Falcon constructed artificial catchment for whole ecosystem manipulation how we build it and what are the first results

Author(s):  
Martin Bartiška ◽  
Jan Frouz

<p>Subsurface processes are often omitted in catchment studies here we presented artificial catchment as a new tool to study and budget these processes on catchment level.</p><p>Falcon is and artificial  catchment that build in Sokolov post mining sites Catchment consist from four separate micro catchments (pools) each ) 0.25ha in area and 2m in depth which are hydrologically isolated  and filled by post mining overburden. Two fields were levelled while in two was wave like surface was produced to mimic situation after heaping.  Leveled micro catchments were planted by alder (Alnus glutinosa).</p><p>Catchment allow to study meteorological variables, surface and subsurface runoff,  and other key ecosystem parameters (water table depth chemical composition of pore water, soil respiration, gas exchange between ecosystem and surrounding atmosphere using eddy tower etc.). First result show large erosion on waves then on levelled sites however large proportion of material eroded from flat site leave the site while in wave like surface most of it is trapped in depression between waves. Subsurface runoff form large proportion of total runoff in wavy sites than in flat sites. Stable water table established quickly in both types of catchments} few months after catchment establishment. Flat sites show higher initial diversity of plants.</p>

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrique Rosero ◽  
Lindsey E. Gulden ◽  
Zong-Liang Yang ◽  
Luis G. De Goncalves ◽  
Guo-Yue Niu ◽  
...  

Abstract The ability of two versions of the Noah land surface model (LSM) to simulate the water cycle of the Little Washita River experimental watershed is evaluated. One version that uses the standard hydrological parameterizations of Noah 2.7 (STD) is compared another version that replaces STD’s subsurface hydrology with a simple aquifer model and topography-related surface and subsurface runoff parameterizations (GW). Simulations on a distributed grid at fine resolution are compared to the long-term distribution of observed daily-mean runoff, the spatial statistics of observed soil moisture, and locally observed latent heat flux. The evaluation targets the typical behavior of ensembles of models that use realistic, near-optimal sets of parameters important to runoff. STD and GW overestimate the ratio of runoff to evapotranspiration. In the subset of STD and GW runs that best reproduce the timing and the volume of streamflow, the surface-to-subsurface runoff ratio is overestimated and simulated streamflow is much flashier than observations. Both models’ soil columns wet and dry too quickly, implying that there are structural shortcomings in the formulation of STD that cannot be overcome by adding GW’s increased complexity to the model. In its current formulation, GW extremely underestimates baseflow’s contribution to total runoff and requires a shallow water table to function realistically. In the catchment (depth to water table >10 m), GW functions as a simple bucket model. Because model parameters are likely scale and site dependent, the need for even “physically based” models to be extensively calibrated for all domains on which they are applied is underscored.


Author(s):  
Rini Yanti ◽  
Hermina Nurdiawati ◽  
Puji Wulandari ◽  
Yudi Pranoto ◽  
Muhammad Nur Cahyanto

Turmeric rhizomes are commonly used in the culinary, pharmaceutical, herbal medicine, and beverage industries. On the contrary, turmeric leaves are underutilized.  The aims of this study were to extract the essential oil from turmeric leaves, characterize the chemical composition of the oil, and determine its antifungal activities against aflatoxin-producing fungi. Steam distillation was used to extract the essential oil from turmeric leaves. The properties of the oil were identified using GC-MS. Antimicrobial activities against Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus were determined. Spores of the fungi were inoculated into potato dextrose agar plates supplemented with various quantities of turmeric leaves essential oil and incubated at 30°C for 7 days. The oil's primary constituents were α-phelandrene(46.70 %), followed by α-terpinolene (17.39 %), 1,8-cineole (8.78 %), benzene (4.24 %), and 2-β pinene (3.64 %). At low (<1%) concentrations, the oil delayed mycelia formation and at high concentrations it significantly inhibit fungal growth (at 1%) and completely inhibit colony formation (at 2%) Additionally, the result show that turmeric leaves oil can inhibited fungus growth at the lowest concentration (0.25 %) when compared to the control over a seven-day incubation period.


2011 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 6291-6329 ◽  
Author(s):  
X. Xu ◽  
D. Yang ◽  
M. Sivapalan

Abstract. Understanding the interactions among climate, vegetation cover and the water cycle lies at the heart of the study of watershed ecohydrology. Recently, considerable attention is being paid to the effect of climate variability (e.g., precipitation and temperature) on catchment water balance and also associated vegetation cover. In this paper, we investigate the general pattern of long-term water balance and vegetation cover (as reflected in fPAR) among 193 study catchments in Australia through statistical analysis. We then employ the elasticity analysis approach for quantifying the effects of climate variability on hydrologic partitioning (including total runoff, surface and subsurface runoff) and on vegetation cover (including total, woody and non-woody vegetation cover). Based on the results of statistical analysis, we conclude that annual runoff (R), evapotranspiration (E) and runoff coefficient (R/P) all increase with vegetation cover for catchments in which woody vegetation is dominant and annual precipitation is relatively high. Annual evapotranspiration (E) is mainly controlled by water availability rather than energy availability for catchments in relatively dry climates in which non-woody vegetation is dominant. The ratio of subsurface runoff to total runoff (Rg/R) also increases with woody vegetation cover. Through the elasticity analysis of catchment runoff, it is shown that precipitation (P) in the current year is the most important factor affecting the change in annual total runoff (R), surface runoff (Rs) and subsurface runoff (Rg). The significance of other controlling factors is in the order of the annual precipitation in the previous year (P−1 and P−2), which represent the net effect of soil moisture, and the annual mean temperature (T) in the current year. Change of P by +1 % causes a +3.35 % change of R, a +3.47 % change of Rs and a +2.89 % change of Rg, on average. Likewise a change of temperature of +1° causes a −0.05 % change of R, a −0.07 % change of Rs and a −0.10 % change of Rg, on average. Results of elasticity analysis on the maximum monthly vegetation cover indicate that incoming shortwave radiation during the growing season (Rsd,grow) is the most important factor affecting the change in vegetation cover. Change of Rsd,grow by +1 % produces a −1.08 % change of total vegetation cover (Ft) on average. The significance of other causative factors is in the order of the precipitation during growing season, mean temperature during growing season and precipitation during non-growing season. The growing season precipitation is more significant than the non-growing season precipitation to non-woody vegetation cover, but the both have equivalent effects to woody vegetation cover.


Biologia ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Frouz

AbstractField microcosms consisting of mineral soil (spoil substrate) and two types of litter taken either from an unreclaimed site with spontaneously developed vegetation (mostly Salix caprea) or from an alder plantation (a mixture of Alnus glutinosa and A. incana) were exposed in spontaneously developed or reclaimed sites at a post-mining heap near Sokolov (Czech Republic) for one year. The litter types differed remarkably in C:N ratio which was 29 for spontaneous litter and 14 for alder litter. The two microcosm types were either accessible or not accessible to soil macrofauna. The effect of macrofauna exclusion on soil mixing was complex and depended on litter quality and the site that determined soil fauna composition. In reclaimed sites where macrofauna was dominated by saprophags, mainly earthworms, the macrofauna access increased soil mixing. In sites where predators dominated, the macrofauna exclusion probably suppressed fragmentation and mixing activity of the mesofauna.


1997 ◽  
Vol 52 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 824-827 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Joachim Frick ◽  
Dietrich Woermann ◽  
Wolfgang Grosse

Abstract The gas exchange between the root system of the European alder (Alnus glutinosa (L.) Gaertn.) and the surrounding soil is studied using four-year-old trees. For the experiments the root system connected to its stump is exposed to gases of different molar mass. The stump is cut above the soil surface and in contact with the external atmosphere. A net convective volume flow of gas from the soil into the roots and out of the stump is observed if the mean molar mass of the gas present in the soil is lower than that present in the intercellular space of the roots. The direction of the convective gas flow can be reversed by increasing the molar mass of the gas present in the soil. These phenomena are governed by Graham 's law of diffusion. They demonstrate the importance of gas convection for the gas exchange in tree roots.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristy Klein ◽  
Miriam Groβ-Schmölders ◽  
Christine Alewell ◽  
Jens Leifeld

&lt;p&gt;Intact accumulating peatlands are a globally important terrestrial carbon sink. Climate change and agricultural drainage are degrading these ecosystems, and through increases in aerobic decomposition, shifting their C balance from sink to source. To argue the effectiveness of restoration activities (such as rewetting), techniques are needed that clearly show differences between drained and natural (or drained and rewetted) peatlands. Because these changes are not always macroscopically visible, molecular analysis methods are especially needed to distinguish between ecosystems experiencing net pet growth (sequestering carbon), and those where aerobic decomposition is still a primary driving mechanism. Molecular biomarkers are a useful way to use chemical composition to distinguish these mechanisms.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This study aimed to compare differences in chemical composition with depth between two peatland sites from a large ombrotrophic mire in Lakkasuo Finland &amp;#8211; one natural and one drained. To characterize these chemical shifts, pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometry was used to track changes in relative abundance of various molecular biomarkers and compound classes (ie., aromatics, Sphagnum phenols, lignin, N-containing compounds, n-alkanes, etc.) with depth across both sites. Three replicate cores per site were collected, allowing for statistical evaluation of the relative abundances of these compounds. Using radiocarbon dating at three depths per core, the drained and natural sites were also matched by age for reference purposes. Significant differences were found for the Sphagnum-specific biomarker, p-isopropenylphenol, aromatics, and lignin, to the approximate current depth of the drained peatland water table. Higher phenolic compound class abundance indicated inhibited aerobic decomposition in the natural cores. An increasing trend in lignin biomarker relative abundance with depth was observed in the natural site, despite the identification of comparatively fewer vascular plants during the macroscopic analysis. Rather than a higher abundance of palaeo-ecological vascular plants, this trend is considered to be an indicator of preferential preservation of lignin compounds with anaerobic conditions. Below the depth of the water table, the relative abundances of most biomarkers stabilized, indicating the existance of similar environmental conditions in both sites prior to drainage. These data were compared and are in agreement with findings from elemental analysis (CHNO) and bulk isotopic (&lt;sup&gt;13&lt;/sup&gt;C and &lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;N) data measured on the same cores. Collectively, these data suggest that observed shifts in chemical composition in the natural and drained cores reflect the effect of different hydrological conditions between the two sites.&lt;/p&gt;


Author(s):  
Carola A. Torres ◽  
◽  
Cristina M. Perez Zamora ◽  
Hector A. Sato ◽  
Maria B. Nuñez ◽  
...  

Lophophytum species are holoparasites that grow on tree roots. The objectives of the work were to explore the chemical composition of the tubers of two Lophophytum species and to analyze the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antilithiatic activity of their extracts using in vitro methods. The chemical composition was determined by histochemical, phytochemical and TLC tests. In addition, the profile of phenolic compounds was determined by HPLC-MS. The presence of secondary metabolites of recognized activity was demonstrated. The results of the HPLC-MS/MS allowed the tentative identification of catechin, luteolin and glycosides of eriodictyol, naringenin and luteolin in the extract of Lophophytum leandri and eriodictyol, naringenin, luteolin and their glycosylated derivatives in Lophophytum mirabile. The extracts showed promising antioxidant (DPPH, ABTS and β-carotene-linoleic acid), anti-inflammatory (inhibition of 5-LOX) and anti-urolytic (by bioautographic TLC) activity. It is noteworthy that these are the first results of the phytochemical composition and biological activity of L. mirabile. However, in vivo studies are required to corroborate these activities.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alba Anadon-Rosell ◽  
Tobias Scharnweber ◽  
Georg von Arx ◽  
Richard L. Peters ◽  
Marko Smiljanić ◽  
...  

Human-driven peatland drainage has occurred in Europe for centuries, causing habitat degradation and leading to the emission of greenhouse gases. As such, in the last decades, there has been an increase in policies aiming at restoring these habitats through rewetting. Alder (Alnus glutinosa L.) is a widespread species in temperate forest peatlands with a seemingly high waterlogging tolerance. Yet, little is known about its specific response in growth and wood traits relevant for tree functioning when dealing with changing water table levels. In this study, we investigated the effects of rewetting and extreme flooding on alder growth and wood traits in a peatland forest in northern Germany. We took increment cores from several trees at a drained and a rewetted stand and analyzed changes in ring width, wood density, and xylem anatomical traits related to the hydraulic functioning, growth, and mechanical support for the period 1994–2018. This period included both the rewetting action and an extreme flooding event. We additionally used climate-growth and climate-density correlations to identify the stand-specific responses to climatic conditions. Our results showed that alder growth declined after an extreme flooding in the rewetted stand, whereas the opposite occurred in the drained stand. These changes were accompanied by changes in wood traits related to growth (i.e., number of vessels), but not in wood density and hydraulic-related traits. We found poor climate-growth and climate-density correlations, indicating that water table fluctuations have a stronger effect than climate on alder growth. Our results show detrimental effects on the growth of sudden water table changes leading to permanent waterlogging, but little implications for its wood density and hydraulic architecture. Rewetting actions should thus account for the loss of carbon allocation into wood and ensure suitable conditions for alder growth in temperate peatland forests.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Sprio ◽  
Andrea Ruffini ◽  
Anna Tampieri

Obtaining 3-D inorganic devices with designed chemical composition, complex geometry, hierarchic structure and effective mechanical performance is a major scientific goal, still prevented by insurmountable technological limitations. With particular respect to the biomedical field, there is a lack in solutions ensuring the regeneration of long, load-bearing bone segments such as the ones of limbs, due to the still unmet goal of converging, in a unique device, bioactive chemical composition, multi-scale cell-conducive porosity and a hierarchically organized architecture capable of bearing and managing complex mechanical loads in a unique 3D implant. An emerging, but still very poorly explored approach in this respect, is given by biomorphic transformation processes, aimed at converting natural structures into functional 3D inorganic constructs with smart mechanical performance. Recent studies highlighted the use of heterogeneous gas-solid reactions as a valuable approach to obtain effective transformation of natural woods into hierarchically structured apatitic bone scaffolds. In this light, the present review illustrates critical aspects related to the application of such heterogeneous reactions when occurring in the 3D state, showing the relevance of a thorough kinetic control to achieve controlled phase transformations while maintaining the multi-scale architecture and the outstanding mechanical performance of the starting natural structure. These first results encourage the further investigation towards the biologic structures optimized by nature along the ages and then the development of biomorphic transformations as a radically new approach to enable a technological breakthrough in various research fields and opening to still unexplored industrial applications.


2019 ◽  
Vol 806 ◽  
pp. 155-160
Author(s):  
Igor Eduardovich Pamirsky ◽  
Alexey Grigorievich Klykov ◽  
Alexander Mikhailovich Zakharenko ◽  
Kirill Sergeevich Golokhvast

At current work we present first results of comparative study of the morphology and chemical composition in biomineral particles (phytoliths) of different types of wheat (Volzhskaya, Moskovskaya 39, Primorskaya 40). Optical microscopy reveals 5 morphotypes of phytolith in the stem and spike of wheat Triticum aestivum L. Although, only 3 morphotypes of phytolites were found in all three varieties, and the other 2 morphotypes were found only in some cases. These differences may be sort-specific signs. Various phytoliths have different linear sizes. As demosntrated, even within a sole type of wheat, there appears variability of the phytolitic composition. This fact may have significant implication for practical use of the phytolith analysis.


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