The effects of trophic interactions and spatial competition on algal community composition on Hawaiian coral reefs

Much of coral reef ecology has focused on how human impacts change coral reefs to macroalgal reefs. However, macroalgae may not always be a good indicator of reef decline, especially on reefs with significant sea urchin populations, as found in Kenya and Hawaii. This study tests the effects of trophic interactions (i.e. herbivory by fishes and sea urchins) and spatial competition (between algae and coral) on algal community structure of reefs surrounding two Hawaiian Islands that vary in their level of human impacts. Reef‐building organisms (corals and crustose coralline algae) were less abundant and turf algae were more abundant on Maui as compared to Lanai, where human impacts are lower. In contrast to previous studies, we found no evidence that macroalgae increased with human impacts. Instead, low turf and macroalgal abundance were best explained by the interactive effects of coral cover and sea urchin abundance. Fishing sea urchin predators appeared to have cascading effects on the benthic community. The absence of sea urchin predators and high sea urchin densities correspond to a disproportionately high abundance of turf and crustose coralline algae. We propose that high turf algal abundance is a better indicator of reef decline in Hawaii than high macroalgal abundance because turf abundance was highest on reefs with low coral cover and few fish. The results of this study emphasize that understanding changes in community composition are context‐dependent and that not all degraded reefs look the same.     

Behandlung von anilinhaltigem Abwasser mit Fentons Reagenz Treatment of Aniline Containing Waste Water by Fenton's Reagent

A chemical-physical method for treatment of aniline containing waste water was developed. At the chemical stage aniline is polymerized by Fenton's reagent. Thus insoluble polyaniline precipitates. The best reaction conditions are: pH-value of 2–3, stepwise dosing of 60 mL H₂O₂ (30%) and 12 mL saturated FeSO₄-solution per litre waste water. The molar ratio Fe(II): H₂O₂ amounts to 0.3:10. The concentration of aniline is reduced by this chemical treatment from about 20 g/L to 30–40 mg/L. By adsorption at activated charcoal the concentration of aniline can be reduced further to 0.2 mg/L. The resulting sludge can easily be dewatered in a chamber filter press.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711400108X

We present three 3D numerical models of deep subduction where buoyant material from an oceanic plateau and a plume interact with the overriding plate to assess the influence on subduction dynamics,trench geometry,and mechanisms for plateau accretion and continental growth.Transient instabilities of the convergent margin are produced,resulting in:contorted trench geometry;trench migration parallel with the plate margin;folding of the subducting slab and orocline development at the convergent margin;and transfer of the plateau to the overriding plate.The presence of plume material beneath the oceanic plateau causes flat subduction above the plume,resulting in a "bowed" shaped subducting slab.In plateau-only models,plateau accretion at the edge of the overriding plate results in trench migration around the edge of the plateau before subduction is re-established directly behind the trailing edge of the plateau.The plateau shortens and some plateau material subducts.The presence of buoyant plume material beneath the oceanic plateau has a profound influence on the behaviour of the convergent margin.In the plateau + plume model,plateau accretion causes rapid trench advance.Plate convergence is accommodated by shearing at the base of the plateau and shortening in the overriding plate.The trench migrates around the edge of the plateau and subduction is re-established well behind the trailing edge of the plateau,effectively embedding the plateau into the overriding plate.A slab window forms beneath the accreted plateau and plume material is transferred from the subducting plate to the overriding plate through the window.In all of the models,the subduction zone maintains a relatively stable configuration away from the buoyancy anomalies within the downgoing plate.The models provide a dynamic context for plateau and plume accretion in Phanerozoic accretionary orogenic systems such as the East China Orogen and the Central Asian Orogen(Altiads),which are characterised by accreted ophiolite complexes with diverse geochemical affinities,and a protracted evolution of accretion of exotic terranes including oceanic plateau and terranes with plume origins.     

The STAGES view of red spirals and dusty red galaxies: mass-dependent quenching of star formation in cluster infall

We investigate the properties of optically passive spirals and dusty red galaxies in the A901/2 cluster complex at redshift ∼0.17 using rest-frame near-ultraviolet–optical spectral energy distributions, 24-μm infrared data and Hubble Space Telescope morphologies from the STAGES data set. The cluster sample is based on COMBO-17 redshifts with an rms precision of  σ _cz ≈ 2000 km s⁻¹  . We find that 'dusty red galaxies' and 'optically passive spirals' in A901/2 are largely the same phenomenon, and that they form stars at a substantial rate, which is only four times lower than that in blue spirals at fixed mass. This star formation is more obscured than in blue galaxies and its optical signatures are weak. They appear predominantly in the stellar mass range of  log  M _*/M_⊙=[10, 11]  where they constitute over half of the star-forming galaxies in the cluster; they are thus a vital ingredient for understanding the overall picture of star formation quenching in clusters. We find that the mean specific star formation rate (SFR) of star-forming galaxies in the cluster is clearly lower than in the field, in contrast to the specific SFR properties of blue galaxies alone, which appear similar in cluster and field. Such a rich red spiral population is best explained if quenching is a slow process and morphological transformation is delayed even more. At  log  M _*/M_⊙ < 10  , such galaxies are rare, suggesting that their quenching is fast and accompanied by morphological change. We note that edge-on spirals play a minor role; despite being dust reddened they form only a small fraction of spirals independent of environment.     

The dark matter environment of the Abell 901/902 supercluster: a weak lensing analysis of the HST STAGES survey

We present a high-resolution dark matter reconstruction of the   z = 0.165  Abell 901/902 supercluster from a weak lensing analysis of the Hubble Space Telescope STAGES survey. We detect the four main structures of the supercluster at high significance, resolving substructure within and between the clusters. We find that the distribution of dark matter is well traced by the cluster galaxies, with the brightest cluster galaxies marking out the strongest peaks in the dark matter distribution. We also find a significant extension of the dark matter distribution of Abell 901a in the direction of an infalling X-ray group Abell 901α. We present mass, mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio measurements of the structures and substructures that we detect. We find no evidence for variation of the mass-to-light and mass-to-stellar mass ratio between the different clusters. We compare our space-based lensing analysis with an earlier ground-based lensing analysis of the supercluster to demonstrate the importance of space-based imaging for future weak lensing dark matter 'observations'.     

Algal δ15N values detect a wastewater effluent plume in nearshore and offshore surface waters and three-dimensionally model the plume across a coral reef on Maui, Hawai'i, USA

The coral reef at Kahekili, Maui is located ~300 m south of the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility which uses four Class V injection wells to dispose of 3-5 million gallons of wastewater effluent daily. Prior research documented that the wastewater effluent percolates into the nearshore region of Kahekili. To determine if the wastewater effluent was detectable in the surface waters offshore, we used algal bioassays from the nearshore region to 100 m offshore and throughout the water column from the surface to the benthos. These algal bioassays documented that significantly more wastewater effluent was detected in the surface rather than the benthic waters and allowed us to generate a three-dimensional model of the wastewater plume in the Kahekili coastal region. Samples located over freshwater seeps had the highest δ(15)N values (~30-35‰) and the effluent was detected in surface samples 500 m south and 100 m offshore of the freshwater seeps (~8-11‰).     

International Collaborations In Geodesy Advance Geoscience Research

UNAVCO supports geoscience research at 113 US academic Member institutions,and another 104 Associate Member institutions include international universities,laboratories,observatories,academies of science,and a museum.This diverse membership shares UNAVCO’s purpose at home and abroad,giving UNAVCO global reach in advancing geodesy.Since the mid-1980s,modern geodesy has evolved into a cutting-edge,multi-faceted toolbox with remarkably diverse research and real-world applications,including studies and observation or forecasting of solid-Earth hazards,the dynamics of the atmosphere,climate,near-Earth space environment,and of key environmental parameters such as water storage,soil moisture,and seaand lake-level changes.UNAVCO operates facilities on behalf of the U.S.National Science Foundation to support investigators who use geodetic tools across all of these Earth and atmospheric domains.UNAVCO has built a number of large dense regional networks of GPS stations,including the Earth Scope Plate Boundary Observatory in North America,the COCONetCaribbean network,TLALOCNet in Mexico,GNET in Greenland,and ANET in Antarctica.Going forward,UNAVCO plans to federate the Plate Boundary Observatory(USA),TLALOCNet(Mexico),and COCONet(Caribbean)GPS networks as the Network of the Americas,with upgrades to state-of-the-art,multi-sensor,multi-GNSS observations.While UNAVCO community scientists actively engage in using space and terrestrial geodetic techniques to study geodynamics at all scales,this proliferation of continuous networks is the basis for a suite of recent contributions that focus on improved daily positioning to sense Earth’s elastic response and other perturbations to loading by atmospheric and surface water,oceans,and ice.Day-to-day and sub-daily variations in the GPS vertical and horizontal correlate to increasingly well-understood short-term mass variability,such as monsoonal flooding in Bangladesh,sub-daily changes in tidal loading at continent scales,day-to-day surface water and ice storage in the western U.S.,variations in the rate of GIA in Greenland across a variety of scales,and improved understanding of the inter-annual variation in sea level rise due to changes in terrestrial water storage.     

Using δN values in algal tissue to map locations and potential sources of anthropogenic nutrient inputs on the island of Maui, Hawai‘i, USA

Macroalgal blooms of Hypnea musciformis and Ulvafasciata in coastal waters of Maui only occur in areas of substantial anthropogenic nutrient input, sources of which include wastewater effluent via injection wells, leaking cesspools and agricultural fertilizers. Algal δ¹⁵N signatures were used to map anthropogenic nitrogen through coastal surveys (island-wide and fine-scale) and algal deployments along nearshore and offshore gradients. Algal δ¹⁵N values of 9.8‰ and 2.0-3.5‰ in Waiehu and across the north-central coast, respectively, suggest that cesspool and agricultural nitrogen reached the respective adjacent coastlines. Effluent was detected in areas proximal to the Wastewater Reclamation Facilities (WWRF) operating Class V injection wells in Lahaina, Kihei and Kahului through elevated algal δ¹⁵N values (17.8-50.1‰). From 1997 to 2008, the three WWRFs injected an estimated total volume of 193 million cubic meters (51 billion gallons) of effluent with a nitrogen mass of 1.74 million kilograms (3.84 million pounds).     

A wetting and drying algorithm with a combined pressure/free-surface formulation for non-hydrostatic models

A wetting and drying method for free-surface problems for the three-dimensional, non-hydrostatic Navier–Stokes equations is proposed. The key idea is to use a horizontally fixed mesh and to apply different boundary conditions on the free-surface in wet and dry zones. In wet areas a combined pressure/free-surface kinematic boundary condition is applied, while in dry areas a positive water level and a no-normal flow boundary condition are enforced. In addition, vertical mesh movement is performed to accurately represent the free-surface motion. Non-physical flow in the remaining thin layer in dry areas is naturally prevented if a Manning–Strickler bottom drag is used. The treatment of the wetting and drying processes applied through the boundary condition yields great flexibility to the discretisation used. Specifically, a fully unstructured mesh with any finite element choice and implicit time discretisation method can be applied. The resulting method is mass conservative, stable and accurate. It is implemented within Fluidity-ICOM [1] and verified against several idealized test cases and a laboratory experiment of the Okushiri tsunami.