Dissolved nutrient balance and net ecosystem metabolism in a Mediterranean-climate coastal lagoon: San Diego Bay

The temporal and spatial variability of dissolved inorganic phosphate (DIP), nitrogen (DIN), carbon (DIC) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were studied in order to determine the net ecosystem metabolism (NEM) of San Diego Bay (SDB), a Mediterranean-climate lagoon. A series of four sampling campaigns were carried out during the rainy (January 2000) and the dry (August 2000 and May and September 2001) seasons. During the dry season, temperature, salinity and DIP, DIC and DOC concentrations increased from oceanic values in the outer bay to higher values at the innermost end of the bay. DIP, DIC and DOC concentrations showed a clear offset from conservative mixing implying production of these dissolved materials inside the bay. During the rainy season, DIP and DOC increased to the head, whereas salinity decreased toward the mouth due to land runoff and river discharges. The distributions of DIP and DOC also showed a deviation from conservative mixing in this season, implying a net addition of these dissolved materials during estuarine mixing within the bay. Mass balance calculations showed that SDB consistently exported DIP (2.8–9.8 × 10³ mol P d⁻¹), DIC (263–352 × 10³ mol C d⁻¹) and DOC (198–1233 × 10³ mol C d⁻¹), whereas DIN (5.5–18.2 × 10³ mol N d⁻¹) was exported in all samplings except in May 2001 when it was imported (8.6 × 10³ mol N d⁻¹). The DIP, DIC and DOC export rates along with the strong relationship between DIP, DIC or DOC and salinity suggest that intense tidal mixing plays an important role in controlling their distributions and that SDB is a source of nutrients and DOC to the Southern California Bight. Furthermore, NEM ranged from −8.1 ± 1.8 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ in September to −13.5 ± 5.8 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹ in January, highlighting the heterotrophic character of SDB. In order to explain the net heterotrophy of this system, we postulate that phytoplankton-derived particulate organic matter, stimulated by upwelling processes in the adjacent coastal waters, is transported into the bay, retained and then remineralized within the system. Our results were compared with those reported for the heterotrophic hypersaline coastal lagoons located in the semi-arid coast of California–Baja California, and with those autotrophic hypersaline systems found in the semi-arid areas of Australia. We point out that the balance between autotrophy and heterotrophy in inverse estuaries is dependent on net external inputs of either inorganic nutrients or organic matter as it has been indicated for positive estuaries.     

Daily variability of dissolved inorganic radiocarbon at three sites in the surface ocean

We report radiocarbon measurements of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in surface water samples collected daily during cruises to the central North Pacific, the Sargasso Sea and the Southern Ocean. The ranges of Δ¹⁴C measurements for each cruise (11–30‰) were larger than the total uncertainty (7.8‰, 2-sigma) of the measurements. The variability is attributed to changes in the upper water mass that took place at each site over a two to four week period. These results indicate that variability of surface Δ¹⁴C values is larger than the analytical precision, because of patchiness that exists in the DIC Δ¹⁴C signature of the surface ocean. This additional variability can affect estimates of geochemical parameters such as the air–sea CO₂ exchange rate using radiocarbon.     

Macrofaunal density and biomass in the Campeche Canyon, Southwestern Gulf of Mexico

The composition, density and community structure of the benthic macrofauna were investigated in sediments of the Campeche Canyon in the SW Gulf of Mexico. Total macrofaunal density ranged from 9466±2736 ind m⁻² at the continental shelf station to 1550±195 ind m⁻² in the canyon. Density values significantly diminished with distance from the coast and depth; only a few stations in the center of the canyon displayed larger density values (E-37 with 4666±1530 ind m⁻², E-36 with 5791±642 ind m⁻² and E-26 with 6925±2258 ind m⁻²). Densities were positively correlated to organic nitrogen in the sediment (r=0.82) and coarse silt (r=0.43), and negatively with depth (r=−0.74) and distance from the coast (r=−0.68). At all stations, the polychaete worms contributed most to the multi-species community structure. The nematodes and Foraminifera displayed their highest densities in the center of the canyon. The biomass values declined significantly with depth. We conclude that the macrofauna density and biomass changed in response to organic matter contents in the sediment, both with distance from the coast and with depth.     

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and its carbon isotopic composition in sediment pore waters from the Shenhu area,northern South China Sea

The Shenhu area is one of the most favorable places for the occurrence of gas hydrates in the northern continental slope of the South China Sea. Pore water samples were collected in two piston cores (SH-A and SH-B) from this area, and the concentrations of sulfate and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and its carbon isotopic composition were measured. The data revealed large DIC variations and very negative δ ¹³C-DIC values. Two reaction zones, 0–3 mbsf and below 3 mbsf, are identified in the sediment system. At site SH-A, the upper zone (0–3 mbsf) shows relatively constant sulfate and DIC concentrations and δ ¹³C-DIC values, possibly due to bioturbation and fluid advection. The lower zone (below 3 mbsf) displays good linear gradients for sulfate and DIC concentrations, and δ ¹³C-DIC values. At site SH-B, both zones show linear gradients, but the decreasing gradients for δ ¹³C-DIC and SO₄ ²⁻ in the lower zone below 3 mbsf are greater than those from the upper zone, 0–3 mbsf. The calculated sulfate-methane interface (SMI) depths of the two cores are 10.0 m and 11.1 m, respectively. The depth profiles of both DIC and δ ¹³C-DIC showed similar characteristics as those in other gas hydrate locations in the world oceans, such as the Blake Ridge. Overall, our results indicate an anaerobic methane oxidation (AMO) process in the sediments with large methane flux from depth in the studied area, which might be linked to the formation of gas hydrates in this area.     

应用MODIS影像监测海州湾无机氮浓度的研究

利用连云港海州湾2004年至2006年的水质监测资料,选取时间上完全同步的空间分辨率为500m的MODIS Terra 1B数据,对反射率的单波段因子和波段组合因子与可溶无机氮（DIN）质量浓度之间进行相关分析。从总体上看,单波段因子与DIN质量浓度的相关性较低,但在含氮基团倍频和合频吸收带附近的波段（波段2、7）反射率与DIN质量浓度呈负相关,显示了含氮基团对水体光谱特征的影响;在波段组合因子中,因子F11（3.4）和F13（3.4）与DIN质量浓度呈显著正相关,用这两个因子建立DIN质量浓度的回归模型,R^2都达到0．7以上,相对精度达70％左右,最终选择因子F11（3.4）的线性模型反演该海域的DIN质量浓度,其结果与实际情况非常吻合。     

水样中氮磷营养盐的短期保存技术研究

用8种保存方法对淡水和海水水样中四个氮磷营养盐（NH3-N、NO3—N、NO3-N、PO4—P）参数及总氮的稳定性进行了7d保存效果的比较研究。结果表明,淡水与海水氮磷营养盐的最佳保存方法与效果各不相同,但淡水和海水的总氮值在各种方法保存下均十分恒定。综合考虑有效性及可操作性后提出了5d内的短期保存技术：（1）海水水样用5‰氯仿4℃条件下保存,供NH3-N、NO2—N和N03-N三个营养盐的测定,用5‰甲醛4℃条件下保存供PO4-P测定;（2）淡水用5‰氯仿4℃条件下保存,供NH3-N测定,5‰甲醛4℃条件保存供NO2-N、NO3-N和PO4-P测定。     

祁连山亚高山灌丛林叶面积指数与冠层氮、磷的关系

氮和磷作为植物体内重要的生命元素,在植物群落的生长发育过程中发挥着重要的作用。为了明确祁连山亚高山灌丛林叶面积指数与冠层氮、磷之间的关系,本文通过对祁连山亚高山灌丛林不同植被类型(箭叶锦鸡儿、高山吉拉柳、金露梅)及不同放牧处理(羊群、牦牛,未放牧)条件下灌丛群落的叶面积指数(LAI)与叶片氮积累量(TFN)、叶片磷积累量(TFP)比较发现,在整个亚高山灌丛群落中,LAI与TFN和TFP之间都有较强的相关性,并且TFN和TFP比值的变化表明不同植被类型叶片的生长都受到N、P的共同限制,只是随着LAI的增加,高山吉拉柳主要受到氮素的限制,箭叶锦鸡儿主要受到磷素的限制,而金露梅则受到N、P的共同限制;在不同放牧条件下,单位面积LAI对应的TFN的值较高而TFP的值较低,说明动物通过对植被的啃食可能会改变群落的模式,在一定程度上限制磷的摄入。LAI、N、P之间的耦合关系表明了亚高山灌丛群落的LAI在物种组成、放牧和冠层密度上存在差异,但仍然受到N和P的约束。研究结果有利于探索水分限制条件下祁连山灌丛林生态系统植物叶片与养分元素之间关系,对于研究干旱区高寒灌丛生态系统在全球气候变化中的作用及其对全球气候变化的响应与反馈,具有重要的理论价值和实践意义。     

黑河流域土地利用变化对土壤有机碳和全氮储量的影响——元分析（英文）

Land use and cover change(LUCC) is an important indicator of the human-earth system under climate/environmental change,which also serves as a key impact factor of carbon balance,and a major source/sink of soil carbon cycles.The Heihe River Basin(HRB) is known as a typical ecologically fragile area in the arid/semi-arid regions of northwestern China,which makes it more sensitive to the LUCC.However,its sensitivity varies in a broad range of controlling factors,such as soil layers,LUCCs and calculation methods(e.g.the fixed depth method,FD,and the equivalent mass method,ESM).In this study,we performed a meta-analysis to assess the response of soil organic carbon(SOC) and total nitrogen(TN) storage to the LUCC as well as method bias based on 383 sets of SOC data and 148 sets of TN data from the HRB.We first evaluated the calculation methods and found that based on the FD method,the LUCC caused SOC and TN storage to decrease by 17.39% and 14.27%,respectively;while the losses estimated using the ESM method were 19.31% and 18.52%,respectively.The deviations between two methods were mainly due to the fact that the FD method ignores the heterogeneity of soil bulk density(BD),which may underestimate the results subsequently.We then analyzed the response of SOC and TN storage to various types of the LUCC.In particular,when woodland and grassland were converted into cultivated land or other land types,SOC and TN suffered from heavy losses,while other LUCCs had minor influences.Finally,we showed that increasing the depth of the soil layers would reduce the losses of SOC and TN storage.In summary,we identified a series of controlling factors(e.g.soil layer,the LUCC and calculation method) to evaluate the impact of the LUCC on SOC and TN storage in the HRB,which should be considered in future research.     

Base cation concentrations in forest litter and topsoil have different responses to climate and tree species along elevational gradients

The forest litter is an essential reservoir of nutrients in forests, supplying a large part of absorbable base cations(BC) to topsoil, and facilitating plant growth within litter-soil system. To characterize elevational patterns of base cation concentrations in the forest litter and topsoil, and explore the effects of climate and tree species, we measured microclimate and collected the forest litter and topsoil(0-10 cm) samples across an elevational range of more than 2000 m(1243 ～ 3316 m a.s.l.),and analyzed the concentrations of BC in laboratory. Results showed that: 1) litter Ca concentration displayed a hump-shaped pattern along the elevational gradients, but litter K and Mg showed saddle-shaped patterns. Soil Ca concentration increased with elevation, while soil K and Mg had no significant changes. 2) Ca concentration in the forest litter under aspen(Populus davidiana) was significantly higher than that in all other species, but in topsoil, Ca concentration was higher under coniferous larch and fir(Larix chinensis and Abies fargesii). Litter K and Mg concentrations was higher under coniferous larch and fir, whereas there were nosignificant differences among tree species in the concentrations of K and Mg in topsoil. 3) Climatic factors including mean annual temperature(MAT), growing season precipitation(GSP) and non-growing season precipitation(NGSP) determined BC concentrations in the forest litter and topsoil. Soil C/N and C/P also influenced BC cycling between litter and soil. Observation along elevations within different tree species implies that above-ground tree species can redistribute below-ground cations, and this process is profoundly impacted by climate. Litter and soil Ca, K and Mg with different responses to environmental variables depend on their soluble capacity and mobile ability.     

Understanding the Past and Present and Predicting the Future: Farmers’ Use of Multiple Nutrient Best Management Practices in the Upper Midwest

Understanding what drives farmers’ voluntary adoption of nutrient and soil best management practices has important consequences for many environmental outcomes including water quality. We build on research revealing the need for simultaneous use of multiple nitrogen best management practices to achieve water quality improvement goals. Using social, economic and attitudinal variables we predict the use of multiple nitrogen best management practices at three time points: current use (2013), past use (before 2013), and likelihood of use on their largest field in the next three years. Our empirical analysis uses structural equation modeling with latent variables and 2014 farmer survey data from three Midwestern US states. Most farmers in our sample used at least one of the six best management practices. Our results reveal that farmers’ attitudes, use of information sources, and conservation program participation affect the number of nitrogen best management practices concurrently in use at multiple time points.