Variation in Soil Respiration across Soil and Vegetation Types in an Alpine Valley.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Soils of mountain regions and their associated plant communities are highly diverse over short spatial scales due to the heterogeneity of geological substrates and highly dynamic geomorphic processes. The consequences of this heterogeneity for biogeochemical transfers, however, remain poorly documented. The objective of this study was to quantify the variability of soil-surface carbon dioxide efflux, known as soil respiration (Rs), across soil and vegetation types in an Alpine valley. To this aim, we measured Rs rates during the peak and late growing season (July-October) in 48 plots located in pastoral areas of a small valley of the Swiss Alps. FINDINGS: Four herbaceous vegetation types were identified, three corresponding to different stages of primary succession (Petasition paradoxi in pioneer conditions, Seslerion in more advanced stages and Poion alpinae replacing the climactic forests), as well as one (Rumicion alpinae) corresponding to eutrophic grasslands in intensively grazed areas. Soils were developed on calcareous alluvial and colluvial fan deposits and were classified into six types including three Fluvisols grades and three Cambisols grades. Plant and soil types had a high level of co-occurrence. The strongest predictor of Rs was soil temperature, yet we detected additional explanatory power of sampling month, showing that temporal variation was not entirely reducible to variations in temperature. Vegetation and soil types were also major determinants of Rs. During the warmest month (August), Rs rates varied by over a factor three between soil and vegetation types, ranging from 2.5 μmol m-2 s-1 in pioneer environments (Petasition on Very Young Fluvisols) to 8.5 μmol m-2 s-1 in differentiated soils supporting nitrophilous species (Rumicion on Calcaric Cambisols). CONCLUSIONS: Overall, this study provides quantitative estimates of spatial and temporal variability in Rs in the mountain environment, and demonstrates that estimations of soil carbon efflux at the watershed scale in complex geomorphic terrain have to account for soil and vegetation heterogeneity

High-level integration of murine intestinal transcriptomics data highlights the importance of the complement system in mucosal homeostasis.

BACKGROUND: The mammalian intestine is a complex biological system that exhibits functional plasticity in its response to diverse stimuli to maintain homeostasis. To improve our understanding of this plasticity, we performed a high-level data integration of 14 whole-genome transcriptomics datasets from samples of intestinal mouse mucosa. We used the tool Centrality based Pathway Analysis (CePa), along with information from the Reactome database. RESULTS: The results show an integrated response of the mouse intestinal mucosa to challenges with agents introduced orally that were expected to perturb homeostasis. We observed that a common set of pathways respond to different stimuli, of which the most reactive was the Regulation of Complement Cascade pathway. Altered expression of the Regulation of Complement Cascade pathway was verified in mouse organoids challenged with different stimuli in vitro. CONCLUSIONS: Results of the integrated transcriptomics analysis and data driven experiment suggest an important role of epithelial production of complement and host complement defence factors in the maintenance of homeostasis

129I/127I ratios in Scottish coastal surface sea water: geographical and temporal responses to changing emissions

This work constitutes the first survey of I isotope ratios for Scottish sea water including the first data for the west of Scotland. These data are of importance because of the proximity to the world’s second largest emission source of 129I to the sea, the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant, because of the increasing importance of the sea to land transfer of 129I and also as input data for dose estimates based on this pathway of 129I. 129I/127I ratios in SW Scotland reached 3 × 10−6 in 2004. No strong variation of I isotope ratios was found from 2003 to 2005 in Scottish sea waters. Iodine isotope ratios increased by about a factor of 6 from 1992 to 2003 in NE Scotland, in agreement with the increase of liquid 129I emissions from Sellafield over that time period. It is demonstrated that 129I/127I ratios agree better than 129I concentrations for samples from similar locations taken in very close temporal proximity, indicating that this ratio is more appropriate to interpret than the radionuclide concentration

Radioactive ¹²⁹I in surface water of the Celtic Sea

Relatively large amounts of radioactive iodine I-129 (T (1/2) = 15.7 Ma) have been documented in seawater such as the English Channel, the Irish Sea and the North Sea. Data on the concentration of the iodine isotopes in waters of the Celtic Sea are missing. Aiming to provide first I-129 data in the Celtic Sea and compare them with levels in the other close-by seawater bodies, surface seawater samples were analyzed for the determination of I-127 and I-129 concentrations. The results revealed a high level of I-129 in these waters and suggest strong influence by liquid discharges from La Hague and Sellafield reprocessing facilities. I-127 concentrations are rather constant while the I-129/I-127 ratio reaches up to 2.8 x 10(-8) (ranging from 10(-10) to 10(-8)), which is 2-4 orders of magnitude higher than pre-nuclear era natural level. Transport of I-129 to the Celtic Sea is difficult to depict accurately since available data are sparse. Most likely, however, that discharges originated from La Hague may have more influence on the Celtic Sea I-129 concentrations than the Sellafield. Comprehensive surface water and depth profiles I-129 data will be needed in the future for assessment of environmental impact in the region.</p