The use of sub-surface constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment in the Czech Republic: 10 years experience

Wetlands have been intensively studied in the Czech Republic for more than 30 years, but the first full-scale constructed wetland (CW) for wastewater treatment was built in the Czech Republic in 1989. By the end of 1999, about 100 CWs were put in operation. The majority of the systems are horizontal subsurface flow (HSF) CWs and are designed for the secondary treatment of domestic or municipal wastewater. The size of CWs ranges between 18 and 4500 m² and between 4 and 1100 population equivalent (PE). Most frequently used filtration media are gravel and crushed rock with size fractions of 4/8 and 8/16 mm and Phragmites australis is the most commonly used plant. The treatment efficiency is high in terms of BOD₅ (88.0% for vegetated beds) and suspended solids (84.3% for vegetated beds). The removal of nutrients is lower for vegetated beds, and averages 51 and 41.6% for total phosphorus and total nitrogen, respectively.     

芦苇湿地温室气体甲烷(CH4)排放研究

用封闭式箱法对辽河三洲芦苇湿地温室气候CH4的观测结果表明,其排放有明显的季节规律。淹水前、土壤为CH4汇。淹水期间,有大量的CH4排放。排水后CH4排放明显减少。在测定期内,CH4排放通量为－968－2734μgCH4l/(m^2.h)。另外,土壤中中产生的CH4主要是通过芦苇植株的传输作用进入到大气中,试验结果还表明,有芦苇生长的湿地CH4排放是无芦苇生长的15倍,同时,建议芦苇田应采用间歇灌溉的水分管理措施,这样既促进植株生长,又能减少CH4排放。     

Osmotic and ionic effects of NaCl and Na2SO4 salinity on Phragmites australis

Osmotic and ion-specific effects of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ on Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin ex. Steud. were investigated in a laboratory experiment by examining effects of iso-osmotic solutions of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ on growth, osmolality of cell sap, proline content, elemental composition and gas exchange. Plants were supplied with a control standard nutrient solution (Ψ = −0.09 MPa) or solutions of NaCl or Na₂SO₄ at water potentials of −0.50, −1.09 or −1.74 MPa. Salt treatments increased root concentrations of Na and S or Cl, whereas P. australis had efficient mechanisms for exclusion of Na and S and partly Cl ions from the leaves. Incomplete exclusion of Cl from the leaves may affect aboveground biomass production, which was significantly more reduced by NaCl than Na₂SO₄. Stomatal conductance was negatively influenced by decreasing water potentials caused by NaCl or Na₂SO₄, implying that a non-significant photosynthetic depression observed in plants grown at −1.74 MPa was mainly due to osmotically induced stomatal closure. This was supported by decreasing internal CO₂ concentrations. Saline conditions increased the intrinsic water use efficiency and did not alter photosynthetic parameters derived from light response curves, supporting the assumption of a well-functioning CO₂ utilization in salt stressed plants. The leaf proline concentration increased equally in NaCl and Na₂SO₄-treated plants, and may play an important role as a compatible organic solute. P. australis possesses a range of mechanisms conferring tolerance to both NaCl and Na₂SO₄ stress and except in terms of growth the phytotoxicity of NaCl and Na₂SO₄ are comparable.     

黄河三角洲芦苇种群高度和地上净生产量生长季动态

黄河三角洲位于山东省东北部。本地区自然植被的主要类型是盐生草甸,其中广泛分布在低平洼地、黄河故道以及池塘河渠的芦苇(Phragmites communis)种群是该地区重要的农业资源之一。通过在生长季中对这一种群的定位研究,初步揭示了种群高度和地上净生产量动态的基本规律。一、自然环境概况黄河三角洲在中国植被区划上属暖温带落     

Polymorphism and transcription of Mhc class I genes in a passerine bird, the great reed warbler

 The class I genes of the major histocompatibility complex (Mhc) are here investigated for the first time in a passerine bird. The great reed warbler is a rare species in Sweden with a few semi-isolated populations. Yet, we found extensive Mhc class I variation in the study population. The variable exon 3, corresponding to the α₂ domain, was amplified from genomic DNA with degenerated primers. Seven different genomic class I sequences were detected in a single individual. One of the sequences had a deletion leading to a shift in the reading frame, indicating that it was not a functional gene. A randomly selected clone was used as a probe for restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) studies in combination with the restriction enzyme Pvu II. The RFLP pattern was complex with 21–25 RFLP fragments per individual and extensive variation. Forty-nine RFLP genotypes were detected in 55 tested individuals. To study the number of transcribed genes, we isolated 14 Mhc class I clones from a cDNA library from a single individual. We found eight different sequences of four different lengths (1.3–2.2 kilobases), suggesting there are at least four transcribed loci. The number of nonsynonymous substitutions (d _N ) in the peptide binding region of exon 3 were higher than the number of synonymous substitutions (d _S ), indicating balancing selection in this region. The number of transcribed genes and the numerous RFLP fragments found so far suggest that the great reed warbler does not have a "minimal essential Mhc" as has been suggested for the chicken. Received: 13 May 1998 / Revised: 18 August 1998     

Characterization of Na+ exclusion mechanisms of salt-tolerant reed plants in comparison with salt-sensitive rice plants

Salt-tolerant reed plants ( Phragmites communis Trinius) and salt-sensitive rice plants ( Oryza sativa L. cv. Kinmaze) were grown in salinized nutrient solutions up to 50 m M NaCl, and growth, Na⁺ contents and kinetics of ²²Na⁺ uptake and translocation were compared between the species to characterize the salt tolerance mechanisms operating in reed plants. When both plants were grown under the same salinity, Na⁺ contents of the shoots were lower in reed plants, although those of the roots were quite similar. The shoot base region of both species accumulated Na⁺ more than the leaf blades did. Sodium-22 uptake and pulse-chase experiments suggested that the lower Na⁺ transport rate from root to shoot could limit excessive Na⁺ accumulation in the reed shoot. There was a possibility that the apparently lower ²²Na⁺ transport rate to the shoot of reed plants was due to net downward Na⁺ transport from shoot base to root.     

A spatiotemporal analysis of acoustic interactions between great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) using microphone arrays and robot audition software HARK

Acoustic interactions are important for understanding intra‐ and interspecific communication in songbird communities from the viewpoint of soundscape ecology. It has been suggested that birds may divide up sound space to increase communication efficiency in such a manner that they tend to avoid overlap with other birds when they sing. We are interested in clarifying the dynamics underlying the process as an example of complex systems based on short‐term behavioral plasticity. However, it is very problematic to manually collect spatiotemporal patterns of acoustic events in natural habitats using data derived from a standard single‐channel recording of several species singing simultaneously. Our purpose here was to investigate fine‐scale spatiotemporal acoustic interactions of the great reed warbler. We surveyed spatial and temporal patterns of several vocalizing color‐banded great reed warblers (Acrocephalus arundinaceus) using an open‐source software for robot audition HARK (Honda Research Institute Japan Audition for Robots with Kyoto University) and three new 16‐channel, stand‐alone, and water‐resistant microphone arrays, named DACHO spread out in the bird's habitat. We first show that our system estimated the location of two color‐banded individuals’ song posts with mean error distance of 5.5 ± 4.5 m from the location of observed song posts. We then evaluated the temporal localization accuracy of the songs by comparing the duration of localized songs around the song posts with those annotated by human observers, with an accuracy score of average 0.89 for one bird that stayed at one song post. We further found significant temporal overlap avoidance and an asymmetric relationship between songs of the two singing individuals, using transfer entropy. We believe that our system and analytical approach contribute to a better understanding of fine‐scale acoustic interactions in time and space in bird communities.     

Factors influencing the distribution of Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L. and Rumex hydrolapathum Huds. in a mowed low-lying marshland, Réserve de Cheyres, lac de Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Using environmental parameters we studied the distribution of two endangered species, Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L. and Rumex hydrolapathum Huds., in a low-lying marshland of the Swiss Plateau, a region in which aquatic vegetation is particularly threatened. A large part of the study site is regularly mown by a machine for site management purposes. The caterpillar mower digs ruts, which are especially pronounced along the tracks used to reach the mown compartment. To assess the effects of site management on these species, we have tested six environmental parameters (vegetation unit, water conductivity, water supply indicated by altitude, time elapsed since the last cut, distance from major ruts and disturbance of major ruts) that can potentially influence plant distribution. All the plots of these two species have been found in mowed compartment, which seems to indicate a correlation between site management operations and occurrences. The other factors driving the distribution of these plants are vegetation unit, distance from major ruts and water supply.     

Preadaptation and post‐introduction evolution facilitate the invasion of Phragmites australis in North America

Compared with non‐invasive species, invasive plant species may benefit from certain advantageous traits, for example, higher photosynthesis capacity and resource/energy‐use efficiency. These traits can be preadapted prior to introduction, but can also be acquired through evolution following introduction to the new range. Disentangling the origins of these advantageous traits is a fundamental and emerging question in invasion ecology. We conducted a multiple comparative experiment under identical environmental condition with the invasive haplotype M lineage of the wetland grass Phragmites australis and compared the ecophysiological traits of this invasive haplotype M in North America with those of the European ancestor and the conspecific North American native haplotype E lineage, P. australis ssp. americanus. The invasive haplotype M differed significantly from the native North American conspecific haplotype E in several ecophysiological and morphological traits, and the European haplotype M had a more efficient photosynthetic apparatus than the native North American P. australis ssp. americanus. Within the haplotype M lineage, the introduced North American P. australis exhibited different biomass allocation patterns and resource/energy‐use strategies compared to its European ancestor group. A discriminant analysis of principal components separated the haplotype M and the haplotype E lineages completely along the first canonical axis, highly related to photosynthetic gas‐exchange parameters, photosynthetic energy‐use efficiency and payback time. The second canonical axis, highly related to photosynthetic nitrogen use efficiency and construction costs, significantly separated the introduced P. australis in North America from its European ancestor. Synthesis. We conclude that the European P. australis lineage was preadapted to be invasive prior to its introduction, and that the invasion in North America is further stimulated by rapid post‐introduction evolution in several advantageous traits. The multicomparison approach used in this study could be an effective approach for distinguishing preadaptation and post‐introduction evolution of invasive species. Further research is needed to link the observed changes in invasive traits to the genetic variation and the interaction with the environment.