The effects of wastewater discharges on the functioning of a small temporarily open/closed estuary

Wastewater discharges affect the functioning of small temporarily open/closed estuaries (TOCEs) through two main mechanisms: (1) they can significantly change the water balance by altering the quantity of water inflows, and (2) they can significantly change the nutrient balance and hence the water quality. This study investigated the bio-physical responses of a typical, small TOCE on the east coast of South Africa, the Mhlanga Estuary. This estuary receives significant inflows of treated effluent from upstream wastewater treatment works. Water and nutrient budgets were used together with biological sampling to investigate changes in the functioning of the system. The increase in inflows due to the effluent discharges has significantly increased the mouth breaching frequency. Furthermore, when the mouth closes, the accumulation of nutrients leads to eutrophication and algal blooms. A grey water index, namely the proportion of effluent in the estuary and an indicator of the additional nutrient inputs into the estuary, reached high values (?50%) during low flow regimes and when the mouth was closed. In these hyper-eutrophic conditions (DIN and DIP concentrations up to 457 μM and 100 μM respectively), field measurements showed that algal blooms occurred within about 14 days following closure of the mouth (chlorophyll-a concentrations up to 375 mg chl-a m⁻³). Water and nutrient balance simulations for alternative scenarios suggest that further increases in wastewater discharges would result in more frequent breaching events and longer open mouth conditions, but the occurrence of hyper-eutrophic conditions would initially intensify despite more frequent openings. The study indicates how water and nutrient balance simulations can be used in the planning and impact assessment of wastewater treatment facilities.     

海洋生物固氮作用研究进展

近年来,海洋生物固氮作用研究已成为海洋氮循环研究热点之一,因为它补充了海洋中的结合态氮,影响着海洋氮储库的收支平衡,进而调控海洋的初级生产力,并因此与海洋颗粒有机碳的迁出以及海洋对大气CO2的吸收密切相关.海洋生物固氮作用的研究主要是在近30a开展起来的,现有观点认为全球海洋生物固氮速率为100～200 Tg/a.15↑N2示踪法和乙炔还原法是最重要的生物固氮速率实测方法,而硝酸盐异常指数法、15↑N同位素收支平衡法、卫星遥测法等则是重要的间接估测方法.束毛藻曾被认为是全球海洋最重要的固氮生物,但近年来也发现了固氮生物在微微（pi-co）级和微（nano）级的分布,表明以往基于束毛藻的固氮速率可能是被低估的.海洋生物固氮作用营养盐限制的研究主要集中在铁和磷这2个元素的作用,但目前尚无定论.在中国边缘海生物固氮作用的研究还很匮乏,少数研究表明除黑潮区外,由束毛藻所支持的固氮速率并不高.就海洋固氮作用研究的未来发展,指出今后必须在更大时空尺度上开展海洋生物固氮作用研究,以弥补现有实测数据的不足,并获取固氮微生物种类组成的准确信息,在确定海洋生物固氮作用控制因素的同时,追踪新固定氮的流向,进而为海洋氮循环提供准确信息.     

Stream nitrate uptake and transient storage over a gradient of geomorphic complexity,north‐central Colorado,USA

The understanding of nutrient uptake in streams is impeded by a limited understanding of how geomorphic setting and flow regime interact with biogeochemical processing. This study investigated these interactions as they relate to transient storage and nitrate uptake in small agricultural and urban streams. Sites were selected across a gradient of channel conditions and management modifications and included three 180‐m long geomorphically distinct reaches on each of two streams in north‐central Colorado. The agricultural stream has been subject to historically variable cattle‐grazing practices, and the urban stream exhibits various levels of stabilisation and planform alteration. Reach‐scale geomorphic complexity was characterised using highly detailed surveys of channel morphology, substrate, hydraulics and habitat units. Breakthrough‐curve modelling of conservative bromide (Br^?) and nonconservative nitrate (NO₃^?) tracer injections characterised transient storage and nitrate uptake along each reach. Longitudinal roughness and flow depth were positively associated with transient storage, which was related to nitrate uptake, thus underscoring the importance of geomorphic influences on stream biogeochemical processes. In addition, changes in geomorphic characteristics due to temporal discharge variation led to complex responses in nitrate uptake. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Phosphorus and nitrogen limitation of algal biomass across trophic gradients

Regression results based on data from 46 northern temperate lakes show that total phosphorus (TP) is the best predictor for phytoplankton (as chl-a) at lower trophic levels, TP < 200 mg · m^–3. A regression including both TP and TN as regressors is the best predictor for lakes with TP > 200 mg · m^–3. However, the good correlation is probably due to a high correlation between lake average chl-a (all years observed) and lake average TP and TN. Within single hypereutrophic lakes, TN alone is the best predictor. It was not possible to identify a medium trophic domain where TN and TP in combination was the best predictor for chl-a. The ratio TN:TP in the water decreases from about 40 to about 5 with increasing trophic level. Optimum TN:TP ratio for algal species with high abundance during late summer and autumn reflects this decreasing ratio, but within a lesser range, i.e., 20 to 5. In contrast, TN:TP ratios for species abundant during the early vernal period showed no, or an inverse, relation to the TN:TP ratio of the water.     

川西南干热河谷赤按人工林生物量和营养元素含量

用林木生物量回归方程，求得川西南干热河谷五年生赤桉纯林中乔木层生物量１３１３３．９ｋｇ／ｈａ（年平均生长量８０７９．７ｋｇ／ｈａ），草本层生物量５５２．０ｋｇ／ｈａ（枯落物现存量５９１．６ｋｇ／ｈａ）；赤桉与山毛豆混交林林分生物量２７１８６．９ｋｇ／ｈａ，其中赤桉生物量１６４９４．３ｋｇ／ｈａ（年平均生长量６６２０．２ｋｇ／ｈａ），灌木层生物量１０３６３．６ｋｇ／ｈａ，草本层生物量３２９．０ｋｇ／ｈａ（枯落物现存量１２６４．３ｋｇ／ｈａ）．混交林中赤桉生长好于纯林中赤桉的生长。林分营养元素含量不同植物差别很大，同种植物各器官也有所差别．各器官中营养元素含量顺序一般为：ｃａ＞Ｎ＞Ｍｇ＞Ｋ＞Ｐ，Ｐ是林地土壤缺乏的元素。     

Study on the nutrient evolution and its controlling factors of Longgan Lake for the last 200 years

Based on the total phosphorous (TP) concentration in sediment core, the TP concentration in lake water quantitatively reconstructed from fossil diatoms and diatom-TP transfer function in the Longgan Lake during the last 200 years, the temperature and precipitation data from meteorological observation for the last 50 years, the temperatures and precipitation sequences of climate simulation for the last 200 years, as well as the amount of the agricultural phosphate fertilizer in Longgan area for nearly 50 years, the characteristic and the law of the nutrient status evolution were analyzed, and the influence of the climatic factor, the anthropologic factor and the aquatic biology factor on the nutrient status evolution and its mechanism were discussed for the Longgan Lake during the last 200 years. The results showed that, in the nearly 200 years, the TP concentration in the sediment core of the Longgan Lake gradually increased, its range of variation was situated between 330-580 mg/kg, the mean value was 388 mg/kg, a nearly 30-year vibration adjustment period existed at 1950 around. The TP concentration in lake water changed in a different way. Before 1950, it had a slow increasing tendency in fluctuated background, to 1950 around it reached up to the mean value (52.18μg/L), and vibrated and adjusted around the mean value, then it fast declined, its change range was situated between 37.75-62.33μg/L. The analyses indicated that, in the centennial time scale, the climate change was the main controlling factor, while in the decadal time scale in the recent 50 years, human activities were the leading factors for the nutrient status evolution of the Longgan Lake. 60% of the variability of the TP concentration in the sediments and 57% of that in lake water were due to human activities. The differentiation between phosphorus concentration in the sediment and in the lake water reflected the response processes and the adjustment abilities of the lake aquatic ecosystems to the lake nutrient level, implying the maintenance and the destruction of the balances between the algae and the aquatic plants, as well as the corresponding accumulating characteristics of the phosphorus.     

Benthic nutrient recycling in shallow coastal waters of the Bohai Sea

Sediment-water fluxes of N and P species in the Bohai Sea were investigated in September-October 1998 and April-May 1999. The benthic fluxes of nutrient species were determined by incubating sediment core samples with bottom seawater bubbled with air or nitrogen. NO^-2,NH4, dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) and phosphorus (DOP), total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) and phosphorus (TDP), and PO4^3- showed a net exchange flux from seawater to sediment, while NO^-3, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and SiO3^2- were released from sediment to seawater in the Bohai Sea. Sediment-water nutrient exchange increases DIN and reduces the phosphorus load in the Bohai Sea. The release of silicate from sediment to overlying seawater reduces potential silicate limitation of primary production resulted from decrease of riverine discharge.The exchange flux of nutrients showed no obvious seasonal variation. The present study showed that the concentrations and composition of nutrients in the water column were affected by suspended sediment, and that not all the exchangeable phosphate in sediment could be released via sediment resuspension.     

未来黄、东海营养盐浓度变化情景预测

本文基于FGOALS(Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model)对未来气候情景的预测结果,结合千年生态评估的未来两个情景下的河流营养盐载荷特征,利用黄、东海水动力模型和生态模型并采用降尺度的方法对未来黄、东海营养盐的分布特征进行情景预测。结果表明,两个情景下未来河口邻近海区营养盐浓度将显著增加,富营养化加剧;GO(Global Orchestration)情景下,河流无机氮载荷增幅较大,夏季黄海中部无机氮浓度明显升高;AM(Adapting mosaic)情景下,由于河流无机磷载荷增幅较大,海区氮磷比有所下降,夏季黄海中部表层无机氮浓度降低,而在底层升高。通过敏感性实验并结合收支分析对各海区水动力条件未来变化、河流载荷变化的相对贡献进行了评估:相对于水温和水动力环境改变,河流营养盐排放量的增长是未来营养盐浓度增加的主要原因。营养盐收支分析表明,未来对流和混合输运的变化有助于黄海营养盐浓度的增加,夏季生物量升高造成更多碎屑沉降并在底层矿化使得层化季节冷水团底部营养盐浓度增长;长江口邻近海区营养盐浓度增长主要受冲淡水羽流的影响;净初级生产增加加剧了营养盐的消耗。     

加拿大海盆北部营养盐限制作用研究

利用2008年夏季中国第三次北极科学考察获得的营养盐、叶绿素a、温度和盐度等数据资料,结合现场营养盐添加实验的结果讨论西北冰洋加拿大海盆北部营养盐对浮游植物生长的限制作用。结果表明:由于融冰水稀释作用,加拿大海盆B80站约20m深度存在较强的盐跃层,阻碍了水体上下混合。较低浓度的溶解无机氮(DIN)和硅酸盐(分别为0.31μmol/L和0.94μmol/L)以及严重偏离Redfield比值的N/P、N/Si比值(分别为0.42和0.32)表明加拿大海盆表层水体存在N和Si限制。根据现场营养盐加富实验各培养组叶绿素a浓度变化、营养盐吸收总量差异和浮游植物种群结构,进一步表明氮是北冰洋海盆首要限制营养盐,而Si则抑制了硅质生物的生长。同时,较小的硝酸盐半饱和常数(Ks)证明即使在营养盐充足的情况下北冰洋海盆浮游植物生长速率也处于较低水平。计算得到各培养组营养盐吸收比例(N/P比值)均大于Redfield比值,可能是培养实验过程中以微型、微微型浮游植物为主,硅藻等小型浮游植物为辅造成的。