Conservation of the puku antelope (Kobus vardoni, Livingstone) in the Kilombero Valley, Tanzania

Although there are populations of puku antelope Kobusvardoni (Livingstone) scattered throughout eastern and centralAfrica, it is estimated that 75% of the total population is now restricted tothe Kilombero Valley, Tanzania. The Kilombero Valley is an area rich inagricultural potential and natural resources; wildlife populations are also highand the inner valley is a Game Controlled Area, although this only provideslimited protection. Aerial surveys during the 1989, 1994 and 1998 dry seasonsshowed the puku population to be stable at around50000–60000 animals. Livestock populations fluctuated, butincreased from 17309 ± 6487 to 54047 ±17247 over the same period. Signs of human activity (e.g. huts, fieldsand livestock) were highest around the edge of the Game Controlled Area,indicating intense pressure on 'boundary-zone' habitats at thefloodplain–woodland interface. Puku use 'boundary-zone'habitats during the wet season when large areas of grassland are flooded.Potential threats to the puku population are therefore likely due to habitatdegradation through over-grazing by domestic herbivores, agriculturalencroachment, and the expansion of human settlements. Licensed trophyhunting probably has a negligible impact on puku because of very low off-take, but illegalhunting represents a serious threat near human settlements during thewet season and in accessible parts of the floodplain during the dry season.     

Revised estimate of numbers of wintering Red-throated Divers Gavia stellata in Great Britain

Capsule An estimated 17 000 Red-throated Divers winter around Great Britain.

Aim To produce an up-to-date assessment of the numbers of Red-throated Divers wintering around Great Britain.

Methods A revised Great Britain (GB) wintering population estimate for Red-throated Divers was compiled using data primarily from systematic line transect surveys by aircraft over marine nearshore areas conducted during 2001–06, supplemented with county bird records and Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) counts, both from 1995 to 2005. Population estimates for each survey area around GB were calculated as the mean of either annual means (aerial surveys) or annual maxima (WeBS, county bird records) of all data collected within January and February of each year. These were summed to give a revised GB wintering population estimate.

Results A total of 17116 (13198–21034, 95% confidence interval) Red-throated Divers were estimated to winter around GB. Distribution was uneven. By far the greatest numbers were found off southeast and east Britain (59.3% of the total was between Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, and Dungeness, Kent), with large concentrations off the English south coast (10.9%), north Wales and Liverpool Bay (9.8%), and eastern Scotland (6.1%).

Conclusion This is a minimum plausible population estimate and the true population size may be larger. The new 1% of population threshold for statutory conservation work is 170 birds.     

Retention of suspended sediment and phosphorus on a freshwater delta, South Lake Tahoe, California

The Upper Truckee River and Trout Creek, two major tributaries inflowing to Lake Tahoe, join to form what was historically the largest wetland in the Sierra Nevada mountain range that separates California and Nevada (USA). In the 1950s the delta floodplain of the Upper Truckee River was greatly reduced in area (38%) by urban development and the diversion of the river into a single excavated channel. Conversely, Trout Creek still flows through a wide marsh system with significant overbank flooding before entering Lake Tahoe. This study hypothesized that river channel reaches that are not incised within the delta floodplain retain more sediment and nutrients as a result of greater floodplain connectivity, compared to more incised and excavated reaches. Suspended sediment (SS) and total phosphorus (TP) load data from the delta formed by the Upper Truckee River and Trout Creek were collected using flow stage sensors, turbidometers and depth-integrated samples. During the spring snowmelt flow events monitored in 2003, SS load was reduced by 13–41% for the Upper Truckee River and by 68–90% for Trout Creek. Similar reductions in TP load were observed: 13–32% for the Upper Truckee River and 61–84% for Trout Creek. Monitoring of Trout Creek indicated a reduction in load per unit volume of 20–34% in a moderately incised reach versus a reduction of 51–77% in a non-incised marsh reach containing lagoons, braided channels and backwater areas created by a beaver dam. Smaller particle sizes, <10 μm, were retained in the lower marsh reach with similar efficiencies as larger particle sizes. If retention rates from the Trout Creek portion of the marsh are applied to the Upper Truckee River, sediment loading to Lake Tahoe for 2003 would have been reduced by 917 tons of SS.     

Changes along a disturbance gradient in the density and composition of propagule banks in floodplain aquatic habitats

This study used germination methods to examine the density, species composition and functional composition of propagule banks in a series of riverine wetland aquatic habitats subject to varying degrees of hydrological and management-related disturbance. Under permanent inundation (the conditions prevailing at most sites during the growing season) propagule germination and species richness was low, with floodplain perennials and helophytes particularly affected. Densities of floodplain annuals were largely maintained through continued germination of a few flooding tolerant species. On damp mud (conditions associated with hydrological instability) total seedling number and species richness increased significantly, but species richness of germinating hydrophytes declined. Mean seedling density at 0–0.1m depth was 15450 ± 4400 m–2, reaching a maximum (162 050 m–2) in temporary backwaters. Annual (e.g., Lindernia dubia, Cyperus fuscus) and facultative ruderal species (e.g., Lythrum salicaria and Alisma plantago-aquatica) predominated. Vertical zonation of the propagule bank was weakly developed. The numbers of individuals and species germinating varied significantly between sites. The seasonal, most intensely disturbed sites (temporary backwaters) supported a numerically large, species-rich propagule bank based on floodplain annuals, while the permanent, less disturbed sites (ditches and an oxbow pond) had a small, species-poor propagule bank composed of hydrophytes and helophytes supplemented by allochthonous seed inputs. Sites intermediate on the gradient had a propagule bank dominated by facultative amphibious, ruderal hydrophytes. The composition of the seed bank and the established vegetation was most similar at the heavily disturbed sites where the seed bank was maintained by vigorously fruiting annuals and supplemented by inputs from temporary habitats upstream. At permanent sites much of the propagule bank composition could be accounted for by inputs of floodborne seed from the immediately adjacent floodplain. The established vegetation at such sites appeared to be maintained mainly by vegetative propagation with recruitment from the propagule bank likely only after severe disturbance. The potential contribution of functionally diverse propagule banks to sucessional processes within fluvially dynamic floodplain aquatic habitats is emphasised.     

Advancement in soil microcosm apparatus for biogeochemical research

Application of soil microcosms has largely improved our understanding in biogeochemical processes, because all major environmental factors can be independently controlled. Recent advancement to improve the performance of soil microcosm has been made. The modifications include using a different incubation vessel and cap, replacing a magnetic stirrer with an overhead stirrer, providing temperature control for the microcosm, using data logger for continuous measurements of redox potential (Eh), pH and temperature, and applying automatic gas analysis. The modifications can be made in any combination to suit an individual's needs and budget.     

Relationship between water regime and hummock-building by Melaleuca ericifolia and Phragmites australis in a brackish wetland

We investigated the relationship between hummock height and depth of inundation in a permanently inundated wetland in south-eastern Australia. Our survey of 318 hummocks, in water ranging from 0 to 70 cm depth, revealed a significant positive linear relationship and strong correlation between hummock height and water depth (r² = 0.53 and 0.79 for Melaleuca ericifolia and Phragmites australis hummocks respectively). We also investigated whether water regime affects the decomposition rate of litter on hummocks; specifically, whether constant inundation slows decomposition to an extent that would promote accumulation of litter and hummock-building. On the contrary, we found that constantly submerged M. ericifolia litter decomposed faster than dry litter, but at a similar rate to litter that experienced intermittent inundation (decay rates (k) 0.0015 d⁻¹, 0.0010 d⁻¹ and 0.0008 d⁻¹ for submerged, intermittent and dry treatments respectively). Submerged P. australis litter also decomposed faster (k = 0.0024 d⁻¹) than dry litter (k = 0.0011 d⁻¹). We discuss the interaction of water regime and decomposition of organic material and implications for the maintenance of hummock and hollow topography.     

Temporal stability of vegetation indicators of wetland condition

Vegetation indices are widely employed to evaluate wetland ecological condition, and are expected to provide sensitive and specific detection of environmental change. Most studies evaluate the performance of condition assessment metrics in the context of the data used to calibrate them. Here we examined the temporal stability of the Florida Wetland Condition Index (FWCI) for vegetation of depressional forested wetlands by resampling sites in 2008 that were previously sampled to develop the FWCI in 2001. Our objective was to determine if FWCI, a composite of six vegetation-based metrics, provides a robust measure of condition given inter-annual variation in environmental conditions (i.e., rainfall) between sampling periods. To that end, we sampled 22 geographically isolated wetlands in north Florida that spanned a wide land use/land cover intensity gradient. Our results suggested the FWCI is robust. We observed no significant paired difference in FWCI across or within land use categories, and the relationship between FWCI in 2001 and 2008 was strong (r² = 0.88, p < 0.001). This was despite surprisingly high composition change. Mean Jaccard community similarity within sites between years was 0.30, suggesting that most of the herbaceous taxa were replaced, possibly because of different antecedent rainfall conditions or sampling during different phenological periods; both are contingencies to which condition indices must be robust. We did observe some evidence of convergence toward the mean in 2008, with the fitted slope relating 2001 and 2008 FWCI scores significantly below one (0.63, 95% CI = 0.53–0.73). The most variable FWCI component metric was the proportional representation of obligate wetland taxa, suggesting that systematic changes may have been induced by different hydrologic conditions prior to sampling; notably, however, FWCI computed without this component still exhibited a slope significantly less than 1 (0.72, 95% CI = 0.61–0.88). Moreover, there was evidence that species lost from reference sites (higher condition) were replaced by taxa of lower floristic quality, while species lost from agricultural sites (consistently the lowest condition land use category) were replaced by species of higher quality. A significant positive association between FWCI and the ratio of coefficients of conservatism (CC) of species lost to those gained suggests some overfitting in FWCI development. However, despite modest evidence of overfitting, FWCI provides temporally consistent estimates of wetland condition, even under conditions of substantial taxonomic turnover.     

Monitoring temporal dynamics of Great Artesian Basin wetland vegetation,Australia, using MODIS NDVI

The Great Artesian Basin springs (Australia) are unique groundwater dependent wetland ecosystems of great significance, but are endangered by anthropogenic water extraction from the underlying aquifers. Relationships have been established between the wetland area associated with individual springs and their discharge, providing a potential means of monitoring groundwater flow using measurements of vegetated wetland area. Previous attempts to use this relationship to monitor GAB springs have used aerial photography or high resolution satellite images and gave sporadic temporal information. These “snapshot” studies need to be placed within a longer and more regular context to better assess changes in response to aquifer draw-downs. In this study we test the potential of 8 years of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Normalised Difference Vegetation Index data as a long-term tracer of the temporal dynamics of wetland vegetation at the Dalhousie Springs Complex of the Great Artesian Basin. NDVI time series were extracted from MODIS images and phenologies of the main wetland vegetation species defined. Photosynthetic activity within wetlands could be discriminated from surrounding land responses in this medium resolution imagery. The study showed good correlation between wetland vegetated area and groundwater flow over the 2002–2010 period, but also the important influence of natural species phenologies, rainfall, and anthropogenic activity on the observed seasonal and inter-annual vegetation dynamics. Declining trends in the extent (km²) of vegetated wetland areas were observed between 2002 and 2009 followed by a return of wetland vegetation since 2010. This study underlines the need to continue long-term medium resolution satellite studies of the GAB to fully understand variability and trends in the spring-fed wetlands. The MODIS record allows a good understanding of variability within the wetlands, and gives a high temporal-frequency context for less frequent higher spatial resolution studies, therefore providing a strong baseline for assessment of future changes.     

Assessing the relationship between biomass and soil organic matter in created wetlands of central Pennsylvania, USA

Created wetlands are frequently structurally different from the natural wetlands they are intended to replace. With differences in structure might come differences in function. Most created wetlands in central Pennsylvania have very low amounts of soil organic matter relative to levels found in natural wetlands. However, anecdotal evidence also suggests that plant production is equivalent in created wetlands to natural wetlands. There is little evidence to indicate that this plant biomass in created wetlands is finding its way into the soil as organic matter. This might translate into a lack of function in the mitigation wetlands. To address this issue, we studied plant biomass production in seven created wetlands in central Pennsylvania (USA). We measured above- and below-ground biomass and compared results with known values of soil organic matter and hydrology for the same wetlands. We found biomass to be approximately equivalent to that produced in natural freshwater marshes, although the below-ground component was somewhat higher. We found no relationship of biomass to soil organic matter, even though site conditions were wet enough to retard plant decomposition.