Modeling approach to regime shifts of primary production in shallow coastal ecosystems

Pristine coastal shallow systems are usually dominated by extensive meadows of seagrass species, which are assumed to take advantage of nutrient supply from sediment. An increasing nutrient input is thought to favour phytoplankton, epiphytic microalgae, as well as opportunistic ephemeral macroalgae that coexist with seagrasses. The primary cause of shifts and succession in the macrophyte community is the increase of nutrient load to water; however temperature plays also an important role. A competition model between rooted seagrass (Zostera marina), macroalgae (Ulva sp), and phytoplankton has been developed to analyse the succession of primary producer communities in these systems. Successions of dominance states, with different resilience characteristics, are found when modifying the input of nutrients and the seasonal temperature and light intensity forcing.Comment: 33 pages, including 10 figures. To appear in Ecological Complexit

Synchronization unveils the organization of ecological networks with positive and negative interactions

International audienceNetwork science has helped to understand the organization principles of the interactions among the constituents of large complex systems. However, recently, the high resolution of the data sets collected has allowed to capture the different types of interactions coexisting within the same system. A particularly important example is that of systems with positive and negative interactions, a usual feature appearing in social, neural, and ecological systems. The interplay of links of opposite sign presents natural difficulties for generalizing typical concepts and tools applied to unsigned networks and, moreover, poses some questions intrinsic to the signed nature of the network, such as how are negative interactions balanced by positive ones so to allow the coexistence and survival of competitors/foes within the same system? Here, we show that synchronization phenomenon is an ideal benchmark for uncovering such balance and, as a byproduct, to assess which nodes play a critical role in the overall organization of the system. We illustrate our findings with the analysis of synthetic and real ecological networks in which facilitation and competitive interactions coexist

Lifetimes of superdeformed states in 194^{194}Pb

Lifetimes of members of the superdeformed band in 194Pb were measured by the Doppler-shift attenuation method. Quadrupole moments around 20 eb that are constant over the whole frequency range were derived. The results rule out large centrifugal stretching effects.</p

Crescimento inicial de Dimorphandra wilsonii (Fabaceae - Caesalpinioideae) em diferentes condições de fertilidade em solo de cerrado Early development of Dimorphandra wilsonii (Fabaceae - Caesalpinioideae) in Cerrado under different soil fertility conditions

Dimorphandra wilsonii Rizz. é uma espécie arbórea criticamente ameaçada de extinção. Foi descrita para áreas de maior fertilidade no Domínio do cerrado; entretanto, atualmente ocorre em áreas isoladas e de baixa fertilidade natural. Com o objetivo de avaliar a adaptação desta espécie a condições de oligotrofia, plantas foram cultivadas em casa de vegetação em solo destas áreas oligotróficas, mas com diferentes níveis de fertilidade. A partir da análise de fertilidade do solo foram definidas as doses de macronutrientes (NPK) e a dose de calcário a serem utilizadas nos tratamentos que se constituíram de dois níveis de calagem e três níveis de adubação. Após 220 dias do plantio, os tratamentos que aumentaram significativamente o crescimento foram aqueles que receberam adubação com a dose indicada de NPK em solo não corrigido pela calagem e aquele que teve o solo calado e adubado com duas vezes a dose indicada de NPK. A calagem por si só não promoveu maior crescimento, mas propiciou respostas crescentes de crescimento a níveis crescentes de disponibilidade de nutrientes. Foram encontrados nódulos radiculares em todos os tratamentos, e os resultados permitiram concluir que a espécie apresenta requerimento nutricional coerente com sua área de origem no Domínio do Cerrado. Também foi possível ressaltar a fixação biológica de nitrogênio, incomum em Caesalpinioideae, como estratégia adaptativa para crescimento em áreas com baixa oferta de nutrientes.<br>Dimorphandra wilsonii Rizz. is a critically endangered tree species. It has been described for sites of higher soil fertility in the Cerrado Domain. However, it occurs nowadays in isolated areas of low natural fertility. To study species adaptation to oligotrophic conditions, plants were grown in a greenhouse in soils from oligotrophic sites but with different levels of fertility. After soil fertility analysis, the macronutrients (NPK) and lime doses to be used in each treatment were defined, resulting in a combination of two liming levels and three fertilization levels. After 220 days, the treatments that significantly increased seedling growth were the one whose substrate was limed and fertilized with twice the prescribed NPK dosage, and the one with the indicated dosage of NPK but no liming. Liming itself did not promote growth enhancement, but favored increased growth response to increasing levels of nutrient availability. Root nodules were found in all the treatments, and the results led to the conclusion that D. wilsonii nutritional requirements are consistent with its original distribution sites in the Cerrado Domain. It was also possible to highlight nitrogen biological fixation, an unusual feature in Caesalpinioideae, as an adaptive strategy for survival in areas of low nutrient availability