Effects of long-term nitrogen addition and precipitation changes on CH4 flux in an alpine steppe北大核心CSCD

土壤是甲烷(CH4)重要的源和汇.氮沉降和降水格局变化正在急剧改变土壤碳循环,进而可能对土壤CH4通量造成深刻影响.高寒生态系统是巨大的碳库,对氮沉降和降水变化十分敏感.然而,目前多数研究集中在短期实验上,缺乏对长期氮沉降和降水变化背景下CH4通量的响应及其调控因素的认识.以青藏高原高寒草原为研究对象,在2013年搭建模拟氮沉降和降水格局改变实验平台.基于静态箱–气相色谱法测定2020年生长季(5-10月)土壤CH4通量.结果显示,高寒草原土壤呈CH4的汇.氮添加没有显著改变生长季和植物生长高峰CH4通量.然而,降水变化显著改变了生长季和植物生长高峰CH4通量,其中降水增加(+50%降水)降低了CH4的吸收(分别为–16%和–45%),降水减少(–50%降水)增强了CH4的吸收(分别为+73%和+33%).进一步研究发现,与植物属性和功能基因丰度相比,土壤环境因子主导了CH4通量变化(解释率>90%).其中CH4通量与土壤含水量和温度显著正相关,与土壤pH显著负相关.综上所述,在未来全球变化情景下,降水格局改变更能调节青藏高原高寒草原CH4通量的变化.(图6表1参37)     

Empirical likelihood confidence intervals for adaptive cluster sampling

Adaptive cluster sampling (ACS) is an efficient sampling design for estimating parameters of rare and clustered populations. It is widely used in ecological research. The modified Hansen-Hurwitz (HH) and Horvitz-Thompson (HT) estimators based on small samples under ACS have often highly skewed distributions. In such situations, confidence intervals based on traditional normal approximation can lead to unsatisfactory results, with poor coverage properties. Christman and Pontius (Biometrics 56:503–510, 2000) showed that bootstrap percentile methods are appropriate for constructing confidence intervals from the HH estimator. But Perez and Pontius (J Stat Comput Simul 76:755–764, 2006) showed that bootstrap confidence intervals from the HT estimator are even worse than the normal approximation confidence intervals. In this article, we consider two pseudo empirical likelihood functions under the ACS design. One leads to the HH estimator and the other leads to a HT type estimator known as the Hájek estimator. Based on these two empirical likelihood functions, we derive confidence intervals for the population mean. Using a simulation study, we show that the confidence intervals obtained from the first EL function perform as good as the bootstrap confidence intervals from the HH estimator but the confidence intervals obtained from the second EL function perform much better than the bootstrap confidence intervals from the HT estimator, in terms of coverage rate.     

Sloughed mucus and drag-reduction in a school of Atlantic silversides,Menidia menidia

Atlantic silversides, Menidia menidia, were collected by seine-net from the Newport River estuary, North Carolina, USA and maintained in the laboratory. Direct measurement showed that the amount of mucus sloughed off individual silversides was 567 g h^-1 at a swimming speed of 50 cm s^-1. Individual M. menidia were also allowed to swim in a flowtank filled with 0, 1, and 10 ppm of the synthetic drag-reducer Polyox to determine if any changes in tailbeat frequency or amplitude could be correlated with the level of this sloughed material. Tailbeat measurements between seawater controls and either Polyox concentration did not differ significantly. Calculations based on this evidence indicate that the amount of solubilized mucus sloughed off a school of 10 000 M. menidia would be at least two orders of magnitude less than the highest concentration of Polyox tested. We conclude that solubilized mucus in the water column does not confer drag-reduction to schooling M. menidia.     

Influence of an artificial reef on the surrounding infaunal community

Artificial reefs have been constructed throughout the world, but their effects on adjacent soft-bottom communities are largely unknown. In December 1986, we investigated the influence of Pendleton Artificial Reef (PAR) in Southern California on the abundance of infauna in the surrounding sand bottom. PAR was constructed in 1980 of quarry rock placed in eight piles, or modules. The artificial reef altered the grain-size distribution of sediments around the reef; sediments close to the modules were coarser than those 10 or 20 m away from the modules. Densities of one of the two most common species, the polychaetePrionospio pygmaeus, were lower near the reef, perhaps due to foraging by reef-associated predators or because the habitat near the reef was less suitable. We found no evidence that foraging by reef-associated fishes caused a widespread reduction in infaunal densities near the reef, and in fact the other most common taxon,Spiophanes spp., had higher densities near the reef. The most conspicuous effect of the artificial reef concerned the tube-dwelling wormDiopatra ornata, which only occurred in close association with the modules. In addition, total infaunal density and the densities of decapods, echinoderms and sipunculids were higher withinD. ornata beds than outside the beds. These results indicate that the densities of some species were enhanced, and others depressed, around the reef, but that the overall effect of the artificial reef on the surrounding infauna was limited to a small area near the modules.     

Esterase heterogeneity and an investigation into racial differences in the cirripede Balanus balanoides using acrylamide gel electrophoresis

Four groups of bands showing esterase activity were found after electrophoretic separation of extracts of Balanus balanoides (L.) prosoma on polyacrylamide gels. Each group was distinguishable from other groups by mobility, reaction with specific substrates, and susceptibility to various inhibitors. Groups designated BbEII and BbEIII showed cholinesterase activity, BbEIV showed carboxylesterase activity, and BbEI possible arylesterase activity. Polymorphisms were found within Groups BbEIII and BbEI. The frequency distribution of BbEIV polymorphs in a sample from the Menai Straits, UK, fitted the Hardy-Weinberg predicted values for 4 co-dominant alleles. A sample from St. Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada, however, did not fit the Hardy-Weinberg prediction. No variation between individuals was found when malate dehydrogenase (MDH) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozymes were examined. Hence, these systems are unsuitable for testing racial differences. The results for the cholinesterase and arylesterase isozymes substantiate the view, originally based on differences in reproductive phenology and egg size, that genetically separate races exist on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.     

New aspect in seagrass acclimation: leaf mechanical properties vary spatially and seasonally in the temperate species Cymodocea nodosa Ucria (Ascherson)

Seagrasses may acclimate to environmental heterogeneity through phenotypic plasticity. In contrast to leaf morphology, which has been a central point in seagrass acclimation studies, plasticity in leaf biomechanics and fibre content is poorly understood, despite being crucial in plant ecological performance, especially regarding physical forces. We hypothesised that mechanical traits (e.g. breaking force, strength, toughness, and stiffness) and fibre content of seagrass leaves vary as morphology does under differential environments. Cymodocea nodosa was seasonally monitored at three locations around Cádiz Bay (southern Spain) with hydrodynamic regime as the most noticeable difference between them. Leaves showed plasticity in both morphology and mechanical traits, with wave-exposed individuals presenting short but extensible and tough leaves. Leaf fibre content was invariant along the year and with little spatial variability. Cross-sectional area rather than material properties or fibre content differentiates leaf mechanical resistance. Seagrass capacity to thrive under a range of mechanical forces may be dictated by their plasticity in morpho-biomechanical traits, a key element for the hydrodynamical performance and, hence, for species colonisation and distribution.     

Determination of selected fate and aquatic toxicity characteristics of acrylic acid and a series of acrylic esters

Acrylic acid, methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and butyl acrylate are commercially important and widely used materials. This paper reports the results of a series of fate and aquatic toxicity studies. The mobility in soil of acrylic acid and its esters ranged from 'medium' to 'very high'. Calculated bioconcentration factors ranged from 1 to 37, suggesting a low bioconcentration potential. Acrylic acid and methyl acrylate showed limited biodegradability in the five day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD5) test, while ethyl acrylate and butyl acrylate were degraded easily (77% and 56%, respectively). Using the OECD method 301D 28-d closed bottle test, degradability for acrylic acid was 81% at 28 days, while the acrylic esters ranged from 57% to 60%. Acrylic acid degraded rapidly to carbon dioxide in soil (t1/2 < 1 day). Toxicity tests were conducted using freshwater and marine fish, invertebrates, and algae. Acrylic acid effect concentrations for fish and invertebrates ranged from 27 to 236 mg/l. Effect concentrations (LC50 or EC50) for fish and invertebrates using methyl acrylate, ethyl acrylate, and butyl acrylate ranged from 1.1 to 8.2 mg/l. The chronic MATC for acrylic acid with Daphnia magna was 27 mg/l based on length and young produced per adult reproduction day and for ethyl acrylate was 0.29 mg/l based on both the reproductive and growth endpoints. Overall these studies show that acrylic acid and the acrylic esters studied can rapidly biodegrade, have a low potential for persistence or bioaccumulation in the environment, and have low to moderate toxicity.     

The solid-phase controls on the mobility of heavy metals at the Copper Cliff tailings area, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada

The Copper Cliff Tailings Disposal Area, located near Sudbury, Ontario, covers an area of approximately 2200 ha and constitutes more than 10% of the total area of all mine tailings in Canada. The area has been utilized since 1936, receiving sulphide-containing tailings from the Inco Sudbury operations. Field measurements of pore-gas oxygen and carbon dioxide in the vadose zone indicate that sulphide oxidation has progressed to depths of 1.6 m to 1.7 m within the tailings. The oxidation of sulphide minerals within the vadose zone, and the accompanying dissolution of carbonate and aluminosilicate minerals within these tailings releases SO₄, Fe(II) and other metals to the pore water. In the vadose and saturated zones, concentrations of Fe and Ni exceed 10100 mg/l and 2210 mg/l, respectively. These high concentrations of dissolved metals are attenuated by a series of precipitation, coprecipitation and adsorption reactions. The precipitation of secondary sulphate and hydroxide phases also create hardpan layers at or near the oxidation front. Geochemical modelling of the pore-water chemistry suggests that pH-buffering reactions are occurring within the shallow oxidized zones, and that secondary-phase precipitation is occurring at or near the underlying hardpan and transition zones. Mineralogical study of the tailings confirmed the presence of jarosite, gypsum and goethite within the shallow tailings, suggesting that these phases are controlling the dissolved concentrations of Fe, SO₄ and Ca. Extraction experiments conducted on the tailings solids indicate that the constituents contained in the water-soluble fraction of the shallow, weathered tailings are derived from the original pore water and the dissolution of highly soluble phases such as gypsum. The acid-leachable fraction of the weathered tailings accounts for up to 25% of the heavy metals, and the reducible fraction may contain up to 100% of the heavy metals within the shallow, weathered tailings. Based on the pore water profiles and the geochemistry of the tailings solids, a relative mobility scale of Fe=Mn=Ni=Co>Cd Zn>Cr=Pb>Cu can be determined.     

Chemical methods and phytoremediation of soil contaminated with heavy metals

The effects of chemical amendments (calcium carbonate (CC), steel sludge (SS) and furnace slag (FS)) on the growth and uptake of cadmium (Cd) by wetland rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat grown in a red soil contaminated with Cd were investigated using a pot experiment. The phytoremediation of heavy metal contaminated soil with vetiver grass was also studied in a field plot experiment. Results showed that treatments with CC, SS and FS decreased Cd uptake by wetland rice, Chinese cabbage and wheat by 23-95% compared with the unamended control. Among the three amendments, FS was the most efficient at suppressing Cd uptake by the plants, probably due to its higher content of available silicon (Si). The concentrations of zinc (Zn), lead (Pb) and Cd in the shoots of vetiver grass were 42-67%, 500-1200% and 120-260% higher in contaminated plots than in control, respectively. Cadmium accumulation by vetiver shoots was 218 g Cd/ha at a soil Cd concentration of 0.33 mg Cd/kg. It is suggested that heavy metal-contaminated soil could be remediated with a combination of chemical treatments and plants.