Intra-annual variability in nutrients in the Godavari estuary,India

Daily variations in nutrients were monitored for 15 months (September 2007–November 2008) in the Godavari estuary, Andhra Pradesh, India, at two fixed locations. River discharge has significant influence on nutrients loading to the estuary, which peaks during June–August (peak discharge period; monsoon) whereas exchanges at the sediment–water interface, groundwater and rainwater contribute significantly during other period. Despite significant amount of nutrients brought by discharge to the study region, phytoplankton biomass, in terms of chlorophyll-a (Chl a), did not increase significantly due to high suspended load and shallow photic depth. Nutrients showed downward gradient towards downstream of the estuary from upstream due to dilution by nutrient poor seawater and biological uptake. The N:P ratios were higher than Redfield ratio in both upstream and downstream of the estuary during no discharge period suggesting PO₄ to be a limiting nutrient for phytoplankton production, at levels <0.10 μmol L⁻¹. On the other hand, Si:N ratios were always more than unity during entire study period at both the stations indicating that Si(OH)₄ is not a limiting nutrient. Our results suggest that suspended matter limits phytoplankton biomass during peak discharge period whereas PO₄ during no discharge period.     

低氧化还原电位对铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa)生长的抑制及恢复的影响

在实验室光照黑暗交替培养下,用半胱氨酸下调黑暗起始时的氧化还原电位(ORP),研究低电位对铜绿微囊藻(Microcystis aeruginosa FACHB 469)生长的影响,并探索低电位胁迫消除后铜绿微囊藻生长的恢复潜力.结果表明,在-50～-100 mV范围内水体ORP越低,其对铜绿微囊藻生长的抑制作用越强.低ORP可抑制铜绿微囊藻对磷的吸收,且这种抑制程度与电位变化无关.-50～-75 mV的电位对铜绿微囊藻SOD酶活性有促进作用,而-90～-100 mV电位明显抑制SOD酶活.当低ORP胁迫消除后,铜绿微囊藻能够恢复至最初的生长状态,同时伴随含磷量的提高和SOD酶活的恢复,-50～-75 mV电位胁迫对藻消除胁迫后的生长更有促进作用.因此,低ORP对铜绿微囊藻的生长会产生不利影响,但是该影响是可逆的.     

淹水环境中芦苇幼苗对两种底质的生理响应及其恢复状况

探讨湿地植物对淹水的响应及其恢复生长状况对于湖泊湿地的修复具有重要意义.以芦苇(Phragmites commu-nis)为对象,研究其在湖泊沉积物(LS)和农田土壤(AS)两种底质上完全淹水一个月内每隔5 d其叶片相对叶绿素含量(rChlc)、丙二醛含量(MDA)和叶绿素荧光特性的变化,并分别于淹水后的10、20和30 d对其恢复状况进行研究.结果表明:缓苗期间生长于LS上芦苇的rChlc和叶绿素荧光特性均高于生长于AS上的,淹水后rChlc逐渐下降,20 d后下降趋势更加明显,30 d时LS和AS上芦苇叶片的rChlc分别下降了40.82%和39.49%,MDA则逐渐升高,且生长于AS上的要高于LS上的;叶绿素荧光参数Fv/Fm和Y也均逐渐下降,且总体上与rChlc的变化呈显著正相关;LS上芦苇叶片的快速光响应曲线(RLCs)在淹水后缓慢下降,至25 d后下降明显,而AS上的则在15 d后即显著下降.淹水胁迫解除后,两种底质上芦苇的rChlc和叶绿素荧光特性均逐渐升高,总体上AS上芦苇的增幅大于LS上的,但LS上的各指标仍大于AS上的,而MDA逐渐下降,同样AS上的降幅要大于LS上的;随着淹水时间的延长,芦苇恢复到正常生长状态的时间有所增加,淹水30 d的芦苇叶片凋落并萌发出新叶和新的植株,同时LS上芦苇的恢复时间要短于AS上的.可见,淹水抑制了幼苗期芦苇的生长,且随着时间的延长其抑制程度逐渐加重;淹水时间短时芦苇能较快地恢复生长,淹水时间长时则需要长出新叶和萌发出新的植株来适应生长,同时营养状况良好的底质在增加芦苇耐淹性及加快其淹水后的恢复生长方面具有一定的积极意义.     

Upscaling site‐scale ecohydraulic models to inform salmonid population‐level life cycle modeling and restoration actions – Lessons from the Columbia River Basin

With high‐resolution topography and imagery in fluvial environments, the potential to quantify physical fish habitat at the reach scale has never been better. Increased availability of hydraulic, temperature and food availability data and models have given rise to a host of species and life stage specific ecohydraulic fish habitat models ranging from simple, empirical habitat suitability curve driven models, to fuzzy inference systems to fully mechanistic bioenergetic models. However, few examples exist where such information has been upscaled appropriately to evaluate entire fish populations. We present a framework for applying such ecohydraulic models from over 905 sites in 12 sub‐watersheds of the Columbia River Basin (USA), to assess status and trends in anadromous salmon populations. We automated the simulation of computational engines to drive the hydraulics, and subsequent ecohydraulic models using cloud computing for over 2075 visits from 2011 to 2015 at 905 sites. We also characterize each site's geomorphic reach type, habitat condition, geomorphic unit assemblage, primary production potential and thermal regime. We then independently produce drainage network‐scale models to estimate these same parameters from coarser, remotely sensed data available across entire populations within the Columbia River Basin. These variables give us a basis for imputation of reach‐scale capacity estimates across drainage networks. Combining capacity estimates with survival estimates from mark–recapture monitoring allows a more robust quantification of capacity for freshwater life stages (i.e. adult spawning, juvenile rearing) of the anadromous life cycle. We use these data to drive life cycle models of populations, which not only include the freshwater life stages but also the marine and migration life stages through the hydropower system. More fundamentally, we can begin to look at more realistic, spatially explicit, tributary habitat restoration scenarios to examine whether the enormous financial investment on such restoration actions can help recover these populations or prevent their extinction. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Salt pollution of the middle and lower sections of the river Werra (Germany) and its impact on benthic macroinvertebrates

In two survey phases (2003 and 2008) organic, nutrient and salt contamination parameters have been investigated in the lower Werra in order to estimate the importance of these different kinds of pollution for the quality component of macroinvertebrates according to the European Water Framework Directive. The chemical and biological investigations have been carried out comparing a “reference” section without salt contamination with the salt contaminated section due to the potash mining industry from Vacha to Hannoversch Münden close to the mouth of the Werra. The results show that the drastic differences between the macroinvertebrate assemblages of the Werra upstream and downstream the salt contaminated sections are clearly caused by the salt load. The other kinds of chemical impacts are not responsible for the observed fundamental change within the composition of the benthic invertebrate assemblage. General degradation of stream morphology, indicated by macroinvertebrates, shows a good ecological status for the non-salt-contaminated part of the river and a bad status for the salt contaminated sites of the lower Werra.     

Reservoir lifetime and heat recovery factor in geothermal aquifers used for urban heating

Simple models are discussed to evaluate reservoir lifetime and heat recovery factor in geothermal aquifers used for urban heating. By comparing various single well and doublet production schemes, it is shown that reinjection of heat depleted water greatly enhances heat recovery and reservoir lifetime, and can be optimized for maximum heat production. It is concluded that geothermal aquifer production should be unitized, as is already done in oil and gas reservoirs.Nomenclature a distance between doublets in multi-doublet patterns, meters - A area of aquifer at base temperature, m² drainage area of individual doublets in multidoublet patterns, m² - D distance between doublet wells, meters - h aquifer thickness, meters - H water head, meters - Q production rate, m³/sec. - r _e aquifer radius, meters - r _w well radius, meters - R _g heat recovery factor, fraction - S water level drawdown, meters - t producing time, sec. - T aquifer transmissivity, m²/sec. - v stream-channel water velocity, m/sec. - actual temperature change, °C - theoretical temperature change, °C - water temperature, °C - heat conductivity, W/m/°C - _r rock heat conductivity, W/m/°C - _aC_a aquifer heat capacity, J/m³/°C - _aC_r rock heat capacity, J/m³/°C - _WC_W water heat capacity, J/m³/°C - aquifer porosity, fraction     

Quantitative aspects of inorganic nutrient fluxes in the Gazi Bay (Kenya): implications for coastal ecosystems

Fluxes of dissolved inorganic nutrients: NH4+, NO2-, NO3-, PO4(3-) and Si(OH)4 from nearshore sediments of Gazi Bay were measured in situ within mangrove, seagrass and coral reef biotopes using benthic flux bell-jar chambers of cross-sectional area 0.066 m2 and volume 0.0132 m3. The objectives were: (1) to determine the influence of benthic fluxes, fluvial discharge and seasonal variations on the nutrient budget in the Bay waters; (2) to determine the effect of tidal and spatial variations on nutrient loads in the water column and (3) to establish the relative importance of the nutrient sources with regard to total community production of the Bay. The directly measured fluxes ranged from -270 to +148 micromol NH4+-N/m2/h; -60 to +63 micromol NO2(-)-N/m2/h; -79 to +41 micromol NO3(-)-N/m2/h; -79 to +75 micromol PO4(3-)-P/m2/h and +30 to +350 micromol Si(OH)4-Si/m2/h for and respectively. It was established that benthic fluxes are the major sources of dissolved inorganic NH4+, NO2- and Si(OH)4 while fluvial sources are important for NO3- and PO4(3-) into Gazi Bay waters. Seasonal variations had an appreciable effect on the PO4(3-) fluxes, N:Si ratio, river nutrient discharge, plankton productivity and important environmental factors such as salinity and temperature. Tidal and spatial variations had no significant effect on nutrient concentrations and net fluxes within the water column. The results imply that benthic fluxes are largely responsible for the nutrient dynamics of the nearshore coastal ecosystems especially where direct terrestrial inputs do not contribute significantly to the nutrient budget.     

The South China Sea warm-core ring 94S and its influence on the distribution of chemical tracers

 In this paper, the distributions of currents and chemical tracers were studied along two hydrographic sections across ring 94S, a warm-core ring found in the South China Sea. Results suggest that while currents on its offshore side maintained quasigeostrophic balance, such a balance was not reached on its onshore side. Therefore, it is suggested that interactions of ring 94S with the slope may play an important role: it may break down the quasigeostrophic balance and cause a deformation of the current field. The observed distribution of δ¹⁸O supports the hypothesis that water masses inside the ring originate from the Kuroshio. Distributions of chemical tracers reveal a strong vertical disturbance of the isolines at the edge of ring 94S, where it approaches the shelf. This phenomenon may play an important role in the vertical exchange of biochemical elements across the thermocline. Possible reasons, i.e., enhanced vertical mixing and upwelling, are discussed. Received: 16 May 2001 / Accepted: 5 November 2001