Sediment and nutrient storage in a beaver engineered wetland

Beavers, primarily through the building of dams, can deliver significant geomorphic modifications and result in changes to nutrient and sediment fluxes. Research is required to understand the implications and possible benefits of widespread beaver reintroduction across Europe. This study surveyed sediment depth, extent and carbon/nitrogen content in a sequence of beaver pond and dam structures in South West England, where a pair of Eurasian beavers (Castor fiber) were introduced to a controlled 1.8 ha site in 2011. Results showed that the 13 beaver ponds subsequently created hold a total of 101.53 ± 16.24 t of sediment, equating to a normalised average of 71.40 ± 39.65 kg m². The ponds also hold 15.90 ± 2.50 t of carbon and 0.91 ± 0.15 t of nitrogen within the accumulated pond sediment. The size of beaver pond appeared to be the main control over sediment storage, with larger ponds holding a greater mass of sediment per unit area. Furthermore, position within the site appeared to play a role with the upper‐middle ponds, nearest to the intensively‐farmed headwaters of the catchment, holding a greater amount of sediment. Carbon and nitrogen concentrations in ponds showed no clear trends, but were significantly higher than in stream bed sediment upstream of the site. We estimate that >70% of sediment in the ponds is sourced from the intensively managed grassland catchment upstream, with the remainder from in situ redistribution by beaver activity. While further research is required into the long‐term storage and nutrient cycling within beaver ponds, results indicate that beaver ponds may help to mitigate the negative off‐site impacts of accelerated soil erosion and diffuse pollution from agriculturally dominated landscapes such as the intensively managed grassland in this study. © 2018 The Authors. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

A method for uncertainty constraint of catchment discharge and phosphorus load estimates

River discharge and nutrient measurements are subject to aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. In this study, we present a novel method for estimating these uncertainties in colocated discharge and phosphorus (P) measurements. The “voting point”‐based method constrains the derived stage‐discharge rating curve both on the fit to available gaugings and to the catchment water balance. This helps reduce the uncertainty beyond the range of available gaugings and during out of bank situations. In the example presented here, for the top 5% of flows, uncertainties are shown to be 139% using a traditional power law fit, compared with 40% when using our updated “voting point” method. Furthermore, the method is extended to in situ and lab analysed nutrient concentration data pairings, with lower uncertainties (81%) shown for high concentrations (top 5%) than when a traditional regression is applied (102%). Overall, for both discharge and nutrient data, the method presented goes some way to accounting for epistemic uncertainties associated with nonstationary physical characteristics of the monitoring site.     

江西省万安水库对氮、磷营养盐的滞留效应

以江西省万安水库为研究对象,于2007-2009年丰、枯水期对水库进行了人库、出库水样采集,研究了万安水库对氮、磷营养盐的滞留效应.结果表明,万安水库对氮、磷营养盐存在显著滞留作用.DIN浓度和输送通量整体均表现为入库>出库,受径流量季节变化的影响.不同时期DIN的滞留情况整体表现为枯水期<丰水期;TP浓度和输送通量整...     

两淮采煤沉陷区水域水体富营养化及氮、磷限制模拟实验

选取两淮采煤沉陷区内3个不同营养水平的水域为研究站点,即淮北南湖站(HBNH)、淮南潘谢顾桥站(PXGQ)和潘谢谢桥站(PXXQ),首先分析了水体营养盐含量、比例结构和营养状态指数,3个站点TP浓度的年均值分别为0.056、0.064和0.092 mg/L,TN浓度年均值则为1.00、0.94和2.67 mg/L,3个站点水体呈现"中营养-轻度富营养"和"中度富营养"2种营养状态,总体上表现出P相对N缺乏的特征.设置对照组、加氮组、加磷组和加氮磷组开展秋季氮、磷限制模拟实验研究.结果表明:HBNH、PXXQ两个站点为P限制,而PXGQ站点则为N限制.尽管水体正磷酸盐浓度较低,但由于藻类具有利用有机磷或储备P库的能力,3个研究站点依然保持了较高的初级生产力,HBNH、PXGQ和PXXQ 3个站点的叶绿素a浓度年均值分别为13.07、26.95和46.25 mg/m³,与各水体的营养水平保持一致.两淮采煤沉陷区水体富营养化控制关键可能在于调控磷元素的水平.     

Water and nutrient fluxes in a cool temperate rainforest at the Cordillera de la Costa in southern Chile

Water and nutrient fluxes were studied during a 12-month period in an alerce (Fitzroya cupressoides) forest, located in a remote site at the Cordillera de la Costa (40°05′S) in southern Chile. Measurements of precipitation, throughfall, stemflow, effective precipitation, soil infiltration and stream flow were carried out in an experimental, small watershed. Simultaneously, monthly water samples were collected to determine the concentrations and transport of organic-N, NO₃-N, total-P, K⁺, Ca²⁺, Na⁺ and Mg²⁺ in all levels of forest. Concentration of organic-N, NO₃-N, total-P and K⁺ showed a clear pattern of enrichment in the throughfall, stemflow, effective precipitation and soil infiltration. For Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺, enrichment was observed in the effective precipitation, soil infiltration and stream flow. Annual transport of K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ showed that the amounts exported from the forest via stream flow (K⁺=0·95, Na⁺=32·44, Ca²⁺=8·76 and Mg²⁺=7·16 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) are less than the inputs via precipitation (K⁺=6·39, Na⁺=40·99, Ca²⁺=15·13 and Mg²⁺=7·61 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹). The amounts of organic-N and NO₃-N exported via stream flow (organic-N=1·04 and No₃-N=3·06 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹) were relatively small; however, they represented greater amounts than the inputs via precipitation (organic-N=0·74 and NO₃-N=0·97 kg ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹), because of the great contribution of this element in the superficial soil horizon, where the processes of decomposition of organic material, mineralization and immobilization of the nutrients occurs. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地震活动图像分析预测汶川8．0级地震的回顾与思考

本文回顾了2008年5月12日四川省汶川8．0级特大地震前中长期及年度趋势预测过程。作者根据地震活动图像特征作出了较好预测,明确指出四川石棉-冕宁和汶川-松潘一带,2008年前后,可能发生7级以上地震。但带短期预测特点的2008年度大震危险性,作者没有作出确切的预测。本文思考了相关的经验教训并对改进分析预报工作提出了构想。     

Atmospheric nitrogen inputs into the North Sea: effect on productivity

The ANICE (Atmospheric Nitrogen Inputs into the Coastal Ecosystem) project addressed the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen to the North Sea, with emphasis on coastal effects. ANICE focused on quantifying the deposition of inorganic nitrogen compounds to the North Sea and the governing processes. An overview of the results from modelling and experimental efforts is presented. They serve to identify the role of the atmosphere as a source of biologically essential chemical species to the marine biota. Data from the Weybourne Atmospheric Observatory (UK) are used to evaluate the effect of short episodes with very high atmospheric nitrogen concentrations. One such episode resulted in an average deposition of 0.8 mmol N m⁻² day⁻¹, which has the potential to promote primary productivity of 5.3 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹. This value is compared to long-term effects determined from model results. The total calculated atmospheric deposition to the North Sea in 1999 is 948 kg N km⁻¹, i.e. 0.19 mmol N m⁻² day⁻¹ which has the potential to promote primary productivity of 1.2 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹. Detailed results for August 1999 show strong gradients across the North Sea due to adjacent areas where emissions of NO_x and NH₃ are among the highest in Europe. The average atmospheric deposition to the southern part of the North Sea in August 1999 could potentially promote primary production of 2.0 mmol C m⁻² day⁻¹, i.e. 5.5% of the total production at this time of the year in this area of the North Sea. For the entire study area the atmospheric contribution to the primary production per m² is about two-third of this value. Most of the deposition occurs during short periods with high atmospheric concentrations. This atmospheric nitrogen is almost entirely anthropogenic in origin and thus represents a human-induced perturbation of the ecosystem.