Ecophysiological characteristics of invasive Spartina alterniflora and native species in salt marshes of Yangtze River estuary,China

Biological invasions represent one of the significant components of global change. A comparative study of invaders and co-occurring natives is a useful approach to gaining insights into the invasiveness of exotic plants. Spartina alterniflora, a C₄ grass, is a widespread invader in the coastal wetlands in China and other regions of the world. We conducted a comparative study of S. alterniflora and native C₃ species, Phragmites australis and Scirpus mariqueter, in terms of their gas exchange and efficiencies in resource utilization. We tested the hypothesis that S. alterniflora has growth-related ecophysiological advantages over the natives in its non-native range, which result in its rapid growth and enhance its invasiveness. Photosynthesis, leaf area index (LAI), specific leaf area (SLA), and the efficiency of resource use (light, water, and nitrogen) were examined monthly for eight months in 2004. Overall, S. alterniflora had greater LAI, higher maximal net photosynthetic rate (A_max), and longer growing season than those of the native species. On average, the efficiencies of S. alterniflora in light, water, and nitrogen utilization were respectively 10.1%, 26.1%, and 33.1% higher than those of P. australis, and respectively 70.3%, 53.5%, 28.3% higher than those of S. mariqueter. However, SLA of S. alterniflora was significantly lower than those of P. australis and S. mariqueter. Although there was no general pattern in the relationship between invasiveness and plant photosynthetic types, in this study, most of the ecophysiological characteristics that gave S. alterniflora a competitive advantage in the Yangtze River estuary were associated with photosynthetic pathways. Our results offer a greater understanding of the relationship between invasiveness and plant photosynthetic type. Our results also indicate that LAI and the length of the photosynthetic season, which vary with habitats, are also important in invasion success.     

Impact of dynamic feedbacks between sedimentation,sea-level rise,and biomass production on near-surface marsh stratigraphy and carbon accumulation

Salt marshes accrete both organic and inorganic sediments. Here we present analytical and numerical models of salt marsh sedimentation that, in addition to capturing inorganic processes, explicitly account for above- and belowground organic processes including root growth and decay of organic carbon. The analytical model is used to examine the bias introduced by organic processes into proxy records of sedimentation, namely ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb. We find that accretion rates estimated using ²¹⁰Pb will be less than accretion rates estimated using the ¹³⁷Cs peak in steadily accreting marshes if (1) carbon decay is significant and (2) data for ²¹⁰Pb extend below the ¹³⁷Cs peak. The numerical model expands upon the analytical model by including belowground processes such as compaction and root growth, and by explicitly tracking the evolution of aboveground biomass and its effect on sedimentation rates. Using the numerical model we explore how marsh stratigraphy responds to sediment supply and the rate of sea-level rise. It is calibrated and tested using an extensive data set of both marsh stratigraphy and measurements of vegetation dynamics in a Spartina alterniflora marsh in South Carolina, USA. We find that carbon accumulation in marshes is nonlinearly related to both the supply of inorganic sediment and the rate of sea-level rise; carbon accumulation increases with sea-level rise until sea-level rise reaches a critical rate that drowns the marsh vegetation and halts carbon accumulation. The model predicts that changes in carbon storage resulting from changing sediment supply or sea-level rise are strongly dependent on the background sediment supply: if inorganic sediment supply is reduced in an already sediment poor marsh the storage of organic carbon will increase to a far greater extent than in a sediment-rich marsh, provided that the rate of sea-level rise does not exceed a threshold. These results imply that altering sediment supply to estuaries (e.g., by damming upstream rivers or altering littoral sediment transport) could lead to significant changes in the carbon budgets of coastal salt marshes.     

东濮凹陷沙三段盐岩成因及含盐地层层序划分

东濮凹陷沙三段高水位期沉积深灰色、暗色泥岩与少量重力流砂体,低水位期沉积盐岩、膏岩、低位三角洲与扇三角洲,从而形成纵向上深湖泥岩与蒸发岩、低位砂岩的频繁互层沉积。根据岩心资料、盐岩沉积序列特点及沙三段沉积期古气候和古环境特点,认为盐岩为浅水蒸发成因。深水相泥岩与浅水成因的盐岩频繁互层表明沙三段沉积期湖平面变化频繁。基于盐韵律特征划分准层序的方法,使得层序地层划分更为符合东濮凹陷含盐地层的实际情况。     

罗源湾海岸盐沼悬沙粒度及沉降速率的观测和分析

海岸盐沼对环境变化的响应非常敏感,是研究全球变化和人类活动对海岸带环境影响的典型区域之一。影响盐沼演化过程的一个非常重要的因素就是水体悬沙特性[1]。在沿岸水域环境中,有机和无机的细颗粒悬沙在物理和化学的作用下絮凝成大颗粒的絮凝体,其粒径和沉降速率通常是分散细颗粒悬沙的好几倍,因此絮凝过程基本上改变了细颗粒悬沙的水动力行为过程[2]。絮凝体因相对分散颗粒物有较高的沉降速率,水中的悬沙更容易沉降到滩面,控制着水体中的细颗粒物质的沉降通量[3]。     

The influence of the Sabatayn Evaporites on the hydrocarbon prospectivity of the Eastern Shabwa Basin, Onshore Yemen

The Shabwa Basin is the northeastern extension of the Marib-Al Jawf-Shabwa system of Mesozoic grabens, located onshore in the Republic of Yemen. An evaporitic sequence with an estimated maximum depositional thickness of 300 metres was deposited during the Tithonian. It is designated the Sabatayn Formation and exerts significant control on most of the play elements in the principal hydrocarbon play systems anticipated in the northeastern part of the basin. Migration of hydrocarbons from pre-salt source rocks into intra-and post-salt reservoirs is restricted by the evaporites. Localised heat flow perturbations introduced by the salt, increase the maturity of post-salt source rocks. Post and intra-salt reservoirs are structured by listric faulting on a salt detachment, salt pillowing due to post-depositional loading, by local salt dissolution and by late folding due to gravity sliding of the post-salt section on a salt detachment. Early dissolution and reprecipitation of salt is responsible for occlusion of porosity in intra-salt clastic reservoirs.     

LMWOA (low molecular weight organic acid) exudation by salt marsh plants: Natural variation and response to Cu contamination

This work aimed to evaluate, in vitro, the capability of roots of two salt marsh plants to release low molecular weight organic acids (LMWOAs) and to ascertain whether Cu contamination would stimulate or not organic acids exudation. The sea rush Juncus maritimus and the sea-club rush Scirpus maritimus, both from the lower Douro river estuary (NW Portugal), were used. Plants were collected seasonally, four times a year in 2004, during low tide. After sampling, plant roots were washed for removal of adherent particles and immersed for 2 h in a solution that matched salinity (3) and pH (7.5) of the pore water from the same location to obtain plant exudates. In one of the seasons, similar experiments were carried out but spiking the solution with different amounts of Cu in order to embrace the range between 0 and 1600 nM. In the final solutions as well as in sediment pore water LMWOAs were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Plants were able to release, in a short period of time, relatively high amounts of LMWOAs (oxalate, citrate, malate, malonate, and succinate). In the sediment pore water oxalate, succinate and acetate were also detected. Therefore, plant roots probably contributed to the presence of some of these organic compounds in pore water. Exudation differed between the plant species and also showed some seasonally variation, particularly for S. maritimus. The release of oxalate by J. maritimus increased with Cu increase in the media. However, exudation of the other LMWOAs did not seem to be stimulated by Cu contamination in the media. This fact is compatible with the existence of alternative internal mechanisms for Cu detoxification, as denoted by the fact that in media contaminated with Cu both plant species accumulated relatively high amounts (29–83%) of the initially dissolved Cu. This study expands our knowledge on the contribution of globally dominant salt marsh plants to the release of LMWOAs into the environment.     

围海造陆条件下排海高温浓盐水对渤海湾温盐场分布影响模拟及预测

自2000年以来围绕渤海湾的围海工程剧增,致使工程区附近潮流场发生变化,进而影响排海高温浓盐水的时空分布特征。本文通过建立2000年和2015年两种不同岸线、地形条件下的三维数学模型对渤海湾沿岸3个电厂高温浓盐水表层排海问题进行模拟,研究结果表明,渤海湾的潮流场和高温浓盐水输移扩散特征在近十几年发生了较大变化:工程后,渤海湾平均盐度增大0.203,平均温度升高了0.105℃,同时曹妃甸附近海域浓盐水输移扩散速度明显增加。增大排放口流量至12.7 m3/s,湾内最高温度为26.46℃,较2015年最高温度增加了2.72℃。本文模型可准确模拟及预测排海废水盐度、温度分布特征,为合理布置水电联产设备排放口的位置提供理论基础。     

Wind impact on pollutant transport in a shallow estuary

A three-dimensional numerical model, EFDC （ environmental fluid dynamics code） is applied to the Pamlico River Estuary （PRE） in eastern North Carolina of the United States to examine the wind impact on pollutant age distributions and residence time. A series of model experiments representing base case, remote-wind-induced water level set-up and local winds cases are conducted. Model results indicate that the pollutant mean age and the system residence time are functions of gravitational circulation in the PRE. The system responses to remote-wind-induced water level set-up are different in different portions of the PRE. Under such condition, dissolved substances in the upstream portion of the PRE have a younger age and shorter residence time （compared with the base case） , by contrast, they have a older age and longer residence time in the downstream portion of the PRE. Upriver and downriver local winds appear to have opposite impacts on pollutant age distributions. The substances are retained much longer within the PRE under upriver wind than those under downriver wind. The model results also suggest that across - river winds may lead to longer residence time through enhanced turbulence mixing, which slows down the gravitational circulation in the PRE.     

Assessing the extent of mangrove change caused by Cyclone Vance in the eastern Exmouth Gulf, northwestern Australia

Changes in mangal area were quantified in the eastern Exmouth Gulf over six years (1999–2004) after Cyclone Vance using Landsat TM satellite imagery and aerial photography. Vance was the strongest tropical cyclone ever to impact the Australian mainland before 2006 and produced wind gusts of more than 280 km h⁻¹. Image data were processed using ENVI™ and IDRISI™ software. Three sets of Landsat TM images from 1999 (a few days before the cyclone), 2002 and 2004 were used, along with 2004 digital aerial photography. A ‘common’ subset of 904 km² was selected from all images and classification was developed using ISODATA™ unsupervised classification to identify spectrally distinct areas followed by principal component analysis (PCA), vegetation indices and supervised classification. Some 12,800 ha of mangrove habitat was present before the cyclone and approximately 5700 ha (44%) was removed by it. Most mangroves lost (74%) between 1999 and 2004 were converted either to bare sediment or to live saltmarshes and this occurred mostly between 1999 and 2002. Five basic categories of damage were conspicuous from imagery and field observations, and evidence suggests that much of the loss was due to the longer term consequences of sediment deposition or smothering, rather than the immediate effects of wind or waves. Mangroves exhibited accelerated recovery between 2002 and 2004, and around 1580 ha regenerated during this time, amounting to a return of 68% of their former coverage. At this recovery rate we estimate that they should have returned to their pre-cyclone area by 2009. Over half of the saltmarsh habitats (54%) were removed by the cyclone (4060 ha) but their recovery has been far more rapid than mangroves. After 5 years, saltmarshes had returned to 87% of their previous area. The 5700 ha of mangrove habitat damaged by Cyclone Vance exceeds any anthropogenic impact that has ever taken place in Western Australia by several orders of magnitude.     

基于分光光度法的多量程海水营养盐原位传感器检测系统设计

针对传统海水营养盐检测方法不能满足海水营养盐长期原位监测需求的问题,研制了一种基于分光光度法的多量程海水营养盐原位传感器检测系统,通过对系统的高度集成及对多量程检测、低功耗技术、漏液保护技术的应用,实现了对海水5项营养盐参数快速、宽范围、高精度的原位测量。经过实验室和青岛中苑码头现场测试,表明本营养盐传感器检测系统具有低功耗、高可靠性能,可满足对5项营养盐参数的快速精确测量要求,实现了对海水营养盐参数的原位监测,为相关部门及时了解海洋生态环境和水体富营养化程度提供了数据支持,具有重大现实意义。