Litter Decomposition of Scirpus maritimus L. in a Mediterranean Coastal Marsh: Importance of the Meiofauna during the Initial Phases of Detached Leaves Decomposition

Growth, senescence and decomposition rates of Scirpus maritimus were studied in a Mediterranean brackish wetland. Plant tussocks were tagged in March, 2002 and were totally dead by September, 2002. Decomposition rates were determined over 360 days using litter bag technique and mass loss, nutrient dynamics, fungal biomass, meiofauna and macroorganisms were determined. Decomposition rate of detached S. maritimus litter was 0.00196 (k, day^–1) with a 54% of mass lost observed in 1 year. The pattern of mass loss was characterized by an initial phase of fast loss of organic matter with high density of meiofauna and a decrease of oxygen content, followed by two slower phases, with no significant losses from 50 to 180 days and with 21% of mass lost from 180 to 360 days. Nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) content of plant litter increased during decomposition process whereas atomic C:N and C:P ratios decreased, suggesting a nutrient immobilization on plant detritus. Fungal biomass measured as ergosterol content decreased after submersion of leaves, indicating that their importance in litter decomoposition decreases in submerged leaves during the first days of decomposition. An inverse relationship (r = –0.79, P < 0.005) was observed between ergosterol content and nematodes density on S. maritimus litter. Our results suggest that in Mediterranean brackish marshes, where large amounts of dead organic matter is accumulated over the sediment surface, decomposition process is greatly affected by extremely high temperatures in summer that, if water is available, accelerates microbial activity decreasing oxygen content thus slowing decomposition. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

The effect of organic matter on sedimentary phosphorus release in an Australian reservoir

Australian reservoirs, compared to much of the world, are subjected to extreme arid and semi-arid climatic conditions where dam volumes can range from near-empty to full, often with rapid filling events. P-release, after re-flooding of desiccated sediments, can be important to water quality, and can be further influenced by dried macrophyte, exposed as water recedes and incorporated into sediments. P-release from Lake Rowlands (New South Wales, Australia) sediments was studied under different aerobic and sterile conditions with five carbon source amendments to the sediment (the macrophyte Isoetes sp. in different stages of senescence and acetate). Sedimentary P-release involved a complex array of factors modified by aerobic, biotic and abiotic processes, organic matter breakdown, iron content of sediments and turbulence. Under aerobic conditions, P-release from sterile non-amended sediments and sterile macrophyte-amended sediments was greater than from non-sterile sediments. Under anaerobic conditions, P-release was maximal from non-sterile macrophyte-amended sediments, probably via pathways involving fermentative Fe³⁺-reducing bacteria where electrons are transferred from organic matter to amorphous Fe(OOH) leading to Fe²⁺ and consequent release of P. Macrophyte addition (whether fresh or dried) enhanced P-release under anaerobic compared with aerobic conditions. P-release from acetate-amended sediments appeared to involve acetate aerobes. The re-flooding of sediments, therefore, has the potential to create conditions that are conducive to aerobic sedimentary P-release and should be taken into account in management strategies adopted for reservoirs where levels are likely to fluctuate.     

螺类与着生藻类的相互作用及其对沉水植物的影响

浅水湖泊的富营养化常导致水生植被的退化与浮游藻类的爆发［１０,１８,２９］。可利用光通常是决定沉水植物分布、生物量和生产力的最重要因子,因此,伴随高营养负荷的浮游藻类繁殖,极大地削弱了沉水植物的光合能力［２０］。然而,Ｐｈｉｌｉｐｓ等人［２８］认为,...     

Using neutral cline decay to estimate contemporary dispersal: a generic tool and its application to a major crop pathogen

Dispersal is a key parameter of adaptation, invasion and persistence. Yet standard population genetics inference methods hardly distinguish it from drift and many species cannot be studied by direct mark‐recapture methods. Here, we introduce a method using rates of change in cline shapes for neutral markers to estimate contemporary dispersal. We apply it to the devastating banana pest Mycosphaerella fijiensis, a wind‐dispersed fungus for which a secondary contact zone had previously been detected using landscape genetics tools. By tracking the spatio‐temporal frequency change of 15 microsatellite markers, we find that σ, the standard deviation of parent–offspring dispersal distances, is 1.2 km/generation^1/2. The analysis is further shown robust to a large range of dispersal kernels. We conclude that combining landscape genetics approaches to detect breaks in allelic frequencies with analyses of changes in neutral genetic clines offers a powerful way to obtain ecologically relevant estimates of dispersal in many species.     

Seasonal dynamics of macrophyte communities from a stream flowing over granite flatrock in North Carolina,USA

The seasonal distribution and abundance of benthic macrophytes were characterized from second- and third-order segments of a stream flowing over granite flatrock in the southeastern United States. Eighteen genera were identified over two annual cycles including macroalgae (60% of the total), angiosperms (30%), and bryophytes (10%). Light availability as affected by riparian shading was a major factor influencing community structure. Based on strong agreement among two-way indicator species analysis, detrended correspondence analysis and cluster analysis, we identified four communities characteristic of distinct light regimes and seasons. In shaded sites the red alga Lemanea australis was dominant during cool seasons, and the aquatic moss Fontinalis sp. was dominant during warm seasons. By contrast, in open sites L. australis and the angiosperm Podostemum ceratophyllum were co-dominant during cool seasons, and P. ceratophyllum was also dominant in warm seasons. The prolific macrophyte communities followed a pattern of broad seasonal maxima for dominant species along with rapid fluctuations in ephemerals. The community dynamics suggest that competitive interactions control space partitioning among macrophytes on the granite flatrock.     

Regulation of root anaerobiosis and carbon translocation by light and root aeration in Isoetes alpinus

The activity of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) was measured in corms and roots of the submerged freshwater macrophyte Isoetes alpinus Kirk. growing in situ, and related to its capacity for internal oxygen transport and to carbohydrate translocation. ADH activity was present in roots but not corms at uniform activity (0.15–0.35 × 10^?6 mol g^?1 fresh weight s^?1) over the entire plant depth range (3–7 m depth), and was intermediate to that developed in excised roots after 1‐week exposure to either dissolved oxygen at air‐saturation or to anoxia. Responses of photosynthesis and root oxygen release to light intensity confirmed that shoot‐to‐root oxygen transport saturated at similar light intensities to photosynthetic oxygen evolution, but was positive in the dark and at irradiances below the compensation point for photosynthesis, due to contributions to transport by oxygen diffusion from the external medium. Transport of ¹⁴C‐labelled photo‐assimilates to roots nevertheless ceased when intact plants were exposed to a combination of leaf darkness and root external anoxia, even when high ¹⁴C concentrations were present in shoots, but remained high when the roots were provided with external oxygen. The lack of any control over permeability of the root surface to gases in this species suggested that ADH activity and reduced translocation is most likely caused by development of hypoxic tissues in the apical tissue. These results suggest that reductions in ambient light intensity may have indirect effects on I. alpinus viability by increasing the degree of root hypoxia and impairing carbon partitioning.     

Climate change and the future distributions of aquatic macrophytes across boreal catchments

Aim Aquatic–terrestrial ecotones are vulnerable to climate change, and degradation of the emergent aquatic macrophyte zone would have severe ecological consequences for freshwater, wetland and terrestrial ecosystems. Our aim was to uncover future changes in boreal emergent aquatic macrophyte zones by modelling the occurrence and percentage cover of emergent aquatic vegetation under different climate scenarios in Finland by the 2050s. Location Finland, northern Europe. Methods Data derived from different GIS sources were used to estimate future emergent aquatic macrophyte distributions in all catchments in Finland (848 in total). We used generalized additive models (GAM) with a full stepwise selection algorithm and Akaike information criterion to explore the main environmental determinates (climate and geomorphology) of emergent aquatic macrophyte distributions, which were derived from the national subclass of CORINE land‐cover classification. The accuracy of the distribution models (GAMs) was cross‐validated, using percentage of explained deviance and the area under the curve derived from the receiver‐operating characteristic plots. Results Our results indicated that emergent aquatic macrophytes will expand their distributions northwards from the current catchments and percentage cover will increase in all of the catchments in all climate scenarios. Growing degree‐days was the primary determinant affecting distributions of emergent aquatic macrophytes. Inclusion of geomorphological variables clearly improved model performance in both model exercises compared with pure climate variables. Main conclusions Emergent aquatic macrophyte distributions will expand due to climate change. Many emergent aquatic plant species have already expanded their distributions during the past decades, and this process will continue in the years 2051–80. Emergent aquatic macrophytes pose an increasing overgrowth risk for sensitive macrophyte species in boreal freshwater ecosystems, which should be acknowledged in management and conservation actions. We conclude that predictions based on GIS data can provide useful ‘first‐filter’ estimates of changes in aquatic–terrestrial ecotones.     

Ecological management of aquatic plants: effects in lowland streams

Recently, a significant increase in macrophyte growth has been observed in many lowland rivers in Flanders, mainly due to eutrophication and an improvement of the water quality. This growth strongly influences the channel roughness (Manning-n). The first purpose of the project was a better understanding of the complex relationship between biomass development and discharge capacity in lowland rivers. In order to avoid the backing up of water upstream, the whole vegetation body is usually mowed annually. This project also investigated a lighter ecological management of aquatic plants in which only a part of the vegetation is removed in separate and alternating blocks, seeking a compromise between sufficient discharge and conserving large parts of the macrophyte vegetation with all its functions. Beside laboratory experiments, field survey was undertaken in the Grote Caliebeek, a tributary of the Kleine Nete in Flanders, Belgium. The results indicated that the presence of macrophytes in lowland rivers slowed down the waterflow and resulted in a raised water level. The upstream water level followed biomass development at a certain discharge level. The mowing experiments and the field survey indicated that alternating weed cutting patterns can reduce fall in an effective way. This research emphasizes the possibilities of alternating weed cutting patterns in order to deal with water flow problems. In the long term there will be the need for a better understanding of the ecological relationships in the search for a sustainable integrated method of controlling aquatic vegetation.     

Intra-habitat Differences in the Composition of the Methanogenic Archaeal Community between the Microcystis-Dominated and the Macrophyte-Dominated Bays in Taihu Lake

A regime shift between a macrophyte-dominated clear state and a phytoplankton-dominated turbid state can have considerable impact on ecosystem structure and function of shallow lakes. However, very little is known about the response of the methanogenic archaeal community in the sediment during this regime shift. We investigated the methanogenic archaeal community at two sites in the large, shallow, eutrophic Taihu Lake over the course of one year. One site is located in Meiliang Bay and is dominated by Microcystis blooms, and the other site is located in East Taihu Bay and is dominated by aquatic macrophytes. Terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and phylogenetic analyses of archaeal 16S rRNA genes were used to analyze the methanogenic community. Higher ratio of methanogens in Archaea was observed in East Taihu Bay than in Meiliang Bay. The methanogenic archaeal community was dominated by the Methanobacteriales and the LDS cluster in macrophytes-dominated East Taihu Bay, while it was dominated by the Methanosarcinaceae, Methanobacteriales, and the LDS cluster in Microcystis-dominated Meiliang Bay. Clustering analysis of all of the samples revealed differences in the composition of the methanogenic archaeal communities between the two sites that were independent of seasonal variations. Further statistical analysis indicated that the chlorophyll a (Chla) concentration had a profound impact on the composition of the methanogenic archaeal community in Meiliang Bay, whereas it was primarily influenced by total organic carbon (TOC) levels in East Taihu Bay. Overall, this investigation demonstrates that intra-habitat differences in the composition of methanogenic archaeal communities are likely driven by changes in the available organic materials.