Net ecosystem metabolism of a coastal embayment fertilised by upwelling and continental runoff

O₂, N, P and Si net ecosystem metabolism of the Ría de Ares-Betanzos (NW Iberian upwelling system) was estimated during two 3-wk periods of contrasting summer downwelling and autumn upwelling conditions by means of a transient 2-D kinematic box model. The subtidal circulation was positive in both situations, although it was depressed during downwelling and enhanced during upwelling. Concurrently, the ría was fertilised mainly by shelf bottom waters, which introduced from 69% (under downwelling) to almost 100% (under upwelling) of the limiting N nutrients. The ría was an efficient nutrient trap: about 70% of the N nutrients that entered the embayment were retained under downwelling conditions (average flushing time, 9 days) and about 50% under upwelling conditions (average flushing time 3 days). Although the trapping efficiency was lower, the net ecosystem production (NEP) was much higher under upwelling (from 1.0±0.3 to 1.5±0.4 g C m⁻² d⁻¹), than under downwelling favourable winds (from 0.2±0.1 to 0.3±0.1 g C m⁻²). The stoichiometry of NEP suggests that P and N compounds recycled faster than C compounds, specially in the inner segment of the ría. The net degree of silification was twice in the inner than in the outer segment of the ría.     

Control of sediment dynamics by vegetation as a key function driving biogeomorphic succession within fluvial corridors

Riparian vegetation responds to hydrogeomorphic disturbances and environmental changes and also controls these changes. Here, we propose that the control of sediment erosion and deposition by riparian vegetation is a key geomorphological and ecological (i.e. biogeomorphic) function within fluvial corridors. In a 3 year study, we investigated the correlations between riparian vegetation and hydrogeomorphic dynamics along a transverse gradient from the main channel to the floodplain of the River Tech, France. Sediment erosion and deposition rates varied significantly along the transverse gradient as a function of the vegetation biovolume intercepting water flow. These effects, combined with the extremely strong mechanical resistance of pioneer woody structures and strong resilience of pioneer labile herbaceous communities, Populus nigra and Salix spp., explain the propensity of biogeomorphic succession (i.e. the synergy between vegetation succession and landform construction) to progress between destructive floods. This geomorphological function newly identified as an ‘ecosystem function’ per se encompasses the coupling of habitat and landform creation, maintenance and change with fundamental ecosystem structural changes in space and in time. Three different biogeomorphic functions, all related to the concept of ecosystem engineering, were identified: (i) the function of pioneer herbaceous communities to retain fine sediment and diaspores in the exposed zones of the active tract near the water resource, facilitating recruitment of further herbaceous and Salicacea species; (ii) the function of woody vegetation to drive the construction of forested islands and floodplains; and (iii) the function of stabilised riparian forests to act as ‘diversity reservoirs’ which can support regeneration after destructive floods. Overall, this study based on empirical data points to the fundamental importance of sediment flow control by pioneer riparian vegetation in defining fluvial ecosystem and landform organisation in time and in space. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ecohydrological change mechanism of a rainfed revegetation ecosystem at southeastern edge of Tengger desert,Northwest China

Study is made on a 45 km-long artificial ecosystem without irrigation in Tengger desert on the basis of long-term ecological monitoring and ecohydrological fundamentals.Changes in water allocation, utilization, cycle and balance patterns in more than 40-year evolution of the soil-plant system are analyzed. The formation of a drought horizon in shrub rhizosphere and its effect, ecohydrological function of the crust and its effect on the soil-plant system change are discussed. Driven by water self-regulation and water stress, the soil-plant system is going to develop towards the steppe desert to ensure more effective use and optimum collocation of water resource.     

From taxonomies to ontologies: formalizing generalization knowledge for on-demand mapping

Automation of the cartographic design process is central to the delivery of bespoke maps via the web. In this paper, ontological modeling is used to explicitly represent and articulate the knowledge used in this decision-making process. A use case focuses on the visualization of road traffic accident data as a way of illustrating how ontologies provide a framework by which salient and contextual information can be integrated in a meaningful manner. Such systems are in anticipation of web-based services in which the user knows what they need, but do not have the cartographic ability to get what they want.     

A Study of the Relationship between Low-level Jet and inversion Layer over an Agroforest Ecosystem in East China Plain

1.IntroductionWindprofilewiththerelevantlow--leveljet(LLJ)isoneofthemostimportantfactorsthatcharacterizethestructureoftheatmosphericboundarylayer.TheLLJswerereportedinEurope(SladkovicandKanter,1977;Krausetal.,1985),Africa(Anderson,1976;Hart,etal.,1978),NorthAmerica(Stull,1988;Arrittetal.,1997),Australia(MalcherandKraus,1983;Garratt,1985)andEastAsia(Wangetal.,1996;ChenandHsu,1997).DifferentinvestigatorsuseddifferentcriteriaforidentifyingtheLLJs.SomerequiredwindspeedgreaterthanaParti…     

Silica biogeochemical cycle in temperate ecosystems of the Pampean Plain,Argentina

Silicophytoliths were produced in the plant communities of the Pampean Plain during the Quaternary. The biogeochemistry of silicon is scarcely known in continental environments of Argentina. The aim of this work is to present a synthesis of: the plant production and the presence of silicophytoliths in soils with grasses, and its relationship with silica content in soil solution, soil matrix and groundwaters in temperate ecosystems of the Pampean Plain, Argentina. We quantified the content of silicophytoliths in representative grasses and soils of the area. Mineralochemical determinations of the soils' matrix were made. The concentration of silica was determined in soil solution and groundwaters. The silicophytoliths assemblages in plants let to differenciate subfamilies within Poaceae. In soils, silicophytoliths represent 40–5% of the total components, conforming a stock of 59–72 × 10³ kg/ha in A horizons. The concentration of SiO₂ in soil solution increases with depth (453–1243 μmol/L) in relation with plant communities, their nutritional requirements and root development. The average concentration of silica in groundwaters is 840 umol/L. In the studied soils, inorganic minerals and volcanic shards show no features of weathering. About 10–40% of silicophytoliths were taxonomically unidentified because of their weathering degrees. The matrix of the aggregates is made up by microaggregates composed of carbon and silicon. The weathering of silicophytoliths is a process that contributes to the formation of amorphous silica-rich matrix of the aggregates. So, silicophytoliths could play an important role in the silica cycle being a sink and source of Si in soils and enriching soil solutions and groundwaters.     

几种大型珍珠贝人工苗网箱式中间培育的研究

采用网箱式和传统式2种方法,在3个不同类型的海区(内湾性的陵水县黎安港、半开放性的雷州市流沙港、开放性的三亚市六道湾),进行几种大型珍珠贝人工苗的中间培育.经90d的中间培育后,结果表明:网箱式培育与传统式培育相比较,几种珍珠贝的生长速率和成活率都有较大幅度的提高.其壳高生长速率的增幅分别为:珠母贝18.9%、18.2%、19.9%;大珠母贝22.8%、20.6%、23.5%;企鹅珍珠贝21.8%、20.7%、21.7%;均为差异显著(P＜0.05)或差异极显著(P＜0.01).成活率的增幅分别为:珠母贝175.0%、147.9%、133.9%;大珠母贝172.8%、159.0%、127.4%;企鹅珍珠贝122.5%、118.2%、102.2%,均为差异显著(P＜0.05)或差异极显著(P＜ 0.01).     

Strain and culture medium optimization for production enhancement of prodiginines from marine-derived Streptomyces sp. GQQ-10

A mutant (GQQ-M6) of a Sponge-Derived streptomyces sp. GQQ-10 obtained by UV-induced mutation was used for producing prodiginines (PGs). Single factor experiments and orthogonal array design (OAD) methods were employed for medium optimization. In the single factor method, the effects of soluble starch, glucose, soybean flour, yeast extract and sodium acetate on PGs production were investigated individually. In the subsequent OAD experiments, the concentrations of these 5 key nutritional components combined with salinity were further adjusted. The mutant strain GQQ-M6 gave a 2.2-fold higher PGs production than that of the parent strain; OAD experiments offered a PGs yield of 61mg L-1, which was 10 times higher than that of the initial GQQ-10 strain under the original cultivation mode.