Creating riverine wetlands: Ecological succession, nutrient retention, and pulsing effects

Successional patterns, water quality changes, and effects of hydrologic pulsing are documented for a whole-ecosystem experiment involving two created wetlands that have been subjected to continuous inflow of pumped river water for more than 10 years. At the beginning of the growing season in the first year of the experiment (1994), 2400 individuals representing 13 macrophyte species were introduced to one of the wetland basins. The other basin was an unplanted control. Patterns of succession are illustrated by macrophyte community diversity and net aboveground primary productivity, soil development, water quality changes, and nutrient retention for the two basins. The planted wetland continued to be more diverse in plant cover 10 years after planting and the unplanted wetland appeared to be more productive but more susceptible to stress. Soil color and organic content continued to change after wetland creation and wetlands had robust features of hydric soils within a few years of flooding. Organic matter content in surface soils in the wetlands increased by approximately 1% per 3-year period. Plant diversity and species differences led to some differences in the basins in macrophyte productivity, carbon sequestration, water quality changes and nutrient retention. The wetlands continued to retain nitrate–nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorus 10 years after their creation. There are some signs that sediment and total phosphorus retention are diminishing after 10 years of river flow. Preliminary results from the beginnings of a flood pulsing experiment in the two basins in 2003–2004 are described for water quality, nutrient retention, aboveground productivity, and methane and nitrous oxide gaseous fluxes.     

Recording relative water table depth using PVC tape discolouration: Advantages and constraints in fens

Question: Recognizing water table dynamics in wetlands is crucial for understanding species‐environment relationships, ecosystem function and changes during restoration. The PVC tape discolouration method enables spatially and temporally extensive studies of reductive conditions associated with long‐term water table dynamics in peat soils. The reliability of the method has been verified only for ombrotrophic bogs, even though wide usage can be expected in minerotrophic fens. Location: T?reboň basin, Czech Republic. Methods: Using data from 49 plots in six poor and moderately rich fens, we correlated the directly measured lowest, highest and mean water table depths and the same variables indicated by discolouration of PVC tape attached to green bamboo stakes installed vertically in the soil profile. Results: The depth to the first sign of PVC discolouration was highly correlated with the directly measured position of the highest water table, the correlation between the depth of complete discolouration and the directly measured position of the lowest water table was poorer. The accuracy of the minimum water table measurement depended on the depth of the peat layer. Surprisingly, the depth at which the green bamboo stakes turned brown correlated highly with the minimum water table. Conclusions: The PVC tape discolouration method reliably indicates water table maxima in fens, but minima are not accurately indicated. The depth of the green bamboo discolouration is suggested as a new alternative indicator of the minimum water table, even in fens and mineral soils. Combining both methods enables efficient monitoring of water table dynamics at a large number of mire sites.     

闽江河口湿地生物多样性及其保护

根据闽江河口湿地比较系统的调查资料,分析了生物多样性的状况及其受人为活动影响的原因,提出了湿地生物多样性保护的对策。研究表明,闽江河口区西自闽侯竹岐,东至连江川石岛,共划分10个湿地类型,总面积约459.2km2。闽江河口众多的湿地串珠状排列,有6块面积较大的湿地,是鸟类的主要栖息、繁殖和迁徙地。闽江河口湿地的维管束植物107科337属465种,被子植物89科317属438种,大型水生无脊椎动物61种,鸟类29科118种,植被类型4种类型、18个群系和22个群丛。文中分析了环境污染、不合理开发利用、盲目围垦等人为活动对闽江口湿地生物多样性的影响,最后提出了湿地生物多样性的保护对策。     

Decomposition of aboveground and belowground organs of wild rice (Zizania latifolia): mass loss and nutrient changes

Decomposition of aboveground and belowground organs of the emergent macrophyte Z.latifolia was investigated using a litterbag technique for a period of 359 days in a freshwater marsh in Japan. Aboveground parts were classified into: leaves, sheaths and stems. Belowground parts were classified into: horizontal rhizomes (new rhizome, hard rhizome, soft rhizome) and vertical rhizome (stembase). The decay rate (k) was 0.0036 day⁻¹, 0.0033 day⁻¹ and 0.0021 day⁻¹ for leaves, sheaths and stems, respectively. For belowground parts, the decay rate varied considerably from 0.0018 day⁻¹ to 0.0079 day⁻¹, according to differences in the initial chemical compositions of rhizomes. After 359 days of decay, new rhizomes lost 94% of their original dry mass, compared with a loss of 48–84% for the other rhizomes. There was a significant positive relationship between litter quality and decay rate for horizontal rhizomes. For the new rhizomes, which had an internal nitrogen content of 24.2 mg N g⁻¹ dry mass, the mass loss was 40% higher than that of soft rhizomes, which had an internal N content of 9.8 mg N g⁻¹ dry mass. Over the period of 359 days, the nitrogen concentration in all rhizome types decreased to levels lower than initial values, but the phosphorus concentration remained constant after an initial leaching loss. Most nitrogen and phosphorus were lost during the first 45 days of decay. Changes in carbon to nitrogen (C:N) and carbon to phosphorus (C:P) ratios basically followed inversed trends of the nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations.     

Further reading in geomicrobiology

In the wetland rhizosphere, high densities of lithotrophic Fe(II)-oxidizing bacteria (FeOB) and a favorable environment (i.e., high Fe(II) availability and microaerobic conditions) suggest that these organisms are actively contributing to the formation of Fe plaque on plant roots. We manipulated the presence/absence of an Fe(II)-oxidizing bacterium (Sideroxydans paludicola, strain BrT) in axenic hydroponic microcosms containing the roots of intact Juncus effusus (soft rush) plants to determine if FeOB affected total rates of rhizosphere Fe(II) oxidation and Fe plaque accumulation. Our experimental data highlight the importance of both FeOB and plants in influencing short-term rates of rhizosphere Fe oxidation. Over time scales ca. 1 wk, the FeOB increased Fe(II) oxidation rates by 1.3 to 1.7 times relative to FeOB-free microcosms. Across multiple experimental trials, Fe(II) oxidation rates were significantly correlated with root biomass, reflecting the importance of radial O ₂ loss in supporting rhizosphere Fe(II) oxidation. Rates of root Fe(III) plaque accumulation (time scales: 3 to 6 wk) were ～ 70 to 83% lower than expected based on the short-term Fe(II) oxidation rates and were unaffected by the presence/absence of FeOB. Decreasing rates of Fe(II) oxidation and Fe(III) plaque accumulation with increasing time scales indicate changes in rates of Fe(II) diffusion and radial O ₂ loss, shifts in the location of Fe oxide accumulation, or temporal changes in the microbial community within the microcosms. The microcosms used herein replicated many of the environmental characteristics of wetland systems and allowed us to demonstrate that FeOB can stimulate rates of Fe(II) oxidation in the wetland rhizosphere, a finding that has implications for the biogeochemical cycling of carbon, metals, and nutrients in wetland ecosystems.     

Conservation status of the two cryptic species of Hamatocaulis vernicosus (Bryophyta) in Sweden

Cryptic species are rarer than their combined, morphologically recognisable species. Each cryptic species may have its own habitat requirements and distribution, and each should be considered separately in biodiversity conservation. This investigation explores how well the two cryptic species of the wetland moss Hamatocaulis vernicosus (Mitt.) Hedenäs s.l., included in Annex II of the EU Habitat Directive, are safeguarded in existing protected sites in Sweden. Further, the northern distribution limit of the southern of the two cryptic species is explored. The distributions of the two cryptic species and their intraspecific variation are judged by the nuclear ITS1?+?2 and the two chloroplast markers rpl16 and trnL-trnF for a set of 89 specimens. The genetic differences between the two cryptic species are significant, but there are no differences between the protected and non-protected subsets within the respective species. The protected areas therefore represent these two species’ genetic variation well. The populations of both cryptic species appear stable, according to their genetic signals. One of the two cryptic species occurs almost throughout Sweden, whereas the other occurs only to the south of the southern limit of the southern boreal zone, except for two finds slightly further north in climatically mild areas.     

基于BP神经网络与ETM+遥感数据的盐城滨海自然湿地覆被分类

高效而精确的湿地遥感分类是大范围湿地资源动态监测与管理的必要保障。本研究使用ETM 遥感数据,借助Matlab神经网络工具箱,构建了基于BP神经网络的滨海湿地覆被分类模型,并将其应用于江苏盐城沿海湿地珍禽国家级自然保护区的核心区的自然湿地覆被分类研究中。本研究选择3、4、7、8波段作为输入层变量,单隐藏层设为10个节点,输出层变量对应待划分的8种覆被类型,构建三层式BP神经网络滨海湿地覆被分类模型。结果显示,BP分类总精度为85.91%,Kappa系数为0.8328,与最小距离法和极大似然法的分类总精度相比,分别提高了7.99%和6.08%,Kappa系数也相比提高。研究结果表明,BP神经网络分类法是一种较为有效的湿地遥感影像分类技术,能够提高分类精度。     

鄱阳湖湿地两种优势植物叶片C、N、P动态特征

2011年2—6月在鄱阳湖南矶湿地国家级自然保护区逐月测定了灰化苔草(Carex cinerascens)、南荻(Triarrhena lutarioriparia)叶片C、N、P含量及其地上生物量,以阐明鄱阳湖湿地优势植物C、N、P含量及化学计量比动态特征与控制因子,探讨湿地养分利用与限制状况。结果表明：1）两种优势植物叶有机碳含量变化范围分别为365.3—386.6 mg/g和352.6—393.2 mg/g,平均值(?标准差)分别为(375.5?17.4) mg/g和(371.7?12.5) mg/g;叶N含量分别为6.96—17.59 mg/g和5.50—20.68 mg/g,平均值分别为(11.35?1.40) mg/g和(11.54?0.84) mg/g;叶P含量变化范围为0.65—2.14 mg/g和0.57—2.25 mg/g,平均含量为(1.56?0.69) mg/g和(1.55?0.68) mg/g。两种植物C:N、C:P、N:P平均值分别为37.65、413.60、9.62和41.05、410.29、9.57,C、N、P及其化学计量比种间差异不显著(P>0.05)。2）气温与地上生物量是N、P及其化学计量比季节变化的主要控制因子,气温和生物量对两种优势植物叶片氮、磷含量的影响要高于对叶有机碳含量的影响。3）植物C:N、C:P与地上生物量变化趋势基本一致,显示N、P养分利用效率随植物的快速生长而提高;根据两种优势植物及土壤N、P含量与化学计量比来判断,研究区植物更多地受氮限制。