The impact of shade on establishment of shrubs adapted to the high light irradiation of semi-arid environments

Light may be an important limiting resource that influences community structure of chenopod shrublands. As part of a larger study that aimed to determine the factors that influence chenopod community structure, the focus of this study was the influence of plant canopy on the growth and establishment of smaller plants. We therefore measured the height and cover of three chenopods (Enchylaena tomentosa, Maireana brevifolia and Maireana georgei) when growing within and outside of the canopy of Atriplex bunburyana under field conditions. All three chenopods had lower cover and E. tomentosa was taller when growing within the canopy of A. bunburyana in comparison to those growing outside of the canopy. The chenopods were then grown under three artificial shade regimes. Plant height, cover, biomass, relative leaf area and photosynthetic surface area measurements showed that each species responded differently to shade. E. tomentosa biomass was facilitated by shade. This was inferred by an increase in total plant biomass. M. brevifolia, in contrast, tolerated shade by increasing above-ground biomass allocation. M. georgei was adversely affected by the shade regimes: root biomass decreased in response to shade. Competition for light is, therefore, likely to influence chenopod community structure of semi-arid and arid environments.     

Dynamics of mule deer forage in the Sonoran Desert

Forage availability for mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) in the Sonoran Desert depends on plant biomass, which is influenced by rainfall. We determined how rainfall, temperature and plant characteristics affected biomass of deer forage. We measured forage biomass, rainfall and temperature every 3 months from April 2000 to December 2002. Quarterly rainfall ranged from <1 to 57 mm, and forage biomass in desert washes fluctuated between 6 and 34 g m⁻². There was a positive relationship between forage biomass and rainfall the previous six months (p<0.001), and a negative relationship between biomass and average temperature the previous 3 months (p<0.001). Quarterly forage growth was positively influenced by rainfall (p<0.001) and negatively influenced by forage biomass (p<0.001). The relationships between deer forage and environmental factors established here will be useful in understanding population ecology of mule deer as part of an interactive model of plant–herbivore dynamics in arid environments.     

Environmental variables related to wheat yields in the semiarid pampa region of Argentina

The current paper analyses various environmental parameters in relation to wheat yields in Bordenave, Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The variables used are: precipitation (ppt), maximum (Tx) and minimum temperature (Tmi) as well as those obtained by applying the Palmer model. Decadic and phenological scales are used for data corresponding to the period 1977–2000. The stepwise method is used to obtain a multi-variate equation to calculate yield taking into account environmental variables only. For a five variates model the coefficient of determination, R² equals 95.79% and the standard error of estimation is 129.0 kg ha⁻¹. In the sample yields, the incidence of total variability for thermal variables is 42.7% and for hydrological variables, 53%. The value and sign of the correlation coefficients were analysed throughout the cultivation cycle. The α coefficient is mainly responsible for yield variance during tillering and stem elongation. There is good correlation with the values of Palmer's Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for the flowering and grain filling stages.     

Vegetation and climate changes during the Eemian interglacial in Central and Eastern Europe: comparative analysis of pollen data

Velichko, A. A., Novenko, E. Y., Pisareva, V. V., Zelikson, E. M., Boettger, T. & Junge, F. W. 2005 (May): Vegetation and climate changes during the Eemian interglacial in Central and Eastern Europe: comparative analysis of pollen data. Boreas , Vol. 34, pp. 207–219. Oslo. ISSN 0300–9483.
The article discusses pollen data from Central and Eastern Europe and provides insight into the climate and vegetation dynamics throughout the Eemian interglacial (including preceding and succeeding transitional phases). Three sections with high resolution pollen records are presented. Comparison of the data indicates that the range of climatic and environmental changes increased from west to east, whereas the main phases of vegetation development appear to have been similar throughout the latitudinal belt. At the interglacial optimum, the vegetation in both Central and Eastern Europe was essentially homogeneous. An abrupt change marks the Saalian/Eemian boundary (transition from OIS 6 to OIS 5e), where environmental fluctuations were similar to those detected at the transition from the Weichselian to the Holocene (Allerød and Dryas 3). Transition from the Eemian to the Weichselian was gradual in the western part of the transect, with forest persisting. In the east, fluctuations of climate and vegetation were more dramatic; forest deteriorated and was replaced by cold open landscapes.     

C-isotope Composition of Carbonates from Indravati Basin, India: Implications for Regional Stratigraphic Correlation

The Indravati Basin represents an unmetamorphosed and unfossiliferous sequence and shows a broad similarity in lithological association with other Purana Basins of Central India. The carbonates belonging to Indravati Basin have on average, moderately positive δ13 C values (up to +4.5). Numerous successions reported from other parts of world, show similar δ13 C values and contain evidence to suggest that the latest Mesoproterozoic to early Neoproterozoic period may represent an isotopically recognizable interval globally. The elevated δ13 C values of Indravati Basin are also correlatable with other Purana Basins in India including Upper Vindhyan Supergroup.     

Electrodialytic remediation of CCA-treated waste wood in pilot scale

When chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood is removed from service and turns into waste, the contents of Cu, Cr and As remain high due to the strong fixation of CCA in the wood. This high content of toxic compounds presents a disposal challenge. Incineration of CCA-treated waste wood is not allowed in Denmark; instead, the wood is to be land-filled until new methods for handling the wood are available. Since the amounts of CCA-treated wood being removed from service is expected to increase in the years to come, the need for finding alternative handling methods is very relevant. In this study, the usefulness of Electrodialytic Remediation was demonstrated for handling of CCA-treated waste wood in pilot scale. The electrodialytic remediation method, which uses a low-level direct current (DC) as the cleaning agent, combines electrokinetic movement of ions in the wood matrix with the principles of electrodialysis. It has previously been shown that it is possible to remove Cu, Cr and As from CCA-treated wood using electrodialytic remediation in laboratory scale, but until now, the method had not been studied in large scale. The pilot-scale plant used in this study was designed to contain up to 2 m³ wood chips. Six remediation experiments were carried out. In these experiments, the process was up-scaled stepwise by increasing the distance between the electrodes from initially 60 cm to finally 150 cm. The remediation time was varied between 11 and 21 days, and phosphoric acid and/or oxalic acid was used to facilitate the desorption of CCA from the wood. In the most successful of the experiments carried out, the concentration of CCA in the wood was reduced by up to 82% for Cr, 88% for Cu and at least 96% for As.     

A review of the occurrence, form and origin of C-bearing species in the Khibiny Alkaline Igneous Complex, Kola Peninsula, NW Russia

The Khibiny Complex hosts a wide variety of carbon-bearing species that include both oxidized and reduced varieties. Oxidised varieties include carbonate minerals, especially in the carbonatite complex at the eastern end of the pluton, and Na-carbonate phases. Reduced varieties include abiogenic hydrocarbon gases, particularly methane and ethane, dispersed bitumens, solid organic substances and graphite. The majority of the carbon in the Khibiny Complex is hosted in either the carbonatite complex or within the so-called “Central Arch”. The Central Arch is a ring-shaped structure which separates khibinites (coarse-grained eudialite-bearing nepheline-syenites) in the outer part of the complex from lyavochorrites (medium-grained nepheline-syenites) and foyaites in the inner part. The Central Arch is petrologically diverse and hosts the major REE-enriched apatite–nepheline deposits for which the complex is best known. It also hosts zones with elevated hydrocarbon (dominantly methane) gas content and zones of hydrothermally deposited Na-carbonate mineralisation. The hydrocarbon gases are most likely the product of a series of post-magmatic abiogenic reactions. It is likely that the concentration of apatite-nepheline deposits, hydrocarbon gases and Na-carbonate mineralisation, is a function of long lived fluid percolation through the Central Arch. Fluid migration was facilitated by stress release during cooling and uplift of the Khibiny Complex. As a result, carbon with a mantle signature was concentrated into a narrow ring-shaped zone.     

Near-vertical seismic reflection image using a novel acquisition technique across the Vrancea Zone and Foscani Basin, south-eastern Carpathians (Romania)

The DACIA PLAN (Danube and Carpathian Integrated Action on Process in the Lithosphere and Neotectonics) deep seismic sounding survey was performed in August–September 2001 in south-eastern Romania, at the same time as the regional deep refraction seismic survey VRANCEA 2001. The main goal of the experiment was to obtain new information on the deep structure of the external Carpathians nappes and the architecture of Tertiary/Quaternary basins developed within and adjacent to the seismically-active Vrancea zone, including the Focsani Basin. The seismic reflection line had a WNW–ESE orientation, running from internal East Carpathians units, across the mountainous south-eastern Carpathians, and the foreland Focsani Basin towards the Danube Delta. There were 131 shot points along the profile, with about 1 km spacing, and data were recorded with stand-alone RefTek-125s (also known as “Texans”), supplied by the University Texas at El Paso and the PASSCAL Institute. The entire line was recorded in three deployments, using about 340 receivers in the first deployment and 640 receivers in each of the other two deployments. The resulting deep seismic reflection stacks, processed to 20 s along the entire profile and to 10 s in the eastern Focsani Basin, are presented here. The regional architecture of the latter, interpreted in the context of abundant independent constraint from exploration seismic and subsurface data, is well imaged. Image quality within and beneath the thrust belt is of much poorer quality. Nevertheless, there is good evidence to suggest that a thick (10 km) sedimentary basin having the structure of a graben and of indeterminate age underlies the westernmost part of the Focsani Basin, in the depth range 10–25 km. Most of the crustal depth seismicity observed in the Vrancea zone (as opposed to the more intense upper mantle seismicity) appears to be associated with this sedimentary basin. The sedimentary successions within this basin and other horizons visible further to the west, beneath the Carpathian nappes, suggest that the geometry of the Neogene and recent uplift observed in the Vrancea zone, likely coupled with contemporaneous rapid subsidence in the foreland, is detached from deeper levels of the crust at about 10 km depth. The Moho lies at a depth of about 40 km along the profile, its poor expression in the reflection stack being strengthened by independent estimates from the refraction data. Given the apparent thickness of the (meta)sedimentary supracrustal units, the crystalline crust beneath this area is quite thin (< 20 km) supporting the hypothesis that there may have been delamination of (lower) continental crust in this area involved in the evolution of the seismic Vrancea zone.     

Geochemical characteristics of mineral air particles emitted inside a clay atomisation plant which introduces waste recycling processes

The objective of this work is to assess the concentrations of three factions of air particles (settable particles, TSP and PM10) and the levels of several toxic elements in a clay atomisation industry through aerosol sampling at several points inside an industrial plant. Mechanical activities, which produce diffuse emissions, are the main process of discharge of particles in both indoor and outdoor workplace environments in the atomisation plant. The levels of As, Cd, Pb, Zn, Ba and Ni increase in the zones with higher concentrations of particles and lower ventilation. The concentrations of As and F are not influenced by the recycling processes. The levels of Cd and Pb do not show great enrichment in air particles collected inside the atomisation plant although the content of both elements is associated with ceramic muck recycling. Finally, the content of B in waste water is mainly transferred in gaseous phase to the atmosphere during the process of drying by atomisation.