Composition and dynamics of epilithic algae in a forest stream at Shillong (India)

The seasonal dynamics of epilithic algae in a third order pristine forest stream were analyzed over a period of 2 years. Stream water was slightly acidic and nutrient poor. Encrusting, filamentous flocs, and filaments were found. Algal standing crop was high (mean concentration of Chl a 16–43 mg m^–2) in spring. Filamentous algae contributed most to standing crop. Diatoms made up over 85% by number of the epilithon. Blue-greens were abundant upstream, and chlorophytes downstream. This shift was ascribed to greater light availability downstream. The community was more diverse during spring. Water current was the most important variable regulating epilithon structure. Total phosphorus (TP), orthophosphate (O-PO _inf4 ^su3– ), silica (Si⁴⁺), nitrate (NO _inf3 ^su– ) and conductance correlated negatively with flow rate. Green algae showed a positive correlation to phosphorus during low and stable flow. During rapid runoff, diatoms were the most resistant forms. Seasonal change in the epilithic community was mainly regulated by fluctuations in flow rate.     

Comparison of the ant communities of annually inundated and terra firme forests at Trombetas in the Brazilian Amazon

Summary The composition of the ant community was assessed along standardized 100 m transects in annually flooded Varzea forest and in terra firme forests on sandy soil (Flanco forest) and on claytopped mesas (Planalto forest). Standardized samples were taken by unit-time hand collecting (day and night times), sweeping, beating, baiting and by Winkler sacks. A total of 156 species, representing 49 genera were found, of which 98, 88 and 55 were respectively found in the Planalto, Flanco and Varzea forests. Species lists are presented and the ant community composition and species richness are compared between the three forests. By considering the nesting and foraging habits of the various species, the differences in overall community composition are related to the forest type and susceptibility to inundation of the three forests which were surveyed.The data confirm the view that tropical rain forests support an extremely diverse ant fauna and comparisons with other forested areas suggest that ant species richness declines in subtropical and temperate rain forests. Although alpha diversity is high, species turnover between forests is lower than expected, suggesting that ant species richness in this forested region is not as great as is implied in some published estimates of global arthropod diversity.     

Diet of the brown howler monkeyAlouatta fusca in a semi-deciduous forest fragment of southeastern Brazil

The diet of a group of six brown howlers was studied weekly during 12 months in a reserve of 250 ha of secondary, mesophytic, semi-deciduous forest. The phenology of 186 trees of 72 species and 29 families was monitored simultaneously. Scan sampling was used to record the diet from dawn until dusk on a total of 60 days of observation, yielding 718 hr of animal-observer contact and 2,943 feeding scans. The diet was composed of leaves (73%), flowers (12%), and fruits (5%), from 68 identified plant species.Celtis iguanae, Cassia ferruginea, andInga spp. were the main food sources, accounting for approximately 50% of the diet. Young leaves (59%) were preferred to mature leaves (31%), trees contributing 56% and lianas 41% of the leaf diet. The ingestion of young leaves was correlated to the availability of these items, however, the correlations were not significant for flowers and fruits. The diet was poorer in fruits and richer in young leaves of lianas in comparison to other howler monkey species studies, probably as a consequence of the liana abundance in this forest fragment.     

Accumulation of cesium and radiocesium in forest litter in selected regions of poland and its influence on litter-to-mushroom transfer factor

The aim of this work was to check whether the stable cesium content in forest litter affects the value of radiocesium from litter-to-mushroom transfer factorTf or not. Total cesium in litter, measured by AAS, varied from 0.1–2.7 μg/g. These data, combined with earlier results for mushrooms, showed no simple correlation forTf. More complex relationships provided very high correlation coefficients, but their validity needs further investigation.     

Analysis of nitrogen saturation potential in Rocky Mountain tundra and forest: implications for aquatic systems

We employed grass and forest versions of the CENTURY model under a range of N deposition values (0.02–1.60 g N m^–2 y^–1) to explore the possibility that high observed lake and stream N was due to terrestrial N saturation of alpine tundra and subalpine forest in Loch Vale Watershed, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. Model results suggest that N is limiting to subalpine forest productivity, but that excess leachate from alpine tundra is sufficient to account for the current observed stream N. Tundra leachate, combined with N leached from exposed rock surfaces, produce high N loads in aquatic ecosystems above treeline in the Colorado Front Range. A combination of terrestrial leaching, large N inputs from snowmelt, high watershed gradients, rapid hydrologic flushing and lake turnover times, and possibly other nutrient limitations of aquatic organisms constrain high elevation lakes and streams from assimilating even small increases in atmospheric N. CENTURY model simulations further suggest that, while increased N deposition will worsen the situation, nitrogen saturation is an ongoing phenomenon.     

Woody-tissue respiration for Simarouba amara and Minquartia guianensis,two tropical wet forest trees with different growth habits

We measured CO₂ efflux from stems of two tropical wet forest trees, both found in the canopy, but with very different growth habits. The species were Simarouba amara, a fast-growing species associated with gaps in old-growth forest and abundant in secondary forest, and Minquartia guianensis, a slow-growing species tolerant of low-light conditions in old-growth forest. Per unit of bole surface, CO₂ efflux averaged 1.24 mol m^–2 s^–1 for Simarouba and 0.83 mol m^–2s^–1 for Minquartia. CO₂ efflux was highly correlated with annual wood production (r ²=0.65), but only weakly correlated with stem diameter (r ²=0.22). We also partitioned the CO₂ efflux into the functional components of construction and maintenance respiration. Construction respiration was estimated from annual stem dry matter production and maintenance respiration by subtracting construction respiration from the instantaneous CO₂ flux. Estimated maintenance respiration was linearly related to sapwood volume (39.6 mol m^–3s^–1 at 24.6° C, r ²=0.58), with no difference in the rate for the two species. Maintenance respiration per unit of sapwood volume for these tropical wet forest trees was roughly twice that of temperate conifers. A model combining construction and maintenance respiration estimated CO₂ very well for these species (r ²=0.85). For our sample, maintenance respiration was 54% of the total CO₂ efflux for Simarouba and 82% for Minquartia. For our sample, sapwood volume averaged 23% of stem volume when weighted by tree size, or 40% with no size weighting. Using these fractions, and a published estimate of aboveground dry-matter production, we estimate the annual cost of woody tissue respiration for primary forest at La Selva to be 220 or 350 g C m^–2 year^–1, depending on the assumed sapwood volume. These costs are estimated to be less than 13% of the gross production for the forest.     

Changes in carbon storage in temperate humic loamy soils after forest clearing and continuous corn cropping in France

Soil samples from forest and agricultural sites in three areas of southwest France were collected to determine the effect of forest conversion to continuous intensive corn cropping with no organic matter management on soil organic carbon (C) content. Soils were humic loamy soils and site characteristics that may affect soil C were as uniform as possible (slope, elevation, texture, soil type, vegetation). Three areas were selected, with adjacent sites of various ages of cultivation (3 to 35 yr), and paired control forest sites. The ploughed horizon (0-Dt cm) and the Dt-50 cm layer were collected at each agricultural site. In forest sites, each 10 cm layer was collected systematically down to 1 meter depth. Carbon concentrations were converted to total content to a given depth as the product of concentration, depth of sample and bulk density, and expressed in units of kg m^-2. For each site and each sampled layer, the mineral mass of soil was calculated, in order to base comparisons on the same soil mass rather than the same depth. The pattern of C accumulation in forest soils showed an exponential decrease with depth. Results suggested that soil organic carbon declined rapidly during the first years of cultivation, and at a slower rate thereafter. This pattern of decrease can be fitted by a bi-exponential model assuming that initial soil organic carbon can be separated into two parts, a very labile pool reduced during the first rapid decline and more refractory fractions oxidizing at a slower rate. Sampling to shallow depths (0-Dt cm) resulted in over-estimation of the rate of carbon release in proportion to the initial amount of C, and in under-estimation of the total loss of C with age. The results for the 0–50 cm horizon indicated that losses of total carbon average about 50% in these soils, ranging in initial carbon content from 19 to 32.5 kg m^-2. Carbon release to the atmosphere averaged 0.8 kg m^-2 yr^-1 to 50 cm depth during the first 10 years of cultivation. The results demonstrate that temperate soils may also be an important source of atmospheric carbon, when they are initially high in carbon content and then cultivated intensively with no organic matter management.     

Fine root growth phenology,production, and turnover in a northern hardwood forest ecosystem

A large part of the nutrient flux in deciduous forests is through fine root turnover, yet this process is seldom measured. As part of a nutrient cycling study, fine root dynamics were studied for two years at Huntington Forest in the Adirondack Mountain region of New York, USA. Root growth phenology was characterized using field rhizotrons, three methods were used to estimate fine root production, two methods were used to estimate fine root mortality, and decomposition was estimated using the buried bag technique. During both 1986 and 1987, fine root elongation began in early April, peaked during July and August, and nearly ceased by mid-October. Mean fine root ( 3 mm diameter) biomass in the surface 28-cm was 2.5 t ha^–1 and necromass was 2.9 t ha^–1. Annual decomposition rates ranged from 17 to 30% beneath the litter and 27 to 52% at a depth of 10 cm. Depending on the method used for estimation, fine root production ranged from 2.0 to 2.9 t ha^–1, mortality ranged from 1.8 to 3.7 t ha^–1 yr^–1, and decomposition was 0.9 t ha^–1 yr^–1. Thus, turnover ranged from 0.8 to 1.2 yr^–1. The nutrients that cycled through fine roots annually were 4.5–6.1 kg Ca, 1.1–1.4 kg Mg, 0.3–0.4 kg K, 1.2–1.7 kg P, 20.3–27.3 kg N, and 1.8–2.4 kg S ha^–1. Fine root turnover was less important than leaf litterfall in the cycling of Ca and Mg and was similar to leaf litterfall in the amount of N, P, K and S cycled.     

Pine needle growth and fine structure after prolonged acid rain treatment in the subarctic

The growth and morphology of Scots pine needles were studied in a long-term acid rain experiment in the far north of Finnish Lapland. Pine trees 5 m tall of age 50–70 years were exposed, by spraying the foliage and soil from a height of 2 m, to either clean water (IC) or acidified water over the period 1985–1992, the acidification site being divided into sub-areas in which the precipitation contained two levels of either sulphuric (Sm, Sh) or nitric (Nm, Nh) acid, or both (SNm, SNh). The treatments with medium and high sulphate-S over eight consecutive years yielded a total sulphur deposition of 3·4 and 17·1 gm⁻², respectively, and those with medium and high nitrate-N a total nitrogen deposition of 1·1 and 5·9 g m⁻². Needles were collected for light and electron microscopy, growth measurements and morphometry. Growth in branch height had decreased by about 40% after 6 years of SNm or SNh treatment, and needle growth by 15% in the SNh trees as compared with the irrigated control trees (IC), although decreases were statistically significant only with respect to the non-irrigated control trees (DC). Growth of branches and needles was slightly better in the Nh treatment than in the IC group. The areas of the whole needle, the mesophyll and the phloem decreased in response to SNh treatment as compared with IC or DC, and a statistically significant decrease of about 30–40% was seen in the area of the xylem in comparison with DC. Cellular damage was observed following the acid treatments, especially with a high acid load. The damage was manifested in collapse of the cellular compartments, increases in lipid accumulations and swelling or disorganization of the protoplast. Increased vacuolization of the cytoplasm, plasmalemma irregularities and chilling-type damage to the mitochondria were also observed.