Ecosystem carbon stocks across a tropical intertidal habitat mosaic of mangrove forest,seagrass meadow,mudflat and sandbar

Intertidal habitats provide numerous ecosystem services, including the sequestration and storage of carbon, a topic of great recent interest owing to land‐cover transitions and climate change. Mangrove forests and seagrass meadows form a continuum of intertidal habitats, alongside unvegetated mudflats and sandbars, however, studies that consider carbon stocks across these spatially‐linked, threatened ecosystems are limited world‐wide. This paper presents the results of a field‐based carbon stock assessment of aboveground, belowground and sediment organic carbon stock to a depth of 1 m at Chek Jawa, Singapore. It is the first study of ecosystem carbon stocks of both vegetated and unvegetated intertidal habitats in the tropics. Ecosystem carbon stocks were 497 Mg C ha^‐1 in the mangrove forest and 138 Mg C ha^‐1 in the seagrass meadow. Sediment organic carbon stock dominated the total storage in both habitats, constituting 62% and >99% in the mangrove forest and seagrass meadow, respectively. In the adjacent mudflat and sandbars, which had no vegetative components, sediment organic carbon stock ranged from 124–143 Mg C ha^‐1, suggesting that unvegetated habitats have a carbon storage role on the same order of importance as seagrass meadows. This study reinforces the importance of sediment in carbon storage within the intertidal ecosystem, and demonstrates the need to consider unvegetated habitats in intertidal ‘blue carbon’ stock assessments. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Macroscopic and spectroscopic analysis of lanthanide adsorption to bacterial cells

This study was designed to combine surface complexation modelling of macroscopic adsorption data with X-ray Absorption Spectroscopic (XAS) measurements to identify lanthanide sorption sites on the bacterial surface. The adsorption of selected representatives for light (La and Nd), middle (Sm and Gd) and heavy (Er and Yb) lanthanides was measured as a function of pH, and biomass samples exposed to 4 mg/L lanthanide at pH 3.5 and 6 were analysed using XAS. Surface complexation modelling was consistent with the light lanthanides adsorbing to phosphate sites, whereas the adsorption of middle and heavy lanthanides could be modelled equally well by carboxyl and phosphate sites. The existence of such mixed mode coordination was confirmed by Extended X-ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) analysis, which was also consistent with adsorption to phosphate sites at low pH, with secondary involvement of carboxyl sites at high adsorption density (high pH). Thus, the two approaches yield broadly consistent information with regard to surface site identity and lanthanide coordination environment. Furthermore, spectroscopic analysis suggests that coordination to phosphate sites is monodentate at the metal/biomass ratios used. Based on the best-fitting pK_a site, we infer that the phosphate sites are located on N-acetylglucosamine phosphate, the most likely polymer on gram-negative cells with potential phosphate sites that deprotonate around neutral pH.     

High-pressure–low-temperature metamorphism of metasedimentary rocks, southern Menderes Massif, western Turkey

Kilometer-scale lenses of quartz-rich metasedimentary rocks crop out in a discontinuous belt along the southern margin of the Menderes Massif, Turkey, and preserve evidence for high-pressure–low-temperature (HP–LT) metamorphism related to subduction of a continental margin during Alpine orogeny. Kyanite schist, quartzite, and quartz veins contain kyanite + phengite + Mg-chlorite, and the veins also contain magnesiocarpholite. A deformed carbonate metaconglomerate juxtaposed with the quartzite-dominated unit does not contain HP index minerals, and likely represents the tectonized boundary of the siliceous rocks with adjacent marble. The HP–LT rocks (10–12 kbar, 470–570 °C) record different pressure conditions than the adjacent, apparently lower pressure Menderes metasedimentary sequence. Despite this difference there is disagreement as to whether these HP–LT rocks are part of the Menderes sequence or are related to the tectonically overlying Cycladic blueschist unit. If the former, the entire southern Menderes Massif experienced HP–LT metamorphism but the evidence has been obliterated from most rocks; if the latter, rocks recording different metamorphic-kinematic conditions experienced different tectonic histories and were tectonically juxtaposed during thrusting. Based on observations and data in this study, the second model better accounts for the differences in P–T-deformation histories of the southern Menderes Massif rocks, and suggests that the HP–LT rocks are not part of the Menderes cover sequence.     

Holocene climate change and carbon cycling in a groundwater-fed, boreal forest lake: Dune Lake, Alaska

We compared cladoceran assemblages in modern and pre-industrial sediments from cores taken in 48 softwater lakes located in four main regions of Nova Scotia (Canada) to evaluate the impacts of acidification and other recent environmental stressors. Lakes in Kejimkujik National Park showed significant increases in Holopedium relative abundances and significant decreases in Alona and other chydorids since pre-industrial times, which appear to be related to declines in pH and calcium (Ca) concentrations caused by acidic deposition. Lakes in Bridgewater also showed a significant decrease in Alona, as well as a significant increase in macrothricid (Acantholeberis and Ophryoxus) taxa that cannot be explained by declines in pH, although declines in [Ca] have been recorded. Lakes in Yarmouth did not show any significant regional changes in major cladoceran species groups. Still, pre-industrial assemblages in these lakes significantly differed from modern assemblages, with assemblage changes being lake-specific and likely related to interactions between local and regional stressors acting on individual lakes. Finally, lakes in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, located on the taiga plateau, have received historically lower levels of sulphate deposition relative to other regions in the province, and recorded a significant decrease in Alona similar to Bridgewater lakes. The province-wide decrease in Alona across different acid deposition rates suggests that limnological changes related to climate warming may be responsible. Overall, this study shows that acidification history is an important predictor of cladoceran assemblage changes since pre-industrial times in Nova Scotia lakes, although multiple stressors result in complex Cladocera responses in some regions.     

GIS-based hydrogeological databases and groundwater modelling

Reliability and validity of groundwater analysis strongly depend on the availability of large volumes of high-quality data. Putting all data into a coherent and logical structure supported by a computing environment helps ensure validity and availability and provides a powerful tool for hydrogeological studies. A hydrogeological geographic information system (GIS) database that offers facilities for groundwater-vulnerability analysis and hydrogeological modelling has been designed in Belgium for the Walloon region. Data from five river basins, chosen for their contrasting hydrogeological characteristics, have been included in the database, and a set of applications that have been developed now allow further advances. Interest is growing in the potential for integrating GIS technology and groundwater simulation models. A "loose-coupling" tool was created between the spatial-database scheme and the groundwater numerical model interface GMS (Groundwater Modelling System). Following time and spatial queries, the hydrogeological data stored in the database can be easily used within different groundwater numerical models. Electronic Publication     

Crime on the edges: patterns of crime and land use change

ABSTRACT

Criminologists have long-known that different locations have varying levels of risk for criminal victimization. Based on the geometry of crime and its corresponding crime generators and crime attractors, edges (boundaries between relatively homogeneous neighborhoods) are locations with an elevated risk of criminal victimization. In this article, we investigate the importance of edges. We find that criminal victimization rates are 2–3 times on an edge compared to elsewhere. However, this effect decreases very quickly moving away from these locations, with the effect gone at 40 meters. This general effect is identified in a number of contexts and locations.     

Predictors of species richness in the deep-benthic fauna of the northern Gulf of Mexico

Species richness in macrofauna and megafauna collected with box cores and trawls from 35 standard stations over a depth range of 175–3720 m in the northern Gulf of Mexico was examined in terms of two primary questions: (1) are observed patterns random? and (2) if not, what environmental factors might account for the patterns? A null model tested whether richness vs. depth distributions were random. Groups with species that had broad vertical depth ranges fit the null model better than groups with small ranges, but for almost all phyla a non-random pattern was indicated. With randomness as a proximal explanation ruled out, further examination of the relationship between richness and environmental factors was justified. A generalized linear model (GLM) showed that a suite of 18 factors categorized as food-related, habitat-related, pollution-related and location-related were significantly related to richness patterns, but that different mixes of factors applied to different phyla. No one factor accounted for any observed patterns. Thus, each taxonomic group needs to be examined individually, and no generally applicable explanation for the causes of richness patterns may exist. Nonetheless, mapping richness itself indicates valuable areas in the Mississippi Trough that must receive special consideration and possible protection.     

Groundwater Quality Impacts from a Full‐Scale Integrated Constructed Wetland

The concept of integrated constructed wetlands (ICW) promotes in‐situ soils to construct and line wetland cells. The integrity of soil material, however, may provide a potential pathway for contaminants to flow into the underlying groundwater. This study assessed the extent of groundwater quality deterioration due to the establishment of a full‐scale ICW system treating domestic wastewater in Ireland. The ICW is located at Glaslough in Co. Monaghan, Ireland. It consists of two sedimentation ponds and a sequence of five shallow vegetated wetland cells. The ICW cells were lined with 500‐mm thick local subsoil material, which comprised a mixture of alluvium, organic soils, tills, and gravel. Groundwater samples and head data were collected from eight piezometers, which were installed around the ICW cells. The groundwater and wetland water samples were analysed for water quality parameters such as bulk organic matter, nutrients, and pathogens. Overall, the quality of groundwater underlying the ICW system recorded some contamination with bulk organic matter and some inorganic nutrients. Significantly higher contaminant concentrations were recorded in monitoring wells upgradient and near to the distal wetland cells than downgradient ones, which were near to the proximal cells. For the downgradient piezometers, concentrations seldomly exceeded the natural background levels. Detailed analyses through the application of chemometrics models indicated that the source of contamination was largely of geogenic origin. Findings suggest that ICW systems pose a minimal risk to the groundwater quality; the greatest risk was associated with the distal wetland cells.     

An extinct,Late Mesoproterozoic,Sveconorwegian mantle wedge beneath SW Fennoscandia,reflected in seismic tomography and assessed by thermal modelling

A channel‐like, low‐velocity zone in the lithospheric mantle beneath W Norway coincides spatially with the extension of a recently discovered 200 × 50 km granite batholith, which formed as a result of oceanic subduction beneath the SW Fennoscandian margin between 1.07 and 1.01 Ga. Based on results from numerical modelling, we argue that the low‐velocity zone, at least in part, reflects the thermal (radioactive) effects of the refertilized mantle wedge of this magmatic arc. The geological record in SW Fennoscandia suggests that active‐margin magmatism terminated as a result of rapid slab rollback and trench retreat starting at ca. 1 Ga. The rapid shift from active‐ to passive‐margin processes was probably critical in preserving the mantle wedge, and its identification can therefore shed light on how active‐margin processes terminated in ancient orogens.