FACTORS LIMITING EDAPHIC ALGAL BIOMASS AND PRODUCTIVITY IN A GEORGIA SALT MARSH1,2

A “planted core” system was developed to test the effect of short term (1–2 weeks) experimental manipulation of environmental parameters on edaphic microalgae under field conditions. A large number of small cores (surface area = 7 cm²) were collected, randomized and replanted in the marsh in fiddler crab exclosures with appropriate experimental treatments. Daily enrichment of the cores with NH₄⁺ resulted in significant increases in edaphic primary productivity and levels of chlorophyll a in both summer and winter seasons in the short-Spartina marsh. Enrichment with a complete nutrient solution caused no further increases. Nutrient enrichment of creekbank sediments was much less stimulatory to the resident algal assemblage. In both sites, but especially in the creekbank, the removal of fiddler crab grazers resulted in significant increases in chlorophyll a and productivity. Experimental manipulation of light intensity showed that the average light intensity reaching the sediment surface was saturating for chlorophyll production in the short-Spartina marsh. A reciprocal transplant experiment involving unfertilized cores from the short-Spartina marsh and creekbank marsh demonstrated that NH₄⁺ inputs occurring in the creekbank site rapidly alleviated nitrogen limitation of edaphic algae from short-Spartina marsh. Algae in creekbank cores incubated in the short-Spartina marsh were unable to sustain high productivity once the original standing stock of NH₄⁺ declined.     

聚丙烯酰胺(PAM)防治土壤风蚀的研究进展

在我国西北地区,风蚀是造成土地退化的主要影响因素之一.聚丙烯酰胺(PAM)是一种高效的土壤结构改良剂.因其具有特殊的物理化学性质,可以与土壤作用而改善土壤表层结构,近年来一直受到人们的广泛关注.本文介绍了PAM的物理化学性质,详细论述了PAM对土壤风蚀量、起动风速的影响,及PAM在风蚀防治中的不同使用量、使用方法和效果,及其与其他材料的对比,并通过PAM对土壤物理性质的改善进一步分析PAM防治风蚀的机理.综合分析得出,虽然PAM在风蚀防治中存在一些问题,但作为一种固沙剂,它不仅能提高土壤抗风蚀的能力,而且也能改善土壤的物理性状,可为植物生长创造良好的水土条件;提出若在风蚀治理和改良城市环境中将PAM与植物种植相结合,将能大大提高植物的成活率、改善风蚀区的风蚀状况和生态环境工程建设的质量.因此,PAM在防治风蚀方面具有重要的现实意义和广阔的应用前景.     

Constraints on Salt Marsh Development Following Managed Coastal Realignment: Dispersal Limitation or Environmental Tolerance?

Salt marshes restored through managed coastal realignment (MR) often develop slowly and show persistent differences in vegetation from natural marshes. Development might be constrained by the availability of propagules or poor suitability of the abiotic environment for their establishment. To distinguish between these factors, we compared vegetation colonization and environmental conditions at a salt marsh created by MR at Brancaster, Norfolk, UK, with five reference marshes, varying in age from 30 to circa 6,000 years. After 5 years, plant communities of the MR site remained different from those in mature reference marshes. In contrast, the communities of the youngest reference marsh were not significantly different from mature reference marshes. At the MR site, abundance of perennial and later‐successional species was low and large areas remained unvegetated. These differences are unlikely to be due to dispersal limitation, because 76% of the species from the local species pool colonized the site within 5 years. Although the annuals Salicornia europaea and Suaeda maritima were abundant by year 2, they were not ubiquitous until the end of the study. Tidal elevations of the MR site were suitable for vegetation development, but soil redox potentials were lower than that at the reference sites. Reducing conditions in the MR site appear to be the major cause of vegetation differences from the reference marshes, as they are associated with an abundance of bare ground and a small range of vegetation clusters. Measures to avoid low sediment redox potentials may have a great benefit in some salt marsh restoration projects.     

A biogeographic pattern in sparrow bill morphology: parallel adaptation to tidal marshes

The study of ecological convergence, the evolution of similar traits on multiple occasions in response to similar conditions, is a powerful method for developing and testing adaptive hypotheses. However, despite the great attention paid to geographic variation and the foraging ecology of birds, surprisingly few cases of convergent or parallel feeding adaptations have been adequately documented. In this study, we document a biogeographic pattern of parallel bill morphology across 10 sparrow taxa endemic to tidal marshes. All North American tidal marsh sparrows display parallel differentiation from close relatives in other habitats, suggesting that selection on bill morphology is strong. Relative to their body mass, tidal marsh sparrows have longer, thinner bills than their non-tidal marsh counterparts, which is likely an adaptation for consuming more invertebrates and fewer seeds, as well as for probing in sediment crevices to capture prey. Published data on tidal marsh food resources and diet of the relevant taxa support this hypothesis. This morphological differentiation is most pronounced between sister taxa with the greatest estimated divergence times, but is found even in taxa that show little or no structure in molecular genetic markers. We, therefore, speculate that tidal marsh ecosystems are likely settings for ecological speciation.     

ORGANIC COMPOUNDS RELEASED FROM A NATURAL POPULATION OF EPIBENTHIC BLUEGREEN ALGAE1

Extracellular release of dissolved organic compounds by the bluegreen algal community of a brackish marsh was studied using ¹⁴C techniques. Mannitol and trehalose were identified as the most commonly released compounds. The proportions of these two extracellular compounds varied in response to light intensity and the water potential of the environment. The presence of mannitol, in particular, suggests that excretion of organic compounds in natural situations is a function of osmotic adjustment.     

Biomass production,nutrient cycling,and carbon fixation by Salicornia brachiata Roxb.: A promising halophyte for coastal saline soil rehabilitation

In order to increase our understanding of the interaction of soil-halophyte (Salicornia brachiata) relations and phytoremediation, we investigated the aboveground biomass, carbon fixation, and nutrient composition (N, P, K, Na, Ca, and Mg) of S. brachiata using six sampling sites with varying characteristics over one growing season in intertidal marshes. Simultaneously, soil characteristics and nutrient concentrations were also estimated. There was a significant variation in soil characteristics and nutrient contents spatially (except pH) as well as temporally. Nutrient contents in aboveground biomass of S. brachiata were also significantly differed spatially (except C and Cl) as well as temporally. Aboveground biomass of S. brachiata ranged from 2.51 to 6.07 t/ha at maturity and it was positively correlated with soil electrical conductivity and available Na, whereas negatively with soil pH. The K/Na ratio in plant was below one, showing tolerance to salinity. The aboveground C fixation values ranged from 0.77 to 1.93 C t/ha at all six sampling sites. This study provides new understandings into nutrient cycling—C fixation potential of highly salt-tolerant halophyte S. brachiata growing on intertidal soils of India. S. brachiata have a potential for amelioration of the salinity due to higher Na bioaccumulation factor.     

Effects of water gradients on soil enzyme activity and active organic carbon composition under Carex lasiocarpa marsh

The responses of soil enzyme activity of freshwater marsh, microbial biomass carbon (MBC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and aboveground biomass to water gradients were studied with Carex lasiocarpa pot culture experiment. The relationships between soil enzyme activity and MBC, DOC and aboveground biomass were discussed. The water gradients were W1, 15 cm; W2, ?5 cm; W3, ?5–5 cm; W4, submerged. The results indicated that acid phosphatase, invertase and urease activities were decreased with the increase of water level, while catalase activity was increased with moisture content increasing. Drying-wetting alternation (W3) increased soil enzyme activities if compared with W1. MBC content followed the order of W3 > W1 > W2 > W4, and the activities of invertase, urease and catalase were significantly positively correlated with MBC (p < 0.05). DOC content presented the order of W4 > W1 > W3 > W2, and the activities of urease and acid phosphatase were most significantly negatively correlated with DOC (p < 0.01). In addition, drying-wetting alternation promoted the growth of Carex lasiocarpa. When water submerged plants, the growth of Carex lasiocarpa was significantly inhibited. The aboveground biomass was positively related to soil enzyme activities. There were close relationships between the activities of invertase, urease and catalase and the growth situation of Carex lasiocarpa.     

黄河三角洲潮间带不同类型湿地景观格局变化与趋势预测

以1979—2013年7期卫星遥感影像(Landsat TM)为数据源,结合野外实地调查,通过建立黄河三角洲潮间带湿地数据库,探讨不同类型湿地的景观格局以及自然与人为因素对景观格局变化的影响,并基于Markov模型对未来20年三角洲潮间带不同类型湿地的景观格局进行了趋势预测。结果表明,三角洲的潮间带湿地面积在1979—2013年间整体呈先降低后增加变化。其中,1979—2010年的湿地面积持续减少,由1050.28 km~2减少为575.39 km~2,减少率为45.22%;2010—2013年的湿地面积略有增加,由575.39 km~2增加为596.17 km~2,增长率为0.36%。1979—2013年,潮间带主要湿地景观类型随距海远近均呈明显带状分布,但芦苇湿地面积呈明显降低趋势(减少273.53 km~2,减少率为79.68%),盐田养殖池面积呈显著增加趋势(增长12.04km~2,增长率为1584.21%),而光滩、碱蓬湿地、碱蓬-柽柳湿地和柽柳-芦苇湿地等其它类型湿地面积整体均呈波动减少趋势。未来20年,潮间带湿地面积整体将呈降低趋势,其值将由2010年的575.39 km~2减少为2030年的546.98 km~2,减少率为6.60%。芦苇湿地面积将继续减少(减少30.16 km~2,减少率为24.12%),盐田养殖池面积将持续增长(增加3.71 km~2,增长率为38.61%),而光滩、碱蓬湿地、碱蓬-柽柳湿地和柽柳-芦苇湿地等其它类型湿地面积均将呈小幅波动变化。研究发现,尽管自然与人为驱动力的双重作用决定了1979—2013年间潮间带的湿地景观格局及其动态变化,但黄河年输沙量(x_1)、区域GDP(x_2)和水产品产量(x_3)对潮间带湿地面积变化(y)的影响更为重要(y=733.192+35.317 x_1-0.005 x_2-4.085 x_3,P=0.00010.05),其对过去30多年间潮间带湿地面积变化的解释贡献高达76.7%。随着黄河三角洲高效生态经济区国家战略的实施,为实现潮间带区域的可持续发展,潮间带湿地的保护与生态保育应给予特别重视。