Does Macroalgae Invasion Alter Macroinvertebrate or Macrophyte Communities in Wetland Habitats?

Macroinvertebrates play an important role in maintaining ecosystem functionality. Processes such as nutrient cycling, and primary productivity are directly linked to macroinvertebrates and their value as a food source for higher trophic levels is undeniable. Therefore, disruptions to co-evolutionary adaptations between macroinvertebrates and native macrophytes remain a concern. This study investigated patterns in macroinvertebrate richness, abundance, and functional feeding group representation, as well as plant richness and total biomass across five sites in upstate New York with varying dominance by the non-native macroalgae, Starry Stonewort (Nitellopsis obtusa). As N. obtusa proportional biomass increased, other plant community biomass declined at two of the five locations. Starry Stonewort mass had no impact on macrophyte richness. Macroinvertebrate richness declined as N. obtusa biomass increased at two of the five sampled waterways, but increased with total vegetative biomass at one site. Functional feeding group representation differed among the sample locations, but only predators showed a significant decline as percent N. obtusa biomass increased. Increasing Starry Stonewort mass may facilitate Dreissena polymorpha expansion. These findings suggest that this non-native macroalgae may alter some, though not all, plant and macroinvertebrate community metrics

KAJIAN POTENSI EKONOMI MASYARAKAT NELAYAN DI KABUPATEN KEP. SITARO (STUDI KASUS SIAU BARAT)

KAJIAN POTENSI EKONOMI MASYARAKAT NELAYAN DI KABUPATEN KEP. SITARO (STUDI KASUS SIAU BARAT) Vecky A.J.Masinambow, Jacline I.Sumual, Krest D.Tolosang Ekonomi Pembangunan-Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Sam Ratulangi Email : [email protected] ABSTRAK Tujuan  yang akan di capai dalam penelitian ini adalah  untuk mengetahui potensi Ekonomi  Masyarakat Nelayan yang ada di wilayah Kabupaten Kepulauan Siau Barat ,Mengkaji kaitan antara potensi dan masalah sehingga dapat disusun strategi pengembangan kehidupan perekonomian masyarakat nelayan  di Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro (Studi Kasus Siau Barat). Manfaat Penelitian Sebagai input atau bahan masukan dan pertimbangan bagi pemerintah Kabupatan Kepulauan Sitaro dalam perencanaan pembangunan wilayah terutama pembangunan ekonomi bagi masyarakat di kawasan pesisir Yakni Masyarakat Nelayan. Hasil penelitian ini berupa Publikasi Artikel Ilmiah dalam Jurnal Terakreditasi yang dapat dijadikan sebagai sumber publikasi  bagi Pemerintah Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro atau bagi  SKPD yang memiliki kaitan dengan pengembangan ekonomi kawasan pesisir di Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro. Kata Kunci : Potensi Ekonomi, Nelayan   ABSTRACT Goals to be achieved in this research is to investigate the potential for Community Economic Fishermen in the region of the Islands District Siau West, Examining the link between the potential and the problems that can be prepared the development strategy of the economic life of fishing communities in the Islands District Sitaro (Case Study Siau West). Benefit Research As an input or input and consideration for the government Kabupatan Sitaro Islands in the planning of regional development, especially economic development for the coastal Namely Fishermen Society. The results of this study are in the Journal of Scientific Publication accredited to serve as a source for the publication of the Government of the Islands District Sitaro or for SKPD, which has links with the economic development of the coastal area in Islands District Sitaro. Keywords : Economic Potential, Fisherma

Kajian Potensi Ekonomi Masyarakat Nelayan di Kabupaten Kep. Sitaro (Studi Kasus Siau Barat)

KAJIAN POTENSI EKONOMI MASYARAKAT NELAYAN DI KABUPATEN KEP. SITARO (STUDI KASUS SIAU BARAT) Vecky A.J.Masinambow, Jacline I.Sumual, Krest D.Tolosang Ekonomi Pembangunan-Fakultas Ekonomi dan Bisnis Universitas Sam Ratulangi Email : [email protected] ABSTRAK Tujuan yang akan di capai dalam penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui potensi Ekonomi Masyarakat Nelayan yang ada di wilayah Kabupaten Kepulauan Siau Barat ,Mengkaji kaitan antara potensi dan masalah sehingga dapat disusun strategi pengembangan kehidupan perekonomian masyarakat nelayan di Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro (Studi Kasus Siau Barat). Manfaat Penelitian Sebagai input atau bahan masukan dan pertimbangan bagi pemerintah Kabupatan Kepulauan Sitaro dalam perencanaan pembangunan wilayah terutama pembangunan ekonomi bagi masyarakat di kawasan pesisir Yakni Masyarakat Nelayan. Hasil penelitian ini berupa Publikasi Artikel Ilmiah dalam Jurnal Terakreditasi yang dapat dijadikan sebagai sumber publikasi bagi Pemerintah Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro atau bagi SKPD yang memiliki kaitan dengan pengembangan ekonomi kawasan pesisir di Kabupaten Kepulauan Sitaro. Kata Kunci : Potensi Ekonomi, Nelayan ABSTRACT Goals to be achieved in this research is to investigate the potential for Community Economic Fishermen in the region of the Islands District Siau West, Examining the link between the potential and the problems that can be prepared the development strategy of the economic life of fishing communities in the Islands District Sitaro (Case Study Siau West). Benefit Research As an input or input and consideration for the government Kabupatan Sitaro Islands in the planning of regional development, especially economic development for the coastal Namely Fishermen Society. The results of this study are in the Journal of Scientific Publication accredited to serve as a source for the publication of the Government of the Islands District Sitaro or for SKPD, which has links with the economic development of the coastal area in Islands District Sitaro

Cyanidase from Bacterial Sources and its Potential for the Construction of Biosensors

Because of their content of cyanogenic glycosides, many medicinal and food plants are toxic for man. If plant material containing cyanogenic glycosides gets disintegrated, cyanide is liberated by the action of different enzymes. Especially in developing countries, chronic poisoning by cyanogenic plants is a serious problem. Since probably more than 2500 plant species and also some insects contain cyanogenic glycosides, a rapid and precise method for the determination of these compounds should be developed. A biosensoric system based on an ammonia electrode and the enzyme cyanidase [EC 3.5.5.1] seems to be an effective analytical method for this class of substances and a promising alternative to an ion-selective cyanide electrode. The key-step in the development of such a sensor is the selection of a suitable cyanidase, which has been previously reported for bacteria. This biosensor should be used for screening purposes as well as for the quality control of cyanogenic medicinal and food plants. For this reason, we have examined strains of the bacteria Rhodococcus rhodochrous, Alcaligenes xylosoxidans, and Acinetobacter spec.. Strains were fed with increasing concentrations of potassium cyanide in order to induce cyanidase activity. After three cycles of selection, Alcaligenes xylosoxidans exhibited sufficient growth at cyanide concentrations up to 2´10-3 M. However, Rhodococcus rhodochrous showed excellent performance even at concentrations as high as 1 ´ 10-2 M cyanide. In addition, the latter bacterium is able to digest isovaleronitrile. No significant inhibition of growth was observed at concentrations up to 2 ´ 10-2 M isovaleronitrile. Because of cyanidase activity, Acinetobacter spec. was capable to utilize cyanide as nitrogen source. First measurements with immobilized cyanidase in a flow-through apparatus based on an ammonia electrode gave a detection limit at 0.2 mg/L cyanide. The linear range of the calibration curve was between 0.6 mg/L and 30 mg/L cyanide

A method for estimating pore water drainage from marsh soils using rainfall and well records

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2008. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 79 (2008): 51-58, doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2008.03.014.Rainfall events during low tide exposure cause the water table in marshes to rise. If one has long time series of both rain events and water levels in wells along transects from creek bank to marsh interior, one can correlate well response with rain amount. In cases examined so far the well response is found to be a linear function of rain amount. As it is reasonable to assume that the amount of tidal infiltration required to restore the water table to the elevation of the marsh surface is equal to the amount of rain that would be required to do so, one can estimate the annual drainage of pore water from a well site by dividing the mean drawdown of the water table at low tide by the slope of the response-versus-rain regression and then multiplying the result by the number of tidal drawdowns in a year. Integration of such results along the transect then gives an estimate of the total annual drainage. An example of the use of this method is given for two well transects in a Typha and a Spartina marsh at the Plum Island Estuary Long Term Ecological Research (PIE-LTER) site in Massachusetts, USA. Both transects yielded pore water drainage rates of about 160 m3 yr-1 per meter of channel length. Although the annual volume of pore water drainage is small compared to the annual volume of the tidal prism its impact on nutrient budgets in the estuary could be large because of the high concentrations of nutrients in marsh pore waters. We also discuss the possible effects of the capillary fringe, air entrapment and tidal forcing during rain events on these results.Partial funding for this work was provided by National Science Foundation Grant Number OCE-0423565

Evaluation of the flushing rates of Apalachicola Bay, Florida via natural geochemical tracers

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 109 (2008): 395-408, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2007.09.001.We used naturally occurring radium isotopes as tracers of water exchange in Apalachicola Bay, a shallow coastal-plain estuary in northwestern Florida. The bay receives fresh water and radium from the Apalachicola River, and mixes with Gulf of Mexico waters through four inlets. We deployed moored buoys with attached Mn-fibers at several stations throughout the estuary during two summer and two winter periods. After deployment for at least one tidal cycle we measured the ratio of the two short-lived radium isotopes 223Ra (half-life = 11 d) and 224Ra (3.6 d) to estimate “radium ages” of the water in the bay. During our four seasonal deployments the river discharge ranged from 338 to 1016 m3 s- 1. According to our calculations the water turnover time in the bay during these samplings ranged from 6 to 12 days. Age contours in the bay showed that winds and tides as well as river discharge influence the water movement and the residence time of freshwater in the bay. We also calculated the mean age of river water in the bay which was between 5 to 9 days during the studied periods. We suggest that this approach can be used to quantify transport processes of dissolved substances in the bay. For example, soluble nutrient or pollutant transport rates from a point source could be examined. We conclude that the radium age technique is well suited for flushing rate calculations in river dominated shallow estuaries.Henrieta Dulaiova acknowledges support from the NOAA National Estuarine Research Reserve System’s Graduate Research Fellowship (Award # NA03NOS4200055). Scientific support for this research was also provided by grants from NOAA's Cooperative Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology, CICEET (02-606) and the National Science Foundation (OCE03-50514 and OCE05-20723)

Preparation of Mn-fiber standards for the efficiency calibration of the delayed coincidence counting system (RaDeCC)

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 121 (2010): 206-214, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2010.04.009.Precise measurements of the short lived radium isotopes 223Ra and 224Ra by means of the delayed coincidence counting system (RaDeCC) rely on an efficiency calibration of this system using Mn-fiber standards for which radium activities are exactly known. We prepared seventeen different standards by placing Mn-fibers in seawater spiked with various amounts of 227Ac (with 223Ra in radioactive equilibrium), 228Th (in radioactive equilibrium with 232Th and 224Ra) and 226Ra. We tested for quantitative adsorption of 227Ac and 228Th on the Mn-fibers by: (1) measuring 227Ac and 232Th in the residual solutions after preparing the Mn-fiber standards and (2) monitoring their 223Ra and 224Ra activities over a period of ~100 days. In the residual solutions, the activities of 227Ac and 232Th were < 1.0 % and < 5.3 %, respectively, of the activities initially added to the Mn-fibers. Our results indicate that Milli-Q water washing of the Mn-fibers is the major source of our observed losses of thorium. Measurements of 227Ac standards over 1½ years indicate a significant decrease of measurable 223Ra with time prohibiting the long-term use of 227Ac Mn-fiber standards. We found the 224Ra efficiency to be independent of the range of 227Ac, 228Th and 226Ra activities on the Mn-fibers standards used. The efficiency determination for 223Ra, however, may be biased in the case of relatively high 224Ra activities due to insufficient correction of chance of coincidence. Thus we suggest using a single 227Ac Mn-fiber standard for the efficiency determination for 223Ra.M. Charette and H. Dulaiova were supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation (OCE- 0751461)

Geochemical and physical sources of radon variation in a subterranean estuary — implications for groundwater radon activities in submarine groundwater discharge studies

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2007. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Marine Chemistry 110 (2008): 120-127, doi:10.1016/j.marchem.2008.02.011.Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), in form of springs and diffuse seepage, has long been recognized as a source of chemical constituents to the coastal ocean. Because groundwater is two to four orders of magnitude richer in radon than surface water, it has been used as both a qualitative and a quantitative tracer of groundwater discharge. Besides this large activity gradient, the other perceived advantage of radon stems from its classification as noble gas; that is, its chemical behavior is expected not to be influenced by salinity, redox, and diagenetic conditions present in aquatic environments. During our three-year monthly sampling of the subterranean estuary (STE) in Waquoit Bay, MA, we found highly variable radon activities (50-1600 dpm L-1) across the fresh-saline interface of the aquifer. We monitored pore water chemistry and radon activity at 8 fixed depths spanning from 2 to 5.6 m across the STE, and found seasonal fluctuations in activity at depths where elevated radon was observed. We postulate that most of pore water 222Rn is produced from particle-surface bound 226Ra, and that the accumulation of this radium is likely regulated by the presence of manganese (hydr)oxides. Layers of manganese (hydr)oxides form at the salinity transition zone (STZ), where water with high salinity, high manganese, and low redox potential mixes with fresh water. Responding to the seasonality of aquifer recharge, the location of the STZ and the layers with radium enriched manganese (hydr)oxide follows the seasonal land- or bay-ward movement of the freshwater lens. This results in seasonal changes in the depth where elevated radon activities are observed. The conclusion of our study is that the freshwater part of the STE has a radon signature that is completely different from the STZ or recirculated sea water. Therefore, the radon activity in SGD will depend on the ratio of fresh and recirculated seawater in the discharging groundwater.This work is a result of research sponsored by NSF (OCE- 0425061 to M.A.C.) and the WHOI Postdoctoral Scholar program (to H.D.)

Assessment of groundwater discharges into West Neck Bay, New York, via natural tracers

Author Posting. © Elsevier B.V., 2006. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Continental Shelf Research 29 (2006): 1971-1983, doi:10.1016/j.csr.2006.07.011.A field experiment to compare methods of assessing submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) was held on Shelter Island, NY, in May 2002. We evaluated the use of radon, radium isotopes, and methane to assess SGD rates and dynamics from a glacial aquifer in the coastal zone. Fluxes of radon across the sediment-water interface were calculated from changes in measured surface water inventories following evaluation and correction for tidal effects, atmospheric evasion, and mixing with offshore waters. These fluxes were then converted to SGD rates using the measured radon concentration in the groundwater. We used the short-lived radium isotopes to calculate a horizontal mixing coefficient to assess radon loss by mixing between nearshore and offshore waters. We also made an independent calculation of SGD using the Ra-derived mixing coefficient and the long-lived 226Ra concentration gradient in the bay. Seepage rates were calculated to range between 0 and 34 cm.day-1 using the radon measurements and 15 cm.day-1 as indicated by the radium isotopes. The radiotracer results were consistent and comparable to SGD rates measured directly with vented benthic chambers (seepage meters) deployed during this experiment. These meters indicated rates between 2 and 200 cm.day-1 depending on their location. Both the calculated radon fluxes and rates measured directly by the automated seepage meters revealed a clear reproducible pattern of higher fluxes during low tides. Considering that the two techniques are completely independent, the agreement in the SGD dynamics is significant. Methane concentration in groundwater was very low (~30 nM) and not suitable as SGD tracer at this study site.The SGD intercomparison experiment was partially funded by SCOR, LOICZ, and UNESCO (IOC and IHP). W. C. Burnett acknowledges support from CICEET (Grant# 1368-810-41) and ONR (Grant# 1368-769-27). J. P. Chanton acknowledges support from Seagrant (R\C-E-44). The WHOI researchers acknowledge funding from CICEET (#NA07OR0351, NA17OZ2507)