Interannual Changes in the C:N:P Ratios of Seston and Zooplankton of a High Mountain Lake in Sierra Nevada,Spain

We investigated the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus content inthe seston and the zooplankton of a high-mountain lake duringthree years of contrasting physical and chemical conditions.Carbon in seston was ten times higher in 1995 than in 1996 and1997. Phosphorus content in seston was variable for the studyperiod, increasing gradually towards late summer in 1995, butpeaking abruptly in 1996 and 1997, reflecting atmosphericdepositions. Seston C:P were high and did not fit any definitepattern in 1995, and were particularly low after the thaw, increasing towards mid-summer in 1996 and 1997. As the seasonprogressed, major decreases in these ratios occurred coincidingwith important atmospheric inputs in the lake area. ZooplanktonN:P and C:P were negatively associated to the appearance ofrotifers and copepod nauplii in 1995, but positively correlatedto the ontogenetic development of the most abundant species,Mixodiaptomus laciniatus, in 1996. Seasonal variations inzooplankton N:P and C:P ratios showed limited interannual, butlarge intraannual variability. The comparison between the bulkcarbon in seston and zooplankton demands for this elementindicated that zooplankton were above food-quantity thresholdsfor maximum growth in 1995, 1996 and mid-season of 1997,therefore suffering only from food-quantity constraints afterthe thaw (nauplii dominance) and towards late season (adultdominance) in the latter year. The high C:P ratios in sestonrelative to zooplankton in 1995 imply that the zooplankton mayhave faced severe food-quality constraints (in terms ofphosphorus) during this year. Differences between bulkzooplankton and seston elemental nutrients are also discussed inrelation to the competitive abilities of species, andparticularly of Daphnia.     

Response of Organic and Inorganic Carbon and Nitrogen to Long-Term Grazing of the Shortgrass Steppe

We investigated the influence of long-term (56 years) grazing on organic and inorganic carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) contents of the plant–soil system (to 90 cm depth) in shortgrass steppe of northeastern Colorado. Grazing treatments included continuous season-long (May–October) grazing by yearling heifers at heavy (60–75% utilization) and light (20–35% utilization) stocking rates, and nongrazed exclosures. The heavy stocking rate resulted in a plant community that was dominated (75% of biomass production) by the C₄ grass blue grama (Bouteloua gracilis), whereas excluding livestock grazing increased the production of C₃ grasses and prickly pear cactus (Opuntia polycantha). Soil organic C (SOC) and organic N were not significantly different between the light grazing and nongrazed treatments, whereas the heavy grazing treatment was 7.5 Mg ha^–1 higher in SOC than the nongrazed treatment. Lower ratios of net mineralized N to total organic N in both grazed compared to nongrazed treatments suggest that long-term grazing decreased the readily mineralizable fraction of soil organic matter. Heavy grazing affected soil inorganic C (SIC) more than the SOC. The heavy grazing treatment was 23.8 Mg ha^–1 higher in total soil C (0–90 cm) than the nongrazed treatment, with 68% (16.3 Mg ha^–1) attributable to higher SIC, and 32% (7.5 Mg ha^–1) to higher SOC. These results emphasize the importance in semiarid and arid ecosystems of including inorganic C in assessments of the mass and distribution of plant–soil C and in evaluations of the impacts of grazing management on C sequestration.     

Nitrogen Budget of a Spruce Forest Ecosystem After Six-year Addition of Ammonium Sulphate in Southwest Sweden

A nitrogen (N) budget was constructed for a period of 6 years (1988–1993) in a Norway spruce stand with current deposition of 19 kg N and 22 kg S ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. The stand was fertilized annually by addition of 100 kg N and 114 kg S ha⁻¹ (NS). Above and below ground biomass, litterfall, fine- root litter production, soil solution and net mineralization were measured to estimate pools, fluxes and accumulation of nitrogen. The average needle litterfall in control (C) and NS plots in 1993 was 2.2 and 2.5 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. The fine root litter production prior to treatment (1987) was 4.4 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and after treatment (1993) it was 4.5 and 3.9 ton ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in C and NS plots, respectively. Net N mineralization in the soil profile down to 50 cm was estimated to be 86 and 115 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ in C and NS plots, respectively in 1992. During the treatment period the uptake of N in the needle biomass in C and NS plots was 29 and 77 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. No N was accumulated in needles of C plot where the NS plots accumulated 34 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹. Of the annually added inorganic N to NS plots 47% was accumulated in the above and below ground biomass and 37% in the soil. N fluxes via fine-root litter production in the C plots were much higher (54 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹) than that via litterfall (29 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹). The corresponding values in the NS plots were 65 and 43 kg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, respectively. Most of the net N mineralization occurred in the FH layer and upper mineral soil. It is concluded that fine root litter and litterfall play an important role in the cycling of N. Despite a high N uptake the losses of N in litterfall and fine root litter resulted in an incorporation of N in soil organic matter.     

Evaluating mine plans under uncertainty: Can the real options make a difference?

Over the last few years, many studies have presented the real options valuation (ROV) as a promising technique of valuing natural resource investments under conditions of uncertainty. Apart from the common conclusion that the ROV is better than the conventional net present value (NPV) method in integrating the value of management flexibility and proper handling of cash flows risk, there is a lack of procedures for testing the usefulness and advantages of the ROV over the static NPV method in practice. Arguably, it is not yet clear whether the ROV can deal with the complexity of mining projects and whether it can really be applied to make decisions that improve project value.     

Metabolic fate of the 14C-labeled herbicide clodinafop-propargyl in soil

The metabolic fate of ¹⁴C-phenyl-labeled herbicide clodinafop-propargyl (CfP) was studied for 28 days in lab assays using a soil from Germany (A_p horizon, silt loam, and cambisol). Mineralization amounted to 12.40% of applied ¹⁴C after 28 days showing a distinct lag phase until day 7 of incubation. Portions of radioactivity extractable by means of 0.01 M CaCl₂ solution (bioavailable fraction) decreased rapidly and were 4.41% after 28 days. Even immediately after application, only 57.31% were extracted with the aqueous solvent. Subsequent extraction using accelerated solvent extraction (ASE; acetonitrile/water 4:1, v/v) released 39.91% of applied ¹⁴C with day 0 and 26.16% with day 28 of incubation from the samples. Non-extractable portions of radioactivity thus, increased with time amounting to 11.99% (day 0) and 65.00% (day 28). A remarkable increase was observed between 14 and 28 days correlating with the distinct increase of mineralization. No correlation was found throughout incubation with general microbial activity as determined by DMSO reduction. Analysis of the CaCl₂ and ASE extracts by radio-TLC, radio-HPLC and GC/MS revealed that CfP was rapidly cleaved to free acid clodinafop (Cf), which was further (bio-) transformed; DT₅₀ values (based on radio-TLC detection of the parent compound) were far below 1 day (CfP) and about 7 days (Cf). TLC analysis pointed to 2-(4-hydroxyphenoxy)-propionic acid as further metabolite. Due to fractionation of non-extractable residues, most of the ¹⁴C was associated with fulvic and humic acids, portions in humin fractions and non-humics were moderate and low, respectively. Using a special strategy, which included pre-incubation of the soil with CfP and then mineralization of ¹⁴C-CfP as criterion, a microorganism was isolated from the soil examined. The microorganism grew using CfP as sole carbon source with concomitant evolution of ¹⁴CO₂. The bacterium was characterized by growth on commonly used carbon sources and by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The sequence exhibited high similarity with that of Rhodococcus wratislaviensis (99.56%; DSM 44107, NCIMB 13082).     

Elevated CO2 facilitates C and N accumulation in a rice paddy ecosystem

Elevated CO2 can stimulate wetland carbon(C) and nitrogen(N) exports through gaseous and dissolved pathways, however, the consequent influences on the C and N pools are still not fully known. Therefore, we set up a free-air CO2 enrichment experiment in a paddy field in Eastern China. After five year fumigation, we studied C and N in the plant–water–soil system. The results showed:(1) elevated CO2 stimulated rice aboveground biomass and N accumulations by 19.1% and 12.5%, respectively.(2) Elevated CO2 significantly increased paddy soil TOC and TN contents by 12.5% and 15.5%, respectively in the 0–15 cm layer, and22.7% and 26.0% in the 15–30 cm soil layer.(3) Averaged across the rice growing period,elevated CO2 greatly increased TOC and TN contents in the surface water by 7.6% and 11.4%,respectively.(4) The TOC/TN ratio and natural δ15N value in the surface soil showed a decreasing trend under elevated CO2. The above results indicate that elevated CO2 can benefit C and N accumulation in paddy fields. Given the similarity between the paddies and natural wetlands, our results also suggest a great potential for long-term C and N accumulation in natural wetlands under future climate patterns.     

序批式动态膜生物反应器处理低碳氮比废水的试验研究

以序批式动态膜反应器为研究对象,对其处理低碳氮比废水的效果进行了试验研究.试验温度为19 ～ 21℃,MLSS为3～5g/L;好氧阶段溶解氧质量浓度为2 ～4 mg/L,厌氧阶段溶解氧质量浓度为0.2～0.5 mg/L;水力停留时间共12 h,其中好氧阶段8h,厌氧阶段4h.结果表明:当进水COD、TN和NH4+-N质量浓度分别为250～300mg/L、103 ～ 156 mg/L和92～140 mg/L时,反应器对上述污染物表现出较高且稳定的去除效率,COD、TN和NH4+-N平均去除率分别达到76.15％、82.16％和90.13％.同时,反应器系统中污泥的比硝化速率与常规处理装置中的活性污泥相比较高,以NH4+-N的降解量计为0.101 d-1,以NO3--N的积累量计为0.091 d-.     

紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物群落的季节变化

采用稀释平板法和Biolog-ECO微平板技术,以剌槐（Robinia pseudoacacia）天然次生林为研究对象,研究湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地表层（0~10 cm）土壤微生物群落的季节变化特征。结果表明：1）夏季,土壤微生物总数,细菌数量、真菌数量和放线菌数量最高,分别为16.34×106、16.09×106、10.43×104和14.64×104 cfu·g-1干土,春季次之：11.61×106、11.45×106、5.00×104和10.65×104 cfu·g-1干土,秋季最低：5.87×106、5.78×106、4.67×104和4.08×104 cfu·g-1干土,春、夏和秋3季的差异达显著水平（P<0.05）;2）在培养168 h时,土壤微生物C源平均颜色变化率（Average well color development, AWCD）以夏季最高（1.20）,春季次之（0.88）,秋季最低（0.83）;3）土壤微生物功能多样性表现为夏季明显高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,夏季的Patrick丰富度指数（R）（28）、Shannon-Wiener指数（H）（3.22）、Simpson指数（D）（0.96）和McIntosh指数（U）（8.20）显著高于春、秋2季（P<0.05）,而春、秋2季的R（23,24）、H（3.06,3.08）、D（0.95,0.95）和U（5.90,5.91）无显著差异（P>0.05）;4）氨基酸类、聚合物类和羧酸C源类是衡阳紫色土丘陵坡地土壤微生物偏好且利用率较高的C源类型;5）主成分分析表明,土壤微生物群落的C源利用可分为2类,一类在夏季,另一类在春、秋2季,其得分系数的分布范围分别为（2.59~6.00,2.43~5.09）和（-7.65~-1.90,-6.38~-3.43）。研究结果为科学评价湖南省衡阳市紫色土丘陵坡地土壤生境质量退化和恢复过程中微生物特征的变化提供了本底值参考。     

三相生物流化床处理低C/N污水的亚硝化过程控制研究

将短程硝化与生物流化床相结合,采用低碳氮比的人工合成污水进行启动,考察进水COD、氨氮、DO、p H对硝化和亚硝化过程的影响。研究表明,较短的水力停留时间(HRT)和较少的接种污泥量有利于生物膜的生长,能够成功实现生物流化床的快速启动。高进水氨氮浓度有助于反应器实现亚硝酸盐的积累,但是这种积累并不稳定。当反应器中p H为7.5~8.1,ρ(DO)为1.5~2.5 mg/L时,最大亚硝化率达到75%左右,氨氮去除率达85%以上。出水NO-2-N和NO-3-N浓度随进水COD浓度的增加而减少;当进水COD浓度为50 mg/L时,出水硝酸盐浓度急剧减少,亚硝酸盐浓度有所降低,反应器发生同步硝化反硝化脱氮现象。     

Resource exploitation and cross-region growth trajectories: nonparametric estimates for Chile

As a sector of primary concern for national development strategies, mining keeps stimulating an intensive debate in Chile, regarding its role for long-term growth. Partly drawn on theoretical contributions to growth and mineral resource accounting, this analysis assesses patterns of economic growth across Chilean regions. The theoretical and methodological rationale for focusing on weak sustainability, by testing convergence across regions in a distribution dynamics perspective, is first discussed. This is followed by a brief review of policy issues and previous empirical findings of concern to Chile's mining and regional growth. Panel data over the period 1960-2001 are analysed, with growth measured in terms of both income per capita as such, and sustainable measures of this variable. Kernel density and quantile regression estimates indicate persistent bimodal (if not possibly trimodal) distribution of nationally standardised regional incomes per capita, whereby conditions for cross-region convergence are matched only within the inner range of this distribution.