Phytoplankton, nutrients, and transparency in Danish coastal waters

We present a comparative analysis of 1400 data series of water chemistry (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations), phytoplankton biomass as chlorophylla (chla) concentrations, concentrations of suspended matter and Secchi depth transparency collected from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s from 162 stations in 27 Danish fjords and coastal waters. The results demonstrate that Danish coastal waters were heavily eutrophied and had high particle concentrations and turbid waters. Median values were 5.1 μg chla 1⁻¹, 10.0 mg DW 1⁻¹ of suspended particles, and Secchi depth of 3.6 m. Chlorophyll concentration was strongly linked to the total-nitrogen concentration. The strength of this relationship increased from spring to summer as the concentration of total nitrogen declined. During summer, total nitrogen concentrations accounted for about 60% of the variability in chlorophyll concentrations among the different coastal systems. The relationship between chlorophyll and total phosphorus was more consistant over the year and correlations were much weaker than encountered for total nitrogen. Secchi depth could be predicted with good precision from measurements of chlorophyll and suspended matter. In a multiple stepwise regression model with In-transformed values the two variables accounted for most of the variability in water transparency for the different seasons and the period March–October as a whole (c. 80%). We were able to demonstrate a significant relationship between total nitrogen and Secchi depth, with important implications for management purposes.     

Understanding Climatic Impacts, Vulnerabilities, and Adaptation in the United States: Building a Capacity for Assessment

Based on the experience of the U.S. National Assessment, we propose a program of research and analysis to advance capability for assessment of climate impacts, vulnerabilities, and adaptation options. We identify specific priorities for scientific research on the responses of ecological and socioeconomic systems to climate and other stresses; for improvement in the climatic inputs to impact assessments; and for further development of assessment methods to improve their practical utility to decision-makers. Finally, we propose a new institutional model for assessment, based principally on regional efforts that integrate observations, research, data, applications, and assessment on climate and linked environmental-change issues. The proposed program will require effective collaboration between scientists, resource managers, and other stakeholders, all of whose expertise is needed to define and prioritize key regional issues, characterize relevant uncertainties, and assess potential responses. While both scientifically and organizationally challenging, such an integrated program holds the best promise of advancing our capacity to manage resources and the economy adaptively under a changing climate.     

The neoliberalization of ecosystem services: wetland mitigation banking and problems in environmental governance

Wetland mitigation banking is an American neoliberal environmental policy that has created a functioning market in `ecosystem services', commodities defined using the holistic measures of ecological science. The development of this market is discussed as a project of environmental governance, defined as the nation-state's regulation of ecological relations within its territory towards stabilizing capitalist relations of power and accumulation. I argue that the wetland banking industry serves as a bellwether that presages problems that other strategies of neoliberal environmental governance will experience. Ethnographic, economic and ecological data from the Chicago-area wetland banking industry inform a discussion of two major obstacles to neoliberal strategy: the problem of relying on ecological science to define the unit of trade, and the problem of aligning the somewhat independent relations of law, politics, markets and ecosystems across an array of spatial scales. Theoretical guidance is sought from recent work on `social natures' and from the Regulationist approach to institutional political economics.     

Comparison of isotope pairing and N2:Ar methods for measuring sediment denitrification—Assumption, modifications, and implications

Denitrification has been measured during the last few years using two different methods in particular: isotope pairing measured on a triple-collector isotopic ratio mass spectrometer and N₂:Ar ratios measured on a membrane inlet mass spectrometer (MIMS). This study compares these two techniques in short-term batch experiments. Rates obtained using the original N₂∶Ar method were up to 3 to 4 times higher than rates obtained using the isotope pairing technique due to O₂ reacting with the N₂ during MIMS analysis. Oxygen combines with N₂ within the mass spectrometer ion source forming NO⁺ which reduces the N₂ concentration. The decrease in N₂ is least at lower O₂ concentrations and since oxygen is typically consumed during incubations of sediment cores, the result is often a pseudo-increase in N₂ concentration being interpreted as denitrification activity. The magnitude of this ocygen effect may be instrument specific. The reaction of O₂ with N₂ and the subsequent decrease in N₂ was only partly correctly using an O₂ correction curve for the relationship between N₂ and O₂ concentrations. The O₂ corrected N₂∶Ar denitrification rates were lower, but still did not match the isotope pairing rates and the variability between replicates was much higher. Using a copper reduction column heated to 600°C to remove all of the O₂ from the sample before MIMS analysis resulted in comparable rates (slightly lower), and comparable variability between replicates, to the isotope pairing technique. The N₂:Ar technique determines the net N₂ production as the difference between N₂ production by denitrification and N₂ consumption by N-fixation, while N-fixation has little effect on the isotope pairing technique which determines a rate very close to the gross N₂ production. When the two different techniques were applied on the same sediment, the small difference in rates obtained by the two methods seemed to reflect N-fixation as also supported from measurements of ethylene production in acetylene enriched sediment cores. The N₂:Ar and isotope pairing techniques may be combined to provide simultaneous measurements of denitrification and N-fixation. Both techniques have several assumptions that must be met to achieve accurate rates; a number of tests are outlined that can be applied to demonstrate that these assumptions are being meet.     

A Compilation of Silicon,Rare Earth Element and Twenty‐One other Trace Element Concentrations in the Natural River Water Reference Material SLRS‐5 (NRC‐CNRC)

The natural river water certified reference material SLRS‐5 (NRC‐CNRC) was routinely analysed in this study for major and trace elements by ten French laboratories. Most of the measurements were made using ICP‐MS. Because no certified values are assigned by NRC‐CNRC for silicon and 35 trace element concentrations (rare earth elements, Ag, B, Bi, Cs, Ga, Ge, Li, Nb, P, Rb, Rh, Re, S, Sc, Sn, Th, Ti, Tl, W, Y and Zr), or for isotopic ratios, we provide a compilation of the concentrations and related uncertainties obtained by the participating laboratories. Strontium isotopic ratios are also given.     

Multi-species chemical data assimilation with the Danish Eulerian hemispheric model: system description and verification

Satellite retrievals of atmospheric composition provide a wealth of data on a global scale. These complement results from atmospheric chemistry-transport models (CTMs), and can be combined using data assimilation. We present two assimilation schemes coupled to the Danish Eulerian Hemispheric Model (DEHM), a three-dimensional, off-line CTM with full photochemistry: a variant on the ensemble Kalman filter and the three-dimensional variational scheme. The aim of this paper is to describe the two schemes and present an initial assessment of their impacts on model skill. Retrievals of multiple atmospheric trace gases are assimilated, namely: NO₂ tropospheric column densities, CH₄ total column densities, and partial column concentrations of O₃, CO and CH₄; these data are retrieved from four satellite sensors. Data for each species are assimilated independently of one another, and other species are only adjusted indirectly via the model’s chemistry and dynamics. Assimilation results are compared with measurements from surface monitoring stations and other satellite retrievals, and preliminary validation results are presented.Reference simulations (without assimilation) grossly underestimate surface CO concentrations, and both assimilation schemes eliminate this large and systematic model bias. The assimilation improves the spatial correlation of modelled CO with surface observations, and improves the spatial correlation between forecasts and retrievals for CO, NO₂ and O₃. Results for CH₄ show a loss of skill due to a mismatch in model bias between two assimilated CH₄ data-sets. Finally, we discuss differences in methodology and results between this paper and a recent study on multi-species chemical data assimilation. Joint optimisation of initial conditions and emission rates offers a promising direction for improving modelled boundary-layer concentrations.     

Tracer experiments with turbulently dispersed air ions

Unipolar air ions released into the wind constitute a tracer which can be measured with high resolution. An ion source produces a cloud with homogeneous charge density, insensitive to source strength, dependent on time since formation only. It is well suited for tracing concentration changes due to turbulence, less suited for cloud size tracing. A tight array of 8 sensors has been used to examine turbulently dispersed ions. High-resolution records are presented and discussed. The highest concentrations measured could be undiluted source material. The frequency distribution within a plume did not differ from that in a multitude of puffs. The distribution seems to be log-normal with a geometric standard deviation of about 2.45. The time resolution used corresponds to volume resolutions of 40, 225, and 650 cm³. Sample size had no apparent effect.     

Oxygen and nutrient dynamics within mats of the filamentous macroalga Chaetomorpha linum

Concentration profiles of O₂, NH₄ ⁺, NO₃ ⁻, and PO₄ ³⁻ were measured at high spatial resolution in a 12-cm thick benthic mat of the filamentous macroalga Chaetomorpha linum. Oxygen and nutrient concentration profiles varied depending on algal activity and water turbulence. High surface irradiance stimulated O₂ production in the surface layers and introduced O₂ to deeper parts of the mat while the bottom layers of the mat and the underlying sediment were anoxic. Nutrient concentrations were highest in the bottom layers of the mat directly above the sediment nutrient source and decreased towards the surface layers due to algal assimilation and enhanced mixing with the overlying water column. Increased turbulence during windy periods resulted in more homogeneous oxygen and nutrient concentration profiles and shifted the oxic-anoxic interface downward. Denitrification within the mat, as measured by the isotope pairing technique on addition of ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻, was found to take place directly below the oxic-anoxic interface. Denitrification activity was always due to coupled nitrification-denitrification, whereby nitrifiers in the mat utilize NH₄ ⁺ diffusing from below and O₂ diffusing from above. The denitrification rate in the mat ranged from 22 μmol m⁻² h⁻¹ to 28 μmol m⁻² h⁻¹, approximately equivalent to that measured in the surrounding nonvegetated sediment. Although sediment denitrification is suppressed when the sediment surface is covered by a dense macroalgal mat, the denitrification zone may migrate up into the mat. In eutrophic estuaries with a large area of macroalgal cover, the physical structure and growth stage of algal mats may thus play an important role in the regulation of nitrogen removal by denitrification.     

Throughfall patterns in sugarcane and riparian forest: understanding the effect of sugarcane age and land use conversion

Sugarcane is an annual crop with a dynamic canopy that changes over time mainly because of genetic adaptation. There is uncertainty about the temporal trends of throughfall (TF) in this important commercial crop. In the present paper, we used troughs to measure TF in a third and fourth ratoon and subsequently in a fourth and fifth ratoon. Additional measurements were carried out in an adjacent riparian forest. There were no significant differences between cycles of sugarcane, growth phases and riparian forest. The TF results for ratoon crop and riparian forest in 2011/2012 were 76% and 79.5% of gross rainfall, respectively, while in 2012/2013, they were 79% and 78%, respectively. However, TF was remarkably lower in the riparian forest relative to ratoon from the second half of the culm formation and elongation phase (280 days after harvest) until harvest. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.