Coupling of strontium and calcium cycles in Lake Constance

The contents of Sr and Ca were measured weekly in Lake Constance in 1986. Epilimnetic concentrations of Ca changed between 1.30 × 10^-3 mol l^-1 (during homothermy) and 0.9 × 10 -3 mol l^-1 (during thermal stratification). The seasonal fluctuations of Ca were correlated with those of Sr (between 4.61 and 5.36 mol l^-1). The epilimnion was permanently oversaturated with respect to calcite but not with respect to SrCO₃. Analysis of the settling process by use of sedimentation traps revealed two short episodes of very high authigenic settling fluxes of CaCO₃, triggered by phytoplankton diatoms. Seasonal changes of the Ca contents (between 4.1 and 30.7 percent of the dry weight) and of the Sr concentrations (from 12 to 75 × 10^-3 percent) in the settling material were closely correlated. This suggests a coprecipitation mechanism with a nearly constant stoichiometry of (atoms Sr/atoms Ca) × 1000 of 0.84. Coprecipitation of Sr or Ca with organic matter was insignificant. In the hypolimnion some Sr and Ca were released from the settling material. These results strongly suggest that the cycle of Sr in Lake Constance is driven predominantly by coprecipitation with calcite. The principal chemical mechanisms leading to coprecipitation are discussed.     

Life history patterns of parental and hybrid Daphnia differ between lakes

1. We investigated whether Daphnia galeata × hyalina hybrids of Lake Constance and Lake Greifensee show the same pattern of life history parameters as previously reported for D. galeata × cucullata hybrids and whether such a pattern is consistent between Daphnia populations from those two lakes. 2. Hybrids in Lake Constance were intermediate in size compared with the parental species. Hybrids in Lake Greifensee were smaller than D. galeata. The intrinsic growth rate (r) of hybrids from Lake Constance was not significantly different from the faster growing parental taxon D. galeata. However, r of hybrids from Lake Greifensee was significantly lower than that of D. galeata. 3. The observed juvenile body length differences between the taxa varied with the clutch number. The first clutch juvenile lengths of the three taxa did not differ for Lake Constance. First clutch juveniles of Lake Greifensee D. galeata were smaller than hybrid first clutch juveniles. The third clutch juvenile length did not differ between taxa from Lake Greifensee, but D. galeata juveniles from Lake Constance were bigger than those of D. hyalina. 4. The life history pattern found in Lake Constance corresponds to previous findings from other studies. The hybrids in this lake combine the faster population growth of one parental species with a relatively small size. In the case of Lake Greifensee hybrids, the relatively large size of first clutch juveniles and the small size of the adults could be interpreted as dual adaptations to invertebrate and fish predation. We speculate that the lower population growth rate of the hybrids is a trade‐off for this twofold protection.     

Taxonomy of the genus Megacyclops (Crustacea,Copepoda): morphometry and the use of enzyme electrophoresis

Morphometric investigations on the populations of Megacyclops in Lake Constance showed, that in a sublittoral region from about 20 to 50 m depth an intermediate type between the two species M. viridis (littoral) and M. gigas (benthal) could be distinguished. Using enzyme electrophoresis it was evident, that these specimens belonged to M. viridis.The annual range of water temperatures in the sub-littoral region corresponds to that found in the shallow areas of the lake or in ponds during winter and early spring, when the adults of M. viridis are markedly larger than in summer and fall (seasonal variation). Nevertheless the sublittoral population represents a different local type with special characteristics in morphometric details.     

Effects of a half a millennium winter on a deep lake – a shape of things to come?

Analyses of the effects of extreme climate periods have been used as a tool to predict ecosystem functioning and processes in a warmer world. The winter half‐year 2006/2007 (w06/07) has been extremely warm and was estimated to be a half‐a‐millennium event in central Europe. Here we analyse the consequences of w06/07 for the temperatures, mixing dynamics, phenologies and population developments of algae and daphnids (thereafter w06/07 limnology) in a deep central European lake and investigate to what extent analysis of w06/07 limnology can really be used as a predictive tool regarding future warming. Different approaches were used to put the observations during w06/07 into context: (1) a comparison of w06/07 limnology with long‐term data, (2) a comparison of w06/07 limnology with that of the preceding year, and (3) modelling of temperature and mixing dynamics using numerical experiments. These analyses revealed that w06/07 limnology in Lake Constance was indeed very special as the lake did not mix below 60 m depth throughout winter. Because of this, anomalies of variables associated strongly with mixing behaviour, e.g., Schmidt stability and a measure for phosphorus upward mixing during winter exceeded several standard deviations the long‐term mean of these variables. However, our modelling results suggest that this extreme hydrodynamical behaviour was only partially due to w06/07 meteorology per se, but depended also strongly on the large difference in air temperature to the previous cold winter which resulted in complete mixing and considerable cooling of the water column. Furthermore, modelling results demonstrated that with respect to absolute water temperatures, the model ‘w06/07’ most likely underestimates the increase in water temperature in a warmer world as one warm winter is not sufficient to rise water temperatures in a deep lake up to those expected under a future climate.     

Modelling below- and above-ground biomass for non-woody and woody plants

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Intraspecific relationships between below- and above-ground biomass (MB and MA, respectively) have been studied extensively to evaluate environmental effects on growth and development at the level of the individual plant. However, no current theoretical model for this relationship exists for broad interspecific trends. The aims of this paper are to provide a model and to test its predictions using a recently assembled, large database (1406 data entries for 257 species). METHODS: An allometric model was derived to predict the relationship between MB and MA for non-woody and woody plants based on previously developed scaling relationships for leaf, stem and root standing biomass and annual growth rates. The predictions of this model were tested by comparing the numerical values of predicted scaling exponents (the slopes of log-log regression curves) with those observed for the database. KEY RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: For non-woody plants and the juveniles of woody species, the model predicts an isometric scaling relationship (i.e. MB proportional, variant MA). For woody plants, a complex scaling function is predicted. But, for a particular set of biologically reasonable conditions, the model predicts MB proportional, variant MA across woody plants. These predictions accord reasonably well with observed statistical trends when non-woody and woody plants are studied separately (n=1061 and 345 data entries, respectively). Although the reliability of regression formulas to estimate MB based on MA measurements increased with increasing plant size, estimates of MB can be as much as two orders of magnitude off, even when using regression formulas with r2 >0.90 and F >53,000.     

A reciprocal transplant experiment within a climatic gradient in a semiarid shrub-steppe ecosystem: effects on bunchgrass growth and reproduction, soil carbon, and soil nitrogen

We investigated the effect of climate change on Poa secunda Presl. and soils in a shrub‐steppe ecosystem in south‐eastern Washington. Intact soil cores containing P. secunda were reciprocally transplanted between two elevations. Plants and soils were examined, respectively, 4.5 and 5 years later. The lower elevation (310 m) site is warmer (28.5 °C air average monthly maximum) and drier (224 mm yr^?1) than the upper elevation (844 m) site (23.5 °C air average monthly maximum, 272 mm yr^?1). Observations were also made on undisturbed plants at both sites. There was no effect of climate change on plant density, shoot biomass, or carbon isotope discrimination in either transplanted plant population. The cooler, wetter environment significantly reduced percent cover and leaf length, while the warmer, drier environment had no effect. Warming and drying reduced percent shoot nitrogen, while the cooler, wetter environment had no effect. Culm density was zero for the lower elevation plants transplanted to the upper site and was 10.3 culms m^?2 at the lower site. There was no effect of warming and drying on the culm density of the upper elevation plants. Culm density of in situ lower elevation plants was greater than that of the in situ upper elevation plants. Warming and drying reduced total soil carbon 32% and total soil nitrogen 40%. The cooler, wetter environment had no effect on total soil C or N. Of the C and N that was lost over time, 64% of both came from the particulate organic matter fraction (POM, > 53 µ m). There was no effect of warming and drying on the upper population of P. secunda while exposing the lower population to the cooler, wetter environment reduced reproductive effort and percent cover. With the warmer and drier conditions that may develop with climate change, total C and N of semiarid soils may decrease with the active fraction of soil C also rapidly decreasing, which may alter ecosystem diversity and function.     

Human impact as registered in the pollen record: some results from the western Lake Constance region,Southern Germany

Pollen analytical results from a littoral profile taken in Lake Constance compared with pollen profiles from small kettle holes nearby form the basis for conclusions concerning human population density, the economy and environment from the Neolithic period to the Middle Ages. Early Neolithic human impact is implicated in a lime decline and also the expansion of beech. The late Neolithic lakeshore settlements caused a decline of elm, beech and lime and, by shifting cultivation, considerably changed the forest cover. The settlements were abandoned after less than 100 years. There were long periods without distinct human impact in the middle and towards the end of the late Neolithic period. Since at least the Late Bronze Age there has been permanent habitation in the region. Human impact was greatest in the High Medieval period and later, and was also substantial in the late La Tène and Roman periods. Distinct declines in human impact can be observed between the La Tène and Roman periods and in the Migration and Merovingian periods. In these intervals, open land and grazed oak forest were replaced by birch and later on by beech forests. The decreases in human impact are not of the same intensity in all diagrams.     

Influence of Nutrient Concentrations on MPN Quantification and Enrichment of Nitrate-Reducing Fe(II)-Oxidizing and Fe(III)-Reducing Bacteria from Littoral Freshwater Lake Sediments

The application of culture-dependent studies to quantify Fe-metabolizing microorganisms from the environment is a necessity, as there are so far no universal functional marker genes for application in culture-independent studies. Media composition can vary between studies, therefore, we determined the effects of three different growth media on the quantification (MPNs) and identity (via cloning and sequencing of dominant DGGE bands) of nitrate-reducing Fe(II)-oxidizers and lactate- or acetate-oxidizing Fe(III)-reducers from a lacustrine sediment: low sulphate freshwater medium (FWM), sterile filtered bicarbonate-buffered lake water (BLW) and a mixture of both (MIX). We consistently found fewer cells in the BLW than in the FWM and the MIX. The DGGE banding patterns of the microbial communities enriched in different media types clustered together according to the e^? donor and acceptor couples and not according to the medium used. Thus, although the medium composition significantly influenced the quantification and thereby conclusions on the abundance and potential significance of the targeted group within the ecosystem, biodiversity assessments through enrichment cultures were less influenced by the medium, but instead were affected by the type and concentration of the e^? donor/acceptor.     

Thymidine incorporation into lake water bacterioplankton and pure cultures of chemolithotrophic (CO, H2) and methanotrophic bacteria

Abstract Incorporation of [³H]methyl thymidine into bacterial DNA was measured using samples of bacterioplankton from Lake Constance and pure cultures of CO, H₂ and CH₄-oxidizing bacteria. Thymidine was incorporated by Pseudomonas carboxydovorans, Paracoccus denitrificans, Methylosinus trichosporium, Methylomonas agile , and by various chemolithotropic or methylotrophic isolates from Lake Constance. Thymidine incorporation by bacterial cultures was stimulated by increasing concentrations of CO or H₂. Increased CH₄ concentrations stimulated thymidine incorporation by Ms. trichosporium only if the cells had been starved. In contrast to bacterial cultures, thymidine incorporation by bacterioplankton samples was not stimulated by increasing     

高寒草原不同植物群落地上-地下生物量碳分布格局

高寒草原具有独特的自然生境和生物资源,对高寒草原开展系统研究对于减缓气候变化与草原恢复具有重要实践意义.以往研究主要针对高寒草原生物量碳开展整体评估,缺乏对不同群落类型间的定量比较.本文分析了高寒草原10种主要典型植物群落地上-地下生物量碳分布格局以及对总生物量碳的贡献差异.结果 表明:高寒草原面积为167.33× 1...     

Prehistoric land use as recorded in a lake-shore core at Lake Constance

The second part of a pollen profile from Hornstaad/Lake Constance (Germany), containing the Atlantic and Subboreal (6400 cal B.C. to 700 cal B.C.) is presented. The diagram has a sampling interval of 1 cm and an average time resolution of 10 years. The cereal curve provided the basis for cereal zones, which are used to classify the human impact. Twenty-six cereal zones can be distinguished, most of them divided into subzones, from 5500 cal B.C. to 700 cal B.C. They correspond to both known and, mostly, unknown settlements in the surrounding landscape from the Early Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age. Charcoal and chemical analyses as well as sediment accumulation, confirmed by accelerator dates, provide evidence for human impact on the environment.A contribution to the 8th IPC, Aix-en-Provence, Sept. 1992     

Microsatellites from the burbot (Lota lota), a freshwater gadoid fish (Teleostei)

We developed 21 polymorphic dinucleotide microsatellite loci, (CA)_n and (CT)_n, for the Holarctic freshwater fish, Lota lota, using an enriched genomic library protocol. The species has an interesting life history because winter‐spawning adults migrate over long distances to form spawning aggregations, a behaviour which should maintain genetic homogeneity across large spatial scales. Availability of the reported microsatellites will facilitate the investigation of population genetic structure with regard to postglacial colonization history and conservation strategies. The primers were screened on 30 individuals from a natural population (Lake Constance, southern Germany), revealing three to 24 alleles per locus with expected heterozygosities ranging from 0.48 to 0.93.     

Morphological studies of free-threshing wheat ears from a Neolithic site in southwest Germany, and the history of the naked wheats

Two hundred and seventy carbonized naked wheat ears from the Neolithic pile dwelling at Hornstaad-Hörnle IA/Lake Constance (Germany) were analysed. The characteristics of internodes and glumes show that only tetraploid naked wheat types were cultivated. Following the history of free-threshing wheats it seems conceivable that the tetraploid naked wheats spread from their point of origin in the Middle East (7th/8th millennium B.C.) via a Mediterranean route to southwest Europe, reaching the northern foothills of the Alps about 4000 B.C.