Anoxic nitrification: Evidence from Humber Estuary sediments (UK)

Conventional understanding of the nitrogen cycle in marine sediments has changed in recent years with the discovery of an alternative pathway for ammonia oxidation via the reduction of manganese oxides (during anoxic nitrification). In anoxic sediments, the potential for manganese oxides to serve as oxidant for nitrification may be considerable yet previous work on manganese-rich sediments has suggested anoxic nitrification may not be significant. In this study, the potential for anoxic nitrification in a range of sediment types was investigated. Laboratory incubation of sediment from three sites on the Humber Estuary, a microbially diverse environment, showed anoxic accumulation of nitrate, nitrite and dinitrogen gas, with and without the addition of synthetic manganese oxides. Incubation experiments confirmed anoxic nitrification as microbially mediated, with heat-killed controls yielding negative results. The anoxic nitrification reaction significantly depleted ammonia concentrations, and occurred simultaneously with manganese-, iron- and sulphate reduction, and methanogenesis. Taken in conjunction with other studies, results suggest anoxic nitrification may not only be dependent on total manganese concentrations but on manganese dynamics. Anoxic nitrification may be explained as a non-steady state reaction, dependent on the recent stability of a sediment system. Physical perturbation of sediments may cause the redistribution and/or introduction of manganese oxides and promote anoxic nitrification. The significance and persistence of anoxic nitrification is likely to depend on the frequency and magnitude of sediment perturbation, which explains why the reaction varies so widely across studied sites, and why it may not occur in some manganese-rich sediment.     

15N示踪-离子质谱法测定新生产力的研究

本文提出了~(15)N示踪-离子质谱法实测新生产力的方法,并于1991年11月—1992年5月结合胶州湾现场调查的实际样品,对示踪剂量、培养时间、样品贮存、消解剂量和时间、铵离子的扩散吸收,以及方法的空白值、检出限、精密度和准确度等进行了实验研究。结果表明,该法具有较高的精密度和良好的准确度,与经典的气体质谱法相比,还具有进样量少以及可同时分析~(15)N丰度、总氮浓度和水中铵离子浓度等特点,对于含氮量极低、铵氮再生迅速的海洋环境中新生产力的研究,具有特殊的意义。     

黄、渤海无机氮的收支模式初探

根据黄、渤海无机氮的收支状况，首次提出了黄、渤海无机氮的稳态收支模式。模式研究结果表明，大气沉降、陆源输入和海底输入的无机氮通量分别占黄、渤海无机氮浮游植物总需求量的3%、4%和12%。无机氮的外部输入约占总需求量的1/5，其他部分则由水柱中的内部再循环（再生）供给。     

水中总氮的紫外分光光度分析法

本文采取K_2 S_2O_8氧化法,研究了氧化条件、紫外分光光度法测定总氮的最佳条件以及可能产生的干扰及消除方法。利用本法测定天然水中总氮回收率100±2％,检出限为0.010mg·dm~(-3)。方法快速准确,与Kjedahl法相比可提高工效27倍。     

珠江口水体的三氮特征

本文据珠江口周年(1987年2月至1988年2月)调查资料,分析了珠江口桂山岛附近海域的三氮变化规律,讨论了三氮之间的相互关系,通量和停留时间以及各种因素对三氮的影响。结果表明:珠江河口水中三氮的时空分布具有夏、冬季含量高,春、秋季含量低,并随向外海方向递减的特点;三氮之间的关系可分别用倒指数方程Y=exp(A+B/X)的数学模式描述;NH_4-N,NO_3-N,NO_2-N的通量和停留时间分别为33.9,401.0,15.8g·atN/s和3.84,3.96,4.41d。     

超过例外氧暴露时限的空气巡回潜水实验中若干生理功能的观察

17名潜水员安全地进行了55人次超过美国海军例外氧暴露时限1.5—3倍的空气巡回潜水实验。生理功能观察和肺活量测定结果表明,在水深70m以浅,潜水员均保持了相当好的智力和操作能力,在连续3d 3倍氧暴露时限的巡潜后期,只有3人肺活量下降,且在次日测定时已见恢复,表明上述暴露是安全的。美国海军例外氧暴露时限中对于70m以浅空气暴露的相应规定显得保守。     

Down to Earth: Contextualizing the Anthropocene

The ‘Anthropocene’ is now being used as a conceptual frame by different communities and in a variety of contexts to understand the evolving human–environment relationship. However, as we argue in this paper, the notion of an Anthropos, or ‘humanity’, as global, unified ‘geological force’ threatens to mask the diversity and differences in the actual conditions and impacts of humankind, and does not do justice to the diversity of local and regional contexts. For this reason, we interpret in this article the notion of an Anthropocene in a more context-dependent, localized and social understanding. We do this through illustrating examples from four issue domains, selected for their variation in terms of spatial and temporal scale, systems of governance and functional interdependencies: nitrogen cycle distortion (in particular as it relates to food security); ocean acidification; urbanization; and wildfires. Based on this analysis, we systematically address the consequences of the lens of the Anthropocene for the governance of social-ecological systems, focusing on the multi-level, functional and sectoral organization of governance, and possible redefinitions of governance systems and policy domains. We conclude that the notion of the Anthropocene, once seen in light of social inequalities and regional differences, allows for novel analysis of issue-based problems in the context of a global understanding, in both academic and political terms. This makes it a useful concept to help leverage and (re-)focus our efforts in a more innovative and effective way to transition towards sustainability.     

Confronting the nitrogen challenge: Options for governance and target setting

The release of excessive anthropogenic nitrogen contributes to global climate change, biodiversity loss, and the degradation of ecosystem services. Despite being an urgent global problem, the excess nitrogen is not governed globally. This paper considers possible governance options for dealing with excessive nitrogen through target setting, which is an approach commonly adopted to address global environmental problems. The articulation of the nitrogen problem and the numerous international institutions dealing with it, provide evidence of a nitrogen regime characterised by limited coordination and targets covering sources and impacts only partially. This calls for improving the nitrogen governance in the direction of more integrated approaches at the global scale. In this vein, the paper investigates two opposite governance options – here labelled as ‘holistic’ and ‘origin-based’ – and evaluates them for their capability to define solutions and targets for human-induced nitrogen. From the analysis, it emerges that origin-based solutions can be preferable to holistic solutions as they can be more specific and potentially have greater immediate results. Independent from which governance arrangement is chosen, what matters most is the speed at which an arrangement can deploy solutions to combat (fast-growing) nitrogen pollution.     

Global distribution of summer chlorophyll blooms in the oligotrophic gyres

Chlorophyll blooms consistently develop in the oligotrophic NE Pacific in late summer, isolated from land masses and sources of higher chlorophyll waters. These blooms are potentially driven by nitrogen fixation, or by vertically migrating phytoplankton, and a better understanding of their ubiquity could improve our estimate of the global nitrogen fixation rate. Here, global SeaWiFS chlorophyll data from 1997 to 2007 are examined to determine if similar blooms occur in other oligotrophic gyres. Our analysis revealed blooms in five other areas. Two of these are regions where blooms have been previously identified: the SW Pacific and off the southern tip of Madagascar. Previously, unnoticed summer blooms were also identified in the NE and SW Atlantic and in a band along 10°S in the Indian Ocean. There is considerable variation in the intensity and frequency of blooms in the different regions, occurring the least frequently in the Atlantic Ocean. The blooms that develop along 10°S in the Indian Ocean are unique in that they are clearly associated with a hydrographic feature, the 10°S thermocline ridge, which explains the bloom within a conventional upwelling scenario. The environment and timing of the blooms, developing in oligotrophic waters in late summer, are conducive to both nitrogen fixers and vertically migrating phytoplankton, which require a relatively stable water column. However, the specific locations of the chlorophyll blooms generally do not coincide with areas of maximum levels of nitrogen fixation or Trichodesmium. The NE Pacific chlorophyll blooms develop in a region with a very high SiO₄/NO₃ ratio, where silicate will not be a limiting nutrient for diatoms. The blooms often develop between eddies, wrapping around the periphery of anti-cyclonic features. However, none of the areas where the blooms develop have particularly high eddy kinetic energy, from either a basin-scale or a mesoscale perspective, suggesting that other factors, such as interactions with a front or dynamics associated with the critical latitude, operate in conjunction with the eddy field to produce the observed blooms.     

温度、氮浓度和氮磷比对长心卡帕藻(Kappaphycus alvarezii)吸收氮速率的影响

分别在室内培养箱、海滨室外跑道池和不同自然海区,通过一次性和半连续添加营养、以及检测海区水质和藻体生长的方法,研究了不同氮浓度、温度和氮磷比条件下,长心卡帕藻氮吸收速率的变化和氮吸收速率随时间变化,以及栽培该藻的环境生态贡献。小型实验、中试放大和海区规模栽培结果表明:(1)在10—50μmol/L范围内,该藻吸收氮速率随氮浓度增加而增大;(2)当氮浓度一定时,氮磷比在1—50范围内对该藻吸收氮速率没有产生显著影响(P>0.05);(3)温度对该藻吸收氮速率有显著影响(P<0.05),其中温度在28℃时氮的吸收速率最高;(4)尽管一次性添加营养实验中长心卡帕藻吸收氮速率随时间变化表现出先快后慢的趋势,但是进一步的半连续添加营养实验证实,导致吸收速率下降系底物氮浓度限制,而不是藻本身吸收能力下降,结果还显示卡帕藻具有连续吸收同化无机氮能力;在自然光温度变化和不受底物浓度限制条件下,该藻藻体去除无机氮效率最大维持在0.3μmol/(gFW·h);(5)海南陵水黎安海湾水质数据显示,栽培该藻去除海水富营养化和净化水质作用显著,其去除海水富营养化的年贡献为33t氮素。