Repertoire sharing and song-post distance in nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos B.)

Summary The relationship was studied between song-post distances and the extent of vocal repertoire sharing in 34 territorial nightingales settling in six homogeneously structured habitats. Repertoires were compared on the basis of shared song types and distances were measured between nocturnal song posts of first-order and higher-order neighbours. Our results showed that male nightingales shared fewer song types with very close and more distant neighbours than with neighbours at intermediate distances. This distribution is explained by the interaction betwee repelling and attracting components, which depends on the distance between song posts.     

The trophic position of dead autochthonous organic material and its treatment in trophic analyses

1. The importance of the recycling of organic matter for the overall carbon and nutrient flow in a food web, e.g., by the microbial loop has been recognized for pelagic and other ecosystems during the last decade. In contrast, analyses of the trophic food web structure conducted, e.g., by network analysis based on mass‐balanced flow diagrams (i.e., computation of, e.g., trophic positions and transfer efficiencies, organismal composition of trophic levels) which greatly contribute to our understanding of the flow and cycling of matter in food webs, have not yet responded adequately to this fact by developing coherent techniques with which dead organic matter and its consumers could be considered in the models. 2. At present, dead organic matter (measured in units of carbon or nutrients) is either allocated to a fixed trophic position (between zero and one), or the trophic position of dead autochthonous material depends on the trophic position of the organisms which released it. This causes partially ambiguous and inconsistent interpretations of key measures like trophic transfer efficiences and trophic positions and greatly hampers cross‐system comparisons. 3. The present paper describes and compares four different definitions of the trophic position of dead autochthonous organic material which have either been newly invented or already used. Their impact on the resulting trophic positions of individual groups is illustrated using a food web model from the pelagic zone of Lake Constance. The present analysis evaluates the partially far reaching consequences of the definition chosen, and suggests to allocate all dead organic material to the ‘zeroth’ trophic level irrespectively of its origin (allochthonous or autochthonous), chemical composition and the commodity used to quantify the food web model (e.g., units of carbon or nutrients). By this means trophic positions and trophic transfer efficiencies get a clear and consistent ecological interpretation, while inconsistencies between analyses conducted in units of carbon or nutrients and some operational problems can be overcome and cross‐system comparisons and empirical verification are facilitated.     

Conflicting processes in the wetland plant rhizosphere: Metal retention or mobilization?

Increasingly wetlands are used for treatment of metal-contaminated water or as a cover over metal-enriched mine tailings. Natural wetlands may also be contaminated with metals from anthropogenic sources. While wetland conditions tend to be favorable for immobilization of metals, wetland plants could influence metal mobility through redox and pH processes in the rhizosphere. Our current knowledge of these processes is reviewed, focusing on the question of whether the advantages of growing wetland plants in metal-contaminated sediments outweigh the disadvantages. Wetland plants alter the redox conditions, pH and organic matter content of sediments and so affect the chemical speciation and mobility of metals. Metals may be mobilized or immobilized, depending on the actual combination of factors, and it is extremely difficult to predict which effects plants will actually have on metal mobility under a given set of conditions. However, while the effects of plants can extend several tens of centimeters into the sediments, there are no reports suggesting large-scale mobilization of metals by wetland plants.     

Bacteria Degrading PCBs and CBs Isolated from Long-Term PCB Contaminated Soil

Bacteria able to degrade polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and chlorobenzoic acids (CBs) were isolated from soil that had been contaminated with PCBs for 15–30 years. Contaminated soil in which PCB content ranged between 10–470 mg/kg was naturally vegetated with different plants including ash (Fraxinus excelsior), birch (Betula pendula), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), Austrian pine (Pinus nigra) and goat willow (Salix caprea) trees as well as a variety of grasses and forbs. Bacteria able to use biphenyl as a sole source of carbon and energy were found in the root zone of all plants, but occurred in the largest numbers beneath pine and black locust. Bacteria able to degrade chlorobenzoic acids were isolated from the same location contaminated with PCBs. Strains that were taxonomically identified by 16S rDNA as Pandoraea were able to use 2-CB, 3-CB, 2,3-CB, 2,5-CB as sole carbon sources, and the strain Arthrobacter utilised 4-CB.     

A survey of zinc, copper and cadmium concentrations in salt marsh plants along the Dutch coast

In autumn 1986, plants and soil were collected from the lower and the higher salt marsh zones of salt marshes along the Dutch coast. The main purpose was to get an overview of Zn, Cu and Cd concentrations in six dominant species of salt marsh plants. The roots and shoots of the plants were analysed for Zn, Cu and Cd. The highest heavy metal concentrations were found in plants collected from salt marshes near harbour areas and/or that are known to receive contaminated fluvial sediment. Dicotyledonous plant species tended to have similar heavy metal concentrations in roots and shoots, whereas in monocotyledonous species the concentrations in the roots were two to three times higher than in the shoots. Differences in accumulation in the roots between elements and between plant species were found. Cd was accumulated more than Zn or Cu. Triglochin maritima shows a low Cd uptake by roots, whereas Spartina anglica and Scirpus maritimus tend to accumulate it. The fraction of soil particles smaller than 63 microm, loss on ignition and Zn, Cu and Cd concentrations were determined in soil samples. The highest Zn, Cu and Cd concentrations in the soil were found at salt marshes in the Western Scheldt area and were nine, five and 20 times higher than background levels, respectively.     

The impact of chemical lateral boundary conditions on CMAQ predictions of tropospheric ozone over the continental United States

A sensitivity study is performed to examine the impact of lateral boundary conditions (LBCs) on the NOAA-EPA operational Air Quality Forecast Guidance over continental USA. We examined six LBCS: the fixed profile LBC, three global LBCs, and two ozonesonde LBCs for summer 2006. The simulated results from these six runs are compared to IONS ozonesonde and surface ozone measurements from August 1 to 5, 2006. The choice of LBCs can affect the ozone prediction throughout the domain, and mainly influence the predictions in upper altitude or near inflow boundaries, such as the US west coast and the northern border. Statistical results shows that the use of global model predictions for LBCs could improve the correlation coefficients of surface ozone prediction over the US west coast, but could also increase the ozone mean bias in most regions of the domain depending on global models. In this study, the use of the MOZART (Model for Ozone And Related chemical Tracers) prediction for CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality) LBC shows a better surface ozone prediction than that with fixed LBC, especially over the US west coast. The LBCs derived from ozonesonde measurements yielded better O₃ correlations in the upper troposphere.