Salt Marsh Diking and Restoration: Biogeochemical Implications of Altered Wetland Hydrology

Experimental short-term desalination and drainage of salt marsh cores in greenhouse microcosms caused Spartina production to increase after one growing season, reflecting decreased salt stress and sulfide toxicity. However, production thereafter declined, likely due to pyrite oxidation and acidification in drained treatments and sulfide accumulation in waterlogged treatments. A survey of longer-term (decadal) effects of diking on peat composition of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, USA, marshes revealed acidification, Fe(II) mobilization, and decreased organic content in drained sites. Despite the aerobic decomposition of organic matter, abundant nutrients remained as sorbed NH₄ and mineral-bound PO₄. In diked, seasonally waterlogged sites, porewater alkalinity, sulfide, ammonium and orthophosphate were much lower, and organic solids higher, than in adjacent natural marsh. Seawater was added to cores from diked marshes to study the effects of tidal restoration. Salination of the drained peat increased porewater pH, alkalinity, ammonium, orthophosphate, Fe, and Al; copious ammonium N, and Fe(II) for sulfide precipitation favored Spartina growth. Salination of diked–waterlogged peat increased sulfate reduction and caused 6–8 cm of sediment subsidence. The resulting increase in porewater sulfides and waterlogging decreased vigor of transplanted Spartina alterniflora. Results indicate that seawater restoration should proceed cautiously to avoid nutrient loading of surface waters in drained sites or sulfide toxicity in diked–waterlogged marshes.     

Characterization of the genes involved in nitrogen cycling in wastewater treatment plants using DNA microarray and most probable number-PCR

To improve nitrogen removal performance of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), it is essential to understand the behavior of nitrogen cycling communities, which comprise various microorganisms. This study characterized the quantity and diversity of nitrogen cycling genes in various processes of municipal WWTPs by employing two molecular-based methods:most probable number-polymerase chain reaction (MPN-PCR) and DNA microarray. MPN-PCR analysis revealed that gene quantities were not statistically different among processes, suggesting that conventional activated sludge processes (CAS) are similar to nitrogen removal processes in their ability to retain an adequate population of nitrogen cycling microorganisms. Furthermore, most processes in the WWTPs that were researched shared a pattern:the nirS and the bacterial amoA genes were more abundant than the nirK and archaeal amoA genes, respectively. DNA microarray analysis revealed that several kinds of nitrification and denitrification genes were detected in both CAS and anaerobic-oxic processes (AO), whereas limited genes were detected in nitrogen removal processes. Results of this study suggest that CAS maintains a diverse community of nitrogen cycling microorganisms; moreover, the microbial communities in nitrogen removal processes may be specific.

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Ecological processes and sustainability

SUMMARY

Ecology has developed from its position as an obscure science to being at the interface of science and public policy. The impact of mankind can be described in ecological terms relating to population size, energy use and non-renewability. Sustainable development needs to be addressed on the basis of knowledge of ecological processes which maintain the environment in a state of change; the processes need to be conserved, not maintained in any particular state. Recent advances in the understanding of ecological processes are reviewed to highlight the potential contribution of this knowledge to the development of a sustainable policy. At the level of the population the significance of considering the extinction risks in the framework of spatio-temporal dynamics is now established indicating opportunities for planning land use more precisely to sustain biodiversity. Whilst the maintenance of habitats is generally the key to the persistence of biodiversity, they must be viewed as ever-changing mosaics within which cycles of succession, best described by Markovian sets of probabilities, are occurring continually. The extent to which these probabilities are distorted will determine whether the ecosystem returns to the same system or moves to a novel one. At the global level, biogeochemical cycles have a certain flexibility in relation to fluxes and stocks, hence pollution must be defined by relating the flow rate of the substance to this flexibility, which often permits the accommodation of anthropogenic perturbations. Non-sustainable processes can be defined in ecological terms, thus providing functional definitions of a sustainable policy and of sustainable development.     

不同类型生态浮床对富营养河水脱氮效果及微生物菌群的影响

通过设施大棚内容积为1.5 m3的人工模拟池试验,研究了框式与传统旱伞草浮床对富营养河水氮素转化及微生物菌群的影响. 传统浮床是以聚乙烯泡沫板为载体,栽植陆生植物来削减水体氮磷和有机物质等,从而达到净化水质的效果. 框式浮床是以塑料镂空支架为载体,除种植陆生植物外还添加填料等组件的新型浮床. 结果表明:①2种浮床对水体中TN,NH₄+-N和NO₃--N均有显著的去除效果,其中框式浮床和传统浮床的NH₄+-N去除率分别高达91%和86%,TN去除率也分别达到74%和64%,NO₃--N去除率分别为49%和31%. ②2种浮床系统有效地提高了水体中微生物和氮循环细菌总数和种群数量,尤其是框式浮床不同时期均比空白对照高出2～3个数量级. ③氮循环细菌的数量跟水体氮素去除有显著相关性. 其中水体ρ(NH₄+-N)和氨化菌数量呈显著正相关,ρ(NH₄+-N)和硝化菌数量呈极显著负相关,ρ(NO₃--N),ρ(TN)和反硝化菌数量之间呈极显著负相关. ④框式浮床的独特结构使之比传统浮床的去氮能力更强. 其中,填料系统吸附贡献率为8%,植物吸收的去氮贡献为16.5%,微生物系统脱氮则为75.5%;而传统浮床植物系统吸收贡献率为31.8%,微生物系统脱氮贡献率为68.2%. 说明浮床系统中植物吸收只是系统去氮的一种途径,微生物脱氮在2种浮床脱氮途径中占主导作用.      

An ecosystem model for estimating potential shellfish culture production in sheltered coastal waters

A generic ecosystem model has been developed for estimating the potential production of shellfish culture and the effect of that cultivation on the pelagic ecosystem in sheltered coastal waters. The model describes the dynamics of a simple food web, nutrient cycling and growth of shellfish. The design of the model is closely tied to the temporal and spatial scales that are important in determining the sustainable production level for a particular embayment. The pelagic ecosystem, mussel energetics, population dynamics and hydrodynamics are coupled to allow fully dynamic predictions of the effect of the shellfish density. When applied to Beatrix Bay, an intensive culture embayment in the Pelorus Sound of New Zealand, the model successfully captured main features of the observed system behaviour. The hydrodynamic regime of the bay controls mussel growth and production. Although high fluxes of water into the bay suppress nutrient and carbon cycling signals in the system, the model simulations demonstrated that the mussel cultivation can have considerable effects on the ecosystem of the bay including food depletion and nutrient cycling. One of the most obvious effects is nutrient enhancement through mussel excretion at low cultivation densities, which promotes primary production particularly during the N-limitation period in summer. The sensitivity analysis identified uncertainty in some parameters and indicated areas for which experimental studies could lead to model improvement. The modelling exercise has established a primary predictive tool for managing mussel aquaculture of a coastal embayment to estimate relationships between the stock level and the growth rate of mussels, and the potentially achievable harvest and stocking density.     

Biogeochemical model (BGC-ES) and its basin-level application for evaluating ecosystem services under forest management practices

It is important for humans to live in harmony with ecosystems. Evaluation of ecosystem services (ES) may be helpful in achieving this objective. In Japan, forest ecosystems need to be re-evaluated to prevent their degradation due to lack of forest management.In order to evaluate the effects of forest management on forest ES, we developed a process-based biogeochemical model to estimate water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles in forest ecosystems (BGC-ES). This model consists of four submodels: biomass, water cycle, carbon-nitrogen (CN) cycles, and forest management. The biomass submodel can calculate growth of forest biomass under forest managements.Several parameters of the model were calibrated using data from observations of evapotranspiration flux and quality of stream flow in forests. The model results were compared with observations of runoff water from a dam catchment site and with carbon flux observations.Our model was coupled with a basin-level GIS database of forests. Evaluations under various forest management scenarios were carried out for forests in a basin contained in the Ise Bay basin (Chubu region, Japan), where plantations (artificial forests) seemed to have degraded from poor forest management.Comparing our simulation results with those of forests without management in the basin, we found that the amounts of absorbed carbon and runoff were larger in managed forests. In addition, the volume of harvested timber was larger and its quality (diameter) was better in managed forests. Changes of ES within the various scenarios were estimated for their economic value and were compared with the cost of forest management.     

典型喀斯特城市湖库溶解性有机质成分特征及来源解析

为探索喀斯特城市湖库溶解性有机质（DOM）成分特征及来源信息,以我国贵阳市重要喀斯特湖库——红枫湖、百花湖、松柏山水库和阿哈水库为研究对象,分析了表层水体溶解性有机碳（DOC）、叶绿素a（Chla）和DOM光学参数(a₂₅₄、a₂₈₀、a₃₅₀、 E2∶E3、S_275-295、 FI、β:α、 BIX、 HIX)的空间差异,同时利用荧光吸收峰（B、 T、 A、 M、 C、 D、 N）和三维荧光平行因子分析（EEM-PARAFAC）解释DOM各成分丰度及占比状况,并运用Spearman相关分析及主成分分析（PCA）揭示DOM参数的相关性和主要环境过程.结果表明,喀斯特城市湖库ρ（DOC）和ρ（Chla）范围分别为4.24～11.9 mg·L^-1和0.32～19.7μg·L^-1,松柏山水库腐殖质(a₂₅₄)和芳香类蛋白质(a₂₈₀)较高,导致相对分子质量(E2∶E3和S_275-295)高于其它湖...     

Herbivores enable plant survival under nutrient limited conditions in a model grazing system

We make a theoretical study of nitrogen cycling in a model of a grazing system with five compartments. The rates of uptake of nutrient by plants and herbivores are allowed nonlinear forms which involve no a priori assumptions about whether the system is subject to top-down or bottom-up control. We derive a method of piecewise linear approximation which allows analytical study of the system. We then use this method to investigate the properties of the equilibrium states of the system, and in particular whether the system favours donor- or recipient-control, the grazing optimization problem, and the potential benefits of herbivory to plant growth. We are able to generalise our results to all uptake functions of the same qualitative class as those considered, and to show that in general the system will tend to a stable equilibrium state of donor-controlled herbivory. In this model, the presence of the ‘right’ class of herbivore is not only beneficial to plant growth in certain circumstances, but can be essential to their survival, allowing plants to co-exist with herbivores under conditions in which they would be unable to survive alone.     

金水河流域矿物元素生物地球化学交换模式

通过对金水河流域矿物元素生物地球化学交换模式的研究,得到以下结论：（1）在不同空间位置的矿物元素对河水的水质贡献率不相同。河水成分贡献主要来源于硅酸盐风化,在金水河流域生态系统不同空间位置矿物元素对河水水质贡献率方程为：YRiverwater=0.242＋0.203 XRain＋0172 XLitter＋0.471 XSoilwater（r2=0.55）。（2）固-液相界面（土壤-土壤水溶液）离子交换过程拟合表明：离子交换过程符合二、三次曲线模型。（3）区域内碳酸盐岩含较少的Na＋和K＋,且受酸雨等影响。Na＋在土壤-土壤溶液之间的分配行为可能加重土壤盐碱化的趋势。土壤和枯枝落叶层HCO3-和TDS值均处于稳定的范围内。（4）输入性污染分析表明,流域内土壤基本表现出物理性质改善;但却表现出贫养化和生物地球化学性质恶化的极化趋势。人为活动输入污染物影响显著,在全球变化背景下,酸雨和干旱加剧了水溶液组成的变化。     

曝气复氧对底泥氮素生物地球化学循环影响的作用机制研究

通过分析底泥氮污染物释放规律和转化过程,以及底泥生境、氮形态变化和氮循环功能微生物群落结构变化的规律,探讨了不同曝气复氧条件影响底泥氮生物地球化学循环的生物代谢、物理化学联合作用的机制。结果表明：曝气复氧对底泥中氮的生物地球化学循环影响是一个包括微生物代谢作用和物理化学作用的复杂联合作用过程。水体好氧环境的改变主要引起参与底泥氮循环的硝化、亚硝化和反硝化功能菌群群落结构的演变,对异养菌和氨化菌的影响不大,证明环境好氧条件的改变对底泥有机质生物分解产生氨氮的微生物代谢过程影响不大,主要对底泥释放的氨氮硝化、反硝化等生物转化过程产生大的影响。不同溶解氧条件下,底泥释放的氮素在微生物作用下主要以NH4＋-N和NO3--N的形式进入试验体系,并在特定的氧化还原电位（临界值-200 mV）和pH（临界值6.70）条件下通过物理化学作用在底泥中以离子交换态氮（IEF-N）、碳酸盐结合态氮（CF-N）、铁锰氧化态氮（IMOF-N）及有机态和硫化物结合态氮（OSF-N）等不同形态氮相互转化,同时,在氮的转化和循环过程中部分输入上覆水体。在低溶解氧组实验条件下[ρ（DO）〈0.5 mg.L-1],底泥向水体输出氮总量为底泥可转化态氮的19.7%,主要为氨氮,最大释放速率达到289.13 mg.m-2.d-1,释放的质量浓度可达到18.8 mg.L-1;好氧条件下（DO饱和）,底泥向水体输出氮总量为底泥可转化态氮的1.8%;好氧-缺氧条件下为11.7%,主要以N2的形式释出系统。