Nutrient recycling by fish in streams along a gradient of agricultural land use

Nutrient recycling is an essential ecosystem process provided by animals. In many aquatic systems, fish have been identified as important in ecosystem nutrient recycling; however, this importance can vary widely between systems. The factors controlling intersystem variation in animal‐mediated nutrient cycling have rarely been examined and as such it remains unclear what impact human landscape changes will have upon these processes. Here we examined rates of nutrient recycling for temperate stream fish assemblages along a gradient of agricultural land use (proportion cropland in the watershed: 1–59%). We quantified nutrient excretion rates of both ammonium–N (NH₄⁺–N) and phosphate (as soluble reactive phosphate: SRP) for fish assemblages at eight streams in southern Ontario, Canada with species‐specific excretion measurements and quantitative assemblage sampling. For both nutrients, total assemblage excretion exhibited a strong positive relationship with riparian cropland. The distance required for fish assemblages to turn over ambient nutrient pools was shorter for cropland systems, indicating that the relative importance of excreted nutrients was higher in these systems. Based on measured uptake rates of NH₄⁺–N in two streams (one higher cropland and one low cropland) and on modeled uptake rates for all streams, the proportion of ecosystem demand that can be satisfied by excretion is generally higher in the more agricultural streams. These patterns appear to be driven largely by disproportionate increases in fish assemblage biomass with increasing stream nutrient concentrations.     

祁连山东段高寒地区土地利用方式对土壤性状的影响

祁连山东段是典型的高寒地区,自然环境脆弱而敏感,探讨该区域土地利用方式对土壤性状的影响有助于高寒地区土地合理利用和生态恢复。在实验区内选取了天然草地(NG)、退耕自然恢复地(NRAC)、坡耕地(SC)和人工草地(SG)4种土地利用方式,研究了不同土地利用方式对土壤物理和化学性状的影响。结果表明,高寒地区不同土地利用方式下土壤理化性状差异显著。不同土地利用方式下土壤含水量表现为:NG>SG>NRAC>SC;土壤容重表现为:NRAC>SG>SC>NG;土壤紧实度表现为:SC>SG>NRAC>NG;总孔隙度为NG>SC>SG>NRAC。在4种土地利用方式中NG有机质含量(116.438 g/kg)显著高于其他土地利用方式(P<0.05);NRAC土壤有机质含量(28.541 g/kg)显著低于其他土地利用方式(P<0.05);全N含量NG最大;SC全P和全K含量最大;NG土壤速效N、P、K含量均最高。研究表明,NG在保持和维护土壤性状方面表现出了较好的效果,SC和SG土壤性状相对较差;退耕4 a的NRAC土壤性状仍然较差,反映出在高寒地区土壤生态系统一旦遭到严重破坏,在自然条件下较难恢复,恢复所需时间也较长。     

科尔沁沙地不同土地利用类型土壤化学计量特征

土壤碳(C)、氮(N)、磷(P)化学计量是衡量土壤质量及生态系统元素限制的重要指标,探讨土地利用和土层深度对土壤化学计量特征的影响有利于揭示科尔沁沙地土壤元素循环规律。本研究以科尔沁沙地5种土地利用类型(灌溉农田、旱作农田、沙质草地、固定沙丘、流动沙丘)土壤为对象,分析不同土地利用类型和不同土层土壤有机碳(SOC)、全氮(TN)、全磷(TP)含量及其化学计量特征。结果表明: 1)科尔沁沙地0～10 cm SOC(3.23 g·kg^-1)、TN(0.37 g·kg^-1)、TP(0.15 g·kg^-1)含量及化学计量比(C:N、C:P、N:P分别为9.07、25.56、2.97)远低于中国陆地土壤。2)土地利用变化显著改变了SOC、TN、TP含量及其化学计量特征,0～100 cm SOC、TN、TP含量均表现为灌溉农田>沙质草地>旱作农田>固定沙丘>流动沙丘;沙质草地、灌溉农田、旱作农田C:N显著高于固定沙丘和流动沙丘,沙质草地、固定沙丘、灌溉农田、旱作农田C:P显著高于流动沙丘,5种土地利用类型N:P无显著差异。3)随土层深度增加,沙质草地、固定沙丘、灌溉农田、旱作农田SOC和TN含量显著降低,流动沙丘SOC、TN含量和C:P在各土层间无显著差异;总体上,各土地利用类型TP含量和C:N受土层影响较小;沙质草地、固定沙丘、灌溉农田、旱作农田C:P和沙质草地N:P随土层深度增加而降低。4)SOC、TN、TP、C:N与中砂粒、细砂粒、土壤容重呈显著负相关,与黏粉粒和极细砂粒呈显著正相关。沙漠化导致科尔沁沙地SOC和养分流失,加剧土壤N缺乏,水肥投入有助于耕地维持相对较高的土壤养分水平。     

Valuing mangrove ecosystem services: linking nutrient retention function of mangrove forests to enhanced agroecosystem production

Mangroves are highly productive wetland ecosystems strategically located at the interface between land and sea. They play an important role in the biogeochemical cycles of the coastal environment, acting as sources of nutrients to adjacent marine and terrestrial ecosystems through active and passive transport. We examined the nutrient contents in mangrove and nonmangrove soils in and around the Bhitarkanika National Park, India and assessed whether the local agricultural producers were aware of and placed a value on this contribution of mangrove forests in enhancing agroecosystem productivity. Soil samples from both mangrove and nonmangrove areas were analysed and quantity of organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and potassium were derived. The replacement cost method was used to derive the value of nutrients in mangrove soils. We estimated that each hectare of mangrove contains additional nutrients worth US$232.49 in comparison to nonmangrove areas. The difference in nutrient content in mangrove versus nonmangrove areas gave the value of US$3.37 million for the nutrients in 145 km² of mangrove forests. The agricultural producers were aware that mangrove forests act as a source of nutrients and were willing to pay a higher price for the land adjoining mangrove forests. Around 92% of the producers ranked nutrient retention as a secondary function of mangrove forests. Despite crop depredation from wild ungulates and conflict with salt water crocodiles the agriculturist finds the benefit to cost ratio of mangrove forests high and more than 76% were in favour of mangrove restoration. This study provides an opportunity to highlight the importance of mangrove ecosystems to the livelihoods of the local people and the urgent need to sustain these through proper policy and market interventions.     

Limiting nutrients for periphyton growth in sub-alpine, forest, agricultural and urban streams

1. Nutrient-diffusing artificial substrata were used in summer and autumn to assess limiting nutrients for periphytic algal growth in streams draining sub-alpine, forested, agricultural and urban catchments in eastern Victoria, Australia. 2. Chlorophyll a density was primarily limited by nitrogen in most cases; often phosphorus was secondarily limiting. One sub-alpine, one forest and one agricultural stream were primarily phosphorus limited in at least one season. Added trace elements and vitamins did not increase chlorophyll density. 3. The dominant filamentous algal genera did not differ greatly between various nutrient enrichments. However, the relative abundance of Stigeodanium spp. was sometimes increased on substrata containing the limiting nutrient. 4. The results suggest that nutrient limitation is a widespread phenomenon in Victorian streams, and that limiting nutrients can be inferred from stream-water nitrogen to phosphorus ratios in many instances.     

Roe deer may markedly alter forest nitrogen and phosphorus budgets across Europe

Most forests in Europe are patchily distributed within the agricultural landscape. Therefore, forest biogeochemistry in Europe cannot be understood without considering the connectivity of nutrient cycles between forest patches and fertilized cropland. In this paper, we quantified the role of roe deer, the most widespread wild ungulate in Europe, as a vector of nitrogen and phosphorus from fertilized fields to forest patches, in a typical agricultural landscape of southwestern Europe. We derived a model of nutrient transfer from a data set on deer density, landscape‐use by individual deer, and nutrient content in feces. The model shows that the magnitude of nutrient transfer is highly sensitive to the proportion of forest patches within the landscape, and to the way deer use the landscape to feed and defecate. Hence, the magnitude of nutrient transfer varies substantially across the landscape. Locally, deer may significantly fertilize the forest, transferring the equivalent of almost 20% of the atmospheric deposition of nitrogen, and the equivalent of 0.13% of the total stock of phosphorus from cropland to forest patches each year. These inputs may markedly influence the biogeochemistry of forests in the long run, and the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio available to trees and forest plants. These results highlight the significant, but, heterogeneous, role of wild ungulates in forest biogeochemistry across Europe.     

Socio-ecological analysis of desertification in the Mu-Us Sandy Land with satellite remote sensing

To understand the contemporary process of desertification in the Mu-Us Sandy Land, China, we assessed the current status of desertification from satellite images. We analyzed the effect of land use by comparing desertification images and GIS-based thematic data. Socioeconomic factors were studied through interviews with local people. The desertified area ratio in each village was related to the sand dune ratio. Desertification in this region was affected by the activity of sand dunes. The revegetated area ratio had a close relationship with the cropland ratio. The development of cropland and surrounding woods contributed to revegetation of desertified land. Desertified areas were distributed mainly in pastoral regions. Critical carrying capacity of grassland for sheep and goats was approximately 2 head/ha. High population density of goats was evident in the severely desertified ranges. Goats were increasingly introduced to earn money through modernization, but they overgrazed fenced pastures. Further environmental education is needed to promote sustainable land use.     

On the relationship between nutrient use efficiency and fertility in forest ecosystems

The concept of nutrient use efficiency is central in understanding ecosystem functioning because it is the step in which plants can influence the return of the nutrients to the soil pool and the quality of the litter. There are several ways to define nutrient use efficiency, but a common way within ecosystem ecology is as the ratio of litterfall production per unit nutrient to the litterfall nutrient content. However, this ratio is not a valid measurement to examine nutrient use efficiency in relationship to ecosystem fertility because there is a strong autocorrelation between litterfall dry mass per unit of nutrient and the amount of nutrients. More appropriate statistical analysis of the relationship between the fertility of ecosystems and the amount of nutrients in the litterfall are inconclusive, but indicate that, at least in some cases, there is (1) no pattern, (2) higher nutrient use efficiency at intermediate-fertility sites or (3) higher efficiency at higher-fertility sites. There is, however, no indication that nutrient use efficiency is greater in nutrient-poor ecosystems. This conclusion has important consequences for ecosystem nutrient cycling. Given the lack of a clear, consistent relationship between site fertility and litterfall nutrients, there is little likelihood that such a feedback mechanism plays an important role in ecosystem nutrient cycling. Received: 22 January 1996 / Accepted: 26 December 1996     

武夷山甜槠生态系统的养分平衡研究（英文）

本文通过比较大气降水的养分输入与由地表径流和地下渗流的养分输出,对武夷山甜槠林生态系统的养分平衡进行了研究。结果表明：在1993年4月至1994年4月期间,通过大气降水进入甜槠林的养分元素以N最高,为34.207kg·hm-2,其余依次为Ca(22.99kg·hm-2)、S(12.722kg·hm-2)、Na(6.679kg·hm-2)、K(3.558kg·hm-2)和Mg(2.057kg·hm-2),以P的输入最低,仅1.779kg·hm-2;由地表径流和地下渗流的养分输出总量N、P、K、Ca、Mg、S、Na分别为5.68、1.016、7.345、3.430、0.620、0.534、0.576kg·hm-2,以K的输出量最高,S的输出最少。其中,通过地下渗流的养分损失占输出总量的85.97％～96.38％,而地表径流的养分输出仅占总输出的3.62％～14.03％;在该系统中,N、Ca和S有大量的积累(分别为28.527、19.560和12.188kg·hm-2),Mg和Na有少量积累(分别为 1.437和6.103kg·hm-2),P基本上处于平衡状态(0.763kg·hm-2),而K则为净的输出损失(-3.787kg·hm-2)。岩石风化对于该生态系统K的补偿可能起重要作用,而其他养分元素仅通过降水输入即可得到补充。     

Does the Gradualness of Leaf Shedding Govern Nutrient Resorption from Senescing Leaves in Mediterranean Woody Plants?

To reveal the environmental and substrate quality effects on decomposition process and enzyme activities, litterbag experiments containing Nuphar and Carex leaves, Nuphar rhizome, and Ranunculus shoot, were carried in five-subalpine marshes in Lake Tahoe basin, USA. Alkaline phosphatase, β-glucosidase, and β-xylosidase activities were determined by a fluorogenic method using methyumbelliferyl substrates. Carex leaves, Nuphar rhizome and leaves, and Ranunculus shoots lost, respectively, 33, 67, 82 and 93% of original dry weight over 268 days. Decay rates were different among substrates but not among marshes. Nitrogen and carbon contents increased during the first 58 days and subsequently remained stable. Phosphorus content was stable during the experimental period except for a decrease in the first 16 days in Nuphar shoots. Enzyme activities in decomposing Carex and Nuphar leaves in four marshes were not significantly affected by environmental conditions. β-glucosidase and β-xylosidase activities in decomposing Carex leaves increased with time, but in other plant tissue these enzyme activities remained stable during experimental period. Enzyme activities were significantly different among decomposing substrates. Alkaline phosphatase activity was highest in Nuphar leaves (ca. 1286 μ-mole h⁻¹ g DW −1) but lower and similar in other plant tissues (ca. 100 and 10 μ-mole h −1 g DW −1, respectively). This study showed differences in decay rates and enzyme activities rely on substrate and not the environment conditions of the study area. Decomposition rates in the early stage of decomposition were related to cumulative enzyme activities.     

Phenotypic Plasticity of Early and Late Successional Forbs in Response to Shifts in Resources

We compared the phenotypic plasticity of two early successional forbs of nutrient-poor mobile dunes (Agriophyllum squarrosum and Corispermum macrocarpum) and two later successional forbs (weeds) of stabilized, higher nutrient dunes and cropland (Chenopodium acuminatum and Salsola collina) to variations in environmental factors. A controlled (including soil nutrients, water, and population density) greenhouse experiment was conducted in Horqin sandy land, China. Late successional species had high plasticity in growth response to nutrients and water or high performance in high soil nutrients and water, reflecting their higher nutrient habitat. In contrast, the early successional species have low plasticity, reflecting their adaptation to resource-poor early successional soil. Late successional species did not always have higher reproductive effort than early successional species. Plants did not have a uniform strategy of increasing reproductive effort with any environmental stressors. Reproductive effort increased with increasing water availability and decreasing nutrient levels, while density had no effect. Patterns of plasticity traits for late successional species exhibited a complex of Master-of-some and Jack-of-all-trades. Late successional species had higher performance or higher plasticity than early successional species.     

Agricultural intensification in Brazil and its effects on land‐use patterns: an analysis of the 1975–2006 period

Does agricultural intensification reduce the area used for agricultural production in Brazil? Census and other data for time periods 1975–1996 and 1996–2006 were processed and analyzed using Geographic Information System and statistical tools to investigate whether and if so, how, changes in yield and stocking rate coincide with changes in cropland and pasture area. Complementary medium‐resolution data on total farmland area changes were used in a spatially explicit assessment of the land‐use transitions that occurred in Brazil during 1960–2006. The analyses show that in agriculturally consolidated areas (mainly southern and southeastern Brazil), land‐use intensification (both on cropland and pastures) coincided with either contraction of both cropland and pasture areas, or cropland expansion at the expense of pastures, both cases resulting in farmland stability or contraction. In contrast, in agricultural frontier areas (i.e., the deforestation zones in central and northern Brazil), land‐use intensification coincided with expansion of agricultural lands. These observations provide support for the thesis that (i) technological improvements create incentives for expansion in agricultural frontier areas; and (ii) farmers are likely to reduce their managed acreage only if land becomes a scarce resource. The spatially explicit examination of land‐use transitions since 1960 reveals an expansion and gradual movement of the agricultural frontier toward the interior (center‐western Cerrado) of Brazil. It also indicates a possible initiation of a reversed trend in line with the forest transition theory, i.e., agricultural contraction and recurring forests in marginally suitable areas in southeastern Brazil, mainly within the Atlantic Forest biome. The significant reduction in deforestation that has taken place in recent years, despite rising food commodity prices, indicates that policies put in place to curb conversion of native vegetation to agriculture land might be effective. This can improve the prospects for protecting native vegetation by investing in agricultural intensification.     

元江干热河谷植物叶片解剖和养分含量特征

研究了元江干热河谷旱田植物(旱季可浇灌,水分较好)和山坡半萨王纳植被中(自然状况,水分较差)共20种的叶片形态解剖特征,以及7种山坡植物叶片养分含量特征.结果表明,山坡植物叶片比叶重大,气孔密度大,气孔长度小,海绵组织/栅栏组织的值小等.元江干热河谷山坡植物叶片养分含量低,1.3%＞Ca＞N＞K＞1%＞Mg＞P＞S.除氮元素外,其它元素种间差别1～3倍.与热带植物群落叶片养元素含量相比,热带雨林＞元江山坡植物＞东南亚沙地旱生林和巴西矮卡廷加群落,表明元江干热河谷植物叶片具有明显的旱生性形态解剖特征,且叶片养分含量也较低.     

Estimating Long-Term Changes in China’s Village Landscapes

Over the past 50 years, China’s ancient agricultural village landscapes have been transformed by unprecedented social, technological, and ecological changes. Although these dense anthropogenic mosaics of croplands, settlements, and other used lands cover more than 2 million square kilometers across China, the nature of these changes and their environmental impacts remain poorly understood because their spatial scale is generally too small to measure accurately using conventional land-change methods. Here, we investigate the regional consequences of fine-scale landscape changes across China’s village regions from 1945 to 2002 using high-resolution, field-validated ecological mapping of a regionally stratified sample of village landscapes at five sites across China, with uncertainties estimated using model-based resampling and Monte Carlo methods. From 1945 to 2002, built surface areas increased by about 7% (90% credible interval = 2–17%) across China’s village regions, an increase equivalent to about three times the total urban area of China in 2000. Although this striking result is explained by a near doubling of already large village populations and by lower housing density per capita in rural areas, two unexpected changes were also observed: a 9% net increase (−4% to +21%) in regional cover by closed canopy trees and an 11% net decline (−30% to +3%) in annual crops. These major regional changes were driven primarily by intensive fine-scale land-transformation processes including tree planting and regrowth around new buildings, cropland abandonment, and by the adoption of perennial crops and improved forestry practices. Moreover, the fragmentation, heterogeneity, and complexity of village landscapes increased over time. By coupling regional sampling and upscaling with observations in the field, this study revealed that fine-scale land-change processes in anthropogenic landscapes have the potential for globally significant environmental consequences that are not anticipated, measured, or explained by conventional coarser resolution approaches to global and regional change measurement or modeling. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. E. C. Ellis conceived and managed research, and wrote the article; K. Peng, H. S. Xiao, H. Wang, S. C. Li, J. X. Wu, and J. G. Jiao conducted research; H. Ouyang, X. Cheng, and L. Z. Yang managed research; N. Neerchal and Y. Zhuang contributed methods and models.     

Modeling the impact of awareness on the mitigation of algal bloom in a lake

The proliferation of algal bloom in water bodies due to the enhanced concentration of nutrient inflow is becoming a global issue. A prime reason behind this aquatic catastrophe is agricultural runoff, which carries a large amount of nutrients that make the lakes more fertile and cause algal blooms. The only solution to this problem is curtailing the nutrient loading through agricultural runoff. This could be achieved by raising awareness among farmers to minimize the use of fertilizers in their farms. In view of this, in this paper, we propose a mathematical model to study the effect of awareness among the farmers of the mitigation of algal bloom in a lake. The growth rate of awareness among the farmers is assumed to be proportional to the density of algae in the lake. It is further assumed that the presence of awareness among the farmers reduces the inflow rate of nutrients through agricultural runoff and helps to remove the detritus by cleaning the bottom of the lake. The results evoke that raising awareness among farmers may be a plausible factor for the mitigation of algal bloom in the lake. Numerical simulations identify the most critical parameters that influence the blooms and provide indications to possibly mitigate it.     

Assessing nutritional diversity of cropping systems in African villages

Background

In Sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of children under five years in age are chronically undernourished. As new investments and attention galvanize action on African agriculture to reduce hunger, there is an urgent need for metrics that monitor agricultural progress beyond calories produced per capita and address nutritional diversity essential for human health. In this study we demonstrate how an ecological tool, functional diversity (FD), has potential to address this need and provide new insights on nutritional diversity of cropping systems in rural Africa.

Methods and Findings

Data on edible plant species diversity, food security and diet diversity were collected for 170 farms in three rural settings in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nutritional FD metrics were calculated based on farm species composition and species nutritional composition. Iron and vitamin A deficiency were determined from blood samples of 90 adult women. Nutritional FD metrics summarized the diversity of nutrients provided by the farm and showed variability between farms and villages. Regression of nutritional FD against species richness and expected FD enabled identification of key species that add nutrient diversity to the system and assessed the degree of redundancy for nutrient traits. Nutritional FD analysis demonstrated that depending on the original composition of species on farm or village, adding or removing individual species can have radically different outcomes for nutritional diversity. While correlations between nutritional FD, food and nutrition indicators were not significant at household level, associations between these variables were observed at village level.

Conclusion

This study provides novel metrics to address nutritional diversity in farming systems and examples of how these metrics can help guide agricultural interventions towards adequate nutrient diversity. New hypotheses on the link between agro-diversity, food security and human nutrition are generated and strategies for future research are suggested calling for integration of agriculture, ecology, nutrition, and socio-economics.     

Dependence of starch storage on nutrient availability and photon flux density in small birch Betula pendula Roth)

Abstract Small birch plants (Betula pendula Roth) were grown in a climate chamber at different levels of nutrient availability and at two photon flux densities. The extent to which starch storage was dependent upon nutrient availability and photon flux density was investigated. Acclimated values of starch concentration in leaves were highest at low nutrient availability and high photon flux density. Starch storage in roots was only found at the lowest nutrient availability. However, the relative rate of starch storage (starch stored per unit plant dry weight and time) was higher in plants with good nutrition. The data suggest that, at sub-optimal nutrient availability, the momentary rate of net shoot photosynthesis is unlikely to limit the structural (as opposed to carbon storage) growth of the plant. Although photosynthetic rate per unit leaf area (as measured at the growth climate) was slightly lower in plants with poor nutrient availability, photosynthetic rate per unit leaf nitrogen was higher. These data suggest a priority of leaf nitrogen usage in photosynthesis, with limiting amounts of leaf nitrogen (and possibly other nutrients) for subsequent growth processes. This argument is consistent with the higher concentrations of starch found in plants with poor nutrient availability.     

Nutrient budgets and biogeochemistry in an experimental agricultural watershed in Southeastern China

During a two-year field study, an annual nutrient budget and cycles were developed for a small agricultural watershed. The study emphasized the integrated unit of the watershed in understanding the biogeochemistry. It was found that the total nutrient input was 39.1× 10⁴ kg nitrogen and 3.91×10⁴ kg phosphorus in the year 1995, of which the greatest input of nutrients to the watershed was chemical fertilizer application, reaching 34.7×10⁴ kg (676 kg/ha) nitrogen and 3.88×10⁴ kg (76 kg/ha) phosphorus. The total nutrient output from the watershed was 13.55×10⁴ kg nitrogen and 0.40×10⁴ kg phosphorus, while the largest output of nitrogen was denitrification, accounting for 44.1% of N output; the largest output of phosphorus was sale of crops, accounting for 99.4% of P output. The results show that the nutrient input is larger than output, demonstrating that there is nutrient surplus within the watershed, a surplus which may become a potential source of nonpoint pollution to area waters. The research showed that both denitrification and volatilization of nitrogen are key ways of nitrogen loss from the watershed. This suggests that careful management of fertilizer application will be important for the sustainable development of agriculture.The research demonstrated that a multipond system within the watershed had high retention rate for both water and nutrients, benefiting the water, nutrient and sediment recycling in the terrestrial ecosystem and helping to reduce agricultural nonpoint pollution at its source. Therefore, this unique watershed system should be recommended due to its great potential relevance for sustainable agricultural development.     

Effects of simultaneous changes in light, nutrients, and herbivory levels, on the structure and function of a subtropical turtlegrass meadow

The interactive effects of light, nutrients, and simulated herbivory on the structure and functioning of a subtropical turtlegrass bed were analyzed monthly from May to October 2001 in Perdido Bay, FL. For each of the three factors, two levels were evaluated in a factorial design with four replicates per treatment. The variables included: light, at ambient and 40% reduction; nutrients, at ambient and 2× ambient concentrations; and herbivory, with no herbivory and simulated effects of a density of 15 sea urchins/m². In practice, light levels turned out to be 40% of surface PAR for ambient conditions, and 16% for shaded plots. Biomass removed as herbivory represented, on average, slightly less than 20% of the above-ground biomass. Separate three-way ANOVAs found no significant three-way interactions for any of the response variables, and few two-way interactions. There were no significant nutrient effects on turtlegrass above-ground biomass, although nutrient additions produced significant decreases in epibiont biomass, and net above-ground primary production (NAPP); significant increases in below-ground biomass during the peak of the growing season. Shoot density and average number of leaves per shoot increased significantly, while the C/N ratio of the oldest leaf in the enriched plots decreased significantly. Light reduction significantly negatively affected all response variables, except below-ground biomass, shoot density and leaf length. Herbivory had isolated and inconsistent significant effects on below-ground biomass, shoot density, average number of leaves per shoot, and leaf length and width. Overall, our results indicate that nutrients are not limiting in Perdido Bay, and that nutrient additions had mostly detrimental effects. Light appeared to be the most important variable limiting seagrasses growth and abundance, and as with terrestrial plants, seagrasses seemed to respond more to light and nutrients than to herbivory. However, it is essential that additional tests of the single and interactive effects of the three key factors of light, nutrients and herbivory be done to evaluate the generality of our work, since our study is the first of its kind in seagrass meadows.     

Response of cowpea to variations in planting density and nutrient level

A greenhouse study was carried out using cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) grown in Perlite^® and inoculated with Nitragin^® to investigate the concentration of plant nutrients and planting density required for optimum biomass production. Five concentrations (full, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1 and 0.05 strength) of Bisseling's nutrient solution and five planting densities (one to five plants per pot) were tested in a factorial randomized Graeco-Latin square design. Growth was determined as fresh and dry weights of leaves, stems, petioles, roots, flowers and pods, and whole plant.Optimum biomass production was found at 0.5 strength nutrient solution and a density of one plant per pot. Plants were more sensitive to higher planting density than to alterations of nutrient level. Over a twenty-fold range of nutrient supply, whole plant biomass yield varied at most by 44%, whereas increasing planting density from one to five plants per pot decreased biomass production by as much as 77%. There is a decrease in the shoot/root ratio as nutrient level decreases. The data suggests a potential for higher seed production at the higher densities and lowest nutrient levels, but this data was inconclusive.