Air-surface exchange of gaseous mercury over a mixed sawgrass-cattail stand within the Florida Everglades.
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The absolute structures of some naturally occurring chiral 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, (+)-remirol (1a), (+)-remiridiol (1b), (+)-angenomalin (2), and (+)-isoangenomalin (3), were studied by respective chiral synthesis. Kinetic resolutions of racemic 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans, 2-isopropenyl-4,6-dimethoxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran (4), 4-hydroxy-2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (8), and 2-isopropenyl-6-(MOM)oxy-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-5-carbaldehyde (11c), by Sharpless dihydroxylation using (DHQ)(2)AQN or (DHQD)(2)AQN gave the corresponding chiral 2-isopropenyl-2,3-dihydrobenzofurans. Chiral (S)-(+)-4 (99% ee, using (DHQD)(2)AQN) was converted to natural remirol (S)-(+)-1a and then to natural remiridiol (S)-(+)-1b. (S)-(+)-8 (97% ee, using (DHQD)(2)AQN) was converted to natural angenomalin (S)-(+)-2. (R)-(-)-11c (>99% ee, using (DHQ)(2)AQN), was converted to natural isoangenomalin (R)-(+)-3. Thus, the absolute structures of natural remirol (+)-1a and remiridiol (+)-1b and angenomalin (+)-2 were determined to be S, and the structure of natural isoangenomalin (+)-3 was R.
Activity-guided isolation of antifungal, antibacterial, and antioxidant compounds from the dichloromethane extract of the aerial parts of Eriophorum scheuchzeri led to the isolation of eight flavonoids. Three isoflavones and one flavanone are new natural compounds. The isolation of the bioactive compounds was performed by centrifugal partition chromatography. Fractions and pure compounds were monitored by a direct TLC bioautographic assay. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic and chemical methods.
Rooted aquatic plants are being used increasingly to test the toxicity of sediments. However, effects of naturally occurring substrate constituents on most potential test species are not well understood even though their effects could affect the test results. The objective of this study was to determine the effect of substrate salinity (NaCl) on early seedling survival and growth of the emergent macrophytes, Scirpus robustus Pursh and Spartina alterniflora Loisel. Results of four 21- and 28-day toxicity tests, conducted in an artificial sediment, indicated interspecific differences in NaCl sensitivity when based on changes in shoot, root and whole plant dry-weight biomass. Concentrations of 7.8 g NaCl/l and 19.2 g NaCl/l first reduced early seedling biomass of S. robustus and S. alterniflora (P<0.05), respectively, when compared to plants grown in sediment containing no measurable salinity. Seedling survival was not affected at average concentrations of 17.5 g NaCl/l or less for S. robustus and 22.3 g NaCl/l or less for S. alterniflora. The results indicate that substrate salinity is an important consideration in the selection of test species for laboratory phytotoxicity tests conducted with estuarine sediments, particularly if determination of chronic toxicity attributable to anthropogenic contamination is the primary objective.
The El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon is believed to have operated continuously over the last glacial-interglacial cycle. ENSO variability has been suggested to be linked to millennial-scale oscillations in North Atlantic climate during that time, but the proposals disagree on whether increased frequency of El Niño events, the warm phase of ENSO, was linked to North Atlantic warm or cold periods. Here we present a high-resolution record of surface moisture, based on the degree of peat humification and the ratio of sedges to grass, from northern Queensland, Australia, covering the past 45,000 yr. We observe millennial-scale dry periods, indicating periods of frequent El Niño events (summer precipitation declines in El Niño years in northeastern Australia). We find that these dry periods are correlated to the Dansgaard-Oeschger events--millennial-scale warm events in the North Atlantic climate record--although no direct atmospheric connection from the North Atlantic to our site can be invoked. Additionally, we find climatic cycles at a semiprecessional timescale (approximately 11,900 yr). We suggest that climate variations in the tropical Pacific Ocean on millennial as well as orbital timescales, which determined precipitation in northeastern Australia, also exerted an influence on North Atlantic climate through atmospheric and oceanic teleconnections.
Improvement of primary effluent quality by using an integrated system of emergent plants (Scirpus grossus in the leading subsurface flow arrangement) and submergent plants (Hydrilla verticillata in a subsequent channel) was investigated. The primary effluent was drawn from a septic tank treating domestic sewage from a student dormitory at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Influent and effluent samples were collected once every 2 weeks from May 2004 through July 2005 and analyzed to determine water quality parameters. Both the emergent and submergent plants were harvested at predetermined intervals. The results suggested that harvesting prolonged the usefulness of the system and the generation of a renewable biomass with potential economic value. The mean overall pollutant removal efficiencies of the integrated emergent and submergent plant system were biological oxygen demand (BOD5), 65.7%; chemical oxygen demand (COD), 40.8%; ammonium (NH4+-N), 74.8%; nitrate (NO3--N), 38.8%; phosphate (PO43-), 61.2%; total suspended solids (TSS), 65.8%; and fecal coliforms, 94.8%. The submergent plant subsystem improved removal of nutrients that survived the emergent subsystem operated at low hydraulic retention times. The significant improvement in effluent quality following treatment by the submergent plant system indicates the value of incorporating such plants in wetland systems.
The effect of different sediments on growth, Zn uptake, Zn plant distribution, and morphometric variables of Schoenoplectus americanus were investigated under controlled conditions. Two types of sediments were assayed: from a large natural levee (LS) and alluvial sediments (AS), the former with lower organic matter (OM) and nutrients content than AS, without and with added Zn (2500 microg Zn/g air-dry sediment). Zinc partition in sediment was determined. Increases in water conductivity and Zn concentrations in water and sediments were observed in artificially contaminated treatments. Plants showed a lower above ground growth rate, height, and width of shoots, and a higher Zn concentration in shoots and rhizomes. In the contaminated treatments, AS treatment showed lower Zn concentration in water and higher Zn concentration in sediments (total, exchangeable, and OM fractions) than LS treatment, due to Zn displacement from floodwater to sediments. The presence of a high level of OM and nutrients also increased aboveground biomass growth, whereas it decreased Zn concentration in shoots. Although the translocation factor increased with Zn addition, it was lower in AS treatment Sediments of AS treatments are a suitable environment for growth of S. americanus, which partially compensates the toxic effects of Zn. Our results provide an encouraging basis for planning larger scale experiments to test the role of OM and nutrients in improving phytoremediation.
Detention ponds and constructed wetlands have proven to be effective in reducing peak stormwater runoff volume and flow, and recent interest has extended to utilizing them to improve stormwater runoff quality. A review of stormwater runoff studies indicated that lead, zinc, copper, cadmium, phosphorus, and chloride are contaminants of primary concern. In laboratory settings, the uptake of contaminants by three wetland plant species, Glyceria grandis, Scirpus validus, and Spartina pectinata, was examined and removal rates from nutrient solutions inflow and nonflow reactors were measured. The removal rates varied by plant species and target contaminant, and no one species was the best accumulator of all six contaminants. Belowground tissues of all three species accumulated higher concentrations of the four heavy metals and aboveground tissues accumulated higher concentrations of phosphorus and chloride. Plants grown in flow reactors showed significantly higher accumulation rates than those grown in nonflow reactors. Also, plants grown hydroponically accumulated higher concentrations of the six target contaminants than those grown in sand reactors. However, those grown in sand had a much greater increase of biomass and removed a greater mass of the six target contaminants. Removal rates measured in these experiments can be used to design detention ponds to maximize stormwater remediation.
We studied plant biomass production and nutrient accumulation by wood club-rush (Scirpus sylvaticus) and reed (Phragmites australis) in a horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetland in 2001 and 2002. The wetland consists of two beds, one with dry and another with wetter conditions. From both beds, 5 above-ground, below-ground, and litter samples were taken in the summer, during the maximum flowering period of the dominant species. The average dry biomass of whole plant and litter was considerable higher in 2002 (3071 g m(-2)) than in 2001 (620 g m(-2)) due to the climatic conditions. The average dry weight biomass of 5 plots in 2001 was 513 g m(-2) in the dry bed and 729 g m(-2) in the wet bed. In 2002 these values were 2,520 and 3,765, respectively. Variations in biomasses will also appear in values for nutrient accumulation, in all cases the N and P accumulation was higher in 2002. The average nitrogen accumulation by plants was 16.6 g m(-2) in the wet and 10.7 g m(-2) in the dry bed in 2001, and 51.7 and 83.5 g m(-2) in 2002 respectively. Phosphorus accumulation was higher in the wet bed during 2001--2.8 g m(-2), in the dry bed this value was 1.9 g m(-2). In 2002, the phosphorus accumulation was higher in the dry bed--12.8 g m(-2), in the wet bed it was 12.43 g m(-2). The total biomass at the same conditions in the wet bed was slightly higher in case of wood club-rush--765 g m(-2) in 2001 and 3846 g m(-2) in 2002, same values for reed were 674 g m(-2) and 3,646, respectively.
The influence of temperature and plant-mediated oxygen transfer continues to draw attention from researchers, practitioners and regulators interested in the use of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment. Because the vast majority of research on constructed wetland performance has been conducted during periods of active plant growth, the true influence of temperature, season, and plant species selection on constructed wetlands performance has not yet been evaluated adequately. In this article, we briefly summarize changes in the understanding of these influences on wetland performance, and suggest that effects of temperature and oxygen transfer are not readily separable because both factors respond to seasonal cycles and because effects of one can offset the other. We further speculate that the net effect of seasonal variation in these factors is such that plant-mediated oxygen transfer affects water treatment most in winter. Results of controlled-environment experiments conducted at Montana State University support these perspectives. Different plant species' capacities to oxidize the root zone responded differently to seasonal cycles of growth and dormancy, and species' effects on wastewater treatment were most pronounced in winter.
BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Ozone effects on peatland vegetation are poorly understood. Since stress responses are often first visible in cell ultrastructure, electron microscopy was used to assess the sensitivity of common peatland plants to elevated ozone concentrations. METHODS: Three moss species (Sphagnum angustifolium, S. magellanicum and S. papillosum), a graminoid (Eriophorum vaginatum) and two dwarf shrubs (Vaccinium oxycoccus and Andromeda polifolia), all growing within an intact canopy on peat monoliths, were exposed to a concentration of 0, 50, 100 or 150 ppb ozone in two separate growth chamber experiments simulating either summer or autumn conditions in central Finland. After a 4- or 5-week-long exposure, samples were photographed in a transmission electron microscope and analysed quantitatively using image processing software. KEY RESULTS: In the chlorophyllose cells of the Sphagnum moss leaves from the capitulum, ozone exposure led to a decrease in chloroplast area and in granum stack thickness and various changes in plastoglobuli and cell wall thickness, depending on the species and the experiment. In E. vaginatum, ozone exposure significantly reduced chloroplast cross-sectional areas and the amount of starch, whereas there were no clear changes in the plastoglobuli. In the dwarf shrubs, ozone induced thickening of the cell wall and an increase in the size of plastoglobuli under summer conditions. In contrast, under autumn conditions the cell wall thickness remained unchanged but ozone exposure led to a transient increase in the chloroplast and starch areas, and in the number and size of plastoglobuli. CONCLUSIONS: Ozone responses in the Sphagnum mosses were comparable to typical ozone stress symptoms of higher plants, and indicated sensitivity especially in S. angustifolium. The responses in the dwarf shrubs suggest stimulation of photosynthesis by low ozone concentrations and ozone sensitivity only under cool autumn conditions.
Eriophorum spp. are abundant perennial graminoids in the Arctic tundra and boreal peatlands. Because ecological studies indicated that some plants are unusually productive on infertile and cold sites, the anatomy of the overwintering corms of Eriophorum vaginatum (L.) and Eriophorum scheuchzeri (Hoppe) were examined to determine their involvement in nutrient uptake and storage. Components of the long-distance transport pathways were identified within the plants by using histochemical techniques and transport of apoplastic and symplastic dyes. E. scheuchzeri produced a rhizome that consisted mainly of storage parenchyma cells within which collateral vascular bundles were centrally located and arranged in a circle. By contrast, E. vaginatum developed a ring of horizontally arranged xylem and phloem, in addition to axial amphivasal vascular bundles leading to the leaves, all of which were bordered by transfer cells. As shown by the transport of fluorescein in the phloem and Safranine O in the xylem, each axial bundle and adventitious root contacted the horizontal ring of vascular tissues so that solutes from one vascular bundle were translocated into the vascular ring and circulated to another vascular bundle and/or to the roots. In addition, special groups of sclereids that functioned in both phloem and xylem transport were found at the base of the leaf traces and within junctions of senescing roots. These sclereids were named 'vascular sclerenchyma' and it was hypothesized that they provide a moving end for the vascular system because the corm dies progressively from the distal end as it grows upward from the apical meristem. It was concluded that this unusual vascular system of E. vaginatum is efficient in recycling nutrients internally, which may account for its competitive advantage in infertile and cold sites.
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Increased ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation arising from stratospheric ozone depletion may influence soil microbial communities via effects on plant carbon allocation and root exudation. Eriophorum angustifolium and Narthecium ossifragum plants, grown in peatland mesocosms consisting of Sphagnum peat, peat pore water and natural microbial communities, were exposed outdoors to enhanced UV-B radiation simulating 15% ozone depletion in southern Scandinavia for 8 wk. Enhanced UV-B increased rhizome biomass and tended to decrease the biomass of the largest root fraction of N. ossifragum and furthermore decreased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and monocarboxylic acid concentration, which serves as an estimate of net root exudation, in the pore water of the N. ossifragum mesocosms. Monocarboxylic acid concentration was negatively related to the total carbon concentration of N. ossifragum leaves, which was increased by enhanced UV-B. By contrast, enhanced UV-B tended to increase monocarboxylic acid concentration in the rhizosphere of E. angustifolium and its root : shoot ratio. Microbial biomass carbon was increased by enhanced UV-B in the surface water of the E. angustifolium mesocosms. Increased UV-B radiation appears to alter below-ground biomass of the mire plants in species-specific patterns, which in turn leads to a change in the net efflux of root exudates.
Carbon dioxide and methane (CH4) fluxes were measured in a cutover bog of the Jura Mountains (France) together with biotic and abiotic variables for two entire vegetation periods in order to compare the carbon balance of the bog at three stages of regeneration. Among all factors, air temperature and vegetation index (including leaf area of vascular plants, bryophyte density and bryophyte desiccation) were the two main determinants of ecosystem respiration and gross photosynthesis at light saturation. During 2004 and 2005, the vegetated plots acted as carbon sinks. Net carbon exchange ranged between 67 and 166 g C m(-2) yr(-1) for the Eriophorum-dominated plots and between 93 and 183 g C m(-2) yr(-1) for the Sphagnum-dominated plots. The bare peat plots represented a net carbon source (between -19 and -32 g C m(-2) yr(-1)). Methane fluxes accounted for a very small part of the total carbon efflux (< 2%). The recovery of vegetation in our naturally regenerating bog was beneficial for the carbon sequestration after the relatively short period of 20 yr.
Underground rhizomes of emergent aquatic macrophytes are important for perennation, vegetative spread, competition and anchorage. In four species we examined the potential for the development of oxidized phyllospheres around rhizome apical buds, similar to the protective oxygenated rhizospheres around roots. Redox potentials and polarographic measurements of radial oxygen loss were recorded using platinum cathodes around the apical buds. The aeration pathway from atmosphere to phyllosphere was investigated anatomically and by applied pressurized gas flow. Redox potentials increased by +400, +45, +200 and +340 mV around rhizome apices of Phragmites australis, Oryza rhizomatis, Carex rostrata and Glyceria maxima, respectively. Radial oxygen loss from rhizome apices of Phragmites was increased by convective gas flow through the rhizome and by shoot de-submergence, and decreased by resistances applied within the aeration pathway and by shoot submergence. We conclude that oxygen passes via internal gas-space connections between aerial shoot, rhizome and underground buds and into the phyllosphere regions via scale-leaf stomata and surfaces on the buds. We suggest that oxidized phyllospheres may protect rhizome apices against phytotoxins in waterlogged soils, just as oxidized rhizospheres protect roots.
The radiolabeled leucine incorporation technique for quantifying rates of bacterial production has increased in popularity since its original description for bacterioplankton communities. Prior studies addressing incorporation conditions (e.g., substrate saturation) for bacterial communities in other habitats, such as decaying plant litter, have reported a wide range of final leucine concentrations (400 nM to 50 microM) required to achieve saturation-level uptake. We assessed the application of the [(3)H]leucine incorporation procedure for measuring bacterial production on decaying wetland plant litter. Substrate saturation experiments (nine concentrations, 10 nM to 50 microM final leucine concentration) were conducted on three dates for microbial communities colonizing the submerged litter of three emergent plant species (Typha angustifolia, Schoenoplectus validus, and Phragmites australis). A modified [(3)H]leucine protocol was developed by coupling previously described incubation and alkaline extraction protocols with microdialysis (500 molecular weight cutoff membrane) of the final radiolabeled protein extract. The incorporation of [(3)H]leucine into protein exhibited a biphasic saturation curve, with lower apparent K(m) values ranging from 400 nM to 4.2 microM depending on the plant species studied. Upper apparent K(m) values ranged from 1.3 to 59 microM. These results suggest differential uptake by litter-associated microbial assemblages, with the lower apparent K(m) values possibly representing bacterial uptake and higher apparent K(m) values representing a combination of both bacterial and nonbacterial (e.g., eukaryotic) uptake.
Decaying macrophytes are an important source of carbon and nutrients in fungal and bacterial communities of northern prairie wetlands. Dead macrophytes do not collapse into the water column immediately after death, and decomposition by fungi and bacteria begins while the plants are standing. The seasonal variations in fungal biomass and production on Scirpus lacustris stems, both above and below water, were measured to assess which environmental factors were dominant in affecting these variations in a typical prairie wetland. Fungal biomass and production were measured from early May to November, just prior to freeze-up. Fungal decomposition began and was greatest in the spring despite low water temperatures. The fungal production, as measured by the incorporation of [1-(14)C]acetate into ergosterol, ranged from 1.8 to 376 microg of C g of ash-free dry mass (AFDM)(-1) day(-1), and the biomass, as estimated by using ergosterol, ranged from nondetectable to 5.8 mg of C g of AFDM(-1). There was no significant difference in biomass or production between aerial and submerged portions of Scirpus stems. The water temperature was correlated with fungal production (r = 0.7, P < 0.005) for aerial stem pieces but not for submerged pieces. However, in laboratory experiments water temperature had a measurable effect on both biomass and production in submerged stem pieces. Changes in fungal biomass and productivity on freshly cut green Scirpus stems decaying in the water either exposed to natural solar radiation or protected from UV radiation were monitored over the summer. There was no significant difference in either fungal biomass (P = 0.76) or production (P = 0.96) between the two light treatments. The fungal biomass and rates of production were within the lower range of the values reported elsewhere, probably as a result of the colder climate and perhaps the lower lability of Scirpus stems compared to the labilities of the leaves and different macrophytes examined in other studies performed at lower latitudes.