The AquaDEB project (phase I): Analysing the physiological flexibility of aquatic species and connecting physiological diversity to ecological and evolutionary processes by using Dynamic Energy Budgets

The European Research Project AquaDEB (2007–2011, http://www.ifremer.fr/aquadeb/) is joining skills and expertise of some French and Dutch research institutes and universities to analyse the physiological flexibility of aquatic organisms and to link it to ecological and evolutionary processes within a common theoretical framework for quantitative bioenergetics [Kooijman, S.A.L.M., 2000. Dynamic energy and mass budgets in biological systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge]. The main scientific objectives in AquaDEB are i) to study and compare the sensitivity of aquatic species (mainly molluscs and fish) to environmental variability of natural or human origin, and ii) to evaluate the related consequences at different biological levels (individual, population, ecosystem) and temporal scales (life cycle, population dynamics, evolution). At mid-term life, the AquaDEB collaboration has already yielded interesting results by quantifying bio-energetic processes of various aquatic species (e.g. molluscs, fish, crustaceans, algae) with a single mathematical framework. It has also allowed to federate scientists with different backgrounds, e.g. mathematics, microbiology, ecology, chemistry, and working in different fields, e.g. aquaculture, fisheries, ecology, agronomy, ecotoxicology, climate change. For the two coming years, the focus of the AquaDEB collaboration will be in priority: (i) to compare energetic and physiological strategies among species through the DEB parameter values and to identify the factors responsible for any differences in bioenergetics and physiology; and to compare dynamic (DEB) versus static (SEB) energy models to study the physiological performance of aquatic species; (ii) to consider different scenarios of environmental disruption (excess of nutrients, diffuse or massive pollution, exploitation by man, climate change) to forecast effects on growth, reproduction and survival of key species; (iii) to scale up the models for a few species from the individual level up to the level of evolutionary processes.     

Mapping of aggregated floodplain plant communities using image fusion of CASI and LiDAR data

Combined optical and laser altimeter data offer the potential to map and monitor plant communities based on their spectral and structural characteristics. A problem unresolved is, however, that narrowly defined plant communities, i.e. plant communities at a low hierarchical level of classification in the Braun-Blanquet system, often cannot be linked directly to remote sensing data for vegetation mapping. We studied whether and how a floristic dataset can be aggregated into a few major discrete, mappable classes without substantial loss of ecological meaning. Multi-source airborne data (CASI and LiDAR) and floristic field data were collected for a floodplain along the river Waal in the Netherlands. Mapping results based on floristic similarity alone did not achieve highest levels of accuracy. Ordination of floristic data showed that terrain elevation and soil moisture were the main underlying environmental drivers shaping the floodplain vegetation, but grouping of plant communities based on their position in the ordination space is not always obvious. Combined ordination-based grouping with floristic similarity clustering led to syntaxonomically relevant aggregated plant assemblages and yielded highest mapping accuracies.     

Non-stationary covariance function modelling in 2D least-squares collocation

Standard least-squares collocation (LSC) assumes 2D stationarity and 3D isotropy, and relies on a covariance function to account for spatial dependence in the observed data. However, the assumption that the spatial dependence is constant throughout the region of interest may sometimes be violated. Assuming a stationary covariance structure can result in over-smoothing of, e.g., the gravity field in mountains and under-smoothing in great plains. We introduce the kernel convolution method from spatial statistics for non-stationary covariance structures, and demonstrate its advantage for dealing with non-stationarity in geodetic data. We then compared stationary and non- stationary covariance functions in 2D LSC to the empirical example of gravity anomaly interpolation near the Darling Fault, Western Australia, where the field is anisotropic and non-stationary. The results with non-stationary covariance functions are better than standard LSC in terms of formal errors and cross-validation against data not used in the interpolation, demonstrating that the use of non-stationary covariance functions can improve upon standard (stationary) LSC.     

Classical globally reflected gravity field determination in modern locally oriented multiscale framework

The purpose of this paper is the canonical connection of classical global gravity field determination following the concept of Stokes (Trans Camb Philos Soc 8:672–712, 1849), Bruns (Die Figur der Erde, Publikation Königl. Preussisch. Geodätisches Institut, P. Stankiewicz Buchdruckerei, Berlin, 1878), and Neumann (Vorlesungen über die Theorie des Potentials und der Kugelfunktionen. Teubner, Leipzig, pp 135–154, 1887) on the one hand and modern locally oriented multiscale computation by use of adaptive locally supported wavelets on the other hand. The essential tools are regularization methods of the Green, Neumann, and Stokes integral representations. The multiscale approximation is guaranteed simply as linear difference scheme by use of Green, Neumann, and Stokes wavelets. As an application, gravity anomalies caused by plumes are investigated for the Hawaiian and Iceland areas.     

Seawater: an explanation of differential isothermal compressibility measurements in terms of hydration and ion-water interactions

Hydration, ion-water interactions, and water structure effects in seawater were studied by determining differences (Δβ) between the compressibilities of test salt solutions and the compressibilities of reference solutions. The reference solutions were distilled water and seawater (35%0), and the test salt solutions were either 0.13 m or 0.26m with respect to one of the following test salts: LiCl, NaCl, KCl, CsCl, NaF, NaI, MgCl₂, CaCl₂, BaCl₂, Na₂SO₄, K₂SO₄, and MgSO₄. The compressibility measurements (to 900 bars) were carried out at 2°C and also at 15°C using a differential method in which a pressure increase or a temperature increase causes Δβ to become less negative. At 1 bar and 15°C, the Δβ (0.26 m, distilled water reference) values ranged from ?1.14 × 10^?6 bar^? for NaI to ?3.84 × 10^?6 bar^?1 for Na₂SO₄, and the Δβ (0.26 m, seawater reference) values ranged from ?1.30 × 10^?6 bar^?1 for NaCl to ?3.04 × 10^?6 bar^?1 for Na₂SO₄. The Δβ values were used to calculate hydration numbers. Entropy of transfer, excess hydrogen bond breaking (determined by NMR), and effective radii of ions are properties which can be used to describe the influence of ions on water structure. The extent to which these properties correlate with Δβ values depends upon whether the ion is an anion or a cation, and this correlation forms the thesis that anions alter water structure in a different way than do cations.     

Large sand waves on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf around Wilmington Canyon,off Eastern United States

New seismic-reflection data show that large sand waves near the head of Wilmington Canyon on the Atlantic Outer Continental Shelf have a spacing of 100–650 m and a relief of 2–9 m. The bedforms trend northwest and are asymmetrical, the steeper slopes being toward the south or west. Vibracore sediments indicate that the waves apparently have formed on a substrate of relict nearshore sediments. Although the age of the original bedforms is unknown, the asymmetry is consistent with the dominant westerly to southerly drift in this area which has been determined by other methods; the asymmetry, therefore, is probably modern. Observations in the sand-wave area from a submersible during August 1975, revealed weak bottom currents, sediment bioturbation, unrippled microtopography, and lack of scour. Thus, the asymmetry may be maintained by periodic water motion, possibly associated with storms or perhaps with flow in the canyon head.     

Early interglacial bottom-current sedimentation on the eastern Reykjanes Ridge

Unusual late deglacial/early interglacial sedimentation rates following the last two glaciations have been detected from three cores on the eastern Reykjanes Ridge. Morphologic, textural, and mineralogic evidence pinpoint bottom currents as the process responsible for these unusual depositional rates, which rise at first to 10–40 times the regional mean, and then subside slightly to values still 2–5 times the norm. A portion of the lutite excesses in the interglacial sediment of these cores is accounted for by input of fine detritus eroded from subaerially exposed and isostatically uplifted Icelandic basalts. For the most part, however, the extraordinary depositional rates late in the deglacial periods are caused by erosion and redistribution of previously deposited glacialage sediments. We infer that reinitiation of overflow of deep water into the Atlantic due to deglacial removal of the Norwegian Sea ice cover triggered a strong bottom-current flow that dislodged sediment from exposed sites. The deglacial intensification of the deep circulation thus left a major sedimentological imprint on the sediments of the eastern Reykjanes Ridge.     

Unreliable 14C dating of long-stored deep-sea sediments due to bacterial activity

Unreliability of radiocarbon ages obtained on the organic-carbon fraction of marine sediments stored wet and over a long period is explained as a consequence of bacterial up-take of recent CO₂. Deep-freezing, drying or immediate processing of samples intended for ¹⁴C age determination is recommended.