Facets and scales in river restoration: Nestedness and interdependence of hydrological, geomorphic, ecological, and biogeochemical processes

Authors

Lina E. Polvi, Lovisa Lind, Henrik Persson, Aneliza Miranda-Melo, Francesca Pilotto, Xiaolei Su, Christer Nilsson

Although river restoration has increased rapidly, observations of successful ecological recovery are rare, mostly due to a discrepancy in the spatial scale of the impact and the restoration. Rivers and their ecological communities are a product of four river facets—hydrology, geomorphology, ecology and biogeochemistry—that act and interact on several spatial scales, from the sub-reach to the reach and catchment scales. The four river facets usually affect one another in predictable pathways (e.g., hydrology commonly controls geomorphology), but we show that the order in which they affect each other and can be restored varies depending on ecoregion and hydroclimatic regime. Similarly, processes at different spatial scales can be nested or independent of those at larger scales. Although some restoration practices are dependent of those at higher scales, other reach-scale restoration efforts are independent and can be carried out prior to or concurrently with larger-scale restoration. We introduce a checklist using the four river facets to prioritize restoration at three spatial scales in order to have the largest positive effect on the entire catchment. We apply this checklist to two contrasting regions—in northern Sweden and in southern Brazil—with different anthropogenic effects and interactions between facets and scales. In the case of nested processes that are dependent on larger spatial scales, reach-scale restoration in the absence of restoration of catchment-scale processes can frankly be a waste of money, providing little ecological return. However, depending on the scale-interdependence of processes of the river facets, restoration at smaller scales may be sufficient. This means that the most appropriate government agency should be assigned (i.e., national vs. county) to most effectively oversee river restoration at the appropriate scale; however, this first requires a catchment-scale analysis of feedbacks between facets and spatial scale interdependence.

Redox state of microbial extracellular polymeric substances regulates reduction of selenite to elemental selenium accompanying with enhancing microbial detoxification in aquatic environments

Authors

Xin Zhang, Wen-Yuan Fan, Mu-Cen Yao, Chuan-Wang Yang, Guo-Ping Sheng

In nature, many microorganisms show resistance to toxic selenite by reducing selenite to non-soluble and low toxic elemental selenium. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), a high-molecular-weight biopolymers originated from microbial metabolism, contain many reducing groups and can induce reductive transformation of pollutants. However, the roles of EPS and its redox state in reductive detoxification or reduction removal of selenite, respectively, remain unknown yet. Herein, the reduction of selenite by different sources of EPS was investigated. Selenite was proved to be reduced by EPS and partly transformed to elemental selenium. The formed elemental selenium was mainly selenium nanoparticles confirmed by transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The redox state of EPS governed selenite reduction and elemental selenium formation, and the reduced state of EPS was in favor of selenite reduction. Dissolved oxygen concentration in water regulated EPS redox state and influenced selenite reduction. The thiols, aldehyde and phenolic groups in EPS were responsible for selenite reduction. Under selenite stress, EPS was capable of increasing cell survivability by enhancing microorganisms-mediated selenite reduction. This work revealed the previously undiscovered roles of EPS in selenite reduction and elemental selenium formation in aquatic environments and also suggested a possible crucial role of EPS in selenium biogeochemical cycle.

Resolving biogeochemical processes in lakes using remote sensing

Authors

Vincent Nouchi, Tiit Kutser, Alfred Wüest, Beat Müller, Daniel Odermatt, Theo Baracchini, Damien Bouffard

Remote sensing helps foster our understanding of inland water processes allowing a synoptic view of water quality parameters. In the context of global monitoring of inland waters, we demonstrate the benefit of combining in-situ water analysis, hydrodynamic modelling and remote sensing for investigating biogeochemical processes. This methodology has the potential to be used at global scales. We take the example of four Landsat-8 scenes acquired by the OLI sensor and MODIS-Aqua imagery over Lake Geneva (France—Switzerland) from spring to early summer 2014. Remotely sensed data suggest a strong temporal and spatial variability during this period. We show that combining the complementary spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions of these sensors allows for a comprehensive characterization of estuarine, littoral and pelagic near-surface features. Moreover, by combining in-situ measurements, biogeochemical analysis and hydrodynamic modelling with remote sensing data, we can link these features to river intrusion and calcite precipitation processes, which regularly occur in late spring or early summer. In this context, we propose a procedure that can be used to monitor whiting events in temperate lakes worldwide.

Key Role of Alphaproteobacteria and Cyanobacteria in the Formation of Stromatolites of Lake Dziani Dzaha (Mayotte, Western Indian Ocean)

Authors

Emmanuelle Gérard, Siham De Goeyse, Mylène Hugoni, Hélène Agogué, Laurent Richard, Vincent Milesi, François Guyot, Léna Lecourt, Stephan Borensztajn, Marie-Béatrice Joseph, Thomas Leclerc, Gérard Sarazin, Didier Jézéquel, Christophe Leboulanger, and Magali Ader

Lake Dziani Dzaha is a thalassohaline tropical crater lake located on the “Petite Terre” Island of Mayotte (Comoros archipelago, Western Indian Ocean). Stromatolites are actively growing in the shallow waters of the lake shores. These stromatolites are mainly composed of aragonite with lesser proportions of hydromagnesite, calcite, dolomite, and phyllosilicates. They are morphologically and texturally diverse ranging from tabular covered by a cauliflower-like crust to columnar ones with a smooth surface. High-throughput sequencing of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes combined with confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) analysis revealed that the microbial composition of the mats associated with the stromatolites was clearly distinct from that of the Arthrospira-dominated lake water. Unicellular-colonial Cyanobacteria belonging to the Xenococcus genus of the Pleurocapsales order were detected in the cauliflower crust mats, whereas filamentous Cyanobacteria belonging to the Leptolyngbya genus were found in the smooth surface mats. Observations using CLSM, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Raman spectroscopy indicated that the cauliflower texture consists of laminations of aragonite, magnesium-silicate phase and hydromagnesite. The associated microbial mat, as confirmed by laser microdissection and whole-genome amplification (WGA), is composed of Pleurocapsales coated by abundant filamentous and coccoid Alphaproteobacteria. These phototrophic Alphaproteobacteria promote the precipitation of aragonite in which they become incrusted. In contrast, the Pleurocapsales are not calcifying but instead accumulate silicon and magnesium in their sheaths, which may be responsible for the formation of the Mg-silicate phase found in the cauliflower crust. We therefore propose that Pleurocapsales and Alphaproteobacteria are involved in the formation of two distinct mineral phases present in the cauliflower texture: Mg-silicate and aragonite, respectively. These results point out the role of phototrophic Alphaproteobacteria in the formation of stromatolites, which may open new perspective for the analysis of the fossil record.

Stream water quality affected by interacting hydrological and biogeochemical processes in a riparian wetland

Authors

Christina Weyer, Stefan Peiffer, Gunnar Lischeid

Riparian wetlands as both hydrological and biogeochemical hot spots often have a major impact on the release of solutes from headwater catchments. Numerous studies give some evidence of a rather complex interplay of hydrological and biogeochemical processes that is still poorly understood. This study seeks to address this challenge using a multivariate solute concentration data set from a small riparian headwater wetland. First, a non-linear variant of the Principal Component Analysis (Isomap) was performed in a preceding study to identify prevailing biogeochemical processes controlling water chemistry. Second, the scores of the components of the stream draining the wetland were subjected to a cluster analysis to identify typical biogeochemical patterns for different biogeochemical and hydrological boundary conditions.

Four different clusters could be identified, which roughly followed a seasonal pattern, although modified by hydrological boundary conditions in the short-term. During the first three months of the year, Cluster 3 prevailed, indicating a discharge of rather unaltered shallow to mean depth groundwater. Cluster 3 was increasingly replaced by Cluster 2 and then subsequently by Cluster 1, indicating increasingly anoxic conditions, increasing denitrification and desulphurization, and increasing decomposition of organic carbon reflecting increasing biological activity and increasing water residence time within the wetland. However, stream water during stormflow after extended periods of low groundwater level in the second half of the growth season exhibited a very distinct pattern, represented by the fourth cluster. It indicated strong oxic conditions causing enhanced oxidation of sulphides, a corresponding decrease in pH values, and a substantial increase in the concentration of alkaline earth ions, manganese and in electric conductivity during the dry period.

It is concluded that temporal variations in stream water chemistry clearly reflected the intensity of biological activity in the wetland, interacting with water table dynamics. Our results provide strong evidence for major effects of single extreme events like drought periods which are expected to become more frequent because of climate change.

Multi-Element Composition of Prairie Pothole Wetland Soils along Depth Profiles Reflects Past Disturbance to a Depth of at Least one Meter

Authors

Carrie Werkmeister, Donna L. Jacob, Larry Cihacek, Marinus L. Otte

Wetlands are influenced by direct disturbances due to agricultural practices, as well as by indirect effects from the surrounding landscapes. Management and restoration require condition assessments, which are usually based on properties of the vegetation and soils near the surface. Less knowledge exists about the effects of disturbance deeper down the soil profile. In this study, multi-element analysis along soil profiles was used to assess changes due to past disturbances. Soil cores were obtained from undisturbed and disturbed Prairie Pothole wetlands in North Dakota, USA. The objectives were to: 1) assess the vertical variation in multi-element composition of wetlands soils, 2) interpret the differences between undisturbed and disturbed wetlands, and 3) determine the relationships between the environmental variables and multi-element concentrations. We expected that data on concentrations of elements, in addition to ‘classical’ assessments (organic matter, particle size distributions, profile descriptions), would provide more detailed information about the depth to which past disturbance could be detected. Classical methods of assessment of disturbance identified impacts down to 60 cm depth, but the concentrations of Ca, Ba, Sr, Nb, La, Pr, Tb, Bi, Tl and Th showed that differences due to past disturbances persist to a depth of at least one meter.

Synergy between nutrients and warming enhances methane ebullition from experimental lakes

Authors

Thomas A. Davidson, Joachim Audet, Erik Jeppesen, Frank Landkildehus, Torben L. Lauridsen, Martin Søndergaard & Jari Syväranta

Lakes and ponds are important natural sources of the potent greenhouse gas methane (CH4), with small shallow waters identified as particular hotspots. Ebullition (bubbles) of CH4 makes up a large proportion of total CH4 flux. However, difficulty measuring such episodic events makes prediction of how ebullition responds to nutrient enrichment and rising temperatures challenging. Here, the world’s longest running, mesocosm-based, shallow lake climate change experiment was used to investigate how the combination of warming and eutrophication (that is, nutrient enrichment) affects CH4 ebullition. Eutrophication without heating increased the relative contribution of ebullition from 51% to 75%. More strikingly the combination of nutrient enrichment and experimental warming treatments of +2–3 °C and +4–5 °C had a synergistic effect, increasing mean annual ebullition by at least 1900 mg CH4-C m−2 yr−1. In contrast, diffusive flux showed no response to eutrophication and only a small increase at higher temperatures (average 63 mg CH4–C m−2 yr−1). As shallow lakes are the most common lake type globally, abundant in highly climate sensitive regions and most vulnerable to eutrophication, these results suggest their current and future contributions to atmospheric CH4 concentrations may be significantly underestimated.

Microbial Nitrogen Cycling in Estuaries: From Genes to Ecosystem Processes

Authors

Julian Damashek, Christopher A. Francis

Nitrogen (N) is one of the primary nutrients required to build biomass and is therefore in high demand in aquatic ecosystems. Estuaries, however, are frequently inundated with high concentrations of anthropogenic nitrogen, which can lead to substantially degraded water quality. Understanding drivers of biogeochemical N cycling rates and the microbial communities responsible for these processes is critical for understanding how estuaries are responding to human development. Estuaries are notoriously complex ecosystems: not only do individual estuaries by definition encompass gradients of salinity and other changing environmental conditions, but differences in physical parameters (e.g., bathymetry, hydrodynamics, tidal flushing) lead to a tremendous amount of variability in estuarine processes between ecosystems, as well. Here, we review the current knowledge of N cycling processes in estuaries carried out by bacteria and archaea, including both biogeochemical rate measurements and molecular characterizations of N cycling microbial communities. Particular attention is focused on identifying key environmental factors associated with distinct biogeochemical or microbial regimes across numerous estuaries. Additionally, we describe novel metabolisms or organisms that have recently been discovered but have not yet been fully explored in estuaries to date. While the majority of research has been conducted in the benthos, we also describe data from estuarine water columns. Understanding both the common patterns and the differences between estuaries has important implications for how these critical ecosystems respond to changing environmental conditions.