Effects of nutrients on the substrate biofilms in the integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland

A L9 orthogonal array design involving 3 factors (C6H12O6, KNO3 and NaH2PO4) and 3 levels for each (C6H12O6: 0.2, 0.4 or 0.8 g/L; KNO3: 0.4, 0.8 or 1.6 g/L, NaH2PO4: 0.05, 0.1 or 0.2 g/L), was used to study the effects of nutrients on dehydrogenase activity and polysaccharide content of substrate biofilms in the integrated vertical-flow constructed wetland (IVCW). Results showed that C6H12O6 and KNO3 were the main factors for dehydrogenase activity and polysaccharide content of biofilms, respectively. The combinations of three nutrients at different concentrations had different effects on dehydrogenase activity and polysaccharide content of biofilms. The optimal combination for dehydrogenase activity was obtained by locating the concentrations Of C6H12O6, KNO3 and NaH2PO4 at 0.2, 0.8 and 0.05 g, and the optimal combination for polysaccharide content was obtained by locating the concentrations Of C6H12O6, KNO3 and NaH2PO4 at 0.2, 0.4 and 0.2 g/L, respectively. The corresponding maximum activity and polysaccharide content were 5.40 mu g TF/g substrate/12 h and 3454.6 mu g/g substrate, respectively. These results would provide the laboratory foundation for optimizing the purification function of the wetland systems.

Daily dynamics of nutrients and chlorophyll a during a spring phytoplankton bloom in Xiangxi Bay of the Three Gorges Reservoir

We studied the daily dynamics of nutrients (total phosphorus [TP], total nitrogen [TN], and dissolved silicate [SiO2]) and chlorophyll a (chl a) during a spring bloom in Xiangxi Bay of the Three Gorges Reservoir in year 2005. According to the daily dynamics of chl a, the bloom occurred in two stages (23 February-25 March and 26 March-28 April). The concentration of SiO2 decreased at different layers of the water column with the development of the bloom. However, the decrease of SiO2 in the layers with high concentration of chl a was more dramatic than in the layers with low concentration of chl a. The concentration of TP was lowest value a few days after the peak of chl a during the first bloom period, and the lowest value of TN was found a few days after the peak of chl a during the second bloom period. Correlative analyses indicated that SiO2 and TP were limiting factors in the first bloom period, and SiO2 and TN were limiting factors in the second bloom period.

Effects of temperature on the threshold of phosphorus for algal blooms

Algal blooms, worsening marine ecosystems and causing great economic loss, have been paid much attention to for a long time. Such environmental factors as light penetration, water temperature, and nutrient concentration are crucial in blooms processes. Among them, only nutrients can be controlled. Therefore, the threshold of nutrients for algal blooms is of great concern. To begin with, a dynamic eutrophication model has been constructed to simulate the algal growth and phosphorus cycling. The model encapsulates the essential biological processes of algal growth and decay, and phosphorus regeneration due to algal decay. The nutrient limitation is based upon commonly used Monod's kinetics. The effects of temperature and phosphorus limitation are particularly addressed. Then, we have endeavored to elucidate the threshold of phosphorus at different temperature for algal blooms. Based on the numerical simulation, the isoquant contours of change rate of alga as shown in the figure are obtained, which obviously demonstrate the threshold of nutrient at an arbitrary reasonable temperature. The larger the change rate is, the more rapidly the alga grows. If the phosphorus concentration at a given temperature remains larger than the threshold the algal biomass may increase monotonically, leading to the algal blooming. With the rising of temperature, the threshold is apparently reduced, which may explain why likely red tide disasters occur in a fine summer day. So, high temperature and sufficient phosphorus supply are the major factors which result in algal growth and blowout of red tide.

Dried field populations of Nostoc flagelliforme (Cyanophyceae) require exogenous nutrients for their photosynthetic recovery

The effects of nutrients on the photosynthetic recovery of Nostoc flagelliforme during re-hydration were investigated in order to see if their addition was necessary. Net photosynthesis was negligible in distilled water without nutrient-enrichment. Addition of K+ resulted in significant enhancement of net photosynthesis, whereas other nutrients (Fe3+, Mg2+, Na+, NO3-, PO43-, Cl-) and trace-metals (A(5)) showed little effect. The recovered net photosynthetic activity increased with the increased K+, and reached the maximum at concentrations above 230 mu M. Desiccation and re-hydration did not affect the dependence of photosynthetic recovery on K+. It was concluded that dried field populations of N. flagelliforme require exogenous addition of potassium for photosynthetic recovery and that growth may be potassium-limited in nature.

Transporting nutrients from sediments: nitrogen and carbon as indicators to measure scavenging ability of a detritivorous fish, Liza haematocheila

The redlip mullet, Liza haematocheila, is a common species in polyculture as a scavenger in China. Feeding on detritus, redlip mullet transports nutrients from sediments up into the water column and converts them into forms that can be utilized by phytoplankton and affects the relative abundance of detritus and dissolved inorganic nutrients to phytoplankton, zooplankton and other fishes. We used nitrogen and carbon as the indicators in this study to measure the scavenging ability, which means intake of nitrogen or carbon by redlip mullet, and the loss of nutrients. Temperature and body weight significantly affected growth nitrogen, faecal nitrogen and faecal carbon. At a certain temperature, the proportion of growth nitrogen or growth carbon increased while the proportion of excretion nitrogen or respiration carbon decreased with increasing body weight.

Transport Phenomena in Ammonothermal Growth of Gallium Nitride

GaN can be used to fabricate blue/green/UV LEDs and high temperature, high power electronic devices. Ideal substrates are needed for high quality III-nitride epitaxy, which is an essential step for the manufacture of LEDs. GaN substrates are ideal to be lattice matched and isomorphic to nitride-based films. Bulk single crystals of GaN can be grown from supercritical fluids using the ammonothermal method, which utilizes ammonia as fluid rather than water as in the hydrothermal process. In this process, a mineralizer such as amide, imide or azide is used to attack a bulk nitride feedstock at temperatures from 200 - 500癈 and pressures from 1 - 4 kbar. Baffle design is essential for successful growth of GaN crystals. Baffle is used to separate the dissolving zone from the growth zone, and to maintain a temperature difference between the two zones. For solubility curve with a positive coefficient with respect to temperature, the growth zone is maintained at a lower temperature than that in the dissolving zone, thus the nutrient becomes supersaturated in the growth zone. The baffle opening is used to control the mixing of nutrients in the two zones, thus the transfer of nutrient from the lower part to the upper part. Ammonothermal systems have been modeled here using fluid dynamics, thermodynamics and heat transfer models. The nutrient is considered as a porous media bed and the flow is simulated using the Darcy-Brinkman-Forchheimer model. The resulting governing equations are solved using the finite volume method. We investigated the effects of baffle opening and position on the transport phenomena of nutrient from dissolving zone to the growth zone. Simulation data have been compared qualitatively with experimental data.

Phytoplankton biomass in relation to nutrients and zooplankton in thirty subtropical lakes adjacent to the Yangtze River, China

A total of 30 shallow lakes, located along the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, were studied to assess the relative importance of nutrients and zooplankton biomass in determining the phytoplankton biomass in subtropical China. Zooplankton biomass and nutrients both varied greatly in these lakes. Factor analysis and multiple linear regression showed that phytoplankton biomass was positively correlated with TN, NH4+, NO3- and TP, while it did not show any negative relationship to zooplankton biomass. Meanwhile, the phytoplankton biomass showed contrary relationships to the mass ratio of TN/TP in spring and summer, suggesting that in nutrient-richer lakes the dominant phytoplankton species have different preferences for TN/TP ratio. The insignificant top-down control of phytoplankton biomass may be attributed to the dominance of small-sized crustaceans and low crustacean biomass resulting from cyanobacterial dominance and planktivorous fish predation as well as other factors. Thus, it is likely that nutrients were more important than zooplankton biomass in explaining the total variance of phytoplaDkton biomass in these subtropical lakes.

Effects of the phytoplanktivorous silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrixon) on plankton and the hepatotoxic microcystins in an enclosure experiment in a eutrophic lake, Lake Shichahal in Beijing

The responses of nutrients, water transparency, zooplankton, phytoplankton and microcystins to a gradient of silver carp biomass (0, 18, 55, 110 g/m(3)) were assessed using enclosures in Lake Shichahai (Beijing). Picophytoplankton biomass increased with increasing fish stocking density (r=0.64, p=0.09). Silver carp significantly depressed zooplankton biomass, and thus, zooplankton grazing was too low to control phytoplankton. Intracellular microcystin (MC) content in the enclosures was correlated only to Microcystis biomass in the present study. Microcystis spp. biomass and intracellular microcystins content were much higher in lake water than those of enclosures with and without stocking fish. Stocking of silver carp could be an appropriate in highly productive Lake Shichahai, which naturally lacks of large cladoceran zooplankton. A fish stocking density of 55 g/m(3) was most efficient at controlling Microcystis blooms and increasing water clarity. Mean extracellular MC concentration in the lake water was almost the same with that of the enclosures with fish. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Studies on the effects of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) on the Phytoplankton in a shallow hypereutrophic lake through an enclosure experiment

The responses of nutrients, water transparency, zooplankton and phytoplankton to a gradient of silver carp biomass were assessed using enclosure methods. The gradient of four silver carp biomass levels was set as follows: 0, 116, 176 and 316 g m(-2). Nutrients did not show any statistically significant differences among the treatments. An Outburst of Daphnia only occurred in fishless enclosures where phytoplankton biomass was the lowest and water clarity significantly increased. While among fish enclosures, the small-sized Moina micrura dominated throughout the experiment and both zooplankton and phytoplankton biomasses decreased with increased fish biomass. No large colonial cyanobacterial blooms occurred in the fishless enclosures as predicted. This might be due to low water temperature. short experiment time and the occurrence of large bodied Daphnia in our experiment. Cryptophyta was the most dominant group in most of the enclosures and the lake water throughout the experiment. The fishless enclosure had much lower proportion of Cyanophyta but higher proportion of Trachelomonas sp.

Budgets and dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus in a shallow, hypereutrophic lake in China

Budgets and dynamics of nitrogen and phosphorus in Lake Donghu were investigated from Oct. 1997 to Sept. 1999. The water residence time was estimated to be 89 days in 1997-1998 and 124 days in 1998-1999. The total external loadings were 53 g N m(-2) yr(-1) and 3.2 g P m(-2) yr(-1) in 1997-1998, and 42 g N m(-2) yr(-1) and 3.1 g P m(-2) yr(-1) in 1998-1999. On average, about 80% of nitrogen and phosphorus input was from sewage outlets, while the rest was from land runoff and precipitation. Ammonium ion was the most abundant form of inorganic nitrogen in the sewage. The nutrient output was mainly through water outflow and fish catch. The percentages of nutrients in fish were estimated to be 7.8%-11.2% for nitrogen and 47.6%- 49.6% for phosphorus. Lake Donghu has a very high nutrient retention (63% for nitrogen and 79% for phosphorus) mainly due to its closure and long water residence time. Sedimentation is an important nutrient retention mechanism in this lake. Using mass balance method, we estimated that denitrification of Lake Donghu involves about 50% of the retained nitrogen. Lake Donghu is rich in inorganic nitrogen and phosphorus and showed great seasonal variation.

岷江上游人工针叶、阔叶林土壤可溶性有机物质特征及其对凋落物分解的响应

土壤可溶性有机物质（Dissolved organic matter，DOM）作为土壤有机质的活性组分，在陆地生态系统物质循环中扮演非常重要的角色。土壤DOM的主要成分可溶性有机碳（Dissolved organic carbon，DOC）和氮（Dissolved organic nitrogen，DON）参与C、N循环过程。为深入揭示全球C、N循环过程机制，在未开展DOC和DON的地区进行相关研究是有必要的。森林土壤（包括枯枝落叶层）DOC、DON动态及调控机理的研究是目前国际上森林生态系统C、N循环研究热点之一。本研究立足于暖温带岷江上游茂县地区人工林植被，对土壤DOC和DON的库容量，季节动态及其与其它养分之间的关系进行了系统研究，旨在了解DOC和DON在该区生态系统中的重要作用，并探讨作为DOM主要来源的叶凋落物对DOC和DON的动态影响，研究有助于更加详细地了解该区生态系统C和N循环过程。本论文主要研究结论如下： 1研究了岷江上游地区两大主要土壤类型（棕壤和褐土）不同植物群落下土壤的DOC和DON含量及特征，结果表明：DOC和DON在两种土壤类型中均有库容量存在，DOC在0-10cm和10-20cm土层的含量幅度分别111.96~159.95 mg kg-1和69.02~100.84 mg kg-1。DON在0-10cm和10-20cm土层的含量幅度分别11.88~23.08 mg kg-1和4.70~10.77 mg kg-1。游离氨基酸在0-10cm和10-20cm土层的含量幅度分别0.84~1.66 mg kg-1和0.39~0.73 mg kg-1。DOC、DON与土壤中的一些养分因子表现出了显著的相关关系，共同反映了土壤的状况和质量，在该区开展DOC和DON的系统研究是有必要的。 2 对油松与连香树林地土壤DOC、DON以及其它化学指标的季节动态进行了研究，结果表明：油松与连香树林地土壤DOC和DON的季节动态变化表现了类似的规律，DOC和DON的含量均以秋季最高。DOC和DON的季节动态变化主要受凋落物生物因素的影响，但其微生物活力的生物因素以及降雨、温度等非生物因素也是控制土壤DOC和DON含量的重要因素。土壤DON在土壤中的行为不同于矿质氮，其季节动态不同于NO3--N和NH4+-N的季节动态，在研究N循环过程中，应考虑DON的变化情况。 3 对油松与连香树林地分解层和表层土壤（0-10cm）氨基酸周转动态进行了研究，结果表明：油松林地和连香树林地均以分解层的氨基酸含量高于矿质表层土壤的含量。每个取样时期，油松林地内各层次的氨基酸含量高于连香树林地内相应层次的含量。两林地各层次无机氮含量均超过了氨基酸的含量，并且室内培养30天后无机N的含量仍然高于氨基酸的含量，所以可以认为该区立地条件下无论是在有机分解层还是矿质土层植物吸收利用的氮素仍是以无机N为主。 4 松林下松针凋落物易于累积，这与松针凋落物分解缓慢有关，从而导致松林内养分周转缓慢。通过用不同性质凋落物和灌丛地土壤构建微生态系统，比较油松、辐射松、连香树、灌丛虎榛子凋落物分解对C、N循环过程的影响，结果显示油松和辐射松针叶凋落物比连香树、虎榛子凋落物分解更慢，减缓了养分循环过程。然而将针叶凋落物与阔叶凋落物混合后，油松和辐射松针叶凋落物的分解加快，C、N元素的循环过程也加速。此结果表明在松林内维持具有高质量凋落物的灌丛植被或在松林内栽植一些阔叶树种如连香树对维持和增进松树人工林的土壤肥力有重大的作用。室内培养的结果还显示添加凋落物后土壤DOC和DON的含量显著增加，表明凋落物是土壤DOM的直接来源。然而不同物种凋落物处理下土壤DOC和DON的含量有所不同，并随时间发生改变。混合凋落物处理下土壤DOC和DON的含量均高于松针凋落物单独处理下土壤DOC和DON的含量。DON是一个主要的水溶性N库，随时间的变化趋势与无机N的变化趋势不同，在土壤N循环过程中起到了中间N库的作用。 As a labile fraction of soil organic matter, dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays a very important role in material cycling of terrestrial ecosystem. The turnover of DOM is now being considered as main components in nutrient cycling. DOM mainly includes dissolved organic carbon (DOC), -nitrogen (DON), -phosphorous (DOP) and –sulfur (DOS). Among these constituents, DOC and DON directly participate in C and N cycling. It is essential to study DOC and DON dynamics and their controlling factors in the areas where no related study has ever been carried out. Study about them can provide data supports on understanding the mechanism of the global C and N cycling. DOC and DON dynamics and their controlling factors have been focused on in the research of C and N cycling of forest ecosystems. Based on forest plantations of Maoxian, Minjiang River in warm temperate zone, soil DOC and DON pool size, their seasonal dynamics, and the correlation between DOC, DON and other nutrients were studied in order to understand the importance of DOC and DON in the study area. Soil DOC and DON dynamics induced by leaf litter decomposition were also studied. The study contributed to comprehensively understanding C and N cycling processes and providing baseline data for including DOC and DON into the indices system of evaluating nutrient conditions. The results were as follows: 1 Several different plant communities under brown soil and Cinnamon soil were chosen as sampling plots. The contents and features of soil DOC and DON were evaluated. The results showed that DOC and DON were present under the two soil types. DOC contents in the top soil (0-10 cm) and the subsoil (10-20 cm) respectively varied from 111.96 mg kg-1to 159.95 mg kg-1, and 69.02 mg kg-1 to 100.84 mg kg-1. DON contents in the top soil (0-10 cm) and the subsoil (10-20 cm) respectively varied from 11.88 mg kg-1to 23.08 mg kg-1, and 4.70 mg kg-1 to 10.77 mg kg-1. Free amino acid contents in the top soil (0-10 cm) and the subsoil (10-20 cm) respectively varied from 0.84 mg kg-1to 1.66 mg kg-1, and 0.39 mg kg-1 to 0.73 mg kg-1. Significant correlations were found between DOC, DON and some nutrient indices, which together reflected soil condition and quality. It was hence essential to study DOC and DON in the study area. 2 Seasonal dynamics of DOC, DON, inorganic N, microbial biomass C and N were studied under Pinus tabulaeformis and Cercidiphyllum japonicum plantation. The results indicated that seasonal dynamics of soil DOC and DON under the two plantations performed similar change pattern, with the highest values in autumn. The seasonal dynamics of soil DOC and DON were mainly influenced by the litterfall. However, biotic factors such as soil microbial activities and abiotic factors such as precipitation and temperature also controlled the dynamics of soil DOC and DON. The seasonal dynamic of DON was different from that of NO3--N and NH4+-N, which showed that the behavioral differences between DON and inorganic nitrogen. And hence, it was proposed to include DON into soil N cycling in the study area. 3 Amino acid dynamics in Oa and topsoil (0-10 cm) under P. tabulaeformis and C. japonicum plantation were studied. The results showed that amino acid content in Oa was significantly higher than that in mineral soil. At each sampling time, significantly higher amino acid contents were found in P. tabulaeformis plantation than in C. japonicum plantation. The content of inorganic nitrogen was much higher than the content of amino acid in each sampling layer at each sampling time. After a 30-days laboratory incubation the content of amino acid was still lower than the content of inorganic nitrogen. The results implicated that the form of N absorbed by plants in these study sites were mainly inorganic nitrogen. 4 Usually needle litter is more resistant to decomposition, which leads to needle litter accumulation in pure coniferous stands and slows down the rate of nutrient circulation. By constructing microcosms with local shrubland soil and containing the four single-species (P. tabulaeformis, P. radiata, C. japonicum, Ostryopsis davidiana) litters, the decomposition rates and related C and N dynamics of needle litters and broadleaved litters during the early stage were compared. The results showed that the decomposition rates of pine needles were lower than those of broadleaved litters, which descended C and N cycling processes. However, the presence of C. japonicum or O. davidiana litter into pine needles increased the decomposition rates of pine needles and also dramatically promoted C and N cycling processes. It should be appropriate for plantation managers to consider C. japonicum as an ameliorative species or remain O. davidiana in pine plantations to improve soil conditions and help maintain soil fertility. The laboratory incubation still showed that DOC and DON contents in all litter-amended treatments were significantly higher than no litter-amended treatment, which proved that litter could be a direct source of DOM in soils. Different species litters induced different soil DOC and DON contents, which correspondingly changed over time. DOC and DON contents in mixed litter treatments were higher than those in pine needle litter treatments. As a major soluble N pool, DON developed a different changing pattern over time compared with inorganic N and played a role of interim N pool in soil N cycling.

Methods for physical separation and characterization of soil organic matter fractions

Turnover of soil organic matter (SOM) is coupled to the cycling of nutrients in soil through the activity of soil microorganisms. Biological availability of organic substrate in soil is related to the chemical quality of the organic material and to its degree of physical protection. SOM fractions can provide information on the turnover of organic matter (OM), provided the fractions can be related to functional or structural components in soil. Ultrasonication is commonly used to disrupt the soil structure prior to physical fractionation according to particle size, but may cause redistribution of OM among size fractions. The presence of mineral particles in size fractions can complicate estimations of OM turnover time within the fractions. Densiometric separation allows one to physically separate OM found within a specific size class from the heavier-density mineral particles. Nutrient contents and mineralization potential were determined for discrete size/density OM fractions isolated from within the macroaggregate structure of cultivated grassland soils. Eighteen percent of the total soil C and 25% of the total soil N in no-till soil was associated with fine-silt size particles having a density of 2.07-2.21 g/cm3 isolated from inside macroaggregates (enriched labile fraction or ELF). The amount of C and N sequestered in the ELF fraction decreased as the intensity of tillage increased. The specific rate of mineralization (mug net mineral N/mug total N in the fraction) for macroaggregate-derived ELF was not different for the three tillage treatments but was greater than for intact macroaggregates. The methods described here have improved our ability to quantitatively estimate SOM fractions, which in turn has increased our understanding of SOM dynamics in cultivated grassland systems.

Spatial variability in water quality and surface sediment diatom assemblages in a complex lake basin,lake of the woods,ontario,canada

Lake of the Woods (LOW) is an international waterbody spanning the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, and the U.S. state of Minnesota. In recent years, there has been a perception that water quality has deteriorated in northern regions of the lake, with all increase in the frequency and intensity of toxin-producing cyanobacterial blooms. However, given the lack of long-term data these trends are difficult to verify. As a first step, we examine spatial and seasonal patterns in water quality in this highly complex lake on the Canadian Shield. Further, we examine surface sediment diatom assemblages across multiple sites to determine if they track within-take differences in environmental conditions. Our results show that there are significant spatial patterns in water quality in LOW. Principal Component Analysis divides the lake into three geographic zones based primarily on algal nutrients (i.e., total phosphorus, TP), with the highest concentrations at sites proximal to Rainy River. This variation is closely tracked by sedimentary diatom assemblages, with [TP] explaining 43% of the variation in diatom assemblages across sites. The close correlation between water quality and the surface sediment diatom record indicate that paleoecological models could be used to provide data on the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic sources of nutrients to the lake.