Distribution and feeding modes of macrobenthos within three oceanographic feature areas of the KwaZulu-Natal Bight,South Africa

The composition and distribution of macrobenthic communities was investigated in three areas in the KwaZulu- Natal Bight, a section of shelf off the east coast of South Africa. Areas were pre-selected on the basis of three known oceanographic features, posited to deliver land- or Agulhas Current-derived nutrients onto the shelf and to drive ecosystem functioning in this region. Replicate sediment samples were collected with a 0.2 m² van Veen grab, during two surveys (A, B) corresponding with normal periods of high and low rainfall, respectively. A subset of the full station array was selected across the shelf in an arrangement of increasing depths (inner-, mid- and outer shelf) through each feature area to investigate the spatial distribution and feeding modes of macrobenthic taxa. The two periods showed some differences in abundance and numbers of macrobenthic taxa, but were not statistically different. Total macrobenthic abundance from Survey A was 20 215 individuals from 642 taxa, decreasing to 18 000 individuals from 503 taxa during Survey B. Polychaeta and Crustacea were the dominant taxa sampled; abundance of the latter was attributed largely to a proliferation of Paguristes sp.1 at inner-shelf samples in the midbight (Thukela) region during Survey B. Similarity classification distinguished seven sample groups reflecting differences in feature areas and shelf positions under investigation. The Thukela River midshelf community supported the highest macrobenthic abundance, while the midshelf off the southern bight (Durban region) was most species rich. Findings were attributed to the habitat complexity of the midshelf which includes a palaeo-dune cordon at the 60 m isobath. Functionally, the community was dominated by interface- and deposit-feeding fauna, emphasising the importance of trophic plasticity in an environmentally variable and heterogeneous shelf environment.     

长江口邻近海域夏季大型底栖生物群落特征

本文根据2014年6月长江口邻近海域大型底栖生物的调查资料, 采用优势度指数, 物种多样性指数、丰富度指数、均匀度指数, Bray-Curtis相似性聚类和非参数多维标度排序(nMDS)标序方法, 分析了长江口邻近海域夏季大型底栖生物的群落特征。本次调查共采集大型底栖生物135种, 其中多毛类66种, 甲壳动物33种, 棘皮动物14种, 软体动物13种, 其他类群9种。调查海域的大型底栖生物平均丰度为122.2ind/m₂,平均生物量为7.8g/ m₂。丰度、生物量和多样性指数在不同海区间的空间差异均不显著。大型底栖生物在20%的相似性水平上可以划分为8个群组,各站位间相似性水平较低。ABC曲线表明,伴随海岸带开发及人类活动的持续影响, 长江口邻近海域底栖生境的稳定性受到轻微扰动, 建议继续开展长期连续的监测, 为研究长江口海域环境变化和大型底栖生物群落演替提供基础资料。     

Late Quaternary chironomid community structure shaped by rate and magnitude of climate change

Much is known about how climate change impacts ecosystem richness and turnover, but we have less understanding of its influence on ecosystem structures. Here, we use ecological metrics (beta diversity, compositional disorder and network skewness) to quantify the community structural responses of temperature-sensitive chironomids (Diptera: Chironomidae) during the Late Glacial (14 700–11 700 cal a bp ) and Holocene (11 700 cal a bp to present). Analyses demonstrate high turnover (beta diversity) of chironomid composition across both epochs; however, structural metrics stayed relatively intact. Compositional disorder and skewness show greatest structural change in the Younger Dryas, following the rapid, high-magnitude climate change at the Bølling–Allerød to Younger Dryas transition. There were fewer climate-related structural changes across the early to mid–late Holocene, where climate change was more gradual and lower in magnitude. The reduced impact on structural metrics could be due to greater functional resilience provided by the wider chironomid community, or to the replacement of same functional-type taxa in the network structure. These results provide insight into how future rapid climate change may alter chironomid communities and could suggest that while turnover may remain high under a rapidly warming climate, community structural dynamics retain some resilience.     

高寒冻土区生物结皮对土壤理化属性的影响

生物结皮是高寒地区地被层的重要组分之一。其作为地表特殊的结构层,能够改变地表结构及土壤理化属性,从而影响冻土环境。迄今为止,关于青藏高原高寒生态系统中生物结皮对土壤理化属性的影响尚不清楚。以青藏高原高寒冻土区生物结皮为研究对象,初步研究了生物结皮的特征及其对土壤理化属性的影响。结果表明：生物结皮在高寒草甸退化过程中广泛发育,主要以藻结皮为主,其盖度可达37.3%~51.7%,结皮层平均厚度为12.6 mm。由于生物结皮的发育,高寒地区5~20 cm土层粉粒含量有所增加,但差异不显著,而结皮层土壤田间持水量相比于裸地表层（2 cm）增加了10%~40%,结皮层容重较裸地降低了30%;两种类型藻结皮均显著增加了结皮层及其下0~20 cm土层土壤有机质,而深色藻结皮增加了结皮层及其下0~20 cm土层土壤全氮含量,浅色藻结皮仅增加了结皮层土壤全氮含量,对其下0~20 cm土层土壤全氮含量没有显著影响;生物结皮对土壤pH没有显著影响;生物结皮是高寒生态系统植被退化过程中的关键环节。研究结果为揭示生物结皮在高寒生态系统中发挥重要生态功能提供依据。     

微生物对地下水中萘的降解特性及动力学研究

针对我国东北某石油烃污染场地地下水中的萘污染,筛选出了Acinetobacter和Pseudomonas菌属的高效萘降解菌群。该菌群对萘的耐受性较高,且具有良好的乳化性,能够自动调节细胞表面疏水性和自聚集性。不同pH值、萘初始浓度、温度和菌接种量对萘降解效率的影响研究表明:最适菌群生长的pH范围为7.08.0;萘降解效率和速率在1.005.00 mg/L范围内与其初始浓度成正比;在1030 ℃温度范围内均表现出较高的萘降解效率。在此基础上,利用Guass、GuassAmp、LogNomal、Poisson和Pulse数学模型对萘的降解过程进行拟合,其降解速率更符合GuassAmp模型。通过将降解动力学模型中的常数与影响因素相关联,推导出了拟合度较高的多因素影响下的萘降解动力学方程。     

Arsenic contamination caused by roxarsone transformation with spatiotemporal variation of microbial community structure in a column experiment

Arsenic contamination from roxarsone in livestock manure is common, and livestock manure continuously accumulates in the open environment. Evaluations of the environmental processes of As mobilization and transformation are critical for predicting the fate of As compounds after roxarsone degradation. In this study, spatiotemporal variations in As species and microbial community structure were characterized using laboratory column experiments with background soil collected from Yanggu County (northern Shandong Plain, China), a region of intense poultry production. Organic and inorganic arsenic were detected by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and HPLC with hydride generation atomic fluorescence spectrometry (HPLC-HG-AFS), respectively. High-throughput sequencing technology was used to describe microbial diversity. Results showed that roxarsone was transformed completely within 7 days, and As(Ⅲ) and As(Ⅴ) were the major degradation products. The concentration of As(Ⅲ) was much lower than that of As(Ⅴ). The As(Ⅲ) concentration increased significantly after Day 14, whereas the As(Ⅴ) concentration increased significantly after Day 84, indicating that As(Ⅲ) was initially produced. The microbial community structure changed significantly as roxarsone transformed into various As compounds. A critical and dominant bacterial strain, norank_f__Family_XVⅢ, was found to be related to the degradation of roxarsone into As(Ⅲ). This study improves our understanding of the fate of As species released from poultry litter to soil and groundwater, which is a threat to human health and environment.     

生物土壤结皮固沙理论与实践

生物土壤结皮是由土壤微生物、藻类、地衣和苔藓等孢子植物类群与土壤颗粒形成的有机复合体,在全球干旱区地表广泛分布,是干旱地表生物覆被层的主要构建者.生物土壤结皮是荒漠植物群落演替的先锋类群,能够提高荒漠地表的稳定性,固定碳和氮等营养元素,增加土壤肥力,并在保持土壤水分方面发挥重要作用,因此在干旱区受损地表的生态修复方面具...     

黔西北普宜地区下三叠统嘉陵江组沉凝灰岩锆石LA-ICP-MS U-Pb年龄、微量元素特征及其地质意义

早三叠世时期频繁的火山事件是导致全球性气候和海洋环境异常的主要原因,前人对早三叠世重要界线时期的火山事件地层开展了大量研究,但对典型界线时期以外的其他火山事件地层却鲜有报道.本文以上扬子西南普宜地区嘉陵江组两件沉凝灰岩为研究对象开展了岩石学、岩相学、锆石年代学及微量元素组合特征等方面的研究.沉凝灰岩样品具有典型岩浆锆石...     

天山南麓山前平原土壤盐分空间异质性对植物群落组成及结构的影响

将轮台天山南麓山前平原中下部自北至南分为4个地貌带:洪水剥蚀带、溢出带、三角洲带及两河交汇区带。并以土壤电导作为积盐程度的指标,分析了天山南麓山前平原4个地貌带土壤盐的分布特征:溢出带和三角洲带土壤盐分含量高,两端洪水剥蚀带和两河交汇区带盐分含量低。物种多样性及物种组成分析结果表明,自北至南物种多样性及物种数量都在下降,洪水剥蚀带主要为柽柳群落、琵琶柴群落,溢出带主要为柽柳群落、盐节木群落、盐角草群落,三角洲带及两河交汇区均为柽柳群落。通过相关性分析,土壤盐分与群落物种多样性相关性不显著。但是,土壤盐渍化的变化明显影响到植物群落物种组成的变化、群落类型的空间分布和演替。     

Spatial changes in a macrozoobenthic community along environmental gradients in a shallow brackish lagoon facing Sendai Bay, Japan

The spatial distribution, abundance, and assemblage structure of macrozoobenthos were examined at 45 stations in a brackish lagoon (Idoura Lagoon, Japan) to examine the animal–environmental relations in estuarine soft-bottom habitats. We found a total of 23 taxa; the polychaetes Heteromastus sp., Hediste spp., and Prionospio japonica and the isopod Cyathura muromiensis numerically dominated the community. Cluster analysis and one-way analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) identified seven groups of stations that had significantly different macrozoobenthic communities; these were subsequently consolidated into five habitat groups according to their association with environmental characteristics. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) showed that salinity, silt-clay content, and the oxidation–reduction potential (ORP) of the sediment strongly affected the macrozoobenthos distribution pattern in the lagoon, whereas other factors (e.g., relative elevation of the habitat and sediment organic content) had much weaker effects. Similarity percentages (SIMPER) procedures indicated that the polychaete Notomastus sp. and the bivalve Macoma contabulata were specific to habitats with low salinity and reduced mud, whereas the bivalve Nuttallia olivacea was specific to sandy bottoms. Heteromastus sp. and Hediste spp. achieved their highest densities in rather oxidized sediments. The acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) content in the sediment was suggested as another possible factor affecting macrozoobenthic density. Our results clearly demonstrate that macrozoobenthic assemblages in estuarine soft-bottoms have high spatial heterogeneity on a small scale (e.g., hundreds of meters) related to physical and chemical environmental changes. Our data also suggested the importance of sediment redox condition (e.g., ORP and AVS content) and sediment grain size as structuring factors in estuarine soft-bottom communities as well as the salinity in the habitat.