Phytopigments and fatty acids in the gut of the deposit-feeding heart urchin Echinocardium cordatum in the southern North Sea: Selective feeding and its contribution to the benthic carbon budget

As part of a broader study on benthic-pelagic coupling in the southern North Sea, specimens of the common heart urchin Echinocardium cordatum were sampled for analyses on phytopigments and fatty acids in their guts. Results were interpreted in the context of feeding and ecological functioning of the heart urchins in the benthic system. Ingestion selection factors for both component groups were relatively high, 5 to 9 for chlorophyll a and 9 to 130 for total fatty acids. The data point to at least partially different sources of the pigments and of the fatty acids. Next to algal detritus, small infauna relatively rich in fatty acids might be preferentially co-ingested with the detritus. Due to digestive breakdown and absorption, the concentrations of pigments and fatty acids were importantly decreased, indicating a rather high digestion efficiency for this subsurface deposit feeder, up to 80%. The results indicate that E. cordatum increases its energy acquisition by strong selectivity and a high digestive efficiency. Optimal foraging is likely to apply on deposit-feeding invertebrates in relatively food-rich coastal environments as much as it does in the food-poor deep-sea environment. Using chlorophyll a as a proxy for carbon, the contribution of the urchin population to the momentary benthic carbon budget was calculated at 7% to 42%.     

Nitrogen concentration within Saxifraga oppositifolia in different successional stages on a glacier foreland in the high Arctic

We measured and compared the δ¹³C values and nitrogen concentrations within the photosynthetic parts (Np) of phototrophs growing in different successional stages and different soil conditions at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway. At all study sites, the Np value of vascular plants ranged from 1.0 to 2.2%. The Np value for most moss species was less than 1.0%; values for lichens were about 0.5%. No significant correlation was detected between Np and δ¹³C; however, different plant species occupied distinct fields on a δ¹³C–Np plot, with minimal overlap between species. The Np value of Saxifraga oppositifolia, which grew at all of the study sites, ranged from 1.1 to 1.5%. Differences in growth form had no effect on Np. The Np and δ¹³C values obtained for S. oppositifolia were confined to within a narrow range regardless of site conditions.     

Impacts of the wintertime mesozooplankton community to downward carbon flux in the subarctic and subtropical Pacific Oceans

We compared wintertime depth distributions of the mesozooplankton community and dominant copepods between the subtropical (S1) and subarctic (K2) Pacific Oceans to evaluate the relative importance of actively transported carbon by vertical migrants to sinking particulate organic carbon flux. Primary production was higher and the ratio of sinking particulate organic carbon flux to primary production was lower at S1 compared with those at K2. The mesozooplankton community was lower in abundance and biomass at S1 compared to K2. Copepods were the dominant group among both mesozooplankton abundance and biomass throughout the water column down to 1000 m at both sites. The depth distribution showed that diel vertical migration was obvious for the mesozooplankton abundance and biomass at S1 but was not apparent for the abundance at K2, because the dominant component was diurnally migrating species at S1 and overwintering species residing at mesopelagic depths at K2. The major components of diel migrants were copepods and euphausiids at S1 and only euphausiids at K2. Respiratory flux by the diurnally migrating mesozooplankton was estimated to be 2 mgC m⁻² day⁻¹ at S1 and 7 mgC m⁻² day⁻¹ at K2. The respiratory flux was equivalent to 131% of sedimentary fecal pellet flux at S1 and 136% of that at K2. Because pathways of downward carbon flux are facilitated by the mesozooplankton community, the actively transported carbon (respiration of dissolved inorganic carbon, excretion of dissolved organic carbon and egestion of fecal pellets at depth) might be larger during winter than the flux of sinking fecal pellets.     

Global warming: a review of this mostly settled issue

Global warming and attendant climate change have been controversial for at least a decade. This is largely because of its societal implications since the science is largely straightforward. With the recent publication of the Fourth Assessment Report of the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Working Group 1) there has been renewed interest and controversy about how certain the scientific community is of its conclusions: that humans are influencing the climate and that global temperatures will continue to rise rapidly in this century. This review attempts to update what is known and in particular what advances have been made in the past 5 years or so. It does not attempt to be comprehensive. Rather it focuses on the most controversial issues, which are actually few in number. They are:

• Is the surface temperature record accurate or is it biased by heat from cities, etc.?
• Is that record significantly different from past warmings such as the Medieval Warming Period?
• Are human greenhouse gases changing the climate more than the sun?
• Can we model climate and predict its future, or is it just too complex and chaotic?
• Are there any other changes in climate other than warming, and can they be attributed to the warming?

Finally there is a very brief discussion of the societal policy response to the scientific message. Note that much of the introductory material in each section is essentially the same as that which appears in Keller 2003 (hereafter referred to as OR = original review) and its update (Keller 2007). Despite continued uncertainties, the review finds an affirmative answer to these questions. Of particular interest are advances that seem to explain why satellites do not see as much warming as surface instruments, how we are getting a good idea of recent paleo-climates, and why the twentieth century temperature record was so complex. It makes the point that in each area new information could come to light that would change our thinking on the quantitative magnitude and timing of anthropogenic warming, but it is unlikely to alter the basic conclusions.     

Changes in sediment and organic carbon accumulation in a highly-disturbed ecosystem: The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (California, USA)

We used the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta CA (Delta, hereafter) as a model system for understanding how human activities influence the delivery of sediment and total organic carbon (TOC) over the past 50–60 years. Sediment cores were collected from sites within the Delta representing the Sacramento River (SAC), the San Joaquin River (SJR), and Franks Tract (FT), a flooded agricultural tract. A variety of anthropogenic tracers including ¹³⁷Cs, total DDE (∑DDE) and brominated diphenyl ether (BDE) congeners were used to quantify sediment accumulation rates. This information was combined with total organic carbon (TOC) profiles to quantify rates of TOC accumulation. Across the three sites, sediment and TOC accumulation rates were four to eight-fold higher prior to 1972. Changes in sediment and TOC accumulation were coincident with completion of several large reservoirs and increased agriculture and urbanization in the Delta watershed. Radiocarbon content of TOC indicated that much of the carbon delivered to the Delta is “pre-aged” reflecting processing in the Delta watershed or during transport to the sites rather than an input of predominantly contemporary carbon (e.g., 900–1400 years BP in surface sediments and 2200 yrs BP and 3610 yrs BP at the base of the SJR and FT cores, respectively). Together, these data suggest that human activities have altered the amount and age of TOC accumulating in the Delta since the 1940s.     

中国农田耕层土壤有机碳变化特征及控制因素

通过收集我国1980~2006年以来966个样点农田耕层土壤有机碳的实测数据,以及各样点的气温和降水数据,分析中国农田土壤有机碳变化特征,对变化的原因和发展趋势进行了探讨,对比分析了气温与降水对水稻土与旱作土固碳能力的差异,以及气温和降水对不同区域土壤有机碳的影响。结果表明:总体上我国实测点耕作表层土壤有机碳呈上升趋势,79%增幅样本主要集中在年增幅为0~3%的区间。农田土壤有机碳的含量受制于气温与降水,及水热条件的组合。20年来,全国农田土壤耕层有机碳含量的分布格局没变。农田土壤有机碳的变化,主要受人类活动的影响。土地利用方式对土壤固碳差异明显,水稻土有机碳水平明显高于旱地,水田耕层有机碳含量为旱地耕层有机碳含量的175~176%。     

基于城市功能分区的碳收支平衡时空分异研究

研究城市主导功能影响下区域碳平衡时空分异,有助于理解城市功能格局与碳循环过程之间的作用机制。本研究以厦门市6个区为例,采用各区历史统计数据以及卫星影像处理的土地利用数据,通过构建简化的区域碳收支计算模型,核算各行政区不同历史时期的碳平衡,结果表明：厦门市整体上呈现碳收支失衡逐渐加剧的趋势,2003年CO₂排放量是吸收量的1.91倍,2013年增长至7.44倍;各区碳代谢以及碳平衡表现出不同的时空分异特征。结合厦门市城市建设总体规划中制订的主导功能分类,阐明主导功能影响下时空分异的社会经济、自然景观等驱动因素对城市碳平衡时空变化的影响机制与过程。在此基础上针对各区不同的碳平衡状况,制订适应各自主导功能的减排以及碳补偿政策。研究有助于直接服务城市的规划和建设实践,从城市生态服务角度指导建设规划,合理城市功能分区。     

世界油气储层二氧化碳埋存量计算研究

二氧化碳减排问题备受世界瞩目,由于温室气体大量排放而引起的全球气候变暖问题日趋严峻,必须采取积极有效措施.应用CO2提高采收率是埋存CO2的重要途径,CO2提高采收率项目分为混相驱油和非混相驱油,CO2的埋存量决定于储层的性质和提高的采收率数值.通过对二氧化碳埋存计算方法的研究,实现CO2埋存和提高原油产量最大化,改善开发效果.必将为全球生态保护,石油资源的高水平、高效益开发和可持续发展提供理论及实践依据.     

岩溶关键带及其碳循环研究进展

岩溶关键带的范畴包含了大气-(降水)-植被-土壤-裂隙-基岩-水组成的“碳-水-钙”循环强烈的表层岩溶带以及岩溶管道-洞穴-地下河-隔水层组成的巨大岩溶地下空间,岩溶关键带碳循环是岩溶地球系统科学研究的前沿方向。总结概括了岩溶地球系统科学发展至今的岩溶关键带范畴内碳循环及其对大气CO2源汇效应的研究成果,包括早期碳运移模型、当前主流的区域岩溶碳汇量的计算方法和结果以及“生物碳泵”的新发现等,讨论了当前岩溶碳循环研究框架过于单一或不一致以及碳周转时间尺度等问题,提出应对岩溶关键带碳输入、赋存以及碳输出的各个环节做出系统化监测,通过联网在线高分辨率监测站点的建设以及“3S”技术实现点位到区域的研究,使岩溶碳汇在全球碳循环模型中的重要性更具说服力。