Long-term dynamics of biomass production, soil chemical properties and plant species composition of alluvial grassland after the cessation of fertilizer application in the Czech Republic

The resilience, the ability of an ecosystem to recover after termination of perturbation, of highly productive Alopecurus grassland was investigated after the cessation of the following long-term fertilizer treatments applied under a two- or three-cut management regime: unfertilized control, PK, N₁₀₀PK, N₂₀₀PK, N₃₀₀PK and N₄₀₀PK. Annual application rates of pure nutrients per hectare were 0–400 kg for N, 40 kg for P and 100 kg for K. The dynamics of biomass production were measured for 16 years and the effect of former fertilizer treatments on soil chemical properties, biomass chemical properties, plant species composition and species richness were investigated 16 years after the last application of fertilizers. It was concluded that 16 years was not long enough to achieve resilience in plant-available soil P and K concentrations, N/P ratios in the plant biomass or plant species composition, but that it was long enough to achieve resilience in species richness. In the case of biomass production the effect of former fertilizer treatments was apparent in 10 of the 16 seasons investigated, indicating that resilience in biomass production must be evaluated using data from more than 1 vegetation season. The results of the study stress the necessity for long-term research because of high year-to-year variability in biomass production as well as long-term after-effects of fertilizer treatments in alluvial grassland.     

Wolfgang Priester: from the big bounce to the $\Lambda$-dominated universe

Wolfgang Priester (1924–2005) was one of Germany’s most versatile and quixotic astrophysicists, reinventing himself successively as a radio astronomer, space physicist and cosmologist, and making a lasting impact on each field. We focus in this personal account on his contributions to cosmology, where he will be most remembered for his association with quasars, his promotion of the idea of a nonsingular “big bounce” at the beginning of the current expansionary phase, and his recognition of the importance of dark energy (Einstein’s cosmological constant Λ) well before this became the standard paradigm in cosmology. In memoriam Wolfgang Priester, 22 April 1924 – 9 July 2005     

Effect of iron speciation on the photodegradation of Monuron in combined photocatalytic systems with immobilized or suspended TiO2

Photodegradation kinetics of Monuron (3-(4-chlorophenyl)-1,1-dimethylurea) in photoreactor with immobilized and suspended TiO₂ photocatalyst were studied. The effect of addition of ferric or ferrous perchlorate was investigated. Whatever the concentration of Fe(III/II) added there is no significant negative effect on the photodegradation rate of pollutants. On the contrary, depending on speciation and concentration of iron salts, slight or marked acceleration of the photodegradation kinetics was observed. This positive influence was more pronounced in the case of TiO₂ suspensions than for TiO₂ layers. Fe(III) was generally more effective than Fe(II).     

Anaerobic Biodegradation of Polyvinyl Alcohol Modified by Extracellular Polysaccharides

This work focused on anaerobic biodegradation of blends composed of glycerol-plasticized polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and biopolymer (starch, gellan, xanthan) in an aqueous environment, after inoculation with digested activated sludge from a municipal wastewater treatment plant. Glycerol degradability is comparable to degradability of used modifying agents. Modifying agents added in the 20–40 wt% range proportionally increased biodegradation degree (D_t) calculated from balance of transformed carbon in the system. Biodegradation degree of polysaccharides and glycerol attained 95% and over. For PVA it was only 6.5% (in breakdown times up to 500 h). Content of polysaccharides favorably affects biodegradation degree of polyvinyl alcohol blends, but at the expense of reduced mechanical properties of resultant products.     

Survey of patterns,levels, and trends of perfluorinated compounds in aquatic organisms and bird eggs from representative German ecosystems

Purpose  

Samples from the German Environmental Specimen Bank (ESB) covering particularly the years 1994–1996, 2000–2002, and 2006–2009 were analyzed for perfluorinated compounds (PFC; mainly C4–C13 carboxylic and sulfonic acids) to gain an overview on current PFC levels and patterns in marine, limnetic, and terrestrial biota; to assess their concentrations in different trophic levels; and to investigate whether risk management measures for PFC are successful.     

Estimating Emissions from Air Concentration Measurements

A one-year-long experiment in which two different tracers were simultaneously released from two different locations was used to test various hybrid receptor modeling techniques to estimate the tracer emissions using the measured air concentrations and a meteorological model. Air concentrations were measured over an 8-hour averaging time at three sites 14 to 40 km downwind. When the model was used to estimate emissions at only one tracer source, 6 percent of the short-term (8-h) emission estimates were within a factor of 2 of the actual emissions. Temporal averaging of the 8-h data enhanced the precision of the estimate such that after 10 days 42 percent of the estimates were within a factor of 2 and after six months all of them (each source-receptor pair) were within a factor of 2. To test the ability of the model to separate two sources, both tracer sources were combined, and a multiple linear regression technique was used to determine the emissions from each source from a time series of air concentration measurements representing the sum of both tracers. In general, 50 percent of the short-term estimates were within a factor of 10, 25 percent were biased low, and in another 25 percent the regression technique failed. The bias and failures are attributed to low or no correlation between measured air concentrations and model calculated dispersion factors. In the regression method increased temporal averaging did not consistently improve the emission estimate since the ability of the model to distinguish emissions between sources was diminished with increased averaging time. However, including progressively longer time periods (more data) into the regression or spatially averaging the data over all the receptors was found to be the most effective method to improve the estimated emissions. At best about 75 percent of the estimated monthly emission data were within a factor of 10 of the measured values. This suggests that the usefulness of meteorological models and statistical methods to address questions of source attribution requires many data points to reduce the uncertainty in the emission estimates.     

Analysis of mercury and other heavy metals accumulated in lichen Usnea antarctica from James Ross Island,Antarctica

The study was designed to investigate the content and distribution of selected heavy metals (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Hg, Mn, Ni, Fe, Pb and Zn) in samples of fruticose macrolichen Usnea antarctica from James Ross Island. A special emphasis was devoted to mercury and its species (elemental mercury and methylmercury). It was found that mercury contents were relatively high (up to 2.73 mg kg^?1 dry weight) compared to other parts of the Antarctic Peninsula region, while the concentrations of most other elements were within reported ranges. Mercury contents in lichens originating from the interior were higher than those from the coast, which is probably the result of local microclimate conditions. Similar trends were observed for Hg⁰ and MeHg⁺, whose contents were up to 0.14 and 0.098 mg kg^?1 dry weight, respectively. While mercury did not show a significant correlation with any other element, the mutual correlation of some litophile elements probably refers to the influence on thalli of resuspended weathered material. The influence of habitat and environmental conditions could play an essential role in the bioaccumulation of contaminants rather than just the simple presence of sources. Thus, the study of the thalli of this species can bring a new perspective on the interpretation of contaminant accumulation in lichens of the polar region.     

Food exploitation by a winter flock of greylag geese: behavioral dynamics,competition and social status

Summary To investigate the dynamics of the winter flock patch exploitation, feeding experiments were performed with 140 semi-tame, free-roaming greylag geese (Anser anser). Three different initial densities of barley were offered on a 50-m² patch: low (1600 grains/m²), intermediate (3300/m²) and high (I 1500/m²). Goose numbers on the patch, peck rates, and frequencies of agonistic encounters and of alert postures were observed by scanning the flock and in focal individuals. At low and intermediate initial food densities, peck rates decreased with food density, whereas at high food density, peck rates decreased only slightly over the feeding bout. Agonistic interactions increased as food decreased. A switch from exploitation to interference competition occurred at a threshold of approximately 900 remaining grains per square meter. With high initial food density, agonistic encounters began to increase gradually after 20–30 min. The same general patterns were observed for frequency of alertness. Family members occupied the patch for the longest time periods. The family female and the offspring fed most intensely. The family gander however, fed significantly less but was more aggressive and vigilant than all other social categories. Solitary geese spent their time on the patch doing little else but feeding and were the first to leave. It seems that high-ranking families and low-ranking singles adopt different competitive strategies, the former being superior interference competitors whereas the latter are forced scramble competitors.This study is dedicated to the memory of Konrad Lorenz Correspondence to: K. Kotrschal