Decomposing multiple dimensions of stability in global change experiments

Ecological stability is the central framework to understand an ecosystem’s ability to absorb or recover from environmental change. Recent modelling and conceptual work suggests that stability is a multidimensional construct comprising different response aspects. Using two freshwater mesocosm experiments as case studies, we show how the response to single perturbations can be decomposed in different stability aspects (resistance, resilience, recovery, temporal stability) for both ecosystem functions and community composition. We find that extended community recovery is tightly connected to a nearly complete recovery of the function (biomass production), whereas systems with incomplete recovery of the species composition ranged widely in their biomass compared to controls. Moreover, recovery was most complete when either resistance or resilience was high, the latter associated with low temporal stability around the recovery trend. In summary, no single aspect of stability was sufficient to reflect the overall stability of the system

Kartoffeln mit Zusatznutzen – Antioxidative Kapazität und Erträge ausgewählter blau- und rotfleischiger Kartoffelsorten im ökologischen und integrierten Landbau

In a three year research project a representative spectrum of coloured potato varieties were cultivated and tested in detail regarding yield potential and the influence of production systems (organic/integrated). The varying anthocyanin content as well as the antioxidant capacity of the types used were analysed to determine their potential health benefits. Types with a particularly high content undergo further tests to show the influence of the manner of preparation (boiling, steaming, frying) and determine their use for the processing industry. The cultivation of high yield blue types can be an alternative to the cultivation of yellow fleshed high yield types in organic or integrated operating farm companies

Comparative flavonoid profile of orange (Citrus sinensis) flavedo and albedo extracted by conventional and emerging techniques using UPLC-IMS-MS, chemometrics and antioxidant effects

Introduction: Citrus fruits are one of the most frequently counterfeited processed products in the world. In the juice production alone, the peels, divided into flavedo and albedo, are the main waste product. The extracts of this by-product are enriched with many bioactive substances. Newer extraction techniques generally have milder extraction conditions with simultaneous improvement of the extraction process. Methods: This study presents a combinatorial approach utilizing data-independent acquisition-based ion mobility spectrometry coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Integrating orthogonal collision cross section (CCS) data matching simultaneously improves the confidence in metabolite identification in flavedo and albedo tissues from Citrus sinensis. Furthermore, four different extraction approaches [conventional, ultrasonic, High Hydrostatic Pressure (HHP) and Pulsed Electric Field (PEF)] with various optimized processing conditions were compared in terms of antioxidant effects and flavonoid profile particularly polymethoxy flavones (PMFs). Results: A total number of 57 metabolites were identified, 15 of which were present in both flavedo and albedo, forming a good qualitative overlapping of distributed flavonoids. For flavedo samples, the antioxidant activity was higher for PEF and HHP treated samples compared to other extraction methods. However, ethyl acetate extract exhibited the highest antioxidant effects in albedo samples attributed to different qualitative composition content rather than various quantities of same metabolites. The optimum processing conditions for albedo extraction using HHP and PEF were 200 MPa and 15 kJ/kg at 10 kV, respectively. While, HHP at medium pressure (400 MPa) and PEF at 15 kJ/kg/3 kV were the optimum conditions for flavedo extraction. Conclusion: Chemometric analysis of the dataset indicated that orange flavedo can be a valid source of soluble phenolic compounds especially PMFs. In order to achieve cross-application of production, future study should concentrate on how citrus PMFs correlate with biological engineering techniques such as breeding, genetic engineering, and fermentation engineering

Integrating multiple dimensions of ecological stability into a vulnerability framework

Ecological stability encompasses multiple dimensions of functional and compositional responses to environmental change. Though no single stability dimension used in isolation can fully reflect the overall response to environmental change, a common vulnerability assessment that integrates simultaneously across multiple stability components is highly desirable for ecological risk assessment. We develop both functional and compositional counterparts of a novel, integrative metric of overall ecological vulnerability (OEV). We test the framework with data from a modularized experiment replicated in five lakes over two seasons, examining functional and compositional responses to both pulse and press disturbances across three trophic groups. OEV is measured as the area under the curve integrated over the entire observation period, with the curve delimiting the difference between the disturbance treatment and undisturbed parallel controls, expressed either as the log response ratio of biomass (functional OEV) or community dissimilarity index (compositional OEV). Both, functional and compositional OEV correlated negatively with functional and compositional 'resistance', 'temporal stability' and 'final/extent of recovery' following both pulse and press disturbances, though less so with 'resilience' following a pulse disturbance. We also found a positive correlation between functional and compositional OEV, which reveals the potential to also evaluate the intricate linkage between biodiversity and functional change. Our findings demonstrate that OEV comprises a robust framework to: (a) capture simultaneously multiple functional and compositional stability components, and (b) quantify the functional consequences of biodiversity change. Our results provide the basis for an overarching framework for quantifying the overall vulnerability of ecosystems to environmental change, opening new possibilities for ecological risk assessment and management. Synthesis. Ecological stability comprises multiple dimensions that together encapsulate how ecosystems respond to environmental change. Considering these multiple aspects of stability simultaneously often poses a problem in environmental assessments, which frequently require overarching indicators of risk or vulnerability. While an analysis of multiple dimensions allows for deeper exploration of mechanisms, here we develop and test a new univariate indicator that integrates stability aspects under a broad range of disturbance regimes. Using a modularized experiment in Swedish lakes, we show that this integrative measure captures multiple stability dimensions reflecting compositional and functional vulnerability and their relationships between them

Combining field and laboratory measurements to determine the erosion risk of cohesive sediments best

In contrast to non-cohesive sediments, the incipient motion of cohesive sediments is characterized by much more complex interactions between several sedimentary, biological, and chemical parameters. Thus, site-specific investigations are required to obtain information about the erosion stability of cohesive materials. This becomes even more relevant for contaminated sediments, stored in riverine sediments as a “burden of the past”, because of their remobilization potential during flood events. This article represents a twofold measuring strategy for the detection of erosion thresholds: an in situ device for determination of critical shear stresses in the field, and a laboratory approach where sediment cores are withdrawn and subsequently analyzed over depth. The combined measuring strategy was applied in the River Elbe and at selected sites of the catchment of the River Saale. The results show a great variety of erosion thresholds over depth, demonstrating the need to conduct vertical analyses, especially when addressing buried layers with contaminations. The latter is only possible in the laboratory but the in situ device revealed clear benefits in capturing the loose flocculent layer on top of the sediment that might be easily lost during sediment retrieval and transport. Consequently, it is ideal to combine both approaches for a comprehensive insight into sediment stability.Im Gegensatz zu nicht-kohäsiven Sedimenten ist die Beschreibung des Transportbeginns für kohäsive Sedimente durch die vielfältigen Interaktionen zwischen sedimentologischen, biologischen und chemischen Parametern durch eine deutlich höhere Komplexität gekennzeichnet. Um die Erosionsstabilität bestimmen zu können sind daher Vor-Ort-Messungen notwendig, insbesondere wenn die Sedimente mit Schadstoffe belastet sind, die während Hochwasserereignissen remobilisiert werden könnten. Dieser Aufsatz beinhaltet eine Messstrategie für die Erfassung des Bewegungsbeginns: ein in situ Messgerät zur Bestimmung von kritischen Sohlschubspannungen, sowie die Entnahme von Sedimentkernen, die anschließend im Labor tiefenorientiert untersucht werden können. Diese kombinierte Messstrategie wurde in der Elbe und in ausgewählten Stellen den Einzugsgebiet der Saale angewendet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine große Variabilität bezüglich des Transportbeginns. Dies verdeutlicht die Notwendigkeit auf vertikale Analysen durchzuführen, insbesondere wenn tiefer liegende kontaminierte Sedimentschichten relevant sind. Während die tiefenorientierte Analyse nur im Labor möglich ist, kann mit der situ Messung die locker gelagert oberste Sedimentschicht untersucht werden, die während der Kernentnahme meistens verloren geht. Daher ist es ideal, beide Vorgehensweisen für die Bestimmung der Erosionsstabilität zu kombinieren

Separation of Dihydro-Isocoumarins and Dihydro-Stilbenoids from Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata by Use of Counter-Current Chromatography

Previously, different Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata cultivars were investigated by untargeted LC-MS analysis. From this, a list of tentatively identified and unknown compounds that differ significantly between these cultivars was obtained. Due to the lack of reference compounds, especially for dihydro-isocoumarins, we aimed to isolate and structurally characterise these compounds from the cultivar 'Yae-no-amacha' using NMR and LC-MS methods. For purification and isolation, counter-current chromatography was used in combination with reversed-phase preparative HPLC as an orthogonal and enhanced purification workflow. Thirteen dihydro-isocoumarins in combination with other metabolites could be isolated and structurally identified. Particularly interesting was the clarification of dihydrostilbenoid glycosides, which were described for the first time in H. macrophylla ssp. serrata. These results will help us in further studies on the biological interpretation of our data

Capacity-building for eco-efficient industrialization in Thailand The role of technology cooperation with Germany, Japan and the United States

Die Studie stellt den Stand der Industrialisierung in Thailand unter Umweltgesichtspunkten dar und analysiert die bilateralen Kooperationen in diesem Bereich mit Deutschland, Japan und den USA. Eine breitere Zusammenarbeit zwischen deutschen Unternehmen und Thailand wird als die wirkungsvollste Methode zum Erreichen einer umweltorientierten Industrie eingeschaetzt. Hier koennte die Rolle Deutschlands als fuehrender Exporteur von Umwelttechnik eine entscheidende Rolle spielen. Die deutsch-thailaendische Handelskammer hat bei der Anbahnung von Kontakten zwischen Unternehmen eine bedeutende Rolle. Als erster Schritt auf diesem Wege wurde in Bangkok bei der Handelskammer ein Manager fuer umweltorientierte Industrialisierung ernannt. (pra)German title: Aufbau von Faehigkeiten zur oeko-effizienten Industrialisierung in Thailand: die Rolle der technologischen Kooperation mit Deutschland, Japan und den USAAvailable from UuStB Koeln(38)-980106267 / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

VIS-NIR Modeling of Hydrangenol and Phyllodulcin Contents in Tea-Hortensia (<i>Hydrangea macrophylla</i> subsp. <i>serrata</i>)

Hyperspectral data are commonly used for the fast and inexpensive quantification of plant constituent estimation and quality control as well as in research and development applications. Based on chemical analysis, different models for dihydroisocoumarins (DHCs), namely hydrangenol (HG) and phyllodulcin (PD), were built using a partial least squares regression (PLSR). While HG is common in Hydrangea macrophylla, PD only occurs in cultivars of Hydrangea macrophylla subsp. serrata, also known as ‘tea-hortensia’. PD content varies significantly over the course of the growing period. For maximizing yield, a targeted estimation of PD content is needed. Nowadays, DHC contents are determined via UPLC, a time-consuming and a destructive method. In this research article we investigated PLSR-based models for HG and PD using three different spectrometers. Two separate trials were conducted to test for model quality. Measurement conditions, namely fresh or dried leaves and black or white background, did not influence model quality. While highly accurate modeling of HG and PD for single plants was not possible, the determination of the mean content on a larger scale was successful. The results of this study show that hyperspectral modeling as a decision support for farmers is feasible and provides accurate results on a field scale