Dissolved Humic Substances Can Directly Affect Freshwater Organisms

Direct effects of pure humic substance (BS1 FA) on three different aquatic organisms (Ceratophyllum demersum, Dreissena polymorpha, and Chaetogammarus ischnus) were demonstrated in this study. Exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations (0.5 mg/L) of this humic substance led to the activation of the microsomal and soluble glutathione S‐transferase (GST) in Ceratophyllum demersum. Exposure to 3‐chlorobiphenyl showed also an elevation of GST activity, which is due to the proposed detoxication metabolism of these chlorinated biphenyl. Coexposure to a mixture of 3‐chlorobiphenyl and BS1 FA showed a reduction of enzyme elevation, but still significant over an untreated control. The direct impact of humic substances seems not to be restricted to a specific class of organisms.     

Do Acid-tolerant Cyanobacteria Exist?

Acidification of freshwater ecosystems changes phytoplankton biomass and reduces species composition. However, there are contradictory statements with respect to the occurrence of cyanobacteria below pH 4.5. Textbooks have not reported cyanobacteria in acid and very acid environments, whereas only a few papers on acidification of lakes through acid precipitation noted the occurrence of cyanobacteria in those environments. In a phytoplankton survey of 10 lakes in the Bavarian Forest as well as the lignite mining districts of Bavaria (Upper Palatine) and Lusatia, covering a pH gradient from 8.0 to 2.8, we demonstrate that acid-tolerant cyanobacteria do exist. Most strikingly, one of the most acid lakes (pH 2.9), Lichtenauer See (Lusatia), was inhabited by two populations of filamentous cyanobacteria, resembling Oscillatorial/Limnothrix and Spirulina spp. Eukaryotic phytoplankton was almost absent in this lake at the time. In contrast to filamentous cyanobacteria, picoplanktic ones were totally lacking where pH < 4.5. This indicates that members of coccal picoplanktic cyanobacteria and filamentous cyanobacteria have different acid tolerances. At present, it is not known how the acid-tolerant cyanobacteria described here maintain a strong transmembrane pH gradient.     

Induction of Metamorphosis in the Asian Shore Crab <Emphasis Type="Italic">Hemigrapsus sanguineus</Emphasis>: Effects of Biofilms and Substratum Texture

Since its initial invasion in the late 1980s, the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus has spread over 650 km along the Atlantic Coast of the United States. Larvae of this species can live in the water column for over 3 weeks, which provides ample time for transport to new locations. Previous research on the settlement and metamorphosis of H. sanguineus showed that postlarvae (megalopae) accelerate metamorphosis in response to very specific water-soluble cues. However, the response to substratum cues appears to be much broader. The experiments presented here were designed to test the metamorphic response to biofilms and substratum texture. We found that nylon mesh with pore size of 100 and 1,000 μm had a greater effect on mean time to metamorphosis than 10 and 2,000 μm mesh. Results also showed a positive response to natural rock substrata, and this response was most pronounced when megalopae were exposed to substrata with rough texture. In addition, we found that a combination of a textured surface and a natural biofilm accelerated metamorphosis more than either an abiotic substratum or a smooth surface covered with natural biofilm. A final experiment compared the effect of textural cues to that of a water-soluble cue found in exudate from adult H. sanguineus. Results indicated that both types of cue-induced metamorphosis to the same extent.     

Observation of a Complex Solar Wind Reconnection Exhaust from Spacecraft Separated by over 1800 R E

We analyze Wind, ACE, and STEREO (ST-A and ST-B) plasma and magnetic field data in the vicinity of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) crossed by all spacecraft between 22:15 UT on 31 March and 01:25 UT on 1 April 2007 corresponding to its observation at ST-A and ST-B, which were separated by over 1800 R _E (or over 1200 R _E across the Sun?–?Earth line). Although only Wind and ACE provided good ion flow data in accord with a solar wind magnetic reconnection exhaust at the HCS, the magnetic field bifurcation typical of such exhausts was clearly observed at all spacecraft. They also all observed unambiguous strahl mixing within the exhaust, consistent with the sunward flow deflection observed at Wind and ACE and thus with the formation of closed magnetic field lines within the exhaust with both ends attached to the Sun. The strong dawnward flow deflection in the exhaust is consistent with the exhaust and X-line orientations obtained from minimum variance analysis at each spacecraft so that the X-line is almost along the GSE Z-axis and duskward of all the spacecraft. The observation of strahl mixing in extended and intermittent layers outside the exhaust by ST-A and ST-B is consistent with the formation of electron separatrix layers surrounding the exhaust. This event also provides further evidence that balanced parallel and antiparallel suprathermal electron fluxes are not a necessary condition for identification of closed field lines in the solar wind. In the present case the origin of the imbalance simply is the mixing of strahls of substantially different strengths from a different solar source each side of the HCS. The inferred exhaust orientations and distances of each spacecraft relative to the X-line show that the exhaust was likely nonplanar, following the Parker spiral orientation. Finally, the separatrix layers and exhausts properties at each spacecraft suggest that the magnetic reconnection X-line location and/or reconnection rate were variable in both space and time at such large scales.

     

Mimetic Finite Difference Methods for Diffusion Equations

This paper reviews and extends the theory and application of mimetic finite difference methods for the solution of diffusion problems in strongly heterogeneous anisotropic materials. These difference operators satisfy the fundamental identities, conservation laws and theorems of vector and tensor calculus on nonorthogonal, nonsmooth, structured and unstructured computational grids. We provide explicit approximations for equations in two dimensions with discontinuous anisotropic diffusion tensors. We mention the similarities and differences between the new methods and mixed finite element or hybrid mixed finite element methods.