A pneumatically-operated water sampler for close intervals of depth

A pneumatically-operated sampler for collecting water samples at close intervals of depth in lakes is described. The sampler uses plastic disposable syringes and may be operated at various depths and at the mud-water interface. Examples of results obtained with the sampler are given.     

A hand-operated in situ water sampler

A hand-operated water sampler designed specifically for dissolved gas studies in lakes, lagoons and other shallow water is described.     

A simple water and plankton sampler

SUMMARY. A lightweight, free-flushing water and plankton sampler constructed of readily available, inexpensive material is described. Easily interchangeable tubes of varying volumes allow sampling flexibility. The sampler is activated by a messenger and is shut by two plastic funnels. For analyses in highly stratified waters, the sampler can be adjusted into the horizontal position. Several samplers may be tripped in series. The sampler has proved a versatile and reliable instrument in ecological studies.
The tripping mechanism may also be used to release reversing thermometers and closing nets.     

A rapid leaf-disc sampler for psychrometric water potential measurements

An instrument was designed which facilitates faster and more accurate sampling of leaf discs for psychrometric water potential measurements. The instrument consists of an aluminum housing, a spring-loaded plunger, and a modified brass-plated cork borer. The leaf-disc sampler was compared with the conventional method of sampling discs for measurement of leaf water potential with thermocouple psychrometers on a range of plant material including Gossypium hirsutum L., Zea mays L., and Begonia rex-cultorum L. The new sampler permitted a leaf disc to be excised and inserted into the psychrometer sample chamber in less than 7 seconds, which was more than twice as fast as the conventional method. This resulted in more accurate determinations of leaf water potential due to reduced evaporative water losses. The leaf-disc sampler also significantly reduced sample variability between individual measurements. This instrument can be used for many other laboratory and field measurements that necessitate leaf disc sampling.     

Hand-operated box sampler for shallow water

The construction and operation of a hand-operated box sampler is described. The sampler covers an area of 25 × 25 cm and penetrates into the sediment to the depth of 15 cm. It was successfully operated on a sandy bottom, and on sand mixed with gravel up to a water depth of 1 meter.IAEC, Yavne 70600, Israel     

Ethylene and methane in the upper water column of the subtropical Atlantic

The vertical distributions of ethylene and methane in the upper water column of the subtropical Atlantic were measured along a transect from Madeira to the Caribbean and compared with temperature, salinity, oxygen, nutrients, chlorophyll-a, and dissolved organic carbon (DOC).Methane concentrations between 41.6 and 60.7 nL L-1 were found in the upper 20 m of the water column giving a calculated average flux of methane into the atmosphere of 0.82 g m-2 h-1. Methane profiles reveal several distinct maxima in the upper 500 m of the water column and short-time variations which are presumably partly related to the vertical migration of zooplankton.Ethylene concentrations in near surface waters varied in the range of 1.8 to 8.2 nL L-1. Calculated flux rates for ethylene into the atmosphere were in the range of 0.41 to 1.35 g m-2 h-1 with a mean of 0.83 g m-2 h-1. Maximum concentrations of up to 39.2 nL L-1 were detected directly below the pycnocline in the western Atlantic. The vertical distributions of ethylene generally showed one maximum at the pycnocline (about 100 m depth) where elevated concentrations of chlorophyll-a, dissolved oxygen, and nutrients were also found; no ethylene was detected below 270 m depth. This suggests that ethylene release is mainly related to one, probably phytoplankton associated, source, while for methane, enhanced net production occurs at various depth horizons. For surface waters, a simple correlation between ethylene and chlorophyll-a or DOC concentrations could not be observed. No considerable diurnal variation was observed for the distribution and concentration of ethylene in the upper water column.     

A folding artificial substratum sampler for use in standing water

A new easily retrieved folding artificial substratum sampler is described and its performance compared with that of trays in Cow Green Reservoir at a depth of 15–18 m.     

A new sampler for collection of interstitial water from sandy sediments

An inexpensive, easily constructed apparatus for collecting interstitial water from sandy substrates is described and evaluated against two other devices. Results indicate that these samplers yield comparable dissolved oxygen determinations, but vary in terms of repeatability, efficiency, construction complexity and sturdiness.     

Metagenomics of the water column in the pristine upper course of the Amazon river

River water is a small percentage of the total freshwater on Earth but represents an essential resource for mankind. Microbes in rivers perform essential ecosystem roles including the mineralization of significant quantities of organic matter originating from terrestrial habitats. The Amazon river in particular is famous for its size and importance in the mobilization of both water and carbon out of its enormous basin. Here we present the first metagenomic study on the microbiota of this river. It presents many features in common with the other freshwater metagenome available (Lake Gatun in Panama) and much less similarity with marine samples. Among the microbial taxa found, the cosmopolitan freshwater acI lineage of the actinobacteria was clearly dominant. Group I Crenarchaea and the freshwater sister group of the marine SAR11 clade, LD12, were found alongside more exclusive and well known freshwater taxa such as Polynucleobacter. A metabolism-centric analysis revealed a disproportionate representation of pathways involved in heterotrophic carbon processing, as compared to those found in marine samples. In particular, these river microbes appear to be specialized in taking up and mineralizing allochthonous carbon derived from plant material.     

The MacVuti sampler: a new and inexpensive volume sampler for plankton and water

SUMMARY. Details are presented for the construction and operation of a cheap simple volume sampler for Zooplankton and water. This sampler has been used in waters up to 45 m deep over a number of years and proved to be reliable and effective.     

A large-volume water sampler with automatic opening and closing

A large volume water sampler which can enclose, at any givendepth, a body of relatively undisturbed water including organismsis described. Its functioning and some results of sampling atsea are given.     

A microbial sampler for freshwaters

A freshwater sampler using five sterile evacuated glass tubes is described. Water enters when a rubber stopper is mechanically removed from the end of a sterile hypodermic needle inserted into each tube. Plate counts of bacterial colonies were compared with those obtained with other samplers.     

夏季台湾海峡南部海域上层水体的生物固氮作用

2011年6-7月,利用¹⁵N₂示踪法实测了台湾海峡南部海域的生物固氮速率,结合温度、盐度、天然颗粒物氮同位素组成的分布,分析并讨论了影响研究海域生物固氮速率的环境因素。结果表明,夏季台湾海峡南部海域的生物固氮速率介于 168-1080 nmol m^-3 d^-1之间,平均为537 nmol m^-3 d^-1,较高的生物固氮速率大多出现在次表层水体中。研究站位的积分固氮速率变化范围为11-40 μmol m^-2 d^-1,平均为23 μmol m^-2 d^-1。积分固氮速率的空间变化与不同水团的影响有关,在受黑潮水影响的海域,生物固氮速率较高,而在上升流和受河流冲淡水影响的海域,生物固氮速率较低,说明较低的水温及较高的无机氮营养盐可能会抑制研究海域的生物固氮作用。研究海域天然颗粒物δ¹⁵N与生物固氮速率之间呈现良好的负相关关系,表明天然颗粒物氮同位素组成可定性指征研究海域生物固氮作用的强弱。     

A new transparent handy sampler for collecting water from lakes,rivers and seas

A handy sampler for collecting water from lakes, rivers and seas is described. The sampler consists of an exchangeable sample tube and a new sample-holding system. The system comprises an upper disk, a lower disk, a pair of arms with a guide pin and a semicircular arm guide with a groove. The water sample collected into the acryl tube is held without flow by a tight tube-closing system. Contamination of the sample by chemical and biological materials from the sample tube is minimized by exchanging the tube with a clean one at each sampling station. This new sampler is light, simple and useful for sampling of water from surface to bottom.     

A microgradient sampler for shallow waters

Summary A cheap, light and simple device is described for the sampling of physico-chemical microgradients in the free-water zone of shallow water bodies. The sampler is commercialized by ATS, Mariastraat 42, The Hague, The Netherlands.Publication no. 179 of the Delta Institute for Hydrobiological Research.     

Multilayer biological structure and mixing in the upper water column of Lake Biwa during summer 2008

We carried out a 24-h station experiment at Lake Biwa (Japan) to measure mixing events and concurrent biological signals using a free-fall microstructure profiler (TurboMAP-L), conventional hydrographic measurement device (F-probe), and the Tracker acoustic profiling system (TAPS). A clearly defined three-layer physical system was observed. Two layers were actively mixed: the surface-mixed layer and the subsurface-mixed layer. Both winds and night-time convection create the surface-mixed layer, and vertical shear due to a counterclockwise gyre maintains turbulence in the subsurface mixing layer. A strongly stratified layer between these two mixing layers is almost turbulence free, so no material flux is expected. A local oxygen maximum layer, a local oxygen minimum layer, and layers of increased chlorophyll and zooplankton abundance are all located in this strongly stratified layer. The data show the intricate influence of physical processes on the structure of biological systems and their combined influence on biogeochemical and trophic transfers in aquatic systems.     

A core sampler for semi-fluid substrates

Summary A core sampler developed for use in sampling water-filled tree-holes is described. This apparatus consists of an auger mechanism that fits inside the conventional corer tube. Its construction is simple and inexpensive and the resulting instrument is both portable and easy to use. Resumen Una descripción de un tubo saca-testigos dise?ado para tomar muestras en cavidades de árboles conteniendo agua es presentada. El aparato consiste de un mecanismo taladrante que se ajusta dentro del tubo del saca-testigos convencional. Su construcción es simple y barata, y el instrumento es portátil y fácil de usar.     

A new technique for simultaneous collection of macroalgal propagules in the water column

A Simultaneous Collection Module (SCM) was designed to concurrently collect multiple samples of macroalgal propagules, and to evaluate their abundance and spatial distribution in the water column. The basic sampling units are water collectors (tubes), held together to form an evenly spaced grid forming a spatial array with three dimensions. Each collector in the module possesses a simultaneous closing mechanism. The water collected in each tube is then filtered and the propagules retained on each filter cultivated under controlled conditions. The sampling system was deployed in the field in central Chile. Results suggest the system is an efficient collector, able to provide data on time-space changes of macroalgal propagules in the water column.