystem modelling of the Boreal forest it is important to include processes associated with low soil temperature during spring‐early summer, as these affect the tree water uptake. The COUP model, a physically based SVAT model, was tested with 2 years of soil and snow physical measurements and sap flow measurements in a 70‐year‐old Scots pine stand in the boreal zone of northern Sweden. During the first year the extent and duration of soil frost was manipulated in the field. The model was successful in reproducing the timing of the soil warming after the snowmelt and frost thaw. A delayed soil warming, into the growing season, severely reduced the transpiration. We demonstrated the potential for considerable overestimation of transpiration by the model if the reduction of the trees' capacity to transpire due to low soil temperatures is not taken into account. We also demonstrated that the accumulated effect of aboveground conditions could be included when simulating the relationship between soil temperature and tree water uptake. This improved the estimated transpiration for the control plot and when soil warming was delayed into the growing season. The study illustrates the need of including antecedent conditions on root growth in the model in order to catch these effects on transpiration. The COUP model is a promising tool for predicting transpiration in high‐latitude stands. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.