Model results of the impact of climate change on agriculture in China

This paper assesses the impact of climate change on China's agricultural production at a cross-provincial level using the Ricardian approach, incorporating a multilevel model with farm-level group data. The farm-level group data includes 13379 farm households, across 316 villages, distributed in 31 provinces. The empirical results show that, firstly, the marginal effects and elasticities of net crop revenue per hectare with respect to climate factors indicated that the annual impact of temperature on net crop revenue per hectare was positive, and the effect of increased precipitation was negative when looking at the national totals; secondly, the total impact of simulated climate change scenarios on net crop revenues per hectare at a Chinese national total level, was an increase of between 79 USD per hectare and 207 USD per hectare for the 2050s, and an increase from 140 USD per hectare to 355 USD per hectare for the 2080s. As a result, climate change may create a potential advantage for the development of Chinese agriculture, rather than a risk, especially for agriculture in the provinces of the Northeast, Northwest and North regions. However, the increased precipitation can lead to a loss of net crop revenue per hectare, especially for the provinces of the Southwest, Northwest, North and Northeast regions.

Porewater concentrations, pH, single cell number, anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM) rate, sulfate reduction (SR) rate of samples during METEOR cruise M76/3b at the REGAB cold seep site from the West African margin in 2008

The giant pockmark REGAB (West African margin, 3160 m water depth) is an active methane-emitting cold seep ecosystem, where the energy derived from microbially mediated oxidation of methane supports high biomass and diversity of chemosynthetic communities. Bare sediments interspersed with heterogeneous chemosynthetic assemblages of mytilid mussels, vesicomyid clams and siboglinid tubeworms form a complex seep ecosystem. To better understand if benthic bacterial communities reflect the patchy distribution of chemosynthetic fauna, all major chemosynthetic habitats at REGAB were investigated using an interdisciplinary approach combining porewater geochemistry, in situ quantification of fluxes and consumption of methane, as well bacterial community fingerprinting. This study revealed that sediments populated by different fauna assemblages show distinct biogeochemical activities and are associated with distinct sediment bacterial communities. The methane consumption and methane effluxes ranged over one to two orders of magnitude across habitats, and reached highest values at the mussel habitat, which hosted a different bacterial community compared to the other habitats. Clam assemblages had a profound impact on the sediment geochemistry, but less so on the bacterial community structure. Moreover, all clam assemblages at REGAB were restricted to sediments characterized by complete methane consumption in the seafloor, and intermediate biogeochemical activity. Overall, variations in the sediment geochemistry were reflected in the distribution of both fauna and microbial communities; and were mostly determined by methane flux.

Bicarbonate uptake via an anion exchange protein is the main mechanism of inorganic carbon acquisition by the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera (Laminariales, Phaeophyceae) under variable pH

Macrocystis pyrifera is a widely distributed, highly productive, seaweed. It is known to use bicarbonate (HCO3-) from seawater in photosynthesis and the main mechanism of utilization is attributed to the external catalyzed dehydration of HCO3- by the surface-bound enzyme carbonic anhydrase (CAext). Here, we examined other putative HCO3- uptake mechanisms in M. pyrifera under pHT 9.00 (HCO3-: CO2 = 940:1) and pHT 7.65 (HCO3-: CO2 = 51:1). Rates of photosynthesis, and internal CA (CAint) and CAext activity were measured following the application of AZ which inhibits CAext, and DIDS which inhibits a different HCO3- uptake system, via an anion exchange (AE) protein. We found that the main mechanism of HCO3- uptake by M. pyrifera is via an AE protein, regardless of the HCO3-: CO2 ratio, with CAext making little contribution. Inhibiting the AE protein led to a 55%-65% decrease in photosynthetic rates. Inhibiting both the AE protein and CAext at pHT 9.00 led to 80%-100% inhibition of photosynthesis, whereas at pHT 7.65, passive CO2 diffusion supported 33% of photosynthesis. CAint was active at pHT 7.65 and 9.00, and activity was always higher than CAext, because of its role in dehydrating HCO3- to supply CO2 to RuBisCO. Interestingly, the main mechanism of HCO3- uptake in M. pyrifera was different than that in other Laminariales studied (CAext-catalyzed reaction) and we suggest that species-specific knowledge of carbon uptake mechanisms is required in order to elucidate how seaweeds might respond to future changes in HCO3-:CO2 due to ocean acidification.

Age model and sedimentation rate of core M174/KL11 (Table 1)

Stable isotope and faunal records from the central Red Sea show high-amplitude oscillations for the past 380,000 years. Positive delta18O anomalies indicate periods of significant salt buildup during periods of lowered sea level when water mass exchange with the Arabian Sea was reduced due to a reduced geometry of the Bab el Mandeb Strait. Salinities as high as 53 per mil and 55 per mil are inferred from pteropod and benthic foraminifera delta18O, respectively, for the last glacial maximum. During this period all planktonic foraminifera vanished from this part of the Red Sea. Environmental conditions improved rapidly after 13 ka as salinities decreased due to rising sea level. The foraminiferal fauna started to reappear and was fully reestablished between 9 ka and 8 ka. Spectral analysis of the planktonic delta18O record documents highest variance in the orbital eccentricity, obliquity, and precession bands, indicating a dominant influence of climatically - driven sea level change on environmental conditions in the Red Sea. Variance in the precession band is enhanced compared to the global mean marine climate record (SPECMAP), suggesting an additional influence of the Indian monsoon system on Red Sea climates.