ALBERT

Description: In both terrestrial and aquatic environments introductions of non-indigenous species are continuing and represent one important component of global change. Negative biotic interactions by resident species may prevent successful invaders from becoming pests. Few experimental data are available on the presence and significance of such biotic resistance other than predation or competition. This study addresses the role of habitat structure provided by a native eelgrass (Zostera marina) canopy on growth and survival of the non-indigenous mussel Musculista senhousia, a habitat-modifying gregarious suspension feeder with strong effects on native infauna and eelgrass. In 2 southern California bays, a series of transplantation experiments using tagged mussels revealed that inside an eelgrass canopy, Musculista growth rates were reduced by more than half in 3 of 4 experiments compared to adjacent unvegetated areas. Musculista survival also decreased inside the vegetation in a 4-mo experiment. As one element of habitat structure, we tested the effects of eelgrass patch size, using natural (1 site) and planted (1 site) eelgrass patches of defined sizes. Growth rates of Musculista were highest outside the vegetation and decreased as eelgrass patch size increased. As a potential mechanism for the canopy effects, we suggest that Musculista receives less food inside the vegetation. In the experimental plots, the presence and spatial extent of the macrophyte canopy strongly affected near bottom (10 cm) horizontal water flow assessed with a direct dye tracking method. Reduced mussel growth rates were linearly associated with lower water flow, and presumably, food flux. Over a period of 7 mo, food resources (particulate chlorophyll a) were consistently lower 1 and 5 cm above the sea floor inside eelgrass patches compared to the sand flat. The reduction in food availability matched the growth reduction of Musculista. Also, mussel condition (dry flesh mass/shell mass) was worse in individuals growing in eelgrass than in the sand flat. Previous experiments revealed that dense beds of Musculista impede the rhizome growth and vegetative propagation of eelgrass, yet mussels attain abundances sufficient for interference only if eelgrass beds are patchy. Thus, anthropogenic disturbances on eelgrass beds, which often result in meadow fragmentation, and the proliferation of Musculista may have synergistic negative effects on the persistence of eelgrass beds.

Description: The use of stable isotope analysis in ecological and wildlife studies is rapidly increasing. Studies include evaluating flow of nutrients in ecosystems and studying dietary composition of individual animals. Several mixing models have been developed to evaluate the relative contribution of different foods to the diet of consumers. All these mixing models require that all prey types will be significantly different in bivariate space. This requirement usually poses a problem in analyzing data of stable isotope ratios because sample sizes in most studies are small and seldom normally distributed. We propose a randomization test that we based on the K nearest-neighbor approach. Results from our simulations of power revealed that the K nearest-neighbor test appears to have high power even with small sample sizes and comparatively low displacement. The K nearest-neighbor test described here provides the preliminary statistical analysis necessary for the use of the mixing models, and therefore is a new, powerful tool for analyzing stable isotope data. In evaluating the test performance on data collected from American martens (Martes americana) and their prey on Chichagof Island, Southeast Alaska, we were able to reject our null hypothesis that all samples of prey were drawn from identical populations (P = 0.05). A program written in Pascal or S-Plus is available from the authors to evaluate the K nearest-neighbor statistic for several groups.

Description: In situ experiments were run with the seastar Asterias rubens to investigate the influence of epibiosis on predation preferences. Mussels (Mytilus edulis) monospecifically fouled by different epibiont species (the barnacle Balanus improvisus, the red filamentous alga Ceramium strictum, the sponge Halichondria panicea and the hydrozoan Laomedea flexuosa) and macroscopically clean mussels were exposed and seastar predation was monitored by SCUBA. Asterias rubens preferred macroscopical unfouled mussels as prey. Fouling generally reduced predation pressure on the mussel hosts (associational resistance). Barnacles protected mussels less efficiently than hydrozoans or algae. We hypothesize that in top-down controlled communities this influence of epibiosis on predation pressure should affect mussel community patterns. A survey of natural mussel-epibiont distribution in the presence or absence of A. rubens showed that the prevalence of differently fouled mussels differed between predation-exposed and predation-protected habitats. Natural mussel-epibiont associations reflected the preferential predation of the major local predators. Additionally, higher epibiotic diversity and evenness could be observed at locations accessible to benthic predators as compared with habitats protected from predation. As blue mussels and seastars are important structuring and controlling elements in the shallow water community of Kiel Fjord, major consequences of epibiosis on the entire system are discussed.

Description: Newly hatched Baltic cod Gadus morhua larvae are typically found at depths 〉60 m. This is a region of low light and prey availability, hence generating the hypothesis that larvae have to migrate from hatching depth to the surface layer to avoid starvation and improve their nutritional condition. To test this hypothesis, Baltic cod larvae were sampled during the spawning seasons of 1994 and 1995 with depth-resolving multiple opening/closing nets. Each larva was aged by otolith readings and its RNA/DNA ratio was determined as a measure of nutritional condition. The RNA/DNA ratios of these larvae aged 2-25 days (median 10 days) ranged from 0.4 to 6.2, corresponding to levels exhibited by starving and fast-growing larvae in laboratory calibration studies (starvation, protein growth rate, Gpi= -12.2% day−1; fastgrowing larvae, Gpi=14.1%day−1) respectively. Seventy per cent of the field caught larvae had RNA/DNA ratios between the mean values found for starving and fed laboratory larvae. Only larvae aged 8-11 days had higher mean RNA/DNA ratios above 45 m than below (t-test, P〈0.05). However, the instantaneous protein growth rates were significantly higher for all larval age groups in the surface layers (t-test, P〈0.05). Starving larvae were found in all depths sampled (10-85 m), whereas growing larvae (positive Gpi) were restricted to samples taken shallower than 45 m. These superior growth rates above 45 m corroborate the hypothesis and imply that migration to the shallow water layers is a prerequisite for good nutritional condition, growth and survival of Baltic cod larvae. The frequent occurrence of cod larvae older than 8 days in the deep water in poor condition suggests that a proportion of the larvae will die from Starvation in the deep layers of the Baltic Sea.

Description: We propose that ocean conditions of the Near Islands in the western Atleutian Arc mimic those of the shallow continental shelf of the eastern Bering Sea to the extent that the marine community, including assemblages of forage fishes and their avian predators, has disinctly coastal characteristics. In contrast, marine avifauna and their prey at neighbouring Buldir Island are distinctly oceanic. For example, at the Near Islands, the ratio of thick-billed to common murres, Uria lomvia and U. aalge, is low and black.legged kittiwakes, Rissa tridacytla, but not red-legged kittiwakes, R. brevirostris, nest there. Diets of murres and kittiwkaes are dominated by sand lance, Ammodytes hexapterus, an abundant coastal species. At Buldir Island, thick-billed murres greatly outnumber common murres, red-legged kittiwakes and black-legged kittiwakes are both abundant, and diets of the birds consist primarily of oceanic squid and lantern-fish (Myctophidae). This mesoscale difference in food webs is apparently a consequence of the local physiography. A broad escarpment on the Near physiographic block creates a comparatively expansive, shallow, shelf-like habitat around the Near Islands, where a pelagic community typical of coastal regions flourished. Buldir Island is the only emergent feature of the Buldir physiographic block, with little shallow water surrounding it and, apparently, little opportunity for other than oceanic species to exist. Patterns in the distribution of fishes, and thus of sea birds, throughout the Atleutian Islands might be largely explained by the relationship between physical environments and food webs. In the larger context of fisheries oceanography, this model for the Aleutian Islands improves our ability to interpret physical and biological heterogeneity in the ocean and its relationship to regional community dynamics and trends in the abundance and productivity of individual species at higher tropic levels.

Description: The temperature relationship of routine metabolic rate (Rr) of non-feeding, non-growing Coregonus lavaretus larvae between 2 and 15°C is characterized by Q10-values ranging from l.8-2.45. The rate of growth, based on weight determinations, of first-feeding larvae amounted to 3.5, 7.6 and 9.4% day-1 at 5, 10 and 12°C respectively, from which Q10-values between 4.0 and 4.8 can be calculated. The rate of increase of muscle mass between 5 and 10°C, based on the determination of the cross-sectional area of inner muscle fibres, resulted in a Q10-value of 4.5. Water temperature influenced the pattern of growth of the inner muscle fibres. At hatching, after 360 day degrees, total muscle mass of larvae reared at 4 and 8°C was independent of temperature, but at 4°C the rate of mass increase owed more to hyperplasia (increase in fibre number) than to hypertrophy (increase in fibre mass), whereas at 8°C the opposite was the case. The calculation of power budgets (including the metabolic cost of growth) of first-feeding larvae yielded net conversion efficiencies (K2) increasing with temperature from 46.3% at 5°C to 54.7% at 12°C. Comparing our data with literature data two general conclusions can be drawn. (1) In first-feeding larvae the net, but not the gross, conversion efficiency of food energy increases with temperature. This is due to net energy input being characterized by a much higher Q10-value than energy expenditures. (2) In embryos of freshwater fish so far investigated hyperplasia plays a greater role in the increase of fibre mass than hypertrophy at the lower temperature, whereas in embryos of marine fish hyperplasia prevails at the higher temperature. It is suggested that this discrepancy correlates with the high concentration of free amino acids in the eggs of marine species which provide an additional, easily available, source of metabolic energy absent in freshwater species.

Description: We present a workflow to estimate geostatistical aquifer parameters from pumping test data using the Python package welltestpy. The procedure of pumping test analysis is exemplified for two data sets from the Horkheimer Insel site and from the Lauswiesen site, Germany. The analysis is based on a semi‐analytical drawdown solution from the upscaling approach Radial Coarse Graining, which enables to infer log‐transmissivity variance and horizontal correlation length, beside mean transmissivity, and storativity, from pumping test data. We estimate these parameters of aquifer heterogeneity from type‐curve analysis and determine their sensitivity. This procedure, implemented in welltestpy, is a template for analyzing any pumping test. It goes beyond the possibilities of standard methods, for example, based on Theis' equation, which are limited to mean transmissivity and storativity. A sensitivity study showed the impact of observation well positions on the parameter estimation quality. The insights of this study help to optimize future test setups for geostatistical aquifer analysis and provides guidance for investigating pumping tests with regard to aquifer statistics using the open‐source software package welltestpy.

Description: Article impact statement: We present a workflow to infer parameters of subsurface heterogeneity from pumping test data exemplified at two sites using welltestpy.

Description: German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU) http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007636

Description: In designed experiments, different sources of variability and an adequate scale of measurement need to be considered, but not all approaches in common usage are equally valid. In order to elucidate the importance of sources of variability and choice of scale, we conducted an experiment where the effects of biochar and slurry applications on soil properties related to soil fertility were studied for different designs: (a) for a field‐scale sampling design with either a model soil (without natural variability) as an internal control or with composited soils, (b) for a design with a focus on amendment variabilities, and (c) for three individual field‐scale designs with true field replication and a combined analysis representative of the population of loess‐derived soils. Three silty loam sites in Germany were sampled and the soil macroaggregates were crushed. For each design, six treatments (0, 0.15 and 0.30 g slurry‐N kg−1 with and without 30 g biochar kg−1) were applied before incubating the units under constant soil moisture conditions for 78 days. CO2 fluxes were monitored and soils were analysed for macroaggregate yields and associated organic carbon (C). Mixed‐effects models were used to describe the effects. For all soil properties, results for the loess sites differed with respect to significant contributions of fixed effects for at least one site, suggesting the need for a general inclusion of different sites. Analysis using a multilevel model allowed generalizations for loess soils to be made and showed that site:slurry:biochar and site:slurry interactions were not negligible for macroaggregate yields. The use of a model soil as an internal control enabled observation of variabilities other than those related to soils or amendments. Experiments incorporating natural variability in soils or amendments resulted in partially different outcomes, indicating the need to include all important sources of variability. Highlights Effects of biochar and slurry applications were studied for different designs and mixed‐effects models were used to describe the effects. Including an internal control allowed observation of, e.g., methodological and analytical variabilities. The results suggested the need for a general inclusion of different sites. Analysis using a multilevel model allowed generalizations for loess soils. The results indicated the need to include all important sources of variability.

Description: Temperate forest soils are often considered as an important sink for atmospheric carbon (C), thereby buffering anthropogenic CO2 emissions. However, the effect of tree species composition on the magnitude of this sink is unclear. We resampled a tree species common garden experiment (six sites) a decade after initial sampling to evaluate whether forest floor (FF) and topsoil organic carbon (Corg) and total nitrogen (Nt) stocks changed in dependence of tree species (Norway spruce—Picea abies L., European beech—Fagus sylvatica L., pedunculate oak—Quercus robur L., sycamore maple—Acer pseudoplatanus L., European ash—Fraxinus excelsior L. and small‐leaved lime—Tilia cordata L.). Two groups of species were identified in terms of Corg and Nt distribution: (1) Spruce with high Corg and Nt stocks in the FF developed as a mor humus layer which tended to have smaller Corg and Nt stocks and a wider Corg:Nt ratio in the mineral topsoil, and (2) the broadleaved species, of which ash and maple distinguished most clearly from spruce by very low Corg and Nt stocks in the FF developed as mull humus layer, had greater Corg and Nt stocks, and narrow Corg:Nt ratios in the mineral topsoil. Over 11 years, FF Corg and Nt stocks increased most under spruce, while small decreases in bulk mineral soil (esp. in 0–15 cm and 0–30 cm depth) Corg and Nt stocks dominated irrespective of species. Observed decadal changes were associated with site‐related and tree species‐mediated soil properties in a way that hinted towards short‐term accumulation and mineralisation dynamics of easily available organic substances. We found no indication for Corg stabilisation. However, results indicated increasing Nt stabilisation with increasing biomass of burrowing earthworms, which were highest under ash, lime and maple and lowest under spruce. Highlights We studied if tree species differences in topsoil Corg and Nt stocks substantiate after a decade. The study is unique in its repeated soil sampling in a multisite common garden experiment. Forest floors increased under spruce, but topsoil stocks decreased irrespective of species. Changes were of short‐term nature. Nitrogen was most stable under arbuscular mycorrhizal species.

Description: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaff (DFG)

Description: Little research attention has been given to validating clusters obtained from the groundwater geochemistry of the waterworks' capture zone with a prevailing lake‐groundwater exchange. To address this knowledge gap, we proposed a new scheme whereby Gaussian finite mixture modeling (GFMM) and Spike‐and‐Slab Bayesian (SSB) algorithms were utilized to cluster the groundwater geochemistry while quantifying the probability of the resulting cluster membership against each other. We applied GFMM and SSB to 13 geochemical parameters collected during different sampling periods at 13 observation points across the Barnim Highlands plateau located in the northeast of Berlin, Germany; this included 10 observation wells, two lakes, and a gallery of drinking production wells. The cluster analysis of GFMM yielded nine clusters, either with a probability ≥0.8, while the SSB produced three hierarchical clusters with a probability of cluster membership varying from 〈0.2 to 〉0.8. The findings demonstrated that the clustering results of GFMM were in good agreement with the classification as per the principal component analysis and Piper diagram. By superimposing the parameter clustering onto the observation clustering, we could identify discrepancies that exist among the parameters of a certain cluster. This enables the identification of different factors that may control the geochemistry of a certain cluster, although parameters of that cluster share a strong similarity. The GFMM results have shown that from 2002, there has been active groundwater inflow from the lakes towards the capture zone. This means that it is necessary to adopt appropriate measures to reverse the inflow towards the lakes.

Description: Article impact statement: The probability of cluster membership quantified using an algorithm should be validated against another probabilistic‐based classifier.

Description: Federal Ministry of Education and Research http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347

Description: Copper (Cu) is an essential element for plants and microorganisms and at larger concentrations a toxic pollutant. A number of factors controlling Cu dynamics have been reported, but information on quantitative relationships is scarce. We aimed to (i) quantitatively describe and predict soil Cu concentrations (CuAR) in aqua regia considering site‐specific effects and effects of pH, soil organic carbon (SOC) and cation exchange capacity (CEC), and (ii) study the suitability of mixed‐effects modelling and rule‐based models for the analysis of long‐term soil monitoring data. Thirteen uncontaminated long‐term monitoring soil profiles in southern Germany were analysed. Since there was no measurable trend of increasing CuAR concentrations with time in the respective depth ranges of the sites, data from different sampling dates were combined and horizon‐specific regression analyses including model simplifications were carried out for 10 horizons. Fixed‐ and mixed‐effects models with the site as a random effect were useful for the different horizons and significant contributions (either of main effects or interactions) of SOC, CEC and pH were present for 9, 8 and 7 horizons, respectively. Horizon‐specific rule‐based cubist models described the CuAR data similarly well. Validations of cubist models and mixed‐effects models for the CuAR concentrations in A horizons were successful for the given population after random splitting into calibration and validation samples, but not after independent validations with random splitting according to sites. Overall, site, CEC, SOC and pH provide important information for a description of CuAR concentrations using the different regression approaches. Highlights: Information on quantitative relationships for factors controlling Cu dynamics is scarce. Site, CEC, SOC and pH provide important information for a description of Cu concentrations. Validations of cubist models and mixed‐effects models for A horizons were successful for a closed population of sites.

Description: Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment and Consumer Protection http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100010219

Description: Ministry of Agriculture and Environment Mecklenburg‐Western Pomerania

Description: In recent years, German cities were heavily impacted by pluvial flooding and related damage is projected to increase due to climate change and urbanisation. It is important to ask how to improve urban pluvial flood risk management. To understand the current state of property level adaptation, a survey was conducted in four municipalities that had recently been impacted by pluvial flooding. A hybrid framework based on the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and the Protection Action Decision Model (PADM) was used to investigate drivers of adaptive behaviour through both descriptive and regression analyses. Descriptive statistics revealed that participants tended to instal more low‐ and medium‐cost measures than high‐cost measures. Regression analyses showed that coping appraisal increased protection motivation, but that the adaptive behaviour also depends on framing factors, particularly homeownership. We further found that, while threat appraisal solely affects protection motivation and responsibility appraisal affects solely maladaptive thinking, coping appraisal affects both. Our results indicate that PMT is a solid starting point to study adaptive behaviours in the context of pluvial flooding, but we need to go beyond that by, for instance, considering factors of the PADM, such as responsibility, ownership, or respondent age, to fully understand this complex decision‐making process.

Description: Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100002347

Description: Soil aeration is a critical factor for oxygen‐limited subsoil processes, as transport by diffusion and advection is restricted by the long distance to the free atmosphere. Oxygen transport into the soil matrix is highly dependent on its connectivity to larger pore channels like earthworm and root colonised biopores. Here we hypothesize that the soil matrix around biopores represents different connectivity depending on biopore genesis and actual coloniser. We analysed the soil pore system of undisturbed soil core samples around biopores generated or colonised by roots and earthworms and compared them with the pore system of soil, not in the immediacy of a biopore. Oxygen partial pressure profiles and gas relative diffusion was measured in the rhizosphere and drilosphere from the biopore wall into the bulk soil with microelectrodes. The measurements were linked with structural features such as porosity and connectivity obtained from X‐ray tomography and image analysis. Aeration was enhanced in the soil matrix surrounding biopores in comparison to the bulk soil, shown by higher oxygen concentrations and higher relative diffusion coefficients. Biopores colonised by roots presented more connected lateral pores than earthworm colonised ones, which resulted in enhanced aeration of the rhizosphere compared to the drilosphere. This has influenced biotic processes (microbial turnover/mineralization or root respiration) at biopore interfaces and highlights the importance of microstructural features for soil processes and their dependency on the biopore's coloniser.

Description: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659

Description: Application of farmyard manure (FYM) is common practice to improve physical and chemical properties of arable soil and crop yields. However, studies on effects of FYM application mainly focussed on topsoils, whereas subsoils have rarely been addressed so far. We, therefore, investigated the effects of 36‐year FYM application with different rates of annual organic carbon (OC) addition (0, 469, 938 and 1875 g C m−2 a−1) on OC contents of a Chernozem in 0–30 cm (topsoil) and 35–45 cm (subsoil) depth. We also investigated its effects on soil structure and hydraulic properties in subsoil. X‐ray computed tomography was used to analyse the response of the subsoil macropore system (≥19 μm) and the distribution of particulate organic matter (POM) to different FYM applications, which were related to contents in total OC (TOC) and water‐extractable OC (WEOC). We show that FYM‐C application of 469 g C m−2 a−1 caused increases in TOC and WEOC contents only in the topsoil, whereas rates of ≥938 g C m−2 a−1 were necessary for TOC enrichment also in the subsoil. At this depth, the subdivision of TOC into different OC sources shows that most of the increase was due to fresh POM, likely by the stimulation of root growth and bioturbation. The increase in subsoil TOC went along with increases in macroporosity and macropore connectivity. We neither observed increases in plant‐available water capacity nor in unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. In conclusion, only very high application of FYM over long periods can increase OC content of subsoil at our study site, but this increase is largely based on fresh, easily degradable POM and likely accompanied by high C losses when considering the discrepancy between OC addition rate by FYM and TOC response in soil. Highlights A new image processing procedure to distinguish fresh and decomposed POM. The increase of subsoil C stock based to a large extend on fresh, labile POM. Potential of arable subsoils for long‐term C storage by large FYM application rates is limited. The increase in TOC has no effect on hydraulic properties of the subsoil.

Description: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001659