Temporal discontinuity of nutrient limitation in plankton communities

Ideas on how various measures of nutrient limitation relate to plankton biomass and species composition are re-examined. While long-term and multi-lake studies typically focus on determining overall biomass, seasonal studies are more focused toward understanding species composition. We use physiological assays to assess short-term nutrient deficiency of nitrogen and phosphorus in two moderately fertile lakes. While biomass in the lakes was considered to ultimately be limited by total phosphorus, nutrient assays were variable in time. Nutrient ratios (TN:TP, PN:PP, PC:PP and PC:PN) did not predict short-term deficiencies, notably that nitrogen deficiency occurred in these phosphorus-limited lakes. In one of our study lakes, there was a relaxation of phosphorus deficiency despite phosphate concentrations occurring below traditional detection limits. Following this period, there was an autumn bloom of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae. This relationship corresponds with other studies that have found A. flos-aquae to be a poor competitor for phosphorus. In contrast, phosphorus deficiency remained high prior to the autumn diatom bloom in our other study lake. Deficiency measures remain an excellent means of assessing physiological status of plankton communities and provide greater insight into species compositional changes, especially when other potential indicators like dissolved nutrient concentrations are inconclusive. Regardless of the nutrient limitation indicator used for a given study, it is critical to consider the appropriate scale of the measure.     

High frequency measurements of dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients using instrumented moorings in the southern and central North Sea

The aim of this study was to investigate the cycling of dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients using moored instrumented buoys (SmartBuoys) during the spring bloom in the North Sea. The instrumentation on the buoys enabled high frequency measurements of water-column integrated irradiance and in situ chlorophyll to be made, and also preserved water sample collection which were used for dissolved inorganic and organic nutrient analyses. The SmartBuoys were located in the year-round well-mixed plume zone associated with the River Thames and in the summer stratified central North Sea. These site locations allowed comparison of nutrient concentrations and cycling, and spring bloom development at two contrasting sites. The spring bloom was expected to be initiated at both stations due to increasing insolation and decreasing suspended load leading to higher water-column integrated irradiance. Due to differences in suspended load between the sites, the spring bloom started ∼2 months earlier in the central North Sea. The spring bloom in the Thames plume also resulted in higher maximum phytoplankton biomass due to the higher pre-bloom nutrient concentrations associated with riverine input. The use of SmartBuoys is also shown to allow the cycling of dissolved organic nutrients to be examined over the critical, and often undersampled, spring bloom period. Dissolved Organic Nitrogen (DON) clearly increased during the spring bloom in the central North Sea compared to winter concentrations. DON also increased in the Thames plume although showing greater winter variability related to higher riverine and sedimentary dissolved organic matter input at this shallow (∼18 m) coastal site. DON increase during the spring bloom was therefore related to primary production at both sites probably due to active release by phytoplankton. At both stations DON decreased to pre-bloom concentrations as the bloom declined suggesting the released DON was bioavailable and removed due to heterotrophic uptake and production. The preserved nutrient samples from the central North Sea site were also suitable for Dissolved Organic Phosphorus (DOP) analysis due to their low suspended load with similar trends and cycling to DON, albeit at lower concentrations. This suggested similar processes controlling both DON and DOP. The variable timing of short term events such as the spring bloom makes sampling away from coastal regions difficult without the use of autonomous technology. This study demonstrates for the first time the applicability of using preserved samples from automated buoys for the measurement of dissolved organic nutrients.     

Trouble with Sense of Place in Working Landscapes

The sense of place (SOP) conceptual framework offers theoretical and empirical evidence that links peoples’ multifaceted connections to place(s) to their engagement in pro-environmental and conservation behaviors. The bulk of this research has focused on peoples’ connection to high-amenity places and landscapes. Recent research applies SOP in working landscapes—however, these studies encounter “troubles” that include measurement challenges and mixed results in predicting statistical relationships with conservation outcome variables. As authors of some of these studies, we propose three opportunities and corresponding survey items for developing meaningful SOP measures in future working landscapes research: (1) modify existing SOP dimensions and items to better capture the working landscape dynamics; (2) address how scale may affect behavior and SOP dimensions; and (3) incorporate a conservation ethic dimension into the SOP framework in working lands.     

Spectral averaging of the point spread function for Yohkoh's SXT

The point spread function of the soft X-ray telescope (SXT) aboard the Yohkoh spacecraft is a Moffat function with elliptical characteristics. This function has two parameters, a and b, that are wavelength dependent in the X-ray region of interest. Since most SXT data analysis is performed with respect to plasma temperature rather than wavelength, it is useful to spectrally average these two parameters over wavelength with temperature as the free variable. The results of this spectral averaging are given here for users of SXT data.     

Occurrence of the Mytilus edulis complex on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard: radiocarbon ages and climatic implications

Fragments of the blue mussel ( Mytilus edulis complex) are present on raised beaches in the vicinity of Langgrunnodden and Kinnvika, northwestern Nordaustlandet, Svalbard. Both of these localities are north of 80ø N. New radiocarbon age determinations, together with earlier results, show that Mytilus colonies were present in this area for much of the first half of Holocene time–from approximately 9000 to 5800 ¹⁴C yr BP. Mytilus has also been recorded farther south in Nordaustlandet, at three localities in Wahlenbergfjorden. Age determinations of shells at two of these sites have yielded results in the range of 7400 to 6900 ¹⁴C yr BP. The arrival of Mytilus to Nordaustlandet coincided with the early Holocene influx of warm North Atlantic Water off the west coast of Spitsbergen. The drastic warming in early Holocene time, which resulted in the rapid melt-off of glaciers and ice caps in Svalbard, also facilitated the establishment and perserverance of Mytilus colonies at this high latitude.     

Sedimentary indicators of water movement in the western approaches to the English Channel

The continental shelf to the southwest of the British Isles is an area of intense tidal current activity. Although most of the sediment is coarse, it still contains a small proportion of fine (<63 μm) material, consisting mainly of biogenic debris. Coccoliths in particular are both common and widespread and they are found in the adjacent slope sediments. The results presented here show that coccolithophorid diversity is high in the deeper parts of Whittard Canyon, the abyssal plain, and on a small area of shelf. Diversity decreases away from the ocean towards the land. Coccoliths and coccospheres have also been recorded from surface water samples. Apart from the landward movement of oceanic water shown by the coccolithophorids, movement of material on the bottom from shelf to slope is shown by the distribution of benthic diatom frustules and mollusc shell chips cut by clionid sponges. Thus, a study of the fine sediment reveals details of sediment transport and water movement.