Trends in phosphatase activity along a successional gradient of tidal freshwater marshes on the Cooper River South Carolina

Phosphatase activity was measured in sediments from tidal freshwater habitats adjacent to the Cooper River in South Carolina representing different stages of ecological succession. It was found that sediment (0–5 cm) acid phosphatase activity, alkaline phosphatase activity and phosphodiesterase activity increased with increasing successional stage and phytomass. Acid phosphatase activity in creased from 7.5±1.2 (±1 SD) in subtidal sediment from a shallow open water habitat without vegetation to 61.2±4.9 μmol g⁻¹ hr⁻¹ (μmol of p-nitrophenol released per gram of dry sediment per hour) in intertidal sediments colonized by emergent macrophytes, while alkaline phosphatase activity increased from 2.1±0.1 to 19.01±1.5 μmol g⁻¹ hr⁻¹. Phosphodiesterase activity increased from 1.8±0.1 to 20.2±2.0 μmol g⁻¹ hr⁻¹ along the same gradient. Acid phosphatase activity was highly correlated (R²=0.92, P<0.001) with the organic matter content of the sediment. A study of phosphatase kinetics showed that V_max of all phosphatases also increased along the successional gradient. Trends in phosphatase activity and V_max correlated positively with plant biomass and negatively with concentrations of soluble reactive phosphorus in porewater, sediment extractable phosphorus, and total phosphourus. The porewater N∶P atom ratio decreased along the succession gradient from 25.3 in an early stage, open water community to 13.0 in a community dominated by emergent vegetation. The data also show that the distribution of the forms of phosphorus changed with successional stage. The change in distribution and the increased biological demand for phosphorus that paralleled succession were mediated by the activity of phosphatase enzymes.     

A water quality model for the Patuxent estuary: Current conditions and predictions under changing land-use scenarios

A water quality model was developed for the Patuxent estuary using the modeling framework CE-QUAL-W2 (called W2) to address the impact of current and projected land-use changes (stress) on the water quality. The W2 code, supported by the Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station, is a two-dimensional (longitudinalvertical) model designed for hydrodynamic and water quality simulations of reservoirs and estuaries. The code was configured for the Patuxent estuary using a finite-difference grid for the water column. Also incorporated into the model calculations are flow and nutrient load results from a watershed model. The integrated model was calibrated with data of 1 yr from 1997 to 1998 by matching results with measured temperature, dissolved oxygen, chlorophylla, and nutrient levels in the water column. The calibrated model was used to predict the water quality effects of different watershed land-use scenarios. Model projection results suggest that reductions of nutrient loads would lead to improvement of anoxic conditions in the bottom waters of the lower Patuxent estuary.     

Determinants of expansion for<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phragmites australis</Emphasis>, common reed,in natural and impacted coastal marshes

The rapid spread ofPhragmites australis in the coastal marshes of the Northeastern United States has been dramatic and noteworthy in that this native species appears to have gained competitive advantage across a broad range of habitats, from tidal salt marshes to freshwater wetlands. Concomitant with the spread has been a variety of human activities associated with coastal development as well as the displacement of nativeP. australis with aggressive European genotypes. This paper reviews the impacts caused by pure stands ofP. australis on the structure and functions of tidal marshes. To assess the determinants ofP. australis expansion, the physiological tolerance and competitive abilities of this species were examined using a field experiment.P. australis was planted in open tubes paired withSpartina alterniflora, Spartina patens, Juncus gerardii, Lythrum salicaria, andTypha angustifolia in low, medium, and high elevations at mesohaline (14‰), intermediate (18‰), and salt (23‰) marsh locations. Assessment of the physiological tolerance ofP. australis to conditions in tidal brackish and salt marshes indicated this plant is well suited to colonize creek banks as well as upper marsh edges. The competitive ability ofP. australis indicated it was a robust competitor relative to typical salt marsh plants. These results were not surprising since they agreed with field observations by other researchers and fit within current competition models throught to structure plant distribution within tidal marshes. Aspects ofP. australis expansion indicate superior competitive abilities based on attributes that fall outside the typical salt marsh or plant competition models. The alignment of some attributes with human impacts to coastal marshes provides a partial explanation of how this plant competes so well. To curb the spread of this invasive genotype, careful attention needs to be paid to human activities that affect certain marsh functions. Current infestations in tidal marshes should serve as a sentinel to indicate where human actions are likely promoting the invasion (e.g., through hydrologic impacts) and improved management is needed to sustain native plant assemblages (e.g., prohibit filling along margins).     

Public policy and the changing landscape

The paper illustrates how spatially explicit forecasting of residential development can be undertaken and how it can be made sensitive to policy instruments available to local and state governments. Predicted values in residential use based on a hedonic analysis of residential property prices is found to have a significant effect on the hazard of development in a survival model used to explain the likelihood that a farm or forest will be converted to residential use. Policy instruments are imbedded in both the hedonic model of residential property values and a hazard model of parcel conversion, so as to test how effective changes in policies can be at changing the pattern of land-use change. Some of the statistical and modeling obstacles that impede progress on this spatially explicit modeling are also discussed.     

A comparison of sediment microbial communities associated with<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phragmites australis</Emphasis> and<Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> in two brackish wetlands of New Jersey

The extensive spread ofPhragmites australis throughout brackish marshes on the East Coast of the United States is a major factor governing management and restoration decisions because it is assumed that biogeochemical functions are altered by the invasion. Microbial activity is important in providing wetland biogeochemical functions such as carbon and nitrogen cycling, but there is little known about sediment microbial communities inPhragmites marshes. Microbial populations associated with invasivePhragmites vegetation and with native salt marsh cordgrass,Spartina alterniflora, may differ in the relative abundance of microbial taxa (community structure) and in the ability of this biota to decompose organic substrates (community biogeochemical function). This study compares sediment microbial communities associated withPhragmites andSpartina vegetation in an undisturbed brackish marsh near Tuckerton, New Jersey (MUL), and in a brackish marsh in the anthropogenically affected Hackensack meadowlands (SMC). We use phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) analysis and enzymataic activity to profile sediment microbial communities associated with both plants in each site. Sediment analyses include bulk density, total organic matter, and root biomass. PLFA profiles indicate that the microbial communities differ between sites with the undisturbed site exhibiting greater fatty acid richness (62 PLFA recovered from MUL versus 38 from SMC). Activity of the 5 enzymes analyzed (β-glucosidase, acid phosphatase, chitobiase, and 2 oxidases) was higher in the undisturbed site. Differences between vegetation species as measured by Principal Components Analysis were significantly greater at the undisturbed MUL site than at SMC, and patterns of enzyme activity and PLFAs did not correspond to patterns of root biomass. We suggest that in natural wetland sediments, macrophyte rhizosphere effects influence the community composition of sediment microbial populations. Physical and chemical site disturbances may impose limits on these rhizosphere effects, decreasing sediment microbial diversity and potentially, microbial biogeochemical functions.     

Spatially explicit measures of production of young alewives in Lake Michigan: Linkage between essential fish habitat and recruitment

The identification and protection of essential habitats for early life stages of fishes are necessary to sustain fish stocks. Essential fish habitat for early life stages may be defined as areas where fish densities, growth, survival, or production rates are relatively high. To identify critical habitats for young-of-year (YOY) alewives (Alosa pseud oharengus) in Lake Michigan, we integrated bioenergetics models with GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to generate spatially explicit estimates of potential population production (an index of habitat quality). These estimates were based upon YOY alewife bioenergetic growth rate potential and their salmonine predators’ consumptive demand. We compared estimates of potential population production to YOY alewife yield (an index of habitat importance). Our analysis suggested that during 1994–1995, YOY alewife habitat quality and yield varied widely throughout Lake Michigan. Spatial patterns of alewife yield were not significantly correlated to habitat quality. Various mechanisms (e.g., predator migrations, lake circulation patterns, alternative strategies) may preclude YOY alewives from concentrating in areas of high habitat quality in Lake Michigan.     

Geochemistry of the Upper Neoproterozoic and Lower Cambrian siliciclastic rocks and U-Pb dating on detrital zircons in the Central Iberian Zone,Spain

Sandstones and shales from the Upper Neoproterozoic (UN) succession in the Central Iberian Zone (CIZ) show parallel REE patterns and relatively restricted and similar ranges and average values of some element ratios such as Al₂O₃/TiO₂, Ti/Nb, Eu/Eu*, (La/Yb)n, (Gd/Yb)n and Th/U. This remarkable geochemical homogeneity for related medium- and fine-grained rocks is unusual, and strongly suggests a recycled source area. However, the Lower Cambrian (LC) equivalent rocks are, in general terms, geochemically less mature, more heterogeneous and more fractionated. Their average REE patterns are practically coincident, probably as a consequence of REE redistribution related to the reworking of sediments during a stage of sea level fall in Lower Cambrian times. Ti and Zr abundances, chemical index of alteration (CIA) values and element ratios such as Al₂O₃/TiO₂, K/Rb, Ti/Nb and Rb/Zr can be used for discriminating purposes between the UN and LC siliciclastic rocks. Detrital zircons from a UN and a LC sandstone display morphological differences. However, U-Pb data are discordant and cannot be interpreted in a straightforward manner. Nevertheless, age data are compatible with a model in which the continent of Gondwana would have supplied zircons, showing a bimodal age distribution, in variable proportions to the respective sandstone units.     

The Pindos Fold-and-thrust belt (Greece): inversion kinematics of a passive continental margin

Continuous exposure in the Pindos mountain chain (Greece) and the detailed stratigraphic measurements in the area enable us to construct eight balanced cross sections across the Pindos Fold-and-thrust belt (PFTB) and to approach quantitatively some parameters which controlled foreland evolution. The 160-km-wide passive continental margin of the Apulian continent in Greece was progressively shortened from east to west at rates of 6 mm/year between the Early Oligocene and Late Eocene. From the rear to the frontal part of the wedge, fault-bend folds, duplexes and imbricates were formed, while strain was partitioned into faulting (~34%), layer parallel shortening (~23%) and buckling (~9%). Foreland subsidence and internal deformation of the orogenic wedge are strongly affected by two parameters of equal importance: the thrust load of the overthrusted microcontinents and the rigidity of the underthrusted Apulian passive margin. Changes in the thickness of the pre-orogenic sediments and reactivated transform faults induced salients. During the Lower Miocene, the orogenic wedge in the Peloponnese suffered additional uplift and westward gravitational gliding induced by the intracontinental subduction of the Palaeozoic rift zone of the Phyllite-Quartzite Series, which was reactivated and returned to the earths surface during the Hellenic orogeny.     

Deep structure and kinematics of the Northern Calcareous Alps (TRANSALP Profile)

The Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) of southern Bavaria and northern Tyrol constitute a carbonate-dominated polyphase fold-thrust wedge; together with its Grauwacken Zone Basement, it is the northernmost part of the far-travelled Upper Austroalpine thrust complex of the Eastern Alps. The present geometry developed in several kinematic stages. Jurassic extensional faults that affected large parts of the NCA and their basement originated when the main part of the NCA was still located southeast of the Central Alpine Ötztal-Silvretta complex. These faults and related facies transitions influenced the later style of detachment of the NCA thrust sheets. Mid to Late Cretaceous detachment, thrust-sheet stacking and motion over the Central Alpine complex are registered in clastic deposits of syntectonic basins. The latest Cretaceous to Cenozoic NNE- to N-directed motion of the NCA towards Europe in front of the Central Alpine complex created another set of significant contraction structures, which at depth overprinted all previous structures. During Cretaceous to Cenozoic deformation, the NCA experienced about 80 km of shortening, i.e., about 73% along the TRANSALP Profile. The European basement and autochthonous Mesozoic cover beneath the allochthonous NCA thrust sheets and flysch complexes seem to have remained relatively undeformed.     

Thermal modeling of Carboniferous to Triassic sediments of the Karawanken Range (Southern Alps) as a tool for paleogeographic reconstructions in the Alpine–Dinaridic–Pannonian realm

Vitrinite reflectance was measured in Late Carboniferous to Triassic shales, siltstones and marls of the Karawanken Range. Thermal models of the central South-Karawanken Range were calibrated on the basis of these data. They suggest an eroded overburden of more than 3,200 m of Jurassic to Cretaceous sediments and a heat flow in the range of 42 to 60 mW m^?2 during the time of maximum subsidence. Because the reconstructed thermal history of the South-Karawanken Range is very similar to the thermal history of the Generoso basin (western Southern Alps), these data provide strong evidence for a deep basinal position of the Southern Karawanken Range during Jurassic to Cretaceous times. A vitrinite reflectance anomaly at the northern margin of the South-Karawanken Range is explained by advective heat transport during the Oligocene. The heat source for the anomalies at the western margin of the Seeberg Rise and in the area between the Periadriatic Lineament and the Donat Fault Zone is unknown. Vitrinite reflectance in Late Triassic sediments indicates the South-Karawanken Range and the South-Zala Unit of the Pannonian basement as exotic blocks in the Sava Composite Unit. This is explained by Miocene displacement of structural units, which were derived from different paleogeographical segments of the Permo-Mesozoic western Tethyan margin.