The combination of chemical, structural, and functional indicators to evaluate the anthropogenic impacts on agricultural stream ecosystems

Global climatic changes, technogenic pollution by pollutants, violations of technologies of exploitation of reclaimed land lead to a decrease in fertility and soil degradation of agricultural land. Adverse weather conditions, resulting in a lack of adequate flood water, and economic difficulties in agriculture make it difficult to fill the deficit of organic matter and macronutrients in reclaimed alluvial soils. The monitoring of agrochemical properties of alluvial meadow medium-loamy soil of the stationary site (reclaimed lands of JSC «Moskovskoye» of Ryazan region), located in the floodplain of the Oka river, conducted by the Meshchersky branch of Vniigim, showed the presence and intensification of degradation changes in the soil. Thus, comparing the agrochemical indicators in the layer 0–20 cm, carried out in 1995, with the indicators of 2019, it should be noted a decrease in soil fertility. The decrease in soil quality was expressed in a decrease in the amount of mobile phosphorus by 37.6 %, mobile potassium by 53.3 %. Also, during this time there was a decrease in organic matter by 9.1 %, and an increase in soil acidity was 0.6 pH. As a result of such changes, soils lose ecological stability and become more vulnerable to adverse weather and negative anthropogenic impacts. In such a situation, advanced agricultural techniques should be actively used to obtain guaranteed, environmentally safe crop yields and restore the fertility of degraded reclaimed soils. In this regard, there is a need to develop innovative methods of fertility restoration of degraded alluvial soils in reclaimed lands using multi-component organic-mineral ameliorants. Meshchersky branch performs research work in addressing this issue.

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Submergence, nutrient enrichment, and tropical storm impacts on Spartina alterniflora in the microtidal northern Gulf of Mexico

Marine Ecology Progress Series ◽

10.3354/meps13342 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 644 ◽

pp. 33-45

Author(s):

JM Hill ◽

PS Petraitis ◽

KL Heck

Keyword(s):

Gulf Of Mexico ◽

Sea Level Rise ◽

Sea Level ◽

Spartina Alterniflora ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Interactive Effects ◽

Relative Sea Level ◽

Hurricane Disturbance ◽

Submergence Stress ◽

Relative Sea Level Rise

Salt marshes face chronic anthropogenic impacts such as relative sea level rise and eutrophication, as well as acute disturbances from tropical storms that can affect the productivity of these important communities. However, it is not well understood how marshes already subjected to eutrophication and sea level rise will respond to added effects of episodic storms such as hurricanes. We examined the interactive effects of nutrient addition, sea level rise, and a hurricane on the growth, biomass accumulation, and resilience of the saltmarsh cordgrass Spartina alterniflora in the Gulf of Mexico. In a microtidal marsh, we manipulated nutrient levels and submergence using marsh organs in which cordgrasses were planted at differing intertidal elevations and measured the impacts of Hurricane Isaac, which occurred during the experiment. Prior to the hurricane, grasses at intermediate and high elevations increased in abundance. After the hurricane, all treatments lost approximately 50% of their shoots, demonstrating that added nutrients and elevation did not provide resistance to hurricane disturbance. At the end of the experiment, only the highest elevations had been resilient to the hurricane, with increased above- and belowground growth. Added nutrients provided a modest increase in above- and belowground growth, but only at the highest elevations, suggesting that only elevation will enhance resilience to hurricane disturbance. These results empirically demonstrate that S. alterniflora in microtidal locations already subjected to submergence stress is less able to recover from storm disturbance and suggests we may be underestimating the loss of northern Gulf Coast marshes due to relative sea level rise.

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An Inquiry Lesson on Stream Ecosystems

Science Scope ◽

10.2505/4/ss17_040_06_58 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 040 (06) ◽

Author(s):

Keith Piccard ◽

Stephen Rybczynski ◽

Peter Riemersma

Keyword(s):

Stream Ecosystems ◽

Inquiry Lesson

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STUDYING OF TERSKO-SULAKSKAYA LOWLAND VEGETATION UNDER THE RESULTS OF GROUND-BASED RESEARCH AND AUTOMATED INTERPRETATION

Vestnik of the Russian agricultural science ◽

10.30850/vrsn/2020/2/29-32 ◽

1970 ◽

pp. 29-32

Author(s):

M. I. Dzhalalova ◽

A. B. Biarslanov ◽

D. B. Asgerova

Keyword(s):

Plant Communities ◽

Satellite Imagery ◽

Vegetation Cover ◽

Anthropogenic Impacts ◽

Species Abundance ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Indigenous Communities ◽

The State ◽

Anthropogenic Factors ◽

Internet Resource

The state of plant communities in areas located in the Tersko-Sulak lowland was studied by assessing phytocenotic indicators: the structure of vegetation cover, projective cover, species diversity, species abundance and elevated production, as well as automated decoding methods. There are almost no virgin soils and natural phytocenoses here; all of them have been transformed into agrocenoses (irrigated arable lands and hayfields, rice-trees and pastures). The long-term impact on pasture ecosystems of natural and anthropogenic factors leads to significant changes in the indigenous communities of this region. Phytocenoses are formed mainly by dry-steppe types of cereals with the participation of feather grass, forbs and ephemera, a semi-desert haloxerophytic shrub - Taurida wormwood. At the base of the grass stand is common coastal wormwood and Taurida wormwood - species resistant to anthropogenic influences. Anthropogenic impacts have led to a decrease in the number of species of feed-rich grain crops and a decrease in the overall productivity of pastures. Plant communities in all areas are littered with ruderal species. The seasonal dynamics of the land cover of the sites was estimated by the methods of automatic decoding of satellite images of the Landsat8 OLI series satellite for 2015, dated by the periods: spring - May 20, summer - July 23, autumn - October 20. Satellite imagery data obtained by Landsat satellite with a resolution in the multispectral image of 30 m per pixel, and in the panchromatic image - 10 m per pixel, which correspond to the requirements for satellite imagery to assess the dynamics of soil and vegetation cover. Lower resolution data, for example, NDVI MODIS, does not provide a reliable reflection of the state of soil and vegetation cover under arid conditions. In this regard, remote sensing data obtained from the Internet resource https://earthexplorer.usgs.gov/ was used.

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