Multi-proxy record of ocean-climate variability during the last two millennia on the Mackenzie Shelf, Beaufort Sea

A 2,000 year-long oceanographic history, in sub-centennial resolution, from a Canadian Beaufort Sea continental shelf site (60meters water depth) near the Mackenzie River outlet is reconstructed from ostracode and foraminifera faunal assemblages, shell stable isotopes (delta 18O, delta 13C) and sediment biogenic silica. The chronology of three sediment cores making up the composite section was established using 137Cs and 210Pb dating for the most recent 150 years and combined with linear interpolation of radiocarbon dates from bivalve shells and foraminifera tests.Continuous centimeter-sampling of the multicore and high-resolution sampling of a gravity and piston core yielded a time-averaged faunal record of every approximately 40 years from 0 to 1850 CE and every approximately 24 years from 1850 to 2013 CE. Proxy records were consistent with temperature oscillations and related changes in organic carbon cycling associated with the Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA) and the Little Ice Age (LIA). Abundance changes in dominant microfossil species, such as the ostracode Paracyprideis pseudopunctillata and agglutinated foraminifers Spiroplectammina biformis and S. earlandi, are used as indicators of less saline, and possibly corrosive/turbid bottom conditions associated with the MCA (approximately 800 to 1200 CE) and the most recent approximately 60 years (1950–2013). During these periods, pronounced fluctuations in these species suggest that prolonged seasonal sea-ice melting, changes in riverine inputs and sediment dynamics affected the benthic environment. Taxa analyzed for stable oxygen isotope composition of carbonates show the lowest delta 18O values during intervals within the MCA and the highest during the late LIA, which is consistent with a 1 degree to 2 degree C cooling of bottom waters. Faunal and isotopic changes during the cooler LIA (1300 to 1850 CE) are most apparent at approximately 1500 to 1850 CE and are particularly pronounced during 1850 to approximately 1900 CE, with an approximate 0.5 per mil increase in delta 18O values of carbonates from median values in the analyzed taxa. This very cold 50-year period suggests that enhanced summer sea ice suppressed productivity,which is indicated by low sediment biogenic silica values and lower delta 13C values in analyzed species. From 1900CE to present, declines in calcareous faunal assemblages and changes in dominant species (Cassidulina reniforme and P. pseudopunctillata) are associated with less hospitable bottom waters, indicated by a peak in agglutinated foraminifera from 1950 to 1990 CE

S2_Benefits to Fishing and Hunting as Treatment Costs Avoided

S2_Explanation_Hunting_Benefit.pdf and S2_Explanation_Fishing_Benefit.pdf explain methods used to calculate recreational benefits and where data and calculations can be found in excel files.<div><br><div>S2_FishingBenefitSpatial Analysis_Substitution_BioControl.xlsx and S2_HuntingBenefitSpatialAnalysis_Biocontrol.xlsx contain benefit calculations and data under the control scenario.<br></div><div><br></div><div>S2_FishingBenefitSpatialAnalysis_Substitution_NoControl.xlsx and S2_HuntingBenefitSpatialAnalysis_Nocontrol.xlsx contain benefit calculations and data under the no control scenario.</div><div><br></div><div>S2_FishingBiCtrl_subtractedfrom_NoCtrl.xlsx and S2_HuntingBenefit_Ctrl_subtractedfrom_NoCtrl.xlsx contain difference calculations between the biocontrol and no control scenarios.</div></div

S3_Benefits to Boat-Dependent Businesses and Drinking Water Treatment Plants as Treatment Costs Avoided

S3_Benefits_as_CostsAvoided_Boat_businesses_water_treatment.pdf explains methods used to calculate treatment costs avoided for business entities and where data and calculations can be found in excel files.<div><br></div><div>S3_CostofBioControl_Marinas.xlsx and S3_CostsofBioControl_WaterIntakes.xlsx contain benefit calculations and data under the control scenario.</div><div><br></div><div>S3_CostofNoControl_Marinas.xlsx and S3_CostsofNoControl_WaterIntakes.xlsx contain benefit calculations and data under the no control scenario.</div><div><br></div><div>S3_Marinas_NoCtrlsubtractedfromBioCtrl.xlsx and S3_WaterIntakes_NoCtrlsubtractedfromBioCtrl.xlsx contain difference calculations between the control and no control scenarios.</div

Sources of Carbon to Suspended Particulate Organic Matter in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

Suspended particulate organic carbon (POCsusp) in the Gulf of Mexico is unique compared to other seas and oceans. In addition to surface primary production, isotopic analysis indicates that microbial cycling of oil and riverine inputs are primary sources of carbon to POCsusp in the Gulf. To characterize POCsusp from seep sites and non-seep north central Gulf (NCG) sites potentially affected by the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) spill, we analyzed 277 and 123 samples for δ13C and Δ14C signatures, respectively. Depth, partitioned into euphotic ( \u3c 300 m) and deep ( \u3e 300 m), was the main driver of spatial δ13C differences, with deep depths exhibiting 13C depletion. Both deep depths and proximity to sources of natural seepage resulted in 14C depletion. A two-endmember mixing model based on Δ14C indicated that sources to POCsusp were 14–29% fossil carbon at NCG sites and 19–57% at seep sites, with the balance being modern surface production. A six-component Bayesian mixing model MixSIAR, using both 13C and 14C, suggested that riverine inputs were an important carbon source to POCsusp contributing 34–46%. The influence of seeps was localized. Below the euphotic zone at seep sites, 46 ± 5% (n = 9) of the carbon in POCsusp was derived from environmentally degraded, transformed oil; away from seeps, transformed oil contributed 15 ± 4% (n = 39). We hypothesized that, at NCG sites removed from hydrocarbon seep sources, isotopic signatures would be depleted following the spill and then shift towards background-like enriched values over time. At deep depths we observed decreasing Δ14C signatures in POCsusp from 2010 to 2012, followed by isotopic enrichment from 2012 to 2014 and a subsequent recovery rate of 159‰ per year, consistent with this hypothesis and with biodegraded material from DWH hydrocarbons contributing to POCsusp

Novel anammox bacteria and nitrogen loss from Lake Superior

Abstract Anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (anammox) bacteria own a central position in the global N-cycle, as they have the ability to oxidize NH4 + to N2 under anoxic conditions using NO2 −. They are responsible for up to 50% of all N2 released from marine ecosystems into the atmosphere and are thus indispensible for balancing the activity of N-fixing bacteria and completing the marine N-cycle. The contribution, diversity, and impact of anammox bacteria in freshwater ecosystems, however, is largely unknown, confounding assessments of their role in the global N-cycle. Here we report the activity and diversity of anammox bacteria in the world’s largest freshwater lake—Lake Superior. We found that anammox performed by previously undiscovered bacteria is an important contributor to sediment N2 production. We observed striking differences in the anammox bacterial populations found at different locations within Lake Superior and those described from other locations. Our data thus reveal that novel anammox bacteria underpin N-loss from Lake Superior, and if more broadly distributed across inland waters would play an important role in continental N-cycling and mitigation of fixed nitrogen transfer from land to the sea

Evidence-based economic analysis demonstrates that ecosystem service benefits of water hyacinth management greatly exceed research and control costs

Invasive species management can be a victim of its own success when decades of effective control cause memories of past harm to fade and raise questions of whether programs should continue. Economic analysis can be used to assess the efficiency of investing in invasive species control by comparing ecosystem service benefits to program costs, but only if appropriate data exist. We used a case study of water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes (Mart.) Solms), a nuisance floating aquatic plant, in Louisiana to demonstrate how comprehensive record-keeping supports economic analysis. Using long-term data sets, we developed empirical and spatio-temporal simulation models of intermediate complexity to project invasive species growth for control and no-control scenarios. For Louisiana, we estimated that peak plant cover would be 76% higher without the substantial growth rate suppression (84% reduction) that appeared due primarily to biological control agents. Our economic analysis revealed that combined biological and herbicide control programs, monitored over an unusually long time period (1975–2013), generated a benefit-cost ratio of about 34:1 derived from the relatively modest costs of $124 million ($2013) compared to the $4.2 billion ($2013) in benefits to anglers, waterfowl hunters, boating-dependent businesses, and water treatment facilities over the 38-year analysis period. This work adds to the literature by: (1) providing evidence of the effectiveness of water hyacinth biological control; (2) demonstrating use of parsimonious spatio-temporal models to estimate benefits of invasive species control; and (3) incorporating activity substitution into economic benefit transfer to avoid overstating benefits. Our study suggests that robust and cost-effective economic analysis is enabled by good record keeping and generalizable models that can demonstrate management effectiveness and promote social efficiency of invasive species control

Origin and fate of particulate organic matter in the southern Beaufort Sea - Amundsen Gulf region, Canadian Arctic

Canadian Arctic Shelf Exchange Study (CASES); Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC); Fonds Quebecois de la Recherche Sur la Nature et les Technologies (FQRNT); Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences at McGill University;To establish the relative importance of terrigenous and marine organic matter in the southern Beaufort Sea, we measured the concentrations and the stable isotopic compositions of organic carbon and total nitrogen in sediments and in settling particles intercepted by sediment traps. The organic carbon content of surface! sediment in the Chukchi and southern Beaufort Seas ranged from 0.6 to 1.6% dry wt., without a clear geographical pattern. The C(ORG):N(TOT) ratio ranged from 7.0 to 10.4 and did not vary significantly downcore at any one station. Values delta(13)C(ORG) and delta(15)N(TOT) in the sediment samples were strongly correlated, with the highest values, indicative of a more marine contribution, in the Amundsen Gulf In contrast, the organic matter content, elemental (CORG:NTOT ratio) and isotopic (delta(13)C(ORG); and delta(15)N(TOT)) composition of the settling particles was different from and much more variable than in the bottom sediments. The isotopic signature of organic matter in the Beaufort Sea is well constrained by three distinct end-members: a labile marine component produced in situ by planktonic organisms, a refractory marine component, the end product of respiration and diagenesis, and a refractory terrigenous component. A three-component mixing model explains the scatter observed in the stable isotope signatures of the sediment trap samples and accommodates an apparent two-component mixing model of the organic matter in sediments. The suspended matter in the water column contains organic matter varying from essentially labile and marine to mostly refractory and terrigenous. As it settles through the water column, the labile marine organic matter is degraded, and its original stable isotope signature changes towards the signature of the marine refractory component. This process continues in the bottom sediment with the result that the sedimentary organic matter becomes dominated by the refractory terrigenous and marine components. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved