scholarly journals The vascular flora of a section of the transformed Piwonia River channel - the surrounding ditch on Lake Bikcze (Łęczna-Włodawa Lakeland) - in relation to habitat conditions

2012 ◽  
Vol 63 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-66
Author(s):  
Magdalena Pogorzelec ◽  
Artur Serafin

In the period 2007-2009, floristic, habitat and physico- chemical analysis was made of the hydraulically improved surrounding ditch of Lake Bikcze in the Łęczna-Włodawa Lakeland. Hemicryptophytes, with a large proportion of geophytes as well as hydrophytes and helophytes, were the main component of the flora of the studied section of the transformed Piwonia River channel. In terms of historical-geographical classification, spontaneophytes were predominant, and apophytes among them, whereas anthropophytes were poorly represented, which was confirmed by the correspondingly high values of the synanthropization and apophytization indices (> 50%) as well as the low value of the anthropophytization index (approx. 2%). In the aspect of the range of occurrence, Euro-Siberian and cosmopolitan species were predominant, which are classified in terms of the indicator values as hygrophilous plants, neutral to continentality, living in moderately cool or moderately warm climatic conditions, characterized by a wide range of tolerance to the trophic state index and to soil acidity. An analysis of the values of the basic physico-chemical factors of the stagnant water in the surrounding ditch showed variations in the value of pH, electrolytic conductivity and the value of the concentration of organic and ammonium nitrogen as well as of organic phosphorus and phosphates. In spite of the anthropogenic nature of the studied watercourse, the qualitative and quantitative proportions of the flora species indicated the natural state of the flora based on the native vegetation, characteristic of the study area.

1958 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 483 ◽  
Author(s):  
CJ Williams ◽  
A Steinbergs

One hundred and fifty-five soils of differing soil types and collected from a wide range of parent materials, climatic conditions, and topography were examined for carbon, nitrogen, sulphur, and phosphorus. A close relationship between carbon, nitrogen, and non-sulphate sulphur was found, although alkaline soils contained a slightly higher relative proportion of non-sulphate sulphur than did acid soils. Water-soluble sulphate comprised only a small proportion of the total sulphur in the majority of the soils. Organic phosphorus, although correlated with carbon and nitrogen, showed much wider variation than did sulphur, and it seemed likely that part at least of the organic phosphorus was not closely associated with the carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur in the soil organic matter. The mean relative proportions of carbon, nitrogen, non-sulphate sulphur, and organic phosphorus were 150: 10: 1.26: 0.66.


Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 209
Author(s):  
Luiza Tymińska-Czabańska ◽  
Jarosław Socha ◽  
Marek Maj ◽  
Dominika Cywicka ◽  
Xo Viet Hoang Duong

Site productivity provides critical information for forest management practices and is a fundamental measure in forestry. It is determined using site index (SI) models, which are developed using two primary groups of methods, namely, phytocentric (plant-based) or geocentric (earth-based). Geocentric methods allow for direct site growth modelling, in which the SI is predicted using multiple environmental indicators. However, changes in non-static site factors—particularly nitrogen deposition and rising CO2 concentration—lead to an increase in site productivity, which may be visible as an age trend in the SI. In this study, we developed a geocentric SI model for oak. For the development of the SI model, we used data from 150 sample plots, representing a wide range of local topographic and site conditions. A generalized additive model was used to model site productivity. We found that the oak SI depended predominantly on physicochemical soil properties—mainly nitrogen, carbon, sand, and clay content. Additionally, the oak SI value was found to be slightly shaped by the topography, especially by altitude above sea level, and topographic position. We also detected a significant relationship between the SI and the age of oak stands, indicating the long-term increasing site productivity for oak, most likely caused by nitrogen deposition and changes in climatic conditions. The developed geocentric site productivity model for oak explained 77.2% of the SI variation.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 931
Author(s):  
Mona Giraud ◽  
Jannis Groh ◽  
Horst H. Gerke ◽  
Nicolas Brüggemann ◽  
Harry Vereecken ◽  
...  

Grasslands are one of the most common biomes in the world with a wide range of ecosystem services. Nevertheless, quantitative data on the change in nitrogen dynamics in extensively managed temperate grasslands caused by a shift from energy- to water-limited climatic conditions have not yet been reported. In this study, we experimentally studied this shift by translocating undisturbed soil monoliths from an energy-limited site (Rollesbroich) to a water-limited site (Selhausen). The soil monoliths were contained in weighable lysimeters and monitored for their water and nitrogen balance in the period between 2012 and 2018. At the water-limited site (Selhausen), annual plant nitrogen uptake decreased due to water stress compared to the energy-limited site (Rollesbroich), while nitrogen uptake was higher at the beginning of the growing period. Possibly because of this lower plant uptake, the lysimeters at the water-limited site showed an increased inorganic nitrogen concentration in the soil solution, indicating a higher net mineralization rate. The N2O gas emissions and nitrogen leaching remained low at both sites. Our findings suggest that in the short term, fertilizer should consequently be applied early in the growing period to increase nitrogen uptake and decrease nitrogen losses. Moreover, a shift from energy-limited to water-limited conditions will have a limited effect on gaseous nitrogen emissions and nitrate concentrations in the groundwater in the grassland type of this study because higher nitrogen concentrations are (over-) compensated by lower leaching rates.


2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nada Babovic ◽  
Dejan Markovic ◽  
Vojkan Dimitrijevic ◽  
Dragan Markovic

This paper shows the results obtained in field analysis performed at the Tamis River, starting from the settlement Jasa Tomic - border between Serbia and Romania to Pancevo - confluence of Tamis into the Danube. The Tamis is a 359 km long river rising in the southern Carpathian Mountains. It flows through the Banat region and flows into the Danube near Pancevo. During the years the water quality of the river has severely deteriorated and badly affected the environment and the river ecosystem. In situ measurements enabled determination of physico-chemical parameters of water quality of the Tamis River on every 400 m of the watercourse, such as: water temperature, pH value, electrical conductivity, contents of dissolved oxygen and oxygen saturation. The main reason of higher pollution of Tamis is seen in connection to DTD hydro system. Sampling was performed at 7 points with regard to color, turbidity, total hardness, alkalinity, concentration of ammonium nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, iron, chlorides and sulphates in samples. The aim of the present work was to evaluate water quality in the Tamis River taking into account significant pollution, which originates from settlements, industry and agriculture, and to suggest appropriate preventive measures to further pollution decreasing of the river's water.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (32) ◽  
pp. 20687-20698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena De Santis ◽  
Giancarlo Masci ◽  
Francesco Casciotta ◽  
Ruggero Caminiti ◽  
Eleonora Scarpellini ◽  
...  

Fourteen cholinium-amino acid based room temperature ionic liquids were prepared using a cleaner synthetic method. Chemicophysical properties were well correlated with the wide range of amino acid chemical structures.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellis Q. Margolis

Piñon–juniper (PJ) fire regimes are generally characterised as infrequent high-severity. However, PJ ecosystems vary across a large geographic and bio-climatic range and little is known about one of the principal PJ functional types, PJ savannas. It is logical that (1) grass in PJ savannas could support frequent, low-severity fire and (2) exclusion of frequent fire could explain increased tree density in PJ savannas. To assess these hypotheses I used dendroecological methods to reconstruct fire history and forest structure in a PJ-dominated savanna. Evidence of high-severity fire was not observed. From 112 fire-scarred trees I reconstructed 87 fire years (1547–1899). Mean fire interval was 7.8 years for fires recorded at ≥2 sites. Tree establishment was negatively correlated with fire frequency (r=–0.74) and peak PJ establishment was synchronous with dry (unfavourable) conditions and a regime shift (decline) in fire frequency in the late 1800s. The collapse of the grass-fuelled, frequent, surface fire regime in this PJ savanna was likely the primary driver of current high tree density (mean=881treesha–1) that is >600% of the historical estimate. Variability in bio-climatic conditions likely drive variability in fire regimes across the wide range of PJ ecosystems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 726-740 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Masseroni ◽  
Alessio Cislaghi ◽  
Stefania Camici ◽  
Christian Massari ◽  
Luca Brocca

Many rainfall–runoff (RR) models are available in the scientific literature. Selecting the best structure and parameterization for a model is not straightforward and depends on a broad number of factors, including climatic conditions, catchment characteristics, temporal/spatial resolution and model objectives. In this study, the RR model ‘Modello Idrologico Semi-Distribuito in continuo’ (MISDc), mainly developed for flood simulation in Mediterranean basins, was tested on the Seveso basin, which is stressed several times a year by flooding events mainly caused by excessive urbanization. The work summarizes a compendium of the MISDc applications over a wide range of catchments in European countries and then it analyses the performances over the Seveso basin. The results show a good fit behaviour during both the calibration and the validation periods with a Nash–Sutcliffe coefficient index larger than 0.9. Moreover, the median volume and peak discharge errors calculated on several flood events were less than 25%. In conclusion, we can be assured that the reliability and computational speed could make the MISDc model suitable for flood estimation in many catchments of different geographical contexts and land use characteristics. Moreover, MISDc will also be useful for future support of real-time decision-making for flood risk management in the Seveso basin.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 1396
Author(s):  
Z. N. Diyana ◽  
R. Jumaidin ◽  
Mohd Zulkefli Selamat ◽  
Ihwan Ghazali ◽  
Norliza Julmohammad ◽  
...  

Thermoplastic starch composites have attracted significant attention due to the rise of environmental pollutions induced by the use of synthetic petroleum-based polymer materials. The degradation of traditional plastics requires an unusually long time, which may lead to high cost and secondary pollution. To solve these difficulties, more petroleum-based plastics should be substituted with sustainable bio-based plastics. Renewable and natural materials that are abundant in nature are potential candidates for a wide range of polymers, which can be used to replace their synthetic counterparts. This paper focuses on some aspects of biopolymers and their classes, providing a description of starch as a main component of biopolymers, composites, and potential applications of thermoplastics starch-based in packaging application. Currently, biopolymer composites blended with other components have exhibited several enhanced qualities. The same behavior is also observed when natural fibre is incorporated with biopolymers. However, it should be noted that the degree of compatibility between starch and other biopolymers extensively varies depending on the specific biopolymer. Although their efficacy is yet to reach the level of their fossil fuel counterparts, biopolymers have made a distinguishing mark, which will continue to inspire the creation of novel substances for many years to come.


Author(s):  
Nguyen Hong Nam ◽  
Le Gia Thanh Truc ◽  
Khuong Duy Anh ◽  
Laurent Van De Steene

Agricultural and forest residues are potential sources of renewable energy in various countries. However, the difference in characteristics of biomass resources presents challenges for energy conversion processes which often require feedstocks that are physically and chemically consistent. This study presented a complete and comprehensive database of characteristics of a wide range of agricultural and forest residues. Moisture, bulk density, calorific value, proximate and elemental compositions, as well as cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin compositions of a wide range of biomass residues were analyzed. The major impacts of the variability in biomass compositions to biochemical and thermochemical processes were also discussed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 359-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Photos-Jones ◽  
A. Cottier ◽  
A. J. Hall ◽  
L. G. Mendoni

The island of Kea in the North Cyclades was well known in antiquity for its miltos, a naturally occurring red iron oxide valued for its colour and wide range of applications. By combining geological field work, physico-chemical analytical techniques, simulation (heating) experiments as well as simple laboratory tests, this paper describes the study of Kean iron oxides in an attempt to characterize this material which is still largely elusive in the archaeological record. The present work corroborates previous observations about the superior quality of some Kean iron oxides. Furthermore, it puts forward the hypothesis that miltos may have been considered an industrial mineral, and as such may have been used as an umbrella term for a variety of materials including mineralogically distinct purple as well as red iron oxides.


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