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.     

Estimation of source water to cedar elm in a central Texas riparian ecosystem

A riparian ecosystem downstream of a small dam in central Texas was instrumented for sap flow, soil moisture content, and stream level from 2001. Stable isotopes in water (D and ¹⁸O) were analysed from rainfall, stream, lake, and cored sapwood cellulose from cedar elm (Ulmus crassifolia). The isotope signature of water source to cedar elm was identified by back calculation starting with the water isotopes in cellulose, and accounting for leaf‐water evaporation and biological fractionation during cellulose synthesis. The estimated mean isotope of the source water to cedar elm was enriched above rainfall in similarity to stream water during 2002. Flow paths that may have contributed to estimated variability from regional base flow and recharge water were identified using the variably saturated HYDRUS‐2D model. Copyright © 2004 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.     

华北平原冬麦田土壤CH4的吸收特征研究

利用静态箱/气相色谱(GC)法,对华北平原冬小麦拔节-成熟期间麦田土壤CH₄气体通量进行了测定,得出华北平原典型冬麦田土壤是大气CH₄的弱吸收汇。试验期间土壤CH₄通量存在明显的季节变化和日变化,麦田拔节-成熟期间土壤CH₄通量日平均值为-18.3μg·m^-2·h^-1,波动范围为-4.3-24.4μg·m^-2·h^-1;在土壤CH₄通量的日变化中,观测到麦田土壤在午间和夜间都有一个吸收峰,峰值出现的时间因生育期不同而有所不同。试验期间CH₄通量日平均值与土壤温度关系不明显,而与土壤水分呈负相关(α=0.01);日变化中土壤CH₄通量与地表温度的相关性较差,而与5cm地温相关密切。麦田拔节-成熟期间土壤CH₄通量日平均值随NH4+-N施用量的增加呈递减规律,农田秸秆还田后不利于土壤对CH₄的吸收。     

On the interest and the limits of using combined ESR/U-series model in the case of very late uranium uptake

Before ESR/U-series models were applied to ungulate teeth, it is generally assumed that calculated ages are close to the “real” ages when they range between the values obtained with the EU and LU models. When the samples show signs of uranium-leaching, a realistic mathematical modelling of the age is not possible. On the other hand, some samples have undergone a very late U-uptake “affecting” directly the U-series ages and rendering the calculated ages younger.

We present results obtained on two open-air sites, which show the limits of such combined models in the case of late uranium incorporation. For the Middle Pleistocene site of Isernia la Pineta (Italy), the ESR dates are expected to fall within the limits imposed by the Ar–Ar results. The other site, the Lower Palaeolithic deposits of Ambrona (Spain), yielded two sets of samples: some at the top of the sequence with uranium uptake ranging between EU and LU limits and thus giving a good idea of the “real” age of the site; others at the base displaying a very late U-uptake, which render an age determination difficult.     

岩溶断陷盆地不同海拔植物水分利用效率分析

为探讨不同海拔高度的养分、环境要素与植物水分利用效率变化的关系，以岩溶断陷盆地云南小江流域的乔木、灌木、草本为研究对象，分析水分利用效率和叶片养分浓度随海拔的变化情况。结果表明:（1）研究区内海拔2 000 m处的草本植物的叶片δ13C值最高，2 200 m处的乔木的叶片δ13C值最低；（2）海拔高度对乔木、灌木的植物水分利用效率影响大于草本植物，草本植物的水分利用效率随海拔高度的变化甚微，两者之间的拟合度较小；高值区出现在海拔为2 200 m处的乔木；低值区出现在海拔为2 000 m处的草本植物；（3）不同海拔水分利用效率与叶片N、P浓度的相关性较弱（与叶片的N浓度呈弱正相关，与叶片的P浓度呈弱负相关）；（4）不同海拔水分利用效率与各气候因子的相关性较弱，与多年平均气温、多年平均降雨量、多年平均日照时数均呈弱正相关。