Slash burning, faunal composition, and nutrient dynamics in a Eucalyptus grandis plantation in South AfricaThis article is one of a selection of papers published in the Special Forum on Towards Sustainable Forestry — The Living Soil: Soil Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function.

2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.L. Nadel ◽  
M.C. Scholes ◽  
M.J. Byrne
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Eucalyptus Grandis ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Soil Biodiversity ◽  
Faunal Composition ◽  
Faunal Diversity ◽  
Phosphorus Mineralization ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Slash Burning

The sustainability of exotic commercial plantations is dependent on the conservation of soil nutrients, especially on the ancient, leached soils of the tropics, particularly when limited fertilization is practiced. In Eucalyptus grandis W. Hill ex Maid. plantations in South Africa, the site is usually burned following harvest and prior to replanting, potentially causing a disruption of soil faunal function and losses of nutrients associated with burning and removal of slash residues. The aim was to study the effect of fire on nutrient dynamics and invertebrate faunal composition. The in situ nitrogen and phosphorus mineralization rates and invertebrate faunal composition were measured in six randomly located plots — three burned and three unburned — prior to and after a low-intensity fire. Results indicate that within the burned plots, phosphorus availability was enhanced 10-fold within the first month following the fire. Invertebrate faunal diversity was low both prior to and after burning, with ants constituting the highest number. Invertebrate faunal composition was more markedly influenced by season than by the fire, with millipedes present in the majority of plots in spring and ants dominating in summer.

scholarly journals Element budgets in an Arctic mesocosm CO<sub>2</sub> perturbation study

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 11885-11924 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Czerny ◽  
K. G. Schulz ◽  
T. Boxhammer ◽  
R. G. J. Bellerby ◽  
J. Büdenbender ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Exchange ◽  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Nutrient Pools ◽  
Dissolved Organics ◽  
Elemental Stoichiometry ◽  
Element Budgets ◽  
Wall Growth

Abstract. Recent studies on the impacts of ocean acidification on pelagic communities have identified changes in carbon to nutrient dynamics with related shifts in elemental stoichiometry. In principle, mesocosm experiments provide the opportunity of determining the temporal dynamics of all relevant carbon and nutrient pools and, thus, calculating elemental budgets. In practice, attempts to budget mesocosm enclosures are often hampered by uncertainties in some of the measured pools and fluxes, in particular due to uncertainties in constraining air/sea gas exchange, particle sinking, and wall growth. In an Arctic mesocosm study on ocean acidification using KOSMOS (Kiel Off-Shore Mesocosms for future Ocean Simulation) all relevant element pools and fluxes of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus were measured, using an improved experimental design intended to narrow down some of the mentioned uncertainties. Water column concentrations of particulate and dissolved organic and inorganic constituents were determined daily. New approaches for quantitative estimates of material sinking to the bottom of the mesocosms and gas exchange in 48 h temporal resolution, as well as estimates of wall growth were developed to close the gaps in element budgets. Future elevated pCO2 was found to enhance net autotrophic community carbon uptake in 2 of the 3 experimental phases but did not significantly affect particle elemental composition. Enhanced carbon consumption appears to result in accumulation of dissolved organic compounds under nutrient recycling summer conditions. This carbon over-consumption effect becomes evident from budget calculations, but was too small to be resolved by direct measurements of dissolved organics. The out-competing of large diatoms by comparatively small algae in nutrient uptake caused reduced production rates under future ocean CO2 conditions in the end of the experiment. This CO2 induced shift away from diatoms towards smaller phytoplankton and enhanced cycling of dissolved organics was pushing the system towards a retention type food chain with overall negative effects on export potential.

Evolutionary conservatism will limit responses to climate change in the tropics

2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan B. Linck ◽  
Benjamin G. Freeman ◽  
C. Daniel Cadena ◽  
Cameron K. Ghalambor
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Tolerance ◽  
Species Turnover ◽  
Tropical Species ◽  
Evolutionary Divergence ◽  
Closely Related Species ◽  
Tropical Mountains ◽  
Low Latitudes ◽  
Parapatric Speciation ◽  
The Tropics

Rapid species turnover in tropical mountains has fascinated biologists for centuries. A popular explanation for this heightened beta diversity is that climatic stability at low latitudes promotes the evolution of narrow thermal tolerance ranges, leading to local adaptation, evolutionary divergence and parapatric speciation along elevational gradients. However, an emerging consensus from research spanning phylogenetics, biogeography and behavioural ecology is that this process rarely, if ever, occurs. Instead, closely related species typically occupy a similar elevational niche, while species with divergent elevational niches tend to be more distantly related. These results suggest populations have responded to past environmental change not by adapting and diverging in place, but instead by shifting their distributions to tightly track climate over time. We argue that tropical species are likely to respond similarly to ongoing and future climate warming, an inference supported by evidence from recent range shifts. In the absence of widespread in situ adaptation to new climate regimes by tropical taxa, conservation planning should prioritize protecting large swaths of habitat to facilitate movement.

The Joint ESA-NASA Tropical Campaign Activity – Aeolus Calibration/Validation and Science in the Topics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorsten Fehr ◽  
Gail Skofronick-Jackson ◽  
Vassilis Amiridis ◽  
Jonas von Bismarck ◽  
Shuyi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weather Prediction ◽  
Cape Verde ◽  
World Population ◽  
Aerosol Layer ◽  
Mean Flow ◽  
Western Atlantic ◽  
Convective Systems ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Tropics

&lt;p&gt;The Tropics are covering around 40% of the globe and are home to approximately 40% of the world population. However, numerical weather prediction (NWP) for this region still remains challenging due to the lack of basic observations and incomplete understanding of atmospheric processes, also affecting extratropical storm developments. As a result, the largest impact of the ESA&amp;#8217;s Aeolus satellite observations on NWP is expected in the Tropics where only a very limited number of wind profile observations from the ground can be performed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;An especially important case relating to the predictability of tropical weather system is the outflow of Saharan dust, its interaction with cloud micro-physics and the overall impact on the development of tropical storms over the Atlantic Ocean. The region of the coast of West Africa uniquely allows the study of the Saharan Aerosol layer, African Easterly Waves and Jets, Tropical Easterly Jet, as well as the deep convection in ITCZ and their relation to the formation of convective systems and the transport of dust.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Together with international partners, ESA and NASA are currently implementing a joint Tropical campaign from July to August 2021 with its base in Cape Verde. The campaign objective is to provide information on the validation and preparation of the ESA missions Aeolus and EarthCARE, respectively, as well as supporting a range of related science objectives for the investigation in the interactions between African Easterly and other tropical waves with the mean flow, dust and their impact on the development of convective systems; the structure and variability of the marine boundary layer in relation to initiation and lifecycle of the convective cloud systems within and across the ITCZ; and impact of wind, aerosol, clouds, and precipitation effects on long range dust transport and air quality over the western Atlantic.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The campaign comprises a unique combination of both strong airborne and ground-based elements collocated on Cape Verde. The airborne component with wind and aerosol lidars, cloud radars, in-situ instrumentation and additional observations includes the NASA DC-8 with science activities coordinated by the U. of Washington, the German DLR Falcon-20, the French Safire Falcon-20 with activities led by LATMOS, and the Slovenian Aerovizija Advantic WT-10 light aircraft in cooperation with the U. Novo Gorica. The ground-based component led by the National Observatory of Athens is a collaboration of more than 25 European teams providing in-situ and remote sensing aerosol and cloud measurements with a wide range of lidar, radar and radiometer systems,&amp;#160;as well as drone observatins by the Cyprus Institute.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In preparation for the field campaign, the NASA and ESA management and science teams are closely collaborating with regular coordination meetings, in particular in coordinating the shift of the activity by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The time gained has been used to further consolidate the planning, and in particular with a dry-run campaign organized by NASA with European participation where six virtual flights were conducted in July 2020.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;#160;This paper will present a summary of the campaign preparation activities and the consolidated plan for the 2021 Tropical campaign.&lt;/p&gt;

Subvisual Cirrus

Cirrus ◽  
2002 ◽  
Author(s):  
David K. Lynch ◽  
Kenneth Sassen
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Solar Limb ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program ◽  
Passive Sensors ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Anvil Cirrus ◽  
High Clouds ◽  
Meteorological Satellite

Starting during World War II, pilots flying high over the tropics reported “a thin layer of cirrus 500ft above us”. Yet as they ascended, they still observed more thin cirrus above them, leading to the colloquialism “cirrus evadus.” With the coming of lidar in the early 1960s, rumors and unqualified reports of subvisual cirrus were replaced with validated detections, in situ sampling, and the first systematic studies (Uthe 1977; Barnes 1980, 1982). Heymsfield (1986) described observations over Kwajalein Atoll in the western tropical Pacific Ocean, where pilots and lidars could clearly see the cloud but DMSP (U.S. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program) radiance measurements and ground observers could not. The term “subvisual” is a relatively recent appellation. Prior terminology included cirrus haze, semitransparent cirrus, subvisible cirrus veils, low density clouds, fields of ice aerosols, cirrus, anvil cirrus, and high altitude tropical (HAT) cirrus. Subvisual cirrus clouds (SVC) are widespread (Winker and Trepte 1998; see chapter 12, this volume) and virtually undetectable with existing passive sensors. Orbiting solar limb occupation systems such as the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE) can detect these clouds, but only by looking at them horizontally where the optical depths are significant. SVC appear to affect climate primarily by heating the planet, though to what extent this may happen is unknown. Much of what we know is based on work by Heymsfield (1986), Platt et al. (1987), Sassen et al. (1989, 1992), Flatau et al. (1990), Liou et al. (1990), Hutchinson et al. (1991, 1993), Dalcher (1992), Sassen and Cho (1992), Takano et al. (1992), Lynch (1993), Schmidt et al. (1993), Schmidt and Lynch (1995), and Winker and Trepte (1998). SVC are defined as any high clouds composed primarily of ice (WMO 1975) and whose vertical visible optical depth is 0.03 or less (Sassen and Cho 1992). Such clouds are usually found near the tropopause and are less than about 1 km thick vertically. SVC do not appear to be fundamentally different from ordinary, optically thicker cirrus. They do, however, differ from average cirrus by being colder (-50-90°C), thinner (<0.03 optical depths at 0.694 μm), and having smaller particles (typically about <50μm diameter).

scholarly journals Nutrient dynamics along the Moskva River under heavy pollution and limited self-purification capacity

2020 ◽  
Vol 163 ◽  
pp. 05014
Author(s):  
Maria Tereshina ◽  
Oxana Erina ◽  
Dmitriy Sokolov ◽  
Lyudmila Efimova ◽  
Nikolay Kasimov
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Water Quality Management ◽  
Urban Pollution ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
Urban Region ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressure ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Moskva River

An extensive study conducted during the dry summer of 2019 provided a detailed picture of the nutrient content dynamics along the Moskva River. Water sampling at 38 locations on the main river and at 17 of its tributaries revealed a manifold increase in phosphorus and nitrogen concentrations as the river crosses the Moscow metropolitan area, which can be attributed to both direct discharge of poorly treated sewage and nonpoint urban pollution. Even at the Moskva River lower reaches, where the anthropogenic pressure on the river and its tributaries is less pronounced, the inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus content remains consistently high and exceeds the environmental guidelines by up to almost 10 times. This indicates increased vulnerability of the Moskva River ecosystem during periods of low flow, which can be a major factor of eutrophication in the entire Moskva-Oka-Volga system. Comparison of our data with some archive records shows no significant improve in the nutrient pollution of the river since the 1990s, which raises further concern about the effectiveness of water quality management in Moscow urban region.

scholarly journals Nitrogen and Phosphorus Budget for a Deep Tropical Reservoir of the Brazilian Savannah

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackeline do S. B. Barbosa ◽  
Valéria R. Bellotto ◽  
Damiana B. da Silva ◽  
Thiago B. Lima
Keyword(s):  
Wastewater Treatment ◽  
Nutrient Dynamics ◽  
Wastewater Treatment Plants ◽  
Organic Phosphorus ◽  
Inorganic Nitrogen ◽  
Nutrient Input ◽  
Nitrogen And Phosphorus ◽  
Tropical Reservoir ◽  
Artificial Lake ◽  
Total Organic Nitrogen

This research investigated the source and fate of different chemical species of N and P on a deep tropical urban reservoir, the artificial Lake Paranoá, located in the city of Brasilia (Brazil). To determine an N and P budget, nutrient input from the external load (four main tributaries and two wastewater treatment plants), internal load (from sediment) and nutrient output (from a downstream dam) were estimated empirically. Nutrient storage was evaluated in two compartments: water column and sediment. Nutrient input from the tributaries varied by season presenting higher loads in the wet season, especially N. Nutrient budgets in our study indicated that Lake Paranoá retained dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), PO43−-P, total organic phosphorus (TOP) and exported total organic nitrogen (TON), both on a seasonal and annual scale. Surface sediment is the major storage compartment for both N and P. These results show the pressing need for action to reduce the P outcome charges, mainly, from the wastewater treatment plants. The data here presented contributes to the recognition of this situation and to a better comprehension of these nutrient dynamics, as well as an understanding of the behavior of tropical deep-water reservoirs. This can help to promote more effective management, providing a reference for other similar systems.

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