Bacterial photosynthesis in surface waters of the open ocean

The oxidation of the global ocean by cyanobacterial oxygenic photosynthesis, about 2,100 Myr ago, is presumed to have limited anoxygenic bacterial photosynthesis to oceanic regions that are both anoxic and illuminated. The discovery of oxygen-requiring photosynthetic bacteria about 20 years ago changed this notion, indicating that anoxygenic bacterial photosynthesis could persist under oxidizing conditions. However, the distribution of aerobic photosynthetic bacteria in the world oceans, their photosynthetic competence and their relationship to oxygenic photoautotrophs on global scales are unknown. Here we report the first biophysical evidence demonstrating that aerobic bacterial photosynthesis is widespread in tropical surface waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean and in temperate coastal waters of the northwestern Atlantic. Our results indicate that these organisms account for 2-5% of the photosynthetic electron transport in the upper ocean.     

Seasonal oscillations in water exchange between aquifers and the coastal ocean

Ground water of both terrestrial and marine origin flows into coastal surface waters as submarine groundwater discharge, and constitutes an important source of nutrients, contaminants and trace elements to the coastal ocean. Large saline discharges have been observed by direct measurements and inferred from geochemical tracers, but sufficient seawater inflow has not been observed to balance this outflow. Geochemical tracers also suggest a time lag between changes in submarine groundwater discharge rates and the seasonal oscillations of inland recharge that drive groundwater flow towards the coast. Here we use measurements of hydraulic gradients and offshore fluxes taken at Waquoit Bay, Massachusetts, together with a modelling study of a generalized coastal groundwater system to show that a shift in the freshwater-saltwater interface-controlled by seasonal changes in water table elevation-can explain large saline discharges that lag inland recharge cycles. We find that sea water is drawn into aquifers as the freshwater-saltwater interface moves landward during winter, and discharges back into coastal waters as the interface moves seaward in summer. Our results demonstrate the connection between the seasonal hydrologic cycle inland and the saline groundwater system in coastal aquifers, and suggest a potentially important seasonality in the chemical loading of coastal waters.     

Exploring cyclic changes of the ocean carbon reservoir

A 5-Ma record from ODP Site 1143 has re-vealed the long-term cycles of 400—500 ka in the carbon isotope variations. The periodicity is correlatable all over the global ocean and hence indicative of low-frequency changes in the ocean carbon reservoir. As the same periodicity is also found in carbonate and eolian dust records in the tropical ocean, it may have been caused by such low-latitude proc-esses like monsoon. According to the Quaternary records from Site 1143 and elsewhere, major ice-sheet expansion and major transition in glacial cyclicity (such as the Mid-Brunhes Event and the Mid-Pleistocene Revolution ) were all pre-ceded by reorganization in the ocean carbon reservoir ex-pressed as an episode of carbon isotope maximum (d 13Cmax), implying the role of carbon cycling in modulating the glacial periodicity. The Quaternary glacial cycles, therefore, should no more be ascribed to the physical response to insolation changes at the Northern Hemisphere high latitudes alone; rather, they have been driven by the 揹ouble forcing? a combination of processes at both high and low latitudes, and of processes in both physical (ice-sheet) and biogeochemical (carbon cycling) realms. As the Earth is now passing through a new carbon isotope maximum, it is of vital impor-tance to understand the cyclic variations in the ocean carbon reservoir and its climate impact. The Pre-Quaternary varia-tions in carbon and oxygen isotopes are characterized by their co-variations at the 400-ka eccentricity band, but the response of d 13C and d 18O to orbital forcing in the Quater-nary became diverged with the growth of the Arctic ice-sheet. The present paper is the second summary report of ODP Leg 184 to the South China Sea.     

River plumes as a source of large-amplitude internal waves in the coastal ocean

Satellite images have long revealed the surface expression of large amplitude internal waves that propagate along density interfaces beneath the sea surface. Internal waves are typically the most energetic high-frequency events in the coastal ocean, displacing water parcels by up to 100 m and generating strong currents and turbulence that mix nutrients into near-surface waters for biological utilization. While internal waves are known to be generated by tidal currents over ocean-bottom topography, they have also been observed frequently in the absence of any apparent tide-topography interactions. Here we present repeated measurements of velocity, density and acoustic backscatter across the Columbia River plume front. These show how internal waves can be generated from a river plume that flows as a gravity current into the coastal ocean. We find that the convergence of horizontal velocities at the plume front causes frontal growth and subsequent displacement downward of near-surface waters. Individual freely propagating waves are released from the river plume front when the front's propagation speed decreases below the wave speed in the water ahead of it. This mechanism generates internal waves of similar amplitude and steepness as internal waves from tide-topography interactions observed elsewhere, and is therefore important to the understanding of coastal ocean mixing.     

Enhanced biological carbon consumption in a high CO2 ocean

The oceans have absorbed nearly half of the fossil-fuel carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted into the atmosphere since pre-industrial times, causing a measurable reduction in seawater pH and carbonate saturation. If CO2 emissions continue to rise at current rates, upper-ocean pH will decrease to levels lower than have existed for tens of millions of years and, critically, at a rate of change 100 times greater than at any time over this period. Recent studies have shown effects of ocean acidification on a variety of marine life forms, in particular calcifying organisms. Consequences at the community to ecosystem level, in contrast, are largely unknown. Here we show that dissolved inorganic carbon consumption of a natural plankton community maintained in mesocosm enclosures at initial CO2 partial pressures of 350, 700 and 1,050 microatm increases with rising CO2. The community consumed up to 39% more dissolved inorganic carbon at increased CO2 partial pressures compared to present levels, whereas nutrient uptake remained the same. The stoichiometry of carbon to nitrogen drawdown increased from 6.0 at low CO2 to 8.0 at high CO2, thus exceeding the Redfield carbon:nitrogen ratio of 6.6 in today's ocean. This excess carbon consumption was associated with higher loss of organic carbon from the upper layer of the stratified mesocosms. If applicable to the natural environment, the observed responses have implications for a variety of marine biological and biogeochemical processes, and underscore the importance of biologically driven feedbacks in the ocean to global change.     

Activation of old carbon by erosion of coastal and subsea permafrost in Arctic Siberia

The future trajectory of greenhouse gas concentrations depends on interactions between climate and the biogeosphere. Thawing of Arctic permafrost could release significant amounts of carbon into the atmosphere in this century. Ancient Ice Complex deposits outcropping along the ~7,000-kilometre-long coastline of the East Siberian Arctic Shelf (ESAS), and associated shallow subsea permafrost, are two large pools of permafrost carbon, yet their vulnerabilities towards thawing and decomposition are largely unknown. Recent Arctic warming is stronger than has been predicted by several degrees, and is particularly pronounced over the coastal ESAS region. There is thus a pressing need to improve our understanding of the links between permafrost carbon and climate in this relatively inaccessible region. Here we show that extensive release of carbon from these Ice Complex deposits dominates (57?±?2 per cent) the sedimentary carbon budget of the ESAS, the world’s largest continental shelf, overwhelming the marine and topsoil terrestrial components. Inverse modelling of the dual-carbon isotope composition of organic carbon accumulating in ESAS surface sediments, using Monte Carlo simulations to account for uncertainties, suggests that 44?±?10 teragrams of old carbon is activated annually from Ice Complex permafrost, an order of magnitude more than has been suggested by previous studies. We estimate that about two-thirds (66?±?16 per cent) of this old carbon escapes to the atmosphere as carbon dioxide, with the remainder being re-buried in shelf sediments. Thermal collapse and erosion of these carbon-rich Pleistocene coastline and seafloor deposits may accelerate with Arctic amplification of climate warming.     

Efficient export of carbon to the deep ocean through dissolved organic matter

Oceanic dissolved organic carbon (DOC) constitutes one of the largest pools of reduced carbon in the biosphere. Estimated DOC export from the surface ocean represents 20% of total organic carbon flux to the deep ocean, which constitutes a primary control on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. DOC is the carbon component of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and an accurate quantification of DOM pools, fluxes and their controls is therefore critical to understanding oceanic carbon cycling. DOC export is directly coupled with dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphorus export. However, the C:N:P stoichiometry (by atoms) of DOM dynamics is poorly understood. Here we study the stoichiometry of the DOM pool and of DOM decomposition in continental shelf, continental slope and central ocean gyre environments. We find that DOM is remineralized and produced with a C:N:P stoichiometry of 199:20:1 that is substantially lower than for bulk pools (typically >775:54:1), but greater than for particulate organic matter (106:16:1--the Redfield ratio). Thus for a given mass of new N and P introduced into surface water, more DOC can be exported than would occur at the Redfield ratio. This may contribute to the excess respiration estimated to occur in the interior ocean. Our results place an explicit constraint on global carbon export and elemental balance via advective pathways.     

上海海岸防护林造林树种的选择

以上海市海岸防护林树种为研究对象,用层次分析法建立涵盖生长适应性、生态功能、景观效应、经济价值等多因子的综合评价指标体系,对该区域营造的29个防护林树种进行了评价筛选。结果表明试验树种分为4类:表现优良的树种3种,表现较好的树种3种,表现一般的树种6种,不适应树种17种。在水盐协同胁迫逆境下,推荐苦楝(Melia azedarach)、青桐(Firmiana simplex)、栾树(Koelreuteria paniculata Laxm.)、金丝垂柳(Salix×aureo-pendula)、乌桕(Sapium sebiferum(L.)Roxb.)、黄连木(Pistacia chinensis)、中山杉(Taxodium hybrid)、喜树(Camptotheca acuminata Denc-ne)、墨西哥落羽杉(Taxodium mucronatum)、雪松(Cedrus deodara)、枫香(Liquidambar formosara)、南酸枣(Choerosponias axillaris)等12个乔木树种作为上海地区海岸防护林体系建设的适宜树种。     

江苏沿岸大型绿藻主要物种及其季节性变化

采用形态学与分子生物学手段,调查并分析了江苏沿岸水域大型绿藻物种、数量及其时空变化规律等主要生物学特征.结果表明,该区域大型绿藻的优势种为缘管浒苔（Ulva linza Linnaeus）和浒苔（U.prolifera O.F.Müller）.藻体形态随栖息地、生长季节等发生较大变化.大型绿藻生物量呈南高北低的趋势,在...     

入侵物种对滨海湿地生态系统的生物地貌影响综述

入侵物种作为生态系统工程师对滨海湿地生态系统具有显著的生物地貌影响. 基于文献调研,以入侵物种与生物地貌的内涵与发展为切入点,总结了入侵物种的生物地貌作用机制与类型,综述了入侵植物、动物对滨海湿地生态系统的生物地貌影响、生态后果及其对生态修复与管理的启示,并结合当前研究现状展望了未来的研究趋势. 一方面,该研究有助于系统认识入侵物种生物地貌效应的重要性及其研究进展;另一方面,聚焦于入侵物种生物地貌影响的生态后果,可为滨海湿地的生态修复与管理提供借鉴与指导      

苏北滨海土壤无机碳含量的测定方法比较

【目的】无机碳是苏北滨海土壤碳库的重要组成部分,探索其含量的精准测定方法,以期为深入认识土壤无机碳(SIC)的形成和转化提供基础。【方法】在苏北地区野外选取杨树人工林和互花米草湿地作为样地,采集0～10、≥10～20、≥20～40、≥40～60、≥60～80和≥80～100 cm深度的土壤样品,在实验室分别使用气量法、二氧化碳(CO₂)吸收法和间接法测定SIC含量及其回收率,比较3种方法的精准性。【结果】使用气量法、CO₂吸收法和间接法测得的SIC含量的变化范围分别为4.25～9.93、6.18～11.50和5.50～12.60 g/kg,平均值分别为8.11、9.58和9.54 g/kg。当外源碳酸钙添加梯度为2.35～12.90 g/kg时,气量法、CO₂吸收法和间接法的回收率的平均值分别为96.9%、105.0%和71.5%。根据回收率校正后的SIC含量,间接法的结果明显高于其他两种方法,这表明间接法的回收率被低估。气量法、CO₂吸收法和间接法测定平行土壤样品无机碳含量的变异系数分别为1.19...     

添加有机肥对滨海盐渍土壤溶解性有机碳特征的影响

【目的】研究添加有机肥对滨海盐渍土壤溶解性有机碳(DOC)的影响,探究土壤DOC的组分来源以及滨海盐渍土壤碳库的稳定性,为改良滨海盐渍土并发挥其碳汇效应提供依据。【方法】以江苏大丰滨海两种不同盐分的盐渍土壤为研究对象,利用紫外-可见光谱和三维荧光光谱结合平行因子分析法,分析添加牛粪有机肥后两种盐渍土壤中DOC含量及紫外-可见光谱、三维荧光光谱特征的动态变化。【结果】添加有机肥的土壤DOC含量显著增加,且有机肥的添加提高了土壤DOC的腐殖化程度,试验第15天和第60天时高盐土壤DOC的腐殖化程度更高,土壤中DOC主要来源于添加的有机肥。三维荧光光谱特征显示,添加有机肥后土壤DOC中类富里酸峰较为明显。平行因子分析法将土壤DOC分为4个荧光组分:C1为外源类短波类腐殖质组分(紫外光区为类富里酸、海洋类富里酸),C2为外源类腐殖质组分(紫外光区、可见光区均为类富里酸),C3为内源类蛋白质组分(类络氨酸、类色氨酸),C4为内源类蛋白质组分(类络氨酸),随时间的变化各组分的占比也表现出不同的情况。【结论】滨海两种盐渍土壤添加牛粪有机肥后,土壤中DOC的含量、类腐殖质组分占比及腐质化程度均显著提高,类络氨酸组分的占比显著降低(P<0.05)。添加有机肥有利于盐渍土壤中活性碳库的稳定,但由于影响DOC的因素众多,不同的盐渍土壤表现情况各异。     

Respiration in the open ocean

A key question when trying to understand the global carbon cycle is whether the oceans are net sources or sinks of carbon. This will depend on the production of organic matter relative to the decomposition due to biological respiration. Estimates of respiration are available for the top layers, the mesopelagic layer, and the abyssal waters and sediments of various ocean regions. Although the total open ocean respiration is uncertain, it is probably substantially greater than most current estimates of particulate organic matter production. Nevertheless, whether the biota act as a net source or sink of carbon remains an open question.     

高纯石墨结晶器制备工艺改进研究

高纯石墨镀碳结晶器是在原先石墨结晶器的基础上改进的一种结晶器,它弥补了原结晶器的缺陷,保留了其优点,本文主要介绍了此结晶器的制备工艺流程和其影响因素,说明了其实用特性和范围.     

海滨城市道路绿化树种综合评价体系构建

[目的]对树种进行综合评价可以为自然条件复杂的海滨城市道路绿化和廊道生态系统构建提供科学参考.[方法]以连云港市为例,对道路绿化常见的55个树种进行科学监测、调查和分析,采用层次分析法,设置5个一级指标:生态性、景观性、适应性、经济性和负面性,在此基础上设置30个二级指标,对各指标进行量化打分,确定各评价指标的权重值和...     

沿海造林树种根际丛枝菌根真菌与土壤因子的通径分析

【目的】探讨苏北沿海土壤理化性质对当地主要造林树种根际丛枝菌根真菌(AMF)侵染及球囊霉相关蛋白数量的影响,为丛枝菌根真菌在沿海困难立地造林提供理论依据。【方法】以江苏盐城大丰林场内的8个不同树种为研究对象(薄壳山核桃、杨树、水杉、榉树、中山杉、杜仲、银杏、胡颓子),测定土壤理化性质,根据通径分析,探讨造林树种根际丛枝菌根真菌与土壤因子的关系。【结果】丛枝菌根真菌(AMF)侵染率最高为薄壳山核桃,最低为银杏; 孢子密度最高为杜仲,最低为银杏; 总球囊霉素最高为榉树,最低为中山杉; 易提取球囊霉素最高为杨树,最低为银杏。AMF侵染率与土壤全磷含量呈极显著负相关(P<0.01); 总球囊霉素与pH呈极显著负相关(P<0.01),与速效钾和有机碳呈极显著正相关(P<0.01); 易提取球囊霉素与土壤全钠含量呈极显著正相关(P<0.01),与土壤全磷呈显著负相关(P<0.05); 孢子密度与土壤因子并无显著性关系。通径分析显示,土壤全磷对AMF侵染率直接作用最强,土壤全钾、电导率的作用次之; 土壤速效钾对总球囊霉素的直接作用最强,pH、可溶性有机碳、全钠、电导率的作用次之,硝态氮对总球囊霉素含量的影响表现在间接作用上; 全钠对易提取球囊霉素的直接作用最强,电导率、全磷的作用次之,全钾对易提取球囊霉素的影响表现在间接作用上。【结论】沿海地区生长的8个树种均检测到AMF侵染,且土壤因子对AMF与树种的互利共生关系有显著影响。     

Simulating the amplification of orbital forcing by ocean feedbacks in the last glaciation

According to Milankovitch theory, the lower summer insolation at high latitudes about 115,000 years ago allowed winter snow to persist throughout summer, leading to ice-sheet build-up and glaciation. But attempts to simulate the last glaciation using global atmospheric models have failed to produce this outcome when forced by insolation changes only. These results point towards the importance of feedback effects-for example, through changes in vegetation or the ocean circulation-for the amplification of solar forcing. Here we present a fully coupled ocean-atmosphere model of the last glaciation that produces a build-up of perennial snow cover at known locations of ice sheets during this period. We show that ocean feedbacks lead to a cooling of the high northern latitudes, along with an increase in atmospheric moisture transport from the Equator to the poles. These changes agree with available geological data and, together, they lead to an increased delivery of snow to high northern latitudes. The mechanism we present explains the onset of glaciation-which would be amplified by changes in vegetation-in response to weak orbital forcing.     

Proteorhodopsin phototrophy in the ocean.

Proteorhodopsin, a retinal-containing integral membrane protein that functions as a light-driven proton pump, was discovered in the genome of an uncultivated marine bacterium; however, the prevalence, expression and genetic variability of this protein in native marine microbial populations remain unknown. Here we report that photoactive proteorhodopsin is present in oceanic surface waters. We also provide evidence of an extensive family of globally distributed proteorhodopsin variants. The protein pigments comprising this rhodopsin family seem to be spectrally tuned to different habitats--absorbing light at different wavelengths in accordance with light available in the environment. Together, our data suggest that proteorhodopsin-based phototrophy is a globally significant oceanic microbial process.