Differential Response to Soil Salinity in Endangered Key Tree Cactus: Implications for Survival in a Changing Climate

Understanding reasons for biodiversity loss is essential for developing conservation and management strategies and is becoming increasingly urgent with climate change. Growing at elevations <1.4 m in the Florida Keys, USA, the endangered Key tree cactus (Pilosocereus robinii) experienced 84 percent loss of total stems from 1994 to 2007. The most severe losses of 99 and 88 percent stems occurred in the largest populations in the Lower Keys, where nine storms with high wind velocities and storm surges, occurred during this period. In contrast, three populations had substantial stem proliferation. To evaluate possible mortality factors related to changes in climate or forest structure, we examined habitat variables: soil salinity, elevation, canopy cover, and habitat structure near 16 dying or dead and 18 living plants growing in the Lower Keys. Soil salinity and elevation were the preliminary factors that discriminated live and dead plants. Soil salinity was 1.5 times greater, but elevation was 12 cm higher near dead plants than near live plants. However, distribution-wide stem loss was not significantly related to salinity or elevation. Controlled salinity trials indicated that salt tolerance to levels above 40 mM NaCl was related to maternal origin. Salt sensitive plants from the Lower Keys had less stem growth, lower root:shoot ratios, lower potassium: sodium ratios and lower recovery rate, but higher δ 13C than a salt tolerant lineage of unknown origin. Unraveling the genetic structure of salt tolerant and salt sensitive lineages in the Florida Keys will require further genetic tests. Worldwide rare species restricted to fragmented, low-elevation island habitats, with little or no connection to higher ground will face challenges from climate change-related factors. These great conservation challenges will require traditional conservation actions and possibly managed relocation that must be informed by studies such as these

14

A new method for investigating the age structure of the patch mosaic of a tropical forest by utilizing radiocarbon dating techniques on fallen trees is proposed. Aboveground nuclear explosions in the early 1960s, before the nuclear test ban treaty, created a spike in the 14C concentration content of the atmosphere. The amount of radiocarbon in the outer layers of wood collected from trunks of trees that had died in known years (1970–1989) on Barro Colorado Island (BCI) and Gigante Peninsula (Panama) was analysed to test the hypothesis that radiocarbon concentration was predictive of year of tree death. The date of tree death was negatively related to the level of 14C, following a trend similar to published data on tree rings from German and Amazonian trees. Combining our data with these data in a statistical analysis revealed a significant predictive effect of radiocarbon on year. Analysis of covariance showed that there was no significant difference among the slopes of the three groups of data, but there was significant heterogeneity among the intercepts. The differences suggest a need for site-specific calibration and refinement of field protocols. The technique shows promise and suggestions are made to improve its usefulness for future studies

Use of stable isotopes to quantify flows between the Everglades and urban areas in Miami-Dade County Florida

An isotopic study was performed to assess the movement of groundwater for a site located in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The site encompasses portions of a protected wetland environment (northeast Everglades National Park) and suburban residential Miami, incorporating municipal pumping wells and lakes formed by rock mining. Samples of ground, surface, and rainwater were analyzed for their isotopic composition (oxygen-18 and deuterium). Various analytical and graphical techniques were used to analyze this data and two conceptual box models were developed to quantify flows between different regions within the site. Results from this study indicate that the aquifer underlying the study site (the Biscayne aquifer) is highly transmissive with the exception of two semi-confining layers of reduced hydraulic conductivity. Everglades surface water infiltrates into the aquifer and migrates east toward residential areas. In these urban areas, ‘shallow’ groundwater (above the deeper semi-confining layer) is substantially affected by urban rainfall while ‘deep’ groundwater (below the deeper semi-confining layer) maintains a composition similar to that of Everglades water. Rock mining lakes in the area provide ‘breaks’ in the semi-confining layers that allow for mixing of shallow and deep groundwater. As water travels eastward, municipal well intakes, screened to a depth below the deeper semi-confining layer, draw upon not only shallow urban water (predominantly comprised of urban rainfall) and lake water (having influences from both urban rainfall and Everglades water) but also deep water that originated in the Everglades. Results from one of the box models estimate that over 60% of the water being removed by municipal pumping originated in the Everglades. These conclusions suggest that Everglades water, both directly through deep groundwater flow and indirectly through mixing with rock-mining lakes, is being drawn into the operating municipal wellfield

Variation in δ13C values for the seagrass Thalassia testudinum and its relations to mangrove carbon

Carbon isotope ratios (13C/12C) were measured for the leaves of the seagrassThalassia testudinum Banks ex König and carbonates of shells collected at the seagrass beds from seven sites along the coast of southern Florida, U.S.A. Theδ13C values of seagrass leaves ranged from−7.3to −16.3‰among different study sites, with a significantly lower mean value for seagrass leaves from those sites near mangrove forests (−12.8 ± 1.1‰) than those far from mangrove forests (−8.3 ± 0.9‰; P < 0.05). Furthermore, seagrass leaves from a shallow water area had significantly lowerδ13C values than those found in a deep water area (P < 0.01). There was no significant variation inδ13C values between young and mature leaves (P = 0.59) or between the tip and base of a leaf blade (P = 0.46). Carbonates of shells also showed a significantly lower meanδ13C value in the mangrove areas (−2.3 ± 0.6‰) than in the non-mangrove areas (0.6 ± 0.3‰; P <0.025). In addition, theδ13C values of seagrass leaves were significantly correlated with those of shell carbonates (δ13C seagrass leaf = −9.1 + 1.3δ13C shell carbonate (R2 = 0.83,P < 0.01)). These results indicated that the input of carbon dioxide from the mineralization of mangrove detritus caused the variation in carbon isotope ratios of seagrass leaves among different sites in this study

Biogeochemical implications of the isotopic equilibrium fractionation factor between the oxygen atoms of acetone and water

Carbonyl oxygens of organic molecules undergo isotopic exchange with water during reversible hydration reactions. The equilibrium isotopic fractionation factors between the carbonyl oxygen of acetone and water at 15°, 25°, and 35°C are 1.028, 1.028, and 1.026 respectively. The differences between the δ 18 O values of the carbonyl oxygen of acetone and of the water with which it is in equilibrium are similar to the differences that have been observed between the δ 18 O values of cellulose and the water used in its synthesis by a variety of aquatic plants and animals. Additionally, the identity of the acetone-water fractionation factors at 15° and 25°C parallels the observation that the difference between the δ 18 O values of cellulose and water shows no temperature dependence for individual species of plants grown over the same temperature range. These results are discussed in relation to the proposal that the oxygen isotopic relationship between cellulose and water is established by isotopic exchange occurring during the hydration of carbonyl groups of the intermediates of cellulose synthesis

Arbuscular common mycorrhizal networks mediate intra- and interspecific interactions of two prairie grasses

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi form extensive common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) that may interconnect neighboring root systems of the same or different plant species, thereby potentially influencing the distribution of limiting mineral nutrients among plants. We examined how CMNs affected intra- and interspecific interactions within and between populations of Andropogon gerardii, a highly mycorrhiza dependent, dominant prairie grass and Elymus canadensis, a moderately dependent, subordinate prairie species. We grew A. gerardii and E. canadensis alone and intermixed in microcosms, with individual root systems isolated, but either interconnected by CMNs or with CMNs severed weekly. CMNs, which provided access to a large soil volume, improved survival of both A. gerardii and E. canadensis, but intensified intraspecific competition for A. gerardii. When mixed with E. canadensis, A. gerardii overyielded aboveground biomass in the presence of intact CMNs but not when CMNs were severed, suggesting that A. gerardii with intact CMNs most benefitted from weaker interspecific than intraspecific interactions across CMNs. CMNs improved manganese uptake by both species, with the largest plants receiving the most manganese. Enhanced growth in consequence of improved mineral nutrition led to large E. canadensis in intact CMNs experiencing water-stress, as indicated by C isotope abundance. Our findings suggest that in prairie plant communities, CMNs may influence mineral nutrient distribution, water relations, within-species size hierarchies, and between-species interactions

Common mycorrhizal networks amplify competition by preferential mineral nutrient allocation to large host plants

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi interconnect plants in common mycorrhizal networks (CMNs) which can amplify competition among neighbors. Amplified competition might result from the fungi supplying mineral nutrients preferentially to hosts that abundantly provide fixed carbon, as suggested by research with organ-cultured roots. We examined whether CMNs supplied (15) N preferentially to large, nonshaded, whole plants. We conducted an intraspecific target-neighbor pot experiment with Andropogon gerardii and several AM fungi in intact, severed or prevented CMNs. Neighbors were supplied (15) N, and half of the target plants were shaded. Intact CMNs increased target dry weight (DW), intensified competition and increased size inequality. Shading decreased target weight, but shaded plants in intact CMNs had mycorrhizal colonization similar to that of sunlit plants. AM fungi in intact CMNs acquired (15) N from the substrate of neighbors and preferentially allocated it to sunlit, large, target plants. Sunlit, intact CMN, target plants acquired as much as 27% of their nitrogen from the vicinity of their neighbors, but shaded targets did not. These results suggest that AM fungi in CMNs preferentially provide mineral nutrients to those conspecific host individuals best able to provide them with fixed carbon or representing the strongest sinks, thereby potentially amplifying asymmetric competition below ground