33 research outputs found
Response of boreal lakes to changing wind strength: coherent physical changes across two large lakes but varying effects on primary producers over the 20th century
Nearâsurface wind speeds have changed over recent decades, raising questions about the extent to which these changes are altering the vertical thermal structure of lakes and affecting lake food webs. Neoâ and paleolimnological techniques were used to assess windâdriven changes in lake thermal habitat and resulting effects on primary producers in two lakes in Isle Royale National Park, an island archipelago located in Lake Superior, where wind speed has increased in recent decades. Responses in Siskiwit Lake, a large (16âkm2 surface area), deep (Zmaxâ=â49âm), oligotrophic lake, were compared to those of Lake Desor, a moderately large (4.3 km2) but shallower (Zmaxâ=â13âm), mesotrophic lake. Highâfrequency sensor data suggested that changes in wind speed affected epilimnion thickness in both lakes synchronously (Ïâ=â0.7, pâ[less than] 0.001). Diatomâinferred mixing depths suggested a coherent shift in both lakes to deeper mixing (an increase of 3 and 6 m) since 1920 (Ïâ=â0.8), which was correlated with an increase in regional wind speed during the 20th century at the decadalâscale in Lake Desor and Siskiwit Lake (Ïâ=â0.6 and 0.4, respectively). In Lake Desor, algal biomass declined as mixing deepened from 1920 to 1980, and then cyanobacteria and cryptophyte pigments increased from 1980 to present, a period of inferred stable and deep mixing. Algal pigment concentrations in Siskiwit Lake were unchanged as mixing depth deepened. Although changes in wind speed altered lake physical structure similarly, the ecological consequences of these changes differed between lakes and were most likely influenced by lakeâspecific variability in nutrient and light availability
Winter Rye Cover Crop Biomass Production, Degradation, and Nitrogen Recycling
Winter rye (Secale cereale L.) cover crop (RCC) use in corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean [Glycine max. (L.) Merr.] production can alter N dynamics compared to no RCC. The objectives of this study were to evaluate RCC biomass production (BP) and subsequent RCC degradation (BD) and N recycling in a no-till cornâsoybean (CS) rotation. Aboveground RCC was sampled at spring termination for biomass dry matter (DM), C, and N. To evaluate BD and remaining C and N, RCC biomass was put into nylon mesh bags, placed on the soil surface, and collected multiple times over 105 d. Treatments included rye cover crop following soybean (RCC-FS) and corn (RCC-FC), and prior-year N applied to corn. Overall, the RCC BP and N was low due to low soil profile NO3âN. Across sites and years, the greatest BP was with RCC-FC that received 225 kg N haâ1 (1280 kg DM haâ1), with similar N uptake as with RCC-FS (27 kg N haâ1). The RCC biomass and N remaining decreased over time following an exponential decay. An average 62% biomass with RCC-FS and RCC-FC degraded after 105 d; however, N recycled was greater with RCC-FS than RCC-FC [22 (80%) vs. 14 (64%) kg N haâ1, respectively], and was influenced by the RCC C/N ratio. The RCC did not recycle an agronomically meaningful amount of N, which limited N that could potentially be supplied to corn. Rye cover crops can conserve soil N, and with improved management and growth, recycling of crop-available N should increase
Carbon-sensitive pedotransfer functions for plant available water
Currently accepted pedotransfer functions show negligible effect of management-induced changes to soil organic carbon (SOC) on plant available water holding capacity (ΞAWHC), while some studies show the ability to substantially increase ΞAWHC through management. The Soil Health Institute\u27s North America Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements measured water content at field capacity using intact soil cores across 124 long-term research sites that contained increases in SOC as a result of management treatments such as reduced tillage and cover cropping. Pedotransfer functions were created for volumetric water content at field capacity (ΞFC) and permanent wilting point (ΞPWP). New pedotransfer functions had predictions of ΞAWHC that were similarly accurate compared with Saxton and Rawls when tested on samples from the National Soil Characterization database. Further, the new pedotransfer functions showed substantial effects of soil calcareousness and SOC on ΞAWHC. For an increase in SOC of 10 g kgâ1 (1%) in noncalcareous soils, an average increase in ΞAWHC of 3.0 mm 100 mmâ1 soil (0.03 m3 mâ3) on average across all soil texture classes was found. This SOC related increase in ΞAWHC is about double previous estimates. Calcareous soils had an increase in ΞAWHC of 1.2 mm 100 mmâ1 soil associated with a 10 g kgâ1 increase in SOC, across all soil texture classes. New equations can aid in quantifying benefits of soil management practices that increase SOC and can be used to model the effect of changes in management on drought resilience
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Linking soil microbial community structure to potential carbon mineralization: A continental scale assessment of reduced tillage
Potential carbon mineralization (Cmin) is a commonly used indicator of soil health, with greater Cmin values interpreted as healthier soil. While Cmin values are typically greater in agricultural soils managed with minimal physical disturbance, the mechanisms driving the increases remain poorly understood. This study assessed bacterial and archaeal community structure and potential microbial drivers of Cmin in soils maintained under various degrees of physical disturbance. Potential carbon mineralization, 16S rRNA sequences, and soil characterization data were collected as part of the North American Project to Evaluate Soil Health Measurements (NAPESHM). Results showed that type of cropping system, intensity of physical disturbance, and soil pH influenced microbial sensitivity to physical disturbance. Furthermore, 28% of amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), which were important in modeling Cmin, were enriched under soils managed with minimal physical disturbance. Sequences identified as enriched under minimal disturbance and important for modeling Cmin, were linked to organisms which could produce extracellular polymeric substances and contained metabolic strategies suited for tolerating environmental stressors. Understanding how physical disturbance shapes microbial communities across climates and inherent soil properties and drives changes in Cmin provides the context necessary to evaluate management impacts on standardized measures of soil microbial activity
Global data set of long-term summertime vertical temperature profiles in 153 lakes
Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors have led to long-term changes in the thermal structure, including surface temperatures, deepwater temperatures, and vertical thermal gradients, in many lakes around the world. Though many studies highlight warming of surface water temperatures in lakes worldwide, less is known about long-term trends in full vertical thermal structure and deepwater temperatures, which have been changing less consistently in both direction and magnitude. Here, we present a globally-expansive data set of summertime in-situ vertical temperature profiles from 153 lakes, with one time series beginning as early as 1894. We also compiled lake geographic, morphometric, and water quality variables that can influence vertical thermal structure through a variety of potential mechanisms in these lakes. These long-term time series of vertical temperature profiles and corresponding lake characteristics serve as valuable data to help understand changes and drivers of lake thermal structure in a time of rapid global and ecological change
Global data set of long-term summertime vertical temperature profiles in 153 lakes
Measurement(s) : temperature of water, temperature profile
Technology Type(s) : digital curation
Factor Type(s) : lake location, temporal interval
Sample Characteristic - Environment : lake, reservoir
Sample Characteristic - Location : global
Machine-accessible metadata file describing the reported data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14619009Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors have led to long-term changes in the thermal structure, including surface temperatures, deepwater temperatures, and vertical thermal gradients, in many lakes around the world. Though many studies highlight warming of surface water temperatures in lakes worldwide, less is known about long-term trends in full vertical thermal structure and deepwater temperatures, which have been changing less consistently in both direction and magnitude. Here, we present a globally-expansive data set of summertime in-situ vertical temperature profiles from 153 lakes, with one time series beginning as early as 1894. We also compiled lake geographic, morphometric, and water quality variables that can influence vertical thermal structure through a variety of potential mechanisms in these lakes. These long-term time series of vertical temperature profiles and corresponding lake characteristics serve as valuable data to help understand changes and drivers of lake thermal structure in a time of rapid global and ecological change
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Earth Virtualization Engines (EVE)
To manage Earth in the Anthropocene, new tools, new institutions, and new forms of international cooperation will be required. Earth Virtualization Engines is proposed as an international federation of centers of excellence to empower all people to respond to the immense and urgent challenges posed by climate change