Plant Community and Nutrient Status of the Soils of Schirmacher Oasis,East Antarctica

Investigations on plant community and micronutrient status of Schirmacher Oasis, East Antarctica have been presented in this paper. The dominant plant communities include moss and lichen. The frequency of species occurrence and changes in species composition at different location varied. Thirty-four soil samples were ana- lyzed for chemical properties of the soils of Schirmacher Oasis and Nunatak, East Antarctica. The most common plant species growing throughout the areas of Sehirmacher Oasis and Nunataks are： Candelariella tiara （ lichen ） and Bryum pseudotriquetrum （moss）. Large variations were observed among different soil samples in all the nutri- ents and other measured soil chemical parameters. The soils are characterized by a-cidic pH ranging from 4.42 - 6.80. The mean organic carbon content was 0.62 and ranged from 0. 06 - 1.29%. The electrical conductivity in 1 ： 2 soil water ratio ranged from 0.06 - 1.29. The average content of macronutrient cation, which are ammonium acetate extractable was in the order of Ca 〉 K 〉 Na 〉 Mg. The average content of DTPA extractable micronutrient cations was in the order of Fe 〉 Mn 〉 Cu 〉 Zn. Thirty one out of 34 samples contained less than 0.80 ppm DTPA extractable Zn. Correlation studies revealed that content of macronutrient cations significantly and positively correlated to that of chlorides. Electrical conductivity exhibited significant and positive relationship with pH, K, Ca, Mg, Na and chloride content. Sodium （r =0.876 ＊ ＊ ） exhibited highest correlation followed by K （r =0. 831 ＊ ＊ ） with chlo- ride content. The correlation coefficient for chlorides was higher with electrical conductivity （r=0.732＊ ＊ ） than pH （r =0. 513 ＊ ＊ ）. Organic carbon content of the soil was positively correlated with Fe （ r = 0. 442 ＊ ）. The nutrient status did not appear to be a limiting factor in growth of plants. Lichen and moss community structure and composition in the study area were not related with fertility status o     

喀斯特地区土壤侵蚀及养分流失定位试验研究——以贵阳市修文县久长镇为例

2001- 2003年对黔中喀斯特地区(久长镇) 20°坡耕地(黄壤土)不同种植处理条件下的土壤侵蚀与养分流失进行为期3年的观测。结果表明: 种植牧草(三叶草与黑麦草播)截流效果最佳,所产生径流量最小,为63. 47mm,仅占3年总量平均值的20% ,防治土壤侵蚀和阻止养分流失效果最好—— 土壤侵蚀模数仅为225t /km2· a ,养分(全钾)流失( 3年平均)仅为32. 76 kg /hm2; 其次是条带种植处理,侵蚀模数591 t /km2· a ,养分流失(全钾) 26. 65 kg /hm2。此外,条带种植还可以获得高产,比习惯种植增产746 kg /h m2。因此,在喀斯特地区20°坡度区发展条带种植势在必行。      

生态系统营养离子循环及水化学演经的锶同位素示踪

综述了Ｓｒ同位素示踪生态系统离子循环水化学演化的基本原理、主要内容和最新进展。着重介绍了Ｓｒ同位素在矿物风化速率研究、流域营养离子来源识别及其循环通量计算、地下水体化学尬发演化机制的示踪应用;最后展望了Ｓｒ同位素在生物地球化学过程示踪上的潜在价值。     

湖泊营养盐通量平衡的三维数值模拟

湖泊氮、磷通量是表征湖泊营养状态的重要指标,也是探究湖泊富营养化机制的重要途径.通过氮、磷通量的计算和质量平衡关系的分析,可以识别出在湖泊富营养化过程中起关键作用的过程.以三维水动力-水质模型为计算平台,模拟湖泊水动力、水质的动态过程,并以模拟结果为基础核算湖泊氮、磷循环通量及其在氮、磷循环整体中的贡献,识别湖泊氮、磷循环关键源汇过程的变化规律.滇池是我国富营养化湖泊的代表,同时其半封闭特性为营养物质循环提供了更为稳定的环境,以滇池为案例,基于前期校正和验证过的滇池水动力-水质模型来分析循环通量计算方法的适用性.结果发现,研究年度内滇池外海总氮的年总输入量(包括外源和内源)为7620.92 t,总输出量(包括出流、反硝化和沉降)为7637.31 t;总磷的年总输入量为(包括外源和内源)450.23 t,总输出量(包括出流和沉降)为429.57 t,其中陆域输入是最主要的氮、磷输入途径,而反硝化和沉降则是主要的输出过程.相较于传统的质量平衡方法,通过三维模型计算所得的营养盐通量平衡结果能更好地揭示湖体内所发生的氮、磷转化过程.     

Biological and physical impacts of ageostrophic frontal circulations driven by confluent flow and vertical mixing

Subduction, upwelling, and phytoplankton blooms are commonly observed features at oceanic fronts. This study isolates the role of vertical mixing for enhanced production and water mass subduction near fronts, considering the time-developing problem with a Semi-Geostrophic circulation model coupled to a planktonic ecosystem model. Our model results show that vertical mixing in the surface boundary layer strongly modifies the time evolution of the front and of its associated biology. Ageostrophic flows caused by the combined effects of confluence and vertical mixing enhance primary production on the less dense side and increase water mass subduction on the dense side of the front. Confluence alone results in the intensification of the front by the same advective response, while the phytoplankton bloom on the less dense side does not arise without vertical mixing. Vertical mixing alone slumps the front near the surface and provides weak subduction on the dense side and uplift of the isopycnals at the center of the front. We find that it is possible to sustain an isolated phytoplankton patch above the domed isopycnals at the center of the front with the nutrients supplied by the secondary circulations arising due to vertical mixing. These results suggest that the phytoplankton bloom and patches found on the less dense side of fronts in many field observations are likely caused by fine-scale along-isopycnal upwelling of nutrients forced by adiabatic confluence in the meander trough of fronts and further pumping and entrainment of nutrients by the secondary circulation due to vertical mixing. Isolated patches observed at the center of the front in many frontal surveys could be caused by secondary flows due to vertical mixing.     

Water-soluble organic and nitrogen levels in cloud and rainwater in a background marine environment under influence of different air masses

Chemical characterization was performed on cloud and rainwater samples collected as part of the Rain In Cumulus over the Ocean Experiment (RICO). This experiment took place at a mountaintop site (East Peak) in Puerto Rico from December 2004 to March 2007 in order to determine water-soluble organic and nitrogen fractions in a marine background environment. For cloud water, similar average concentrations of 1.0 (±0.3) mg/L were found for total organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN) and an average concentration of 0.8 (±0.2) mg/L was found for dissolved organic carbon (DOC). In rainwater, these concentrations were lower, ranging from 0.3 to 0.5 (±0.1) mg/L. Changes in the concentrations of these species were observed in periods under the influence of anthropogenic, African dust, and volcanic ash air masses. In these periods the concentrations of TOC, DOC, and TN were 2 to 4 times higher than in periods under the influence of trade winds. The insoluble organic material arriving during African dust events showed total carbon (TC) concentrations on averaging 1.5 mg/L for cloud water. The TC was composed mainly of organic carbon with polar compounds from low to high molecular weight (MW). The polar compounds with high MW were probably associated with pollution (e.g., fossil fuel combustion) from other regions. Crustal species (Al and Fe) dominated particles associated with dust episodes, confirming the soil origin. Our results suggested that a fraction (40–80%) of TOC and (<100%) of TN in Puerto Rican cloud/rainwater could be originated from long-range transport of dust, ash and/or pollution.     

Evaluation of physical, chemical and microbiological parameters of water quality in the Harris Neck estuarine marshes along the Georgia coast

Analysis of the physical, chemical and biological parameters assessing water quality in Harris Neck estuary indicated that the average dissolved oxygen level was 8.6 mg/L, it maintained moderate levels of total dissolved nitrogen (2.7-4.6 mg/L) and total dissolved phosphorous (<0.05 mg/L), chlorophyll a was above 5.0 μg/L and it is contaminated with low levels of fecal bacteria. Bifidobacterium adolescentis, a putative marker of human fecal pollution, was detected once at stations 3 and 5. Overall the Harris Neck water quality analyses indicated a relatively pristine and a healthy functioning marine environment.     

The impact of pelagic (Daphnia longispina) and benthic (Dreissena polymorpha) filter feeders on chlorophyll and nutrient concentration

An outdoor experiment testing the effect of water flea (Daphnia longispina) and zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) on physical and chemical water parameters and chlorophyll concentration changes was carried out in 12 containers filled with 150 l of unfiltered water from a lowland reservoir. During the 11 weeks of the experiment, the following physical, chemical and biological measurements were recorded: temperature (°C), oxygen concentration (mg dm⁻³), pH, conductivity (S cm⁻¹), concentration of phosphate phosphorus (PO₄-P) and ammonia nitrogen (NH₄-N) (g dm⁻³), total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) (g dm⁻³), phytoplankton community structure and chlorophyll a concentration (g dm⁻³). The amount of ammonia ions was the highest in the treatment with zooplankton, while phosphate ions reached the highest values in treatments with zebra mussels. The results confirmed the ability of Daphnia to increase the NH₄:PO₄ ratio, whereas excretion from zebra mussels resulted in a decrease in both the N:P ratio (ranging from 9 to 13) and the NH₄:PO₄ ratio in water. In both treatments containing zebra mussels, P-rich water enabled sudden growth of Chlorophyta, resulting in blooms of Hydrodictyon reticulatum after 3–4 weeks of the experiment. Such phenomena were not observed in the control and Daphnia treatments. Our results indicate that zebra mussels, in contrast to Daphnia, may increase the symptoms of water eutrophication and contribute to blooms of expansive phytoplankton species.     

Early evaluation of coastal nutrient over-enrichment: new procedures and indicators

Recent studies have provided compelling evidence for an accelerated anthropogenic impact on coastal systems, resulting in intense inputs of materials and nutrients from the continent. This has led scientists and policymakers to encourage the implementation of monitoring programmes, which have resulted in the multiplicity of datasets. However surprisingly, only a few attempts have been made to couple observations with statistical and mathematical tools to detect, as soon as the data become available perturbations in coastal systems. Here, we propose new mathematical procedures to evaluate the state of a system, based on the building of relative reference state and indicators of nutrient over-enrichment. The techniques were tested in some French coastal systems using data from the programme SOMLIT. Applied to this dataset, the multivariate procedures rapidly identified and evaluated anthropogenic nutrient anomalies from the continent on three sites (Wimereux, Roscoff and Villefranche-sur-Mer) from 1997 onwards.     

Dynamics of mesozooplankton assemblages in subtropical coastal waters of Hong Kong: A comparative study between a eutrophic estuarine and a mesotrophic coastal site

A monthly comparative study of mesozooplankton biomass and composition between a eutrophic Pearl River estuarine site (WE) and a mesotrophic coastal-oceanic site (EO) in Hong Kong waters was conducted to examine the response of mesozooplankton to nutrient-rich riverine discharge. Although the annual average mesozooplankton biomass was higher at WE than at EO, they were not statistically significant. Variations of mesozooplankton biomass at both stations followed similar trends of Chl a concentrations, with the exception of July at WE where mesozooplankton biomass was low but total Chl a was high. This mismatch may be due to the high flushing effect of the Pearl River discharge in summer and a time lag in mesozooplankton population growth. On the other hand, the composition of mesozooplankton was significantly modified by riverine discharge and eutrophication conditions. While small copepods dominated at both sites, the eutrophic estuarine water had a high abundance of barnacle and polychaete larvae, while cladocerans, bivalve larvae, gastropod larvae and chaetognaths mainly occurred at EO. Eutrophication increased the top-down role of copepods in the grazing community, revealed by an increase in the percentage of copepods in the total metazoan mesozooplankton, especially during the period of high river discharge. Moreover, mesozooplankton diversity at the two stations was similar, and they both showed relatively higher diversity during autumn and winter and lower diversity during summer, especially at WE. These results suggest that, despite high nutrient and Chl a concentrations in estuarine waters, mesozooplankton biomass were not enhanced compared to coastal waters with no river impact, possibly due to poor food quality and increased predation in the eutrophic estuarine waters.