Practical Guide to Measuring Wetland Carbon Pools and Fluxes.

Unlabelled: Wetlands cover a small portion of the world, but have disproportionate influence on global carbon (C) sequestration, carbon dioxide and methane emissions, and aquatic C fluxes. However, the underlying biogeochemical processes that affect wetland C pools and fluxes are complex and dynamic, making measurements of wetland C challenging. Over decades of research, many observational, experimental, and analytical approaches have been developed to understand and quantify pools and fluxes of wetland C.

Mercury accumulation potential of aquatic plant species in West Dongting Lake, China.

West Dongting Lake is a protected wetland with the potential for high levels of mercury release via wastewater and deposition from industry and agriculture during the last decade. To find out the ability of various plant species to accumulate mercury pollutants from soil and water, nine sites were studied in the downstream direction of the flow of the Yuan and Li Rivers, which are tributaries of the Yellow River flowing into West Dongting Lake, where mercury levels arere high in soil and plant tissues. The total mercury (THg) concentration in wetland soil was 0.

Correction: Spatial distribution of heavy metals in the West Dongting Lake floodplain, China.

Correction for 'Spatial distribution of heavy metals in the West Dongting Lake floodplain, China' by Dong Peng et al., Environ. Sci.

Spatial distribution of heavy metals in the West Dongting Lake floodplain, China.

The protection of Dongting Lake is important because it is an overwintering and migration route for many rare and endangered birds of East Asia and Australasia, but an assessment of heavy metal contamination in West Dongting Lake is lacking. A total of 75 sediment samples (five sites × three sediment depths) were collected in West Dongting Lake in January 2017 to assess the spatial distribution and ecological risk of heavy metals in West Dongting Lake. Heavy metal values varied by sediment depth including As, Cd, Zn, and Cu, with the depth giving an indication of recent vs.

Trends of litter decomposition and soil organic matter stocks across forested swamp environments of the southeastern US.

A common idea in the discussion of soil carbon processes is that litter decomposition rates and soil carbon stocks are inversely related. To test this overall hypothesis, simultaneous studies were conducted of the relationship of environmental gradients to leaf and wood decomposition, buried cloth decomposition and percent soil organic matter in Taxodium distichum swamps across the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (MRAV) and northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM) of the US. Decomposition of leaf tissue was 6.

Plot Locator: An app for locating plots in the field.

Premise: One of the challenges in field biology is locating previously sampled plots. The Plot Locator app was developed to assist field biologists with plot identification and location, with or without GPS or online connectivity.

Methods And Results: The Plot Locator Android app helps users locate field plots by creating a searchable database that stores study area information, such as site/plot names and numbers, distances from landmarks, optional cardinal directions and GPS coordinates, and field notes.

Morphology and genetics of Lythrum salicaria from latitudinal gradients of the Northern Hemisphere grown in cold and hot common gardens.

The aim of this project was to compare the phenotypic responses of global populations of Lythrum salicaria in cold/dry and hot/humid environments to determine if phenotypic plasticity varied between the native and invasive ranges, and secondarily if this variation was linked to genetic diversity. Common garden studies were conducted in Třeboň, Czech Republic, and Lafayette, Louisiana, USA (cold/dry vs. hot/humid garden, respectively), using populations from latitudinal gradients in Eurasia and North America.

Assessing coastal wetland vulnerability to sea-level rise along the northern Gulf of Mexico coast: Gaps and opportunities for developing a coordinated regional sampling network.

Coastal wetland responses to sea-level rise are greatly influenced by biogeomorphic processes that affect wetland surface elevation. Small changes in elevation relative to sea level can lead to comparatively large changes in ecosystem structure, function, and stability. The surface elevation table-marker horizon (SET-MH) approach is being used globally to quantify the relative contributions of processes affecting wetland elevation change.

Effects of salinity and flooding on post-hurricane regeneration potential in coastal wetland vegetation.

Premise Of The Study: The nature of regeneration dynamics after hurricane flooding and salinity intrusion may play an important role in shaping coastal vegetation patterns.

Methods: The regeneration potentials of coastal species, types and gradients (wetland types from seaward to landward) were studied on the Delmarva Peninsula after Hurricane Sandy using seed bank assays to examine responses to various water regimes (unflooded and flooded to 8 cm) and salinity levels (0, 1, and 5 ppt). Seed bank responses to treatments were compared using a generalized linear models approach.

Dendrometer bands made easy: Using modified cable ties to measure incremental growth of trees.

Premise Of The Study: Dendrometer bands are a useful way to make sequential repeated measurements of tree growth, but traditional dendrometer bands can be expensive, time consuming, and difficult to construct in the field. An alternative to the traditional method of band construction is to adapt commercially available materials. This paper describes how to construct and install dendrometer bands using smooth-edged, stainless steel, cable tie banding and attachable rollerball heads.

Soil warming alters seed-bank responses across the geographic range of freshwater Taxodium distichum (Cupressaceae) swamps.

Premise Of The Study: Climate warming is predicted to have far-reaching effects on the distribution of species, but those effects may depend on the flexibility of regenerating species in responding to climate gradients. We conducted a study to determine whether the variation in the response of seed banks to temperature varied across the latitudinal range of Taxodium distichum swamps in North America.

Methods: The soil was collected in a long-term research network and heated experimentally to three current-day spring normal soil temperatures (average maximum daily spring normal soil temperatures during May in Illinois, Arkansas, and Louisiana, USA, respectively: 22°, 25°, and 29°C).

Multilocus patterns of nucleotide polymorphism and demographic change in Taxodium distichum (Cupressaceae) in the lower Mississippi River alluvial valley.

Premise Of The Study: Studies of the geographic patterns of genetic variation can give important insights into the past population structure of species. Our study species, Taxodium distichum L. (bald-cypress), prefers riparian and wetland habitats and is widely distributed in southeastern North America and Mexico.