Biogeochemistry of billabong sediments. II. Seasonal variations in methane production

1. We examined the temporal (seasonal and diel) and spatial variation in methane flux from sediments of a billabong in south-eastern Australia, and related it to variations in the rate of organic matter decay, concentration of interstitial metabolites, and sediment redox. 2. Total gas ebullition ranged from <2 to >59mlm^?2h^?1, and was highest in the summer months when water temperatures were >25°C. These rates are equivalent to carbon fluxes of about 16–30gC—CH₄m^?2yr^?1. Ebullition was greater from unvegetated sediments than from sediments colonized by the emergent macrophyte Eleockaris sphacelata, R, Br. or the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria gigantea Graeb. There were no consistent differences in the rate of ebullition over the day and the night. 3. Methane accounted for about 42–45% of total sediment gas in the vegetated sediments, but about 60% in the unvegetated sediments. These ratios did not vary greatly throughout the year. Carbon dioxide was a minor component of sediment gas, usually comprising <5% of the total. Carbon dioxide contents were highest in summer, especially in unvegetated and E. sphacelata beds. 4. In vitro methanogenesis ranged from 3 ± 0.9 to 106 ± 30 nmol g(dry weight)^?1 h^?1, being highest in summer and lowest in winter. Added acetate (5mM) increased the rate of methanogenesis by up to 10-fold, with the effect being greater in summer than winter. Generally, added acetate had least effect in E. sphacelata sediments. The maximum rate of in vitro methanogenesis with added acetate was 243 ± 57 nmolg(dry weight)^?1 h^?1. 5. Ebullition was highly correlated with the rate of in vitro methanogenesis, with a rime lag of about 4 weeks. About 35–60% of benthic in vitro methanogenesis could be accounted for by ebullitive loss: the remainder was presumably lost via diffusion, flux through emergent plants or by oxidation. The rate of organic-matter degradation, assessed with amylopectin azure, varied throughout the year, but there was no clear relationship between ebullition and organic-matter decay. 6. Concentrations of interstitial ammonium, which also varied seasonally, ranged from 1 ± 0.2 to 13 ± 1 mgNl^?1. There was no clear relationship between ebullition rates and ammonium concentrations, Redox potential was most positive in the E. sphacelata sediments, but there was little consistent difference in the redox potential of V. gigantea and unvegetated sediments. Redox potential appeared not to be a controlling factor in methane release.     

Susceptibility of willow clones (Salix spp.) to herbivory by Phyllodecta vulgatissima (L.) and Galerucella lineola (Fab.) (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae)

Levels of damage by mixed natural infestations of the leaf-feeding chrysomelid beetles, Phyllodecta vulgatissima (L.) (the blue willow beetle) and Galerucella lineola (Fab.) (the brown willow beetle), were determined in replicated field plots of 24 Salix clones at Long Ashton (Bristol, UK) during 1993–94. Over the same period, the host plant preferences of both chrysomelids were investigated in a standard multiple-choice laboratory procedure, where beetles were enclosed in Petri dishes with leaf discs cut from young pot-grown trees propagated from shoot cuttings taken from 20 of the 24 willow clones represented in the field study. The laboratory experiments indicated that P. vulgatissima and G. lineola had similar host plant preferences in the range of willows examined (r >0.85). In both field and laboratory, the least preferred Salix clones and hybrids were those of 5. eriocephala, followed by S. purpurea, S. burjatica, S. dasyclados and S. triandra. Clones of S. eriocephala and S. purpurea were frequently rejected altogether in laboratory tests. Most preferred were clones of S. viminalis and several hybrids of S. viminalis, S. aurita, S. caprea and S. cinerea. These results substantiate the reports that P. vulgatissima and G. lineola are deterred from feeding on willows which have relatively high concentrations of phenolic (salicylate) glucosides in the leaves. The least preferred willows, particularly S. eriocephala, S. purpurea and S. burjatica, could be of great potential value in plant breeding for resistance to these willow beetle pests.     

The determination of total nitrogen and total phosphorus concentrations in freshwaters from land use, stock headage and population data: testing of a model for use in conservation and water quality management

1. Nutrient concentrations (particularly N and P) determine the extent to which water bodies are or may become eutrophic. Direct determination of nutrient content on a wide scale is labour intensive but the main sources of N and P are well known. This paper describes and tests an export coefficient model for prediction of total N and total P from: (i) land use, stock headage and human population; (ii) the export rates of N and P from these sources; and (iii) the river discharge. Such a model might be used to forecast the effects of changes in land use in the future and to hindcast past water quality to establish comparative or baseline states for the monitoring of change. 2. The model has been calibrated against observed data for 1988 and validated against sets of observed data for a sequence of earlier years in ten British catchments varying from uplands through rolling, fertile lowlands to the flat topography of East Anglia. 3. The model predicted total N and total P concentrations with high precision (> 95% of the variance in observed data explained). It has been used in two forms: the first on a specific catchment basis; the second for a larger natural region which contains the catchment with the assumption that all catchments within that region will be similar. Both models gave similar results with little loss of precision in the latter case. This implies that it will be possible to describe the overall pattern of nutrient export in the UK with only a fraction of the effort needed to carry out the calculations for each individual water body. 4. Comparison between land use, stock headage, population numbers and nutrient export for the ten catchments in the pre-war year of 1931, and for 1970 and 1988 show that there has been a substantial loss of rough grazing to fertilized temporary and permanent grasslands, an increase in the hectarage devoted to arable, consistent increases in the stocking of cattle and sheep and a marked movement of humans to these rural catchments. 5. All of these trends have increased the flows of nutrients with more than a doubling of both total N and total P loads during the period. On average in these rural catchments, stock wastes have been the greatest contributors to both N and P exports, with cultivation the next most important source of N and people of P. Ratios of N to P were high in 1931 and remain little changed so that, in these catchments, phosphorus continues to be the nutrient most likely to control algal crops in standing waters supplied by the rivers studied.     

Plant species' response to climate change: implications for the conservation of European birds

Wildlife conservation faces new and extreme challenges in adapting to the accelerating dynamics of a world responding to global change. The Quaternary record shows that migration has been the usual response of organisms to environmental change. This record also reveals that forecast future climate changes are of a magnitude and in a direction unprecedented in recent earth history: the rate of these changes is likely also to surpass that of any comparable change during the last 2.4 million years.
The relationship between a species' geographical distribution and present climate may be modelled by a surface representing the probability of encountering that species under given combinations of climate conditions. This 'climate response surface' then may be used to simulate potential future distributions of the species in response to forecast climate scenarios. Such simulations reveal the magnitude of the impacts of these forecast climate changes. Although to date this approach has been applied in Europe only to plants, it promises to be valuable also for other groups of organisms, including birds. Some bird species, however, may respond more directly to either habitat structure or presence of specific food plants; such factors may be incorporated into the models when required.
The magnitude of likely vegetation changes necessitates a global approach to conservation if there is to be any hope of long-term success. Successful conservation of global biodiversity will depend upon conservation of the global environment and limitation of the human population much more than upon parochial efforts to conserve locally rare organisms or habitats.     

HUNGER OVERCOMES FEAR IN NASSARIUS FESTIVUS, A SCAVENGING GASTROPOD ON HONG KONG SHORES

On protected intertidal sand flats, virtually worldwide, nassariidsnails scavenge carrion. Typically, they lie in repose beneaththe sand surface but emerge to feed when chemoreceptors detectcarrion. Distance from the potential food influences whetherthey move towards it and, if they do, whether they obtain ameal before it is consumed by others. This study shows that the rate at which Nassarius festivus movestoward food bait is similar for starved and well-fed individuals.That is, when individuals decide to feed, the rate at whichthey move toward food is always approximately the same. Thisstudy exposes another facet of nassariid nutrition related tothe degree of hunger. Recently fed individuals, i.e., thosewhich have fed for < 14 days, will cease feeding and departpalatable food if crushed conspecifics are added to it. Individualswhich have not fed for > 14 days tend to remain feeding,despite the addition of crushed conspecifics. Another studyhas shown that N. festivus consumes sufficient energy from afed-to-satiation meal to sustain it in repose for 20 days.These experiments clarify the observation. Between 14 to 20days since its last meal, N. festivus will feed when the possibilityarises, despite potentially adverse consequences. That is, hungerovercomes the fear of being consumed at a feeding assemblagebecause, without feeding, the alternative may be death by starvation.Thus, a nassariid makes decisions about whether or not to feed.The fear of predation causes N. festivus to abandon a meal ifthe previous one was obtained within a fortnight but, thereafter,it will risk predation to avoid starvation. (Received 14 March 1994; accepted 7 July 1994)     

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF A RAPID ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOFILTRATION ASSAY (ELIFA) AND AN ENZYME-LINKED IMMUNOSORBENT ASSAY (ELISA) FOR THE DETECTION OF STAPHYLOCOCCAL ENTEROTOXIN B

An enzyme-linked immunofiltration assay (ELIFA) and a microtitre plate enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were developed and compared for their ability to detect staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB). The double antibody capture format was used for both assays. Factors which improved the sensitivity of the ELIFA system were (1) addition of casein and thimerosal to the antigen dilution buffer; (2) addition of polyethylene glycol (MW 6000) to the detection and conjugate antibody dilution buffers; and (3) washing with diethanolamine buffer prior to addition of the substrate/chromogen. The ELIFA system had a turnaround time of approximately 1 h and a detection limit of 1 ng/mL of purified SEB. The ELISA had a total turnaround time of 21 h, or 3 h using plates pre-coated overnight with the capture antibody. The detection limit of the ELISA for purified SEB was 0.05 ng/mL. The detection limit of SEB in cheese samples spiked with purified enterotoxin and subjected to a simple extraction procedure was 1 ng/mL and 0.1 ng/mL of extract, with the ELIFA and the ELISA, respectively.     

Die-back of Phragmites australis: influence on the distribution and rate of sediment methanogenesis

Methanogenesis was measured during the summer of 1994, in sediment coresand bulk samples from a Phragmites australis wetland in northern Jutland,Denmark. We compared sediment from healthy reed and dying-back reed, andan open lagoon resulting from die-back. Cores revealed variability withdepth and between sites, with the highest rates coinciding with layers oforganic gyttja, and negligible methane production from the underlying sandbase. Methanogenesis rates in the lagoon and die back sites were higher(up to 100–150 nmol h^-1 g^-1dry wt. sediment) than in the healthy reed (50–80 nmolh^-1 g^-1), with the highest rates being recordedfrom May to July. At these times, methanogenesis was markedly temperature-limited; samples incubated at 30 °C anon-limiting temperature, gave rates as high as 200–400nmol h^-1 g^-1 for the lagoon and die-backareas and 150 nmol h^-1 g^-1 for the healthyarea. Addition of 8 mM acetate and H₂/CO₂headspace suggested that both acetate-fermenting andCO₂-reducing bacteria were present. Acetate additions suggested some co-limitation by substrate availability, with acetate limitation occurring in the healthy site during July and in the die-back site during August. Lower rates during August, especially in the healthy area, were associated with low water levels which resulted in more oxidized sediments. The data reveal highly variable methanogenesis in the sediment which, when considered with sediment depths, indicates that sites of Phragmites die-back have significantly greater rates of anaerobic mineralization than surrounding healthy wetland, and may be intense sources of methane.     

Transgenic cotton resistant to herbicide bialaphos

Resistance to bialaphos, a non-selective herbicide, was intro duced into cotton through genetic engineering. A gene encoding phosphinothric in acetyltransferase (bar) from Streptomyces hygroscopicus was inserted into elite varieties of cotton through particle bombardment. Based on the marker gene, -glucuronidase (gus) expression, a total of 18 Pima (Gossypium barbadense), 45 DP50 (G. hirsutum L.), 20 Coker 312 (G. hirsutum) and 2 El Dorado (G. hirsutum) transgenic plants were recovered. Integration of the bar gene into cotton genomic DNA was confirmed by Southern blot analysis and gene expression was confirmed by northern blot and enzyme assays. Herbicide (Basta®) tolerance up to 15 000 ppm was demonstrated in greenhouse trials. The newly introduced herbicide tolerance trait is inherited in a Mendelian fashion in the progenies of germline transformants. This study demonstrates the potential for particle bombardment to introduce commerically important genes directly into elite varieties of cotton. This mode of gene transfer can expedite the introduction of transgenic cotton products into world markets     

Confusion of Phonotaxis by Masking Sounds in the Bushcricket Conocephalus brevipennis (Tettigoniidae: Conocephalinae)

Female Conocephalus brevipennis, executing phonotaxis to the call of a conspecific male broadcast from a speaker, were subjected to varying levels of background sound so as to progressively mask the attracting signal. The background consisted of either random noise or the call of a sympatric congener, C. nigropleurum and was delivered from above the orienting female. Disruption of phonotaxis was assayed by monitoring the angular dispersion of the female's exit path from the arena, relative to the position of the conspecific call. Random noise significantly interfered with phonotaxis when it was within 2 dB of the conspecific call intensity, both signals measured at the centre of the arena. The equivalent effect of the call C. nigropleurum was 5 dB above conspecific call intensity. The implication of signal loss within background noise is discussed as are the possible interactive behaviours of competing sympatric syntopic species.