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Adding Water (adding + water)
Selected AbstractsEffects of nutrient loading and extreme rainfall events on coastal tallgrass prairies: invasion intensity, vegetation responses, and carbon and nitrogen distributionGLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY, Issue 10 2007EVAN SIEMANN Abstract Soil fertility and precipitation are major factors regulating transitions from grasslands to forests. Biotic regulation may influence the effects of these abiotic drivers. In this study, we examined the effects of extreme rainfall events, anthropogenic nutrient loading and insect herbivory on the ability of Chinese tallow tree (Sapium sebiferum) to invade coastal prairie to determine how these factors may influence woody invasion of a grassland. We manipulated soil fertility (NPK addition) and simulated variation in frequency of extreme rainfall events in a three growing season, full factorial field experiment. Adding water to or pumping water out of plots simulated increased and decreased rainfall frequencies. We added Sapium seeds and seedlings to each plot and manipulated insect herbivory on transplanted Sapium seedlings with insecticide. We measured soil moisture, Sapium performance, vegetation mass, and carbon and nitrogen in vegetation and soils (0,10 cm deep, 10,20 cm deep). Fertilization increased Sapium invasion intensity by increasing seedling survival, height growth and biomass. Insect damage was low and insect suppression had little effect in all conditions. Recruitment of Sapium from seed was very low and independent of treatments. Vegetation mass was increased by fertilization in both rainfall treatments but not in the ambient moisture treatment. The amount of carbon and nitrogen in plants was increased by fertilization, especially in modified moisture plots. Soil carbon and nitrogen were independent of all treatments. These results suggest that coastal tallgrass prairies are more likely to be impacted by nutrient loading, in terms of invasion severity and nutrient cycling, than by changes in the frequency of extreme rainfall events. [source] Two contrasted P,T,time paths of coronitic metanorites of the French Massif Central: are reaction textures reliable guides to metamorphic histories?JOURNAL OF METAMORPHIC GEOLOGY, Issue 2 2005C. NICOLLET Abstract Metanorites from two eclogitized metagabbros of the Hercynian French Massif Central preserve coronitic textures of hornblende, garnet, quartz and/or kyanite produced at the expense of the primary magmatic assemblage orthopyroxene and plagioclase. Using a petrogenetic grid in the CFMASH system, two possible P,T evolutions for the origin of the coronas are evaluated. The sequence of reactions involving the formation of Hbl (,Ky) ± Grt and Qtz coronitic assemblages is consistent with an isobaric cooling at high pressure (c. 1,2 GPa) under hydrated conditions. However, this P,T path, inferred by using only petrographical observations, is inconsistent with the geochronological constraints: emplacement of the gabbro at 490 Ma and high-pressure metamorphism at 410 Ma. In order to reconcile petrographical observations with geochronological constraints, we propose a discontinuous two-stage evolution involving a change in water activity with time. (1) Emplacement and cooling of the norite at low pressure under anhydrous conditions, at 490 Ma. (2) During the Hercynian orogeny, the norite experienced an increase in pressure and temperature under fluid-present conditions. Adding water to the system implies a dramatic change in the petrogenetic grid topology, restricting the orthopyroxene,plagioclase assemblage only to high temperatures. Therefore, the breakdown of the unstable magmatic assemblage, through apparent retrograde reactions, occurred along the prograde P,T path which never crossed the equilibrium boundaries of these reactions. [source] Herbivory and Abiotic Factors Affect Population Dynamics of Arabidopsis thaliana in a Sand Dune AreaPLANT BIOLOGY, Issue 5 2005A. Mosleh Arany Abstract: Population dynamics of the annual plant Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. were studied in a natural habitat of this species on the coastal dunes of the Netherlands. The main objective was to elucidate factors controlling population dynamics and the relative importance of factors affecting final population density. Permanent plots were established and plants were mapped to obtain data on survival and reproductive performance of each individual, with special attention to herbivore damage. In experimental plots we studied how watering, addition of nutrients, artificial disturbance, and natural herbivores affected survival and growth. Mortality was low during autumn and early winter and high at the time of stem elongation, between February and April. A key factor analysis showed a high correlation between mortality from February to April and total mortality. The specialist weevils Ceutorhyncus atomus and C. contractus (Curculionidae) were identified as the major insect herbivores on A. thaliana, reducing seed production by more than 40 %. These herbivores acted in a plant size-dependent manner, attacking a greater fraction of the fruits on large plants. While mortality rates were not affected by density, fecundity decreased with density, although the effect was small. Adding water reduced mortality in rosette and flowering plant stages. Soil disturbance did not increase seed germination, but did have a significant positive effect on survival of rosette and flowering plants. Seed production of A. thaliana populations varied greatly between years, leading to population fluctuations, with a small role for density-dependent fecundity and plant size-dependent herbivory. [source] Spatial and temporal scaling in habitat utilization by klipspringers (Oreotragus oreotragus) determined using giving-up densitiesAUSTRAL ECOLOGY, Issue 5 2009DAVE J. DRUCE Abstract An animal's pattern of habitat use can reveal how different parts of its environment vary in quality based on the costs (such as predation risk) and benefits (such as food intake) of using each habitat. We studied klipspringer habitat use in Augrabies Falls National Park, South Africa using giving-up densities (GUDs; the amount of food remaining in a resource patch following exploitation) in experimental food patches. We tested hypotheses related to how salient habitat variables might influence klipspringers' perceptions of foraging costs. At small spatial scales (3,4 m), klipspringer GUDs did not vary with cover and open microhabitats, or with the four cardinal aspects (shading) around shrubs. Adding water adjacent to food patches did not influence GUDs, showing that water is not a limiting complementary resource to food. Generally, klipspringers do not appear to be physiologically constrained. There was no difference in GUDs between four daily time periods, or between summer and winter; however, a significant interaction effect of time-of-day with season resulted from GUDs during the midday time period in winter being significantly higher (perceived value lower) than during the same time period in summer. At moderate spatial scales (10,60 m), klipspringer GUDs increased with distance from rocks because of increased predation risk. Based on GUDs collected at the largest scale (two 4.41-ha grids), klipspringers preferred foraging at greater distances from drainage lines and on pebble and cobble substrates. Overall, this study has shown the efficacy of measuring GUDs to determine klipspringers' habitat utilization while foraging. [source] Production of Hydrogen from Dimethyl Ether over Supported Rhodium CatalystsCHEMCATCHEM, Issue 2 2009Gyula Halasi Abstract Infrared (IR) spectroscopy revealed that dimethyl ether (DME) undergoes partial dissociation on pure and rhodium-containing CeO2 at 300,K to yield methoxy and methyl species. This process is promoted by the presence of rhodium. By means of thermal desorption measurements (TPD), the adsorption of DME on Rh/CeO2 at 300,K and subsequent decomposition of DME (Tp,370,K), releasing H2, CO, CO2, and CH4, with Tp between 420 and 673,K, were ascertained. Rh/CeO2 is an effective catalyst for the decomposition of DME to give H2 (29,35,%), CO (27,30,%) and CH4 (32,38,%) as major products with complete conversion at 673,723,K. Adding water to DME changed the product distribution and increased the selectivity of H2 formation from 30,35,% to 58,% at 723,K. In,situ IR spectroscopy showed absorption bands of CO at 2034 and 1893,cm,1 during the reaction at 673,773,K. Deactivation of the catalyst did not occur at 773,K during the time measured (approximately 10 h). Rh deposited on carbon Norit also exhibited a high activity towards the decomposition of DME, but the selectivity towards hydrogen was lower. [source] | ||||||||||