Sources and Transformations of Organic Matter in Surface Soils and Sediments from a Tidal Estuary (North Inlet, South Carolina, USA)

Estuaries ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miguel A. Goñi ◽  
Kimberly A. Thomas ◽  
Miguel A. Goni
2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 2178-2187 ◽  
Author(s):  
J C Neff ◽  
J W Harden ◽  
G Gleixner

Boreal ecosystems contain a substantial fraction of the earth's soil carbon stores and are prone to frequent and severe wildfires. In this study, we examine changes in element and organic matter stocks due to a 1999 wildfire in Alaska. One year after the wildfire, burned soils contained between 1071 and 1420 g/m2 less carbon than unburned soils. Burned soils had lower nitrogen than unburned soils, higher calcium, and nearly unchanged potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus stocks. Burned surface soils tended to have higher concentrations of noncombustible elements such as calcium, potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus compared with unburned soils. Combustion losses of carbon were mostly limited to surface dead moss and fibric horizons, with no change in the underlying mineral horizons. Burning caused significant changes in soil organic matter structure, with a 12% higher ratio of carbon to combustible organic matter in surface burned horizons compared with unburned horizons. Pyrolysis gas chromatography – mass spectroscopy also shows preferential volatilization of polysaccharide-derived organic matter and enrichment of lignin- and lipid-derived compounds in surface soils. The chemistry of deeper soil layers in burned and unburned sites was similar, suggesting that immediate fire impacts were restricted to the surface soil horizon.


2021 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-74
Author(s):  
Loris Galli ◽  
Franc Janžekovič ◽  
Peter Kozel ◽  
Tone Novak

Protura is a small class of Hexapoda, generally poorly known, and rather scarce data on its occurrence in caves are scattered throughout literature on fauna in caves and in some papers on Protura. Although the cave-dwelling fauna is relatively well studied in Slovenia, published records on Protura are rare. In this paper, data on the occurrence and abundance of Protura in Slovenian caves are considered. Various statistical analyses were performed to compare caves with Protura to those without in 60 intensively monitored cavities to detect any differences in the selected environmental conditions. No significant difference was obtained. Samples collected from 15 caves yielded 286 specimens identified to genus or species level. Ten species were identified: Acerentulus confinis (Berlese, 1908), A. rafalskii Szeptycki, 1979*, Acerentomon affine Bagnall, 1912*, A. balcanicum Ionesco, 1933*, A. italicum Nosek, 1969, A. maius Berlese, 1908*, A. meridionale Nosek, 1960, Acerella muscorum (Ionesco, 1930)*, Eosentomon armatum Stach, 1926*, and E. transitorium Berlese, 1908*. The seven species marked with an asterisk are new records for Slovenia. Two specimens belonging to an unidentified species of the genus Ionescuellum Tuxen, 1960 were also found. As expected, Protura were most abundant at the cave entrance close to the surface, and none of the species were found exclusively in cavities. This suggests that proturans were introduced passively into the cavities via organic matter and surface soils.


<em>Abstract.</em>—Winyah Bay is a 65-km<sup>2</sup> estuary in northeast South Carolina, and North Inlet is a 32- km<sup>2</sup>, high-salinity estuary connected to both Winyah Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The objectives of this study were to survey the shark fauna of these systems, determine the potential of these estuaries as shark nurseries, and assess the impact of salinity structure on shark diversity and abundance in these two estuaries. From May to November in 2002 (a drier than average year) and 2003 (a wetter than average year), 227 bottom longlines (16/0 and 12/0 hooks) were set in Winyah Bay. In 2002 and 2003, a total of 119 trammel net sets were also conducted from June to October in North Inlet. A total of 196 sharks (38 adults, 158 juveniles) representing 10 species were captured in Winyah Bay in 2002, whereas 73 sharks (17 adults and 56 juveniles) representing four species were caught in 2003. Catch per unit effort (CPUE) for all sharks caught in Winyah Bay was not significantly different between 2002 and 2003. Blacktip shark <em>Carcharhinus limbatus </em>and finetooth shark <em>C. isodon </em>CPUE declined significantly on 16/0 hook longlines set in Winyah Bay from 2002 to 2003. For 12/0 hook longlines set in Winyah Bay, CPUE for three species (sandbar shark <em>C. plumbeus</em>, Atlantic sharpnose shark <em>Rhizoprionodon terraenovae</em>, and finetooth shark) out of five declined significantly from 2002 to 2003. Within Winyah Bay, CPUE for sharks on both longline configurations was not significantly different between lower and middle bay sites for 2002 but was for 2003. In both years, CPUE correlated positively with bottom salinity in Winyah Bay. In North Inlet, in 2002, 30 sharks (20 adults, 10 juveniles) comprising five species were caught, whereas 57 sharks (26 adults and 31 juveniles) representing three species were caught in 2003. The CPUE in 2002 was significantly less than in 2003 in North Inlet for Atlantic sharpnose sharks, bonnetheads <em>Sphyrna tiburo</em>, and all sharks combined. This study documented the presence of adults and juveniles (including neonates and young of the year) for 10 species of sharks in Winyah Bay and 5 in North Inlet and thus identified these areas as shark habitat and potential primary and secondary nurseries for some shark species. We also observed salinity-related differences in the distribution of sharks in both estuaries, including differences in abundance and age-class, as a result of normal salinity regime and precipitation-induced salinity changes.


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