ALBERT

Description: The Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, and the Northern krill, Meganyctiphanes norvegica, are closely related species but occupy significantly different trophic and climatic environments. E. superba holds a key position as a phytoplankton grazer in the Southern Ocean. The omnivorous M. norvegica is an important member of plankton communities in the Northeast Atlantic. Both species expressed high proteolytic activities which were dominated by serine proteinases. In the stomachs of Antarctic krill, activities of total proteinase, trypsin, and chymotrypsin were significantly higher than in Northern krill. In the midgut glands, however, total proteinase and trypsin activities were similar in both species, but chymotrypsin activity was significantly higher in Antarctic krill. Moreover, Antarctic krill expressed four trypsin isoforms while only one isoform appeared in Northern krill. Chymotrypsin was present in either species as one single isoform. Antarctic krill adapted to the low and patchy distribution of food by elevated enzyme activities and the expression of trypsin isoforms with slightly different catalytic properties. Presumably, these enzymes facilitate in concerted action the efficient utilization of proteins from phytoplankton, the major food. Northern krill, in contrast, seems not to be equipped to face food limitation. It expresses a “simple” or “basic” set of digestive enzymes for utilizing abundant and easily digestible prey.

Description: The atmospheric general circulation model EC-EARTH-IFS has been applied to investigate the influence of both a reduced and a removed Arctic sea ice cover on the Arctic energy budget and on the climate of the Northern mid-latitudes. Three 40-year simulations driven by original and modified ERA-40 sea surface temperatures and sea ice concentrations have been performed at T255L62 resolution, corresponding to 79 km horizontal resolution. Simulated changes between sensitivity and reference experiments are most pronounced over the Arctic itself where the reduced or removed sea ice leads to strongly increased upward heat and longwave radiation fluxes and precipitation in winter. In summer, the most pronounced change is the stronger absorption of shortwave radiation which is enhanced by optically thinner clouds. Averaged over the year and over the area north of 70° N, the negative energy imbalance at the top of the atmosphere decreases by about 10 W/m2 in both sensitivity experiments. The energy transport across 70° N is reduced. Changes are not restricted to the Arctic. Less extreme cold events and less precipitation are simulated in sub-Arctic and Northern mid-latitude regions in winter.

Description: Approximately 1700 Pg of soil carbon (C) are stored in the northern circumpolar permafrost zone, more than twice as much C than in the atmosphere. The overall amount, rate, and form of C released to the atmosphere in a warmer world will influence the strength of the permafrost C feedback to climate change. We used a survey to quantify variability in the perception of the vulnerability of permafrost C to climate change. Experts were asked to provide quantitative estimates of permafrost change in response to four scenarios of warming. For the highest warming scenario (RCP 8.5), experts hypothesized that C release from permafrost zone soils could be 19–45 Pg C by 2040, 162–288 Pg C by 2100, and 381–616 Pg C by 2300 in CO2 equivalent using 100-year CH4 global warming potential (GWP). These values become 50 % larger using 20-year CH4 GWP, with a third to a half of expected climate forcing coming from CH4 even though CH4 was only 2.3 % of the expected C release. Experts projected that two-thirds of this release could be avoided under the lowest warming scenario (RCP 2.6). These results highlight the potential risk from permafrost thaw and serve to frame a hypothesis about the magnitude of this feedback to climate change. However, the level of emissions proposed here are unlikely to overshadow the impact of fossil fuel burning, which will continue to be the main source of C emissions and climate forcing.

Description: The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Reanalysis ERA40, National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) 20th-century reanalysis, and three station observations along an Antarctic traverse from Zhongshan to Dome-A stations are used to assess 2-m temperature simulation skill of a regional climate model. This model (HIRHAM) is from the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Germany. Results show: (1) The simulated multiyear averaged 2-m temperature field pattern is close to that of ERA40 and NCEP; (2) the cold bias relative to ERA40 over all of Antarctic regions is 1.8°C, and that to NCEP reaches 5.1°C; (3) bias of HIRHAM relative to ERA40 has seasonal variation, with a cold bias mainly in the summer, as much as 3.4°C. There is a small inland warm bias in autumn of 0.3°C. Further analysis reveals that the reason for the cold bias of 2-m temperature is that physical conditions of the near-surface boundary layer simulated by HIRHAM are different from observations: (1) During the summer, observations show that near-surface atmospheric stability conditions have both inversions and non-inversions, which is due to the existence of both positive and negative sensible heat fluxes, but HIRHAM almost always simulates a situation of inversion and negative sensible heat flux; (2) during autumn and winter, observed near-surface stability is almost always that of inversions, consistent with HIRHAM simulations. This partially explains the small bias during autumn and winter.

Description: During its 1800-year-long persistent activity the Stromboli volcano has erupted a highly porphyritic (HP) volatile-poor scoriaceous magma and a low porphyritic (LP) volatile-rich pumiceous magma. The HP magma is erupted during normal Strombolian explosions and lava effusions, while the LP one is related to more energetic paroxysms. During the March–April 2003 explosive activity, Stromboli ejected two typologies of juvenile glassy ashes, namely highly vesicular LP shards and volatile-poor HP shards. Their textural and in situ chemical characteristics are used to unravel mutual relationships between HP and LP magmas, as well as magma dynamics within the shallow plumbing system. The mantle-normalized trace element patterns of both ash types show the typical arc-lava pattern; however, HP glasses possess incompatible element concentrations higher than LP glasses, along with Sr and Eu negative anomalies. HP shards are generally characterized by higher Li contents (to ~20 ppm) and lower δ7Li values (+1.2 to −3.8‰) with respect to LP shards (Li contents of 7–14 ppm and δ7Li ranging between +4.6 and +0.9‰). Fractional crystallization models based on major and trace element compositions, combined with a degassing model based on open-system Rayleigh distillation and on the assumption that melt/fluidDLi 〉 1, show that abundant (~30%) plagioclase precipitation and variable degrees of degassing can lead the more primitive LP magma to evolve toward a differentiated (isotopically lighter) HP magma ponding in the upper conduit and undergoing slow continuous degassing-induced crystallization. This study also evidences that in March 2003 Stromboli volcano poured out a small early volume of LP magma that traveled slower within the conduit with respect to later and larger volumes of fast ascending LP magma erupted during the April 5 paroxysm. The different ascent rates and cooling rates of the two LP magma batches (i.e., pre- and post-paroxysm) resulted in small, but detectable, differences in their chemical signatures. Finally, this study highlights the high potential of in situ investigations of juvenile glassy ashes in petrologic and geochemical monitoring the volcanic activity and of Li isotopes as tracers of degassing processes within the shallow plumbing system.

Description: Published

Description: 541-561

Description: 1.5. TTC - Sorveglianza dell'attività eruttiva dei vulcani

Description: 2.3. TTC - Laboratori di chimica e fisica delle rocce

Description: 3.5. Geologia e storia dei vulcani ed evoluzione dei magmi

Description: JCR Journal

Description: reserved

Description: Copepods can be associated with different kinds and different numbers of bacteria. This was already shown in the past with culture-dependent microbial methods or microscopy and more recently by using molecular tools. In our present study, we investigated the bacterial community of four frequently occurring copepod species, Acartia sp., Temora longicornis, Centropages sp. and Calanus helgolandicus from Helgoland Roads (North Sea) over a period of two years using DGGE (denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) and subsequent sequencing of 16S-rDNA fragments. To complement the PCR-DGGE analyses, clone libraries of copepod samples from June 2007 and 208 were generated. Based on the DGGE banding patterns of the two years survey, we found no significant differences between the communities of distinct copepod species, nor did we find any seasonality. Overall, we identified 67 phylotypes (〉 97% similarity) falling into the bacterial phyla of Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. The most abundant phylotypes were affiliated to the Alphaproteobacteria. In comparison of PCR-DGGE and clone libraries, phylotypes of the Gammaproteobacteria dominated the clone libraries, whereas Alphaproteobacteria were most abundant in the PCR-DGGE analyses

Description: The mid-Piacenzian climate represents the most geologically recent interval of long-term average warmth relative to the last million years, and shares similarities with the climate projected for the end of the 21st century. As such, it represents a natural experiment from which we can gain insight into potential climate change impacts, enabling more informed policy decisions for mitigation and adaptation. Here, we present the first systematic comparison of Pliocene sea surface temperature (SST) between an ensemble of eight climate model simulations produced as part of PlioMIP (Pliocene Model Intercomparison Project) with the PRISM (Pliocene Research, Interpretation and Synoptic Mapping) Project mean annual SST field. Our results highlight key regional and dynamic situations where there is discord between the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction and the climate model simulations. These differences have led to improved strategies for both experimental design and temporal refinement of the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction.

Description: Comparing simulations of key warm periods in Earth history with contemporaneous geological proxy data is a useful approach for evaluating the ability of climate models to simulate warm, high-CO2 climates that are unprecedented in the more recent past. Here we use a global data set of confidence-assessed, proxy-based temperature estimates and biome reconstructions to assess the ability of eight models to simulate warm terrestrial climates of the Pliocene epoch. The Late Pliocene, 3.6–2.6 million years ago, is an accessible geological interval to understand climate processes of a warmer world. We show that model-predicted surface air temperatures reveal a substantial cold bias in the Northern Hemisphere. Particularly strong data–model mismatches in mean annual temperatures (up to 18 °C) exist in northern Russia. Our model sensitivity tests identify insufficient temporal constraints hampering the accurate configuration of model boundary conditions as an important factor impacting on data–model discrepancies. We conclude that to allow a more robust evaluation of the ability of present climate models to predict warm climates, future Pliocene data–model comparison studies should focus on orbitally defined time slices.

Description: Sediment thickness was evaluated on the western flank of the East Pacific Rise (EPR) at 45°S, based on high-resolution seismic data gathered during cruise 213/2 of R/V Sonne in 2011. Two zones with distinctly different sediment thickness were identified, separated by a transitional zone bordering a pseudo-fault. Sediment in the more distal zone 2 is almost twice as thick (~120 m) as in zone 1 close to the EPR. This is in contrast to the expected sedimentary column thickening with seafloor age and distance from the spreading axis. The younger of two seismic units detected within the sedimentary column (EPR-2) occurs mainly in the distal zone on crust older than 9 Ma, whereas on younger crust it is present only in small isolated bodies. Both sedimentary units drape the basement. The drape is interpreted to represent particle settling from suspension and a generally low regional primary productivity. The spatial variation in sediment thickness cannot be explained by existing models, and other processes considered in the present case are (1) higher productivity in the western sector of the survey area, where thicker sediments were observed (zone 2), (2) the formation of sediment drifts near basement highs (‘seamount effect’), due to flow of Lower Circumpolar Deep Water affecting sediment deposition, and (3) erosion and/or non-deposition of the younger EPR-2 unit, due to elevated bed shear stresses associated with eddies transferring kinetic energy to the seafloor

Description: Exposed sandy coasts are predominantly physically controlled environments where benthic communities are structured by the independent response of species to the physical environment, with minimal biological interactions (swash exclusion hypothesis). This prevalence of physical control may be regarded as a typical property of exposed coastal areas. In an offshore direction, the importance of wave effects on the benthos will diminish until a depth is reached where they are no longer significant [wave exclusion hypothesis (WEH)]. This loss of a coastal property may be used to define an offshore depth limit of the coastal zone. We used a large set of benthos data from the SE North Sea to test whether an offshore limit of the coast can be clearly recognised despite strong small-scale variability and how this limit would vary seasonally and from year to year. In accordance with WEH, both species density and total abundance of macrobenthos were low in the surf zone, strongly increased with depth, and averaged over all sampling dates became relatively constant below 30 m depth. Seasonally, these gradients were weaker during summer recruitment than during autumn. Species richness, by contrast, showed no significant difference with depth. In single years, the depth of the turning point from increasing abundances to constant abundances varied between 20 and 31 m (equivalent to 40–80 km off the coastline) depending on wave height. We conclude that this zone can be derived from benthic community gradients.

Description: The summer water balance of a typical Siberian polygonal tundra catchment is investigated in order to identify the spatial and temporal dynamics of its main hydrological processes. The results show that, besides precipitation and evapotranspiration, lateral flow considerably influences the site-specific hydrological conditions. The prominent microtopography of the polygonal tundra strongly controls lateral flow and storage behaviour of the investigated catchment. Intact rims of low-centred polygons build hydrological barriers, which release storage water later in summer than polygons with degraded rims and troughs above degraded ice wedges. The barrier function of rims is strongly controlled by soil thaw, which opens new subsurface flow paths and increases subsurface hydrological connectivity. Therefore, soil thaw dynamics determine the magnitude and timing of subsurface outflow and the redistribution of storage within the catchment. Hydraulic conductivities in the elevated polygonal rims sharply decrease with the transition from organic to mineral layers. This interface causes a rapid shallow subsurface drainage of rainwater towards the depressed polygon centres and troughs. The re-release of storage water from the centres through deeper and less conductive layers helps maintain a high water table in the surface drainage network of troughs throughout the summer.

Description: Our study analyses satellite and land-based observations of the Yakutsk region centred at the Lena watershed, an area characterised mainly by continuous permafrost. Using monthly solutions of the Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment satellite mission, we detect amass increase over central Siberia from 2002 to 2007 which reverses into a mass decrease between 2007 and 2011. No significant mass trend is visible for the whole observation period. To further quantify this behaviour, different mass signal components are studied in detail: (1) inter-annual variation in the atmospheric mass, (2) a possible effect of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA), and (3) hydrological mass variations. In standard processing the atmospheric mass signal is reduced based on the data from numerical weather prediction models. We use surface pressure observations in order to validate this atmospheric reduction. On inter-annual time scale the difference between the atmospheric mass signal from model prediction and from surface pressure observation is 〈4mm in equivalentwater height. The effect of GIA on the mass signal over Siberia is calculated using a global ice model and a spherically symmetric, compressible, Maxwell-viscoelastic earth model. The calculation shows that for the investigated area any effect of GIA can be ruled out. Hence, the main part of the signal can be attributed to hydrological mass varia-tions. We briefly discuss potential hydrological effects such as changes in precipitation, river discharge, surface and subsurface water storage.

Description: What is the impact of new design methodologies and methods on the industrial product development process and its productivity? This is one of the key questions for today's industrial engineering companies when they decide on the introduction of new methods or tools, as well as for researchers and tool providers when they assess their ideas and work. A quantitative (at best monetary) assessment of a new design method's value and impact will increase a manager's decision basis significantly and will lead to well directed investments in process optimisations. It is not sufficient to analyse the impact of a new design method just for the specific process step it is applied to. Implications on following steps, sometimes on the whole engineering process must be considered as well. Furthermore, decisions on the use of new design methods must be made on a multi-criteria basis through the well-known cost/time/quality triangle (e.g. Burghardt, 2006).

Description: Efforts to extract a Greenland ice core with a complete record of the Eemian interglacial (130,000 to 115,000 years ago) have until now been unsuccessful. The response of the Greenland ice sheet to the warmer-than-present climate of the Eemian has thus remained unclear. Here we present the new North Greenland Eemian Ice Drilling (‘NEEM’) ice core and show only a modest ice-sheet response to the strong warming in the early Eemian. We reconstructed the Eemian record from folded ice using globally homogeneous parameters known from dated Greenland and Antarctic ice-core records. On the basis of water stable isotopes, NEEM surface temperatures after the onset of the Eemian (126,000 years ago) peaked at 8 ± 4 degrees Celsius above the mean of the past millennium, followed by a gradual cooling that was probably driven by the decreasing summer insolation. Between 128,000 and 122,000 years ago, the thickness of the northwest Greenland ice sheet decreased by 400 ± 250 metres, reaching surface elevations 122,000 years ago of 130 ± 300 metres lower than the present. Extensive surface melt occurred at the NEEM site during the Eemian, a phenomenon witnessed when melt layers formed again at NEEM during the exceptional heat of July 2012. With additional warming, surface melt might become more common in the future.

Description: In contemporary ocean science, modeling systems that integrate understanding of complex multiscale phenomena and utilize efficient numerics are paramount. Many of today's fundamental ocean science questions involve multiple scales and multiple dynamics. A new generation of modeling systems would allow to study such questions quantitatively by being less restrictive dynamically and more efficient numerically than more traditional systems.

Description: Cephalopods have been utilised in neurosci- ence research for more than 100 years particularly because of their phenotypic plasticity, complex and centralised nervous system, tractability for studies of learning and cellular mechanisms of memory (e.g. long-term potentia- tion) and anatomical features facilitating physiological studies (e.g. squid giant axon and synapse). On 1 January 2013, research using any of the about 700 extant species of ‘‘live cephalopods’’ became regulated within the European Union by Directive 2010/63/EU on the ‘‘Protection of Animals used for Scientific Purposes’’, giving cephalopods the same EU legal protection as previously afforded only to vertebrates. The Directive has a number of implications, particularly for neuroscience research. These include: (1) projects will need justification, authorisation from local competent authorities, and be subject to review including a harm-benefit assessment and adherence to the 3Rs princi- ples (Replacement, Refinement and Reduction). (2) To support project evaluation and compliance with the new EU law, guidelines specific to cephalopods will need to be developed, covering capture, transport, handling, housing, care, maintenance, health monitoring, humane anaesthesia, analgesia and euthanasia. (3) Objective criteria need to be developed to identify signs of pain, suffering, distress and lasting harm particularly in the context of their induction by an experimental procedure. Despite diversity of views existing on some of these topics, this paper reviews the above topics and describes the approaches being taken by the cephalopod research community (represented by the authorship) to produce ‘‘guidelines’’ and the potential contribution of neuroscience research to cephalopod welfare.

Description: Developmental and reproductive parameters and their relationships were studied in the marine isopod Idotea linearis. We hypothesized that (1) the temporal patterns of molting and growth undergo complex and sex-specific changes with age as well as with the onset of sexual maturation, and that (2) sexual maturation (and dependent parameters) is controlled by the photoperiod. Both males and females were singly cultured in the laboratory at two alternative photoperiods (constant long and short days, respectively) from hatching until death. Males molted and grew throughout their life, showing a steady increase in stage duration and body size with each molt. Females, in contrast, showed much more complex modifications in molt chronology due to reproductive demands. There was some variability in the stage number, when females reached maturity. Reaching maturity early in the succession of molts was associated with smaller body size at maturity, smaller size of broods, but higher average number of broods per lifetime. Post-puberty molts in females occurred without further growth, and successive broods did not differ in size. The photoperiod strongly affected sexual maturation (and thus in turn molting and growth patterns) in females, while males remained completely unaffected by the photo regime.

Description: This study examines present-day changes of the Antarctic ice sheet (AIS) by means of different data sets. We make use of monthly gravity field solutions acquired by the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to study mass changes of the AIS for a 10-year period. In addition to "standard" solutions of release 05, solutions based on radial base functions were used. Both solutions reveal an increased mass loss in recent years. For a 6-year period surface-height changes were inferred from laser altimetry data provided by the Ice, Cloud, and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat). The basin-scale volume trends were converted into mass changes and were compared with the GRACE estimates for the same period. Focussing on the Thwaites Glacier, Landsat optical imagery was utilised to determine ice-flow velocities for a period of more than two decades. This data set was extended by means of high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data from the TerraSAR-X mission, revealing an accelerated ice flow of all parts of the glacier. ICESat data over the Thwaites Glacier were complemented by digital elevation models inferred from TanDEM-X data. This extended data set exhibits an increased surface lowering in recent times. Passive microwave remote sensing data prove the long-term stability of the accumulation rates in a low accumulation zone in East Antarctica over several decades. Finally, we discuss the main error sources of present-day mass-balance estimates: the glacial isostatic adjustment effect for GRACE as well as the biases between laser operational periods and the volume-mass conversion for ICESat.

Description: This article aims to address the challenges of sustainable earth system governance from a multi-scale level perspective. The local to regional system level reviews findings from a social-ecological system (SES) approach of a mangrove ecosystem in North Brazil. Seven challenges (Glaser et al. 2010) that could provide relevant knowledge to society were identified. Their respective justification and recommendations are presented here. Further, these “challenges from the field” are linked and discussed with those challenges on earth system level elaborated by the International Council for Science in 2010. There it was stressed that sustainability problems are increasingly caused by drivers from multiple spatial and institutional levels in a single global human-nature system. The comparison between the global and local to regional challenges shows that most of these are reappearing disregarding the level of analysis, indicating that there is a universal core of global change problems. However, there are gaps are visible which hamper the effective connections across the different spatial levels. These gaps pertain to i.e. the subjects of knowledge generation and stakeholder inclusion. The final section elaborates on these recognized gaps and their science-policy dimensions. The article closes with the identification of a number of factors which currently impede global sustainability efforts: shortcomings in inter- and transdisciplinary research practice, lack of consistent structures for earth system governance and shortcomings in dealing with up-scaling challenges whilst remaining locally relevant. A blueprint for a globally focused but regionally informed social-ecological analysis framework remains to be worked out.

Description: Milleporidae are of high ecological and economic importance, as, together with the scleractinian corals, they belong to the main reef builders of tropical coral reefs. Coral reefs face severe threats mainly due to anthropogenic disturbance. Understanding their population structure and dynamics is crucial for any conservation effort. Here we report the first microsatellite loci for the Milleporidae. Eleven polymorphic markers were developed for the hydrozoan corals Millepora dichotoma from the Great Barrier Reef (Australia) and tested for amplification in M. dichotoma from the Red Sea (Egypt), as well as for Millepora platyphylla from the Pacific Ocean (Moorea, French Polynesia). All loci were variable with 4–15 alleles per locus. Nine loci were transferable between geographic regions and species. These are the first microsatellites for hydrozoan corals. They will provide valuable tools for characterizing the population structure and genetic diversity of the group thereby benefitting coral reef conservation.

Description: We investigated microbial life preserved in a hydrothermally inactive silica–barite chimney in comparison with an active barite chimney and sediment from the Loki’s Castle low-temperature venting area at the Arctic Mid-Ocean Ridge (AMOR) using lipid biomarkers. Carbon and sulfur isotopes were used to constrain possible metabolic pathways. Multiple sulfur (δ34S, ∆33S) isotopes on barite over a cross section of the extinct chimney range between 21.1 and 22.5 ‰ in δ34S, and between 0.020 and 0.034 ‰ in Δ33S, indicating direct precipitation from seawater. Biomarker distributions within two discrete zones of this silica–barite chimney indicate a considerable difference in abundance and diversity of microorganisms from the chimney exterior to the interior. Lipids in the active and inactive chimney barite and sediment were dominated by a range of 13C-depleted unsaturated and branched fatty acids with δ13C values between −39.7 and −26.7 ‰, indicating the presence of sulfur-oxidizing and sulfate-reducing bacteria. The majority of lipids (99.5 %) in the extinct chimney interior that experienced high temperatures were of archaeal origin. Unusual glycerol monoalkyl glycerol tetraethers (GMGT) with 0–4 rings were the dominant compounds suggesting the presence of mainly (hyper-) thermophilic archaea. Isoprenoid hydrocarbons with δ13C values as low as −46 ‰ also indicated the presence of methanogens and possibly methanotrophs.

Description: The Antarctic Circumpolar Current is key to the mixing and ventilation of the world’s oceans1, 2, 3, 4, 5. This current flows from west to east between about 45° and 70° S (refs 1, 2, 3) connecting the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, and is driven by westerly winds and buoyancy forcing. High levels of productivity in the current regulate atmospheric CO2 concentrations6. Reconstructions of the current during the last glacial period suggest that flow speeds were faster7 or similar8 to present, and it is uncertain whether the strength and position of the westerly winds changed9, 10, 11. Here we reconstruct Antarctic Circumpolar Current bottom speeds through the constricting Drake Passage and Scotia Sea during the Last Glacial Maximum and Holocene based on the mean grain size of sortable silt from a suite of sediment cores. We find essentially no change in bottom flow speeds through the region, and, given that the momentum imparted by winds, and modulated by sea-ice cover, is balanced by the interaction of these flows with the seabed, this argues against substantial changes in wind stress. However, glacial flow speeds in the sea-ice zone12 south of 56° S were significantly slower than present, whereas flow in the north was faster, but not significantly so. We suggest that slower flow over the rough topography south of 56° S may have reduced diapycnal mixing in this region during the last glacial period, possibly reducing the diapycnal contribution to the Southern Ocean overturning circulation.

Description: Der Klimawandel, die Globalisierung der Märkte, der demografische Wandel, die rasanten technologischen Entwicklungen sowie die Veränderungen der Landnutzung sind verschiedene Facetten des sogenannten Globalen Wandels. Welchen Einfluss der Globale Wandel auf die verfügbaren Wasserressourcen hat, ist von Region zu Region unterschiedlich. In jedem Fall steigt der Nutzungsdruck auf die Georessource Wasser weiter an; bereits jetzt zeichnen sich regionale Konkurrenzen und Konflikte bei der Nutzung ab. So wird sich beispielsweise der Bewässerungsbedarf der Landwirtschaft durch die steigende globale Nachfrage nach Nahrungsmitteln und Rohstoffen weiter erhöhen. Infolge des Globalen Wandels und der Veränderungen der Flusslandschaften ist auch vermehrt mit Hochwasserereignissen zu rechnen. Ausreichende Wasserressourcen in hinreichender Qualität zu sichern, sowie der Gewässerschutz und die Hochwasservorsorge sind daher zentrale Anliegen unserer Gesellschaft. Innovative Anpassungsstrategien und neue Technologien können hierbei nicht nur zu einer nachhaltigen Wasser- und Bodenbewirtschaftung führen, sondern gleichzeitig auch wirtschaftliche Chancen auf dem Weltmarkt eröffnen. Gerade durch die Entwicklung und den Export von Technologien und Verfahrensweisen kann Deutschland einen Beitrag zur Lösung globaler Wasserprobleme leisten.

Description: Understanding phylogenetic relationship and patterns of contemporary population genetic structure is a prerequisite for conservation and management of potential fishery resources. In this study we report the isolation and characterization of 11 polymorphic microsatellite loci for the squat lobster Munida gregaria from around the Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas. The number of alleles ranged from 3 to 31, observed heterozygosity varied from 0.130 to 0.870. Cross-amplification was 100 % successfully in the species/morph M. subrugosa and 36.4 % in another congeneric species M. gracilis. This set of microsatellites is useful for studies focused on taxonomy, genetic diversity and genetic connectivity further may provide stock assessment information for monitoring this important fishery resource.

Description: Marine habitats worldwide are increasingly pressurized by climate change, especially along the Antarctic Peninsula. Well-studied areas in front of rapidly retreating tidewater glaciers like Potter Cove are representative for similar coastal environments and, therefore, shed light on habitat formation and development on not only a local but also regional scale. The objective of this study was to provide insights into habitat distribution in Potter Cove, King George Island, Antarctica, and to evaluate the associated environmental processes. Furthermore, an assessment concerning the future development of the habitats is provided. To describe the seafloor habitats in Potter Cove, an acoustic seabed discrimination system (RoxAnn) was used in combination with underwater video images and sediment samples. Due to the absence of wave and current measurements in the study area, bed shear stress estimates served to delineate zones prone to sediment erosion. On the basis of the investigations, two habitat classes were identified in Potter Cove, namely soft-sediment and stone habitats that, besides influences from sediment supply and coastal morphology, are controlled by sediment erosion. A future expansion of the stone habitat is predicted if recent environmental change trends continue. Possible implications for the Potter Cove environment, and other coastal ecosystems under similar pressure, include changes in biomass and species composition.

Description: ICE BINDING PROTEINS FROM SEA ICE ALGAE Sea ice is mainly a two-phase system, and its porous structure is largely determinant for biological activity within ice. During ice formation, solutes in the seawater are excluded from the ice matrix and segregate into brine droplets or brine channels, generally defined as brine inclusions inside sea ice. Outflow of high salinity brine and inflow of seawater of lower salinity, as well as further cooling, cause brine inclusions to narrow and eventually separate into individual pockets divided by ice bridges. Despite the harsh conditions that govern within sea ice, where temperatures range from about -1.8°C on the bottom to -20°C or less on the top, and brine salinities can be as high as 200 on the Practical Salinity Scale, brine inclusions offer a habitat for a variety of microalgae. These algae play a crucial role for the ecology of the Polar Oceans, since they represent a concentrated food source in the low-productivity ice-covered sea, and in the months of melting they initiate blooms by seeding the water column. Algae have been found distributed within brine inclusions throughout the entire thickness of the ice column. The strategies adopted by ice microorganisms to cope with conditions in sea ice remain to be unraveled. Recent studies showed that several organisms that populate sea ice, spreading from bacteria to diatoms and a crustacean species, have ice binding proteins (IBPs). These proteins are common in polar species, but lack in temperate organisms, suggesting that IBPs play a key role in adaptation to subzero conditions. The nomenclature of these proteins varies, depending on authors, from ice binding to antifreeze or ice structuring. In the generally accepted adsorption–inhibition model describing the mechanism of action of IBPs, proteins bind to the ice lattice and locally inhibit ice growth by the Gibbs-Thomson effect. Recent publications showed that some IBPs organize water molecules into an ice-like structure that matches defined planes of the ice crystal and is then gradually frozen to the ice lattice. One of the most prominent and best described effects of IBPs is thermal hysteresis, which describes the lowering of the freezing point of a solution below the melting point. Another effect which defines IBPs is inhibition of recrystallization, which is the grain boundary migration resulting in a growth of larger crystals at the expenses of small grains. The biological role of IBPs from sea ice microalgae remains an open question. The importance of some IBP families, as observed in fishes or insects, lies in lowering the freezing point below environmental temperature, in order to avoid ice formation in cells or organs. Other IBPs have the function to inhibit recrystallization, as it has been suggested for plant IBPs. In the context of sea ice, it seems unlikely that the biological role of IBPs may be thermal hysteresis (measured in the order of 1°C) or recrystallization inhibition. Most of the IBPs from sea ice algae are active extracellularly. It has been suggested that they are trapped and accumulate within a layer of extracellular polysaccharide substances (EPS) secreted by several sea ice organisms. Microalgal IBPs produced recombinantly or collected from spent growth medium affect the structure of ice surface, causing pitting and characteristic microstructural features. This suggests that the proteins shape their frozen environment in order to increase their habitable space within sea ice. However, the characterization of IBPs is of relevance not only to understand their functional role in sea ice, but also in the frame of possible applications of IBPs in the medical field, in the food industry and in other fields related to a control of ice crystals. In the following we present some standard techniques to determine the protein activity in terms of thermal hysteresis (TH) and recrystallization inhibition (RI), which define the proteins as ice binding. Also, we present further methods (ice pitting assay, determination of the nucleating temperature) to characterize the activity of IBPs.

Description: Characteristics of cyclones (frequency, intensity and size) and their changes in the Arctic region in a warmer climate have been analyzed with the use of the HIRHAM regional climate model simulations with SRES-A1B anthropogenic scenario for the twenty first century. The focus was on cyclones for the warm (April–September) and cold (October–March) seasons. The present-day cyclonic characteristics from HIRHAM simulations are in general agreement with those from ERA–40 reanalysis data. Differences noted for the frequency of cyclones are related with different spatial resolution in the model simulations and reanalysis data. Potential future changes in cyclone characteristics at the end of the twenty first century have been analyzed. According to the model simulations, the frequency of cyclones is increasing in warm seasons and decreasing in cold seasons for a warmer climate in the twenty first century, but these changes are statistically insignificant. Noticeable changes were detected for the intensity and size of cyclones for the both seasons. Significant increase was found for the frequency of weak cyclones during cold season. Further, a general increase in the frequency of small cyclones was calculated in cold seasons, while its frequency decreases in warm seasons.

Description: Predation of eggs and nauplii by adult copepods is often used to explain unexpected death rates in population dynamics studies, but the phenomenon has been rarely investigated or quantified. Therefore, we studied the predatory feeding of adult females (Acartia clausi, Centropages hamatus, Centropages typicus, and Temora longicornis) on their own and other species’ eggs and young nauplii with different densities of single animal-prey, mixtures of animal-prey and in the presence of diatoms. All species preyed on eggs and nauplii of their own and all other species. Maximal egg predation varied between 7 and 64 eggs fem−1 day−1. Ingestion of Centropages spp. eggs was lowest, potentially due to the spiny egg surface. Maximal feeding rates on nauplii ranged from 5 to 45 nauplii fem−1 day−1. T. longicornis preferred eggs, when eggs and nauplii were offered together at the same densities, and the other predators selected for nauplii. At a diatom concentration of 60 μg C l−1 predation on eggs by C. typicus was higher than without algae, whereas A. clausi and T. longicornis did not change their uptake of eggs. Feeding on nauplii in the presence of diatoms was again enhanced in C. typicus, and unaffected in A. clausi and C. hamatus. T. longicornis reduced its feeding on nauplii in the presence of diatoms. Calculated predation rates, using field abundances of predators and prey, suggest that predation of copepods on their own young stages may account for ca. 30 % of total mortality of young stages in North Sea copepod populations.

Description: Young larval stages of many organisms represent bottlenecks in the life-history of many species. The high mortality commonly observed in, for example, decapod larvae has often been linked to poor nutrition, with most studies focussing on food quantity. Here, we focus instead on the effects of quality and have investigated its effects on the nutritional condition of lobster larvae. We established a tri-trophic food chain consisting of the cryptophyte Rhodomonas salina, the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa and larvae of the European lobster Homarus gammarus. In a set of experiments, we manipulated the C:N:P stoichiometry of the primary producers, and accordingly those of the primary consumer. In a first experiment, R. salina was grown under N- and P-limitation and the nutrient content of the algae was manipulated by addition of the limiting nutrient to create a food quality gradient. In a second experiment, the effect on lobster larvae of long- and short-term exposure to food of varying quality during ontogenetic development was investigated. The condition of the lobster larvae was negatively affected even by subtle N- and P-nutrient limitations of the algae. Furthermore, younger lobster larvae were more vulnerable to nutrient limitation than older ones, suggesting an ontogenetic shift in the capacity of lobster larvae to cope with low quality food. The results presented here might have substantial consequences for the survival of lobster larvae in the field, as, in the light of future climate change and re-oligotrophication of the North Sea, lobster larvae might face marked changes in temperature and nutrient conditions, thus significantly altering their condition and growth.

Description: The digestive ability of four sympatric land crabs species (the gecarcinids, Gecarcoidea natalis and Discoplax celeste and the anomurans, Birgus latro and Coenobita perlatus) was examined by determining the activity of their digestive enzymes. The gecarcinids are detritivores that consume mainly leaf litter; the robber crab, B. latro, is an omnivore that preferentially consumes items high in lipid, carbohydrate and/or protein; C. perlatus is also an omnivore/detritivore. All species possess protease, lipase and amylase activity for hydrolysing ubiquitous protein, lipid and storage polysaccharides (glycogen and starch). Similarly all species possess enzymes such as N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase, the cellulases, endo-β-1,4-glucanase and β-glucohydrolase and hemicellulases, lichenase and laminarinase for the respective hydrolysis of structural substrates chitin, cellulose and hemicelluloses, lichenan and laminarin. Except for the enzyme activities of C. perlatus, enzyme activity could not be correlated to dietary preference. Perhaps others factors such as olfactory and locomotor ability and metabolic status may determine the observed dietary preferences. The digestive fluid of C. perlatus possessed higher endo-β-1,4-glucanase, lichenase and laminarinase activities compared to that of the other species. Thus, C. perlatus may be efficient at digestion of cellulose and hemicellulose within plant material. Zymography indicated that the majority of protease, lipase, phosphatase, amylase, endo-β-1,4-glucanase, β-glucohydrolase and N-acetyl-β-d-glucosaminidase isozymes were common to all species, and hence were inherited from a common aquatic ancestor. Differences were observed for the phosphatase, lipase and endo-β-1,4-glucanase isozymes. These differences are discussed in relation to phylogeny and possible evolution to cope with the adoption of a terrestrial diet.

Description: Understanding the biogeochemical processes reg- ulating carbon cycling is central to mitigating atmospheric CO2 emissions. The role of living organisms has been accounted for, but the focus has traditionally been on contributions of plants and microbes. We develop the case that fully ‘‘animating’’ the carbon cycle requires broader consideration of the functional role of animals in mediating biogeochemical processes and quanti- fication of their effects on carbon storage and exchange among terrestrial and aquatic reservoirs and the atmosphere. To encourage more hypothesis-driven experimental research that quantifies animal effects we discuss the mecha- nisms by which animals may affect carbon ex- changes and storage within and among ecosystems and the atmosphere. We illustrate how those mechanisms lead to multiplier effects whose magnitudes may rival those of more tra- ditional carbon storage and exchange rate esti- mates currently used in the carbon budget. Many animal species are already directly managed. Thus improved quantitative understanding of their influence on carbon budgets may create oppor- tunity for management and policy to identify and implement new options for mitigating CO2 re- lease at regional scales.

Description: Seasonal dynamics in the activity of Arctic shelf benthos have been the subject of few local studies, and the pronounced among-site variability characterizing their results makes it difficult to upscale and generalize their conclusions. In a regional study encompassing five sites at 100–595 m water depth in the southeastern Beau- fort Sea, we found that total pigment concentrations in surficial sediments, used as proxies of general food supply to the benthos, rose significantly after the transition from ice-covered conditions in spring (March–June 2008) to open-water conditions in summer (June–August 2008), whereas sediment Chl a concentrations, typical markers of fresh food input, did not. Macrobenthic biomass (including agglutinated foraminifera [500 lm) varied significantly among sites (1.2–6.4 g C m-2 in spring, 1.1–12.6 g C m-2 in summer), whereas a general spring-to-summer increase was not detected. Benthic carbon remineralisation also ranged significantly among sites (11.9–33.2 mg C m-2 day-1 in spring, 11.6–44.4 mg C m-2 day-1 in summer) and did in addition exhibit a general significant increase from spring-to-summer. Multiple regression analysis suggests that in both spring and summer, sediment Chl a concentration is the prime determinant of benthic carbon remineralisation, but other factors have a significant secondary influence, such as foraminiferan biomass (negative in both seasons), water depth (in spring) and infaunal biomass (in summer). Our findings indicate the importance of the combined and dynamic effects of food supply and benthic community patterns on the carbon remineralisation of the polar shelf benthos in seasonally ice-covered seas.

Description: Why a chapter on Perspectives and Integration in SOLAS Science in this book? SOLAS science by its nature deals with interactions that occur: across a wide spectrum of time and space scales, involve gases and particles, between the ocean and the atmosphere, across many disciplines including chemistry, biology, optics, physics, mathematics, computing, socio-economics and consequently interactions between many different scientists and across scientific generations. This chapter provides a guide through the remarkable diversity of cross-cutting approaches and tools in the gigantic puzzle of the SOLAS realm. Here we overview the existing prime components of atmospheric and oceanic observing systems, with the acquisition of ocean–atmosphere observables either from in situ or from satellites, the rich hierarchy of models to test our knowledge of Earth System functioning, and the tremendous efforts accomplished over the last decade within the COST Action 735 and SOLAS Integration project frameworks to understand, as best we can, the current physical and biogeochemical state of the atmosphere and ocean commons. A few SOLAS integrative studies illustrate the full meaning of interactions, paving the way for even tighter connections between thematic fields. Ultimately, SOLAS research will also develop with an enhanced consideration of societal demand while preserving fundamental research coherency. The exchange of energy, gases and particles across the air-sea interface is controlled by a variety of biological, chemical and physical processes that operate across broad spatial and temporal scales. These processes influence the composition, biogeochemical and chemical properties of both the oceanic and atmospheric boundary layers and ultimately shape the Earth system response to climate and environmental change, as detailed in the previous four chapters. In this cross-cutting chapter we present some of the SOLAS achievements over the last decade in terms of integration, upscaling observational information from process-oriented studies and expeditionary research with key tools such as remote sensing and modelling. Here we do not pretend to encompass the entire legacy of SOLAS efforts but rather offer a selective view of some of the major integrative SOLAS studies that combined available pieces of the immense jigsaw puzzle. These include, for instance, COST efforts to build up global climatologies of SOLAS relevant parameters such as dimethyl sulphide, interconnection between volcanic ash and ecosystem response in the eastern subarctic North Pacific, optimal strategy to derive basin-scale CO2 uptake with good precision, or significant reduction of the uncertainties in sea-salt aerosol source functions. Predicting the future trajectory of Earth’s climate and habitability is the main task ahead. Some possible routes for the SOLAS scientific community to reach this overarching goal conclude the chapter.

Description: Complex network approaches have recently been applied to continuous spatial dynamical systems, like climate, successfully uncovering the system's interaction structure. However the relationship between the underlying atmospheric or oceanic flow's dynamics and the estimated network measures have remained largely unclear. We bridge this crucial gap in a bottom-up approach and define a continuous analytical analogue of Pearson correlation networks for advection-diffusion dynamics on a background flow. Analysing complex networks of prototypical flows and from time series data of the equatorial Pacific, we find that our analytical model reproduces the most salient features of these networks and thus provides a general foundation of climate networks. The relationships we obtain between velocity field and network measures show that line-like structures of high betweenness mark transition zones in the flow rather than, as previously thought, the propagation of dynamical information.

Description: In this experimental study, we compared the embryonic respiration rate in air and water of six East African sesarmid species with intertidal, supratidal and arboreal habits, to highlight possible adaptations in embryonic metabolism to their different lifestyles. The embryos of all analysed crabs showed bimodal respiration, but we did not find a trend towards an enhanced embryonic oxygen uptake in air from the intertidal to the arboreal and supratidal species. However, the late-stage embryos of the most land-adapted species, Chiromantes spp., showed an enhanced metabolism when immersed in sea water that we interpreted as an adaptive recovery mechanism to cope with the storage of by-products due to marine-based metabolic pathways during long emersion periods. Thus, we showed that the embryos of land-adapted species, although still strongly water dependent, are well adapted to semi-terrestrial habitats and represent a minor limiting factor for females, which are not restricted in their emersion period by the oxygen requirements of their embryos.

Description: Mussels Mytilus galloprovincialis have been used as model bivalves to study the impacts of global warming on their physiological performance in Themaikos Gulf, North Greece. The studies have been conducted under laboratory and field conditions for more than 6 years and focused on the biochemical, metabolic, physiological and energetic responses of M. galloprovincialis to increases in the ambient temperature. Here we summarize the findings concerning the responses of mussels to environmental temperature, present an integrated model of their physiological performance during thermal stress and discuss these findings in the light of the predicted temperature changes in the Thermaikos Gulf from the regional climate trends and the mean global temperature projections for the period 1990–2100 based on IS92 emission scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC). Our findings indicate that mussels in Themaikos Gulf currently face the temperatures close to their upper thermal limits, especially during the summer, and thus are likely vulnerably to any further increase in the temperature such as expected during the global warming

Description: Symbiotic dinoflagellates of the genus Symbiodinium, also called zooxanthellae, are found in association with a wide diversity of shallow-water anthozoans. The Symbiodinium genus includes numerous lineages, also referred to as clades or phylotypes, as well as a wide diversity of genetic sub-clades and sub-phylotypes. There are few studies characterizing the genetic diversity of zooxanthellae in Mediterranean anthozoans. In this study, we included anthozoans from the Western Mediterranean Sea and by means of internal transcriber (ITS) and large sub-unit (LSU) rRNA markers we corroborate what has been previously identified, demonstrating that phylotype “Temperate A” is very common among host Cnidaria in this basin. Our finding of fixed differences in ITS and LSU markers that correspond to different host taxa, indicate that this clade may comprise several closely-related species. Previous studies have reported the occurrence of Symbiodinium psygmophilum (formerly subclade B2) associated with Oculina patagonica and Cladocora caespitosa in the Eastern Mediterranean. Here, we identify this association in O. patagonica from the Western Mediterranean but not in C. caespitosa, suggesting some differences in symbiotic combinations between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean Basins.

Description: The endemic Antarctic brown macroalga Desmarestia anceps colonizes the subtidal between 5 and 30 m in Potter Cove on King George Island (South Shetland Islands, Antarctica). Experiments were conducted to study photosynthetic activities, antioxidative enzymes and UV tolerance of field-grown individuals with respect to the light histories along different subtidal positions. Individuals collected from the upper (5.5 m) and mid-subtidal (9.0 m) are characterized by high maximum electron transport rates (ETRmax) measured by PAM-fluorometry and high activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) supported by considerable activities of glutathione reductase. Individuals of this species from the upper subtidal are able to tolerate high irradiances of UV-B radiation because its photosynthetic apparatus is putatively well protected by phlorotannins. In contrast, individuals from lower subtidal positions (13.5 and 15.5 m) showed an opposite trend: lower ETRmax and SOD activities as well as a lower UV tolerance of photosynthesis. Moreover, a non-denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (native PAGE) of a partially purified crude extract reveals that D. anceps has probably six isoforms of SOD. These intra-specific patterns imply a high phenotypical plasticity of D. anceps with respect to its photosynthesis and photoprotective mechanisms. Overall, photosynthesis, UV tolerance and antioxidative potential are highly regulated in D. anceps corresponding to the respective light regimes along its natural growth sites.

Description: © The Authors, 2009. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 33 (2010): 15-29, doi:10.1007/s12237-009-9244-y.

Description: Future estuarine geomorphic change, in response to climate change, sea-level rise, and watershed sediment supply, may govern ecological function, navigation, and water quality. We estimated geomorphic changes in Suisun Bay, CA, under four scenarios using a tidal-timescale hydrodynamic/sediment transport model. Computational expense and data needs were reduced using the morphological hydrograph concept and the morphological acceleration factor. The four scenarios included (1) present-day conditions; (2) sea-level rise and freshwater flow changes of 2030; (3) sea-level rise and decreased watershed sediment supply of 2030; and (4) sea-level rise, freshwater flow changes, and decreased watershed sediment supply of 2030. Sea-level rise increased water levels thereby reducing wave-induced bottom shear stress and sediment redistribution during the wind-wave season. Decreased watershed sediment supply reduced net deposition within the estuary, while minor changes in freshwater flow timing and magnitude induced the smallest overall effect. In all future scenarios, net deposition in the entire estuary and in the shallowest areas did not keep pace with sea-level rise, suggesting that intertidal and wetland areas may struggle to maintain elevation. Tidal-timescale simulations using future conditions were also used to infer changes in optical depth: though sea-level rise acts to decrease mean light irradiance, decreased suspended-sediment concentrations increase irradiance, yielding small changes in optical depth. The modeling results also assisted with the development of a dimensionless estuarine geomorphic number representing the ratio of potential sediment import forces to sediment export forces; we found the number to be linearly related to relative geomorphic change in Suisun Bay. The methods implemented here are widely applicable to evaluating future scenarios of estuarine change over decadal timescales.

Description: This study was supported by the US Geological Survey’s Priority Ecosystems Science program, CALFED Bay/ Delta Program, and the University of California Center for Water Resources.

Description: © Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 1 (2010): 49, doi:10.1038/ncomms1045.

Description: Motor innervation to the tetrapod forelimb and fish pectoral fin is assumed to share a conserved spinal cord origin, despite major structural and functional innovations of the appendage during the vertebrate water-to-land transition. In this paper, we present anatomical and embryological evidence showing that pectoral motoneurons also originate in the hindbrain among ray-finned fish. New and previous data for lobe-finned fish, a group that includes tetrapods, and more basal cartilaginous fish showed pectoral innervation that was consistent with a hindbrain-spinal origin of motoneurons. Together, these findings support a hindbrain–spinal phenotype as the ancestral vertebrate condition that originated as a postural adaptation for pectoral control of head orientation. A phylogenetic analysis indicated that Hox gene modules were shared in fish and tetrapod pectoral systems. We propose that evolutionary shifts in Hox gene expression along the body axis provided a transcriptional mechanism allowing eventual decoupling of pectoral motoneurons from the hindbrain much like their target appendage gained independence from the head.

Description: Th is work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation.

Description: This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Geo-Marine Letters 31 (2011): 237-248, doi:10.1007/s00367-011-0228-0.

Description: Mechanisms and timescales responsible for pockmark formation and maintenance remain uncertain, especially in areas lacking extensive thermogenic fluid deposits (e.g., previously glaciated estuaries). This study characterizes seafloor activity in the Belfast Bay, Maine nearshore pockmark field using (1) three swath bathymetry datasets collected between 1999 and 2008, complemented by analyses of shallow box-core samples for radionuclide activity and undrained shear strength, and (2) historical bathymetric data (report and smooth sheets from 1872, 1947, 1948). In addition, because repeat swath bathymetry surveys are an emerging data source, we present a selected literature review of recent studies using such datasets for seafloor change analysis. This study is the first to apply the method to a pockmark field, and characterizes macro-scale (〉5 m) evolution of tens of square kilometers of highly irregular seafloor. Presence/absence analysis yielded no change in pockmark frequency or distribution over a 9-year period (1999–2008). In that time pockmarks did not detectably enlarge, truncate, elongate, or combine. Historical data indicate that pockmark chains already existed in the 19th century. Despite the lack of macroscopic changes in the field, near-bed undrained shear-strength values of less than 7 kPa and scattered downcore 137Cs signatures indicate a highly disturbed setting. Integrating these findings with independent geophysical and geochemical observations made in the pockmark field, it can be concluded that (1) large-scale sediment resuspension and dispersion related to pockmark formation and failure do not occur frequently within this field, and (2) pockmarks can persevere in a dynamic estuarine setting that exhibits minimal modern fluid venting. Although pockmarks are conventionally thought to be long-lived features maintained by a combination of fluid venting and minimal sediment accumulation, this suggests that other mechanisms may be equally active in maintaining such irregular seafloor morphology. One such mechanism could be upwelling within pockmarks induced by near-bed currents.

Description: Graduate support for Brothers came from a Maine Economic Improvement Fund Dissertation Fellowship.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Chinese Science Bulletin 56 (2011): 2828-2838, doi:10.1007/s11434-011-4619-4.

Description: During January–May in 2007, the Chinese research cruise DY115-19 discovered an active hydrothermal field at 49°39′E/37°47′S on the ultraslow spreading Southwest Indian Ridge (SWIR). This was also the first active hydrothermal field found along an ultraslow-spreading ridge. We analyzed mineralogical, textural and geochemical compositions of the sulfide chimneys obtained from the 49°39′E field. Chimney samples show a concentric mineral zone around the fluid channel. The mineral assemblages of the interiors consist mainly of chalcopyrite, with pyrite and sphalerite as minor constitunets. In the intermediate portion, pyrite becomes the dominant mineral, with chalcopyrite and sphalerite as minor constitunets. For the outer wall, the majority of minerals are pyrite and sphalerite, with few chalcopyrite. Towards the outer margin of the chimney wall, the mineral grains become small and irregular in shape gradually, while minerals within interstices are abundant. These features are similar to those chimney edifices found on the East Pacific Rise and Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The average contents of Cu, Fe and Zn in our chimney samples were 2.83 wt%, 45.6 wt% and 3.28 wt%, respectively. The average Au and Ag contents were up to 2.0 ppm and 70.2 ppm respectively, higher than the massive sulfides from most hydrothermal fields along mid-ocean ridge. The rare earth elements geochemistry of the sulfide chimneys show a pattern distinctive from the sulfides recovered from typical hydrothermal fields along sediment-starved mid-ocean ridge, with the enrichment of light rare earth elements but the weak, mostly negative, Eu anomaly. This is attributed to the distinct mineralization environment or fluid compositions in this area.

Description: This work was supported by the China Ocean Mineral Resources Research and Development Association Program (DY115- 02-1-01) and the State Oceanic Administration Youth Science Fund (2010318).

Description: © Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 3 (2012): 669, doi:10.1038/ncomms1673.

Description: Na+/K+ pumps move net charge through the cell membrane by mediating unequal exchange of intracellular Na+ and extracellular K+. Most charge moves during transitions that release Na+ to the cell exterior. When pumps are constrained to bind and release only Na+, a membrane voltage-step redistributes pumps among conformations with zero, one, two or three bound Na+, thereby transiently generating current. By applying rapid voltage steps to squid giant axons, we previously identified three components in such transient currents, with distinct relaxation speeds: fast (which nearly parallels the voltage-jump time course), medium speed (τm=0.2–0.5 ms) and slow (τs=1–10 ms). Here we show that these three components are tightly correlated, both in their magnitudes and in the time courses of their changes. The correlations reveal the dynamics of the conformational rearrangements that release three Na+ to the exterior (or sequester them into their binding sites) one at a time, in an obligatorily sequential manner.

Description: This research was directly supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), NINDS, grants NIH HL36783 to D.C.G., and NIH U54GM087519 and R01GM030376 to F.B.

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Plant and Soil 356 (2012): 405-417, doi:10.1007/s11104-012-1130-x.

Description: Soil warming from global climate change could increase decomposition of fine woody debris (FWD), but debris size and quality may mitigate this effect. The goal of this study was to investigate the effect of soil warming on decomposition of fine woody debris of differing size and quality. We placed FWD of two size classes (2 × 20 cm and 4 × 40 cm) and four species (Acer saccharum, Betula lenta, Quercus rubra and Tsuga canadensis) in a soil warming and ambient area at Harvard Forest in central Massachusetts. We collected the debris from each area over two years and measured mass loss and lignin concentration. Warming increased mass loss for all species and size classes (by as much as 30%), but larger debris and debris with higher initial lignin content decomposed slower than smaller debris and debris with lower initial lignin content. Lignin degradation did not follow the same trends as mass loss. Lignin loss from the most lignin-rich species, T. canadensis, was the highest despite the fact that it lost mass the slowest. Our results suggest that soil warming will increase decomposition of FWD in temperate forests. It is imperative that future models and policy efforts account for this potential shift in the carbon storage pool.

Description: © The Author(s), 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Natural Hazards 63 (2012): 51-84, doi:10.1007/s11069-010-9622-6.

Description: Waters from the Atlantic Ocean washed southward across parts of Anegada, east-northeast of Puerto Rico, during a singular event a few centuries ago. The overwash, after crossing a fringing coral reef and 1.5 km of shallow subtidal flats, cut dozens of breaches through sandy beach ridges, deposited a sheet of sand and shell capped with lime mud, and created inland fields of cobbles and boulders. Most of the breaches extend tens to hundreds of meters perpendicular to a 2-km stretch of Anegada’s windward shore. Remnants of the breached ridges stand 3 m above modern sea level, and ridges seaward of the breaches rise 2.2–3.0 m high. The overwash probably exceeded those heights when cutting the breaches by overtopping and incision of the beach ridges. Much of the sand-and-shell sheet contains pink bioclastic sand that resembles, in grain size and composition, the sand of the breached ridges. This sand extends as much as 1.5 km to the south of the breached ridges. It tapers southward from a maximum thickness of 40 cm, decreases in estimated mean grain size from medium sand to very fine sand, and contains mud laminae in the south. The sand-and-shell sheet also contains mollusks—cerithid gastropods and the bivalve Anomalocardia—and angular limestone granules and pebbles. The mollusk shells and the lime-mud cap were probably derived from a marine pond that occupied much of Anegada’s interior at the time of overwash. The boulders and cobbles, nearly all composed of limestone, form fields that extend many tens of meters generally southward from limestone outcrops as much as 0.8 km from the nearest shore. Soon after the inferred overwash, the marine pond was replaced by hypersaline ponds that produce microbial mats and evaporite crusts. This environmental change, which has yet to be reversed, required restriction of a former inlet or inlets, the location of which was probably on the island’s south (lee) side. The inferred overwash may have caused restriction directly by washing sand into former inlets, or indirectly by reducing the tidal prism or supplying sand to post-overwash currents and waves. The overwash happened after A.D. 1650 if coeval with radiocarbon-dated leaves in the mud cap, and it probably happened before human settlement in the last decades of the 1700s. A prior overwash event is implied by an inland set of breaches. Hypothetically, the overwash in 1650–1800 resulted from the Antilles tsunami of 1690, the transatlantic Lisbon tsunami of 1755, a local tsunami not previously documented, or a storm whose effects exceeded those of Hurricane Donna, which was probably at category 3 as its eye passed 15 km to Anegada’s south in 1960.

Description: The work was supported in part by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission under its project N6480, a tsunami-hazard assessment for the eastern United States.

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 2 (2012): 582, doi:10.1038/srep00582.

Description: Over the last century humans have altered the export of fluvial materials leading to significant changes in morphology, chemistry, and biology of the coastal ocean. Here we present sedimentary, paleoenvironmental and paleogenetic evidence to show that the Black Sea, a nearly enclosed marine basin, was affected by land use long before the changes of the Industrial Era. Although watershed hydroclimate was spatially and temporally variable over the last ~3000 years, surface salinity dropped systematically in the Black Sea. Sediment loads delivered by Danube River, the main tributary of the Black Sea, significantly increased as land use intensified in the last two millennia, which led to a rapid expansion of its delta. Lastly, proliferation of diatoms and dinoflagellates over the last five to six centuries, when intensive deforestation occurred in Eastern Europe, points to an anthropogenic pulse of river-borne nutrients that radically transformed the food web structure in the Black Sea.

Description: This study was supported by grants OISE 0637108, EAR 0952146, OCE 0602423 and OCE 0825020 from the National Science Foundation and grants from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 3 (2013): 2802, doi:10.1038/srep02802.

Description: It is usually assumed that metabolic constraints restrict deep-sea corals to cold-water habitats, with ‘deep-sea’ and ‘cold-water’ corals often used as synonymous. Here we report on the first measurements of biological characters of deep-sea corals from the central Red Sea, where they occur at temperatures exceeding 20°C in highly oligotrophic and oxygen-limited waters. Low respiration rates, low calcification rates, and minimized tissue cover indicate that a reduced metabolism is one of the key adaptations to prevailing environmental conditions. We investigated four sites and encountered six species of which at least two appear to be undescribed. One species is previously reported from the Red Sea but occurs in deep cold waters outside the Red Sea raising interesting questions about presumed environmental constraints for other deep-sea corals. Our findings suggest that the present understanding of deep-sea coral persistence and resilience needs to be revisited.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Ecosystems 16 (2013): 1550-1564, doi:10.1007/s10021-013-9701-0.

Description: We examined controls of benthic dinitrogen (N2) fixation and primary production in oligotrophic lakes in Arctic Alaska, Toolik Field Station (Arctic Long-Term Ecological Research Site). Primary production in many oligotrophic lakes is limited by nitrogen (N), and benthic processes are important for whole-lake function. Oligotrophic lakes are increasingly susceptible to low-level, non-point source nutrient inputs, yet the effects on benthic processes are not well understood. This study examines the results from a whole-lake fertilization experiment in which N and P were added at a relatively low level (4 times natural loading) in Redfield ratio to a shallow (3 m) and a deep (20 m) oligotrophic lake. The two lakes showed similar responses to fertilization: benthic primary production and respiration (each 50–150 mg C m−2 day−1) remained the same, and benthic N2 fixation declined by a factor of three- to fourfold by the second year of treatment (from ~0.35 to 0.1 mg N m−2 day−1). This showed that the response of benthic N2 fixation was de-coupled from the nutrient limitation status of benthic primary producers and raised questions about the mechanisms, which were examined in separate laboratory experiments. Bioassay experiments in intact cores also showed no response of benthic primary production to added N and P, but contrasted with the whole-lake experiment in that N2 fixation did not respond to added N, either alone or in conjunction with P. This inconsistency was likely a result of nitrogenase activity of existing N2 fixers during the relative short duration (9 days) of the bioassay experiment. N2 fixation showed a positive saturating response when light was increased in the laboratory, but was not statistically related to ambient light level in the field, leading us to conclude that light limitation of the benthos from increasing water-column production was not important. Thus, increased N availability in the sediments through direct uptake likely caused a reduction in N2 fixation. These results show the capacity of the benthos in oligotrophic systems to buffer the whole-system response to nutrient addition by the apparent ability for significant nutrient uptake and the rapid decline in N2 fixation in response to added nutrients. Reduced benthic N2 fixation may be an early indicator of a eutrophication response of lakes which precedes the transition from benthic to water-column-dominated systems.

Description: This project was supported by NSF-OPP 9732281, NSF-DEB 9810222, NSF-DEB 0423385, and by a Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant NSF-DEB 0206173. Additional funding was provided by the Small Grants Program through the NSF-IGERT Program in Biogeochemistry and Environmental Change at Cornell University.

Description: © Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 2 (2011): 293, doi:10.1038/ncomms1297.

Description: The relative importance of north–south migrations of the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) versus El Niño-Southern Oscillation and its associated Pacific Walker Circulation (PWC) variability for past hydrological change in the western tropical Pacific is unclear. Here we show that north–south ITCZ migration was not the only mechanism of tropical Pacific hydrologic variability during the last millennium, and that PWC variability profoundly influenced tropical Pacific hydrology. We present hydrological reconstructions from Cattle Pond, Dongdao Island of the South China Sea, where multi-decadal rainfall and downcore grain size variations are correlated to the Southern Oscillation Index during the instrumental era. Our downcore grain size reconstructions indicate that this site received less precipitation during relatively warm periods, AD 1000–1400 and AD 1850–2000, compared with the cool period (AD 1400–1850). Including our new reconstructions in a synthesis of tropical Pacific records results in a spatial pattern of hydrologic variability that implicates the PWC.

Description: This work was supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (40730107) and the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (973 Program) (No.2010CB428902). DWO acknowledges support from the US NSF.

Description: © Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 3 (2012): 620, doi:10.1038/ncomms1636.

Description: The Mid-Cayman spreading centre is an ultraslow-spreading ridge in the Caribbean Sea. Its extreme depth and geographic isolation from other mid-ocean ridges offer insights into the effects of pressure on hydrothermal venting, and the biogeography of vent fauna. Here we report the discovery of two hydrothermal vent fields on the Mid-Cayman spreading centre. The Von Damm Vent Field is located on the upper slopes of an oceanic core complex at a depth of 2,300 m. High-temperature venting in this off-axis setting suggests that the global incidence of vent fields may be underestimated. At a depth of 4,960 m on the Mid-Cayman spreading centre axis, the Beebe Vent Field emits copper-enriched fluids and a buoyant plume that rises 1,100 m, consistent with 〉 400 °C venting from the world’s deepest known hydrothermal system. At both sites, a new morphospecies of alvinocaridid shrimp dominates faunal assemblages, which exhibit similarities to those of Mid-Atlantic vents.

Description: This work is supported by a UK NERC award (NE/F017774/1 & NE/F017758/1) to J.T.C., D.P.C., B.J.M., K.S. and P.A.T., Royal Society Travel Grant 2009/R3 to R.C.S., A.M. is supported by SENSEnet, a Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) funded by the European Commission Seventh Framework Programme, Contract Number PITN-GA-2009-237868 and a NASA ASTEP Grant NNX09AB75G to C.R.G. and C.L.V.D., which are gratefully acknowledged.

Description: © The Author(s), 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Theoretical Ecology 5 (2012): 167-179, doi:10.1007/s12080-010-0106-9.

Description: Studies of time-invariant matrix metapopulation models indicate that metapopulation growth rate is usually more sensitive to the vital rates of individuals in high-quality (i.e., good) patches than in low-quality (i.e., bad) patches. This suggests that, given a choice, management efforts should focus on good rather than bad patches. Here, we examine the sensitivity of metapopulation growth rate for a two-patch matrix metapopulation model with and without stochastic disturbance and found cases where managers can more efficiently increase metapopulation growth rate by focusing efforts on the bad patch. In our model, net reproductive rate differs between the two patches so that in the absence of dispersal, one patch is high quality and the other low quality. Disturbance, when present, reduces net reproductive rate with equal frequency and intensity in both patches. The stochastic disturbance model gives qualitatively similar results to the deterministic model. In most cases, metapopulation growth rate was elastic to changes in net reproductive rate of individuals in the good patch than the bad patch. However, when the majority of individuals are located in the bad patch, metapopulation growth rate can be most elastic to net reproductive rate in the bad patch. We expand the model to include two stages and parameterize the patches using data for the softshell clam, Mya arenaria. With a two-stage demographic model, the elasticities of metapopulation growth rate to parameters in the bad patch increase, while elasticities to the same parameters in the good patch decrease. Metapopulation growth rate is most elastic to adult survival in the population of the good patch for all scenarios we examine. If the majority of the metapopulation is located in the bad patch, the elasticity to parameters of that population increase but do not surpass elasticity to parameters in the good patch. This model can be expanded to include additional patches, multiple stages, stochastic dispersal, and complex demography.

Description: Financial support was provided by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Academic Programs Office; National Science Foundation grants OCE-0326734, OCE- 0215905, OCE-0349177, DEB-0235692, DEB-0816514, DMS- 0532378, OCE-1031256, and ATM-0428122; and by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Sea Grant College Program Office, Department of Commerce, under Grant No. NA86RG0075 (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant Project No. R/0-32), and Grant No. NA16RG2273 (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Sea Grant Project No. R/0-35).

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Genetics 44 (2012): 121-126, doi:10.1038/ng.1054.

Description: To make full use of research data, the bioscience community needs to adopt technologies and reward mechanisms that support interoperability and promote the growth of an open 'data commoning' culture. Here we describe the prerequisites for data commoning and present an established and growing ecosystem of solutions using the shared 'Investigation-Study-Assay' framework to support that vision.

Description: The authors also acknowledge the following funding sources in particular: UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) BB/I000771/1 to S.-A.S. and A.T.; UK BBSRC BB/I025840/1 to S.-A.S.; UK BBSRC BB/I000917/1 to D.F.; EU CarcinoGENOMICS (PL037712) to J.K.; US National Institutes of Health (NIH) 1RC2CA148222-01 to W.H. and the HSCI; US MIRADA LTERS DEB-0717390 and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (ICoMM) to L.A.-Z.; Swiss Federal Government through the Federal Office of Education and Science (FOES) to L.B. and I.X.; EU Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) Open PHACTS 115191 to C.T.E.; US Department of Energy (DOE) DE-AC02- 06CH11357 and Arthur P. Sloan Foundation (2011- 6-05) to J.G.; UK BBSRC SysMO-DB2 BB/I004637/1 and BBG0102181 to C.G.; UK BBSRC BB/I000933/1 to C.S. and J.L.G.; UK MRC UD99999906 to J.L.G.; US NIH R21 MH087336 (National Institute of Mental Health) and R00 GM079953 (National Institute of General Medical Science) to A.L.; NIH U54 HG006097 to J.C. and C.E.S.; Australian government through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS); BIRN U24-RR025736 and BioScholar RO1-GM083871 to G.B. and the 2009 Super Science initiative to C.A.S.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 35 (2012): 401-415, doi:10.1007/s12237-011-9417-3.

Description: Although the Arctic Ocean is the most riverine-influenced of all of the world’s oceans, the importance of terrigenous nutrients in this environment is poorly understood. This study couples estimates of circumpolar riverine nutrient fluxes from the PARTNERS (Pan-Arctic River Transport of Nutrients, Organic Matter, and Suspended Sediments) Project with a regionally configured version of the MIT general circulation model to develop estimates of the distribution and availability of dissolved riverine N in the Arctic Ocean, assess its importance for primary production, and compare these estimates to potential bacterial production fueled by riverine C. Because riverine dissolved organic nitrogen is remineralized slowly, riverine N is available for uptake well into the open ocean. Despite this, we estimate that even when recycling is considered, riverine N may support 0.5–1.5 Tmol C year−1 of primary production, a small proportion of total Arctic Ocean photosynthesis. Rapid uptake of dissolved inorganic nitrogen coupled with relatively high rates of dissolved organic nitrogen regeneration in N-limited nearshore regions, however, leads to potential localized rates of riverine-supported photosynthesis that represent a substantial proportion of nearshore production.

Description: Funding for this work was provided through NSFOPP- 0229302 and NSF-OPP-0732985.Support to SET was additionally provided by an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Description: This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Ecosystems 15 (2012): 848-866, doi:10.1007/s10021-012-9551-1.

Description: Mangrove wetland restoration and creation efforts are increasingly proposed as mechanisms to compensate for mangrove wetland losses. However, ecosystem development and functional equivalence in restored and created mangrove wetlands are poorly understood. We compared a 20-year chronosequence of created tidal wetland sites in Tampa Bay, Florida (USA) to natural reference mangrove wetlands. Across the chronosequence, our sites represent the succession from salt marsh to mangrove forest communities. Our results identify important soil and plant structural differences between the created and natural reference wetland sites; however, they also depict a positive developmental trajectory for the created wetland sites that reflects tightly coupled plant-soil development. Because upland soils and/or dredge spoils were used to create the new mangrove habitats, the soils at younger created sites and at lower depths (10–30 cm) had higher bulk densities, higher sand content, lower soil organic matter (SOM), lower total carbon (TC), and lower total nitrogen (TN) than did natural reference wetland soils. However, in the upper soil layer (0–10 cm), SOM, TC, and TN increased with created wetland site age simultaneously with mangrove forest growth. The rate of created wetland soil C accumulation was comparable to literature values for natural mangrove wetlands. Notably, the time to equivalence for the upper soil layer of created mangrove wetlands appears to be faster than for many other wetland ecosystem types. Collectively, our findings characterize the rate and trajectory of above- and below-ground changes associated with ecosystem development in created mangrove wetlands; this is valuable information for environmental managers planning to sustain existing mangrove wetlands or mitigate for mangrove wetland losses.

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 3 (2012): 803, doi:10.1038/ncomms1811.

Description: Ventilation and mixing of oceanic gyres is important to ocean-atmosphere heat and gas transfer, and to mid-latitude nutrient supply. The rates of mode water formation are believed to impact climate and carbon exchange between the surface and mid-depth water over decadal periods. Here, a record of 14C/12C (1780–1940), which is a proxy for vertical ocean mixing, from an annually banded coral from Bermuda, shows limited inter-annual variability and a substantial Suess Effect (the decrease in 14C/12C since 1900). The Sargasso Sea mixing rates between the surface and thermocline varied minimally over the past two centuries, despite changes to mean-hemispheric climate, including the Little Ice Age and variability in the North Atlantic Oscillation. This result indicates that regional formation rates of sub-tropical mode water are stable over decades, and that anthropogenic carbon absorbed by the ocean does not return to the surface at a variable rate.

Description: Funding provided by NSF’s Chemical Oceanography Program OCE - 0526463 and 0961980 and the Stephen Hui Trust Fund.

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Marine Biology 159 (2012): 1833-1841, doi:10.1007/s00227-012-1973-y.

Description: The mesopelagic zone of the Red Sea represents an extreme environment due to low food concentrations, high temperatures and low oxygen waters. Nevertheless, a 38 kHz echosounder identified at least four distinct scattering layers during the daytime, of which the 2 deepest layers resided entirely within the mesopelagic zone. Two of the acoustic layers were found above a mesopelagic oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), one layer overlapped with the OMZ, and one layer was found below the OMZ. Almost all organisms in the deep layers migrated to the near-surface waters during the night. Backscatter from a 300 kHz lowered Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler indicated a layer of zooplankton within the OMZ. They carried out DVM, yet a portion remained at mesopelagic depths during the night. Our acoustic measurements showed that the bulk of the acoustic backscatter was restricted to waters shallower than 800 m, suggesting that most of the biomass in the Red Sea resides above this depth.

Description: This research is based in part on work supported by Award Nos. USA 00002, KSA 00011 and KSA 00011/02 made by KAUST to the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

Description: This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Geo-Marine Letters 32 (2012): 279-288, doi:10.1007/s00367-012-0296-9.

Description: High-resolution seismic-reflection profiles collected across pro-glacial outwash deposits adjacent to the circa 18 ka b.p. Orient Point–Fishers Island end moraine segment in westernmost Block Island Sound reveal extensive deformation. A rhythmic seismic facies indicates the host outwash deposits are composed of fine-grained glaciolacustrine sediments. The deformation is variably brittle and ductile, but predominantly compressive in nature. Brittle deformation includes reverse faults and thrust faults that strike parallel to the moraine, and thrust sheets that extend from beneath the moraine. Ductile deformation includes folded sediments that overlie undisturbed deposits, showing that they are not drape features. Other seismic evidence for compression along the ice front consists of undisturbed glaciolacustrine strata that dip back toward and underneath the moraine, and angular unconformities on the sea floor where deformed sediments extend above the surrounding undisturbed correlative strata. Together, these ice-marginal glaciotectonic features indicate that the Orient Point–Fishers Island moraine marks a significant readvance of the Laurentide ice sheet, consistent with existing knowledge for neighboring coeval moraines, and not simply a stillstand as previously reported.

Description: This work was supported by the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and the Atlantic Hydrographic Branch of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Description: 2013-06-29

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 2 (2012): 553, doi:10.1038/srep00553.

Description: Sea surface temperature imagery, satellite altimetry, and a surface drifter track reveal an unusual tilt in the Gulf Stream path that brought the Gulf Stream to 39.9°N near the Middle Atlantic Bight shelfbreak—200 km north of its mean position—in October 2011, while a large meander brought Gulf Stream water within 12 km of the shelfbreak in December 2011. Near-bottom temperature measurements from lobster traps on the outer continental shelf south of New England show distinct warming events (temperature increases exceeding 6°C) in November and December 2011. Moored profiler measurements over the continental slope show high salinities and temperatures, suggesting that the warm water on the continental shelf originated in the Gulf Stream. The combination of unusual water properties over the shelf and slope in late fall and the subsequent mild winter may affect seasonal stratification and habitat selection for marine life over the continental shelf in 2012.

Description: Profiler data were made available by the Ocean Observatory Initiative (OOI) during the construction phase of the project. The OOI is funded by the National Science Foundation and managed by the Consortium for Ocean Leadership. Drifter data were provided by Tim Shaw and David Calhoun at Cape Fear Community College.GGGwas supported by NSFGrant OCE-1129125. RET was supported by the Postdoctoral Scholar Program at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, with funding provided by the Cooperative Institute for the North Atlantic Region. MA was supported by the Penzance Endowed Fund in Support of Assistant Scientists.

Description: This paper is not subject to U.S. copyright. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 35 (2012): 1285-1298, doi:10.1007/s12237-012-9515-x.

Description: Increased nutrient loading to estuaries has led to eutrophication, degraded water quality, and ecological transformations. Quantifying nutrient loads in systems with significant groundwater input can be difficult due to the challenge of measuring groundwater fluxes. We quantified tidal and freshwater fluxes over an 8-week period at the entrance of West Falmouth Harbor, Massachusetts, a eutrophic, groundwater-fed estuary. Fluxes were estimated from velocity and salinity measurements and a total exchange flow (TEF) methodology. Intermittent cross-sectional measurements of velocity and salinity were used to convert point measurements to cross-sectionally averaged values over the entire deployment (index relationships). The estimated mean freshwater flux (0.19 m3/s) for the 8-week period was mainly due to groundwater input (0.21 m3/s) with contributions from precipitation to the estuary surface (0.026 m3/s) and removal by evaporation (0.048 m3/s). Spring–neap variations in freshwater export that appeared in shorter-term averages were mostly artifacts of the index relationships. Hydrodynamic modeling with steady groundwater input demonstrated that while the TEF methodology resolves the freshwater flux signal, calibration of the index– salinity relationships during spring tide conditions only was responsible for most of the spring–neap signal. The mean freshwater flux over the entire period estimated from the combination of the index-velocity, index–salinity, and TEF calculations were consistent with the model, suggesting that this methodology is a reliable way of estimating freshwater fluxes in the estuary over timescales greater than the spring– neap cycle. Combining this type of field campaign with hydrodynamic modeling provides guidance for estimating both magnitude of groundwater input and estuarine storage of freshwater and sets the stage for robust estimation of the nutrient load in groundwater.

Description: Funding was provided by the USGS Coastal and Marine Geology Program and by National Science Foundation Award #0420575 from the Biocomplexity/Coupled Biogeochemical Cycles Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature 496 (2013): 311-316, doi:10.1038/nature12027.

Description: The discovery of a living coelacanth specimen in 1938 was remarkable, as this lineage of lobe-finned fish was thought to have become extinct 70 million years ago. The modern coelacanth looks remarkably similar to many of its ancient relatives, and its evolutionary proximity to our own fish ancestors provides a glimpse of the fish that first walked on land. Here we report the genome sequence of the African coelacanth, Latimeria chalumnae. Through a phylogenomic analysis, we conclude that the lungfish, and not the coelacanth, is the closest living relative of tetrapods. Coelacanth protein-coding genes are significantly more slowly evolving than those of tetrapods, unlike other genomic features. Analyses of changes in genes and regulatory elements during the vertebrate adaptation to land highlight genes involved in immunity, nitrogen excretion and the development of fins, tail, ear, eye, brain and olfaction. Functional assays of enhancers involved in the fin-to-limb transition and in the emergence of extra-embryonic tissues show the importance of the coelacanth genome as a blueprint for understanding tetrapod evolution.

Description: cquisition and storage of Latimeria chalumnae samples was supported by grants from the African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme of the South African National Department of Science and Technology. Generation of the Latimeria chalumnae and Protopterus annectens sequences by the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University was supported by grants from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). K.L.T. is the recipient of a EURYI award from the European Science Foundation.

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeochemistry 114 (2013): 11-23, doi:10.1007/s10533-012-9801-5.

Description: Human actions have both intentionally and unintentionally altered the global economy of nitrogen (N), with both positive and negative consequences for human health and welfare, the environment and climate change. Here we examine long-term trends in reactive N (Nr) creation and efficiencies of Nr use within the continental US. We estimate that human actions in the US have increased Nr inputs by at least ~5 times compared to pre-industrial conditions. Whereas N2 fixation as a by-product of fossil fuel combustion accounted for ~1/4 of Nr inputs from the 1970s to 2000 (or ~7 Tg N year−1), this value has dropped substantially since then (to 〈5 Tg N year−1), owing to Clean Air Act amendments. As of 2007, national N use efficiency (NUE) of all combined N inputs was equal to ~40 %. This value increases to 55 % when considering intentional N inputs alone, with food, industrial goods, fuel and fiber production accounting for the largest Nr sinks, respectively. We estimate that 66 % of the N lost during the production of goods and services enters the air (as NO x , NH3, N2O and N2), with the remaining 34 % lost to various waterways. These Nr losses contribute to smog formation, acid rain, eutrophication, biodiversity declines and climate change. Hence we argue that an improved national NUE would: (i) benefit the US economy on the production side; (ii) reduce social damage costs; and (iii) help avoid some major climate change risks in the future.

Description: This work resulted from a workshop supported by NSF Research Coordination Network Awards DEB-0443439 and DEB-1049744 and by the David and Lucille Packard Foundation.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature 499 (2013): 209–213, doi:10.1038/nature12221.

Description: Coccolithophores have influenced the global climate for over 200 million years1. These marine phytoplankton can account for 20 per cent of total carbon fixation in some systems2. They form blooms that can occupy hundreds of thousands of square kilometres and are distinguished by their elegantly sculpted calcium carbonate exoskeletons (coccoliths), rendering them visible from space3. Although coccolithophores export carbon in the form of organic matter and calcite to the sea floor, they also release CO2 in the calcification process. Hence, they have a complex influence on the carbon cycle, driving either CO2 production or uptake, sequestration and export to the deep ocean4. Here we report the first haptophyte reference genome, from the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi strain CCMP1516, and sequences from 13 additional isolates. Our analyses reveal a pan genome (core genes plus genes distributed variably between strains) probably supported by an atypical complement of repetitive sequence in the genome. Comparisons across strains demonstrate that E. huxleyi, which has long been considered a single species, harbours extensive genome variability reflected in different metabolic repertoires. Genome variability within this species complex seems to underpin its capacity both to thrive in habitats ranging from the equator to the subarctic and to form large-scale episodic blooms under a wide variety of environmental conditions.

Description: Joint Genome Institute (JGI) contributions were supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy (DOE) under contract no. 7DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Conservation Genetics Resources 5 (2013): 561-563, doi:10.1007/s12686-012-9852-x.

Description: A total of one hundred microsatellites loci were selected from the draft genome of Stylophora pistillata and evaluated in previously characterized samples of Stylophora cf pistillata from the Red Sea. 17 loci were amplified successfully and tested in 24 individuals from samples belonging to a single population from the central region of the Red Sea. The number of alleles ranged from 3 to 15 alleles per locus, while observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.292 to 0.95. Six of these loci showed significant deviations from Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) expectations, and 4/136 paired loci comparisons suggested linkage disequilibrium after Bonferroni corrections. After excluding loci with significant HWE deviation and evidence of null alleles, average genetic diversity over loci in the population studied (N = 24, Nloci = 11) was 0.701 ± 0.380. This indicates that these loci can be used effectively to evaluate genetic diversity and undertake population genetics studies in Stylophora sp. populations.

Description: This research was funded by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Nature 499 (2013): 431–437, doi:10.1038/nature12352.

Description: Genome sequencing enhances our understanding of the biological world by providing blueprints for the evolutionary and functional diversity that shapes the biosphere. However, microbial genomes that are currently available are of limited phylogenetic breadth, owing to our historical inability to cultivate most microorganisms in the laboratory. We apply single-cell genomics to target and sequence 201 uncultivated archaeal and bacterial cells from nine diverse habitats belonging to 29 major mostly uncharted branches of the tree of life, so-called ‘microbial dark matter’. With this additional genomic information, we are able to resolve many intra- and inter-phylum-level relationships and to propose two new superphyla. We uncover unexpected metabolic features that extend our understanding of biology and challenge established boundaries between the three domains of life. These include a novel amino acid use for the opal stop codon, an archaeal-type purine synthesis in Bacteria and complete sigma factors in Archaea similar to those in Bacteria. The single-cell genomes also served to phylogenetically anchor up to 20% of metagenomic reads in some habitats, facilitating organism-level interpretation of ecosystem function. This study greatly expands the genomic representation of the tree of life and provides a systematic step towards a better understanding of biological evolution on our planet.

Description: The work conducted by the US Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute is supported by the Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231. We also thank the CeBiTec Bioinformatics Resource Facility, which is supported byBMBF grant 031A190. B.P.H. and J.A.D. were supported by the NASA Exobiology grant EXO-NNX11AR78GandNSFOISE 096842and B.P.H. by a generous contribution from G. Fullmer through the UNLV Foundation. S.M.S was supported by NSF grants OCE-0452333 and OCE-1136727, and the WHOI’s Andrew W. Mellon Fund for Innovative Research; and S.J.H. by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, the British Columbia Knowledge Development Fund, the National Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada and the TULA foundation funded Centre for Microbial Diversity and Evolution (CMDE), and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). R.S. was supported by NSF grants DEB-841933, EF-826924, OCE-1232982, OCE-821374 and OCE-1136488, and the Deep Life I grant by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. P.H.was supported by a Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award (DORA) from the Australian Research Council, grant DP120103498.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Biogeochemistry 115 (2013): 299-315, doi:10.1007/s10533-013-9836-2.

Description: A series of eight watersheds on the Pacific coast of Panama where conversion of mature lowland wet forest to pastures by artisanal burning provided watershed-scale experimental units with a wide range of forest cover (23, 29, 47, 56, 66, 73, 73, 91, and 92%). We used these watersheds as a landscape-scale experiment to assess effects of degree of deforestation on within-watershed retention and hydrological export of atmospheric inputs of nutrients. Retention was estimated by comparing rainfall nutrient concentrations (volume-weighted to allow for evapotranspiration) to concentrations in freshwater reaches of receiving streams. Retention of rain-derived nutrients in these Panama watersheds averaged 77, 85, 80, and 62% for nitrate, ammonium, dissolved organic N, and phosphate, respectively. Retention of rain-derived inorganic nitrogen, however, depended on watershed cover: retention of nitrate and ammonium in pasture-dominated watersheds was 95 and 98%, while fully forested watersheds retained 65 and 80% of atmospheric nitrate and ammonium inputs. Watershed forest cover did not affect retention of dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphate. Exports from more forested watersheds yielded DIN/P near 16, while pasture-dominated watersheds exported N/P near 2. The differences in magnitude of exports and ratios suggest that deforestation in these Panamanian forests results in exports that affect growth of plants and algae in the receiving stream and estuarine ecosystems. Watershed retention of dissolved inorganic nitrogen calculated from wet plus dry atmospheric deposition varied from 90% in pasture- to 65% in forest-dominated watersheds, respectively. Discharges of DIN to receiving waters from the watersheds therefore rose from 10% of atmospheric inputs for pasture-dominated watersheds, to about 35% of atmospheric inputs for fully forested watersheds. These results from watersheds with no agriculture or urbanization, but different conversion of forest to pasture by burning, show significant, deforestation-dependent retention within tropical watersheds, but also ecologically significant, and deforestation-dependent, exports that are biologically significant because of the paucity of nutrients in receiving tropical stream and coastal waters.

Description: This work was funded by NSF Grant BIO- 0842413

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Climatic Change 121 (2013): 381-395, doi:10.1007/s10584-013-0873-6.

Description: Anthropogenic climate change has triggered impacts on natural and human systems world-wide, yet the formal scientific method of detection and attribution has been only insufficiently described. Detection and attribution of impacts of climate change is a fundamentally cross-disciplinary issue, involving concepts, terms, and standards spanning the varied requirements of the various disciplines. Key problems for current assessments include the limited availability of long-term observations, the limited knowledge on processes and mechanisms involved in changing environmental systems, and the widely different concepts applied in the scientific literature. In order to facilitate current and future assessments, this paper describes the current conceptual framework of the field and outlines a number of conceptual challenges. Based on this, it proposes workable cross-disciplinary definitions, concepts, and standards. The paper is specifically intended to serve as a baseline for continued development of a consistent cross-disciplinary framework that will facilitate integrated assessment of the detection and attribution of climate change impacts.

Description: Modeling Program of the Office of Biological and Environmental Research in the Department of Energy Office of Science under contract number DE-AC02-05CH11231. GH was supported by a grant from the German Ministry for Education and Research.

Description: © The Author(s), 2014]. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Scientific Reports 4 (2014): 6648, doi:10.1038/srep06648.

Description: Sediments from Tibetan lakes in NW China are potentially sensitive recorders of climate change and its impact on ecosystem function. However, the important plankton members in many Tibetan Lakes do not make and leave microscopically diagnostic features in the sedimentary record. Here we established a taxon-specific molecular approach to specifically identify and quantify sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA) of non-fossilized planktonic organisms preserved in a 5-m sediment core from Kusai Lake spanning the last 3100 years. The reliability of the approach was validated with multiple independent genetic markers. Parallel analyses of the geochemistry of the core and paleo-climate proxies revealed that Monsoon strength-driven changes in nutrient availability, temperature, and salinity as well as orbitally-driven changes in light intensity were all responsible for the observed temporal changes in the abundance of two dominant phytoplankton groups in the lake, Synechococcus (cyanobacteria) and Isochrysis (haptophyte algae). Collectively our data show that global and regional climatic events exhibited a strong influence on the paleoecology of phototrophic plankton in Kusai Lake.

Description: This research was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41030211 and 41302022), the National Basic Research Program of China (Grant No. 2011CB808800), and State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences (Nos GBL11410 and GBL11201).

Description: © The Authors, 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License. The definitive version was published in Ecosystems 13 (2010): 239-248, doi:10.1007/s10021-010-9315-8.

Description: Ecosystem nutrient budgets often report values for pools and fluxes without any indication of uncertainty, which makes it difficult to evaluate the significance of findings or make comparisons across systems. We present an example, implemented in Excel, of a Monte Carlo approach to estimating error in calculating the N content of vegetation at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. The total N content of trees was estimated at 847 kg ha−1 with an uncertainty of 8%, expressed as the standard deviation divided by the mean (the coefficient of variation). The individual sources of uncertainty were as follows: uncertainty in allometric equations (5%), uncertainty in tissue N concentrations (3%), uncertainty due to plot variability (6%, based on a sample of 15 plots of 0.05 ha), and uncertainty due to tree diameter measurement error (0.02%). In addition to allowing estimation of uncertainty in budget estimates, this approach can be used to assess which measurements should be improved to reduce uncertainty in the calculated values. This exercise was possible because the uncertainty in the parameters and equations that we used was made available by previous researchers. It is important to provide the error statistics with regression results if they are to be used in later calculations; archiving the data makes resampling analyses possible for future researchers. When conducted using a Monte Carlo framework, the analysis of uncertainty in complex calculations does not have to be difficult and should be standard practice when constructing ecosystem budgets.

Description: © The Authors 2009. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. The definitive version was published in Biogeochemistry 99 (2010): 1-13, doi:10.1007/s10533-009-9392-y.

Description: Human activities have profoundly altered the global nitrogen (N) cycle. Increases in anthropogenic N have had multiple effects on the atmosphere, on terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems, and even on human health. Unfortunately, methodological limitations challenge our ability to directly measure natural N inputs via biological N fixation (BNF)—the largest natural source of new N to ecosystems. This confounds efforts to quantify the extent of anthropogenic perturbation to the N cycle. To address this gap, we used a pair of indirect methods—analytical modeling and N balance—to generate independent estimates of BNF in a presumed hotspot of N fixation, a tropical rain forest site in central Rondônia in the Brazilian Amazon Basin. Our objectives were to attempt to constrain symbiotic N fixation rates in this site using indirect methods, and to assess strengths and weaknesses of this approach by looking for areas of convergence and disagreement between the estimates. This approach yielded two remarkably similar estimates of N fixation. However, when compared to a previously published bottom-up estimate, our analysis indicated much lower N inputs via symbiotic BNF in the Rondônia site than has been suggested for the tropics as a whole. This discrepancy may reflect errors associated with extrapolating bottom-up fluxes from plot-scale measures, those resulting from the indirect analyses, and/or the relatively low abundance of legumes at the Rondônia site. While indirect methods have some limitations, we suggest that until the technological challenges of directly measuring N fixation are overcome, integrated approaches that employ a combination of model-generated and empirically-derived data offer a promising way of constraining N inputs via BNF in natural ecosystems.

Description: We acknowledge and are grateful for financial support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation (C.C. and B.H.), the National Science Foundation (NSF DEB-0515744 to C.C. and A.T. and DEB-0315656 to C.N.), and the NASA LBA Program (NCC5-285 to C.N.).

Description: © International Society for Microbial Ecology, 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 5 (2011): 1748–1758, doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.48.

Description: A novel hydrothermal field has been discovered at the base of Lōihi Seamount, Hawaii, at 5000 mbsl. Geochemical analyses demonstrate that ‘FeMO Deep’, while only 0.2 °C above ambient seawater temperature, derives from a distal, ultra-diffuse hydrothermal source. FeMO Deep is expressed as regional seafloor seepage of gelatinous iron- and silica-rich deposits, pooling between and over basalt pillows, in places over a meter thick. The system is capped by mm to cm thick hydrothermally derived iron-oxyhydroxide- and manganese-oxide-layered crusts. We use molecular analyses (16S rDNA-based) of extant communities combined with fluorescent in situ hybridizations to demonstrate that FeMO Deep deposits contain living iron-oxidizing Zetaproteobacteria related to the recently isolated strain Mariprofundus ferroxydans. Bioenergetic calculations, based on in-situ electrochemical measurements and cell counts, indicate that reactions between iron and oxygen are important in supporting chemosynthesis in the mats, which we infer forms a trophic base of the mat ecosystem. We suggest that the biogenic FeMO Deep hydrothermal deposit represents a modern analog for one class of geological iron deposits known as ‘umbers’ (for example, Troodos ophilolites, Cyprus) because of striking similarities in size, setting and internal structures.

Description: Funding has been provided by the NSF Microbial Observatories Program (KJE, DE, BT, HS and CM), by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation (KJE), the College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences at the University of Southern California (KJE) and by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (KJE, DE).

Description: Author Posting. © The Authors, 2012. This article is posted here by permission of Nature Publishing Group. The definitive version was published in Nature 486 (2012): 207-214, doi:10.1038/nature11234.

Description: Studies of the human microbiome have revealed that even healthy individuals differ remarkably in the microbes that occupy habitats such as the gut, skin and vagina. Much of this diversity remains unexplained, although diet, environment, host genetics and early microbial exposure have all been implicated. Accordingly, to characterize the ecology of human-associated microbial communities, the Human Microbiome Project has analysed the largest cohort and set of distinct, clinically relevant body habitats so far. We found the diversity and abundance of each habitat’s signature microbes to vary widely even among healthy subjects, with strong niche specialization both within and among individuals. The project encountered an estimated 81–99% of the genera, enzyme families and community configurations occupied by the healthy Western microbiome. Metagenomic carriage of metabolic pathways was stable among individuals despite variation in community structure, and ethnic/racial background proved to be one of the strongest associations of both pathways and microbes with clinical metadata. These results thus delineate the range of structural and functional configurations normal in the microbial communities of a healthy population, enabling future characterization of the epidemiology, ecology and translational applications of the human microbiome.

Description: This research was supported in part by National Institutes of Health grants U54HG004969 to B.W.B.; U54HG003273 to R.A.G.; U54HG004973 to R.A.G., S.K.H. and J.F.P.; U54HG003067 to E.S.Lander; U54AI084844 to K.E.N.; N01AI30071 to R.L.Strausberg; U54HG004968 to G.M.W.; U01HG004866 to O.R.W.; U54HG003079 to R.K.W.; R01HG005969 to C.H.; R01HG004872 to R.K.; R01HG004885 to M.P.; R01HG005975 to P.D.S.; R01HG004908 to Y.Y.; R01HG004900 to M.K.Cho and P. Sankar; R01HG005171 to D.E.H.; R01HG004853 to A.L.M.; R01HG004856 to R.R.; R01HG004877 to R.R.S. and R.F.; R01HG005172 to P. Spicer.; R01HG004857 to M.P.; R01HG004906 to T.M.S.; R21HG005811 to E.A.V.; M.J.B. was supported by UH2AR057506; G.A.B. was supported by UH2AI083263 and UH3AI083263 (G.A.B., C. N. Cornelissen, L. K. Eaves and J. F. Strauss); S.M.H. was supported by UH3DK083993 (V. B. Young, E. B. Chang, F. Meyer, T. M. S., M. L. Sogin, J. M. Tiedje); K.P.R. was supported by UH2DK083990 (J. V.); J.A.S. and H.H.K. were supported by UH2AR057504 and UH3AR057504 (J.A.S.); DP2OD001500 to K.M.A.; N01HG62088 to the Coriell Institute for Medical Research; U01DE016937 to F.E.D.; S.K.H. was supported by RC1DE0202098 and R01DE021574 (S.K.H. and H. Li); J.I. was supported by R21CA139193 (J.I. and D. S. Michaud); K.P.L. was supported by P30DE020751 (D. J. Smith); Army Research Office grant W911NF-11-1-0473 to C.H.; National Science Foundation grants NSF DBI-1053486 to C.H. and NSF IIS-0812111 to M.P.; The Office of Science of the US Department of Energy under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 for P.S. C.; LANL Laboratory-Directed Research and Development grant 20100034DR and the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency grants B104153I and B084531I to P.S.C.; Research Foundation - Flanders (FWO) grant to K.F. and J.Raes; R.K. is an HHMI Early Career Scientist; Gordon&BettyMoore Foundation funding and institutional funding fromthe J. David Gladstone Institutes to K.S.P.; A.M.S. was supported by fellowships provided by the Rackham Graduate School and the NIH Molecular Mechanisms in Microbial Pathogenesis Training Grant T32AI007528; a Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of Canada Grant in Aid of Research to E.A.V.; 2010 IBM Faculty Award to K.C.W.; analysis of the HMPdata was performed using National Energy Research Scientific Computing resources, the BluBioU Computational Resource at Rice University.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Theoretical Ecology 5 (2012): 403-417, doi:10.1007/s12080-011-0132-2.

Description: Matrix population models in which individuals are classified by both age and stage can be constructed using the vec-permutation matrix. The resulting age-stage models can be used to derive the age-specific consequences of a stage-specific life history or to describe populations in which the vital rates respond to both age and stage. I derive a general formula for the sensitivity of any output (scalar, vector, or matrix-valued) of the model, to any vector of parameters, using matrix calculus. The matrices describing age-stage dynamics are almost always reducible; I present results giving conditions under which population growth is ergodic from any initial condition. As an example, I analyze a published stage-specific model of Scotch broom (Cytisus scoparius), an invasive perennial shrub. Sensitivity analysis of the population growth rate finds that the selection gradients on adult survival do not always decrease with age but may increase over a range of ages. This may have implications for the evolution of senescence in stage-classified populations. I also derive and analyze the joint distribution of age and stage at death and present a sensitivity analysis of this distribution and of the marginal distribution of age at death.

Description: This research was supported by National Science Foundation Grant DEB-0816514 and by a Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.

Description: © International Society for Microbial Ecology, 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in The ISME Journal 5 (2011): 1565–1567, doi:10.1038/ismej.2011.39.

Description: Interest in sampling of diverse environments, combined with advances in high-throughput sequencing, vastly accelerates the pace at which new genomes and metagenomes are generated. For example, as of January 2011, 12 500 user-generated metagenomes have been submitted to the public MG-RAST Annotation server (http://metagenomics. nmpdr.org; Meyer et al., 2008), 490% of which were produced using high-throughput sequencing methodologies. We have entered into an era of ‘mega-sequencing projects’ that include the Genomic Encyclopaedia of Bacteria and Archaea project (http://www.jgi.doe.gov/programs/GEBA), the Microbial Earth Project (http://genome.jgi-psf. org/programs/bacteria-archaea/MEP/index.jsf), the Human Microbiome Project (http://nihroadmap.nih. gov/hmp), the Metagenomics of the Human Intestinal Tract consortium (http://www.metahit.eu), the Terragenome Initiative (http://www.terragenome. org), the Tara Oceans Expedition (http://oceans. taraexpeditions.org), the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON-http://www.neoninc.org), the International Census of Marine Microbes (ICoMM-http://icomm.mbl.edu), Microbial Inventory Research Across Diverse Aquatic Long-Term Ecological Research Sites (http://amarallab.mbl. edu/mirada/mirada.html), the Earth Microbiome Project (http://www.earthmicrobiome.org) and other funded and unfunded projects, with many more visionary projects on the horizon.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. The definitive version was published in Biological Invasions 13 (2011): 2513-2531, doi:10.1007/s10530-011-0078-8.

Description: The spiny water flea (Bythotrephes longimanus) is spreading from Great Lakes coastal waters into northern inland lakes within a northern temperature-defined latitudinal band. Colonization of Great Lakes coastal embayments is assisted by winds and seiche surges, yet rapid inland expansion across the northern states comes through an overland process. The lack of invasions at Isle Royale National Park contrasts with rapid expansion on the nearby Keweenaw Peninsula. Both regions have comparable geology, lake density, and fauna, but differ in recreational fishing boat access, visitation, and containment measures. Tail spines protect Bythotrephes against young of the year, but not larger fish, yet the unusual thick-shelled diapausing eggs can pass through fish guts in viable condition. Sediment traps illustrate how fish spread diapausing eggs across lakes in fecal pellets. Trillions of diapausing eggs are produced per year in Lake Michigan and billions per year in Lake Michigamme, a large inland lake. Dispersal by recreational fishing is linked to use of baitfish, diapausing eggs defecated into live wells and bait buckets, and Bythothephes snagged on fishing line, anchor ropes, and minnow seines. Relatively simple measures, such as on-site rinsing of live wells, restricting transfer of certain baitfish species, or holding baitfish for 24 h (defecation period), should greatly reduce dispersal.

Description: Study of Lakes Superior and Michigan was funded from NSF OCE-9726680 and OCE-9712872 to W.C.K., OCE-9712889 to J. Churchill. Geographic survey sampling and Park studies in the national parks during 2008-2010 were funded by a grant from the National Park Service Natural Resource Preservation Program GLNF CESU Task Agreement No. J6067080012.

Description: © The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Oecologia 168 (2012): 819-828, doi:10.1007/s00442-011-2133-7.

Description: Global climate change is expected to affect terrestrial ecosystems in a variety of ways. Some of the more well-studied effects include the biogeochemical feedbacks to the climate system that can either increase or decrease the atmospheric load of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Less well-studied are the effects of climate change on the linkages between soil and plant processes. Here, we report the effects of soil warming on these linkages observed in a large field manipulation of a deciduous forest in southern New England, USA, where soil was continuously warmed 5°C above ambient for 7 years. Over this period, we have observed significant changes to the nitrogen cycle that have the potential to affect tree species composition in the long term. Since the start of the experiment, we have documented a 45% average annual increase in net nitrogen mineralization and a three-fold increase in nitrification such that in years 5 through 7, 25% of the nitrogen mineralized is then nitrified. The warming-induced increase of available nitrogen resulted in increases in the foliar nitrogen content and the relative growth rate of trees in the warmed area. Acer rubrum (red maple) trees have responded the most after 7 years of warming, with the greatest increases in both foliar nitrogen content and relative growth rates. Our study suggests that considering species-specific responses to increases in nitrogen availability and changes in nitrogen form is important in predicting future forest composition and feedbacks to the climate system.

Description: This work was supported by the National Institute for Climate Change Research (DOE-DE-FCO2-06-ER64157), DOE BER (DE-SC0005421) and the Harvard Forest Long-Term Ecological Research program (NSF-DEB-0620443).

Description: © The Author(s), 2012. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Estuaries and Coasts 35 (2012): 1036-1048, doi:10.1007/s12237-012-9501-3.

Description: We used high-resolution in situ measurements of turbidity and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM) to quantitatively estimate the tidally driven exchange of mercury (Hg) between the waters of the San Francisco estuary and Browns Island, a tidal wetland. Turbidity and FDOM—representative of particle-associated and filter-passing Hg, respectively—together predicted 94 % of the observed variability in measured total mercury concentration in unfiltered water samples (UTHg) collected during a single tidal cycle in spring, fall, and winter, 2005–2006. Continuous in situ turbidity and FDOM data spanning at least a full spring-neap period were used to generate UTHg concentration time series using this relationship, and then combined with water discharge measurements to calculate Hg fluxes in each season. Wetlands are generally considered to be sinks for sediment and associated mercury. However, during the three periods of monitoring, Browns Island wetland did not appreciably accumulate Hg. Instead, gradual tidally driven export of UTHg from the wetland offset the large episodic on-island fluxes associated with high wind events. Exports were highest during large spring tides, when ebbing waters relatively enriched in FDOM, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and filter-passing mercury drained from the marsh into the open waters of the estuary. On-island flux of UTHg, which was largely particle-associated, was highest during strong winds coincident with flood tides. Our results demonstrate that processes driving UTHg fluxes in tidal wetlands encompass both the dissolved and particulate phases and multiple timescales, necessitating longer term monitoring to adequately quantify fluxes.

Description: This work was supported by funding from the California Bay Delta Authority Ecosystem Restoration and Drinking Water Programs (grant ERP-00- G01) and matching funds from the United States Geological Survey Cooperative Research Program.

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries 23 (2013): 317-364, doi:10.1007/s11160-012-9297-z.

Description: A recent survey lists more than 100 papers utilizing the auditory evoked potential (AEP) recording technique for studying hearing in fishes. More than 95 % of these AEP-studies were published after Kenyon et al. introduced a non-invasive electrophysiological approach in 1998 allowing rapid evaluation of hearing and repeated testing of animals. First, our review compares AEP hearing thresholds to behaviorally gained thresholds. Second, baseline hearing abilities are described and compared in 111 fish species out of 51 families. Following this, studies investigating the functional significance of various accessory hearing structures (Weberian ossicles, swim bladder, otic bladders) by eliminating these morphological structures in various ways are dealt with. Furthermore, studies on the ontogenetic development of hearing are summarized. The AEP-technique was frequently used to study the effects of high sound/noise levels on hearing in particular by measuring the temporary threshold shifts after exposure to various noise types (white noise, pure tones and anthropogenic noises). In addition, the hearing thresholds were determined in the presence of noise (white, ambient, ship noise) in several studies, a phenomenon termed masking. Various ecological (e.g., temperature, cave dwelling), genetic (e.g., albinism), methodical (e.g., ototoxic drugs, threshold criteria, speaker choice) and behavioral (e.g., dominance, reproductive status) factors potentially influencing hearing were investigated. Finally, the technique was successfully utilized to study acoustic communication by comparing hearing curves with sound spectra either under quiet conditions or in the presence of noise, by analyzing the temporal resolution ability of the auditory system and the detection of temporal, spectral and amplitude characteristics of conspecific vocalizations.

Description: Support from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF grant 22319 to F.L.).

Description: © The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Marine Biodiversity 43 (2013): 237-241, doi:10.1007/s12526-013-0151-x.

Description: Despite the ubiquitous role sponges play in reef ecosystem dynamics, little is known about population-level connectivity in these organisms. The general field of population genetics in sponges remains in its infancy. To date, microsatellite markers have only been developed for few sponge species and no sponge population genetics studies using microsatellites have been conducted in the Red Sea. Here, with the use of next-generation sequencing, we characterize 12 novel polymorphic loci for the common reef sponge, Stylissa carteri. The number of alleles per loci ranged between three and eight. Observed heterozygosity frequencies (Ho) ranged from 0.125 to 0.870, whereas expected (He) heterozygosity frequencies ranged from 0.119 to 0.812. Only one locus showed consistent deviations from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (HWE) in both populations and two loci consistently showed the possible presence of null alleles. No significant linkage disequilibrium was detected for any pairs of loci. These microsatellites will be of use for numerous ecological studies focused on this common and abundant sponge.

Description: This work was funded by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

Description: The South Atlantic magnetic Anomaly (SAA) is an important feature of the present geomagnetic field. In this paper we model the space–time evolution of this anomaly over the past 400 years in terms of the resultant between a decrease of a global axial dipole and an increase of a virtual local monopole source. Certain characteristics of this evolution are investigated and some considerations are made in the light of a possible special state of the global geomagnetic field dynamical regime. Among the possible speculations, one is made regarding the topography of the coremantle boundary (CMB) and its possible aspect beneath the SAA region in terms of simple sinusoidal undulations met by the monopole source during its centennial motion.

Description: Published

Description: 339-347

Description: 3.4. Geomagnetismo

Description: JCR Journal

Description: reserved

Description: Understanding the historical and future response of the global climate system to anthropogenic emissions of radiatively active atmospheric constituents has become a timely and compelling concern. At present, however, there are uncertainties in: the total radiative forcing associated with changes in the chemical composition of the atmosphere; the effective forcing applied to the climate system resulting from a (temporary) reduction via ocean-heat uptake; and the strength of the climate feedbacks that subsequently modify this forcing. Here a set of analyses derived from atmospheric general circulation model simulations are used to estimate the effective and total radiative forcing of the observed climate system due to anthropogenic emissions over the last 50 years of the twentieth century. They are also used to estimate the sensitivity of the observed climate system to these emissions, as well as the expected change in global surface temperatures once the climate system returns to radiative equilibrium. Results indicate that estimates of the effective radiative forcing and total radiative forcing associated with historical anthropogenic emissions differ across models. In addition estimates of the historical sensitivity of the climate to these emissions differ across models. However, results suggest that the variations in climate sensitivity and total climate forcing are not independent, and that the two vary inversely with respect to one another. As such, expected equilibrium temperature changes, which are given by the product of the total radiative forcing and the climate sensitivity, are relatively constant between models, particularly in comparison to results in which the total radiative forcing is assumed constant. Implications of these results for projected future climate forcings and subsequent responses are also discussed.

Description: Published

Description: 1461-1475

Description: 3.7. Dinamica del clima e dell'oceano

Description: JCR Journal

Description: open

Description: In this paper, a high-resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the Ischia Island has been created, and a digital terrain analysis has been carried out to identify of morphostructural elements of this landscape. Ischia is an active volcano located in the Western sector of the Gulf of Naples that is characterized by historical and recent volcano-tectonic activity. The local kinematics is unclear, and so identification of tectonic lineaments might elucidate recent tectonic processes. We identify morphostructural features using geomorphic parameters derived from analysis of the high-resolution DEM. Successively, the comparison with known geologic features provides validation of the extracted morphotectonic data.We found that one of the main directions of the morphostructural lineaments extracted is consistent with the regional NE–SW extensional stress field; moreover, the lineaments on the northern flank of Mt. Epomeo are strictly correlated with the mapped faults that have a history of strong and moderate earthquakes. The technique implemented for this study area allowed us to identify new original morphostructural lineaments in a reproducible way that may be useful for investigating various landscapes where field survey is not possible. Indeed, the extracted lineaments represent potential active faults near the northern coast of the Ischia Island, where both seismicity and intense urbanization delineate a high seismic risk.

Description: Published

Description: 73-82

Description: 3.2. Tettonica attiva

Description: N/A or not JCR

Description: reserved

Description: Destructive volcaniclastic flows are among the most recurrent and dangerous natural phenomena in volcanic areas. They can originate not only during or shortly after an eruption (syn-eruptive) but also during a period of volcanic quiescence (inter-eruptive), when heavy and/or persistent rains remobilize loose pyroclastic deposits. The area in Italy most prone to such flows is that of the Apennine Mountains bordering the southern Campania Plain. These steep slopes are covered by pyroclastic material of variable thickness (a few cm to several m) derived from the explosive activity of the Somma-Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei volcanoes a few tens of kilometers to the west. The largest and most recent devastating event occurred on May 5, 1998, causing the death of more than 150 people and considerable damage to villages at the foot of the Apennine Mountains. This tragic event was only the most recent of a number of volcaniclastic flows affecting the area in both historical and prehistoric times. Historical accounts report that more than 500 events have occurred in the last five centuries and that more than half of these occurred in the last 100 years, causing hundreds of deaths. In order to improve volcaniclastic flow hazard zonation and risk mitigation in the study area, we produced a zonation map that identifies the drainage basins potentially prone to disruption. This map was obtained by combining morphological characteristics (concavity and basin shape factor) and the mean slope distribution of drainage basins derived from a digital elevation model with a 10-m resolution. These parameters allowed for the classification of 1,069 drainage basins, which have been grouped into four different classes of proneness to disruption: low, moderate, high and very high. The map compiled in a GIS environment, as well as the linked database, can be rapidly queried.

Description: Published

Description: 371-387

Description: 3.5. Geologia e storia dei vulcani ed evoluzione dei magmi

Description: 4.3. TTC - Scenari di pericolosità vulcanica

Description: JCR Journal

Description: reserved

Description: We describe analytical details and uncertainty evaluation of a simple technique for the measurement of the carbon isotopic composition of CO2 in volcanic plumes. Data collected at Solfatara and Vulcano, where plumes are fed by fumaroles which are accessible for direct sampling, were first used to validate the technique. For both volcanoes, the plume-derived carbon isotopic compositions are in good agreement with the fumarolic compositions, thus providing confidence on the method, and allowing its application at volcanoes where the volcanic component is inaccessible to direct sampling. As a notable example, we applied the same method to Mount Etna where we derived a δ13C of volcanic CO2 between −0.9 ± 0.27‰ and −1.41 ± 0.27‰ (Bocca Nuova and Voragine craters). The comparison of our measurements to data reported in previous work highlights a temporal trend of systematic increase of δ13C values of Etna CO2 from ~ −4‰, in the 1970’s and the 1980’s, to ~ −1‰ at the present time (2009). This shift toward more positive δ13C values matches a concurrent change in magma composition and an increase in the eruption frequency and energy. We discuss such variations in terms of two possible processes: magma carbonate assimilation and carbon isotopic fractionation due to magma degassing along the Etna plumbing system. Finally, our results highlight potential of systematic measurements of the carbon isotopic composition of the CO2 emitted by volcanic plumes for a better understanding of volcanic processes and for improved surveillance of volcanic activity.

Description: In press

Description: 1.2. TTC - Sorveglianza geochimica delle aree vulcaniche attive

Description: 2.4. TTC - Laboratori di geochimica dei fluidi

Description: JCR Journal

Description: reserved