[Amphibians and reptiles in the swamps dominated by the palm Raphia taedigera (Arecaceae) in northeastern Costa Rica].

PubMed

Bonilla-Murillo, Fabian; Beneyto, Davinia; Sasa, Mahmood

2013-09-01

The herpetofauna that inhabits Caribbean Costa Rica has received considerable attention in the last two decades. This assemblage includes a total of 141 species of reptiles and 95 amphibians mostly distributed in tropical wet and moist lowland forests. While most information available came from primary and secondary forest sites, little is known about the amphibians and reptiles that inhabit more open habitats, such as wetlands and swamps. For instances, swaps dominated by the yolillo palm Raphia taedigera extend through much of the northeastern Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and eastern Nicaragua, but information about the herpetological community that uses such environments remains practically unknown. This situation reflects the little research conducted in such inhospitable environments. Here, we report the results of an intensive survey conducted to assess the herpetological community that inhabit R. taedigera palm-swamps. A total of 14 species of amphibians and 17 of reptiles have been recorded from these swamps. Amphibians and reptiles that inhabit yolillo swamps have wide distributions along much of Middle America and are considered common species throughout their range. In general, yolillo swamps are poor environments for herpetofauna: richness of reptiles and amphibians is almost two times higher in the adjacent forest than in the palm dominated swamps. Furthermore, most species observed in this swamps can be considered habitat generalists that are well adapted to the extreme conditions imposed by the changes in hydroperiods, reduce understory cover, low tree diversity and simple forest architecture of these environments. Despite similarities in the herpetofauna, it is clear that not all forest species use yolillo habitat, a characteristic that is discussed in terms of physical stress driven by the prolonged hydroperiod and reduced leaflitter in the ground, as these features drive habitat structure and herpetofaunal complexity. Our list of species using yolillo swamps is not definitive, and is likely to grow as more studies are conducted in this unexplored environment.

Effects of land use practices on neotropical migratory birds in bottomland hardwood forests

Treesearch

David N. Pashley; Wylie C. Barrow

1993-01-01

Description of the system: Bottomland hardwood forests (including bald cypress and tupelo swamp forests) are historically the dominant natural community of riverine floodplains of the southeastern United States. Their greatest single expanse was in the 21 million acre floodplain of the lower Mississippi River Valley from southern Illinois to coastal marshes along the...

Modeling the Hydrologic Processes of a Depressional Forested Wetland in South Carolina, U.S.A.

Treesearch

Ge Sun; Timothy Callahan; Jennifer E. Pyzoha; Carl C. Trettin; Devendra M. Amatya

2004-01-01

Depressional forested wetlands or geographically isolated wetlands such as cypress swamps and Carolina bays are common land features in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the southeastern US. Those wetlands play important roles in providing wildlife habitats, water quality improvement, and carbon sequestration. Great stresses have been imposed on those important ecosystems...

SwampLog II: A Structured Journal for Personal and Professional Inquiry within a Collaborative Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicassio, Frank J.

SwampLog is a type of journal keeping that records the facts of daily activities as experienced and perceived by practitioners. The label, "SwampLog," was inspired by Donald Schon's metaphor used to distinguish the "swamplands of practice" from the "high, hard ground of research." Keeping a SwampLog consists of recording four general types of…

[Use and conservation of palm swamps Raphia taedigera (Arecaceae) in the Area de Conservación Tortuguero, Costa Rica].

PubMed

Calvo-Gutiérrez, Carlos M; Bonilla-Murillo, Fabián; Sasa, Mahmood

2013-09-01

The swamps dominated by raffia palm Raphia taedigera are conspicuous environments in the Tortuguero floodplains and in other wet regions along the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Costa Rica. However, these environments have been little studied and are exposed to numerous threats, most importantly their replacement by agricultural activities or pastureland. In this paper, we describe some applications and uses of the raffia palms and other palms that are common in these flooded swamps. We also describe the efforts that have been made in Costa Rica for the protection or raffia-dominated swamps, through the environmental law frame of the country and the establishment of a protection system based on wilderness areas under different categories of protection. We discuss issues relevant to the future of these environments in the regions where they are distributed.

Southern deepwater swamps

Treesearch

William H. Conner

1998-01-01

The authors define, classify, and analyze the economic significance of southern deepwater swamps. They discuss the physical environment, vegetational communities, animal communities, management issues, and research needs for this complex resource.

Distribution of periphytic algae in wetlands (Palm swamps, Cerrado), Brazil.

PubMed

Dunck, B; Nogueira, I S; Felisberto, S A

2013-05-01

The distribution of periphytic algae communities depends on various factors such as type of substrate, level of disturbance, nutrient availability and light. According to the prediction that impacts of anthropogenic activity provide changes in environmental characteristics, making impacted Palm swamps related to environmental changes such as deforestation and higher loads of nutrients via allochthonous, the hypothesis tested was: impacted Palm swamps have higher richness, density, biomass and biovolume of epiphytic algae. We evaluated the distribution and structure of epiphytic algae communities in 23 Palm swamps of Goiás State under different environmental impacts. The community structure attributes here analyzed were composition, richness, density, biomass and biovolume. This study revealed the importance of the environment on the distribution and structuration of algal communities, relating the higher values of richness, biomass and biovolume with impacted environments. Acidic waters and high concentration of silica were important factors in this study. Altogether 200 taxa were identified, and the zygnemaphycea was the group most representative in richness and biovolume, whereas the diatoms, in density of studied epiphyton. Impacted Palm swamps in agricultural area presented two indicator species, Gomphonema lagenula Kützing and Oedogonium sp, both related to mesotrophic to eutrophic conditions for total nitrogen concentrations of these environments.

Lower Pliocene Fast and Repetitive Vegetation Changes In Southwestern Romania As A Response To Milankovitch Cycles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popescu, S.-M.; Suc, J.-P.; Loutre, M. F.

High-resolution pollen analyses on the lignite-clay Lupoaia section (from 4.9 to 4.3 Ma) in southwestern Romania provide an accurate record of the Lower Pliocene veg- etation changes in the Danube paleodelta environment close to the Carpathians. Many major fluctuations concern thermophilous trees vs. altitudinal trees (chiefly in agree- ment with lignite-clay alternations) and have been referred to changes in temperature. Thanks to a reliable magnetostratigraphic calibration of the section, such changes are to be linked to eccentricity cycles, that provides a more precise chronologic control to the section (Popescu, in press). In addition, regular secondary fluctuations occur which oppose swamp trees (such as most of the Taxodiaceae) to marsh herbs (such as Cyperaceae). They evoke the present-day landscape of the Mississippi delta where swamp forests (constituted by Taxodium distichum mainly) are in competition with herbaceous marshes (made of Cyperaceae such as Mariscus jamaicensis in addition to some Cyrillaceae and Myrica). The latest require significantly more water than the swamps (Roberts, 1986). These plant environments cause two kinds of lignite deposition that have been also identified in the Lupoaia section (Ticleanu and Dia- conita, 1997). According to the chronologic frame previously defined, it is possible to evidence a precession forcing for these alternations. Minima in precession probably caused increasing rainfall over the region and expansion of marshes. So, it is sug- gested that during Lower Pliocene the West Asian monsoon influenced climate of the northeastern Mediterranean region. References. Popescu, S.-M., in press. Repetitive changes in Lower Pliocene vegetation revealed by high-resolution pollen analysis: revised cyclostratigraphy of Southwest- ern Romania. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol. Roberts, H.H., 1986. Selected depositional en- vironments of the Mississippi River deltaic plain. Geol. Sc. America Centennial Field Guide-Southeastern Section, 98, 435-440. Ticleanu, N. and Diaconita, D., 1997. The main coal facies and lithotypes of the Pliocene coal basin, Oltenia, Romania. In SEuro- & cedil;pean Coal Geology and TechnologyT, Gayer, R. and Peek, J. eds., Geological Society Special Publ., 125, 131-139.

Development and application of a spatial hydrology model of Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loftin, C.S.; Kitchens, W.M.; Ansay, N.

2001-01-01

The model described herein was used to assess effects of the Suwannee River sill (a low earthen dam constructed to impound the Suwannee River within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to eliminate wildfires) on the hydrologic environment of Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia. Developed with Arc/Info Macro Language routines in the GRID environment, the model distributes water in the swamp landscape using precipitation, inflow, evapotranspiration, outflow, and standing water. Water movement direction and rate are determined by the neighborhood topographic gradient, determined using survey grade Global Positioning Systems technology. Model data include flow rates from USGS monitored gauges, precipitation volumes and water levels measured within the swamp, and estimated evapotranspiration volumes spatially modified by vegetation type. Model output in semi-monthly time steps includes water depth, water surface elevation above mean sea level, and movement direction and volume. Model simulations indicate the sill impoundment affects 18 percent of the swamp during high water conditions when wildfires are scarce and has minimal spatial effect (increasing hydroperiods in less than 5 percent of the swamp) during low water and drought conditions when fire occurrence is high but precipitation and inflow volumes are limited.

Jen Gustetic visits Swamp Works

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-10-28

Jenn Gustetic, NASA's Small Business Innovation Research Program executive, talks with Rob Mueller, senior technologist and co-founder of Kennedy Space Center's Swamp Works. Gustetic met team members and viewed many of the pioneering technologies and innovations in development at Kennedy. Swamp Works is a hands-on, lean development environment for innovation following the philosophies pioneered in Kelly Johnson's Skunk Works and Werner von Braun's development shops. The Swamp Works establishes rapid, innovative and cost-effective exploration mission solutions through a highly collaborative, "no walls" approach, leveraging partnerships across NASA, industry and academia.

Climate and pH predict the potential range of the invasive apple snail (Pomacea insularum) in the southeastern United States.

PubMed

Byers, James E; McDowell, William G; Dodd, Shelley R; Haynie, Rebecca S; Pintor, Lauren M; Wilde, Susan B

2013-01-01

Predicting the potential range of invasive species is essential for risk assessment, monitoring, and management, and it can also inform us about a species' overall potential invasiveness. However, modeling the distribution of invasive species that have not reached their equilibrium distribution can be problematic for many predictive approaches. We apply the modeling approach of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) that is effective with incomplete, presence-only datasets to predict the distribution of the invasive island apple snail, Pomacea insularum. This freshwater snail is native to South America and has been spreading in the USA over the last decade from its initial introductions in Texas and Florida. It has now been documented throughout eight southeastern states. The snail's extensive consumption of aquatic vegetation and ability to accumulate and transmit algal toxins through the food web heighten concerns about its spread. Our model shows that under current climate conditions the snail should remain mostly confined to the coastal plain of the southeastern USA where it is limited by minimum temperature in the coldest month and precipitation in the warmest quarter. Furthermore, low pH waters (pH <5.5) are detrimental to the snail's survival and persistence. Of particular note are low-pH blackwater swamps, especially Okefenokee Swamp in southern Georgia (with a pH below 4 in many areas), which are predicted to preclude the snail's establishment even though many of these areas are well matched climatically. Our results elucidate the factors that affect the regional distribution of P. insularum, while simultaneously presenting a spatial basis for the prediction of its future spread. Furthermore, the model for this species exemplifies that combining climatic and habitat variables is a powerful way to model distributions of invasive species.

Monitoring seasonal and annual wetland changes in a freshwater marsh with SPOT HRV data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mackey, H.E. Jr.

1989-12-31

Eleven dates of SPOT HRV data along with near-concurrent vertical aerial photographic and phenological data for 1987, 1988, and 1989 were evaluated to determine seasonal and annual changes in a 400-hectare, southeastern freshwater marsh. Early April through mid-May was the best time to discriminate among the cypress (Taxodium distichum)/water tupelo (Nyssa acquatica) swamp forest and the non-persistent (Ludwigia spp.) and persistent (Typha spp.) stands in this wetlands. Furthermore, a ten-fold decrease in flow rate from 11 cubic meters per sec (cms) in 1987 to one cms in 1988 was recorded in the marsh followed by a shift to drier wetlandmore » communities. The Savannah River Site (SRS), maintained by the US Department of Energy, is a 777 km{sup 2} area located in south central South Carolina. Five tributaries of the Savannah River run southwest through the SRS and into the floodplain swamp of the Savannah River. This paper describes the use of SPOT HRV data to monitor seasonal and annual trends in one of these swamp deltas, Pen Branch Delta, during a three-year period, 1987--1989.« less

Monitoring seasonal and annual wetland changes in a freshwater marsh with SPOT HRV data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mackey, H.E. Jr.

1989-01-01

Eleven dates of SPOT HRV data along with near-concurrent vertical aerial photographic and phenological data for 1987, 1988, and 1989 were evaluated to determine seasonal and annual changes in a 400-hectare, southeastern freshwater marsh. Early April through mid-May was the best time to discriminate among the cypress (Taxodium distichum)/water tupelo (Nyssa acquatica) swamp forest and the non-persistent (Ludwigia spp.) and persistent (Typha spp.) stands in this wetlands. Furthermore, a ten-fold decrease in flow rate from 11 cubic meters per sec (cms) in 1987 to one cms in 1988 was recorded in the marsh followed by a shift to drier wetlandmore » communities. The Savannah River Site (SRS), maintained by the US Department of Energy, is a 777 km{sup 2} area located in south central South Carolina. Five tributaries of the Savannah River run southwest through the SRS and into the floodplain swamp of the Savannah River. This paper describes the use of SPOT HRV data to monitor seasonal and annual trends in one of these swamp deltas, Pen Branch Delta, during a three-year period, 1987--1989.« less

Variations in fluvial deposition on an alluvial plain: an example from the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene), southeastern Powder River Basin, Wyoming, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, E.A.; Pierce, F.W.

1990-01-01

The Tongue River Member of the Paleocene Fort Union Formation is an important coal-bearing sedimentary unit in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming and Montana. We studied the depositional environments of a portion of this member at three sites 20 km apart in the southeastern part of the basin. Six lithofacies are recognized that we assign to five depositional facies categorized as either channel or interchannel-wetlands environments. (1) Type A sandstone is cross stratified and occurs as lenticular bodies with concave-upward basal surfaces; these bodies are assigned to the channel facies interpreted to be the product of low-sinuosity streams. (2) Type B sandstone occurs in parallel-bedded units containing mudrock partings and fossil plant debris; these units constitute the levee facies. (3) Type C sandstone typically lacks internal structure and occurs as tabular bodies separating finer grained deposits; these bodies represent the crevasse-splay facies. (4) Gray mudrock is generally nonlaminated and contains ironstone concretions; these deposits constitute the floodplain facies. (5) Carbonaceous shale and coal are assigned to the swamp facies. We recognize two styles of stream deposition in our study area. Laterally continuous complexes of single and multistoried channel bodies occur at our middle study site and we interpret these to be the deposits of sandy braided stream systems. In the two adjacent study sites, single and multistoried channel bodies are isolated in a matrix of finer-grained interchannel sediment suggesting deposition by anastomosed streams. A depositional model for our study area contains northwest-trending braided stream systems. Avulsions of these systems created anastomosed streams that flowed into adjacent interchannel areas. We propose that during late Paleocene a broad alluvial plain existed on the southeastern flank of the Powder River Basin. The braided streams that crossed this surface were tributaries to a northward-flowing, basin-axis trunk stream that existed to the west. ?? 1990.

Toxicity of 5% rotenone to nonindigenous Asian swamp eels

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schofield, P.J.; Nico, L.G.

2007-01-01

Our primary goal was to determine whether rotenone would be a useful control against introduced populations of Asian swamp eels (family Synbranchidae, genus Monopterus). We report the results of a laboratory experiment comparing the efficacy of various rotenone concentrations (1, 2, 4, and 8 mg of 5% liquid rotenone/L of water) in killing nonindigenous swamp eels of various sizes (1-350 g) from the three known Florida populations. Although most small swamp eels were killed at concentrations of 2 and 4 mg/L. 100% mortality of adult swamp eels was achieved only at 8 mg/L. We conclude that the effective use of rotenone to control established Florida swamp eel populations would be difficult, based on the relatively high concentration of rotenone needed to kill swamp eels; the complexity of the swamp eel's habitat; and our observations of the species' habitat use and behavior, including its widespread distribution and life history characteristics (e.g., burrowing and overland movement) that enhance its invasion and survival in multiple environments. Nevertheless, control of swamp eels may be achieved in certain situations. A combination of rotenone and electroshocking may be an effective way to eradicate swamp eels from small water bodies and to control populations in larger habitats. However, we are cautious in this recommendation and provide details related to the technical aspects of this type of strategy and caveats related to the toxicity of the chemical.

Final Environmental Impact Statement. F-15E Beddown at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-11-18

beetle; and the following threatened species: artic peregrine falcon, piping plover, dismal swamp southeastern shrew , green sea turtle, and the log...Fish and Wildlife Service’s Raleigh Field Office. There would be no construction activity in the habitats of the shrew and tiger beetle and the Iong...sAadd .. 4 P~loqh/ DIN Z7-~2S ’UL 16 󈨡 9:31 703 614 7572 PAGE.002 DISGLAIMUJ NOTIGI THIS DOCUMENT IS BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE. THE COPY FURNISHED TO

Food swamps and food deserts in Baltimore City, MD, USA: associations with dietary behaviours among urban adolescent girls.

PubMed

Hager, Erin R; Cockerham, Alexandra; O'Reilly, Nicole; Harrington, Donna; Harding, James; Hurley, Kristen M; Black, Maureen M

2017-10-01

To determine whether living in a food swamp (≥4 corner stores within 0·40 km (0·25 miles) of home) or a food desert (generally, no supermarket or access to healthy foods) is associated with consumption of snacks/desserts or fruits/vegetables, and if neighbourhood-level socio-economic status (SES) confounds relationships. Cross-sectional. Assessments included diet (Youth/Adolescent FFQ, skewed dietary variables normalized) and measured height/weight (BMI-for-age percentiles/Z-scores calculated). A geographic information system geocoded home addresses and mapped food deserts/food swamps. Associations examined using multiple linear regression (MLR) models adjusting for age and BMI-for-age Z-score. Baltimore City, MD, USA. Early adolescent girls (6th/7th grade, n 634; mean age 12·1 years; 90·7 % African American; 52·4 % overweight/obese), recruited from twenty-two urban, low-income schools. Girls' consumption of fruit, vegetables and snacks/desserts: 1·2, 1·7 and 3·4 servings/d, respectively. Girls' food environment: 10·4 % food desert only, 19·1 % food swamp only, 16·1 % both food desert/swamp and 54·4 % neither food desert/swamp. Average median neighbourhood-level household income: $US 35 298. In MLR models, girls living in both food deserts/swamps consumed additional servings of snacks/desserts v. girls living in neither (β=0·13, P=0·029; 3·8 v. 3·2 servings/d). Specifically, girls living in food swamps consumed more snacks/desserts than girls who did not (β=0·16, P=0·003; 3·7 v. 3·1 servings/d), with no confounding effect of neighbourhood-level SES. No associations were identified with food deserts or consumption of fruits/vegetables. Early adolescent girls living in food swamps consumed more snacks/desserts than girls not living in food swamps. Dietary interventions should consider the built environment/food access when addressing adolescent dietary behaviours.

Geochemistry of mercury in tropical swamps impacted by gold mining.

PubMed

Marrugo-Negrete, José; Pinedo-Hernández, José; Díez, Sergi

2015-09-01

Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) poses a serious threat to the local environment. Colombia has very active ASGM activities, where mercury (Hg) ends in piles of mining waste, soils, and waterways. In this study, we assessed Hg speciation and bioavailability in sediments of two tropical swamps, impacted by ASGM. In Ayapel swamp, total Hg (T-Hg) concentrations in sediments ranged between 145 and 313 ng g(-1) dry weight (dw) (mean: 235 ± 49 ng g(-1) dw), whereas Grande Achi swamp levels are 3-fold higher (range: 543-1021 ng g(-1) dw; mean: 722 ± 145 ng g(-1) dw). Even though lower levels of Hg were found in Ayapel, methylation was found to be significantly higher than in Grande Achi, and it is significantly higher in the dry than in the rainy season for both swamps. This increased methylation is linked to the statistically significant correlation between T-Hg, MeHg and organic matter in the Ayapel swamp. In fact, Hg content in both swamps is mainly associated to the organic fraction (Hg-o), with a higher statistically significant difference in Ayapel (43 ± 5%) compared to Grande Achi (33 ± 5%). On the other hand, a significant percentage (30 ± 6%) of elemental Hg fraction (Hg-e) was found in Grande Achi, directly related with Hg released during the gold recovery process from upstream ASGM sites. The percentage of the bioavailable fraction (Hg-w and Hg-h) is elevated (up to 15%), indicating a potential risk to the aquatic environment and human health because these labile Hg species could enter the water column and bioaccumulate in biota. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Development of low-ash, planar peat swamps in an alluvial-plain setting: The no. 5 Block beds (westphalian D) of southern West Virginia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Staub, J.R.; Richards, B.K.

1993-07-01

Coals from the No. 5 Block coal beds (Westphalian D) of the central Appalachian basin are noted for their blocky, dull character and their low ash and low sulfur content. The beds are multiple benched, with rock partings separating benches. Individual benches have limited lateral extent and, where thick, are dominated by bright, high-ash coal at the base and dull, low-ash coal in the upper parts. The duller coals contain more exinite-group and inertinite-group macerals than the brighter coals. These coal beds are encased in sandstone units dominated by fining-upward sequences. The overall depositional setting is an alluvial-plain environment withmore » northwest-flowing channels spaced approximately 20 km apart. The channels were flanked by clastic swamps about 7 km wide. Low-ash peat accumulated in areas of the flood plain most distant from the channels. These peat-accumulating swamps were about 8 km across. In a few instances low-frequency flood events introduced fine siliciclastic sediment into the peat swamps, depositing a thin layer of sediment on top of the peat. This sediment layer is thicker where the underlying coal is the thickest. These thick coal areas are topographically lower than surrounding coal areas. This relationship between coal thickness, parting thickness, and topography indicates that these peat swamps were planar at the time of deposition. Individual coal benches contain abundant preserved cellular tissue (telocollinite, semifusinite, and fusinite) at most locations, suggesting that robust vegetation was widespread in the swamps and that the morphology was planar. The high concentrations of exinite-group an inertinite-group macerals in the upper parts of benches resulted from selective decomposition and oxidation of the peat in subaerial and aquatic planar-swamp environments.« less

[Litter production and breakdown in swamps dominated by palms (Arecaceae) in northeastern Costa Rica].

PubMed

Myers, Ronald L

2013-09-01

In Raffia (Raphia taedigera) palm-swamps, it is frequent to observe high mounds at the base of the palm clumps. These mounds are formed by the accumulation of litter and organic matter, or might result from upturned roots of wind-thrown trees. The mounds serve as anchorage site for the palms, and could be important for the establishment of woody tree species in the swamp. The formation of these mounds might be explained by the unequal accumulation of organic matter in the wetland, or by differences in decomposition rates between Raffia litter versus the litter produced in adjacent mixed forests. To distinguish between these hypotheses, I compared the spatial distribution of litter in a R. taedigera swamp with the litter distribution on an adjacent slope forest, where litter distribution is expected to be homogeneous. In addition, I compared decomposition rates of major components of fine litter in three different environments: two wetlands dominated by palms (R. taedigera and Manicaria saccifera) and a slope forest that experiences lower inundation effects. On the palm swamp, noticeable concentration of litter was observed near the bases of clumps of palm as opposed to the swamp floor. In the adjacent slope forest, the magnitude of the differences in the distribution of litter is small and there is no accumulation at the base of emergent trees. It was also found that litter production increases during heavy rains and storms that follow dry periods. The swamp environment, independent of the litter, showed significantly lower decomposition rates than the surrounding forest slope. Furthermore, R. taedigera litter decomposes as fast as the slope forest litter. Overall, these results suggest that resistance to decomposition is not a major factor in the formation of mounds at the bases of R. taedigera clumps. Instead, litter accumulation contributes to the formation of the mounds that rise above the surface of the swamp.

Soil characteristics of sediment-amended baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) swamps of coastal Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jiang, Ming; Middleton, Beth A.

2011-01-01

Amendments of sediment from dredging activities have played an important role in raising the elevation of sinking coastal wetlands. This study compared the soil characteristics of sediment- amended coastal swamps in the Barataria Preserve unit of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve with natural swamps along Bayou des Familles. The sandy sediment amendments used in the coastal forests had different soil texture and characteristics than the more organic soils of the natural swamps. Three years after the application of these sediments on the sediment-amended swamps, dewatering and compaction of the sediment had occurred but the sediment still had high salinity and bulk density, and low organic matter content. The two sediment-amended swamps differed from each other in that Site 1 had a higher elevation (mean = 25 cm higher) and drier soil than Site 2. The effects of sediment in coastal forested wetlands require separate consideration from studies of salt marshes, e.g., the weight of the sediment might damage tree roots, or the amendments might influence soil stability during storms in a different way. Generally, this study suggests that shallower depths of sediment are more likely to yield environments beneficial to these sinking baldcypress swamps in coastal Louisiana.

Wetland and water supply

USGS Publications Warehouse

Baker, John Augustus

1960-01-01

The Geological Survey has received numerous inquiries about the effects of proposed changes in the wetland environment. The nature of the inquiries suggests a general confusion in the public mind as to wetland values and an increasing concern by the public with the need for facts as a basis for sound decisions when public action is required. Perhaps the largest gap in our knowledge is in regard to the role played by the wetland in the natural water scheme. Specialists in such fields as agriculture and conservation have studied the wetland in relation to its special uses and values for farming and as a habitat for fish and wildlife. However, except as studied incidentally by these specialists, the role of the wetland with respect to water has been largely neglected. This facet of the wetland problem is of direct concern to the Geological Survey. We commonly speak of water in terms of its place in the hydrologic environment---as, for example, surface water or ground water. These terms imply that water can be neatly pigeonholed. With respect to the wetland environment nothing can be further from the truth. In fact, one objective of this discussion is to demonstrate that for the wetland environment surface water, ground water, and soil water cannot be separated realistically, but are closely interrelated and must be studied together. It should be noted that this statement holds true for the hydrologic environment in general, and that the wetland environment is by no means unique in this respect. Our second and principal objective is to identify some of the problems that must be studied in order to clarify the role of the wetland in relation to water supply. We have chosen to approach these objectives by briefly describing one area for which we have some information, and by using this example to point out some of the problems that need study. First, however, let us define what we, as geohydrologists, mean by wetland and briefly consider wetland classifications. For our purpose wetlands are land areas that are covered with shallow water or subjected to intermittent flooding and subsequent slow drainage, and which generally are characterized by an accumulation of organic matter hereafter termed swamp deposits.' These wetlands may be classified in a number of different ways depending on the purpose of the classifier. For example, the Fish and Wildlife Service classifies wetlands into 20 different types based on water quality (fresh or salty), drainage, and vegetation. At the risk of some oversimplification we might consider 4 types of wetland from the standpoint of hydrology: (1) fresh-water swamps in which the swamp deposits are underlain by glacial till or bedrock; (2)fresh-water swamps in which the swamp deposits are underlain by marine or lacustrine clay and silt; (3) fresh-water swamps in which the swamp deposits are underlain by glacial outwash or alluvium consisting mostly of sand or sand and gravel; and (4) salt .marshes and salt meadows. The three fresh-water types of wetland are of interest with respect to water supply, and of these, the type in which swamp deposits are underlain by glacial outwash is of particular interest in New England. In the Ipswich River basin above the Geological Survey gaging station at South Middleton, Mass., is an area of 44 square miles which forms the headwaters section of the basin. The relief of the area is low. About half the area consists of hills mostly underlain by bedrock but mantled by a thin layer of glacial till. The other half consists Of lowlands---including swamps, low terraces and plains---underlain by glacial outwash, Swampland, used hereafter as a synonym for wetland, forms about a fourth of the area. Some of the swamps occupy depressions in the till blanket and are situated at somewhat higher levels than the lowlands. The largest swamps, however, border the Ipswich River and its tributaries. Here the swamp deposits, which consist of muck and peat mixed with s

Vascular flora of Douglas Point, Charles County, Maryland. Final report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miles, K.J.

1980-01-01

The environment and vascular flora of a 561 hectare (1400 acre) site on the western shore of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland are described. Six habitats are represented: mixed hardwood forest, pine forest, open field, freshwater marsh, shrub swamp, and tree swamp. An annotated list of 531 species is included.

Genetic diversity in a morphologically conservative invasive taxon: Multiple introductions of swamp eels to the southeastern United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Collins, T.M.; Trexler, J.C.; Nico, L.G.; Rawlings, T.A.

2002-01-01

Genetic analysis of introduced populations, especially in morphologically conservative taxa, can clarify introduction histories, identify management units and source populations, provide a more realistic estimate of the frequency of successful invasion, and suggest strategies for preventing further introductions. In the last 7 years, populations of swamp eels, referred to the Asian genus Monopterus (Family Synbranchidae) on the basis of external morphology, have been discovered in aquatic habitats near Atlanta, Georgia; Tampa, Florida; North Miami, Florida; and most recently in close proximity to Everglades National Park in Homestead, Florida. Swamp eels are large predators capable of dispersal over land and have the potential to disrupt already threatened ecosystems. We analyzed mitochondrial DNA sequences from four known populations in the continental United States and samples from Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, and two locations in China to determine introduction histories, source populations, genetic diversity, and relationships among populations. Our results indicate that there have been at least three independent introductions of genetically distinct forms. Introduced populations in close proximity (separated by <40 km) are genetically distinct. The level of sequence difference among introduced populations reaches levels seen among sister families of teleost fishes for the same region of the mitochondrial genome. These genetically distinct introduced populations in all likelihood represent at least two and possibly three species. Regardless of species status, these genetically distinct lineages may be expected to vary in ecological or life-history traits, representing different potential threats to the ecosystems where they have been introduced. Given the success of swamp eels in invading many habitats around the world, further study of these eels is warranted to elucidate the characteristics of successful invaders and invasions.

Identifying baldcypress-water tupelo regeneration classes in forested wetlands of the Atchafalaya Basin, Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Faulkner, Stephen P.; Bhattarai, Prajwol; Allen, Yvonne C.; Barras, John A.; Constant, Glenn C.

2009-01-01

Baldcypress-water tupelo (cypress-tupelo) swamps are critically important coastal forested wetlands found throughout the southeastern U.S. The long-term survival and sustainability of these swamp forests is unknown due to large-scale changes in hydrologic regimes that prevent natural regeneration following logging or mortality. We used NWI wetland maps and remotely sensed hydrologic data to map cypress-tupelo communities, surface water, and the extent and location of proposed regeneration condition classes for cypress-tupelo swamps in the Atchafalaya Basin, LA. Only 6,175 ha (5.8%) of the 106,227 ha of cypress-tupelo forest in the Lower Atchafalaya Basin Floodway was classified as capable of naturally regenerating. Over 23% (24,525 ha) of the forest area was mapped as unable to regenerate either naturally or artificially. The loss and conversion of nearly 25,000 ha of cypress-tupelo forest would have significant and long-lasting impacts on ecosystem services such as wildlife habitat for birds and Louisiana black bears. Given the landscape-scale changes in surface elevations and flooding depths and durations throughout southern Louisiana, similar conditions and impacts are likely applicable to all coastal cypress-tupelo forests in Louisiana. Better data on flooding during the growing season are needed to more accurately identify and refine the location and spatial extent of the regeneration condition classes.

Micropetrographic characteristics of peats from modern coal-forming environments in Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia and Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsular Swamps, North Carolina

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Corvinus, D.A.

1982-01-01

The Okefenokee Swamp, over 400,000 acres, is a swamp-marsh complex dominated by Taxodium-swamp vegetaion on its west side and Nymphaea-marsh vegetation onits east side. The Albemarle-Pamlico Peninsular Swamps primarily support a pocosin-bay vegetation. The Taxodium-dominated peats of the Okefenokee are more similar botanically to the Albemarle-Pamlico bay peats than are the Okefenokee Nymphaea-dominated peats. Some petrographic characteristics are common to all three peat types. The majority of cell walls in the peat exhibit colors (yellow to orange to red) which they did not display in their living state. This is believed to be from impregnation by the various cell fillingsmore » present in the peats. Unoxidized fragmented (granular) material in all three peat types usually occurs in larger amounts than oxidized (darkened) material. In Taxodium-dominated and bay peats the fragmented matrix is also usually more prevalent than the preserved material (intact cell walls and cell fillings). On the other hand, preserved material is most common in Nymphaea-dominated peats. It is believed that the majority of fragmented material is derived from the surface litter and that swamp vegetation contributes more surface litter than does marsh vegetation.« less

[Biomass distribution patterns of Alnus hirsuta and Betula platyphylla-swamp ecotone communities in Changbai Mountains].

PubMed

Mu, Changcheng; Wan, Shucheng; Su, Ping; Song, Hongwen; Sun, Zhihu

2004-12-01

In order to reveal the growth patterns of dominant tree species and the distribution patterns of community biomass along the horizontal environmental gradients or among the vertical layers of communities in Changbai Mountains, this paper studied the biomass distribution patterns of Alnus hirsuta-swamp and Betula platyphylla-swamp ecotone communities. The results showed that there were some differences in growth rate and in adaptability to habitats between A. hirsuta and B. platyphylla. In the wetland habitats of the ecotone, A. hirsuta grew 1-2 times faster than B. platyphylla, but along the gradient from swamp to forest, it grew slowly, while B. platyphylla grew fast. Therefore, A. hirsuta was a favorite tree species in wetland habitats. The distribution pattern of organ biomass was similar between A. hirsute and B. platyphylla, the trunk being 1/2, tree root 1/4, branch 1/10, bark 1.5/20, and leaf 1/20. The vertical distribution pattern of biomass was also similar between A. hirsute-swamp and B. platyphylla-swamp ecotone communities, the tree, shrub, and herbage layer accounted for 87%-90%, 7%-9%, and 2%-3%, respectively in the whole ecotone communities. The community biomass increased linearly from swamp to forest with the change of environment factors.

Early Campanian coastal progradational systems and their coal-forming environments, Wyoming to New Mexico

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marley, W.E.; Flores, R.M.; Ethridge, F.G.

1985-05-01

Ammonite zones (Baculites obtusus-Scaphites hippocrepis) in the marine facies associated with the Mesaverde Formation in the Bighorn basin, Wyoming, Star Point Sandstone and Blackhawk Formation in the Wasatch Plateau, Utah, and the Point Lookout Sandstone, Menefee Formation, and Crevasse Canyon Formation in the Gallup coalfield, New Mexico, indicate that these formations were deposited during early Campanian time (80-84 Ma). The coal-forming environments of these early Campanian formations were located landward of wave-reworked coastal sand complexes of progradational systems along the western margin of the Cretaceous seaway from Wyoming to New Mexico. The Mesaverde coals accumulated in swamps of the lowermore » delta plain and coeval interdeltaic strandplain environments. The Star Point-Blackhawk coals accumulated in swamps of the lower delta plains of laterally shifting, prograding deltas and associated barrier ridge plains. The Point Lookout, Menefee, and Crevasse canyon coals formed in swamps of the lower delta plain and infilled lagoons behind barrier islands. Although the common coal-forming environments of these progradational systems are back barrier and delta plain, the former setting was the more conducive for accumulation of thick, laterally extensive coals. Economic coal deposits formed in swamps built on abandoned back-barrier platforms that were free of detrital influx and marine influence. Delta-plain coals tend to be lenticular and laterally discontinuous and thus uneconomic. The early Campanian coal-forming coastal-plain environments are analogous to modern peat-forming environments along the coast of Belize, Central America. Deltaic sediments deposited along the Belize coast by short-headed streams are reworked by waves into coastal barrier systems.« less

Mercury in swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) from wetland habitats in Wisconsin.

PubMed

Strom, Sean M; Brady, Ryan S

2011-10-01

Wetlands play a major role in the export of methylmercury (MeHg) to a watershed. The large contribution of wetlands to watersheds in northern Wisconsin, coupled with the acidic environment of this area, makes these habitats especially vulnerable to mercury (Hg) accumulation by biota. The purpose of this study was to compare Hg accumulation between northern Wisconsin wetlands and southern Wisconsin wetlands using the swamp sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) as a representative species. The swamp sparrow was selected as a representative passerine species in which to examine Hg in these habitats, because during their breeding season, they feed at a higher trophic level than many of their counterparts. During the breeding seasons of 2007 and 2008, blood samples were collected from swamp sparrows inhabiting wetlands in both northern and southern Wisconsin and analyzed for total Hg. The mean concentration of total Hg in swamp sparrows from northern wetlands was 0.135 ± 0.064 μg/ml while the mean concentration of total Hg in swamp sparrows from southern wetlands was 0.187 ± 0.106 μg/ml. Results revealed no significant difference (P = 0.17) between Hg accumulation in swamp sparrows from less-acidic wetlands in southern Wisconsin and Hg in swamp sparrows from acidic wetlands in northern Wisconsin. The results are contrary to those observed in other species such as common loon, tree swallow and river otter where higher accumulation has been observed in individuals from acidic habitats. Reasons for the lack of this accumulation pattern in swamp sparrows are unclear and warrant further study.

Content of radionuclides in the peat deposit of swamps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nifontova, M.G.; Makovskii, V.I.

1995-11-01

The results are given of comparative analysis of the content and transformation of {sup 90}Sr and {sup 137}Cs over a peat deposit of swamps. During radioecological study, account was taken of the quantitative composition and physicochemical properties of the peat, as well as of the specific nature of the entry of radioactive products to peat deposits. Considering the increased capacity of peat for accumulating radionuclides and the specific features of sorption processes in a peat deposit, it is expedient to utilize swamps as a convenient natural object for continuous monitoring of radioactive contamination of the environment.

Tree-ring analysis of ancient baldcypress trees and subfossil wood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stahle, David W.; Burnette, Dorian J.; Villanueva, Jose; Cerano, Julian; Fye, Falko K.; Griffin, R. Daniel; Cleaveland, Malcolm K.; Stahle, Daniel K.; Edmondson, Jesse R.; Wolff, Kathryn P.

2012-02-01

Ancient baldcypress trees found in wetland and riverine environments have been used to develop a network of exactly dated annual ring-width chronologies extending from the southeastern United States, across Mexico, and into western Guatemala. These chronologies are sensitive to growing season precipitation in spite of frequently flooded site conditions, and have been used to reconstruct moisture levels the southeastern United States and Mexico for over 1000 years. The El Nino/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major influence on the climate reconstructions derived from these baldcypress chronologies, especially in Mexico where some of the most extreme reconstructed droughts occurred during El Nino events. In the Southeast, the ENSO influence on climate and tree growth changes sign from spring to summer, and this change in dynamical forcing is recorded by sub-seasonal chronologies of earlywood and latewood width. Most existing baldcypress chronologies have been extended with tree-ring data from "subfossil" wood recovered from surface and submerged deposits. Well-preserved subfossil logs have also been recovered in quantity from buried deposits of great age, and may permit development of long continuously dated Holocene chronologies and discontinuous "floating" Pleistocene chronologies. The extensive subfossil baldcypress swamp discovered 6 m below the streets of Washington D.C. was overrun by a transgression of the Potomac estuary, possibly during the previous super interglacial (marine OIS 5e), and provides direct evidence for one potential impact of unmitigated anthropogenic warming and sea level rise.

Low ash, planar peat swamp development in an alluvial plain setting: The No. 5 block beds of southern West Virginia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Staub, J.R.; Richards, B.K.

1992-01-01

Coals from the No. 5 Block beds (Westphalian D) are noted for their low ash and sulfur content. Beds are multiple benched, with rock partings separating individual benches. Benches have limited continuity and, where thick are dominated by bright, high ash coal at the base and dull, low ash coal in their upper portions. The duller coals contain more exinite and inertinite group macerals than the brighter coals. The depositional setting is an alluvial plain environment with channel systems separated by distances of about 20 km. The channel systems were flanked by clastic swamps for distances of up to 7more » km or more on either side. Areas of flood plain most distant from the channels were sites where peat accumulated and these zones were about 8 km across. High energy, low frequency flood events introduced fine grained sediment into the peat swamps resulting in thin layers of sediment being deposited on top of the peat. These sediment layers are thicker in areas where the underlying coal is the thickest. These thick coal areas are topographically negative. This relationship between coal and parting thickness and topography indicates that these peat swamps were low-lying or planar. Individual coal benches contain abundant amounts of preserved cellular tissue (telocollinite, semifusinite, fusinite) at most locations indicating that woody arborescent like vegetation was widespread in the swamps suggesting a planar morphology. The high concentrations of exinite and inertinite group macerals found in the upper portions of individual benches resulted from decomposition and oxidation of the peat in subaerial to aquatic planar swamp environments.« less

Maceral and palynomorph facies from two tertiary peat-forming environments in the Powder River Basin, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moore, T.A.; Stanton, R.W.; Pocknall, D.T.; Glores, R.M.

1990-01-01

The differences between the depositional settings of the Smith and Anderson subbituminous coal beds (Paleocene, central Powder River Basin, U.S.A.) are interpreted on the basis of their petrographic composition and palynologic assemblages. The Smith coal bed is relatively thin ( 50 m) sandstone bodies of an abandoned meander-belt complex, the coal bed is generally thicker (> 7 m) and more widespread (> 15 km) in extent than the Smith coal bed. The sands provided a relatively stable, poorly compactable platform that was favorable to the growth of large, arborescent vegetation, such as the dominant ancestral Glyptostrobus, as well as ancestral Nyssa, Carya, and Betulaceae in a well-drained but moist swamp environment. The stability of the peat-forming environment resulted in a raised peat deposit of relatively uniform paleoflora and peat composition. In the thicker areas of the Anderson coal bed, the upward increase in carbonized plant components indicates a progressively drier or better-drained swamp environment. Intervals within the coal bed that overlie or are lateral to crevasse-splay deposits contain a high concentration of pollen attributable to Pterocarya and an absence of carbonized plant remains, an indication that ancestral Pterocarya preferred a water-saturated environment close to the edge of the swamp where detrial influx occurred. ?? 1990.

[Seed germination and seedling survival and growth in swamps dominated by palms Raphia tae- digera (Arecaceae) in Tortuguero plains, Costa Rica].

PubMed

Myers, Ronald L

2013-09-01

In the marshes dominated by palms, seeds face anaerobic substrates and long flooding periods. Some tree species are capable of growing both in flooded swamps and in areas with lower influence of the flood. I studied the potential settlement of various tree species in different macrohabitats in the Tortuguero floodplain using three experiments: (1) Manicaria saccifera and Raphia taedigera seed germination in palm-swamps and forests of slopes; (2) germination of R. taedigera seeds along a microtopographic gradient; and (3) seed germination and seedling height growth of six woody species (Dipteryx oleifera, Pterocarpus officinalis, Prioria copaifera, Pentaclethra macroloba, Carapa guianensis and Crudia acuminata) and two palms (R. taedigera and Manicaria saccifera) under different forest and swamp habitats. In the first experiment, I found that the palms germinated much earlier in the slope forest than in the palm-swamp. In the second experiment, in drier plots (less effect of flooding) germination began earlier than in the more humid plots. In the third experiment, woody species germinated faster than the studied palms, and some species do not tolerate flooded areas (marshes and swamps), so they cannot germinate or survive in them. Other woody species were removed from the slope forest, probably due to seed predators. Based on the presence or absence of these species in the environment of study were divided into: (1) obliged swamp species (R. taedigera and M saccifera), (2) swamp intolerant (D. oleifera), and (3) facultative wetland species (P officinalis, P copaifera, P macroloba, C. guianensis). Crudia acuminata does not seem to follow any of these categories.

The scientific value and potential of New Zealand swamp kauri

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lorrey, Andrew M.; Boswijk, Gretel; Hogg, Alan; Palmer, Jonathan G.; Turney, Christian S. M.; Fowler, Anthony M.; Ogden, John; Woolley, John-Mark

2018-03-01

New Zealand swamp kauri (Agathis australis) are relic trees that have been buried and preserved in anoxic bog environments of northern New Zealand for centuries through to hundreds of millennia. Kauri are massive in proportion to other native New Zealand trees and they can attain ages greater than 1000 years. The export market for swamp (subfossil) kauri has recently been driven by demand for a high-value workable timber, but there are concerns about the sustainability of the remaining resource, a situation exacerbated in recent years by the rapid extraction of wood. Economic exploitation of swamp kauri presents several unique opportunities for Quaternary science, however the scientific value of this wood is not well understood by the wider research community and public. Here, we summarise the history of scientific research on swamp kauri, and explore the considerable potential of this unique resource. Swamp kauri tree-ring chronologies are temporally unique, and secondary analyses (such as radiocarbon and isotopic analyses) have value for improving our understanding of Earth's recent geologic history and pre-instrumental climate history. Swamp kauri deposits that span the last interglacial-glacial cycle show potential to yield "ultra-long" multi-millennia tree-ring chronologies, and composite records spanning large parts of MIS3 (and most of the Holocene) may be possible. High-precision radiocarbon dating of swamp kauri chronologies can improve the resolution of the global radiocarbon calibration curve, while testing age modelling and chronologic alignment of other independent long-term high-resolution proxy records. Swamp kauri also has the potential to facilitate absolute dating and verification of cosmogenic events found in long Northern Hemisphere tree-ring chronologies. Future efforts to conserve these identified values requires scientists to work closely with swamp kauri industry operators, resource consent authorities, and export regulators to mitigate potential losses to science as this precious material is progressively extracted from the ground and utilized.

Clay mineralogy indicates a mildly warm and humid living environment for the Miocene hominoid from the Zhaotong Basin, Yunnan, China

PubMed Central

Zhang, Chunxia; Guo, Zhengtang; Deng, Chenglong; Ji, Xueping; Wu, Haibin; Paterson, Greig A.; Chang, Lin; Li, Qin; Wu, Bailing; Zhu, Rixiang

2016-01-01

Global and regional environmental changes have influenced the evolutionary processes of hominoid primates, particularly during the Miocene. Recently, a new Lufengpithecus cf. lufengensis hominoid fossil with a late Miocene age of ~6.2 Ma was discovered in the Shuitangba (STB) section of the Zhaotong Basin in Yunnan on the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. To understand the relationship between paleoclimate and hominoid evolution, we have studied sedimentary, clay mineralogy and geochemical proxies for the late Miocene STB section (~16 m thick; ca. 6.7–6.0 Ma). Our results show that Lufengpithecus cf. lufengensis lived in a mildly warm and humid climate in a lacustrine or swamp environment. Comparing mid to late Miocene records from hominoid sites in Yunnan, Siwalik in Pakistan, and tropical Africa we find that ecological shifts from forest to grassland in Siwalik are much later than in tropical Africa, consistent with the disappearance of hominoid fossils. However, no significant vegetation changes are found in Yunnan during the late Miocene, which we suggest is the result of uplift of the Tibetan plateau combined with the Asian monsoon geographically and climatically isolating these regions. The resultant warm and humid conditions in southeastern China offered an important refuge for Miocene hominoids. PMID:26829756

Clay mineralogy indicates a mildly warm and humid living environment for the Miocene hominoid from the Zhaotong Basin, Yunnan, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chunxia; Guo, Zhengtang; Deng, Chenglong; Ji, Xueping; Wu, Haibin; Paterson, Greig A.; Chang, Lin; Li, Qin; Wu, Bailing; Zhu, Rixiang

2016-02-01

Global and regional environmental changes have influenced the evolutionary processes of hominoid primates, particularly during the Miocene. Recently, a new Lufengpithecus cf. lufengensis hominoid fossil with a late Miocene age of ~6.2 Ma was discovered in the Shuitangba (STB) section of the Zhaotong Basin in Yunnan on the southeast margin of the Tibetan Plateau. To understand the relationship between paleoclimate and hominoid evolution, we have studied sedimentary, clay mineralogy and geochemical proxies for the late Miocene STB section (~16 m thick; ca. 6.7-6.0 Ma). Our results show that Lufengpithecus cf. lufengensis lived in a mildly warm and humid climate in a lacustrine or swamp environment. Comparing mid to late Miocene records from hominoid sites in Yunnan, Siwalik in Pakistan, and tropical Africa we find that ecological shifts from forest to grassland in Siwalik are much later than in tropical Africa, consistent with the disappearance of hominoid fossils. However, no significant vegetation changes are found in Yunnan during the late Miocene, which we suggest is the result of uplift of the Tibetan plateau combined with the Asian monsoon geographically and climatically isolating these regions. The resultant warm and humid conditions in southeastern China offered an important refuge for Miocene hominoids.

Geologic and geomorphic controls of coal development in some Tertiary Rocky Mountain basins, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flores, R.M.

1993-01-01

Previous investigations have not well defined the controls on the development of minable coals in fluvial environments. This study was undertaken to provide a clearer understanding of these controls, particularly in of the lower Tertiary coal-bearing deposits of the Raton and Powder River basins in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. In this region, large amounts of coals accumulated in swamps formed in the flow-through fluvial systems that infilled these intermontane basins. Extrabasinal and intrabasinal tectonism partly controlled the stratigraphic and facies distributions of minable coal deposits. The regional accumulation of coals was favored by the rapid basin subsidence coupled with minimal uplift of the source area. During these events, coals developed in swamps associated with anastomosed and meandering fluvial systems and alluvial fans. The extensive and high rate of sediment input from these fluvial systems promoted the formation of ombrotrophic, raised swamps, which produced low ash and anomalously thick coals. The petrology and palynology of these coals, and the paleobotany of the associated sediments, suggest that ombrotrophic, raised swamps were common in the Powder River Basin, where the climate during the early Tertiary was paratropical. The paleoecology of these swamps is identical to that of the modern ombrotrophic, raised swamps of the Baram and Mahakam Rivers of Borneo. ?? 1993.

Estimation and Uncertainty of Recent Carbon Accumulation and Vertical Accretion in Drained and Undrained Forested Peatlands of the Southeastern USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drexler, Judith Z.; Fuller, Christopher C.; Orlando, James; Salas, Antonia; Wurster, Frederic C.; Duberstein, Jamie A.

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study was to determine how drainage impacts carbon densities and recent rates (past 50 years) of vertical accretion and carbon accumulation in southeastern forested peatlands. We compared these parameters in drained maple-gum (MAPL), Atlantic white cedar (CDR), and pocosin (POC) communities in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDS) of Virginia/North Carolina and in an intact (undrained) CDR swamp in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (AR) of North Carolina. Peat cores were analyzed for bulk density, percent organic carbon, and 137Cs and 210Pb. An uncertainty analysis of both 137Cs and 210Pb approaches was used to constrain error at least partially related to mobility of both radioisotopes. GDS peats had lower porosities (89.6% (SD = 1.71) versus 95.3% (0.18)) and higher carbon densities (0.082 (0.021) versus 0.037 (0.009) g C cm-3) than AR. Vertical accretion rates (0.10-0.56 cm yr-1) were used to estimate a time period of 84-362 years for reestablishment of peat lost during the 2011 Lateral West fire at the GDS. Carbon accumulation rates ranged from 51 to 389 g C m-2 yr-1 for all sites. In the drained (GDS) versus intact (AR) CDR sites, carbon accumulation rates were similar with 137Cs (87GDS versus 92AR g C m-2 yr-1) and somewhat less at the GDS than AR as determined with 210Pb (111GDS versus 159AR g C m-2 yr-1). Heightened productivity and high polyphenol content of peat may be responsible for similar rates of carbon accumulation in both drained and intact CDR peatlands.

Identifying food deserts and swamps based on relative healthy food access: a spatio-temporal Bayesian approach.

PubMed

Luan, Hui; Law, Jane; Quick, Matthew

2015-12-30

Obesity and other adverse health outcomes are influenced by individual- and neighbourhood-scale risk factors, including the food environment. At the small-area scale, past research has analysed spatial patterns of food environments for one time period, overlooking how food environments change over time. Further, past research has infrequently analysed relative healthy food access (RHFA), a measure that is more representative of food purchasing and consumption behaviours than absolute outlet density. This research applies a Bayesian hierarchical model to analyse the spatio-temporal patterns of RHFA in the Region of Waterloo, Canada, from 2011 to 2014 at the small-area level. RHFA is calculated as the proportion of healthy food outlets (healthy outlets/healthy + unhealthy outlets) within 4-km from each small-area. This model measures spatial autocorrelation of RHFA, temporal trend of RHFA for the study region, and spatio-temporal trends of RHFA for small-areas. For the study region, a significant decreasing trend in RHFA is observed (-0.024), suggesting that food swamps have become more prevalent during the study period. For small-areas, significant decreasing temporal trends in RHFA were observed for all small-areas. Specific small-areas located in south Waterloo, north Kitchener, and southeast Cambridge exhibited the steepest decreasing spatio-temporal trends and are classified as spatio-temporal food swamps. This research demonstrates a Bayesian spatio-temporal modelling approach to analyse RHFA at the small-area scale. Results suggest that food swamps are more prevalent than food deserts in the Region of Waterloo. Analysing spatio-temporal trends of RHFA improves understanding of local food environment, highlighting specific small-areas where policies should be targeted to increase RHFA and reduce risk factors of adverse health outcomes such as obesity.

Geostatistical modeling of the spatial distribution of sediment oxygen demand within a Coastal Plain blackwater watershed

PubMed Central

Todd, M. Jason; Lowrance, R. Richard; Goovaerts, Pierre; Vellidis, George; Pringle, Catherine M.

2010-01-01

Blackwater streams are found throughout the Coastal Plain of the southeastern United States and are characterized by a series of instream floodplain swamps that play a critical role in determining the water quality of these systems. Within the state of Georgia, many of these streams are listed in violation of the state’s dissolved oxygen (DO) standard. Previous work has shown that sediment oxygen demand (SOD) is elevated in instream floodplain swamps and due to these areas of intense oxygen demand, these locations play a major role in determining the oxygen balance of the watershed as a whole. This work also showed SOD rates to be positively correlated with the concentration of total organic carbon. This study builds on previous work by using geostatistics and Sequential Gaussian Simulation to investigate the patchiness and distribution of total organic carbon (TOC) at the reach scale. This was achieved by interpolating TOC observations and simulated SOD rates based on a linear regression. Additionally, this study identifies areas within the stream system prone to high SOD at representative 3rd and 5th order locations. Results show that SOD was spatially correlated with the differences in distribution of TOC at both locations and that these differences in distribution are likely a result of the differing hydrologic regime and watershed position. Mapping of floodplain soils at the watershed scale shows that areas of organic sediment are widespread and become more prevalent in higher order streams. DO dynamics within blackwater systems are a complicated mix of natural and anthropogenic influences, but this paper illustrates the importance of instream swamps in enhancing SOD at the watershed scale. Moreover, our study illustrates the influence of instream swamps on oxygen demand while providing support that many of these systems are naturally low in DO. PMID:20938491

Ecology of tidal freshwater forests in coastal deltaic Louisiana and northeastern South Carolina: Chapter 9

USGS Publications Warehouse

Conner, William H.; Krauss, Ken W.; Doyle, Thomas W.

2007-01-01

Tidal freshwater swamps in the southeastern United States are subjected to tidal hydroperiods ranging in amplitude from microtidal (<0.1 m) to mesotidal (2-4 m), both having different susceptibilities to anthropogenic change. Small alterations in flood patterns, for example, can switch historically microtidal swamps to permanently flooded forests, scrub-shrub stands, marsh, or open water but are less likely to convert mesotidal swamps. Changes to hydrological patterns tend to be more noticeable in Louisiana than do those in South Carolina.The majority of Louisiana’s coastal wetland forests are found in the Mississippi River deltaic plain region. Coastal wetland forests in the deltaic plain have been shaped by the sediments, water, and energy of the Mississippi River and its major distributaries. Baldcypress (Taxodium distichum [L.] L.C. Rich.) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.) are the primary tree species in the coastal swamp forests of Louisiana. Sites where these species grow usually hold water for most of the year; however, some of the more seaward sites were historically microtidal, especially where baldcypress currently dominates. In many other locations, baldcypress and water tupelo typically grow in more or less pure stands or as mixtures of the two with common associates such as black willow (Salix nigra Marsh.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), water locust (Gleditsia aquatic Marsh.), overcup oak (Quercus lyrata Walt.), water hickory (Carya aquatica [Michx. f.] Nutt.), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica Marsh.), pumpkin ash (F. profunda Bush.), and redbay (Persea borbonia [L.] Sprengel) (Brown and Montz 1986).The South Carolina coastal plain occupies about two-thirds of the state and rises gently to 150 m from the Atlantic Ocean up to the Piedmont plateau. Many rivers can be found in the Coastal Plain with swamps near the coast that extend inland along the rivers. Strongly tidal freshwater forests occur along the lower reaches of redwater rivers (Santee, Great Pee Dee, and Savannah) that arise in the mountains and along the numerous blackwater rivers (Ashepoo, Combahee, Cooper, and Waccamaw) that arise in the coastal regions. Most of the tidal freshwater forests were converted to tidal rice fields in the 1700s (Porcher 1995). Canopy members of the present day forests include baldcypress, water tupelo, swamp tupelo (N. biflora Walt.), red maple, and Carolina ash (Fraxinus caroliniana Miller). Subcanopy and shrub species include Virginia sweetspire (Itea virginica L.), dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor (Jacquin) Pers.), coastal plain willow (Salix caroliniana Michx.), redbay, and water-elm (Planera aquatica Gmel.).

Six years of monitoring annual changes in a freshwater marsh with SPOT HRV data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mackey, H.E. Jr.

1992-01-01

Fifteen dates of spring-time SPOT HRV data along with near-concurrent vertical aerial photographic and phenological data from spring 1987 through spring 1992 were analyzed to monitor annual changes in a 150-hectare, southeastern floodplain marsh. The marsh underwent rapid changes during the six years from a swamp dominated by non-persistent, thermally tolerant macrophytes to persistent macrophyte and shrub-scrub communities as reactor discharges declined to Pen Branch. Savannah River flooding was also important in the timing of the shift of these wetland communities. SPOT HRV data proved to be an efficient and effective method to monitor trends in these wetland community changes.

Six years of monitoring annual changes in a freshwater marsh with SPOT HRV data

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mackey, H.E. Jr.

1992-12-01

Fifteen dates of spring-time SPOT HRV data along with near-concurrent vertical aerial photographic and phenological data from spring 1987 through spring 1992 were analyzed to monitor annual changes in a 150-hectare, southeastern floodplain marsh. The marsh underwent rapid changes during the six years from a swamp dominated by non-persistent, thermally tolerant macrophytes to persistent macrophyte and shrub-scrub communities as reactor discharges declined to Pen Branch. Savannah River flooding was also important in the timing of the shift of these wetland communities. SPOT HRV data proved to be an efficient and effective method to monitor trends in these wetland community changes.

Preliminary study of Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity using remotely sensed data from the ERTS-A satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hidalgo, J. U. (Principal Investigator); Smalley, A. E.; Faller, K. H.; Irvin, M. B.

1973-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. During the summer of 1972, huge mats of duckweeds (Lemnaceae) appeared on Lake Pontchartrain, a shallow estuary in southeastern Louisiana. In color infrared photography, duckweeds show a characteristic light lavender color, unlike algal mats or water hyacinth, as observed in low level aerial photography. Although at least five species are present in the area, most water coverage is by Lemna minor and Spirodela oligorrhiza. ERTS-1 imagery shows many areas of bayous, swamps, and marginal waters of Lake Pontchartrain covered with duckweeds. Subsequent passes show a seasonal decreases in duckweeds.

The effects of flooding and sedimentation on seed germination of two bottomland hardwood tree species

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pierce, Aaron R.; King, S.L.

2007-01-01

Flooding and sedimentation are two of the dominant disturbances that influence tree species composition and succession in floodplain forests. The importance of these disturbances may be most notable during the germination and establishment phases of plant succession. Channelization of most alluvial systems in the southeastern United States has caused dramatic and systematic alterations to both hydrologic and sedimentation processes of floodplain systems. We determined the influence of these altered abiotic processes on the germination and growth of two common floodplain tree species: swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii Nutt.) and overcup oak (Q. lyrata Walt.). Flood durations of 0 days, 15 days, and 30 days prior to germination was a factor in germination, but the effect varied by species. For instance, ovcrcup oak, which has a higher tolerance to flooding than swamp chestnut oak, had higher germination rates in the flooded treatments (15-day x?? = 78% and 30-day x?? = 85%) compared to the non-flooded treatment (x?? = 54%). In contrast, germination rates of swamp chestnut oak were negatively affected by the 30-day flood treatment. Sediment deposition rates of 2 cm of top soil, 2 cm of sand, and 8 cm of sand also affected germination, but were secondary to flood duration. The main effect of the sediment treatment in this experiment was a reduction in above-ground height of seedlings. Our study provides evidence for the importance of both flooding and sedimentation in determining tree species composition in floodplain systems, and that tolerance levels to such stressors vary by species. ?? 2007, The Society of Wetland Scientists.

Sedimentary environment and diagenesis of the Lower Cretaceous Chaswood Formation, southeastern Canada: The origin of kaolin-rich mudstones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pe-Piper, Georgia; Dolansky, Lila; Piper, David J. W.

2005-07-01

The Lower Cretaceous fluvial sandstone-mudstone succession of the Chaswood Formation is the proximal equivalent of offshore deltaic rocks of the Scotian Basin that are reservoirs for producing gas fields. This study interprets the mineralogical consequences of Cretaceous weathering and early diagenesis in a 130-m core from the Chaswood Formation in order to better understand detrital and diagenetic minerals in equivalent rocks offshore. Mineralogy was determined by X-ray diffraction, electron microprobe analysis and scanning electron microscopy. The rocks can be divided into five facies associations: light gray mudstone, dark gray mudstone, silty mudstone and muddy sandstone, sorted sandstone and conglomerate, and paleosols. Facies transitions in coarser facies are related to deposition in and near fluvial channels. In the mudstones, they indicate an evolutionary progression from the dark gray mudstone facies association (swamps and floodplain soils) to mottled paleosols (well-drained oxisols and ultisols following syntectonic uplift). Facies transitions and regional distribution indicate that the light gray mudstone facies association formed from early diagenetic oxidation and alteration of the dark gray mudstone facies association, probably by meteoric water. Principal minerals in mudstones are illite/muscovite, kaolinite, vermiculite and quartz. Illite/muscovite is of detrital origin, but variations in abundance show that it has altered to kaolinite in the light gray mudstone facies association and in oxisols. Vermiculite developed from the weathering of biotite and is present in ultisols. The earliest phase of sandstone cementation in reducing conditions in swamps and ponds produced siderite nodules and framboidal pyrite, which were corroded and oxidized during subsequent development of paleosols. Kaolinite is an early cement, coating quartz grains and as well-crystallized, pore-filling booklets that was probably synchronous with the formation of the light gray mudstone facies association. Later illite and barite cement indicate a source of abundant K and Ba from formation water. This late diagenesis of sandstone took place when the Chaswood Formation was in continuity with the main Scotian Basin, prior to Oligocene uplift of the eastern Scotian Shelf. Findings of this study are applicable to other mid-latitude Cretaceous weathering and early diagenetic environments.

Changes in carbon stock associated with post-settlement wetland conversion in Southern Ontario, Canada, and implications for Holocene carbon dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Byun, E.; Finkelstein, S. A.; Cowling, S. A.; Badiou, P.

2017-12-01

Organic matter accumulation often exceeds total respiration in wetlands, which makes them a sink in the global carbon cycle. Efforts are ongoing to inventory global wetland carbon stocks, but there remain non-negligible uncertainties for the present day as well as for the Holocene. Recent work compiling regional data for global-scale estimations is likely to be conservative as there are still poorly evaluated sites. In temperate regions, wetland conversion for other land uses has been so prevalent that accurate estimates of the extent of natural wetlands prior to disturbance have been difficult to achieve. Most studies of long-term peat carbon accumulation address boreal/subarctic bogs and fens, and more recently, tropical peat swamps. Temperate swamps and marshes are often categorized as non-peat forming wetlands and have not been explicitly considered in Holocene carbon storage. This study aims to reassess wetlands in southern Ontario as an example of an underestimated organic carbon stock. By combining two wetland maps, one for pre-settlement (before 1850 AD) extent and the other for current land cover, pre-settlement wetland cover was reconstructed and assigned to one of five wetland classes (bog, fen, tree/shrub swamp, and marsh). Carbon density for each wetland class was obtained from a peatland inventory for southeastern Ontario, including peat core data from swamp and marsh sites. Potential organic carbon stock in each wetland class was quantified by the product of the extent and the carbon density, resulting in an estimate of 3.3 PgC for pre-settlement wetlands in the study area, and 1.3 PgC stored in present-day wetlands. The difference gives 2 PgC loss for the past 150 years, but this represents a maximum potential as 56-81% of the original wetlands were converted to croplands that will retain some carbon. This study highlights the importance of temperate wetlands not included in syntheses of global peatland carbon over the Holocene. Southern Ontario is only a part of the enormous landmass in the temperate Northern Hemisphere, which suggests potentially high carbon storage when scaling up globally. Future work is needed to better quantify all the potential wetland carbon through more studies of organic carbon stocks in swamps and marshes, the most common wetland types in this region of the temperate zone.

Relationships between Vacant Homes and Food Swamps: A Longitudinal Study of an Urban Food Environment.

PubMed

Mui, Yeeli; Jones-Smith, Jessica C; Thornton, Rachel L J; Pollack Porter, Keshia; Gittelsohn, Joel

2017-11-21

Research indicates that living in neighborhoods with high concentrations of boarded-up vacant homes is associated with premature mortality due to cancer and diabetes, but the mechanism for this relationship is unclear. Boarded-up housing may indirectly impact residents' health by affecting their food environment. We evaluated the association between changes in vacancy rates and changes in the density of unhealthy food outlets as a proportion of all food outlets, termed the food swamp index, in Baltimore, MD (USA) from 2001 to 2012, using neighborhood fixed-effects linear regression models. Over the study period, the average food swamp index increased from 93.5 to 95.3 percentage points across all neighborhoods. Among non-African American neighborhoods, increases in the vacancy rate were associated with statistically significant decreases in the food swamp index (b = -0.38; 90% CI, -0.64 to -0.12; p -value: 0.015), after accounting for changes in neighborhood SES, racial diversity, and population size. A positive association was found among low-SES neighborhoods (b = 0.15; 90% CI, 0.037 to 0.27; p -value: 0.031). Vacant homes may influence the composition of food outlets in urban neighborhoods. Future research should further elucidate the mechanisms by which more distal, contextual factors, such as boarded-up vacant homes, may affect food choices and diet-related health outcomes.

Relationships between Vacant Homes and Food Swamps: A Longitudinal Study of an Urban Food Environment

PubMed Central

Mui, Yeeli; Jones-Smith, Jessica C.; Thornton, Rachel L. J.; Pollack Porter, Keshia; Gittelsohn, Joel

2017-01-01

Research indicates that living in neighborhoods with high concentrations of boarded-up vacant homes is associated with premature mortality due to cancer and diabetes, but the mechanism for this relationship is unclear. Boarded-up housing may indirectly impact residents’ health by affecting their food environment. We evaluated the association between changes in vacancy rates and changes in the density of unhealthy food outlets as a proportion of all food outlets, termed the food swamp index, in Baltimore, MD (USA) from 2001 to 2012, using neighborhood fixed-effects linear regression models. Over the study period, the average food swamp index increased from 93.5 to 95.3 percentage points across all neighborhoods. Among non-African American neighborhoods, increases in the vacancy rate were associated with statistically significant decreases in the food swamp index (b = −0.38; 90% CI, −0.64 to −0.12; p-value: 0.015), after accounting for changes in neighborhood SES, racial diversity, and population size. A positive association was found among low-SES neighborhoods (b = 0.15; 90% CI, 0.037 to 0.27; p-value: 0.031). Vacant homes may influence the composition of food outlets in urban neighborhoods. Future research should further elucidate the mechanisms by which more distal, contextual factors, such as boarded-up vacant homes, may affect food choices and diet-related health outcomes. PMID:29160811

Operational restoration of the Pen Branch bottomland hardwood and swamp wetlands - the research setting

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, E.A.

2000-01-05

The Savannah River Swamp is a 3020 Ha forested wetland on the floodplain of the Savannah River and is located on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, SC. Historically the swamp consisted of approximately 50 percent bald cypress-water tupelo stands, 40 percent mixed bottomland hardwood stands, and 10 percent shrub, marsh, and open water. Creek corridors were typical of Southeastern bottomland hardwood forests. The hydrology was controlled by flooding of the Savannah River and by flow from four creeks that drain into the swamp prior to flow into the Savannah River. Upstream dams have caused somemore » alteration of the water levels and timing of flooding within the floodplain. Major impacts to the swamp hydrology occurred with the completion of the production reactors and one coal-fired powerhouse at the SRS in the early 1950's. Water was pumped from the Savannah River, through secondary heat exchangers of the reactors, and discharged into three of the tributary streams that flow into the swamp. Flow in one of the tributaries, Pen Branch, was typically 0.3 m3 s-1 (10-20) cfs prior to reactor pumping and 11.0 m3 s-1 (400 cfs) during pumping. This continued from 1954 to 1988 at various levels. The sustained increases in water volume resulted in overflow of the original stream banks and the creation of additional floodplains. Accompanying this was considerable erosion of the original stream corridor and deposition of a deep silt layer on the newly formed delta. Heated water was discharged directly into Pen Branch and water temperature in the stream often exceeded 65 degrees C. The nearly continuous flooding of the swamp, the thermal load of the water, and the heavy silting resulted in complete mortality of the original vegetation in large areas of the floodplain. In the years since pumping was reduced, early succession has begun in some affected areas. Most of this has been herbs, grasses, and shrubs. Areas that have seedlings are generally willow thickets that support a lower diversity of wildlife. No volunteer seedlings of heavy-seeded hardwoods or cypress have been found in the corridor areas. Research was conducted to determine methods to reintroduce tree species characteristic of more mature forested wetlands. Three restoration strategies were formulated to deal with the differing conditions of the Upper Corridor, the Lower Corridor, and the Delta regions of the impacted area. Site preparation and planting of each area with mixtures of tree species were carried out to speed the restoration of the ecosystem. Species composition and selection were altered based on the current and expected hydrological regimes that the reforestation areas will be experiencing. Because of the operational design of the restoration project, a research program naturally followed to document the success. Many of those efforts are detailed here.« less

Holocene sedimentation at Corkscrew Swamp (Collier Co. ): A model for the origin and evolution of the present wetland-dominated regime of south Florida

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Stone, P.A.; Duever, M.J.; Meeder, J.F.

1993-03-01

A two-layer peat-over-marl (calcitic mud) sequence characterizes Corkscrew Swamp, a swamp/marsh complex in northern Big Cypress Swamp. The marl began depositing about 10,600 BP and based upon the regional modern analog represents a marsh (grassy) environment of relatively short seasonal flooding, rather than a marl lake. The marsh succeeded formerly dry land of full-glacial times on a long-emerged marine-sand and limestone peninsula. About 5,700 BP peat deposition began by the development of longer-flooded wetland, either marsh or woody swamp vegetation. Both shifts (Pleistocene/Holocene and mid-Holocene) represent onsets of wetter conditions, either episodically or by slowly passing critical thresholds, under controlmore » of climate and sea level (hydrologic baselevel). With the rise in average water level at and following each shift, in part by feedback from sediment infilling of the shallow (ca. 2.5m) mineral-substrate basin, the wetland and its deposit expanded upslope, both vertically and outward. A younger basal-peat date (3,900 BP) occurs toward the periphery. Some local topographic alteration by peat fire about 500 BP persists and affects the modern swamp vegetation. A wide swamp-to-marsh shift in other parts may have a similar cause. The shorter record yet revealed for the northern Everglades shows the same two-stage sequence, similar timing in peatland development, wetland and sediment expansion, and long-term (but there different) influences of local peatland topographic alteration. Many wetland areas in South Florida data from a mid-Holocene shift (7,000--4,000 BP).« less

Groundwater Discharge to Upper Barataria Basin Driven by Mississippi River Stage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cable, J. E.; Kim, J.; Johannesson, K. H.; Kolker, A.; Telfeyan, K.; Breaux, A.

2017-12-01

Groundwater flow into deltaic wetlands occurs despite the heterogeneous and anisotropic depositional environment of deltas. Along the Mississippi River this groundwater flow is augmented by the vast alluvial aquifer and the levees which confine the river to a zone much more narrow than the historical floodplain. The effect of the levees has been to force the river stage to as much as 10 m above the adjacent back-levee wetlands. Consequently, the head difference created by higher river stages can drive groundwater flow into these wetlands, especially during flood seasons. We measured Rn-222 in the surface waters of a bayou draining a bottomland hardwood swamp in the lower Mississippi River valley over a 14-month period. With a half-life of 3.83 days and its conservative geochemical behavior, Rn-222 is a well-known tracer for groundwater inputs in both fresh and marine environments. Transects from the mouth to the headwaters of the bayou were monitored for Rn-222 in real-time using Rad-7s on a semi-monthly basis. We found that Rn-222 decreased exponentially from the swamp at the headwaters to the mouth of the bayou. Using a mass balance approach, we calculated groundwater inputs to the bayou headwaters and compared these discharge estimates to variations in Mississippi River stage. Groundwater inputs to the Barataria Basin, Louisiana, represent a significant fraction of the freshwater budget of the basin. The flow appears to occur through the sandy Point Bar Aquifer that lies adjacent to the river and underlies many of the freshwater swamps of the Basin. Tracer measurements throughout the Basin in these swamp areas appear to confirm our hypothesis about the outlet for groundwater in this deltaic environment.

Population demography of an endangered lizard, the Blue Mountains Water Skink

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Information on the age structure within populations of an endangered species can facilitate effective management. The Blue Mountains Water Skink (Eulamprus leuraensis) is a viviparous scincid lizard that is restricted to < 40 isolated montane swamps in south-eastern Australia. We used skeletochronology of phalanges (corroborated by mark-recapture data) to estimate ages of 222 individuals from 13 populations. Results These lizards grow rapidly, from neonatal size (30 mm snout-vent length) to adult size (about 70 mm SVL) within two to three years. Fecundity is low (mean 2.9 offspring per litter) and is affected by maternal body length and age. Offspring quality may decline with maternal age, based upon captive-born neonates (older females gave birth to slower offspring). In contrast to its broadly sympatric (and abundant) congener E. tympanum, E. leuraensis is short-lived (maximum 6 years, vs 15 years for E. tympanum). Litter size and offspring size are similar in the two species, but female E. leuraensis reproduce annually whereas many E. tympanum produce litters biennially. Thus, a low survival rate (rather than delayed maturation or low annual fecundity) is the key reason why E. leuraensis is endangered. Our 13 populations exhibited similar growth rates and population age structures despite substantial variation in elevation, geographic location and swamp size. However, larger populations (based on a genetic estimate of effective population size) contained older lizards, and thus a wider variance in ages. Conclusion Our study suggests that low adult survival rates, as well as specialisation on a rare and fragmented habitat type (montane swamps) contribute to the endangered status of the Blue Mountains Water Skink. PMID:23402634

Space Radar Image of New Orleans, Louisiana

NASA Image and Video Library

1998-04-14

This image of the area surrounding the city of New Orleans, Louisiana in the southeastern United States demonstrates the ability of multi-frequency imaging radar to distinguish different types of land cover. The dark area in the center is Lake Pontchartrain. The thin line running across the lake is a causeway connecting New Orleans to the city of Mandeville. Lake Borgne is the dark area in the lower right of the image. The Mississippi River appears as a dark, wavy line in the lower left. The white dots on the Mississippi are ships. The French Quarter is the brownish square near the left center of the image. Lakefront Airport, a field used mostly for general aviation, is the bright spot near the center, jutting out into Lake Pontchartrain. The image was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) during orbit 39 of space shuttle Endeavour on October 2, 1994. The area is located at 30.10 degrees north latitude and 89.1 degrees west longitude. The area shown is approximately 100 kilometers (60 miles) by 50 kilometers (30 miles). The colors in this image were obtained using the following radar channels: red represents the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received); green represents the C-band (horizontally transmitted and received); blue represents the L-band (vertically transmitted and received). The green areas are primarily vegetation consisting of swamp land and swamp forest (bayou) growing on sandy soil, while the pink areas are associated with reflections from buildings in urban and suburban areas. Different tones and colors in the vegetation areas will be studied by scientists to see how effective imaging radar data is in discriminating between different types of wetlands. Accurate maps of coastal wetland areas are important to ecologists studying wild fowl and the coastal environment. http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01300

Ground penetrating radar imaging of cap rock, caliche and carbonate strata

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kruse, S.E.; Schneider, J.C.; Campagna, D.J.; Inman, J.A.; Hickey, T.D.

2000-01-01

Field experiments show ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used to image shallow carbonate stratigraphy effectively in a variety of settings. In south Florida, the position and structure of cap rock cover on limestone can be an important control on surface water flow and vegetation, but larger scale outcrops (tens of meters) of cap rock are sparse. GPR mapping through south Florida prairie, cypress swamp and hardwood hammock resolves variations in thickness and structure of cap rock to ~3 m and holds the potential to test theories for cap rock-vegetation relationships. In other settings, carbonate strata are mapped to test models for the formation of local structural anomalies. A test of GPR imaging capabilities on an arid caliche (calcrete) horizon in southeastern Nevada shows depth penetration to ~2 m with resolution of the base of caliche. GPR profiling also succeeds in resolving more deeply buried (~5 m) limestone discontinuity surfaces that record subaerial exposure in south Florida. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.Field experiments show ground penetrating radar (GPR) can be used to image shallow carbonate stratigraphy effectively in a variety of settings. In south Florida, the position and structure of cap rock cover on limestone can be an important control on surface water flow and vegetation, but larger scale outcrops (tens of meters) of cap rock are sparse. GPR mapping through south Florida prairie, cypress swamp and hardwood hammock resolves variations in thickness and structure of cap rock to approx. 3 m and holds the potential to test theories for cap rock-vegetation relationships. In other settings, carbonate strata are mapped to test models for the formation of local structural anomalies. A test of GPR imaging capabilities on an arid caliche (calcrete) horizon in southeastern Nevada shows depth penetration to approx. 2 m with resolution of the base of caliche. GPR profiling also succeeds in resolving more deeply buried (approx. 5 m) limestone discontinuity surfaces that record subaerial exposure in south Florida.

Estimation and uncertainty of recent carbon accumulation and vertical accretion in drained and undrained forested peatlands of the southeastern USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drexler, Judith; Fuller, Christopher C.; Orlando, James; Salas, Antonia; Wurster, Frederic C.; Duberstein, Jamie A.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine how drainage impacts carbon densities and recent rates (past 50 years) of vertical accretion and carbon accumulation in southeastern forested peatlands. We compared these parameters in drained maple-gum (MAPL), Atlantic white cedar (CDR), and pocosin (POC) communities in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge (GDS) of Virginia/North Carolina and in an intact (undrained) CDR swamp in the Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (AR) of North Carolina. Peat cores were analyzed for bulk density, percent organic carbon, and 137Cs and 210Pb. An uncertainty analysis of both 137Cs and 210Pb approaches was used to constrain error at least partially related to mobility of both radioisotopes. GDS peats had lower porosities (89.6% (SD = 1.71) versus 95.3% (0.18)) and higher carbon densities (0.082 (0.021) versus 0.037 (0.009) g C cm−3) than AR. Vertical accretion rates (0.10–0.56 cm yr−1) were used to estimate a time period of ~84–362 years for reestablishment of peat lost during the 2011 Lateral West fire at the GDS. Carbon accumulation rates ranged from 51 to 389 g C m−2 yr−1 for all sites. In the drained (GDS) versus intact (AR) CDR sites, carbon accumulation rates were similar with 137Cs (87GDS versus 92AR g C m−2 yr−1) and somewhat less at the GDS than AR as determined with 210Pb (111GDS versus 159AR g C m−2 yr−1). Heightened productivity and high polyphenol content of peat may be responsible for similar rates of carbon accumulation in both drained and intact CDR peatlands.

Spatial analysis of Carbon-14 dynamics in a wetland ecosystem (Duke Swamp, Chalk River Laboratories, Canada).

PubMed

Yankovich, T L; King-Sharp, K J; Carr, J; Robertson, E; Killey, R W D; Beresford, N A; Wood, M D

2014-11-01

A detailed survey was conducted to quantify the spatial distribution of (14)C in Sphagnum moss and underlying soil collected in Duke Swamp. This wetland environment receives (14)C via groundwater pathways from a historic radioactive Waste Management Area (WMA) on Atomic Energy Canada Limited (AECL)'s Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site. Trends in (14)C specific activities were evaluated with distance from the sampling location with the maximum (14)C specific activity (DSS-35), which was situated adjacent to the WMA and close to an area of groundwater discharge. Based on a spatial evaluation of the data, an east-to-west (14)C gradient was found, due to the influence of the WMA on (14)C specific activities in the swamp. In addition, it was possible to identify two groups of sites, each showing significant exponential declines with distance from the groundwater source area. One of the groups showed relatively more elevated (14)C specific activities at a given distance from source, likely due to their proximity to the WMA, the location of the sub-surface plume originating from the WMA, the presence of marsh and swamp habitat types, which facilitated (14)C transport to the atmosphere, and possibly, (14)C air dispersion patterns along the eastern edge of the swamp. The other group, which had lower (14)C specific activities at a given distance from the groundwater source area, included locations that were more distant from the WMA and the sub-surface plume, and contained fen habitat, which is known to act as barrier to groundwater flow. The findings suggest that proximity to source, groundwater flow patterns and habitat physical characteristics can play an important role in the dynamics of (14)C being carried by discharging groundwater into terrestrial and wetland environments. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Changing patterns of Pennsylvanian coal-swamp vegetation and implications of climatic control on coal occurrence

USGS Publications Warehouse

Phillips, T.L.; Peppers, R.A.

1984-01-01

Improved regional and interregional stratigraphic correlations of Pennsylvanian strata permit comparisons of vegetational changes in Euramerican coal swamps. The coal-swamp vegetation is known directly from in situ coal-ball peat deposits from more than 65 coals in the United States and Europe. Interpretations of coal-swamp floras on the basis of coal-ball peat studies are extended to broader regional and stratigraphic patterns by use of coal palynology. Objectives of the quantitative analyses of the vegetation in relation to coal are to determine the botanical constituents at the peat stage and their environmental implications for plant growth and peat accumulation. Morphological and paleoecological analyses provide a basis for deducing freshwater regimes of coal swamps. Changes in composition of Pennsylvanian coal-swamp vegetation are quire similar from one paralic coal region to another and show synchrony that is attributable to climate. Paleobotany and paleogeography of the Euramerican province indicate a moist tropical paleoclimate. Rainfall, runoff and evapotranspiration were the variable climatic controls in the distribution of coal-swamp vegetation, peat accumulation and coal resources. In relative terms of climatic wetness the Pennsylvanian Period is divisible into five intervals, which include two relatively drier intervals that developed during the Lower-Middle and Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian transitions. The climate during Early Pennsylvanian time was moderately wet and the median in moisture availability. Early Middle Pennsylvanian was drier, probably seasonally dry-wet; late Middle Pennsylvanian was the wettest in the Midcontinent; early Late Pennsylvanian was the driest; and late Late Pennsylvanian was probably the wettest in the Dunkard Basin. The five climatic intervals represent a general means of dividing coal resources within each region into groups with similar botanical constituents and environments of peat accumulation. Regional differences in basinal geology and climate were significant variables, but the synchronous control of paleoclimate was of primary importance. ?? 1984.

Relationship between peat geochemistry and depositional environments, Cranberry Island, Maine

USGS Publications Warehouse

Raymond, R.; Cameron, C.C.; Cohen, A.D.

1987-01-01

The Heath, Great Cranberry Island, Maine, offers a unique locality for studying lateral and vertical relationships between radically different peat types within 1 km2. The majority of The Heath is a Sphagnum moss-dominated raised bog. Surrounding the raised bog is a swamp/marsh complex containing grass, sedge, Sphagnum moss, alder, tamarack, and skunk cabbage. Swamp/ marsh-deposited peat occurs both around the margins of The Heath and under Sphagnum-dominated peat, which was deposited within the raised bog. A third peat type, dominated by herbaceous aquatics, is present underlying the swamp/marsh-dominated peat but is not present as a dominant botanical community of The Heath. The three peat types have major differences in petrographic characteristics, ash contents, and associated minerals. Sulfur contents range from a low of 0.19 wt.% (dry) within the raised bog to a high of 4.44 wt% (dry) near the west end of The Heath, where swamp/marsh peat occurring directly behind a storm beach berm has been influenced by marine waters. The presence of major geochemical variations within a 1-km2 peat deposit suggests the need for in-depth characterization of potential peat resources prior to use. ?? 1987.

Geographical patterns of human diet derived from stable-isotope analysis of fingernails

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nardoto, G.B.; Silva, S.; Kendall, C.; Ehleringer, J.R.; Chesson, L.A.; Ferraz, E.S.B.; Moreira, M.Z.; Ometto, Jean P. H. B.; Martinelli, L.A.

2006-01-01

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human fingernails were measured in 490 individuals in the western US and 273 individuals in southeastern Brazil living in urban areas, and 53 individuals living in a moderately isolated area in the central Amazon region of Brazil and consuming mostly locally grown foods. In addition, we measured the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of common food items to assess the extent to which these isotopic signatures remain distinct for people eating both omnivorous and vegetarian diets and living in different parts of the world, and the extent to which dietary information can be interpreted from these analyses. Fingernail ??13C values (mean ?? standard deviation) were -15.4 ?? 1.0 and -18.8 ?? 0.8??? and ??15N values were 10.4 ?? 0.7 and 9.4 ?? 0.6??? for southeastern Brazil and western US populations, respectively. Despite opportunities for a "global supermarket" effect to swamp out carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in these two urbanized regions of the world, differences in the fingernail isotope ratios between southeastern Brazil and western US populations persisted, and appeared to be more associated with regional agricultural and animal production practices. Omnivores and vegetarians from Brazil and the US were isotopically distinct, both within and between regions. In a comparison of fingernails of individuals from an urban city and isolated communities in the Amazonian region, the urban region was similar to southeastern Brazil, whereas individuals from isolated nonurban communities showed distinctive isotopic values consistent with their diets and with the isotopic values of local foods. Although there is a tendency for a "global supermarket" diet, carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human fingernails hold dietary information directly related to both food sources and dietary practices in a region. ?? 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Geographical patterns of human diet derived from stable-isotope analysis of fingernails.

PubMed

Nardoto, Gabriela B; Silva, Steven; Kendall, Carol; Ehleringer, James R; Chesson, Lesley A; Ferraz, Epaminondas S B; Moreira, Marcelo Z; Ometto, Jean P H B; Martinelli, Luiz A

2006-09-01

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of human fingernails were measured in 490 individuals in the western US and 273 individuals in southeastern Brazil living in urban areas, and 53 individuals living in a moderately isolated area in the central Amazon region of Brazil and consuming mostly locally grown foods. In addition, we measured the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of common food items to assess the extent to which these isotopic signatures remain distinct for people eating both omnivorous and vegetarian diets and living in different parts of the world, and the extent to which dietary information can be interpreted from these analyses. Fingernail delta13C values (mean +/- standard deviation) were -15.4 +/- 1.0 and -18.8 +/- 0.8 per thousand and delta15N values were 10.4 +/- 0.7 and 9.4 +/- 0.6 per thousand for southeastern Brazil and western US populations, respectively. Despite opportunities for a "global supermarket" effect to swamp out carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in these two urbanized regions of the world, differences in the fingernail isotope ratios between southeastern Brazil and western US populations persisted, and appeared to be more associated with regional agricultural and animal production practices. Omnivores and vegetarians from Brazil and the US were isotopically distinct, both within and between regions. In a comparison of fingernails of individuals from an urban city and isolated communities in the Amazonian region, the urban region was similar to southeastern Brazil, whereas individuals from isolated nonurban communities showed distinctive isotopic values consistent with their diets and with the isotopic values of local foods. Although there is a tendency for a "global supermarket" diet, carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human fingernails hold dietary information directly related to both food sources and dietary practices in a region. 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Sunken wood habitat for thiotrophic symbiosis in mangrove swamps.

PubMed

Laurent, Mélina C Z; Gros, Olivier; Brulport, Jean-Pierre; Gaill, Françoise; Bris, Nadine Le

2009-03-01

Large organic falls to the benthic environment, such as dead wood or whale bones, harbour organisms relying on sulfide-oxidizing symbionts. Nothing is known however, concerning sulfide enrichment at the wood surface and its relation to wood colonization by sulfide-oxidizing symbiotic organisms. In this study we combined in situ hydrogen sulfide and pH measurements on sunken wood, with associated fauna microscopy analyses in a tropical mangrove swamp. This shallow environment is known to harbour thiotrophic symbioses and is also abundantly supplied with sunken wood. A significant sulfide enrichment at the wood surface was revealed. A 72h sequence of measurements emphasized the wide fluctuation of sulfide levels (0.1->100muM) over time with both a tidal influence and rapid fluctuations. Protozoans observed on the wood surface were similar to Zoothamnium niveum and to vorticellids. Our SEM observations revealed their association with ectosymbiotic bacteria, which are likely to be sulfide-oxidizers. These results support the idea that sunken wood surfaces constitute an environment suitable for sulfide-oxidizing symbioses.

Characteristics of mangrove swamps managed for mosquito control in eastern Florida, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, B.; Devlin, D.; Proffitt, E.; McKee, K.; Cretini, K.F.

2008-01-01

Manipulations of the vegetation and hydrology of wetlands for mosquito control are common worldwide, but these modifications may affect vital ecosystem processes. To control mosquitoes in mangrove swamps in eastern Florida, managers have used rotational impoundment management (RIM) as an alternative to the worldwide practice of mosquito ditching. Levees surround RIM swamps, and water is pumped into the impoundment during the summer, a season when natural swamps have low water levels. In the New World, these mosquito-managed swamps resemble the mixed basin type of mangrove swamp (based on PCA analysis). An assessment was made of RIM, natural (control), and breached-RIM (restored) swamps in eastern Florida to compare their structural complexities, soil development, and resistance to invasion. Regarding structural complexity, dominant species composition differed between these swamps; the red mangrove Rhizophora mangle occurred at a higher relative density in RIM and breached-RIM swamps, and the black mangrove Avicennia germinans had a higher relative density in natural swamps. Tree density and canopy cover were higher and tree height lower in RIM swamps than in natural and breached-RIM swamps. Soil organic matter in RIM swamps was twice that in natural or breached-RIM swamps. RIM swamps had a lower resistance to invasion by the Brazilian pepper tree Schinus terebinthifolius, which is likely attributable to the lower porewater salinity in RIM swamps. These characteristics may reflect differences in important ecosystem processes (primary production, trophic structure, nutrient cycling, decomposition). Comparative assessments of managed wetlands are vital for land managers, so that they can make informed decisions compatible with conservation objectives. ?? Inter-Research 2008.

Navigating the Active Learning Swamp: Creating an Inviting Environment for Learning.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Marie C.; Malinowski, Jon C.

2001-01-01

Reports on a survey of faculty members (n=29) asking them to define active learning, to rate how effectively different teaching techniques contribute to active learning, and to list the three teaching techniques they use most frequently. Concludes that active learning requires establishing an environment rather than employing a specific teaching…

Emission Factors for CO2, CO, CH4, and C2 - C4 Hydrocarbons from the 2011 Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia Fire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, S.; Soja, A. J.; Richardson, M. J.

2012-12-01

With a warming climate, increased dry conditions and drought periods are likely to result in higher fire activity in the wetlands of the eastern and southeastern US. Fires in this fuel type can smolder for months producing significant carbon release and major impacts on air quality. While a comprehensive set of emission factors has been established for most US fuel types, a less complete set is available for emissions where deep layers of organic matter can consume and smolder for days, weeks and months. Lightning started the Lateral West fire in the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Virginia on August 4, and it burned slowly through drought-stressed hardwood forest and dry peat soil. The fire produced dense plumes of smoke that mostly dispersed over the Atlantic Ocean, but also affected air quality as far away as Washington, D.C. Fire emissions were sampled August 26, 2011. The fire had burned 6,358 acres. and was smoldering along in the peat, with some brush still igniting. The average emission factors (EF) we measured from the sampling were 1441 g/kg CO2, 192 g/kg CO; and 16.5 g/kg CH4.. Modified combustion efficiency (MCE) was 0.83, produced by the small amount of flaming combustion mixed with smoldering combustion of the peat. The CO2 EF values are similar to those measured from smoldering duff in Alaska in 2003 (1436 g/kg), and the CO EF was lower than Alaska (244 g/kg CO), while the CH4 EF was much higher than Alaska (8.4 g/kg CH4). We will present our complete set of emission factors from the Great Dismal Swamp for CO2, CO, CH4, and C2 - C4 hydrocarbons, and contrast these results with other fuel types. Linear regressions of C1- C4 hydrocarbons vs. CO concentration will presented and compared with other emissions results.

Fires in Southern Georgia

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

2007-01-01

Several large fires were burning in southern Georgia on April 29, 2007, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite passed overhead and captured this image. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. The Roundabout Fire sprang up on April 27, according to the U.S. Southern Area Coordination Center, and was about 3,500 acres as of April 30. That fire was threatening homes in the community of Kirkland. Meanwhile, south of Waycross, two large blazes were burning next to each other in the northern part of Okefenokee Swamp. The Sweat Farm Road Fire threatened the town of Waycross in previous weeks, but at the end of April, activity had moved to the southeastern perimeter. The fire had affected more than 50,000 acres of timber (including pine tree plantations) and swamps. Scores of residences scattered throughout the rural area are threatened. The Big Turnaround Complex is burning to the east. The 26,000-acre fire was extremely active over the weekend, with flame lengths more than 60 feet (just over 18 meters) in places. The two blazes appeared to overlap in fire perimeter maps available from the U.S. Geospatial Multi-Agency Coordination Team. According to the Southern Area Coordination Center morning report on April 30, the Sweat Farm Road Fire 'will be a long term fire. Containment and control will depend on significant rainfall, due to the inaccessible swamp terrain.' No expected containment date was available for the Big Turnaround Complex Fire, either. Describing that fire, the report stated, 'Heavy fuel loading, high fire danger, and difficulty of access continue to hamper suppression efforts.' The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily images of the region in additional resolutions. They also provide a version of the image that shows smoke plumes stretching out across the Atlantic Ocean.

Mapping swamp timothy (Cripsis schenoides) seed productivity using spectral values and vegetation indices in managed wetlands

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rahilly, P.J.A.; Li, D.; Guo, Q.

2010-01-15

This work examines the potential to predict the seed productivity of a key wetland plant species using spectral reflectance values and spectral vegetation indices. Specifically, the seed productivity of swamp timothy (Cripsis schenoides) was investigated in two wetland ponds, managed for waterfowl habitat, in California's San Joaquin Valley. Spectral reflectance values were obtained and associated spectral vegetation indices (SVI) calculated from two sets of high resolution aerial images (May 11, 2006 and June 9, 2006) and were compared to the collected vegetation data. Vegetation data were collected and analyzed from 156 plots for total aboveground biomass, total aboveground swamp timothymore » biomass, and total swamp timothy seed biomass. The SVI investigated included the Simple Ratio (SR), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (SAVI), Transformed Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (TSAVI), Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index (MSAVI), and Global Environment Monitoring Index (GEMI). We evaluated the correlation of the various SVI with in situ vegetation measurements for linear, quadratic, exponential and power functions. In all cases, the June image provided better predictive capacity relative to May, a result that underscores the importance of timing imagery to coincide with more favorable vegetation maturity. The north pond with the June image using SR and the exponential function (R{sup 2}=0.603) proved to be the best predictor of swamp timothy seed productivity. The June image for the south pond was less predictive, with TSAVI and the exponential function providing the best correlation (R{sup 2}=0.448). This result was attributed to insufficient vegetal cover in the south pond (or a higher percentage of bare soil) due to poor drainage conditions which resulted in a delay in swamp timothy germination. The results of this work suggest that spectral reflectance can be used to estimate seed productivity in managed seasonal wetlands.« less

[Degradation characteristics of swamps in Zoige Plateau induced by drainage based on quantitative classification of vegetation].

PubMed

Li, Ke; Yang, Yong-Xing; Yang, Yang; Han, Da-Yong

2012-07-01

Based on the field survey of swamp ecological characteristics and environmental quality and the ecological investigation of drained swamp transects in Zoige Plateau of Tibet in 2009, twenty typical swamp plots in the Plateau were classified into three types by TWINSPAN, i. e., primary swamp, long-term drained degraded swamp, and short-term drained degraded swamp, and each type of the degraded swamps was divided into three degradation grades, i. e., light degradation, moderate degradation, and severe degradation, with the degradation characteristics of vegetation and soil along the swamp degraded gradient studied. The swamp degradation in the Plateau was mainly driven by drainage pattern, drainage intensity, and soil moisture gradient, and the vegetation degradation was more obvious than the soil degradation. In the vegetation degradation, the structural change of hydro-type functional assemblage was most obvious, e. g., the importance value of helophytes under the stress of long-term drainage and short-term drainage decreased from 0.920 to 0.183 and 0.053, while that of mesophytes increased from 0.029 to 0.613 and 0.686, respectively. The soil response to the swamp degradation was in hysteresis, i. e., the soil physical and chemical properties presented definite variations but the differences were not significant among the swamps with different grades of degradation. The results of CCA indicated that soil moisture and nitrogen and potassium contents were the most important factors affecting the plant species distribution in drained degraded swamps in Zoige Plateau.

Modeling the potential impacts of climate change on the water table level of selected forested wetlands in the southeastern United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Jie; Sun, Ge; Li, Wenhong; Zhang, Yu; Miao, Guofang; Noormets, Asko; McNulty, Steve G.; King, John S.; Kumar, Mukesh; Wang, Xuan

2017-12-01

The southeastern United States hosts extensive forested wetlands, providing ecosystem services including carbon sequestration, water quality improvement, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat. However, these wetland ecosystems are dependent on local climate and hydrology, and are therefore at risk due to climate and land use change. This study develops site-specific empirical hydrologic models for five forested wetlands with different characteristics by analyzing long-term observed meteorological and hydrological data. These wetlands represent typical cypress ponds/swamps, Carolina bays, pine flatwoods, drained pocosins, and natural bottomland hardwood ecosystems. The validated empirical models are then applied at each wetland to predict future water table changes using climate projections from 20 general circulation models (GCMs) participating in Coupled Model Inter-comparison Project 5 (CMIP5) under the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) 4.5 and 8.5 scenarios. We show that combined future changes in precipitation and potential evapotranspiration would significantly alter wetland hydrology including groundwater dynamics by the end of the 21st century. Compared to the historical period, all five wetlands are predicted to become drier over time. The mean water table depth is predicted to drop by 4 to 22 cm in response to the decrease in water availability (i.e., precipitation minus potential evapotranspiration) by the year 2100. Among the five examined wetlands, the depressional wetland in hot and humid Florida appears to be most vulnerable to future climate change. This study provides quantitative information on the potential magnitude of wetland hydrological response to future climate change in typical forested wetlands in the southeastern US.

Use of a latitudinal gradient in bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) production to examine physiological controls of biotic boundaries and potential responses to environment change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, B.A.; McKee, K.L.

2004-01-01

Aim: Predictions of vegetation change with global warming require models that accurately reflect physiological processes underlying growth limitations and species distributions. However, information about environmental controls on physiology and consequent effects on species boundaries and ecosystem functions such as production is limited, especially for forested wetlands that are potentially important carbon sinks. Location: The bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) region of the south-eastern United States was studied to examine how production of an important forested wetland varies with latitude and temperature as well as local hydrology. Methods: We used published data to analyse litter production across a latitudinal gradient from 26.2 to 37.8?? N to determine how bald cypress swamps might respond to alternate climate conditions and what changes might occur throughout the distributional range. Results: Litterfall rates followed a bell shaped curve, indicating that production was more limited at the distributional boundaries (c. 225 g/m2 year-1) compared to the mid-range (795-1126 g/m2 year-1). This pattern suggests that conditions are sub-optimal near both boundaries and that the absence of populations outside this latitudinal range may be largely due to physiological constraints on the carbon balance of dominant species. While dispersal limitations cannot be totally discounted, competition with other wetland types at the extremes of the range does not seem likely to be important because the relative basal area of bald cypress does not decrease near the edges of the range. Impaired hydrology depressed production across the entire range, but more in the south than the north. Main conclusions: Our findings suggest that (1) physiological limitations constrain biotic boundaries of bald cypress swamps; (2) future changes in global temperature would affect litter production in a nonlinear manner across the distributional range; (3) local changes in hydrology may interact with climate to further reduce litter production, particularly at lower latitudes; and (4) southernmost forests could be extirpated if environmental conditions compromise carbon balance and water-use efficiency of trees. ?? 2004 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Determination of methane concentrations in shallow ground water and soil gas near Price, Utah

USGS Publications Warehouse

Naftz, David L.; Hadley, Heidi K.; Hunt, Gilbert L.

1998-01-01

Methane gas, commonly referred to as "natural gas," is being produced from coal beds in central Utah (fig. 1) at an increasing rate since the early 1990s. The methane was generated over millions of years during the formation of coal in the area. Coal originates as plant matter that has been deposited in a swamp-like environment and then decays as it is buried and compressed over geologic time. Giant fossilized footprints in the coal provide evidence that dinosaurs roamed and fed among the plentiful plants in these swamps (Hintze, 1979). Methane and carbon dioxide gas and water are produced in the coal as byproducts of coal formation (Sommer and Gloyn, 1993).

Dental Faculty Perceptions of Workplace Environment and Job Satisfaction at a Southeastern University, College of Dentistry

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cooper, Sharon L.

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to replicate the American Dental Education Association 2007 Dental Faculty Perceptions of Workplace Environment survey at A Southeastern University, College of Dentistry. The study examined dental faculty perceptions of academic workplace variables including culture and environment, as well as professional development…

Air Cushion Crash Rescue Vehicle (ACCRV)

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-10-01

capability to operate over rough and low strength ground surfaces, especially soft, wet ground or marsh and snow, with no capability for overwater...operation. In a wartime environment , fire fighting and res- cue will be further restricted because of craters, debris or unexploded bombs. Improved...swamps and, of course, in more conventional environments on or about airports. The integration of an air cushion system with a paddle track propulsor

Water Sources of Temperate Upland Swamps of Eastern Australia. Implications for Groundwater Management and Climate Change.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowley, K.; Fryirs, K.; Chisari, R.; Hose, G. C.

2016-12-01

Temperate upland swamps in Eastern Australia are endangered ecological communities under State and National legislation. They occur in headwaters of low order streams on low relief plateaus, providing base flow to streams that contribute to Sydney's major drinking water supplies that support some 4.5 million people. The swamps are also subject to aquifer interference activities from long wall mining and groundwater extraction, and are threatened by a changing climate. It is therefore critical that we understand their water source, storage capacity and residence times. We collected seasonal water samples from perched swamp aquifers in two highland regions of Eastern Australia for analysis of hydrogen and oxygen isotopes and compared them with rainwater, surface water and deeper groundwater to determine whether the swamps were primarily rainwater or groundwater fed. 222Rn was used as an environmental tracer to calculate residence times and relative groundwater/surface water ratios. We found over 60% of the swamps were sensitive to evaporation which has implications for swamp health in a warmer climate. Over a third of water from the perched swamp aquifer is derived from deeper sandstone aquifers with residence times of between 1.2 and 15 days. This swamp-groundwater connectivity means that mining activities or large-scale groundwater extraction could interfere with a significant component of the swamps' water source, its water storage capacity and downstream contributions to Sydney's drinking water supplies.

Timing constraints on remote sensing of wildland fire burned area in the southeastern US

USGS Publications Warehouse

Picotte, J.J.; Robertson, K.

2011-01-01

Remote sensing using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery is increasingly used for mapping wildland fire burned area and burn severity, owing to its frequency of collection, relatively high resolution, and availability free of charge. However, rapid response of vegetation following fire and frequent cloud cover pose challenges to this approach in the southeastern US. We assessed these timing constraints by using a series of Landsat TM images to determine how rapidly the remotely sensed burn scar signature fades following prescribed burns in wet flatwoods and depression swamp community types in the Apalachicola National Forest, Florida, USA during 2006. We used both the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) of reflectance bands sensitive to vegetation and exposed soil cover, as well as the change in NBR from before to after fire (dNBR), to estimate burned area. We also determined the average and maximum amount of time following fire required to obtain a cloud-free image for burns in each month of the year, as well as the predicted effect of this time lag on percent accuracy of burn scar estimates. Using both NBR and dNBR, the detectable area decreased linearly 9% per month on average over the first four months following fire. Our findings suggest that the NBR and dNBR methods for monitoring burned area in common southeastern US vegetation community types are limited to an average of 78-90% accuracy among months of the year, with individual burns having values as low as 38%, if restricted to use of Landsat 5 TM imagery. However, the majority of burns can still be mapped at accuracies similar to those in other regions of the US, and access to additional sources of satellite imagery would improve overall accuracy. ?? 2011 by the authors.

Timing constraints on remote sensing of wildland fire burned area in the southeastern US

USGS Publications Warehouse

Picotte, Joshua J.; Robertson, Kevin

2011-01-01

Remote sensing using Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) satellite imagery is increasingly used for mapping wildland fire burned area and burn severity, owing to its frequency of collection, relatively high resolution, and availability free of charge. However, rapid response of vegetation following fire and frequent cloud cover pose challenges to this approach in the southeastern US. We assessed these timing constraints by using a series of Landsat TM images to determine how rapidly the remotely sensed burn scar signature fades following prescribed burns in wet flatwoods and depression swamp community types in the Apalachicola National Forest, Florida, USA during 2006. We used both the Normalized Burn Ratio (NBR) of reflectance bands sensitive to vegetation and exposed soil cover, as well as the change in NBR from before to after fire (dNBR), to estimate burned area. We also determined the average and maximum amount of time following fire required to obtain a cloud-free image for burns in each month of the year, as well as the predicted effect of this time lag on percent accuracy of burn scar estimates. Using both NBR and dNBR, the detectable area decreased linearly 9% per month on average over the first four months following fire. Our findings suggest that the NBR and dNBR methods for monitoring burned area in common southeastern US vegetation community types are limited to an average of 78–90% accuracy among months of the year, with individual burns having values as low as 38%, if restricted to use of Landsat 5 TM imagery. However, the majority of burns can still be mapped at accuracies similar to those in other regions of the US, and access to additional sources of satellite imagery would improve overall accuracy.

Depositional analysis of Hill sand of Rodessa Formation (lower Cretaceous) in north Shongaloo-Red Rock field, Webster Parish, Louisiana

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Adamick, J.A.; Sartin, A.A.

1988-09-01

Hill sand is an informal subdivision of the Lower Cretaceous Rodessa Formation and is a common hydrocarbon reservoir in northeastern Texas, northern Louisiana, and southern Arkansas. The Hill sand is lithologically variable within the study area and consists of conglomerate, fine-grained sandstone, siltstone, mottled red-green claystone, black shale, and limestone. Five depositional environments were interpreted for lithofacies present in Hill sand cores from the North Shongaloo-Red Rock field. These include facies A, fluvial point bar; facies B, crevasse system; facies C, interdistributary bay; facies D, swamp; and facies E, carbonate interdistributary bay. Fluvial point bar and crevasse deposits commonly formmore » hydrocarbon reservoirs in the field. On a regional scale, depositional environments observed in the Hill sand include several fluvial deposystems trending northeast-southwest through Webster Parish. These deposystems terminate into deltaic distributary mouth bars along a northwest-southeast-trending coastline. Areas west of the coastline were occupied by shallow marine environments. Interchannel areas east of the coastline were occupied by interdistributary bay, lake, and crevasse environments in lower deltaic areas, and by lake, swamp, and crevasse environments in upper deltaic areas. Lowermost deposits of the Hill sand throughout the region are interpreted to consist of shallow marine environments. These marine deposits were overlain by thick, predominantly nonmarine sediments. Near the end of Hill sand deposition, the entire region was covered by very shallow marine environments, prior to deposition of the overlying First Lower Anhydrite Stringer.« less

40 CFR 81.123 - Southeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... Quality Control Region. 81.123 Section 81.123 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY... Air Quality Control Regions § 81.123 Southeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region. The Southeastern Oklahoma Intrastate Air Quality Control Region consists of the territorial area encompassed by the...

Effects of harvesting cypress swamps on water quality and quantity

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ewel, K.C.

1985-09-01

The responses of cypress swamps to a spectrum of harvest techniques are being studied in the Withlacoochee State Forest, Hernando County, Florida. Among the 11 swamps in the study area, four contain plots that were harvested experimentally in 1984. Stand improvement cuts were made in plots in two large swamps. Measurements of tree biomass were made in all but two of the large swamps. The swamps were surveyed for cone production in the fall and regeneration in the spring. However, coppice was produced in all the harvested plots. These preliminary results suggest that coppice production may be a dependable regenerationmore » method, although it may not be desirable for stand improvement cuts and thinning. Evapotranspiration from three cypress swamps averaged 79 cm over a 3-year period. The purpose of this project was to determine specific impacts of harvesting on water quality and water loss rates in the study areas.« less

43 CFR 2625.2 - Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Applications in conflict with swamp-land...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.2 Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims. Applications adverse to the State...

43 CFR 2625.1 - Selection and patenting of swamp lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Selection and patenting of swamp lands... LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.1 Selection and patenting of swamp lands. (a) All lands properly selected and reported to...

43 CFR 2625.2 - Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Applications in conflict with swamp-land...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.2 Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims. Applications adverse to the State...

43 CFR 2625.1 - Selection and patenting of swamp lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2012-10-01 2012-10-01 false Selection and patenting of swamp lands... LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.1 Selection and patenting of swamp lands. (a) All lands properly selected and reported to...

43 CFR 2625.1 - Selection and patenting of swamp lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Selection and patenting of swamp lands... LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.1 Selection and patenting of swamp lands. (a) All lands properly selected and reported to...

43 CFR 2625.2 - Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2014-10-01 2014-10-01 false Applications in conflict with swamp-land...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.2 Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims. Applications adverse to the State...

43 CFR 2625.1 - Selection and patenting of swamp lands.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2013-10-01 2013-10-01 false Selection and patenting of swamp lands... LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.1 Selection and patenting of swamp lands. (a) All lands properly selected and reported to...

43 CFR 2625.2 - Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... 43 Public Lands: Interior 2 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Applications in conflict with swamp-land...) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.2 Applications in conflict with swamp-land claims. Applications adverse to the State...

Hopping out of the Swamp: Management of Change in a Downsizing Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Jennus L.

1993-01-01

Arizona State University has developed a model for managing declining resources in administrative service functions. A variant of Total Quality Management, it involves clarification of administrative unit functions, unit self-examination, establishment of program priorities, environmental scanning, creation of an infrastructure to manage change,…

Environmental Factors that Influence Physiological Functioning of Eight Bottomland Hardwood Species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kassahun, Z.; Renninger, H. J.

2017-12-01

With increases in extreme precipitation, flooding, and prolonged drought events in the southeastern United States, bottomland hardwood forests are expected to experience a drastic shift in their productivity and composition. As environmental conditions shift, certain tree species may experience an increase in productivity or could be more negatively affected over more resilient species, leading to a shift in species composition, water use, and carbon uptake. The goals of this research were to use sap flow measurements, leaf phenology, and photosynthetic rates to study species-specific responses to environmental drivers. Sap flow of eight co-occurring hardwood species as well as soil moisture and vapor pressure deficit were measured continuously over the course of a calendar year that included drought conditions and extended saturated soil conditions. We found that cherrybark oak used the most water during the growing season, about 20% more water than the next highest consumer, swamp chestnut oak. Given low, ample or saturated soil moisture conditions, we found that sap flow of winged elm, American elm, cherrybark oak, and shagbark hickory exhibited varying relationships with vapor pressure deficit under the different soil moisture conditions. While the relationship between sap flow and vapor pressure deficit did not differ depending on soil moisture in willow oak, swamp chestnut oak, and green ash. This suggests that winged elm, American elm, cherrybark oak, and shagbark hickory may be more negatively affected by drought conditions while willow oak, swamp chestnut oak, and green ash are more drought tolerant. Regarding leaf phenology, willow oak, cherrybark oak, and shagbark hickory were the first to experience leaf abscission at the end of the growing season when extended drought conditions occurred. In terms of leaf gas exchange, green ash exhibited the highest photosynthesis and transpiration rates, resulting in the lowest water-use efficiency compared with other study species. Taken together, these responses can be used to estimate forest water budgets given stand species composition or to predict individual species resilience or adaptation to a changing climate, which can improve land surface models and identify species in this forest type that will be most successful under future climate conditions.

33 CFR 117.820 - Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. 117.820 Section 117.820 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST... North Carolina § 117.820 Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The draw of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Bridge, mile 28.0 at South Mills, NC, shall operate as follows: (a...

33 CFR 117.820 - Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. 117.820 Section 117.820 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST... North Carolina § 117.820 Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The draw of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Bridge, mile 28.0 at South Mills, NC, shall operate as follows: (a...

33 CFR 117.820 - Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. 117.820 Section 117.820 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST... North Carolina § 117.820 Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The draw of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Bridge, mile 28.0 at South Mills, NC, shall operate as follows: (a...

33 CFR 117.820 - Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. 117.820 Section 117.820 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST... North Carolina § 117.820 Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The draw of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Bridge, mile 28.0 at South Mills, NC, shall operate as follows: (a...

33 CFR 117.820 - Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. 117.820 Section 117.820 Navigation and Navigable Waters COAST... North Carolina § 117.820 Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Great Dismal Swamp Canal. The draw of the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Bridge, mile 28.0 at South Mills, NC, shall operate as follows: (a...

Impacts of sewage effluent on tree survival, water quality and nutrient removal in coastal plain swamps

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kuenzler, E.J.

1987-09-01

An investigation was conducted of the impacts of sprayed municipal sewage on swamp tree survival and the effects of the swamp system on nutrient concentrations below the outfalls on two streams on the coastal plain of North Carolina. Effluent was discharged to one swamp stream by aerial spraying and to the other stream by way of a small ditch. Ninety-eight percent of the trees struck directly by the spray were dead within 18 months of the date spraying began. Both swamp systems removed sufficient quantities of nitrogen and phosphorus within a few kilometers to account for virtually all of themore » sewage nutrient load to the swamps.« less

Ecology of bottomland hardwood swamps of the southeast: a community profile

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wharton, C.H.; Kitchens, W.M.; Pendleton, E.C.

1982-03-01

This report synthesizes extant literature detailing the ecology of bottomland hardwood swamps in the Southeast. The geographic scope focuses the report to the hardwoods occupying the floodplains of the rivers whose drainages originate in the Appalachian Mountains/Piedmont and Coastal Plain (NC, SC, GA, and FL). The origin and dynamics of the floodplains are described and related to hydrology and physiographic provinces. Further, the biogeochemistry and interactions between the riverine and floodplain environments are discussed in conjunction with floodplain biology. Plant and animal community structure and ecological processes (productivity) are detailed and organized by ecological zones. The final chapter discusses themore » ecological value of the floodplain ecosystems and the nature of their relationships to adjacent uplands, downstream coastal estuaries and the atmosphere.« less

Sulfate reduction in freshwater wetland soils and the effects of sulfate and substrate loading

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, J.; Hsieh, Y.P.

1998-07-01

Elevated sulfate and organic C loadings in freshwater wetlands could stimulate dissimilatory sulfate reduction that oxidizes organic C, produces hydrogen sulfide and alkalinity, and sequesters trace metals. The authors determined the extent of sulfate reduction in two freshwater wetland soils, that is black gum (Nyssa biflona) swamp soils and titi (Cliftonia monophylla) swamp soils, in northern Florida. They also investigated the potential of sulfate reduction in the wetland soils by adding sulfate, organic substrate, and lime. Sulfate reduction was found to be an active process in both swamp soils without any amendment, where the pore water pH was as lowmore » as 3.6 and sulfate concentration was as low as 5 mg L{sup {minus}1}. Without amendment, 11 to 14% of organic C was oxidized through sulfate reduction in the swamp soils. Sulfate loading, liming, and substrate addition significantly increased sulfate reduction in the black gum swamp soil, but none of those treatments increase sulfate reduction in the titi swamp soil. The limiting factor for sulfate reduction in the titi swamp soil were likely texture and soil aggregate related properties. The results suggested that wastewater loading may increase sulfate reduction in some freshwater wetlands such as the black swamps while it has no stimulating effect on other wetlands such as the titi swamps.« less

Ecology of red swamps in the glaciated northeast: a community profile

USGS Publications Warehouse

Golet, Francis C.; Calhoun, Aram J.K.; DeRagon, William R.

1993-01-01

This report is part of a series of profiles on the ecology of wetland and deepwater habitats. This particular profile addresses red maple swamps in the glaciated northeastern United States. Red maple (Acer rubrum) swamp is a dominant wetland type in most of the region; it reaches its greatest abundance in southern New England and northern New Jersey, where it comprises 60-800/o of all inland wetlands. Red maple swamps occur in a wide variety of hydrogeologic settings, from small, isolated basins in till or glaciofluvial deposits to extensive wetland complexes on glacial lake beds, and from hillside seeps to stream floodplains and lake edges. Individual swamps may be seasonally flooded, temporarily flooded, or seasonally saturated, and soils may be mineral or organic. As many as five distinct vegetation layers may occur in these swamps, including trees, saplings, shrubs, herbs, and ground cover plants such as bryophytes and clubmosses. On a regional scale, red maple swamps support at least 50 species of trees, more than 90 species of shrubs and vines, and more than 300 species of nonwoody plants. These swamps also provide habitat for a rich faunal community, including several wetland-dependent species. In areas that are becoming urbanized, these wetlands often constitute critical habitat for facultative species as well. Red maple swamps also are important sites for flood storage, water quality improvement, recreation, scenic beauty, and open space.

Fish measurement using Android smart phone: the example of swamp eel

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Baisong; Fu, Zhuo; Ouyang, Haiying; Sun, Yingze; Ge, Changshui; Hu, Jing

The body length and weight are critical physiological parameters for fishes, especially eel-like fishes like swamp eel(Monopterusalbus).Fast and accurate measuring of body length is significant for swamp eel culturing as well as its resource investigation and protection. This paper presents an Android smart phone-based photogrammetry technology for measuring and estimating the length and weight of swamp eel. This method utilizes the feature that the ratio of lengths of two objects within an image is equal to that of in reality to measure the length of swamp eels. And then, it estimates the weight via a pre-built length-weight regression model. Analysis and experimental results have indicated that this method is a fast and accurate method for length and weight measurements of swamp eel. The cross-validation results shows that the RMSE (root-mean-square error) of total length measurement of swamp eel is0.4 cm, and the RMSE of weight estimation is 11 grams.

Galling arthropod diversity in adjacent swamp forests and restinga vegetation in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

PubMed

Mendonça, Milton De S; Piccardi, Hosana M F; Jahnke, Simone M; Dalbem, Ricardo V

2010-01-01

Galling arthropods create plant structures inside which they find shelter. Factors acting on galler diversity are still being discussed, with this fauna considered more diverse in xeric than mesic environments (higrothermic stress hypothesis, HSH), and also in more plant diverse sites. Here we compare galler abundance (N), equitability (E), species richness (S) and composition between adjacent restinga (xeric) and swamp forests (mesic) in Parque Estadual de Itapeva (29°21' S, 49°45' W), Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil. Five trails, two in swamp forest and three in restingas, were sampled four times each (January/December 2005). After an effort of 60h/person, 621 galled plant individuals belonging to 104 gall morphotypes were recorded. This suggests a high galler diversity for the Park, comparable to the richest places known. No differences were found for N, E or S between restingas and swamp forests. However, faunal composition differs significantly between the vegetation types. The dominant (most abundant) species are different in either vegetation type, and are rare or absent on the other vegetation type. Such species composition analysis is still largely ignored for gallers, and stresses the fact that the HSH cannot explain this pattern, since the latter is based on preferences by the ovipositing galler for xeric sites instead of mesic ones. The two habitats differ in microclimate, but species richness, as would be predicted by the HSH, does not differ. This small scale pattern can perhaps be attributed to biogeographic processes on larger scales, as suggested by the resource synchronisation hypothesis.

Mineral cycling in southeastern ecosystems. Proceedings of a symposium held at Augusta, Georgia May 1--3, 1974

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Howell, F.G.; Gentry, J.B.; Smith, M.H.

1975-01-01

Sixty-six papers were presented on cycling of natural and man-made elements, including terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments, as well as current ideas on modeling. Principles governing elemental flow included radiocesium in natural environments, especially in the southeastern United States. Individual entries were made for 47 items.

Geomorphic controls on fluvial carbon exports and emissions from upland swamps in eastern Australia.

PubMed

Cowley, Kirsten; Looman, Arun; Maher, Damien T; Fryirs, Kirstie

2018-03-15

Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) are upland wetlands, similar to fens in the Northern Hemisphere and are found at the headwaters of low-order streams on the plateaus of Eastern Australia. They are classified as endangered ecological communities under State and National legislation. Previous works have identified particular geomorphic characteristics that are important to carbon storage in these low energy sediment accumulation zones. Changes in the geomorphic structure of THPSS, such as channelisation, may have profound implications for carbon storage. To assess the effect of channelisation on carbon budgets in these ecosystems it is essential to identify and quantify differences in carbon export, emissions and stocks of carbon of intact swamps and those that have become channelised. We undertook seasonal sampling of the perched swamp aquifers and surface waters of two intact swamps and two channelised fills in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia, to investigate differences in carbon exports and emissions between the two swamp types. We found that channelised fills' mean CO 2 emissions were almost four times higher than intact swamps with mean CH 4 emissions up to five times higher. Annual fluvial carbon exports for channelised fills were up to 18 times that of intact swamps. Channelised fill exports and emissions can represent up to 2% of the total swamp carbon stocks per annum which is 40 times higher than the intact swamps. This work clearly demonstrates that changes in geomorphic structure brought about by incision and channelisation results in profound changes to the carbon storage function of THPSS. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

[Distribution, surface and protected area of palm-swamps in Costa Rica and Nicaragua].

PubMed

Serrano-Sandí, Juan; Bonilla-Murillo, Fabian; Sasa, Mahmood

2013-09-01

In Central America, palm swamps are known collectively as yolillales. These wetlands are usually dominated by the raffia palm Raphia taedigera, but also by the royal palm Manicaria saccifera and -in lower extensions- by the American oil palm Elaeis oleifera. The yolillales tend to be poor in woody species and are characteristic of regions with high rainfall and extensive hydroperiods, so they remain flooded most of the year. The dominance of large raffia palm leaves in the canopy, allow these environments to be distinguishable in aerial photographs, which consequently has helped to map them along most of their distribution. However, while maps depicting yolillales are available, the extent of their surface area, perimeter and connectivity remains poorly understood. This is particularly true for yolillales in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, countries that share a good proportion of palm dominated swaps in the Rio San Juan Basin. In addition, it is not known the actual area of these environments that is under any category of protection according to the conservation systems of both countries. As a first step to catalog yolillal wetlands in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, this paper evaluates cartographic maps to delineate yolillales in the region. A subsample of yolillales mapped in this study were visited and we geo-referenced them and evaluate the extent and condition of the swamp. A total of 110 883.2ha are classified as yolillales in Nicaragua, equivalent to 22% of wetland surface area recorded for that country (excluding the Cocibolca and Xolothn Lakes). In Costa Rica, 53 931.3ha are covered by these palm dominated swamps, which represent 16.24% of the total surface area covered by wetlands. About 47% of the area covered by yolillales in Nicaragua is under some category of protection, the largest extensions protected by Cerro Silva, Laguna Tale Sulumas and Indio Maiz Nature Reserves. In Costa Rica, 55.5% of the area covered by yolillal is located within protected areas, mainly the Tortuguero National Park, Barra del Colorado Wildlife Refuge and the Sierpe-Thrraba National Wetland. Therefore, in both countries, about half the area covered by these wetlands is not protected by their systems of protection of wilderness areas.

Footpaths in the Stuff Swamp.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dron, Jon; Boyne, Chris; Mitchell, Richard

This paper discusses stigmergy (i.e., the effect of communication through the environment) in relation to the Internet, especially with regard to World Wide Web-based learning. The paper begins by examining ways in which stigmergy occurs on the Web and then goes on to describe its use in the construction of a continually evolving system, CoFIND…

12. LOCK GATES AT THE SWAMP LOCKS, SEPARATING THE UPPER ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

12. LOCK GATES AT THE SWAMP LOCKS, SEPARATING THE UPPER AND LOWER LOCK CHAMBERS, SHOWING PADDLE VALVES, LOOKING WEST: 1976 - Pawtucket Canal, Swamp Locks, Pawtucket & Merrimack Canals, Lowell, Middlesex County, MA

Logged peat swamp forest supports greater macrofungal biodiversity than large-scale oil palm plantations and smallholdings.

PubMed

Shuhada, Siti Noor; Salim, Sabiha; Nobilly, Frisco; Zubaid, Akbar; Azhar, Badrul

2017-09-01

Intensive land expansion of commercial oil palm agricultural lands results in reducing the size of peat swamp forests, particularly in Southeast Asia. The effect of this land conversion on macrofungal biodiversity is, however, understudied. We quantified macrofungal biodiversity by identifying mushroom sporocarps throughout four different habitats; logged peat swamp forest, large-scale oil palm plantation, monoculture, and polyculture smallholdings. We recorded a total of 757 clusters of macrofungi belonging to 127 morphospecies and found that substrates for growing macrofungi were abundant in peat swamp forest; hence, morphospecies richness and macrofungal clusters were significantly greater in logged peat swamp forest than converted oil palm agriculture lands. Environmental factors that influence macrofungi in logged peat swamp forests such as air temperature, humidity, wind speed, soil pH, and soil moisture were different from those in oil palm plantations and smallholdings. We conclude that peat swamp forests are irreplaceable with respect to macrofungal biodiversity. They host much greater macrofungal biodiversity than any of the oil palm agricultural lands. It is imperative that further expansion of oil palm plantation into remaining peat swamp forests should be prohibited in palm oil producing countries. These results imply that macrofungal distribution reflects changes in microclimate between habitats and reduced macrofungal biodiversity may adversely affect decomposition in human-modified landscapes.

Swamp land optimization in supporting food security and enhancing farmers welfare in South Sumatra Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Herwenita; Hutapea, Y.

2018-02-01

Swamp land in Indonesia spread in Sumatra, Kalimantan and West Papua. In Sumatra the largest swamp land area is located in South Sumatera Province. Unfortunately only few of the areas have been utilized due to its fragility, in which farmers could only cultivate rice on it once a year. The purpose of this paper is to develop a feasible farming pattern in swamp land to help farmers and practitioners in optimizing it by managing its water level. Shallow and mid swamp land can be cultivated using rotation model of crops (rice, corn, cassava), horticulture (cucumber, long beans, watermelon etc), fish farming (catfish, snake head fish, tilapia), and duck farming, whereas submergence tolerant rice varieties can be cultivated alternating with fish farming in deep swamp land. This study shows that such swamp land management is financially feasible showing by its positive NPV value, BCR value is above 1.00, and IRR value is greater than the interest rate. Therefore, implementation of this farming pattern is expected to increase farmers’ income and household food supply as well as village food supply.

Changes in floral composition with depositional environment in Texas Eocene Manning Formation lignites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gennett, J.A.; Raymond, A.L.

1986-09-01

The floral composition of palynomorph assemblages of Jacksonian Texas lignites is closely linked to depositional systems. Localities on the eastern Gulf coastal plain are included in the late Eocene Fayette delta system, and lignite formation is considered to have occurred in lower deltaic environments. Samples are commonly dominated by grains of Caprifoliipites/Salixpollenites, Momites, or Nyssa, indicating dicotyledonous tree-dominated swamps. Some samples contain abundant Cicatricosspories spores, suggesting marshy, fern-dominated areas. The San Miguel lignite deposit in McMullen County is located on the eastern margin of the south Texas strand-plain/barrier-bar system. Caprifoliipites/Salixpollenites pollen is rare in the San Miguel, and most ofmore » the levels are dominated by small tricolporates such as cupuliferoipollenites and Sapotaceae. Nyssa is locally important. The lignite is considered to have been deposited in a nondeltaic freshwater swamp behind a barrier island. The Miguel Alleman deposit, across the Mexican border in Tamaulipas, is thought to have developed in a lagoonal-estuarine environment. Dinoflagellates such as Wetzeliella are common at some levels, indicating marine conditions. As with San Miguel, small tricolporates and Momipites are common. These assemblages contrast with Sabinian floras. Wilcox Group east Texas lignites were formed in fluvial environments. Betulaceous pollen is common in these coals. Sabinian south Texas lignites formed in marine environments yield dinoflagellates and Chenopodium-type pollen. Chenopods are common in present-day Gulf Coast salt marshes but seem to have been absent from Jackson-age seacoasts.« less

Ecology of red maple swamps in the glaciated northeast: A community profile

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Golet, F.C.; Calhoun, A.J.K.; DeRagon, W.R.

1993-06-01

The report is part of a series of profiles on the ecology of wetland and deepwater habitats. This particular profile addresses red maple swamps in the glaciated northeastern United States. Red maple (Acer rubrum) swamp is a dominant wetland type in most of the region; it reaches the greatest abundance in southern New England and northern New Jersey; where it comprises 60-80% of all inland wetlands. Red maple swamps occur in a wide variety of hydrogeologic settings, from small, isolated basins in till or glaciofluvial deposits to extensive wetland complexes on glacial lake beds, and from hillside seeps to streammore » floodplains and lake edges. Individual swamps may be seasonally flooded, temporarily flooded, or seasonally saturated, and soils may be mineral or organic. As many as five distinct vegetation layers may occur in these swamps, including trees, saplings, shrubs, herbs, and ground cover plants such as bryophytes and clubmosses.« less

Restoration methods for deepwater swamps

Treesearch

William H. Conner; Kenneth W. McLeod; Ellen Colodney

2000-01-01

Planting in deepwater swamp areas is difficult and time consuming, and nursery-grown seedlings are often not suited for such conditions. Baldcypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.], water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica L.), swamp blackgum [N. sylvatica var. biflora (Walt.) Sarg.], and green ash (

Swamp Works: A New Approach to Develop Space Mining and Resource Extraction Technologies at the National Aeronautics Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, R. P.; Sibille, L.; Leucht, K.; Smith, J. D.; Townsend, I. I.; Nick, A. J.; Schuler, J. M.

2015-01-01

The first steps for In Situ Resource Utilization (ISRU) on target bodies such as the Moon, Mars and Near Earth Asteroids (NEA), and even comets, involve the same sequence of steps as in the terrestrial mining of resources. First exploration including prospecting must occur, and then the resource must be acquired through excavation methods if it is of value. Subsequently a load, haul and dump sequence of events occurs, followed by processing of the resource in an ISRU plant, to produce useful commodities. While these technologies and related supporting operations are mature in terrestrial applications, they will be different in space since the environment and indigenous materials are different than on Earth. In addition, the equipment must be highly automated, since for the majority of the production cycle time, there will be no humans present to assist or intervene. This space mining equipment must withstand a harsh environment which includes vacuum, radical temperature swing cycles, highly abrasive lofted dust, electrostatic effects, van der Waals forces effects, galactic cosmic radiation, solar particle events, high thermal gradients when spanning sunlight terminators, steep slopes into craters / lava tubes and cryogenic temperatures as low as 40 K in permanently shadowed regions. In addition the equipment must be tele-operated from Earth or a local base where the crew is sheltered. If the tele-operation occurs from Earth then significant communications latency effects mandate the use of autonomous control systems in the mining equipment. While this is an extremely challenging engineering design scenario, it is also an opportunity, since the technologies developed in this endeavor could be used in the next generations of terrestrial mining equipment, in order to mine deeper, safer, more economical and with a higher degree of flexibility. New space technologies could precipitate new mining solutions here on Earth. The NASA KSC Swamp Works is an innovation environment and methodology, with associated laboratories that uses lean development methods and creativity-enhancing processes to invent and develop new solutions for space exploration. This paper will discuss the Swamp Works approach to developing space mining and resource extraction systems and the vision of space development it serves. The ultimate goal of the Swamp Works is to expand human civilization into the solar system via the use of local resources utilization. By mining and using the local resources in situ, it is conceivable that one day the logistics supply train from Earth can be eliminated and Earth independence of a space-based community will be enabled.

Radar geomorphology of coastal and wetland environments

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lewis, A. J.; Macdonald, H. C.

1973-01-01

Details regarding the collection of radar imagery over the past ten years are considered together with the geomorphic, geologic, and hydrologic data which have been extracted from radar imagery. Recent investigations were conducted of the Louisiana swamp marsh and the Oregon coast. It was found that radar imagery is a useful tool to the scientist involved in wetland research.

Rehabilitation of Seven (7) Hydrocarbon Contaminated Sites in a Brackish Water/Lagoon Environment in South Trinidad

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, Avryl; Ramnath, Kelvin; Dyal, Shyam; Lalla, Francesca; Roopchand, Jaipersad

2007-12-01

The Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited operates in a wide diversity of tropical habitats in South Trinidad one of which is a brackish water environment known as the Godineau Swamp. Historically this field was operated by predecessor multinational companies, who at that time employed operational practices based on the absence of legal requirements, that were not environmentally considerate. Following a detailed environmental audit of the field (also known as the Oropouche Field), seven (7) contaminated sites were found, that presented a risk to the lagoon and its associated mangrove swamp ecology. Remediation of the seven (7) sites was done in two (2) phases; phase 1 being sampling and characterization of the waste inclusive of migration and phase 2 the actual on-site soil remediation. Phase 1 conducted during the period December 2004 to February 2005, indicated a total of 19,484 m3 of contaminated material with TPH being the main contaminant. The average concentration of TPH was 3.25%. Phase 2 remediation was initiated in October 2005 and involved the following three (3) aspects to achieve a TPH concentration of less than 1%: ▪ Preparation of waste remediation sites adjacent to contaminated sites and excavation and spreading onto cells ▪ Bioremediation onsite using naturally occurring bacteria and rototilling ▪ Rehabilitation and closure of the site following accepted lab results. The benefits of conducting this project in the petroleum industry are to ensure compliance to the national Sensitive Areas Rules and Draft Waste Management Rules, conformance to ISO 14001 Certification requirements and conservation of biodiversity in the mangrove swamp.

Lower food chain community study: thermal effects and post-thermal recovery in the streams and swamps of the Savannah River Plant

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kondratieff, P.; Kondratieff, B.C.

1985-07-01

The effects of thermal stress on lower food chain communities of streams and swamps of the Savannah River Plant. Both the autotroph assemblages and the macro invertebrate communities were studied in streams receiving heated reactor effluent. To document stream and swamp ecosystem recovery from thermal stress, the same communities of organisms were studied in a stream/swamp ecosystem which had received heated reactor effluent in the past. (ACR)

Imported Asian swamp eels (Synbranchidae: Monopterus) in North American live food markets: Potential vectors of non-native parasites

USGS Publications Warehouse

Nico, Leo G.; Sharp, Paul; Collins, Timothy M.

2011-01-01

Since the 1990s, possibly earlier, large numbers of Asian swamp eels (Synbranchidae: Monopterus spp.), some wild-caught, have been imported live from various countries in Asia and sold in ethnic food markets in cities throughout the USA and parts of Canada. Such markets are the likely introduction pathway of some, perhaps most, of the five known wild populations of Asian swamp eels present in the continental United States. This paper presents results of a pilot study intended to gather baseline data on the occurrence and abundance of internal macroparasites infecting swamp eels imported from Asia to North American retail food markets. These data are important in assessing the potential role that imported swamp eels may play as possible vectors of non-native parasites. Examination of the gastrointestinal tracts and associated tissues of 19 adult-sized swamp eels—identified as M. albus "Clade C"—imported from Vietnam and present in a U.S. retail food market revealed that 18 (95%) contained macroparasites. The 394 individual parasites recovered included a mix of nematodes, acanthocephalans, cestodes, digeneans, and pentastomes. The findings raise concern because of the likelihood that some parasites infecting market swamp eels imported from Asia are themselves Asian taxa, some possibly new to North America. The ecological risk is exacerbated because swamp eels sold in food markets are occasionally retained live by customers and a few reportedly released into the wild. For comparative purposes, M. albus "Clade C" swamp eels from a non-native population in Florida (USA) were also examined and most (84%) were found to be infected with internal macroparasites. The current level of analysis does not allow us to confirm whether these are non-native parasites.

Regeneration potential of Taxodium distichum swamps and climate change

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, B.A.

2009-01-01

Seed bank densities respond to factors across local to landscape scales, and therefore, knowledge of these responses may be necessary in forecasting the effects of climate change on the regeneration of species. This study relates the seed bank densities of species of Taxodium distichum swamps to local water regime and regional climate factors at five latitudes across the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley from southern Illinois to Louisiana. In an outdoor nursery setting, the seed banks of twenty-five swamps were exposed to non-flooded (freely drained) or flooded treatments, and the number and species of seeds germinating were recorded from each swamp during one growing season. Based on ANOVA analysis, the majority of dominant species had a higher rate of germination in non-flooded versus flooded treatments. Similarly, an NMS comparison, which considered the local water regime and regional climate of the swamps, found that the species of seeds germinating, almost completely shifted under non-flooded versus flooded treatments. For example, in wetter northern swamps, seeds of Taxodium distichum germinated in non-flooded conditions, but did not germinate from the same seed banks in flooded conditions. In wetter southern swamps, seeds of Eleocharis cellulosa germinated in flooded conditions, but did not germinate in non-flooded conditions. The strong relationship of seed germination and density relationships with local water regime and regional climate variables suggests that the forecasting of climate change effects on swamps and other wetlands needs to consider a variety of interrelated variables to make adequate projections of the regeneration responses of species to climate change. Because regeneration is an important aspect of species maintenance and restoration, climate drying could influence the species distribution of these swamps in the future. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.

Production and decomposition of forest litter fall on the Apalachicola River flood plain, Florida: Chapter B, Apalachicola River quality assessment

USGS Publications Warehouse

Elder, John F.; Cairns, Duncan J.

1982-01-01

Measurements of litter fall (leaves and other particulate organic material) and leaf decomposition were made on the bottom-land hardwood swamp of the Apalachicola River flood plain in 1979-80. Litter fall was collected monthly from nets located in 16 study plots. The plots represented five forest types in the swamp and levee areas of the Apalachicola River flood plain. Forty-three species of trees, vines, and other plants contributed to the total litter fall, but more than 90 percent of the leaf material originated from 12 species. Nonleaf material made up 42 percent of the total litter fall. Average litter fall was determined to be 800 grams per square meter per year, resulting in an annual deposition of 3.6 ? 105 metric tons of organic material in the 454-square-kilometer flood plain. The levee communities have less tree biomass but greater tree diversity than do swamp communities. The levee vegetation, containing less tree biomass, produces slightly more litter fall per unit of ground surface area than does the swamp vegetation. The swamps are dominated by three genera: tupelo (Nyssa), cypress (Taxodium) and ash (Fraxinus). These genera account for more than 50 percent of the total leaf fall in the flood plain, but they are the least productive, on a weight-perbiomass basis, of any of the 12 major leaf producers. Decomposition rates of leaves from five common floodplain tree species were measured using a standard leaf-bag technique. Leaf decomposition was highly species dependent. Tupelo (Nyssa spp.) and sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) leaves decomposed completely in 6 months when flooded by river water. Leaves of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) and diamond-leaf oak (Quercus laurifolia) were much more resistant. Water hickory (Carya aquatica) leaves showed intermediate decomposition rates. Decomposition of all species was greatly reduced in dry environments. Carbon and biomass loss rates from the leaves were nearly linear over a 6-month period, but nitrogen and phosphorus leaching was nearly complete within 1 month. Much of the organic substance may be recycled in the forest ecosystem, but annual flooding of the river provides an important mechanism for mobilization of the litter-fall products.

Climate change and associated fire potential for the south-eastern United States in the 21st century

Treesearch

Anthony P. Bedel; Thomas L. Mote; Scott L. Goodrick

2013-01-01

Climate models indicate that the climate of the south-eastern US will experience increasing temperatures and associated evapotranspiration in the 21st century. The current study found that conditions in the south-eastern US will likely become drier overall, given a warmer environment during future winter and spring seasons. This study examined the potential effects of...

Net degradation of methyl mercury in alder swamps.

PubMed

Kronberg, Rose-Marie; Tjerngren, Ida; Drott, Andreas; Björn, Erik; Skyllberg, Ulf

2012-12-18

Wetlands are generally considered to be sources of methyl mercury (MeHg) in northern temperate landscapes. However, a recent input-output mass balance study during 2007-2010 revealed a black alder (Alnus glutinosa) swamp in southern Sweden to be a consistent and significant MeHg sink, with a 30-60% loss of MeHg. The soil pool of MeHg varied substantially between years, but it always decreased with distance from the stream inlet to the swamp. The soil MeHg pool was significantly lower in the downstream as compared to the upstream half of the swamp (0.66 and 1.34 ng MeHg g⁻¹ SOC⁻¹ annual average⁻¹, respectively, one-way ANOVA, p = 0.0006). In 2008 a significant decrease of %MeHg in soil was paralleled by a significant increase in potential demethylation rate constant (k(d), p < 0.02 and p < 0.004, respectively). In contrast, the potential methylation rate constant (k(m)) was unrelated to distance (p = 0.3). Our results suggest that MeHg was net degraded in the Alnus swamp, and that it had a rapid and dynamic internal turnover of MeHg. Snapshot stream input-output measurements at eight additional Alnus glutinosa swamps in southern Sweden indicate that Alnus swamps in general are sinks for MeHg. Our findings have implications for forestry practices and landscape planning, and suggest that restored or preserved Alnus swamps may be used to mitigate MeHg produced in northern temperate landscapes.

The 1979 Southeastern Virginia Urban Plume Study (SEV-UPS): Surface and airborne studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

White, J. H.; Eaton, W. C.; Saeger, M. L.; Strong, R. B.; Tommerdahl, J. B.

1980-01-01

The operation of two surface monitoring stations (one in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, one south of the city near the Great Dismal Swamp) and the collection of 40 hours of airborne measurements is described. Surface site measurements of ozone, oxides of nitrogen, sulfur dioxide, temperature, dew point, b sub seat, and condensation nuclei were made. Instrument calibrations, quality assurance audits, and preliminary data analysis in support of the Urban Plume Study were also made. The air pollution problems that were addressed are discussed. Data handling procedures followed for the surface stations are presented. The operation of the aircraft sampling platform is described. Aircraft sampling procedures are discussed. A preliminary descriptive analysis of the aircraft data is given along with data or plots for surface sites, airborne studies, hydrocarbon species, and instrument performance audits. Several of the aircraft flights clearly show the presence of an urban ozone plume downwind of Norfolk in the direction of the mean wind flow.

Multi-temporal RADARSAT-1 and ERS backscattering signatures of coastal wetlands in southeastern Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kwoun, Oh-Ig; Lu, Z.

2009-01-01

Using multi-temporal European Remote-sensing Satellites (ERS-1/-2) and Canadian Radar Satellite (RADARSAT-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data over the Louisiana coastal zone, we characterize seasonal variations of radar backscat-tering according to vegetation type. Our main findings are as follows. First, ERS-1/-2 and RADARSAT-1 require careful radiometric calibration to perform multi-temporal backscattering analysis for wetland mapping. We use SAR backscattering signals from cities for the relative calibration. Second, using seasonally averaged backscattering coefficients from ERS-1/-2 and RADARSAT-1, we can differentiate most forests (bottomland and swamp forests) and marshes (freshwater, intermediate, brackish, and saline marshes) in coastal wetlands. The student t-test results support the usefulness of season-averaged backscatter data for classification. Third, combining SAR backscattering coefficients and an optical-sensor-based normalized difference vegetation index can provide further insight into vegetation type and enhance the separation between forests and marshes. Our study demonstrates that SAR can provide necessary information to characterize coastal wetlands and monitor their changes.

Black willow dominates baldcypress-tupelo swamp eight years after clear cutting

Treesearch

Peter H. Allen

1962-01-01

Our knowledge of successional relations in tidewater river swamps is scant. In an effort to increase our knowledge, the vegetation in a virgin stand of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum), swamp tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora), and water tupelo (N. aquatica) was compared with the new growth...

77 FR 72737 - Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Dismal Swamp...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-06

... DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY Coast Guard 33 CFR Part 117 [Docket No. USCG-2012-1021] Drawbridge Operation Regulations; Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (Alternate Route), Dismal Swamp Canal, South Mills, NC... (Alternate Route), Dismal Swamp Canal, South Mills, NC. The deviation restricts the operation of the draw...

Soil chemistry and phosphorus retention capacity of North Carolina coastal plain swamps receiving sewage effluent

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Richardson, C.J.; Walbridge, M.R.; Burns, A.

1988-11-01

Several hundred freshwater swamps in North Carolina currently receive municipal waste-water inputs. In the study researchers examined three Coastal Plain wetlands to (1) characterize their soil chemical properties, (2) determine short-term and long-term effects of effluent additions on soil chemistry, (3) estimate the phosphorus sorption capacities of these swamp soils and determine the relationship between P sorption capacity and soil chemistry, and (4) develop a predictive index to evaluate the P sorption potentials of other N.C. Coastal Plain swamps.

Microhabitat Characteristics of sites used by swamp rabbits

Treesearch

Patrick A. Zollner; Winston P. Smith; Leonard A. Brennan

2000-01-01

The swamp rabbit (Sylvilagus aquaticus) is one of the least studied North American lagomorphs; a better understanding of the habitat types it uses will improve management of this species. We studied microhabitat characteristics of sites associated with specific behaviors of the swamp rabbit. During spring-summer (15 April-1 October) and fall-winter (...

43 CFR 2625.0-3 - Authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.0-3 Authority. (a) Circular dated Mar. 17, 1896, containing the swamp-land laws and regulations, states: As soon as practicable after the passage of the swamp-land grant of September 28, 1850, viz, on the 21st of...

43 CFR 2625.0-3 - Authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.0-3 Authority. (a) Circular dated Mar. 17, 1896, containing the swamp-land laws and regulations, states: As soon as practicable after the passage of the swamp-land grant of September 28, 1850, viz, on the 21st of...

43 CFR 2625.0-3 - Authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.0-3 Authority. (a) Circular dated Mar. 17, 1896, containing the swamp-land laws and regulations, states: As soon as practicable after the passage of the swamp-land grant of September 28, 1850, viz, on the 21st of...

43 CFR 2625.0-3 - Authority.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

..., DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (2000) STATE GRANTS Swamp-land Grants § 2625.0-3 Authority. (a) Circular dated Mar. 17, 1896, containing the swamp-land laws and regulations, states: As soon as practicable after the passage of the swamp-land grant of September 28, 1850, viz, on the 21st of...

Diurnal and Tidal Variation of Temperature and Salinity in the Ponta Rasa Mangrove Swamp, Mozambique

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoguane, A. M.; Hill, A. E.; Simpson, J. H.; Bowers, D. G.

1999-08-01

Measurements of hydrographic conditions in the Ponta Rasa tidal mangrove swamp, Inhaca Island, Mozambique were made in August-October 1994 during the winter dry season. The Ponta Rasa swamp/creek is tidally choked on account of the narrow channel that connects it to Maputo Bay and at neap tides, a sill prevents bay water entering the creek system altogether. Temperature variation in the swamp (15-25 °C) was predominantly diurnal with an additional signal due to the tidal advection of bay waters. There is no river discharge into Ponta Rasa and during the observation period, there was no significant rainfall. The mean salinity in the swamp ( c. 38) was controlled by evaporation and transpiration by mangroves and an overall evapotranspiration rate of 0·5 cm day -1was estimated from a steady salt balance. Salinity variation ( c. 2) was predominantly due to semi-diurnal tidal advection of lower salinity Maputo Bay water into the swamp/creek. A model which incorporates tidal dynamics coupled to heat and salt balance equations reproduces many of the observed features of the system.

The hydrological function of upland swamps in eastern Australia: The role of geomorphic condition in regulating water storage and discharge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cowley, Kirsten L.; Fryirs, Kirstie A.; Hose, Grant C.

2018-06-01

Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) are a type of wetland found in low-order streams on the plateaus of eastern Australia. They are sediment and organic matter accumulation zones, which combined with a climate of high rainfall and low evaporation function as water storage systems. Changes to the geomorphic structure of these systems via incision and channelisation can have profound impacts on their hydrological function. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of how changes to the geomorphic structure of these systems alter their hydrological function, measured as changes and variability in swamp water table levels and discharge. We monitored the water table levels and discharges of three intact and three channelised THPSS in the Blue Mountains between March 2015 and June 2016. We found that water levels in intact swamps were largely stable over the monitoring period. Water levels rose only in high rainfall events, returned quickly to antecedent levels after rain, and drawdown during dry periods was not significant. In contrast, the water table levels in channelised THPSS were highly variable. Water levels rose quickly after almost all rainfall events and declined significantly during dry periods. Discharge also showed marked differences with the channelised THPSS discharging 13 times more water than intact swamps, even during dry periods. Channelised THPSS also had flashier storm hydrographs than intact swamps. These results have profound implications for the capacity of these swamps to act as water storage reservoirs in the headwaters of catchments and for their ability to maintain base flow to downstream catchments during dry times. Changes to geomorphic structure and hydrological function also have important implications for a range of other swamp functions such as carbon storage, emission and exports, contaminant sorption, downstream water quality and biodiversity, as well as the overall fate of these swamps under a changing climate.

Effect of clonal reproduction on genetic structure in Pentaclethra macroloba (Fabaceae: Mimosoideae).

PubMed

Gaddis, Keith D; Zukin, Helen L; Dieterich, Inca A; Braker, Elizabeth; Sork, Victoria L

2014-06-01

The existence of monodominant forests on well-drained soils in tropical regions has been widely reported. Such forests most likely result from a combination of both ecological and evolutionary factors. Under conditions of high seed and seedling mortality, vegetative reproduction could create a reproductive advantage leading to forest dominance, and profoundly affect the distribution of genetic variation in a clonal species. We investigated these effects in a low diversity forest site in Northeastern Costa Rica dominated by the species Pentaclethra macroloba, which sprouts from the root mass of fallen trees and from snapped trunks. We examined the population structure of juvenile P. macroloba growing in different soil types and across an elevational gradient. Using seven molecular markers, we genotyped 173 juvenile P. macroloba from 18 plots (six plots in seasonally inundated swamps, and 12 plots in upland non-swamp) spanning 50-300m in elevation at La Selva Biological Station and the adjacent Reserva Ecológica Bijagual in Northeastern Costa Rica. We answered two specific questions: (1) How extensive is clonal reproduction? and (2) what is the distribution of genetic diversity and structure? We found that clonal reproduction occurred exclusively within inundated swamp areas. However, there was no significant difference between genetic diversity measures in swamp and non-swamp plots, which were both generally low when compared with other tropical forest species. Genetic structure was significant across all plots (F(ST) = -0.109). However, genetic structure among swamp plots (F(ST) = 0.128) was higher than among non-swamp upland plots (F(ST) = 0.093). Additionally, spatial autocorrelation among individuals within non-swamp upland plots was significant from the 25 to 100m spatial scale, but not within swamp plots. The degree of overall genetic structure we found in P. macroloba is high for a tropical forest tree. The incidence of clonal reproduction is a contributing factor in genetic differentiation, but the high structure among plots without clonal reproduction indicates that other factors contribute as well.

Isolation of heat-tolerant myoglobin from Asian swamp eel Monopterus albus.

PubMed

Chotichayapong, Chatrachatchaya; Wiengsamut, Kittipong; Chanthai, Saksit; Sattayasai, Nison; Tamiya, Toru; Kanzawa, Nobuyuki; Tsuchiya, Takahide

2012-10-01

Myoglobin from Asian swamp eel Monopterus albus was purified from fish muscle using salt fractionation followed by column chromatography and molecular filtration. The purified Mb of 0.68 mg/g wet weight of muscle was determined for its molecular mass by MALDI-TOF-MS to be 15,525.18 Da. Using isoelectric focusing technique, the purified Mb showed two derivatives with pI of 6.40 and 7.12. Six peptide fragments of this protein identified by LC-MS/MS were homologous to Mbs of sea raven Hemitripterus americanus, yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacores, blue marlin Makaira nigicans, common carp Cyprinus carpio, and goldfish Carassius auratus. According to the Mb denaturation, the swamp eel Mb had thermal stability higher than walking catfish Clarias batrachus Mb and striped catfish Pangasius hypophthalmus Mb, between 30 and 60 (°)C. For the thermal stability of Mb, the swamp eel Mb showed a biphasic behavior due to the O(2) dissociation and the heme orientation disorder, with the lowest increase in both Kd(f) and Kd(s). The thermal sensitivity of swamp eel Mb was lower than those of the other Mbs for both of fast and slow reaction stages. These results suggest that the swamp eel Mb globin structure is thermally stable, which is consistent with heat-tolerant behavior of the swamp eel particularly in drought habitat.

Operational restoration of the Pen Branch bottomland hardwood and swamp wetlands - the research setting

Treesearch

Eric A. Nelson; Neil C. Dulohery; Randall K. Kolka; William H. McKee

2000-01-01

The Savannah River swamp, a 3020 ha forested wetland on the floodplain of the Savannah River, USA is located on the Department of Energy's Savannah River site (SRS) near Aiken, SC. Historically, the swamp consisted of approximately 50% bald cypress-water tupelo (Taxodium distichum-Nyssa aquatica) stands, 40% mixed bottomland hardwood stands, and...

Are You Phrog Farming or Helping to Drain the Swamp?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvey, Jerry B.

1983-01-01

The difference between phrogfessors and teachers is that phrogfessors train tadpoles in the way of the swamp (i.e., create likenesses of themselves) while teachers produce people and thereby help to drain the swamp. Phrogfessors take responsibility for what their students learn. They believe that if a student does badly, it is the phrogfessor's…

Characterizing the Status (Disturbed, Hybrid or Novel) of Swamp Forest Fragments in a Caribbean Ramsar Wetland: The Impact of Anthropogenic Degradation and Invasive Plant Species.

PubMed

Prospere, Kurt; McLaren, Kurt P; Wilson, Byron

2016-10-01

The last remaining Amazonian-type swamp forest fragments in Black River Lower Morass, Jamaica, have been subjected to a myriad of anthropogenic disturbances, compounded by the establishment and spread of several invasive plant species. We established 44 permanent sample plots (covering 3.92 ha) across 10 of these swamp forest fragments and sampled all non-woody plants and all trees ≥2 cm DBH found in the plots. These data were used to (1) identify thresholds of hybridity and novelty, (2) derive several diversity and structural descriptors used to characterize the swamp forest fragments and (3) identify possible indicators of anthropogenic degradation. These were incorporated into a framework and used to determine the status of the swamp forest fragments so that appropriate management and conservation measures can be implemented. We recorded 43 woody plant species (9 endemic, 28 native and 4 non-native) and 21 non-tree species. The composition and structure of all the patches differed significantly due to the impact of the herbaceous invasive plant Alpinia allughas, the presence and diversity of other non-native plants, and differing intensities of anthropogenic disturbance (e.g., burning, cutting and harvesting of non-timber forest products). We ranked forest patches along a continuum representing deviations from a historical proxy (least disturbed) swamp forest to those with dramatically altered structural and floristic attributes (=novel swamp forests). Only one fragment overrun with A. allughas was classified as novel. If effective conservation and management does not come to the BRLM, the remaining swamp forest fragments appear doomed to further degradation and will soon disappear altogether.

Characterizing the Status (Disturbed, Hybrid or Novel) of Swamp Forest Fragments in a Caribbean Ramsar Wetland: The Impact of Anthropogenic Degradation and Invasive Plant Species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prospere, Kurt; McLaren, Kurt P.; Wilson, Byron

2016-10-01

The last remaining Amazonian-type swamp forest fragments in Black River Lower Morass, Jamaica, have been subjected to a myriad of anthropogenic disturbances, compounded by the establishment and spread of several invasive plant species. We established 44 permanent sample plots (covering 3.92 ha) across 10 of these swamp forest fragments and sampled all non-woody plants and all trees ≥2 cm DBH found in the plots. These data were used to (1) identify thresholds of hybridity and novelty, (2) derive several diversity and structural descriptors used to characterize the swamp forest fragments and (3) identify possible indicators of anthropogenic degradation. These were incorporated into a framework and used to determine the status of the swamp forest fragments so that appropriate management and conservation measures can be implemented. We recorded 43 woody plant species (9 endemic, 28 native and 4 non-native) and 21 non-tree species. The composition and structure of all the patches differed significantly due to the impact of the herbaceous invasive plant Alpinia allughas, the presence and diversity of other non-native plants, and differing intensities of anthropogenic disturbance (e.g., burning, cutting and harvesting of non-timber forest products). We ranked forest patches along a continuum representing deviations from a historical proxy (least disturbed) swamp forest to those with dramatically altered structural and floristic attributes (=novel swamp forests). Only one fragment overrun with A. allughas was classified as novel. If effective conservation and management does not come to the BRLM, the remaining swamp forest fragments appear doomed to further degradation and will soon disappear altogether.

Microbial Populations in Two Swamp Soils of South Carolina

Treesearch

David S. Priester; William R. Harms

1971-01-01

Microbial populations were counted in agar-plated samples of two swamp soils collected in summer and winter. Number of aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms differed significantly among the soils and between seasons. Alluvial soil from the river swamp was high in organic matter, N, K, Ca, and pH and averaged 88 million microorganisms per gram over the growing season....

Reproduction on cut-over swamplands in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Treesearch

Z.A. Zasada

1952-01-01

The 1 ¼ million acres of coniferous swamp forest in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan are important to industry, game management and water conservation. Because there was little knowledge on handling this type, foresters in 1950 began a program of research in swamp forest management. The first project was a survey of recent swamp cuttings. The survey shows that...

Long- and short-term flooding effects on survival and sink-source relationships of swamp-adapted tree species

Treesearch

M.N. Angelov; Shi-Jean S. Sung; R.L. Doong; W.R. Harms; Paul P. Kormanik; C.C. Black

1995-01-01

About 95% of swamp tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica var. biflora (Walt.) Sarg.) And sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua L.) seedlings survived continuous root flooding for more than two years, whereas none of the swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii Nutt.) And cherrybark oak (Q. falcata var. pagodifolia Ell.) Seedlings survived one year of flooding.Flooding caused increases in...

Wetlands as principal zones of methylmercury production in southern Louisiana and the Gulf of Mexico region

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hall, B.D.; Aiken, G.R.; Krabbenhoft, D.P.; Marvin-DiPasquale, M.; Swarzenski, C.M.

2008-01-01

It is widely recognized that wetlands, especially those rich in organic matter and receiving appreciable atmospheric mercury (Hg) inputs, are important sites of methylmercury (MeHg) production. Extensive wetlands in the southeastern United States have many ecosystem attributes ideal for promoting high MeHg production rates; however, relatively few mercury cycling studies have been conducted in these environments. We conducted a landscape scale study examining Hg cycling in coastal Louisiana (USA) including four field trips conducted between August 2003 and May 2005. Sites were chosen to represent different ecosystem types, including: a large shallow eutrophic estuarine lake (Lake Pontchartrain), three rivers draining into the lake, a cypress-tupelo dominated freshwater swamp, and six emergent marshes ranging from a freshwater marsh dominated by Panicum hemitomon to a Spartina alterniflora dominated salt marsh close to the Gulf of Mexico. We measured MeHg and total Hg (THg) concentrations, and ancillary chemical characteristics, in whole and filtered surface water, and filtered porewater. Overall, MeHg concentrations were greatest in surface water of freshwater wetlands and lowest in the profundal (non-vegetated) regions of the lake and river mainstems. Concentrations of THg and MeHg in filtered surface water were positively correlated with the highly reactive, aromatic (hydrophobic organic acid) fraction of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). These results suggest that DOC plays an important role in promoting the mobility, transport and bioavailability of inorganic Hg in these environments. Further, elevated porewater concentrations in marine and brackish wetlands suggest coastal wetlands along the Gulf Coast are key sites for MeHg production and may be a principal source of MeHg to foodwebs in the Gulf of Mexico. Examining the relationships among MeHg, THg, and DOC across these multiple landscape types is a first step in evaluating possible links between key zones for Hg(II)-methylation and the bioaccumulation of mercury in the biota inhabiting the Gulf of Mexico region. ?? 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Performance measures for a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krauss, Ken W.; Shaffer, Gary P.; Keim, Richard F.; Chambers, Jim L.; Wood, William B.; Hartley, Stephen B.

2017-06-09

The use of freshwater diversions (river reintroductions) from the Mississippi River as a restoration tool to rehabilitate Louisiana coastal wetlands has been promoted widely since the first such diversion at Caernarvon became operational in the early 1990s. To date, aside from the Bonnet Carré Spillway (which is designed and operated for flood control), there are only four operational Mississippi River freshwater diversions (two gated structures and two siphons) in coastal Louisiana, and they all target salinity intrusion, shellfish management, and (or) the enhancement of the integrity of marsh habitat. River reintroductions carry small sediment loads for various design reasons, but they can be effective in delivering fresh­water to combat saltwater intrusion and increase the delivery of nutrients and suspended fine-grained sediments to receiving wetlands. River reintroductions may be an ideal restoration tool for targeting coastal swamp forest habitat; much of the area of swamp forest habitat in coastal Louisiana is undergo­ing saltwater intrusion, high rates of submergence, and lack of riverine flow leading to reduced concentrations of important nutrients and suspended sediments, which sustain growth and regeneration, help to aerate swamp soils, and remove toxic compounds from the rhizosphere.The State of Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restora­tion Authority (CPRA) has made it a priority to establish a small freshwater river diversion into a coastal swamp forest located between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, Louisiana, to reintroduce Mississippi River water to Maurepas Swamp. While a full understanding of how a coastal swamp forest will respond to new freshwater loading through a Mississippi River reintroduction is unknown, this report provides guidance based on the available literature for establishing performance measures that can be used for evaluating the effectiveness of a Mississippi River reintroduction into the forested wetlands of Maurepas Swamp (project PO-29 of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection and Restoration Act) and aid in adaptive management of the project. PO-29 is a small river reintroduction in scope, and through its operation, it will provide information about the feasibility and reasonable expectations for future river reintroduction projects targeting coastal swamp forests in Louisiana.Located near Garyville, Louisiana, the Mississippi River reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp project is being designed to deliver a maximum flow of 57 cubic meters per second (m3/s) (or about 2,000 cubic feet per second [ft3/s]) directly from the river, but with a maximum flow through the outflow channel of 42 m3/s (or 1,500 ft3/s) available for at least half of the year. The river reintroduction will divert Mississippi River water through channelized flow and surface water to impact approximately 16,583 hectares (ha) of wetland habitat, much of which is swamp forest and swamp forest transitioning into marsh habitat. The Mississippi River reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp and associated outfall management features collectively should facilitate connectivity of water between the Mississippi River and the entire project area.At any given location, hydrologic connectivity should occur at intervals between twice yearly and once per decade, and hydrologic management must allow the potential for water drawdowns to foster tree regeneration every 3–13 years. The river reintroduction is also anticipated to maintain salinity in swamp forests dominated by Taxodium distichum (baldcypress) to less than 1.3 practical salinity units (psu) and maintain salinity in mixed baldcypress and Nyssa aquatica (water tupelo) swamp forests to less than 0.8 psu. The river reintroduction should promote soil surface elevation gains of 8–9 millimeters per year (mm/yr) (range, 4.9–12.1 mm/yr) to offset relative sea-level rise and keep total river water nitrate (NO3-) loading into Maurepas Swamp to about 11.25 grams (g) of nitrogen (N) per square meter per year (m-2 yr-1 ) (range, 7.1–15.4 g N m-2 yr-1) to promote near complete uptake of NO3- by the vegetation in the receiving wetlands and reduce impacts to water quality in adjacent and connected water ways (for example, Blind River) and Lake Maurepas. With these performance measures maintained over time, we further expect swamp forest stands to realize improvements in stand density index of as much as 30–45 percent of maximum values for the stand type while maintaining an overstory leaf area index of 2.0–2.9 square meters per square meter or higher as swamp forests recover from decades of low flow, saltwater intrusion, reduced nutrients, and surface elevation deficits associated with isolation from the Mississippi River.Associated with these performance measures are two major uncertainties: (1) an assumption that we can rely on existing data, literature, and modeling from coastal swamp forests to establish these performance measures and (2) an unknown time frame for evaluating these performance mea­sures. Some performance measures can be assessed quickly, such as those associated with hydrology and nutrient uptake. Some performance measures, such as changes in soil surface elevation and forest structural integrity, could take longer to assess. Once performance measures are assessed across dif­ferent time scales, however, adjustments to operations of the Mississippi River reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp can be swift. The proposed performance measures are ideal targets, mostly without specific consideration of practical, operational constraints. The measures are intended to be the basis by which adaptive management of the diversion structures can be evaluated. The measures are defined without regard to current conditions so that project success can be evaluated on net outcomes rather than specific change from existing condi­tions. We expect that the Mississippi River reintroduction into Maurepas Swamp will slow degradation and extend the life of the swamp for decades to centuries.

Sediment facies, depositional environments, and distribution of phytoclasts in the recent Mahakam River delta, Kalimantan, Indonesia

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gastaldo, R.A.; Huc, A.Y.

1992-12-01

The Mahakam River delta is a tide- and wave-dominated delta located on the edge of the Kutei basin, eastern Kalimantan, Borneo. It is a coastal deltaic sequence, Neogene to Holocene in age, from which all recoverable hydrocarbons (crude oil and natural gas) are considered to be derived from kerogen III predecessors. However, a complete understanding of the types of sediments sourcing the hydrocarbons has not yet been achieved. A vibracoring program sampled the principal fine-grained depositional environments in two transects; one within the fluvially-dominated regime, one within the tidally-dominated regime. Ten sedimentary facies are distinguished and phytoclasts have been recoveredmore » from all environments of deposition. Canopy parts from the mixed tropical forest community are preserved throughout the delta, whereas dicotyledonous angiosperm mangroves are restricted to the subtidal zone and delta front. Nypa parts are preserved in most depositional environments. In sites where there appears to be an absence of macrodetritus, dispersed cuticle is recoverable. Identifiable plant parts include wood and fibrous tissues, Nypa petioles and leaf laminae, dicotyledonous angiosperm leaves and isolated cuticles, fruits and seeds, roots and rootlets, and moss. Dammar is found either as dispersed resin ducts or amorphous clasts. Additional biotic components found in bedded plant litters include insects, gastropods, bivalves, sand dollars, ostracods, and crabs. Fluvial channels and depositional sites associated with these systems in the delta front can be differentiated from Nypa swamps and mixed tropical hardwood-palm swamps based on their phytological components and accessory biotic elements. 39 refs., 10 figs., 3 tabs.« less

Long-term disturbance dynamics and resilience of tropical peat swamp forests

PubMed Central

Cole, Lydia E S; Bhagwat, Shonil A; Willis, Katherine J

2015-01-01

1. The coastal peat swamp forests of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, are undergoing rapid conversion, predominantly into oil palm plantations. This wetland ecosystem is assumed to have experienced insignificant disturbance in the past, persisting under a single ecologically-stable regime. However, there is limited knowledge of the past disturbance regime, long-term functioning and fundamentally the resilience of this ecosystem to changing natural and anthropogenic perturbations through time. 2. In this study, long-term ecological data sets from three degraded peatlands in Sarawak were collected to shed light on peat swamp forest dynamics. Fossil pollen and charcoal were counted in each sedimentary sequence to reconstruct vegetation and investigate responses to past environmental disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic. 3. Results demonstrate that peat swamp forest taxa have dominated these vegetation profiles throughout the last c. 2000-year period despite the presence of various drivers of disturbance. Evidence for episodes of climatic variability, predominantly linked to ENSO events, and wildfires is present throughout. However, in the last c. 500 years, burning and indicators of human disturbance have elevated beyond past levels at these sites, concurrent with a reduction in peat swamp forest pollen. 4. Two key insights have been gained through this palaeoecological analysis: (i) peat swamp forest vegetation has demonstrated resilience to disturbance caused by burning and climatic variability in Sarawak in the late Holocene, however (ii) coincident with increased fire combined with human impact c. 500 years ago, these communities started to decline. 5. Synthesis. Sarawak's coastal peat swamps have demonstrated resilience to past natural disturbances, with forest vegetation persisting through episodes of fire and climatic variability. However, palaeoecological data presented here suggest that recent, anthropogenic disturbances are of a greater magnitude, causing the observed decline in the peat swamp forest communities in the last c. 500 years and challenging the ecosystem's persistence. This study greatly extends our knowledge of the ecological functioning of these understudied ecosystems, providing baseline information on the past vegetation and its response to disturbance. This understanding is central to developing management strategies that foster resilience in the remaining peat swamp forests and ensure continued provision of services, namely carbon storage, from this globally important ecosystem. PMID:26120202

Long-term disturbance dynamics and resilience of tropical peat swamp forests.

PubMed

Cole, Lydia E S; Bhagwat, Shonil A; Willis, Katherine J

2015-01-01

1. The coastal peat swamp forests of Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, are undergoing rapid conversion, predominantly into oil palm plantations. This wetland ecosystem is assumed to have experienced insignificant disturbance in the past, persisting under a single ecologically-stable regime. However, there is limited knowledge of the past disturbance regime, long-term functioning and fundamentally the resilience of this ecosystem to changing natural and anthropogenic perturbations through time. 2. In this study, long-term ecological data sets from three degraded peatlands in Sarawak were collected to shed light on peat swamp forest dynamics. Fossil pollen and charcoal were counted in each sedimentary sequence to reconstruct vegetation and investigate responses to past environmental disturbance, both natural and anthropogenic. 3. Results demonstrate that peat swamp forest taxa have dominated these vegetation profiles throughout the last c . 2000-year period despite the presence of various drivers of disturbance. Evidence for episodes of climatic variability, predominantly linked to ENSO events, and wildfires is present throughout. However, in the last c . 500 years, burning and indicators of human disturbance have elevated beyond past levels at these sites, concurrent with a reduction in peat swamp forest pollen. 4. Two key insights have been gained through this palaeoecological analysis: (i) peat swamp forest vegetation has demonstrated resilience to disturbance caused by burning and climatic variability in Sarawak in the late Holocene, however (ii) coincident with increased fire combined with human impact c . 500 years ago, these communities started to decline. 5. Synthesis . Sarawak's coastal peat swamps have demonstrated resilience to past natural disturbances, with forest vegetation persisting through episodes of fire and climatic variability. However, palaeoecological data presented here suggest that recent, anthropogenic disturbances are of a greater magnitude, causing the observed decline in the peat swamp forest communities in the last c . 500 years and challenging the ecosystem's persistence. This study greatly extends our knowledge of the ecological functioning of these understudied ecosystems, providing baseline information on the past vegetation and its response to disturbance. This understanding is central to developing management strategies that foster resilience in the remaining peat swamp forests and ensure continued provision of services, namely carbon storage, from this globally important ecosystem.

Characterization and detection of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula (Diptera: Culicidae) larval habitats in Belize with field survey and SPOT satellite imagery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rejmankova, E.; Pope, K. O.; Roberts, D. R.; Lege, M. G.; Andre, R.; Greico, J.; Alonzo, Y.

1998-01-01

Surveys of larval habitats of Anopheles vestitipennis and Anopheles punctimacula were conducted in Belize, Central America. Habitat analysis and classification resulted in delineation of eight habitat types defined by dominant life forms and hydrology. Percent cover of tall dense macrophytes, shrubs, open water, and pH were significantly different between sites with and without An. vestitipennis. For An. punctimacula, percent cover of tall dense macrophytes, trees, detritus, open water, and water depth were significantly different between larvae positive and negative sites. The discriminant function for An. vestitipennis correctly predicted the presence of larvae in 65% of sites and correctly predicted the absence of larvae in 88% of sites. The discriminant function for An. punctimacula correctly predicted 81% of sites for the presence of larvae and 45% for the absence of larvae. Canonical discriminant analysis of the three groups of habitats (An. vestitipennis positive; An. punctimacula positive; all negative) confirmed that while larval habitats of An. punctimacula are clustered in the tree dominated area, larval habitats of An. vestitipennis were found in both tree dominated and tall dense macrophyte dominated environments. The forest larval habitats of An. vestitipennis and An. punctimacula seem to be randomly distributed among different forest types. Both species tend to occur in denser forests with more detritus, shallower water, and slightly higher pH. Classification of dry season (February) SPOT multispectral satellite imagery produced 10 land cover types with the swamp forest and tall dense marsh classes being of particular interest. The accuracy assessment showed that commission errors for the tall, dense marsh and swamp forest appeared to be minor; but omission errors were significant, especially for the swamp forest (perhaps because no swamp forests are flooded in February). This means that where the classification indicates there are An. vestitipennis breeding sites, they probably do exist; but breeding sites in many locations are not identified and could be more abundant than indicated.

Assessing Niger-Delta Wetland Resources: A Case-Study of Mangrove Ecosystem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anwan, R. H.; Ndimele, P. E.; Whenu, O. O.; Anetekhai, M. A.; Essien-Ibok, M. A.; Erondu, E. S.

2016-02-01

The Niger Delta is located in the Atlantic coast of Southern Nigeria and is the world's second largest delta with a coastline of about 450km. The Niger Delta region occupies a surface area of about 112,110km2, representing about 12% of Nigeria's total surface area. The Delta's environment can be broken down into four ecological zones: coastal barrier islands, mangrove swamp forests, freshwater swamps, and lowland rainforests. The mangrove swamps of Niger Delta, which is the largest delta in Africa constitute the dominant wetland ecosystem in the Niger Delta region and covers an area of about 1,900km2. Mangroves constitute important nurseries for fishes, crustaceans, sponges, algae and other invertebrates, and also acts as a sink, retaining pollutants from contaminated tidal water. The Niger Delta mangrove together with the creeks and rivers are a major source of food and livelihood for about 30 million people, which represents more than 17% of Nigeria's population. Other ecosystem services provided by this unique environment are flood control, ground water re-fill, reservoir of biodiversity, fuel wood, cultural values etc. This ecosystem also plays important role in climate change mitigation because of its high blue carbon sequestration potential. This is particularly important because of continuous gas flaring in Niger Delta from petroleum operations, which releases carbon dioxide among other gases into the atmosphere. This wetland is potentially a good site for ecotourism and also qualifies to be a world heritage site and Ramsar site if proper steps are taken. The benefits derivable from this fragile ecosystem are under severe threat by anthropogenic stressors. These include the installation of pipelines and seismic exploration by oil companies, crude oil pollution, deforestation, urbanization etc. This paper discusses the extent of depletion and loss of mangrove ecosystem in the Niger Delta region and the value of its goods and services.

Application of satellite data and LARS's data processing techniques to mapping vegetation of the Dismal Swamp. M.S. Thesis - Old Dominion Univ.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Messmore, J. A.

1976-01-01

The feasibility of using digital satellite imagery and automatic data processing techniques as a means of mapping swamp forest vegetation was considered, using multispectral scanner data acquired by the LANDSAT-1 satellite. The site for this investigation was the Dismal Swamp, a 210,000 acre swamp forest located south of Suffolk, Va. on the Virginia-North Carolina border. Two basic classification strategies were employed. The initial classification utilized unsupervised techniques which produced a map of the swamp indicating the distribution of thirteen forest spectral classes. These classes were later combined into three informational categories: Atlantic white cedar (Chamaecyparis thyoides), Loblolly pine (Pinus taeda), and deciduous forest. The subsequent classification employed supervised techniques which mapped Atlantic white cedar, Loblolly pine, deciduous forest, water and agriculture within the study site. A classification accuracy of 82.5% was produced by unsupervised techniques compared with 89% accuracy using supervised techniques.

Identification of a testis-enriched heat shock protein and fourteen members of Hsp70 family in the swamp eel.

PubMed

He, Yan; Luo, Majing; Yi, Minhan; Sheng, Yue; Cheng, Yibin; Zhou, Rongjia; Cheng, Hanhua

2013-01-01

Gonad differentiation is one of the most important developmental events in vertebrates. Some heat shock proteins are associated with gonad development. Heat shock protein 70 (Hsp70) in the teleost fish and its roles in sex differentiation are poorly understood. We have identified a testis-enriched heat shock protein Hspa8b2 in the swamp eel using Western blot analysis and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Fourteen Hsp70 family genes were further identified in this species based on transcriptome information. The phylogenetic tree of Hsp70 family was constructed using the Maximum Likelihood method and their expression patterns in the swamp eel gonads were analyzed by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). There are fourteen gene members in the Hsp70 family in the swamp eel genome. Hsp70 family, particularly Hspa8, has expanded in the species. One of the family members Hspa8b2 is predominantly expressed in testis of the swamp eel.

Influence of Soil Type and Drainage on Growth of Swamp Chestnut Oak (Quercus Michauxii Nutt.) Seedlings

Treesearch

Donald D. Hook

1969-01-01

Swamp chestnut oak (Quercus michauxii Nutt.) seedlings were grown for 2 years in five soil types in drained and undrained pots. First-year height growth was related to soil type and pot drainage, but second-year height growth was related only to soil type. Results suggest that swamp chestnut oak is site-sensitive. But slow growth, a maximum of 2...

Lead transport into Bayou Trepagnier wetlands in Louisiana, USA.

PubMed

Devall, Margaret S; Thien, Leonard B; Ellgaard, Erik; Flowers, George

2006-01-01

Establishment of a petroleum refinery in 1916 near the headwaters of Bayou Trepagnier with subsequent dredging of the bayou resulted in spoil banks containing high levels of Pb. A large swamp abuts the eastern bank of the bayou. Cores were taken from 15 baldcypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Richard] trees growing in the swamp along a 610-m transect (nine trees) and a 183-m transect (six trees) running perpendicular from the spoil bank. The cores were crossdated, annual rings were measured, and 5-yr segments of the cores were prepared and analyzed for heavy metals. Soil samples were collected along one transect and analyzed for metals. Levels of Pb in Bayou Trepagnier swamp trees were compared to levels in nine baldcypress trees growing along Stinking Bayou, a reference area. During the last 100 yr, Pb in growth rings of swamp baldcypress trees averaged 8.6 mg/kg (SD 4.88) along one transect and 7.9 mg/kg (SD 5.39) along the other. Lead in the soil along the first transect dropped from >2700 mg/kg (spoil bank) to 10 mg/kg at 420 m into the swamp. Baldcypress trees growing near the refinery on the spoil bank along Bayou Trepagnier (covered in an earlier study) averaged 4.5 mg/kg Pb, and trees along Stinking Bayou averaged 2.1 mg/kg. Trees in the swamp soil with 10 to 425 mg/kg Pb concentrated much more Pb than trees growing on the heavily polluted bank. Greater uptake of Pb by trees in the swamp is discussed in terms of soil dynamics and Pb sources.

Development of a Testate Amoebae Calibration Dataset from a freshwater wetland in a semi-arid environment: Loboi Swamp, Kenya, East Africa.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goman, M. F.; Ashley, G. M.; Hover, V. C.; Muasya, A. M.

2005-12-01

The East African Rift Valley is characterized as an arid to semi-arid region, with several large, well studied, alkaline lakes; within the region, freshwater wetlands persist. These wetland systems, locally are important sources of freshwater. They also provide overlooked important paleoclimate archives, as the fragile ecology of these wetlands can be affected by even minor changes in hydrology and climate. Loboi Swamp is a 1.5 km2 freshwater wetland located near the equator in the Kenyan Rift Valley. The region receives approximately 700 mm of precipitation per year, while potential evaporation exceeds 2500 mm annually. Analysis of 25-years of precipitation data from local weather stations indicate that significant positive precipitation anomalies occur during El Niño years. Radiocarbon, pollen, and diatom data from Loboi Swamp indicates that the current wetland developed approximately 700 years ago. Sediment surface samples were collected for pollen, seeds and testate amoebae, along with water chemistry and vegetation data from throughout the Loboi Marsh. In this paper we present preliminary data and results in the development of a calibration dataset to test the feasibility of using testate amoebae as a proxy for hydrological and geochemical changes in a semi-arid setting. Initial results indicate significant qualitative differences in testate amoebae taxon distribution within geographic regions of the marsh, which likely correlate with a variety of hydrologic parameters (e.g., alkalinity, PH, DO, and temperature).

Developing ecologically based PCB, pesticide, and metal remedial goals for an impacted northeast wooded swamp

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Rury, P.M.; Turton, D.J.

Historically, remedial goals at hazardous waste sites have been developed based on human health risk estimates. As the disciplines of remedial investigation, risk assessment, and remedial design have evolved, there has been a shift toward the development of remedial goals that are protective of both human health and the environment. This has increased the need for sound quantitative ecological risk methodologies from which to derive ecologically protective remedial goals. The foundation of many ecological risk assessment models is the bioconcentration or bioaccumulation factor that estimates the partitioning of the compound of concern between the media (e.g., water, soil, or food)more » and the organism. Simple dietary food-chain models are then used to estimate the dose and resulting risk to higher trophic levels. For a Superfund site that encompassed a northeastern wooded swamp, a PCB pesticide and metal uptake and toxicity study was conducted on the earthworm commonly known as the red wiggler (Eisenea foetida). The study resulted in site-specific sediment to earthworm bioconcentration factors for PCBs and a range of pesticides and metals. In addition, largemouth bass and yellow perch were collected from an impacted pond to identify PCB and pesticide concentrations in mink (Mustela vison) prey. Utilizing the empirical data and site-specific bioconcentration factors in food-chain models, potential risks to the American woodcock (Scolopax minor) and mink were assessed, and ecologically protective PCB, pesticide, and metal remedial goals for the sediments of the wooded swamp were developed.« less

Mangrove Swamps

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Mangrove swamps are coastal wetlands found in tropical and subtropical regions. They are characterized by halophytic (salt loving) trees, shrubs and other plants growing in brackish to saline tidal waters.

Seasonal Habitat Distribution Of Swamp Rabbits, White-Tailed Deer, and Small Mammals in Old Growth and Managed Bottomland Hardwood Forests

Treesearch

Winston P. Smith; Patrick A. Zollner

2001-01-01

We studied swamp rabbits, white-tailed deer, and small mammals in an old-growth and adjacent second-growth and young-growth bottomland hardwood forest stands in southern Arkansas, August 1991 – February 1993. Based on average home range size and degree of overlap, minimum and maximum density estimates of swamp rabbits were 31 per km2 (no overlap)...

Automatic categorization of land-water cover types of the Green Swamp, Florida, using Skylab multispectral scanner (S-192) data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Coker, A. E.; Higer, A. L.; Rogers, R. H.; Shah, N. J.; Reed, L. E.; Walker, S.

1975-01-01

The techniques used and the results achieved in the successful application of Skylab Multispectral Scanner (EREP S-192) high-density digital tape data for the automatic categorizing and mapping of land-water cover types in the Green Swamp of Florida were summarized. Data was provided from Skylab pass number 10 on 13 June 1973. Significant results achieved included the automatic mapping of a nine-category and a three-category land-water cover map of the Green Swamp. The land-water cover map was used to make interpretations of a hydrologic condition in the Green Swamp. This type of use marks a significant breakthrough in the processing and utilization of EREP S-192 data.

A multiproxy environmental investigation of Holocene wood from a submerged conifer forest in Lake Huron, USA

Treesearch

R. Douglas Hunter; Irina P. Panyushkina; Steven W. Leavitt; Alex C. Wiedenhoeft; John Zawiskie

2006-01-01

Remains of a Holocene drowned forest in southern Lake Huron discovered in 12.5 m of water (164 m above sea level), 4.5 km east of Lexington, Michigan USA (Sanilac site), provided wood to investigate environment and lake history using several proxies. Macrofossil evidence indicates a forest comprised primarily of conifers equivalent to the modern “rich conifer swamp”...

Archeological Survey of Undeveloped Portions of Eaker Air Force Base, Mississippi County, Arkansas

DTIC Science & Technology

1991-01-25

successional stage plant communities. Research using soils and plant communities to model prehistoric occupation in northeast Arkansas (Dekin et al. 1978; Morse...major floods) since they were laid down. Levee/Swamp Ecotone This modeled macrobiotic community is what Lewis (1974:24-25) has called the Sweetgum-Elm...this modeled stratum are the different environments that were under water prior to drainage, as defined by the soils deposited in slackwater conditions

Lower Mississippi River Environmental Program. Report 3. Bird and Mammal Use of Main Stem Levee Borrow Pits Along the Lower Mississippi River.

DTIC Science & Technology

1986-02-01

overcup oak, tupelo gum, Nuttall oak, American elm , slippery elm , i , hickories, persimmon, silver maple, deciduous holly, swamp privet, and rose mallows...cottonwood, green ash, sugarberry, box elder, deciduous holly, osage orange, swamp privet, hickories, overcup oak, water locust, honey locust, slippery elm ...wood, box elder, osage orange, hickories, honey locust, water locust, slippery elm , swamp privet, sugarberry, persimmon, and rose mallows. Where

Comparing Avocado, Swamp Bay, and Camphortree as Hosts of Raffaelea lauricola Using a Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP)-Labeled Strain of the Pathogen.

PubMed

Campbell, A S; Ploetz, R C; Rollins, J A

2017-01-01

Raffaelea lauricola, a fungal symbiont of the ambrosia beetle Xyleborus glabratus, causes laurel wilt in members of the Lauraceae plant family. North American species in the family, such as avocado (Persea americana) and swamp bay (P. palustris), are particularly susceptible to laurel wilt, whereas the Asian camphortree (Cinnamomum camphora) is relatively tolerant. To determine whether susceptibility is related to pathogen colonization, a green fluorescent protein-labeled strain of R. lauricola was generated and used to inoculate avocado, swamp bay, and camphortree. Trees were harvested 3, 10, and 30 days after inoculation (DAI), and disease severity was rated on a 1-to-10 scale. By 30 DAI, avocado and swamp bay developed significantly more severe disease than camphortree (mean severities of 6.8 and 5.5 versus 1.6, P < 0.003). The extent of xylem colonization was recorded as the percentage of lumena that were colonized by the pathogen. More xylem was colonized in avocado than camphortree (0.9% versus 0.1%, P < 0.03) but colonization in swamp bay (0.4%) did not differ significantly from either host. Although there were significant correlations between xylem colonization and laurel wilt severity in avocado (r = 0.74), swamp bay (r = 0.82), and camphortree (r = 0.87), even severely affected trees of all species were scarcely colonized by the pathogen.

Brief communication: Artificial cranial modification in Kow Swamp and Cohuna.

PubMed

Durband, Arthur C

2014-09-01

The crania from Kow Swamp and Cohuna have been important for a number of debates in Australian paleoanthropology. These crania typically have long, flat foreheads that many workers have cited as evidence of genetic continuity with archaic Indonesian populations, particularly the Ngandong sample. Other scientists have alleged that at least some of the crania from Kow Swamp and the Cohuna skull have been altered through artificial modification, and that the flat foreheads possessed by these individuals are not phylogenetically informative. In this study, several Kow Swamp crania and Cohuna are compared to known modified and unmodified comparative samples. Canonical variates analyses and Mahalanobis distances are generated, and random expectation statistics are used to calculate statistical significance for these tests. The results of this study agree with prior work indicating that a portion of this sample shows evidence for artificial modification of the cranial vault. Many Kow Swamp crania and Cohuna display shape similarities with a population of known modified individuals from New Britain. Kow Swamp 1, 5, and Cohuna show the strongest evidence for modification, but other individuals from this sample also show evidence of culturally manipulated changes in cranial shape. This project provides added support for the argument that at least some Pleistocene Australian groups were practicing artificial cranial modification, and suggests that caution should be used when including these individuals in phylogenetic studies. Copyright © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Genetic characteristic of swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) from Pampangan, South Sumatra based on blood protein profile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Windusari, Yuanita; Hanum, Laila; Wahyudi, Rizki

2017-11-01

Swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) is an endemic species and one of the genetic wealth of South Sumatra with a distribution area in the district of Pampangan (OganIlir and OganOganIlir). Suspected inbreeding causes decreased phenotypic properties. Inbreeding among various swamp buffalo is certainly not only lower the qualities but also genotypes and phenotypes. It is of interest to determine kinship variants swamp buffaloes from Pampangan through the analysis of a blood protein profile. Blood protein profile of four variants swamps buffalo was studied by using five electrophoresis system i.e. pre-albumin (Palb), albumin (Alb), ceruloplasmin (Cp), transferrin (Tf) and transferrin post (Ptf). In this paper, it is obtained that there was no significant differences among the four variants of the buffaloes were used as a sample. Prealbumin has two alleles (Palb1 and Palb2), albumin has three alleles (Alba, AlbB, AlbC), ceruloplasmin has one allele (BPA), post-transferrin has one allele (PTFA) with an allele frequency 1.0000 at any time transferrin has two alleles (TFA and TFB) with the allele frequency of 0.7500 and 1.0000. Characteristics prealbumin (Palb), albumin (Alb), ceruloplasmin (Cp), and post-transferrin (P-tf) is monomorphic, while transferrin is polymorphic average heterozygosity values all loci (H) 0.1286. Based on average heterozygosity, the swamp buffalo (Bubalusbubalis) from Pampangan has low genetic variation and closest genetic relationship.

Use of sediment amendments to rehabilitate sinking coastal swamp forests in Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, Beth A.; Jiang, Ming

2013-01-01

Coastal wetlands are losing elevation worldwide, so that techniques to increase elevation such as sediment amendment might benefit these wetlands. This study examined the potential of sediment amendment to raise elevation and support the production and regeneration of vegetation in coastal forests in Louisiana. Before sediment amendment, the vegetation did not differ in these Taxodium distichum–Nyssa aquatica forests with respect to herbaceous and tree seedling composition, and sapling and tree characteristics. After the application of sediment in January 2007, sediment-amended swamps had higher elevations and salinity levels than natural swamps. The layer of sediment applied to Treasure Island in Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve was relatively deep (sediment depth at Site One and Site Two: 0.89 and 0.69 m, respectively, six months after application), and may have exceeded an optimal threshold. Sediment-amended swamp with the highest elevation had some tree mortality and little tree growth of T. distichum. Also, sediment-amended swamp had higher root biomasses of ruderal species, and lower species richness and cover of herbaceous species. Nevertheless, during controlled water releases during an oil spill emergency in 2010, both sediment-amended and reference forest had higher production levels than in other years. While sediment amendment is a compelling management alternative for sinking coastal wetlands, optimal thresholds were not determined for these T. distichum–N. aquatica swamps.

Rich soil carbon and nitrogen but low atmospheric greenhouse gas fluxes from North Sulawesi mangrove swamps in Indonesia.

PubMed

Chen, Guang C; Ulumuddin, Yaya I; Pramudji, Sastro; Chen, Shun Y; Chen, Bin; Ye, Yong; Ou, Dan Y; Ma, Zhi Y; Huang, Hao; Wang, Jing K

2014-07-15

The soil to atmosphere fluxes of greenhouse gases N2O, CH4 and CO2 and their relationships with soil characteristics were investigated in three tropical oceanic mangrove swamps (Teremaal, Likupang and Kema) in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. Mangrove soils in North Sulawesi were rich in organic carbon and nitrogen, but the greenhouse gas fluxes were low in these mangroves. The fluxes ranged -6.05-13.14 μmol m(-2)h(-1), -0.35-0.61 μmol m(-2)h(-1) and -1.34-3.88 mmol m(-2)h(-1) for N2O, CH4 and CO2, respectively. The differences in both N2O and CH4 fluxes among different mangrove swamps and among tidal positions in each mangrove swamp were insignificant. CO2 flux was influenced only by mangrove swamps and the value was higher in Kema mangrove. None of the measured soil parameters could explain the variation of CH4 fluxes among the sampling plots. N2O flux was negatively related to porewater salinity, while CO2 flux was negatively correlated with water content and organic carbon. This study suggested that the low gas emissions due to slow metabolisms would lead to the accumulations of organic matters in North Sulawesi mangrove swamps. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Goodbye, Viola Swamp!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bremer, Hale W.; Kuehmichel, Barbara

1979-01-01

A kindergarten teacher stimulated many language experience and dramatic activities when she came to class one day impersonating the crabby teacher Viola Swamp, from the children's story, "Miss Nelson Is Missing!" (SJL)

Testate amoebae analysis in the peat deposits of the swamp Dolgon’koye in the south of Western Siberia and peatland paleohydrology for last 3100 years

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurina, Irina V.; Blyakharchuk, Tatiana A.

2018-03-01

Our research is devoted to paleohydrological reconstruction in the swamp located in the river valley on the piedmont of the Altai Mountains in the south of Western Siberia. The reconstruction was carried out based on rhizopod analysis for the last 3100 cal yr. A large amount of different testate amoebae was found in the peat. Total 64 testate amoebae taxa were recorded in the peat core with the most abundant being: Trinema lineare, Centropyxis aculeata, C. aerophila, Euglypha rotunda, Cryptodifflugia sp. Decrease of surface wetness in the swamp are observed 2280, 2140, 1900–600 cal yr BP and increase – in 2700, 2500–1900, 230–215 cal yr BP. The results of our reconstruction of the swamp paleohydrology agrees well with the paleoclimatic data obtained earlier for the central area of the south of Western Siberia Plain. It indicates a high sensitivity of the swamp to climatic changes in the Holocene. The rhizopod analysis proved to be very effective when used for paleohydrology reconstruction in minerotrophic peat.

The distribution of ichthyoplankton in thermal and non-thermal creeks and swamps on the Savannah River Plant, February-July 1985

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Paller, M.H.; Saul, B.M.; Hughes, D.W.

1986-01-01

The report deals with the distribution of ichthyoplankton in the Savannah River tributary streams and associated swamps located on the SRP during the 1985 spawning season (February-July). The 1985 sampling program was a continuation of the 1984 program and, except for the addition of seven sampling stations and minor methodological changes, incorporated the same sampling sites and procedures. The streams under study were Upper Three Runs Creek, Beaver Dam Creek, Four Mile Creek, Pen Branch, Steel Creek, Meyer's Branch and Lower Three Runs Creek. The objectives were to determine: (1) the density, distribution and species composition of ichthyoplankton at samplemore » sites in the creeks and swamps of the SRP; (2) how ichthyoplankton in SRP creeks and swamps is distributed in relation to habitat and temperature; (3) the effects of elevated temperatures on ichthyoplankton distribution and abundance and on the time of spawning; and (4) the magnitude of yearly variations in ichthyoplankton abundance in the creeks and swamps of the SRP and the reasons for these variations.« less

Morphology and systematics of cordaites of Pennsylvanian coal swamps of Euramerica

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Costanza, S.H.

1984-01-01

Cordaites are extinct coniferophytic shrubs and trees of the Late Paleozoic. They were most prominent in tropical coal swamps existing from the Westphalian A-B boundary of Western Europe to the middle Desmoinesian (Westphalian D) of midcontinental United States. Structurally preserved coal-ball cordaites from Pennsylvanian Euramerican coals were analyzed for whole plant understanding, morphological variation, and indications of ecological tolerances. Organ assemblages for individual species were established from coals where coal balls contain single cordaitean seed species. Cordaitean organ assemblages were stratigraphically compiled, compared, and cross-correlated. Cordaitean assemblage comparisons of most known coals with coal balls confirm organ assemblages established formore » Pennsylvanioxylon, and indicate that Mesoxylon bore Mitrospermum ovules. Mesoxylon and Pennsylvanioxylon are the only coal-swamp Pennsylvanian cordaitean genera recognized herein. They are consistently different in stem xylem development, leaf and branch trace formation, in amount of cortical sclerenchyma and associated organs. Morphology of coal-swamp cordaites, especially cortical aerenchyma in Pennsylvanioxylon, indicates semi-aquatic ecological adaptation. Coal-swamp cordaitean lineages may demonstrate both gradualistic and punctuational evolutionary changes.« less

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Poppe, L.J.; Poag, C.W.

The Exxon 975--1 well, located in the southeastern part of the Georges Bank Basin, was drilled to a total depth of 4,452 m relative to the Kelly Bushing. The oldest sediments penetrated by the well are Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Early Bathonian), but unambiguous seismic correlations with the COST G--1 and G--2 wells show that about 6,860 m of Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks rest on the Paleozoic basement at the 975--1 wellsite. The Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary in the well is placed at 1,673 m; the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary occurs at 384 m. Limestone is predominant below 3,966 m (Iroquois Formation), and at themore » intervals 3,810--3,246 m and 1,897--1,654 m (lower and upper tongues of the Abenaki Formation). Siliciclastics of the Mohican, undivided Mic Mac-Mohawk, Missisauga, Logan Canyon, and Dawson Canyon Formations dominate the remainder of the Mesozoic section. The Exxon 975--1 well penetrated updip, more terrestrial lithofacies than the COST G--2, Conoco 145--1, and Mobil 312--1 wells. Salt, anhydrite, dolomite, and the micritic textures of the carbonates in the Iroquois Formation of the Exxon 975--1 well suggest hypersaline restricted marine and supratidal depositional environments. The predominantly nonmarine deltaic siliciclastics of the Mohican, Misaine Shale, and Mic Mac-Mohawk units are thicker in the Exxon 975--1 well, whereas marine carbonates of the Scatarie and Bacarro Limestones are usually thinner than at the downdip (seaward) wellsites. Similarly, the Early Cretaceous Missisauga and Logan Canyon Formations represent lower delta plain (alluvial and swamp) and delta front (beach, bar, and lagoon) facies at the Exxon 975--1 wellsite, whereas correlative downdip facies represent shallow marine to delta front deposition.« less

Throughfall and stemflow dynamics in a riparian cedar swamp: possible ecohydrological feedbacks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duval, T. P.

2012-12-01

Partitioning of rainfall through forest canopies as throughfall and stemflow have deservedly been the subject of much research in the past; however, very little is known about the fluxes of water and solutes through forested wetland communities. Temperate swamps are characterized by intermittent canopy coverage, with areas that are denser than upland forests of similar species, but also contain canopy gaps of meadow and marsh communities,. Understanding the role of vegetation on the distribution of precipitation in these ecosystems is necessary to effectively constrain water balance estimates and predict possible community responses to shifting climate regimes. This study examines throughfall, stemflow, and interception dynamics in a riparian cedar swamp in Alliston, Ontario, Canada over the 2012 growing season. Throughfall averaged 76 % of above-canopy rainfall; however, there were spatial-magnitude interaction variations within the swamp. For events less than 20 mm, between 17 and 75 % of the measured swamp floor received greater depth of rain than above the canopy, whereas for events greater than 20 mm only between 2 and 23 % of the sampled swamp floor received more water than the actual event. The observed spatial variability in throughfall was not related to leaf area index, suggesting remote sensing modelling efforts may not be an accurate method for quantification of wetland precipitation dynamics. Stemflow along the predominantly cedar trees averaged 5 %; therefore, net precipitation on a seasonal basis in this cedar swamp was 81 % of above canopy rainfall. Throughfall DOC and total nitrogen concentrations averaged 31 and 2.2 mg/L, respectively, with stemflow DOC and TN concentrations averaging 109 and 6.5 mg/L, respectively. These values are much higher than reported for upland forest species. In general, throughfall magnitudes increased and solute concentrations decreased with increasing distance from the existing forest boles. The delivery of high reactive-solute concentrations through stemflow and comparatively reduced throughfall water fluxes closer to the trees may represent an ecohydrological feedback to cedar maintenance in swamp ecosystems by enriching the root zone soil with nutrients and shedding water away from the roots in a system where the presence of water is viewed as a stress to optimal growth.

The Warm-Blooded Plant of the Swamps.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Camazine, Scott

1986-01-01

Describes remarkable characteristics of the skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus) which make it an interesting swamp plant to study in February and March: its warm-blooded nature, unpleasant skunky odor, and peculiar root system. (NEC)

Wetland Silvicultural Systems

Treesearch

Robert L. Johnson

1981-01-01

Many forests of the lowlands and swamps of the Midsouth are occasionally to frequently inundated. Such forests are common along the Mississippi, White, Red, Mobile, Tombigbee, and Alabama Rivers, and in coastal swamps such as the Atchafalaya Basin.

Mixing, trapping and outwelling in the Klong Ngao mangrove swamp, Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wattayakorn, Gullaya; Wolanski, Eric; Kjerfve, Björn

1990-11-01

The Klong Ngao estuary in Thailand is a 7·5-km long tidal creek facing the Andaman Sea and drains 11·5 km 2 of mangrove swamps. Physical processes in the estuary differ greatly from the wet season to the dry season. In the dry season, vertical homogeneity prevails and the swamp behaves like an evaporation pond. Salt and water are trapped upstream, longitudinal gradients result and, through tidal dispersion, nutrient outwelling may result for SiO 2, possibly NO 2 and NO 3, but not PO 4. The outflow is trapped in a coastal boundary layer. In the wet season, short-lived local floods generate a strong stratification in salinity and episodical flushing of the estuary and may make measurements of nutrient budgets inconclusive. The Klong Ngao mangrove swamp traps land-derived sediments in the wet season.

Worldwide Emerging Environmental Issues Affecting the U.S. Military. February 2010

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-02-01

claims study http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/ oceans -acidity-rate-is-soaring-claims-study-1899536.html World’s coral reefs could...GDP is linked to coastal natural resources. Already, 40% of coral reefs and 50% of mangrove swamps have been lost. Coral reefs generate an estimated...Geoscience, the current rate of ocean acidification is up to 10 times faster than 55 million years ago—the last time deep oceans were so acidic. The

Hydrologic remediation for the Deepwater Horizon incident drove ancillary primary production increase in coastal swamps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, Beth A.; Johnson, Darren; Roberts, Brian J

2015-01-01

As coastal wetlands subside worldwide, there is an urgency to understand the hydrologic drivers and dynamics of plant production and peat accretion. One incidental test of the effects of high rates of discharge on forested wetland production occurred in response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident, in which all diversions in Louisiana were operated at or near their maximum discharge level for an extended period to keep offshore oil from threatened coastal wetlands. Davis Pond Diversion was operated at six times the normal discharge levels for almost 4 months, so that Taxodium distichum swamps downstream of the diversion experienced greater inundation and lower salinity. After this remediation event in 2010, above-ground litter production increased by 2.7 times of production levels in 2007–2011. Biomass of the leaf and reproductive tissues of several species increased; wood litter was minimal and did not change during this period. Root production decreased in 2010 but subsequently returned to pre-remediation values in 2011. Both litter and root production remained high in the second growing season after hydrologic remediation. Annual tree growth (circumference increment) was not significantly altered by the remediation. The potential of freshwater pulses for regulating tidal swamp production is further supported by observations of higher T. distichum growth in lower salinity and/or pulsed environments across the U.S. Gulf Coast. Usage of freshwater pulses to manage altered estuaries deserves further consideration, particularly because the timing and duration of such pulses could influence both primary production and peat accretion.

Locomotor behavior of wild orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in disturbed peat swamp forest, Sabangau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PubMed

Manduell, Kirsten L; Morrogh-Bernard, Helen C; Thorpe, Susannah K S

2011-07-01

This study examined the locomotor behavior of wild Bornean orangutans (P. p. wurmbii) in an area of disturbed peat swamp forest (Sabangau Catchment, Indonesia) in relation to the height in the canopy, age-sex class, behavior (feeding or traveling), and the number of supports used to bear body mass. Backward elimination log-linear modeling was employed to expose the main influences on orangutan locomotion. Our results showed that the most important distinctions with regard to locomotion were between suspensory and compressive, or, orthograde (vertical trunk) and pronograde (horizontal trunk) behavior. Whether orangutans were traveling or feeding had the most important influence on locomotion whereby compressive locomotion had a strong association with feeding, suspensory locomotion had a strong association with travel in the peripheral strata using multiple supports, whereas vertical climb/descent and oscillation showed a strong association with travel on single supports in the core stratum. In contrast to theoretical predictions on positional behavior and body size, age-sex category had a limited influence on locomotion. The study revealed that torso orthograde suspension dominates orangutan locomotion, concurring with previous studies in dipterocarp forest. But, orangutans in the Sabangau exhibited substantially higher frequencies of oscillatory locomotion than observed at other sites, suggesting this behavior confers particular benefits for traversing the highly compliant arboreal environment typical of disturbed peat swamp forest. In addition, torso pronograde suspensory locomotion was observed at much lower levels than in the Sumatran species. Together these results highlight the necessity for further examination of differences between species, which control for habitat. Copyright © 2011 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Evolutionary diversity and ecology of endemic small mammals of southeastern Alaska with implications for land management planning.

Treesearch

Winston P. Smith

2005-01-01

The dynamic geological history and naturally fragmented landscapes of southeastern Alaska create an environment with a high potential for endemism. The temperate rainforest of the region regenerates and develops slowly, and old-forest characteristics do not appear until >300 years following disturbance. The challenges of managing forest resources are intensified in...

Methane production and emissions from four reclaimed and pristine wetlands of Southeastern United States

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schipper, L.A.; Reddy, K.R.

Wetlands are significant contributors to global CH[sub 4] emission. We measured CH[sub 4] emissions at two pristine wetlands [Okefenokee swamp and the Everglades (Water Conservation Area 2A)] and two reclaimed wetlands (Sunny Hill Farm and Apopka Marsh) in Southeastern USA, and we attempted to relate emissions to CH[sub 4] production rates of the soil and the soil's biological and chemical properties. Methane emissions through cattail [Typha sp.] and waterilly [Nymphaea ordorata (L.)] ranged from 0.09 to 1.7 g CH[sub 4] m[sup [minus]2] d[sup [minus]1] and exhibited high spatial and temporal variability. Diffusive flux of CH[sub 4] was calculated using dissolvedmore » CH[sub 4] profiles in the soil pore water and accounted for <5% of the plant-mediated emissions. Potential CH[sub 4] production rates were measured as a function of depth using soil samples obtained at 2-cm increments. Methane production rates were the same order of magnitude at all sites (<1-70 ng CH[sub 4]-C g[sup [minus]1] soil C d[sup [minus]1]) and were highest in the surface soils (0-6 cm) at three of the wetland sites, indicating that the predominant source of C available to methanogens was in the surface soils. Methane production rates in the top 24 cm ranged from 0.3 to 1.1 g CH[sub 4] m[sup [minus]2] d[sup [minus]1] and annual C losses due to anaerobic decomposition accounted for between 0.68 and 3.7% of the total C in the surface 24-cm soil depth. 36 refs., 3 figs., 3 tabs.« less

Potential effects of sea-level rise on coastal wetlands in southeastern Louisiana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Glick, Patty; Clough, Jonathan; Polaczyk, Amy; Couvillion, Brady R.; Nunley, Brad

2013-01-01

Coastal Louisiana wetlands contain about 37% of the estuarine herbaceous marshes in the conterminous United States. The long-term stability of coastal wetlands is often a function of a wetland's ability to maintain elevation equilibrium with mean sea level through processes such as primary production and sediment accretion. However, Louisiana has sustained more coastal wetland loss than all other states in the continental United States combined due to a combination of natural and anthropogenic factors, including sea-level rise. This study investigates the potential impact of current and accelerating sea-level rise rates on key coastal wetland habitats in southeastern Louisiana using the Sea Level Affecting Marshes Model (SLAMM). Model calibration was conducted using a 1956–2007 observation period and hindcasting results predicted 35% versus observed 39% total marsh loss. Multiple sea-level-rise scenarios were then simulated for the period of 2007–2100. Results indicate a range of potential wetland losses by 2100, from an additional 2,188.97 km2 (218,897 ha, 9% of the 2007 wetland area) under the lowest sea-level-rise scenario (0.34 m), to a potential loss of 5,875.27 km2 (587,527 ha, 24% of the 2007 wetland area) in the highest sea-level-rise scenario (1.9 m). Model results suggest that one area of particular concern is the potential vulnerability of the region's baldcypress-water tupelo (Taxodium distichum-Nyssa aquatica) swamp habitat, much of which is projected to become permanently flooded (affecting regeneration) under all modeled scenarios for sea-level rise. These findings will aid in the development of ecosystem management plans that support the processes and conditions that result in sustainable coastal ecosystems.

Organic-Carbon Sequestration in Soil/Sediment of the Mississippi River Deltaic Plain - Data; Landscape Distribution, Storage, and Inventory; Accumulation Rates; and Recent Loss, Including a Post-Katrina Preliminary Analysis (Chapter B)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Markewich, Helaine W.; Buell, Gary R.; Britsch, Louis D.; McGeehin, John P.; Robbins, John A.; Wrenn, John H.; Dillon, Douglas L.; Fries, Terry L.; Morehead, Nancy R.

2007-01-01

Soil/sediment of the Mississippi River deltaic plain (MRDP) in southeastern Louisiana is rich in organic carbon (OC). The MRDP contains about 2 percent of all OC in the surface meter of soil/sediment in the Mississippi River Basin (MRB). Environments within the MRDP differ in soil/sediment organic carbon (SOC) accumulation rate, storage, and inventory. The focus of this study was twofold: (1) develop a database for OC and bulk density for MRDP soil/sediment; and (2) estimate SOC storage, inventory, and accumulation rates for the dominant environments (brackish, intermediate, and fresh marsh; natural levee; distributary; backswamp; and swamp) in the MRDP. Comparative studies were conducted to determine which field and laboratory methods result in the most accurate and reproducible bulk-density values for each marsh environment. Sampling methods included push-core, vibracore, peat borer, and Hargis1 sampler. Bulk-density data for cores taken by the 'short push-core method' proved to be more internally consistent than data for samples collected by other methods. Laboratory methods to estimate OC concentration and inorganic-constituent concentration included mass spectrometry, coulometry, and loss-on-ignition. For the sampled MRDP environments, these methods were comparable. SOC storage was calculated for each core with adequate OC and bulk-density data. SOC inventory was calculated using core-specific data from this study and available published and unpublished pedon data linked to SSURGO2 map units. Sample age was estimated using isotopic cesium (137Cs), lead (210Pb), and carbon (14C), elemental Pb, palynomorphs, other stratigraphic markers, and written history. SOC accumulation rates were estimated for each core with adequate age data. Cesium-137 profiles for marsh soil/sediment are the least ambiguous. Levee and distributary 137Cs profiles show the effects of intermittent allochthonous input and/or sediment resuspension. Cesium-137 and 210Pb data gave the most consistent and interpretable information for age estimations of soil/sediment deposited during the 1900s. For several cores, isotopic 14C and 137Cs data allowed the 1963-64 nuclear weapons testing (NWT) peak-activity datum to be placed within a few-centimeter depth interval. In some cores, a too old 14C age (when compared to 137Cs and microstratigraphic-marker data) is the probable result of old carbon bound to clay minerals incorporated into the organic soil/sediment. Elemental Pb coupled with Pb source-function data allowed age estimation for soil/sediment that accumulated during the late 1920s through the 1980s. Exotic pollen (for example, Vigna unguiculata and Alternanthera philoxeroides) and other microstratigraphic indicators (for example, carbon spherules) allowed age estimations for marsh soil/sediment deposited during the settlement of New Orleans (1717-20) through the early 1900s. For this study, MRDP distributary and swamp environments were each represented by only one core, backswamp environment by two cores, all other environments by three or more cores. MRDP core data for the surface meter soil/sediment indicate that (1) coastal marshes, abandoned distributaries, and swamps have regional SOC-storage values >16 kg m-2; (2) swamps and abandoned distributaries have the highest SOC storage values (swamp, 44.8 kg m-2; abandoned distributary, 50.9 kg m-2); (3) fresh-to-brackish marsh environments have the second highest site-specific SOC-storage values; and (4) site-specific marsh SOC storage values decrease as the salinity of the environment increases (fresh-marsh, 36.2 kg m-2; intermediate marsh, 26.2 kg m-2; brackish marsh, 21.5 kg m-2). This inverse relation between salinity and SOC storage is opposite the regional systematic increase in SOC storage with increasing salinity that is evident when SOC storage is mapped by linking pedon data to SSURGO map units (fresh marsh, 47 kg m-2; intermediate marsh, 67 kg m-2; brackish marsh, 75 kg m-2; and salt marsh, 80 kg m-2). MRDP core data for this study also indicate that levees and backswamp have regional SOC-storage values <16 kg m-2. Group-mean SOC storage for cores from these environments are natural levee (17.0 kg m-2) and backswamp (14.1 kg m-2). An estimate for the SOC inventory in the surface meter of soil/sediment in the MRDP can be made using the SSURGO mapped portion of the coastal-marsh vegetative-type map (13,236 km2, land-only area) published by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries and U.S. Geological Survey (1997). This area has a SOC inventory (surface meter) of 677 Tg (slightly more than 2 percent of the 30,289 Tg SOC inventory for the MRB). The MRDP (6,180 km2, land-only area) has an estimated SOC inventory of 397 Tg. Most of the MRDP is located within the SSURGO mapped coastal marshlands. The entire MRDP, including water, has an area of about 10,800 km2. Using the ratio of total MRDP area to SSURGO mapped MRDP area as an adjustment, the MRDP SOC inventory is estimated at 694 Tg. This larger estimate of 694 Tg for the SOC inventory is probably more realistic, because it is reasonable to assume that the marsh sediments overlain by shallow water have comparable SOC storage to that of the adjacent land areas. MRDP core data for this study indicate that there is some variability in long-term SOC mass-accumulation rates for centuries and millennia and that this variability may indicate important geologic changes or changes in land use. However, the consistency of the range in rates of SOC accumulation through time suggests a remarkable degree of marsh sustainability throughout the Holocene, including the recent period of significant marsh modification/channelization for human use. One example of marsh sustainability is its present ability to function as a SOC sink even with Louisiana's large-scale coastal land loss during the last several decades. With coastal-marsh restoration efforts, this sink potential will increase. Looking to the future, a total of 1,101 g m-2 yr-1 SOC is projected to be lost from all of coastal Louisiana (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) subprovinces 1-4; not just the MRDP) through coastal erosion from year 2000 to 2050. This translates to a projected SOC-loss rate of about 0.20 percent per year. The recent Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, which devastated the Louisiana coast during late August and late September 2005, transformed about 259 km2 (100 mi2) of marsh to open water (U.S. Geological Survey, 2005). To the extent that some or all of this land loss is permanent, this result equates to a SOC loss of about 15 Tg. This estimate is based on the year-2000 15,153-km2 land area for the LCA study area that includes LCA subprovince 4. Using the year-2000 land area, the LCA study area had an estimated SOC inventory of 858 Tg. The estimated 15 Tg SOC loss attributable to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita is 1.7 percent of the year-2000 LCA inventory and 2.3 percent of the year-2000 MRDP inventory. If this SOC loss is included in the projection for the year 2050, then the MRDP would either remain a source with a net SOC loss of 3 Tg or become a weak sink with a net SOC gain of 4 Tg. These estimates are lower bounds for potential SOC flux because they are only for the surface meter of landmass.

Hybridization and extinction.

PubMed

Todesco, Marco; Pascual, Mariana A; Owens, Gregory L; Ostevik, Katherine L; Moyers, Brook T; Hübner, Sariel; Heredia, Sylvia M; Hahn, Min A; Caseys, Celine; Bock, Dan G; Rieseberg, Loren H

2016-08-01

Hybridization may drive rare taxa to extinction through genetic swamping, where the rare form is replaced by hybrids, or by demographic swamping, where population growth rates are reduced due to the wasteful production of maladaptive hybrids. Conversely, hybridization may rescue the viability of small, inbred populations. Understanding the factors that contribute to destructive versus constructive outcomes of hybridization is key to managing conservation concerns. Here, we survey the literature for studies of hybridization and extinction to identify the ecological, evolutionary, and genetic factors that critically affect extinction risk through hybridization. We find that while extinction risk is highly situation dependent, genetic swamping is much more frequent than demographic swamping. In addition, human involvement is associated with increased risk and high reproductive isolation with reduced risk. Although climate change is predicted to increase the risk of hybridization-induced extinction, we find little empirical support for this prediction. Similarly, theoretical and experimental studies imply that genetic rescue through hybridization may be equally or more probable than demographic swamping, but our literature survey failed to support this claim. We conclude that halting the introduction of hybridization-prone exotics and restoring mature and diverse habitats that are resistant to hybrid establishment should be management priorities.

Biology and control of swamp dodder (Cuscuta gronovii)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bewick, T.A.

1987-01-01

A simple model predicting swamp dodder (Cuscuta gronovii Willd.) emergence was developed. The model states that 0.1% of the cranberry seedlings will emerge after 150 to 170 GDD have accumulated after the winter ice has melted on the cranberry beds, using 0 C as the low temperature threshold. Experiments in cranberry showed that pronamide (3,5-dichloro-(N-1,1-dimethyl-2-propynyl)benzamide) was effective in controlling swamp dodder when applied preemergence. Rates below 2.4 kg ai/ha appeared to be safe for cranberry plants and fruit. Experiments with /sup 14/C glyphosate showed that the herbicide moved out of carrot leaves to the physiological sinks in the plant. Inmore » carrots parasitized by swamp dodder the dodder acted as one of the strongest sinks for photosynthates from the host. In cranberry glyphosate moved out of the leaves, but most remained in the stem to which the treated leaves were attached. The only physiological sinks that accumulated significant amounts of label were the stem apices. The concentration of the herbicide in this sink decreased with time. Swamp dodder stems were able to absorb glyphosate directly from solution.« less

The Productivity and Natural Increase of Swamp Buffalo in District Malang

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budiarto, A.; Ciptadi, G.

2018-02-01

The purpose of this research was to collect the basic information needed to develop a sustainable breeding program, which includes the potential for production and reproduction of buffaloes. This research was conducted on swamp buffalo in Malang Regency East Java. The research method used was survey method. Primary data was obtained from direct observation on 323 tails owned by 98 breeders. Variables observed were population growth and reproductive performance. The data obtained were analyzed descriptively. The result showed that the initial population study of swamp Buffaloes in Malang as many as 1155 with male and female ratio 1: 2. The ratios of male and female swamp Buffalo 20 percent male and 80 percent female. Overall, the buffalo reproduction performance was still low. Service per conception 2.06 ± 0.88; Anestrus Postpartum 7.46 ± 3.83 months; calving interval distance 17.82 ± 4.86 months; 20.43 % birth rate and 4.33% mortality rate of Natural Increase (NI) population was about 16,1%. In conclusion, the value of NI of swamp Buffalo in Malang Regency is still low. To increase buffalo productivity, buffalo breeding program is continuously based on reproduction control.

Georgia: Okefenokee Swamp

Atmospheric Science Data Center

2014-05-15

... the swamp ecosystem, however, and a number of key plant and animal species within the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge ecosystems are ... NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Terra spacecraft is managed ...

Changes in plant biomass and species composition of alpine Kobresia meadows along altitudinal gradient on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau.

PubMed

Wang, ChangTing; Cao, GuangMin; Wang, QiLan; Jing, ZengChun; Ding, LuMing; Long, RuiJun

2008-01-01

Alpine Kobresia meadows are major vegetation types on the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. There is growing concern over their relationships among biodiversity, productivity and environments. Despite the importance of species composition, species richness, the type of different growth forms, and plant biomass structure for Kobresia meadow ecosystems, few studies have been focused on the relationship between biomass and environmental gradient in the Kobresia meadow plant communities, particularly in relation to soil moisture and edaphic gradients. We measured the plant species composition, herbaceous litter, aboveground and belowground biomass in three Kobresia meadow plant communities in Haibei Alpine Meadow Ecosystem Research Station from 2001 to 2004. Community differences in plant species composition were reflected in biomass distribution. The total biomass showed a decrease from 13196.96+/-719.69 g/m(2) in the sedge-dominated K. tibetica swamp to 2869.58+/-147.52 g/m(2) in the forb and sedge dominated K. pygmaea meadow, and to 2153.08+/-141.95 g/m(2) in the forbs and grasses dominated K. humilis along with the increase of altitude. The vertical distribution of belowground biomass is distinct in the three meadow communities, and the belowground biomass at the depth of 0-10 cm in K. tibetica swamp meadow was significantly higher than that in K. humilis and K. pygmaea meadows (P<0.01). The herbaceous litter in K. tibetica swamp was significantly higher than those in K. pygnaeca and K. humilis meadows. The effects of plant litter are enhanced when ground water and soil moisture levels are raised. The relative importance of litter and vegetation may vary with soil water availability. In the K. tibetica swamp, total biomass was negatively correlated to species richness (P<0.05); aboveground biomass was positively correlated to soil organic matter, soil moisture, and plant cover (P<0.05); belowground biomass was positively correlated with soil moisture (P<0.05). However, in the K. pygnaeca and K. humilis meadow communities, aboveground biomass was positively correlated to soil organic matter and soil total nitrogen (P<0.05). This suggests that the distribution of biomass coincided with soil moisture and edaphic gradient in alpine meadows.

Depositional environments of the Jurassic Maghara main coal seam in north central Sinai, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Edress, Nader Ahmed Ahmed; Opluštil, Stanislav; Sýkorová, Ivana

2018-04-01

Twenty-eight channel samples with a cumulative thickness of about 4 m collected from three sections of the Maghara main coal seam in the middle Jurassic Safa Formation have been studied for their lithotype and maceral compositions to reconstruct the character of peat swamp, its hydrological regime and the predominating type of vegetation. Lithotype composition is a combination of dully lithotypes with duroclarain (19% of total cumulative thickness), clarodurain (15%), black durain (15%), and shaly coal (15%) and bright lithotypes represented by clarain (23%), vitrain (12%) and a small proportion of wild fire-generated fusain (1%). Maceral analyses revealed the dominance of vitrinite (70.6% on average), followed by liptinite (25.2%) and inertinite (8.1%). Mineral matter content is ∼9% on average and consists of clay, quartz and pyrite concentrate mostly at the base and the roof of the seam. Dominantly vitrinite composition of coal and extremely low fire- and oxidation-borne inertinite content, together with high Gelification Indices imply predomination of waterlogged anoxic conditions in the precursing mire with water tables mostly above the peat surface throughout most of the time during peat swamp formation. Increases in collotelinite contents and Tissue Preservation Index up the section, followed by a reversal trend in upper third of the coal section, further accompanied by a reversal trend in collodetrinite, liptodetrinite, alginite, sporinite and clay contents records a transition from dominately limnotelmatic and limnic at the lower part to dominately limnotelmatic with increase telmatic condition achieved in the middle part of coal. At the upper part of coal seam an opposite trend marks the return to limnic and limnotelmatic conditions in the final phases of peat swamp history and its subsequent inundation. The proportion of arborescent (mostly coniferous) and herbaceous vegetation varied throughout the section of the coal with tendency of increasing density of arborescent vegetation to the middle part of the coal seam section. The intercalation of coal in shallow marine strata implies that peat swamp precursor formed in a coastal setting, probably on delta plain or lagoon. Its formation was controlled by water table changes driven by sea level fluctuations that created an accommodation space necessary for preservation of peat.

Stratified settlement and moulting competency of brachyuran megalopae in Ponta Rasa mangrove swamp, Inhaca Island (Mozambique)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paula, J.; Dornelas, M.; Flores, A. A. V.

2003-02-01

Information on recruitment processes of mangrove crustaceans is very limited, in spite of the great importance of these environments for the coastal zone. This study describes the settlement patterns of brachyuran crabs at Ponta Rasa mangrove swamp, Inhaca Island, in order to assess if settlement patterns reflect adult distribution. Hoghair filter collectors were deployed at different strata within the mangrove, and at the adjacent intertidal flat as control. Sampling was conducted daily for a period of 82 days. The collected megalopae were reared in the laboratory to assess their moulting competency and to enable identification. Settlement intensity was tested for association with wind stress, from different directions and averaged over time lags up to 6 days. A total of 960 megalopae settled during this study. Only 8% of the megalopae that settled at the control site belonged to mangrove dwelling species. Settlers inside Ponta Rasa swamp were exclusively mangrove species. Ilyograpsus paludicola settled mainly among Rhizophora mucronata and the mixed area of Ceriops tagal and Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, where adults occur, and Perisesarma guttatum, the most abundant sesarmid at Ponta Rasa, settled mainly at the creek. Neosarmatium meinerti settled among Avicennia marina pnematophores, very close to the adult populations. Megalopae of mangrove taxa that settled outside the mangrove took longer to moult than the ones settling inside the swamp. In the intertidal areas of the mangrove, settlers took an average of 1-2 days to moult, whereas in subtidal areas time to moult was on an average 3-5 days. Thus, both distribution of settlers and moulting competency suggest that settling follows adult distribution. Tides have a strong influence on settlement at Ponta Rasa, with the effect that, due to the high sill at the entrance, neap tides do not penetrate the mangrove. The analysis of settlement data suggested a significant effect of wind-driven transport on onshore migration. There is however no obvious interpretation for the pattern observed. Probably, the distribution of different larval patches and the complex dynamic structure of currents within Maputo Bay and adjacent areas influence the settlement pattern.

Mineral resource assessment map of the Big Gum Swamp Roadless Area, Columbia and Baker counties, Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cathcart, J.B.; Cameron, C.C.; Patterson, S.H.

1986-01-01

The geology of the Big Cum Swamp Roadless Area, which is discussed briefly in this report, is covered in somewhat more detail in a report by Patterson, Cathcart, Cameron, and Schruben (1984). The mineral resource potential is quite similar to that in the Natural Area Roadless Area outlined by Cathcart, Patterson and Crandall (1983). The Natural Area, which is east of the eastern boundary of the Big Gum Swamp (fig. 1), also was designated a Wilderness Study Area by Public Law 98-430, September 28, 1984.

Atmospheric lead deposition to Okefenokee Swamp, Georgia, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jackson, B.P.; Winger, P.V.; Lasier, P.J.

2004-01-01

'Capsule:' Coal combustion emissions appear to be a major source of Pb in the Okefenokee wetland. Contamination of the environment from atmospheric deposition during the twentieth century is pervasive even in areas ostensibly considered pristine or remote from point sources. In this study, Pb concentrations in a Pb-210-dated peat core collected from the Okefenokee Swamp, GA were used to assess historical contaminant input via atmospheric deposition. Lead isotope ratios were determined by dynamic reaction cell ICP-MS (DRC-ICP-MS). Increases in Pb concentration occurred in the late nineteenth century and a marked rise in Pb concentrations pre-dated the widespread use of leaded gasoline within the US. The Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios of 1.19 during this period were consistent with coal combustion emissions. A later increase in Pb concentration, concurrent with a trend toward more radiogenic Pb-206/Pb-207 ratios in gasoline is consistent with an increased input of Pb from leaded gasoline emissions. However, it appears that coal combustion emissions remain a major source of Pb to the Okefenokee.

3. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

3. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 141, Drawing 25) --no date--SWAMP LOCKS AND LOCK CHAMBERS - Pawtucket Canal, Swamp Locks, Pawtucket & Merrimack Canals, Lowell, Middlesex County, MA

Dr. Thomas Zurbuchen Visits Swamp Works

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-11-18

Thomas Zurbuchen, in plaid shirt, NASA's associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate, listens to a presentation at the Swamp Works facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. In the foreground is a prototype robotic exploration vehicle.

SwampLog: A Structured Journal for Reflection-in-Action.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nicassio, Frank

1992-01-01

Describes "SwampLog," an action-research journal process useful for recording and reflecting upon ongoing experience, exploring and creating innovative approaches to education, and gauging the resultant effects upon organizational, instructional, and individual renewal. (PRA)

Palynology and organic/isotope geochemistry of the Mae Moh Basin, Northern Thailand

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Minh, L.V.; Abrajano, T.; Burden, E.

The Mae Moh basin is one of several Tertiary intermontane basins in northern Thailand, whose evolution has been linked to the collision of the Indian plate with the Eurasian plate since the early Eocene. As in most of these basins, lacustrine/swamp sedimentation in the Mae Moh basin can be broadly divided into an Oligocene to Miocene synrift sequence and a Miocene to Quarternary postrift sequence. The dominance of swamp flora recognized from spore and pollen assemblages (e.g., Polypodiidites usmensis, Verrucatosporites, Cyrtostachys), as well as the abundance of macrophytes and woody debris, indicate overwhelming hot and humid swamp conditions, with lakemore » development restricted to relatively small areas. The distribution of alkanes and their compound-specific carbon isotope compositions are used to further show climatic variations affecting the lake/swamp ecology during the deposition of the synrift sequence.« less

Ecology of red maple swamps in the glaciated northeast: A community profile

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Golet, F.C.; Calhoun, A.J.K.; DeRagon, W.R.

1993-06-01

In many areas of the glaciated northeastern United States, forested wetlands dominated by red maple (Acer rubrum) cover more of the landscape than all other nontidal wetland types combined. Yet surprisingly little of their ecology, functions, or social significance has been documented. Bogs, salt marshes, Atlantic white cedar swamps, and other less common types of wetlands have received considerable attention from scientists, but, except for botanical surveys, red maple swamps have been largely ignored. The report conveys what is known about these common wetlands and identifies topics most in need of investigation. Red maple swamps are so abundant and somore » widely distributed in the Northeast that their physical, chemical, and biological properties range widely as well, and their values to society are diverse. The central focus of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service community profile series is the plant and animal communities of wetlands and deepwater habitats.« less

Influence of coarse woody debris on herpetofaunal communities in upland pine stands of the southeastern Coastal Plain

Treesearch

Justin C. Davis; Steven B. Castleberry; John C. Kilgo

2010-01-01

Coarse woody debris (CWD) is thought to benefit herpetofauna in a variety of ways including serving as feeding sites, providing a moist environment, and providing protection from temperature extremes. We investigated the importance of CWD to amphibian and reptile communities in managed upland pine stands in the southeastern United States Coastal Plain during years 6...

Effects of trichostatin A on In vitro development and DNA methylation level of the satellite I region of swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) cloned embryos.

PubMed

Srirattana, Kanokwan; Ketudat-Cairns, Mariena; Nagai, Takashi; Kaneda, Masahiro; Parnpai, Rangsun

2014-01-01

Trichostatin A (TSA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, has been widely used to improve the cloning efficiency in several species. This brings our attention to investigation of the effects of TSA on developmental potential of swamp buffalo cloned embryos. Swamp buffalo cloned embryos were produced by electrical pulse fusion of male swamp buffalo fibroblasts with swamp buffalo enucleated oocytes. After fusion, reconstructed oocytes were treated with 0, 25 or 50 nM TSA for 10 h. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the rates of fusion (82-85%), cleavage (79-84%) and development to the 8-cell stage (59-65%) among treatment groups. The highest developmental rates to the morula and blastocyst stages of embryos were found in the 25 nM TSA-treated group (42.7 and 30.1%, respectively). We also analyzed the DNA methylation level in the satellite I region of donor cells and in in vitro fertilized (IVF) and cloned embryos using the bisulfite DNA sequencing method. The results indicated that the DNA methylation levels in cloned embryos were significantly higher than those of IVF embryos but approximately similar to those of donor cells. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the methylation level among TSA-treated and untreated cloned embryos. Thus, TSA treatments at 25 nM for 10 h could enhance the in vitro developmental potential of swamp buffalo cloned embryos, but no beneficial effect on the DNA methylation level was observed.

Effects of Trichostatin A on In Vitro Development and DNA Methylation Level of the Satellite I Region of Swamp Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Cloned Embryos

PubMed Central

SRIRATTANA, Kanokwan; KETUDAT-CAIRNS, Mariena; NAGAI, Takashi; KANEDA, Masahiro; PARNPAI, Rangsun

2014-01-01

Trichostatin A (TSA), a histone deacetylase inhibitor, has been widely used to improve the cloning efficiency in several species. This brings our attention to investigation of the effects of TSA on developmental potential of swamp buffalo cloned embryos. Swamp buffalo cloned embryos were produced by electrical pulse fusion of male swamp buffalo fibroblasts with swamp buffalo enucleated oocytes. After fusion, reconstructed oocytes were treated with 0, 25 or 50 nM TSA for 10 h. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the rates of fusion (82–85%), cleavage (79–84%) and development to the 8-cell stage (59–65%) among treatment groups. The highest developmental rates to the morula and blastocyst stages of embryos were found in the 25 nM TSA-treated group (42.7 and 30.1%, respectively). We also analyzed the DNA methylation level in the satellite I region of donor cells and in in vitro fertilized (IVF) and cloned embryos using the bisulfite DNA sequencing method. The results indicated that the DNA methylation levels in cloned embryos were significantly higher than those of IVF embryos but approximately similar to those of donor cells. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the methylation level among TSA-treated and untreated cloned embryos. Thus, TSA treatments at 25 nM for 10 h could enhance the in vitro developmental potential of swamp buffalo cloned embryos, but no beneficial effect on the DNA methylation level was observed. PMID:24909601

Hydrologic Linkages Between Floodplain Wetlands and Adjacent Agricultural Lands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matteson, C.; Jackson, C. R.; Wilde, S. B.; Batzer, D.; Shelton, J.; Jeffers, J. B.

2017-12-01

Depending on wetland position relative to dominant flow pathways, wetlands can provide biogeochemical processing and water quality improvement in agricultural settings, particularly with respect to nutrients. Here we evaluate field-to-stream water quality gradients across a forested alluvial swamp and through a ditched wetland swale on the same site. During 2016 and 2017, water samples collected on a farm from shallow piezometers and surface water were analyzed for total oxidized nitrogen (TOxN), total phosphorus (TP), and microbial abundance. A 54-acre alluvial swamp borders the northern side of the study farm. Toeslope nutrient concentrations in shallow groundwater and surfacewater are elevated relative to background levels, with median values of 13.25 mg/l/TOxN and 47.60 µg/l/TP. Shallow groundwater and surfacewater concentrations are substantially lower only a few meters into the floodplain wetland and lower still (0.13 mg/l/TOxN and 29.67 µg/l/TP) at discharge points to an adjacent creek. Across the farm, an 18-acre wetland swale has been ditched, drained, and cropped. TOxN levels entering and exiting the ditched swale do not mitigate as efficiently, median values of 3.91 mg/l/TOxN reduce to 1.45 mg/l/TOxN, while TP input and reduction exceed the alluvial swamp by starting at 141.67 µg/l/TP at the inflow and discharging into a large river at 57.40 µg/l/TP. Microbial communities in seeps and surfacewater also vary systematically with geographic position. Higher proportions of Cyanobacteria, Turbidity indicators, and Diatom communities are observed in the ditched swale, and input areas of the alluvial swamp. ANOVA tests of TOxN (P<0.001) and TP (P=0.9) change across the alluvial swamp suggest effective processing of TOxN. While P values for TOxN and TP in the ditched swale, yield P=0.9 for TOxN and P=1.0 for TP indicating reduced efficiency of mitigation. Though values of both TOxN and TP do decrease before discharge into the river, they are not statistically significant and still greater values than the alluvial swamp. Dissipation of microbial indicators shows pollution mitigation further into the alluvial swamp. Though pollutant additions have been similar into both wetland types, water quality improvements are distinct in the alluvial swamp.

The hydraulic geometry of narrow and deep channels; evidence for flow optimisation and controlled peatland growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanson, Rachel A.; Nanson, Gerald C.; Huang, He Qing

2010-04-01

At-a-station and bankfull hydraulic geometry analyses of peatland channels at Barrington Tops, New South Wales, Australia, reveal adjustments in self-forming channels in the absence of sediment load. Using Rhodes ternary diagram, comparisons are made with hydraulic geometry data from self-forming channels carrying bedload in alluvial settings elsewhere. Despite constraints on channel depths caused at some locations by the restricted thickness of peat, most stations have cohesive, near-vertical, well-vegetated banks, and width/depth (w/d) ratios of ∼ 2 that are optimal for sediment-free flow. Because banks are strong, resist erosion and can stand nearly vertical, and depth is sometimes constrained, adjustments to discharge are accommodated largely by changes in velocity. These findings are consistent with the model of maximum flow efficiency and the overarching least action principle in open channels. The bankfull depth of freely adjusting laterally active channels in clastic alluvium is well known to be related to the thickness of floodplain alluvium and a similar condition appears to apply to these swamps that grow in situ and are formed almost entirely of organic matter. The thickness of peat in these swamps rarely exceeds that required to form a bankfull channel of optimum w/d ratio for the transport of sediment-free water. Swamp vegetation is highly dependent on proximity to the water table. To maintain a swamp-channel and associated floodplain system, the channels must flow with sufficient water much of the time; they not only offer an efficient morphology for flow but do so in a way that enables bankfull conditions to occur many times a year. They also prevent the swamp from growing above a level linked to the depth of the channel. Once the channel attains the most efficient cross section, further growth of the swamp vertically is restricted by enhanced flow velocities and limited flow depths. This means that the volume of peat in such swamps is determined by the hydraulic efficiency of their channels. The development and maintenance of the hydraulic geometry of these swamp channels is biogeomorphic and biohydraulic in nature and yet accords to the same optimising principles that govern the formation of self-adjusting channels and floodplains in clastic alluvium.

Protostars are Nature's Chemical Factories

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nuth, Joseph A. III; Johnson, Natasha M.

2005-01-01

H(2-2), N2 and CO are the most abundant molecular constituents in astrophysical environments, including protostellar nebulae. Although some organic molecules may be produced on very long timescales by the irradiation of ices formed on the cold surfaces of interstellar grains and these molecules may be an important source of raw materials leading to the origin of life on Earth, pre-solar organics could be swamped by the efficient conversion of nebular H2, N2 and CO to simple organic materials.

4. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

4. Photocopy of a drawing (original in the Collection of the PL&C, Shelf 144, Drawing 13) SECTIONS OF LOCK CHAMBERS AT SWAMP LOCKS DAM, APRIL 1890 - Pawtucket Canal, Swamp Locks, Pawtucket & Merrimack Canals, Lowell, Middlesex County, MA

Arsenic in groundwater of the Paraiba do Sul delta, Brazil: An atmospheric source?

PubMed

Mirlean, N; Baisch, P; Diniz, D

2014-06-01

High concentrations of arsenic (>50μg L(-1)) have been detected for the first time in groundwater of the wave-dominated Paraiba do Sul delta, Brazil. The deltaic shallow groundwater aquifer is enriched in arsenic fixed by authigenic sulfides. A study of palynomorphs confirmed that aquifer sediments were formed in inter-dune lakes/swamps lately covered by eolian sands. The organic sediments of contemporaneous inter-dune lake/swamp contain very high concentration of As: up to 180mg kg(-1) and 163μg L(-1) in dry gyttja material and interstitial water, respectively. The As in recent lake/swamp sediments is retained by iron hydroxides in upper and probably by sulfides in lower layers. In the absence of connection of inter-dune lakes/swamps with fluvial currents, the atmospheric input of As could be considered as the principal source in sediments. The calculation demonstrates the possibility of high concentrations of As accumulation in sediments of inter-dune lakes/swamps from atmospheric precipitations within several centuries before they will be covered by eolian sands and turned into shallow aquifer. Considering the commonalities of wave-dominated delta formations, we can predict more prevalent As accumulation in delta plain groundwater. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Do site-specific radiocarbon measurements reflect localized distributions of 14C in biota inhabiting a wetland with point contamination sources?

PubMed

Yankovich, T; King-Sharp, K J; Benz, M L; Carr, J; Killey, R W D; Beresford, N A; Wood, M D

2013-12-01

Duke Swamp is a wetland ecosystem that receives (14)C via a groundwater pathway originating from a waste management area on Atomic Energy Canada Limited's Chalk River Laboratories site. This groundwater reaches the surface of the swamp, resulting in relatively high (14)C levels over an area of 146 m(2). The objective of this study was to quantify (14)C concentrations in flora and fauna inhabiting areas of Duke Swamp over the gradient of (14)C activity concentrations in moss to determine whether (14)C specific activities in receptor biota reflect the localized nature of the groundwater source in the swamp. Representative receptor plants and animals, and corresponding air and soil samples were collected at six sites in Duke Swamp with (14)C specific activities in air that ranged from 1140 to 45,900 Bq/kg C. In general, it was found that specific activities of (14)C in biota tissues reflected those measured in environmental media collected from the same sampling site. The findings demonstrate that mosses could be used in monitoring programs to ensure protection of biota in areas with elevated (14)C, negating the need to capture and euthanize higher organisms. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

First record of epizootic ulcerative syndrome from the Upper Congo catchment: An outbreak in the Bangweulu swamps, Zambia.

PubMed

Huchzermeyer, C F; Huchzermeyer, K D A; Christison, K W; Macey, B M; Colly, P A; Hang'ombe, B M; Songe, M M

2018-01-01

We report on the first outbreak of epizootic ulcerative syndrome (EUS) amongst wild fish populations in the Bangweulu swamps, an inland delta, in the north of Zambia during 2014. The area supports a large and diverse fish fauna related to, but distinct from, that of the Zambezi River system where EUS outbreaks have occurred since 2006. A sizeable artisanal fishery, based on extensive fish weirs, is sustained by the annual flooding of the swamps, and observations of the disease outbreak by fishermen were recorded. Signs typical of infection with Aphanomyces invadans were observed in a number of species. Clinical observations, histology and molecular diagnostic methods were used to confirm infection with A. invadans in two of the most commonly and severely affected species. Several features of the wetland may have contributed to the outbreak and the annual recurrence of the disease. Modes by which the disease may have been introduced into the swamps are discussed. The outbreak is of great significance as the Bangweulu swamps drain into the Congo River in neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa's largest drainage system with an extensive and diverse fish fauna previously unaffected by EUS. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

9 CFR 311.10 - Anaplasmosis, anthrax, babesiosis, bacillary hemoglobinuria in cattle, blackleg, bluetongue...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

...), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders (farcy), acute... poisoning), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders... osteoporosis. (13) Glanders (farcy). (14) Acute inflammatory lameness. (15) Extensive fistula. (b) Carcasses of...

9 CFR 311.10 - Anaplasmosis, anthrax, babesiosis, bacillary hemoglobinuria in cattle, blackleg, bluetongue...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

...), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders (farcy), acute... poisoning), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders... osteoporosis. (13) Glanders (farcy). (14) Acute inflammatory lameness. (15) Extensive fistula. (b) Carcasses of...

9 CFR 311.10 - Anaplasmosis, anthrax, babesiosis, bacillary hemoglobinuria in cattle, blackleg, bluetongue...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

...), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders (farcy), acute... poisoning), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders... osteoporosis. (13) Glanders (farcy). (14) Acute inflammatory lameness. (15) Extensive fistula. (b) Carcasses of...

9 CFR 311.10 - Anaplasmosis, anthrax, babesiosis, bacillary hemoglobinuria in cattle, blackleg, bluetongue...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

...), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders (farcy), acute... poisoning), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders... osteoporosis. (13) Glanders (farcy). (14) Acute inflammatory lameness. (15) Extensive fistula. (b) Carcasses of...

9 CFR 311.10 - Anaplasmosis, anthrax, babesiosis, bacillary hemoglobinuria in cattle, blackleg, bluetongue...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

...), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders (farcy), acute... poisoning), infectious anemia (swamp fever), dourine, acute influenza, generalized osteoporosis, glanders... osteoporosis. (13) Glanders (farcy). (14) Acute inflammatory lameness. (15) Extensive fistula. (b) Carcasses of...

The Middle Jurassic microflora from El Maghara N° 4 borehole, Northern Sinai, Egypt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohsen, Sayed Abdel

The coal bearing formation in El Maghara area, northern Sinai, yielded abundant, diverse and generally well preserved spores, pollen and marine microflora. The palynological analysis of the fine clastic sediments in this formation yielded (71) species related to (44) genera. Three different palynological assemblage zones can be distinguished. The sediments which contain lower and the upper assemblage zones bearing the coal seems, were deposited in non-marine (swamp) environment. In the middle assemblage zone few marine microflora can be identified, indicating a coastal near shore marine environment. Compared with other palynologic data obtained from Egypt and other countries, the three described assemblage zones belong to Middle Jurassic (Bathonian) age.

On the relative roles of hydrology, salinity, temperature, and root productivity in controlling soil respiration from coastal swamps (freshwater)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krauss, Ken W.; Whitbeck, Julie L.; Howard, Rebecca J.

2012-01-01

Background and aims Soil CO2 emissions can dominate gaseous carbon losses from forested wetlands (swamps), especially those positioned in coastal environments. Understanding the varied roles of hydroperiod, salinity, temperature, and root productivity on soil respiration is important in discerning how carbon balances may shift as freshwater swamps retreat inland with sea-level rise and salinity incursion, and convert to mixed communities with marsh plants. Methods We exposed soil mesocosms to combinations of permanent flooding, tide, and salinity, and tracked soil respiration over 2 1/2 growing seasons. We also related these measurements to rates from field sites along the lower Savannah River, Georgia, USA. Soil temperature and root productivity were assessed simultaneously for both experiments. Results Soil respiration from mesocosms (22.7-1678.2 mg CO2 m-2 h-1) differed significantly among treatments during four of the seven sampling intervals, where permanently flooded treatments contributed to low rates of soil respiration and tidally flooded treatments sometimes contributed to higher rates. Permanent flooding reduced the overall capacity for soil respiration as soils warmed. Salinity did reduce soil respiration at times in tidal treatments, indicating that salinity may affect the amount of CO2 respired with tide more strongly than under permanent flooding. However, soil respiration related greatest to root biomass (mesocosm) and standing root length (field); any stress reducing root productivity (incl. salinity and permanent flooding) therefore reduces soil respiration. Conclusions Overall, we hypothesized a stronger, direct role for salinity on soil respiration, and found that salinity effects were being masked by varied capacities for increases in respiration with soil warming as dictated by hydrology, and the indirect influence that salinity can have on plant productivity.

Deep instability of deforested tropical peatlands revealed by fluvial organic carbon fluxes.

PubMed

Moore, Sam; Evans, Chris D; Page, Susan E; Garnett, Mark H; Jones, Tim G; Freeman, Chris; Hooijer, Aljosja; Wiltshire, Andrew J; Limin, Suwido H; Gauci, Vincent

2013-01-31

Tropical peatlands contain one of the largest pools of terrestrial organic carbon, amounting to about 89,000 teragrams (1 Tg is a billion kilograms). Approximately 65 per cent of this carbon store is in Indonesia, where extensive anthropogenic degradation in the form of deforestation, drainage and fire are converting it into a globally significant source of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Here we quantify the annual export of fluvial organic carbon from both intact peat swamp forest and peat swamp forest subject to past anthropogenic disturbance. We find that the total fluvial organic carbon flux from disturbed peat swamp forest is about 50 per cent larger than that from intact peat swamp forest. By carbon-14 dating of dissolved organic carbon (which makes up over 91 per cent of total organic carbon), we find that leaching of dissolved organic carbon from intact peat swamp forest is derived mainly from recent primary production (plant growth). In contrast, dissolved organic carbon from disturbed peat swamp forest consists mostly of much older (centuries to millennia) carbon from deep within the peat column. When we include the fluvial carbon loss term, which is often ignored, in the peatland carbon budget, we find that it increases the estimate of total carbon lost from the disturbed peatlands in our study by 22 per cent. We further estimate that since 1990 peatland disturbance has resulted in a 32 per cent increase in fluvial organic carbon flux from southeast Asia--an increase that is more than half of the entire annual fluvial organic carbon flux from all European peatlands. Our findings emphasize the need to quantify fluvial carbon losses in order to improve estimates of the impact of deforestation and drainage on tropical peatland carbon balances.

Strong and stable geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo maternal and paternal lineages indicates domestication in the China/Indochina border region.

PubMed

Zhang, Yi; Lu, Yongfang; Yindee, Marnoch; Li, Kuan-Yi; Kuo, Hsiao-Yun; Ju, Yu-Ten; Ye, Shaohui; Faruque, Md Omar; Li, Qiang; Wang, Yachun; Cuong, Vu Chi; Pham, Lan Doan; Bouahom, Bounthong; Yang, Bingzhuang; Liang, Xianwei; Cai, Zhihua; Vankan, Dianne; Manatchaiworakul, Wallaya; Kowlim, Nonglid; Duangchantrasiri, Somphot; Wajjwalku, Worawidh; Colenbrander, Ben; Zhang, Yuan; Beerli, Peter; Lenstra, Johannes A; Barker, J Stuart F

2016-04-01

The swamp type of the Asian water buffalo is assumed to have been domesticated by about 4000 years BP, following the introduction of rice cultivation. Previous localizations of the domestication site were based on mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variation within China, accounting only for the maternal lineage. We carried out a comprehensive sampling of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Nepal and Bangladesh and sequenced the mtDNA Cytochrome b gene and control region and the Y-chromosomal ZFY, SRY and DBY sequences. Swamp buffalo has a higher diversity of both maternal and paternal lineages than river buffalo, with also a remarkable contrast between a weak phylogeographic structure of river buffalo and a strong geographic differentiation of swamp buffalo. The highest diversity of the swamp buffalo maternal lineages was found in south China and north Indochina on both banks of the Mekong River, while the highest diversity in paternal lineages was in the China/Indochina border region. We propose that domestication in this region was later followed by introgressive capture of wild cows west of the Mekong. Migration to the north followed the Yangtze valley as well as a more eastern route, but also involved translocations of both cows and bulls over large distances with a minor influence of river buffaloes in recent decades. Bayesian analyses of various migration models also supported domestication in the China/Indochina border region. Coalescence analysis yielded consistent estimates for the expansion of the major swamp buffalo haplogroups with a credibility interval of 900 to 3900 years BP. The spatial differentiation of mtDNA and Y-chromosomal haplotype distributions indicates a lack of gene flow between established populations that is unprecedented in livestock. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Survey of Hylobates agilis albibarbis in a logged peat-swamp forest: Sabangau catchment, Central Kalimantan.

PubMed

Buckley, Cara; Nekaris, K A I; Husson, Simon John

2006-10-01

Few data are available on gibbon populations in peat-swamp forest. In order to assess the importance of this habitat for gibbon conservation, a population of Hylobates agilis albibarbis was surveyed in the Sabangau peat-swamp forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This is an area of about 5,500 km(2) of selectively logged peat-swamp forest, which was formally gazetted as a national park during 2005. The study was conducted during June and July 2004 using auditory sampling methods. Five sample areas were selected and each was surveyed for four consecutive days by three teams of researchers at designated listening posts. Researchers recorded compass bearings of, and estimated distances to, singing groups. Nineteen groups were located. Population density is estimated to be 2.16 (+/-0.46) groups/km(2). Sightings occurring either at the listening posts or that were obtained by tracking in on calling groups yielded a mean group size of 3.4 individuals, hence individual gibbon density is estimated to be 7.4 (+/-1.59) individuals/km(2). The density estimates fall at the mid-range of those calculated for other gibbon populations, thus suggesting that peat-swamp forest is an important habitat for gibbon conservation in Borneo. A tentative extrapolation of results suggests a potential gibbon population size of 19,000 individuals within the mixed-swamp forest habitat sub-type in the Sabangau. This represents one of the largest remaining continuous populations of Bornean agile gibbons. The designation of the Sabangau forest as a national park will hopefully address the problem of illegal logging and hunting in the region. Further studies should note any difference in gibbon density post protection.

Freshwater Wetlands.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Naturescope, 1986

1986-01-01

Provides descriptions about freshwater wetlands, such as marshes, swamps, and bogs. Contains three learning activities which deal with unusual wetland plants, the animals and plants in a typical marsh, and the effects of a draught on a swamp. Included are reproducible handouts and worksheets for two of the activities. (TW)

Invitation to the Swamp: An Educational Insert

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thomas, Bill

1976-01-01

In this third special educational supplement, the swamp is discussed. Included is information on where land and water meet to form the great incubator of wildlife, and on endangered species of wildlife, such as the red wolf, brown pelican, manatee, great white heron and woodstork. (BT)

A Project to Map and Monitor Baldcypress Forests in Coastal Louisiana, Using Landsat, MODIS, and ASTER Satellite Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spruce, Joseph; Sader, Steven; Smoot, James

2012-01-01

Cypress swamp forests of Louisiana offer many important ecological and economic benefits: wildlife habitat, forest products, storm buffers, water quality, and recreation. Such forests are also threatened by multiple factors: subsidence, salt water intrusion, sea level rise, persistent flooding, hydrologic modification, hurricanes, insect and nutria damage, timber harvesting, and land use conversion. Unfortunately, there are many information gaps regarding the type, location, extent, and condition of these forests. Better more up to date swamp forest mapping products are needed to aid coastal forest conservation and restoration work (e.g., through the Coastal Forest Conservation Initiative or CFCI). In response, a collaborative project was initiated to develop, test and demonstrate cypress swamp forest mapping products, using NASA supported Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS satellite data. Research Objectives are: Develop, test, and demonstrate use of Landsat and ASTER data for computing new cypress forest classification products and Landsat, ASTER, and MODIS satellite data for detecting and monitoring swamp forest change

Morphological adaptation with no mitochondrial DNA differentiation in the coastal plain swamp sparrow

USGS Publications Warehouse

Greenberg, R.; Cordero, P.J.; Droege, S.; Fleischer, R.C.

1998-01-01

We estimated genetic differentiation between morphologically distinct tidal marsh populations of Swamp Sparrows (Melospiza georgiana nigrescens) and the more widespread inland populations (M. g. georgiana and M. g. ericrypta). The tidal marsh populations are consistently grayer with more extensive black markings (particularly in the crown), and their bills are larger. These differences are variously shared with other species of salt marsh birds and small mammals. We analyzed mitochondrial DNA sequences (5′ end of control region, COII/t-lys/ATPase8, and ND2) of Swamp Sparrows and found low levels of genetic variation and no evidence of geographic structure. These results suggest a rapid and recent geographic expansion of Swamp Sparrows from restricted Pleistocene populations. Morphological differentiation has occurred without long-term genetic isolation, suggesting that selection on the divergent traits is intense. The grayer and more melanistic plumage is probably cryptic coloration for foraging on tidal mud, which tends to be grayish as a result of the formation of iron sulfides, rather than iron oxides, under anaerobic conditions.

High Throughput Sequencing to Detect Differences in Methanotrophic Methylococcaceae and Methylocystaceae in Surface Peat, Forest Soil, and Sphagnum Moss in Cranesville Swamp Preserve, West Virginia, USA

PubMed Central

Lau, Evan; Nolan, Edward J.; Dillard, Zachary W.; Dague, Ryan D.; Semple, Amanda L.; Wentzell, Wendi L.

2015-01-01

Northern temperate forest soils and Sphagnum-dominated peatlands are a major source and sink of methane. In these ecosystems, methane is mainly oxidized by aerobic methanotrophic bacteria, which are typically found in aerated forest soils, surface peat, and Sphagnum moss. We contrasted methanotrophic bacterial diversity and abundances from the (i) organic horizon of forest soil; (ii) surface peat; and (iii) submerged Sphagnum moss from Cranesville Swamp Preserve, West Virginia, using multiplex sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA (V3 region) gene amplicons. From ~1 million reads, >50,000 unique OTUs (Operational Taxonomic Units), 29 and 34 unique sequences were detected in the Methylococcaceae and Methylocystaceae, respectively, and 24 potential methanotrophs in the Beijerinckiaceae were also identified. Methylacidiphilum-like methanotrophs were not detected. Proteobacterial methanotrophic bacteria constitute <2% of microbiota in these environments, with the Methylocystaceae one to two orders of magnitude more abundant than the Methylococcaceae in all environments sampled. The Methylococcaceae are also less diverse in forest soil compared to the other two habitats. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling analyses indicated that the majority of methanotrophs from the Methylococcaceae and Methylocystaceae tend to occur in one habitat only (peat or Sphagnum moss) or co-occurred in both Sphagnum moss and peat. This study provides insights into the structure of methanotrophic communities in relationship to habitat type, and suggests that peat and Sphagnum moss can influence methanotroph community structure and biogeography. PMID:27682082

Recent benthic foraminifera and sedimentary facies from mangrove swamps and channels of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiorini, Flavia; Odeh, Weaam A. S. Al; Lokier, Stephen W.; Paul, Andreas

2016-04-01

Zonation of Recent mangrove environments can be defined using benthic foraminifera, however, little is known about foraminifera from mangrove environments of the Arabian Gulf. The objective of this study is to produce a detailed micropaleontological and sedimentological analysis to identify foraminiferal associations in several coastline environments (mangrove swamps and channels) located on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island (UAE). Detailed sediment sampling collection in mangal environments of Eastern Abu Dhabi was carried out to assess the distribution of living and dead benthic foraminifera in different sedimentary facies in the mangal and in the surrounding area comprising natural environments of the upper and lower intertidal area (mud flats and channels) and areas modified by anthropogenic activities (dredged channels). The fine-grain sediments collected near mangrove (Avicenna marina) roots presented a high abundance of living and dead foraminifera tests. The assemblages in these samples show very low diversity and are almost entirely constituted of small-sized opportunistic species belonging to the genera Ammonia and Elphidium. In particular: • Samples collected on the mud flat and in ponds at the margin of the channel show a foraminiferal assemblage characterised by abundant foraminifera belonging to the genera Ammonia, Elphidium, Triloculina, Quinqueloculina, Peneroplis and Spirolina. • Samples collected in the lower (wet) intertidal area close to Avicenna marina roots, presented a low-diversity assemblage mostly comprising opportunistic foraminifera of the genera Ammonia and Elphidium along with rare miliolidae. • Samples from the upper intertidal area (dry) close to Avicenna marina roots, produced an assemblage exclusively composed of small-sized opportunistic Ammonia and Elphidium, together with abundant specimens belonging to the genera Trochammina. Throchammina specimens have not been previously recorded from Recent sedimentary samples of the coastline environments of the Arabian Gulf. The samples collected in the higher energy settings (channels) were characterised by a very low abundance of foraminiferal tests, no or rare living forms were found in the coarser grained facies. Most of the samples collected in the dredged channels were barren. The distribution of Recent benthic foraminifera from mangrove environment of the Abu Dhabi region present a powerful tool for constructing zonation of marine coastline environments and can be employed as a modern analogue for interpreting the depositional environment of ancient coastline sediments.

77 FR 37391 - Combined Notice of Filings #2

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-21

...: Bear Swamp Power Company LLC, Brookfield Energy Marketing Inc., Brookfield Energy Marketing LP... Power, LLC, Great Lakes Hydro America LLC, Hawks Nest Hydro LLC, Longview Fibre Paper and Packaging, Inc., Rumford Falls Hydro LLC. Description: Supplement to Notice of Non-Material Change in Status of Bear Swamp...

Emergy and Evaluating Ecosystem Services in a Sumatran Peat Swamp, Indonesia. Chapter 13

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this article is to document preliminary investigations into valuing peat swamp ecosystem function and services in Indonesia and to compare these values with the current development alternative, Acacia pulp wood plantation, using the emergy methodology. The Zamrud N...

77 FR 66737 - Final Flood Elevation Determinations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-11-07

... +45 upstream of Cedar Swamp Road. Clapps Swamp Approximately 0.4 mile +51 Unincorporated Areas of.... 4104, and 44 CFR part 67. FEMA has developed criteria for floodplain management in floodprone areas in... Location Depth in feet above ground [caret] Elevation in meters (MSL)Modified Unincorporated Areas of...

Perceptions of School Experiences during the First Semester of Middle School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Buehler, Cheryl; Fletcher, Anne C.; Johnston, Carol; Weymouth, Bridget B.

2015-01-01

Symbolic interaction and stage-environment fit theories were used to examine associations between several aspects of the perceived school environment and youths' school-related experiences during the first semester of middle school in a sample of 390 youth living in a southeastern U.S. county. Perceived school environment included learning…

Yeast communities in Sphagnum phyllosphere along the temperature-moisture ecocline in the boreal forest-swamp ecosystem and description of Candida sphagnicola sp. nov.

PubMed

Kachalkin, Aleksey V; Yurkov, Andrey M

2012-06-01

The effects of the temperature-moisture factors on the phylloplane yeast communities inhabiting Sphagnum mosses were studied along the transition from a boreal forest to a swamp biotope at the Central Forest State Biosphere Reserve (Tver region, Russia). We tested the hypothesis that microclimatic parameters affect yeast community composition and structure even on a rather small spatial scale. Using a conventional plating technique we isolated and identified by molecular methods a total of 15 species of yeasts. Total yeast counts and species richness values did not depend on environmental factors, although yeast community composition and structure did. On average, Sphagnum in the swamp biotope supported a more evenly structured yeast community. Relative abundance of ascomycetous yeasts was significantly higher on swamp moss. Rhodotorula mucilaginosa dominated in the spruce forest and Cryptococcus magnus was more abundant in the swamp. Our study confirmed the low occurrence of tremellaceous yeasts in the Sphagnum phyllosphere. Of the few isolated ascomycetous yeast and yeast-like species, some were differentiated from hitherto known species in physiological tests and phylogenetic analyses. We describe one of them as Candida sphagnicola and designate KBP Y-3887(T) (=CBS 11774(T) = VKPM Y-3566(T) = MUCL 53590(T)) as the type strain. The new species was registered in MycoBank under MB 563443.

Coatal salt marshes and mangrove swamps in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Shi-Lun; Chen, Ji-Yu

1995-12-01

Based on plant specimen data, sediment samples, photos, and sketches from 45 coastal crosssections, and materials from two recent countrywide comprehensive investigations on Chinese coasts and islands, this paper deals with China’s vegetative tidal-flats: salt marshes and mangrove swamps. There are now 141700 acres of salt marshes and 51000 acres of mangrove swamps which together cover about 30% of the mud-coast area of the country and distribute between 18°N (Southern Hainan Island) and 41 °N (Liaodong Bay). Over the past 45 years, about 1750000 acres of salt marshes and 49400 acres of mangrove swamps have been reclaimed. The 2.0×109 tons of fine sediments input by rivers into the Chinese seas form extensive tidal flats, the soil basis of coastal helophytes. Different climates result in the diversity of vegetation. The 3˜8 m tidal range favors intertidal zone development. Of over 20 plant species in the salt marshes, native Suaeda salsa, Phragmites australis, Aeluropus littoralis, Zoysia maerostachys, Imperata cylindrica and introduced Spartina anglica are the most extensive in distribution. Of the 41 mangrove swamps species, Kandelia candel, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, Excoecaria agallocha and Avicennia marina are much wider in latitudinal distribution than the others. Developing stages of marshes originally relevant to the evolution of tidal flats are given out. The roles of pioneer plants in decreasing flood water energy and increasing accretion rate in the Changjiang River delta are discussed.

Lower food chain community study: thermal effects and post-thermal recovery in the streams and swamps of the Savannah River Plant, November 1983-May 1984

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kondratieff, B.C.; Kondratieff, P.

1985-04-01

This report documents a study of lower food chain (autotroph and macroinvertebrate assemblage) response to, and recovery from, thermal stress in the streams and swamps of the Savannah River Plant (SRP). Data for the report were collected between November 1983 and May 1984. Elevated water temperature regimes in the thermal streams and swamps resulted in generally simplified lower food chain community structure. Thermally tolerant forms of both autotrophs (blue-green algae) and macroinvertebrates (oligochaetes, nematodes, snails and midges) were able to maintain populations in thermally stressed areas. The thermally tolerant taxa found in the perturbed streams and swamps often had highmore » densities and biomass. It would appear tht many of the macroinvertebrate species occurring in SRP streams and swamps evolved in habitats subject to great thermal variation, both diel and seasonal. Based on the results of this study, certain temperature ranges are associated with certain general effects on the lower food chain. In temperatures >40/sup 0/C most taxa are eliminated, from 30 to 40/sup 0/C a stressed community exists with a few tolerant taxa and from 25 to 30/sup 0/C an assemblage resembling a summer ambient community in structure and function exists, often with reduced species composition. 74 refs., 20 figs., 18 tabs. (ACR)« less

Seasonal and diel patterns of larval fish drift in a western South Carolina swamp

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kissick, L.A.; Paller, M.H.; Heuer, J.H.

1988-01-01

Fish larvae were collected weekly during 1986-1987 from the lower 3 km of Steel Creek (Barnwell County), a riverine swamp, to assess reproduction in this rarely studied habitat type. In 1987, larvae appeared in the following order and abundance (as a percentage of the total diural density): blackbanded darter Percina nigromaculatus (3%) and other darters Etheostoma spp. (32%); pirate perch Aphredoderus sayanus (NA); pygmy sunfish Elassoma spp. (7%); chubsuckers Erimyson spp. (13%); bluespotted sunfish Enneacanthus gloriosus (16%); bluegill Lepomis macrochirus (1%), redbreast sunfish L. auritus (<1%), brook silverside Labidesthes sicculus (6%) and ironcolor shiner Notropis chalybaeus (8%); warmouth L. gulosusmore » (8%); spotted sunfish L. punctatus (NA). Unidentified cyprinids (2%), centrarchids (2%) and miscellaneous species (3%) were collected throughout the study period. Monthly diel collections showed that drift densities of chubsuckers, cyprinids, Etheostoma spp., bluegill and pygmy sunfish increased 41 to 160X after sundown; pirate perch and spotted sunfish were collected only at night. Swamp densities peaked during 2000-0159 h (111.5 per 100m), whereas densities in the channel that drained the swamp into the Savannah River peaked during 0200-0759 h (38.7). The later peak in the channel was attributed to larvae that had drifted from the swamp and were essentially lost from the system. 4 figs., 1 tab.« less

75 FR 8107 - Bond Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, Bibb and Twiggs Counties, GA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-02-23

... impact. SUMMARY: We, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), announce the availability of our final comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) for the environmental..., including upland mixed pine/hardwood, bottomland hardwood, and tupelo gum swamp forests. Creeks, beaver...

Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge Interagency Assistance Group : transportation observations, considerations and recommendations

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2014-07-01

In March 2014, U.S. FWS hosted a Transportation Assistance Group at the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia. The purpose of the meeting was to identify transportation issues impacting the refuge, ways to improve access to and within the refuge, as well as...

Establishment of Swamp Tupelo Seedlings After Regeneration Cuts

Treesearch

Dean S. DeBell; J. Dennis Auld

1971-01-01

Environmental factors influencing natural regeneration of swamp tupelo were examined in a study involving five harvest treatments replicated in 3 successive years. Initial seedling establishment was related to seed production, but other factors probably are more limiting in most years. Abundance of established seedlings differed significantly with harvest cuttings,...

Fire management and research for biodiversity in the Green Swamp

Treesearch

Margit A. Bucher; Maura E. High

2002-01-01

The Nature Conservancy has conducted prescribed burns for two decades in North Carolina's Green Swamp to enhance and maintain species biodiversity in the longleaf pine (Pinus palustris) savannas and ecotones. The surrounding pocosins, however, have been left alone. Increasingly, dense shrub growth in the pocosin suppresses herbaceous species and...

Temporal variability in methane fluxes from tropical peatlands within the Peruvian Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, Wayne; Berrio, Juan Carlos; Boom, Arnoud; Page, Sue; Arn Teh, Yit

2016-04-01

Tropical peatlands are one of the largest soil carbon (C) reservoirs globally and play a significant role in modulating fluxes of C between the tropical biosphere and atmosphere. These C fluxes are of global importance because tropical wetlands are the single largest natural source of atmospheric methane (CH4); while land-use change and biomass burning also contribute to the growing global atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) burden. Amazonian peatlands play a potentially important role in regional and global atmospheric budgets of C because of their large extent. These ecosystems cover an estimated 150,000km2, which is roughly three-quarters the size of Indonesian peatlands; the world's most extensive and well-studied tropical peatlands. Here we report CH4 fluxes from a lowland tropical peatland in the Pastaza-Maranon foreland basin in Peru, one of the largest peatland complexes in the lowland Amazon Basin. Strong prolonged seasonal rainfall events and the annual Amazon River flood-pulse may lead to pronounced temporal variability in biogeochemical cycling and trace gas fluxes, and this study explored how CH4 fluxes varied among wet and dry season periods in a number of key vegetation types in this region. Sampling was concentrated in 3 of the most numerically-dominant vegetation types: Forested Swamp, Mixed Palm Swamp and Mauritia flexuosa-dominated Palm Swamp, with data collection occurring in both wet and dry seasons over a 2 year period from 2012-2014 (4 field campaigns in total). Overall mean CH4 fluxes from the Forested Swamp, Mixed Palm Swamp and Mauritia flexuosa-dominated Palm Swamp for the entire sampling period were 31.06 ± 3.42 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1, 52.03 ± 16.05 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1 and 36.68 ± 4.32 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1. CH4 emissions, when averaged across the entire dataset, did not differ significantly among habitats. However, when CH4 emissions were aggregated by season, the Mixed Palm Swamp showed a significantly different emissions from all other habitats (Fischers LSD, P<0.0001). All of the vegetation types showed pronounced seasonality in CH4 fluxes. Mean dry and wet season fluxes for the Forested Swamp were 18.82 ± 2.61 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1 and 60.42 ± 9.11 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1; 85.51 ± 26.36 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1 and 5.15 ± 2.73 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1 for the Mixed Palm Swamp; and 25.54 ± 2.9 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1 and 53.36 ± 9.78 mg CH4 - C m-2 d-1 for the Mauritia flexuosa-dominated Palm Swamp. Dry season fluxes did not differ from each other between years. In contrast, wet season fluxes showed significant differences between years, with CH4 emissions in the 2012 wet season more than double the emissions from the 2014 year. These observed differences in CH4 emissions during different seasons suggest that seasonal variability in water availability and flooding is a key control on CH4 emissions from Amazonian peatlands.

Concepts in Environmental Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopkins, Sally

Presented is a discussion of the components and concepts of an ecology typical of the coastal southeastern United States. Principles presented are applicable to other areas. The discussion includes several major sections: the environment, wildlife management, freshwater ecosystems, and the estuarine environment. Numerous figures and illustrations…

Relation between Enterococcus concentrations and turbidity in fresh and saline recreational waters, coastal Horry County, South Carolina, 2003–04

USGS Publications Warehouse

Landmeyer, James E.; Garigen, Thomas J.

2016-06-24

The positive relation observed between turbidity and Enterococcus concentrations in surface water at the water-quality data collection station located in the channel that drains a freshwater swamp may be attributed to bacterial survival in the abundant channel bed sediments that characterized this more naturalized area. Surface-water bed sediments collected near each water-quality data collection station and the surf zone were incubated in static microcosms in the laboratory and analyzed for Enterococcus concentrations over time. Enterococcus concentrations continued to persist in bed sediments collected in the channel that drains the swamp even after almost 4 months of incubation. Conversely, enterococci were not observed to persist in bed sediments characterized by high specific conductance. Although it is currently (2016) unknown whether this persistence of enterococci demonstrates growth or viability, the data indicate that enterococci can exist in channel bed-sediment environments outside of a host for a long time. This observation confirms previous reports that challenge the use of Enterococcus concentrations as an indicator of the recent introduction of fecal-related material and the associated acute risk to other pathogens.

A Cultural Resources Survey of Steele, New Franklin, and Main Ditches, and National Register of Historic Places Significance Testing of Sites 2PM574, 575, 577, and 23PM578, Pemiscot County Missouri

DTIC Science & Technology

1990-07-15

last successional stage plant communities. Research using soils and plant communities to model prehistoric occupation in northeast Arkansas (Dekin et al...floods) since their formation. Levee/Swamp Ecotone This modeled macrobiotic coimmunity is what Lewis (1974:24-25) has called the Sweetgum-Elm-Cypress...especially cypress, would have been exploitable in this environment with land- based technology. 15 Included in these modeled strata are the different

Possible Impact Origin for the Late Ordovician Bear Swamp Structure in the Finger Lakes Region of New York

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leiphart, D.

2010-12-01

Impact structures, or astroblemes, are one of rarest formations in the geologic record. Presently there are 176 confirmed impact structures on the planet with roughly two-thirds of them evident at the surface. A potential impact structure has been discovered in a 3D seismic survey in the Finger Lakes Region of upstate New York (Figure 1 - N42o43.187’; W76o16.637’). The Bear Swamp crater is uppermost Ordovician (~444 Ma) in age and is situated within the fluvial-deltaic to shallow marine Queenston Formation. This nearly circular structure measures 3.5 km (2.2 mi) in diameter and is completely buried in the subsurface at a depth of approximately 1,220 m (4,000 ft). Seismic data show a central uplift within the crater that rises about 160 m (525 ft) above the base. Around the central uplift is an annular basin that is more than 300 m (~1,000 ft) thick and is characterized by synformal seismic reflectors (Figure 1). This three-dimensional morphology resembles other complex craters of confirmed impact origin. Two exploration wells were drilled into the crater and image logs were run. The first well tested the central rebound which consists of steeply dipping beds and heavily brecciated zones. The second well was drilled in the annular basin which contains alternating sequences of chaotic zones and shallow dipping beds. Based on analogous impact structures, this crater fill is here interpreted as resurge breccias and turbidites which were the result of intense wave action in the moments after impact. Above these impact-related deposits lies a zone of very thin (~2cm) laminae which resemble varved sediments in lacustrine environments. A bioturbated zone overlies these thin laminae, which is in turn capped by the End Ordovician unconformity. Observations of both seismic and well data are consistent with a shallow marine to transition zone impact origin for the Bear Swamp crater. Figure 1: Location map showing the area of the ~180 km2 (70 mi2) 3D seismic survey and the proposed Bear Swamp Astrobleme. The map in the lower left is a time slice through a coherency volume at 650 milliseconds. The inset at the lower right is a cutout of the 3D volume with the Queenston top and base crater horizon extrapolated out.

Interdependence of peat and vegetation in a tropical peat swamp forest.

PubMed Central

Page, S E; Rieley, J O; Shotyk, W; Weiss, D

1999-01-01

The visual uniformity of tropical peat swamp forest masks the considerable variation in forest structure that has evolved in response to differences and changes in peat characteristics over many millennia. Details are presented of forest structure and tree composition of the principal peat swamp forest types in the upper catchment of Sungai Sebangau, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, in relation to thickness and hydrology of the peat. Consideration is given to data on peat geochemistry and age of peat that provide evidence of the ombrotrophic nature of this vast peatland and its mode of formation. The future sustainability of this ecosystem is predicted from information available on climate change and human impact in this region. PMID:11605630

FACTORS AFFECTING COLORED DISSOLVED ORGANIC MATTER IN AQUATIC ENVIRONMENTS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

EPA Science Inventory

The sunlight-absorbing (colored) component of dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in aquatic environments is widely distributed in freshwaters and coastal regions where it influences the fate and transport of toxic organic substances and biologically-important metals such as mercury,...

Family Environments of Victims of Childhood Sexual Abuse: Single- vs. Multiple-Incident Victims.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chandler, Kelle P.; And Others

This study investigated family characteristics as risk factors for sexual abuse by examining the family environments of both abused and nonabused young adults as assessed by the Family Environment Scale. Participants were college students (N=230) at a major southeastern university. A total of 105 students reported sexual experiences which occurred…

Strength and Comprehensiveness of School Wellness Policies in Southeastern US School Districts.

PubMed

Cox, Melissa J; Ennett, Susan T; Ringwalt, Christopher L; Hanley, Sean M; Bowling, James M

2016-09-01

In 2004, Congress passed legislation mandating that all public school districts participating in federal school meal programs develop a school wellness policy (SWP) to direct efforts related to nutrition and physical activity. We examined the extent to which SWPs varied in comprehensiveness and strength in a representative sample of school districts in the southeastern United States, the area of the country with the highest rates of childhood obesity. Policies were assessed using an established 96-item coding tool by 2 raters to ascertain the comprehensiveness and strength of the policies as a whole, and across distinct subsections specified by federal legislation. In addition, variability in SWP comprehensiveness and strength was assessed based on district sociodemographic characteristics. Overall, SWPs in the southeastern states are weakly written, fragmented, and lack requirements necessary for healthy school environments. District size, which was the only sociodemographic factor related to policy characteristics, yielded an inverse association. To encourage continued promotion of healthy school environments, school districts will require technical support to improve the quality of their school wellness policies. © 2016, American School Health Association.

Differential recovery of a deepwater swamp forest across a gradient of disturbance intensity

Treesearch

Diane De Steven; Rebecca R. Sharitz

1997-01-01

On the Savannah River Site, South Carolina, USA, large areas of floodplain swamp forest of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica) were destroyed by the cumulative impacts of cooling-water discharges over a 35-year period of nuclear reactor operations. In one floodplain area, four years after thermal...

Patterns of Seasonal Abundance and Social Segregation in Inland and Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrows in a Delaware Tidal Marsh

EPA Science Inventory

The Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana nigrescens, CPSS) breeds in the coastal brackish marshes of the North American Mid-Atlantic States. During the non-breeding season, coastal brackish marshes are occupied by both this subspecies and two far more widespread inte...

Learning To Love the Swamp: Reshaping Education for Public Service.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schall, Ellen

1996-01-01

The world of public service is compared to a swamp in which important, complex, and messy problems are addressed, and it is argued that graduate and professional education must be reshaped to produce leaders who can make sense of current challenges. Education that is more experiential, behavioral, interactive, and collectively oriented is…

Composition and species diversity of pine-wiregrass savannas of the Green Swamp, North Carolina

Treesearch

Joan Walker; Robert K. Peet

1983-01-01

Fire-maintained, species-rich pines wiregrass savannas in the Green Swamp, North Carolina were sampled over their natural range of environmental conditions and fire frequencies. Species composition, species richness, diversity (Exp H', I/ C), and aboveground production were documented and fertilization experiments conducted to assess possible mechanisms for the...

Characterization of a double WAP domain-containing protein from the red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Crustaceans express multiple whey acidic protein (WAP) domain containing proteins which are components of host immunity. In the present study, a new double WAP domain containing protein was identified from red swamp crayfish Procambarus clarkii, designated Pc-DWD. The ORF is 387 bp, encoding 128 ami...

Producer farmer’s sovereignty in dry land and swamps areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suhaeti, RN; Wahyuni, S.

2018-01-01

Farmers could perform their farming if they have sovereignty on their farming production inputs and marketing. Suboptimal land, such as dry land and swamps areas have good prospect if applying appropriate technologies. A research in 2015, on status of farmers’ sovereignty, had been conducted in Piani and North Candi Laras Subdistricts, Tapin District, South Borneo Province, representing swamp land and dry land respectively. Data and information were obtained through interviewing related agencies at provincial and district levels and 30 units of farmer’s households. The primary and secondary data were analyzed descriptively. The research results showed that farmers in swamps and dry land were categorized as large farmers and had sovereignty over the land and production. Water shortage and excessive in both land types could be overcome by giving access on appropriate technology such as programs making farmers improve their farming techniques and providing levees. In addition, land certification program, farming expansion and constructing new irrigated lowland were also some efforts to improve farmers’ sovereignty. It was crucial to identify and improve farmer’s sovereignty indicators through research in larger sites and samples.

Peat deposits of North Carolina: Bulletin 88

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ingram, R.L.

1987-01-01

Fuel-grade peat is an accumulation of partially decomposed plant material that has less than 25% non-combustible material (ash). In eastern North Carolina peat has formed in the past 10,000 years in swamps or pocosins (coastal swamps), Carolina bays, and river floodplains. Most of the peat is found at the surface with no over-burden and usually ranges in thickness from 1 to 15 ft with an average of 4-1/2 ft. The mean ash content of the fuel-grade peats is about 7.4%, but ash contents of less than 5% are common in most peat deposits. Heating values average 10,100 Btu/lb on amore » moisture-free basis. Fuel-grade peat deposits cover about 677,000 acres (1060 sq mi) in coastal North Carolina with total resources of about 500 million tons of moisture-free peat. Of this total, about 284,000 acres (444 sq mi) with 319 million tons are underlain by peat greater than 4 ft thick. Peat resources are concentrated in the pocosins or coastal swamps of northeastern North Carolina with the Albemarle-Pamlico peninsula having 55% of the resources and the Dismal Swamp, 11%. The remaining coastal swamp deposits are small but significant. Although 96 Carolina bays have peat, only 46 have peat greater than 4 ft thick; and only one has more than 1 million tons of peat. None of the river floodplain peats located were very large, continuous, or of high quality. 75 refs.« less

Net ecosystem CO2 exchange of a primary tropical peat swamp forest in Sarawak, Malaysia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang Che Ing, A.; Stoy, P. C.; Melling, L.

2014-12-01

Tropical peat swamp forests are widely recognized as one of the world's most efficient ecosystems for the sequestration and storage of carbon through both their aboveground biomass and underlying thick deposits of peat. As the peat characteristics exhibit high spatial and temporal variability as well as the structural and functional complexity of forests, tropical peat ecosystems can act naturally as both carbon sinks and sources over their life cycles. Nonetheless, few reports of studies on the ecosystem-scale CO2 exchange of tropical peat swamp forests are available to-date and their present roles in the global carbon cycle remain uncertain. To quantify CO2 exchange and unravel the prevailing factors and potential underlying mechanism regulating net CO2 fluxes, an eddy covariance tower was erected in a tropical peat swamp forest in Sarawak, Malaysia. We observed that the diurnal and seasonal patterns of net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) and its components (gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (RE)) varied between seasons and years. Rates of NEE declined in the wet season relative to the dry season. Conversely, both the gross primary productivity (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (RE) were found to be higher during the wet season than the dry season, in which GPP was strongly negatively correlated with NEE. The average annual NEE was 385 ± 74 g C m-2 yr-1, indicating the primary peat swamp forest functioned as net source of CO2 to the atmosphere over the observation period.

Distribution and accumulation of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in Hong Kong mangrove sediments.

PubMed

Zhu, Haowen; Wang, Ying; Wang, Xiaowei; Luan, Tiangang; Tam, Nora F Y

2014-01-15

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) have been used extensively as brominated flame retardants in various polymers, and have become serious environmental contaminants, particularly in coastal sediments. Mangrove wetlands are important coastal ecosystems in tropical and subtropical regions, and mangrove sediments are often the pollutant sinks due to their close proximity with human activities. In Hong Kong, sediment samples collected from five mangrove swamps were found to be contaminated with PBDEs and the eight measured BDE congeners, including BDE-28, -47, -99, -100, -153, -154, -183 and -209 were detected in all mangrove sediments, indicating that these pollutants were widespread in Hong Kong mangrove wetlands. Among the five swamps, relatively high concentrations of PBDEs were recorded in Mai Po mangrove swamp in the northwestern Hong Kong, which is part of the RAMSAR site but is severely influenced by the pollution from the Pearl River Delta. The depth profile of PBDEs in sediment cores collected from Mai Po also showed the inputs of PBDEs in this mangrove swamp increased year by year. In all sediments, the concentrations of BDE-209 were 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than the other congeners in the same sediment. The concentrations of BDE-209 and ∑PBDEs (defined as the sum of seven targeted BDE congeners except BDE-209) ranged from 1.53 to 75.9 ng g(-1) and from 0.57 to 14.4 ng g(-1), respectively. Among the targeted BDE congeners except BDE-209, slightly different composition was recorded among samples collected from different locations, with BDE-153 and -183 being the pre-dominated congeners. In all mangrove swamps, except Tai O in the southwest of Hong Kong, ∑PBDEs concentrations showed a common trend of landward>seaward>mudflat. The concentrations of ∑PBDEs were significantly correlated with total organic matter (TOM) content in sediments but not with the sediment particle sizes in each mangrove swamp. © 2013.

Spatial differences in hydrologic characteristics and water chemistry of a temperate coastal plain peatland: The Great Dismal Swamp, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Speiran, Gary K.; Wurster, Frederick C.

2016-01-01

Spatial differences in hydrologic processes and geochemistry across forested peatlands control the response of the wetland-community species and resiliency to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Knowing these controls is essential to effectively managing peatlands as resilient wetland habitats. The Great Dismal Swamp is a 45,325 hectare peatland in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of Virginia and North Carolina, USA, managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The existing forest-species distribution is a product of timber harvesting, hydrologic alteration by canal and road construction, and wildfires. Since 2009, studies of hydrologic and geochemical controls have expanded knowledge of groundwater flow paths, water chemistry, response to precipitation events, and characteristics of the peat. Dominant hydrologic and geochemical controls include (1) the gradual slope in land surface, (2) vertical differences in the hydraulic characteristics of the peat, (3) the proximity of lateral groundwater and small stream inflows from uplands, (4) the presence of an extensive canal and road network, and (5) small, adjustable-height dams on the canals. Although upland sources provide some surface water and lateral groundwater inflow to western parts of the swamp, direct groundwater recharge by precipitation is the major source of water throughout the swamp and the only source in many areas. Additionally, the proximity and type of upland water sources affect water levels and nutrient concentrations in canal water and groundwater. Where streams are a dominant upland source, variations in groundwater levels and nutrient concentrations are greater than where recharge by precipitation is the primary water source. Where upland groundwater is a dominant source, water levels are more stable. Because the species distribution of forest communities in the Swamp is strongly influenced by these controls, swamp managers are beginning to incorporate this knowledge into forest, water, and fire management plans.

Isolation and characterization of EG-like cells from Chinese swamp buffalo (Bubalus bubalis).

PubMed

Huang, Ben; Xie, Ti-San; Shi, De-Shun; Li, Tong; Wang, Xiao-Li; Mo, Yi; Wang, Zhi-Qiang; Li, Meng-Mei

2007-10-01

There have been few studies done on the isolation and characterization of Chinese swamp buffalo embryonic germ cells (EG cells). Here, we first report on EG-like cells isolated from Chinese swamp buffalo fetuses. The results showed the cells grew in large, multilayered colonies, which were densely packed with an obvious border resembling mouse embryonic stem cells (ES cells) and EG cells. The buffalo EG-like cells expressed AP, SSEA-1, SSEA-3, SSEA-4 and OCT-4. By RT-PCR, we found that undifferentiated swamp buffalo EG-like cells expressed the OCT-4, NANOG, SOX2, FOXD3, GP130, STAT3, and HEB gene mRNA, but not Fgf4. When these cells were cultured for more than 2weeks without passage, they could differentiate into several types of cells including fibroblast-like, neuron-like, smooth muscle-like, and epithelial-like cells. Some cells formed simple embryoid bodies (EBs) and cystic EBs by suspension culture. By RT-PCR, we found cystic EBs expressed FOXD3, GP130, STAT3 and HEB gene mRNA, but not OCT-4, NANOG, and SOX2 gene mRNA, which could be detected in undifferentiated buffalo EG-like cells. At the same time, the expression of KERATIN-14 (Endoderm), GATA4, ACTA2 (Mesoderm) and TUBB3 (Ectoderm) gene mRNA were also detected in cystic EBs. The results suggested that these cells were capable of forming three germ layers in in vitro differentiation. The expression of OCT-4, NANOG and SOX2 might be essential for Chinese swamp buffalo EG-like cells in a pluripotent state. During the isolation and culture of Chinese swamp buffalo EG-like cells, we found the fetuses that were at 30-80days post-coitus were more efficient than others; and the mechanical method was better than trypsin digestion. The maximal passage of the mechanical method was eight, but the trypsin digestion was just three passages. So it seemed like that the buffalo EG-like cells were sensitive to trypsin. In summary, we were the first to isolate and characterize Chinese swamp buffalo EG-like cells that had morphology and characterization similar to those of established EG/EG-like cells in mouse and human.

Stocks and fluxes of carbon associated with land use change in Southeast Asian tropical peatlands: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hergoualc'h, Kristell; Verchot, Louis V.

2011-06-01

The increasing and alarming trend of degradation and deforestation of tropical peat swamp forests may contribute greatly to climate change. Estimates of carbon (C) losses associated with land use change in tropical peatlands are needed. To assess these losses we examined C stocks and peat C fluxes in virgin peat swamp forests and tropical peatlands affected by six common types of land use. Phytomass C loss from the conversion of virgin peat swamp forest to logged forest, fire-damaged forest, mixed croplands and shrublands, rice field, oil palm plantation, and Acacia plantation were calculated using the stock difference method and estimated at 116.9 ± 39.8, 151.6 ± 36.0, 204.1 ± 28.6, 214.9 ± 28.4, 188.1 ± 29.8, and 191.7 ± 28.5 Mg C ha-1, respectively. Total C loss from uncontrolled fires ranged from 289.5 ± 68.1 Mg C ha-1 in rice fields to 436.2 ± 77.0 Mg C ha-1 in virgin peat swamp forest. We assessed the effects of land use change on C stocks in the peat by looking at how the change in vegetation cover altered the main C inputs (litterfall and root mortality) and outputs (heterotrophic respiration, CH4 flux, fires, and soluble and physical removal) before and after conversion. The difference between the soil input-output balances in the virgin peat swamp forest and in the oil palm plantation gave an estimate of peat C loss of 10.8 ± 3.5 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. Peat C loss from other land use conversions could not be assessed due to lack of data, principally on soil heterotrophic respiration rates. Over 25 years, the conversion of tropical virgin peat swamp forest into oil palm plantation represents a total C loss from both biomass and peat of 427.2 ± 90.7 Mg C ha-1 or 17.1 ± 3.6 Mg C ha-1 yr-1. In all situations, peat C loss contributed more than 63% to total C loss, demonstrating the urgent need in terms of the atmospheric greenhouse gas burden to protect tropical virgin peat swamp forests from land use change and fires.

The response of swamp harebell (Campanula californica) to timber harvest: a case study

Treesearch

Brad Valentine; Tracy Nelson; Clare Golec; Tony LaBanca; Stacey Martinelli

2017-01-01

A perennial herb of the Campanulaceae (bellflower) family, swamp harebell (Campanula californica) is endemic to the north and central coast of California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) considers the species to be moderately threatened, and is concerned with the severity of impacts from land use activities, and the...

Swamp tours in Louisiana post Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

Treesearch

Dawn J. Schaffer; Craig A. Miller

2007-01-01

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita made landfall in southern Louisiana during August and September 2005. Prior to these storms, swamp tours were a growing sector of nature-based tourism that entertained visitors while teaching about local flora, fauna, and culture. This study determined post-hurricane operating status of tours, damage sustained, and repairs made. Differences...

Atlantic white-cedar being eliminated by excessive animal damage in south Jersey

Treesearch

S. Little; H. A. Somes

1965-01-01

Atlantic white-cedar, which grows in the swamps of the New Jersey Pine Region, is a prized timber species. Most areas now growing white-cedar have been clearcut 4 or 5 times since 1700. In contrast, the associated swamp hardwoods-red maple, blackgum, and sweetbay-rarely produce wood that is valuable enough to harvest.

Lead Transport into Bayou Trepagnier Wetlands in Louisiana, USA

Treesearch

Margaret S. Devall; Leonard B. Thien; Erik Ellgaard; George Flowers

2006-01-01

Establishment of a petroleum refinery in 1916 near the headwaters of Bayou Trepagnier with subsequent dredging of the bayou resulted in spoil banks containing high levels of Pb. A large swamp abuts the eastern bank of the bayou. Cores were taken from 15 baldcypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Richard] trees growing in the swamp along a 610-m transect (...

Training the Future - Swamp Work Activities

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-19

In the Swamp Works laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, student interns such as Maddy Olson are joining agency scientists, contributing in the area of Exploration Research and Technology. Olson is majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of North Dakota. The agency attracts its future workforce through the NASA Internship, Fellowships and Scholarships, or NIFS, Program.

Training the Future - Swamp Work Activities

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-19

In the Swamp Works laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, student interns such as Kevin Murphy are joining agency scientists, contributing in the area of Exploration Research and Technology. Murphy is majoring in mechanical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The agency attracts its future workforce through the NASA Internship, Fellowships and Scholarships, or NIFS, Program.

Training the Future - Swamp Work Activities

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-19

In the Swamp Works laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, student interns such as Andrew Thoesen are joining agency scientists, contributing in the area of Exploration Research and Technology. Thoesen is studying mechanical engineering at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. The agency attracts its future workforce through the NASA Internship, Fellowships and Scholarships, or NIFS, Program

Shallow and marginal marine Triassic trace fossils and ichnofabric from northwest Australia (ocean drilling program leg 122)

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Droser, M.L.; O'Connell, S.

The ichnofabric index method of ranking amount of bioturbation was used for the first time in conjunction with discrete trace fossils to examine shallow-water marine cores. Previous ichnological studies on cores have focused primarily on outer shelf and deep-sea discrete trace fossils. Upper Triassic cores examined in this study were recovered off northwest Australia during ODP Leg 122. These sediments were deposited in a shallow-water and continental shelf setting, which included swamp and prodelta environments. The most common lithology is siltstone with interbedded mudstone and sandstone. Sediments deposited in a swamp setting have rootlets and coal beds with an ichnologicalmore » record consisting primarily of mottled bedding rather than discrete trace fossils. Ichnofabric indices 1 through 5 were recorded. Marginal marine/lagoonal facies have a low trace fossil diversity with common Chondrites, Planolites, and Teichichnus. Recorded ichnofabric indices include 1, 2, and 3. Laminated mudstones and siltstones (ii1) are most common. Fully marine open shelf strata are thoroughly bioturbated (ii5 and ii6) with Thalassinoides, Zoophycos, Teichichnus, and Planolites. Wackestone and packstone occur in discrete uppermost Triassic intervals and have ii1 through ii6 represented. In part due to the drilling process, sandstones and reefal limestones were poorly recovered and ichnofabric is not well preserved. Physical sedimentary structures and lateral facies relationships can be difficult to discern in core. In shallow marine deposits, the distribution of ichnofabric indices and discrete trace fossils within these strata provide an additional important data base to evaluate depositional environments.« less

Monotoring of mangrove ecosystem in relation with exploration and production activities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Alamsyah, C.; Dwistiadi, D.

1996-11-01

From Indonesia`s initial 13 million hectares of mangrove forests, presently only 2.6 million hectares remains which must be certainly protected. Mangrove swamps are of considerable ecological importance not only because of their use as spawning and feeding grounds for a many variety of fish and shrimps but also of economical importance and last but not least as coastal protection. In such a sensitive ecosystem, i.e. in the mangrove swamp area of Mahakam Delta in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, TOTAL Indonesie, an affiliate of the French oil company {open_quotes}TOTAL{close_quotes} and one of the production sharing contractors of PERTAMINA, the Indonesian owned statemore » oil company, has undertaken its E&P operations since 1974. Realizing the sensitivity of the mangrove area, TOTAL Indonesie has undertaken continuous monitoring of the environment as part of its Environmental Management System. This monitoring is very important not only to measure the impact to the mangrove ecosystem in particular due to TOTAL Indonesie activities but also as a feed back for the environmental management. Physicochemical and biological aspects of the environment are monitored and various measurements are taken covering: (1) Hydrology and hydrodynamics of the water streams i.e. the water quality, productivity and flow characteristic of the region (2) Sedimentation and biodegradation (3) The influence of accidental and chronic pollution mangrove ecosystem (3) Sensitivity of the mangroves. The above monitoring has led to the conclusion that after more than 20 years of operation, there has significant adverse impact to the mangrove ecosystem by the exploration and production activities of Indonesie.« less

An analysis and comparison of LANDSAT-1, Skylab (S-192) and aircraft data for delineation of land-water cover types of the Green Swamp, Florida

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Higer, A. L. (Principal Investigator); Coker, A. E.; Schmidt, N. F.; Reed, I. E.

1975-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT 1 and Skylab (S192) data from the Green Swamp area of central Florida were categorized into five classes: water, cypress, other wetlands, pine, and pasture. These categories were compared with similar categories on a detailed vegetative map made using low altitude aerial photography. Agreement of LANDSAT and Skylab categorized data with the vegetation map was 87 percent and 83 percent respectively. The Green Swamp vegetative categories may be widespread but often consist of numerous small isolated areas, because LANDSAT has a greater resolution than Skylab, it is more favorable for mapping the small vegetative categories.

Chinese tallow: Invading the southeastern Coastal Plain

USGS Publications Warehouse

,

2000-01-01

Chinese tallow is an ornamental tree with colorful autumn foliage that can survive full sunlight and shade, flooding, drought, and in some cases fire. To horticulturists this kind of tree sounds like a dream, but to ecologists, land managers, and land owners this kind of tree can be a nightmare, especially when it invades an area and takes over native vegetation. Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera), a nonnative tree from China, is currently transforming the southeastern Coastal Plain.Over the last 30 years, Chinese tallow has become a common tree in old fields and bottomland swamps of coastal Louisiana. Several studies at the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Wetlands Research Center (NWRC), Lafayette, Louisiana, are aimed at understanding the factors that contribute to Chinese tallow growth, spread, and management.When tallow invades, it eventually monopolizes an area, creating a forest without native animal or plant species. This tree exhibits classic traits of most nonnative invaders: it is attractive so people want to distribute it, it has incredible resiliency, it grows quickly and in a variety of soils, and it is resistant to pests.In the coastal prairie of Louisiana and Texas, Chinese tallow can grow up to 30 feet and shade out native sun-loving prairie species. The disappearing of prairie species is troublesome because less than 1% of original coastal prairie remains, and in Louisiana, less than 500 of the original 2.2 million acres still exist.Tallow reproduces and grows quickly and can cause large-scale ecosystem modification (fig. 1). For example, when it completely replaces native vegetation, it has a negative effect on birds by degrading the habitat. Besides shading out grasses that cattle like to eat, it can also be potentially harmful to humans and animals because of its berries (fig. 2) and plant sap that contain toxins. There is some concern its leaves may shed toxins that change the soil chemistry and make it difficult for other plants to grow.

Soil greenhouse gas fluxes during wetland forest retreat along the lower Savannah River, Georgia (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krauss, Ken W.; Whitbeck, Julie L.

2012-01-01

Tidal freshwater forested wetlands (tidal swamps) are periodically affected by salinity intrusion at seaward transitions with marsh, which, along with altered hydrology, may affect the balance of gaseous carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses from soils. We measured greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) from healthy, moderately degraded, and degraded tidal swamp soils undergoing sea-level-rise-induced retreat along the lower Savannah River, Georgia, USA. Soil CO2 flux ranged from 90.2 to 179.1 mg CO2 m-2 h-1 among study sites, and was the dominant greenhouse gas emitted. CO2 flux differed among sites in some months, while CH4 and N2O fluxes were 0.18 mg CH4 m-2 h-1 and 1.23 μg N2O m-2 h-1, respectively, with no differences among sites. Hydrology, soil temperature, and air temperature, but not salinity, controlled the annual balance of soil CO2 emissions from tidal swamp soils. No clear drivers were found for CH4 or N2O emissions. On occasion, large ebbing or very low tides were even found to draw CO2 fluxes into the soil (dark CO2 uptake), along with CH4 and N2O. Overall, we hypothesized a much greater role for salinity and site condition in controlling the suite of greenhouse gases emitted from tidal swamps than we discovered, and found that CO2 emissions-not CH4 or N2O-contributed most to the global warming potential from these tidal swamp soils.

Soil greenhouse gas fluxes during wetland forest retreat along the Lower Savannah River, Georgia (USA)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krauss, Ken W.; Whitbeck, Julie L.

2012-01-01

Tidal freshwater forested wetlands (tidal swamps) are periodically affected by salinity intrusion at seaward transitions with marsh, which, along with altered hydrology, may affect the balance of gaseous carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) losses from soils. We measured greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) from healthy, moderately degraded, and degraded tidal swamp soils undergoing sea-level-rise-induced retreat along the lower Savannah River, Georgia, USA. Soil CO2 flux ranged from 90.2 to 179.1 mg CO2 m-2 h-1 among study sites, and was the dominant greenhouse gas emitted. CO2 flux differed among sites in some months, while CH4 and N2O fluxes were 0.18 mg CH4 m-2 h-1 and 1.23 μg N2O m-2 h-1, respectively, with no differences among sites. Hydrology, soil temperature, and air temperature, but not salinity, controlled the annual balance of soil CO2 emissions from tidal swamp soils. No clear drivers were found for CH4 or N2O emissions. On occasion, large ebbing or very low tides were even found to draw CO2 fluxes into the soil (dark CO2 uptake), along with CH4 and N2O. Overall, we hypothesized a much greater role for salinity and site condition in controlling the suite of greenhouse gases emitted from tidal swamps than we discovered, and found that CO2 emissions–not CH4 or N2O–contributed most to the global warming potential from these tidal swamp soils.

Water Resources Management in Turkey as a Case Study Southeastern Anatolia Project (gap)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ačma, Bülent

2010-05-01

The Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), one of the most important projects for develop remarkable natural resources of the world, is accepted as a change for getting benefit from rich water and agricultural resources of the Southeastern Anatolia Region. The GAP Project has been considered as a regional development projects through years, but the dimensions of sustainability, protection of environment and participatory have been attached to the master of the project in recent years. When the GAP Project is completed, the Upper Mesopotomia, the centers of many civilisation, will re-again its importance as it had in the ancient times, and will be alive a center of civilisation. Moreover, when the problem of water shortage and water supplies in the world for the future is kept in mind, the importance of Southeastern Anatolia's water supplies will be doubled. For this reason, the GAP Project, developed by depending on water and natural resources of the region, will have an important place in the world. The aim of this study is to introduce the region with rich natural resources and the GAP Project. For this reason, firstly, the natural potential of the region will be introduced. Second, The GAP Project will be presented in detailes. In the third stage, the projects being processed for protecting the natural sources and environment will be analyzed. In the last stage, strategies and policies to develop and to protect the natural resources of the region in short, mid, and long terms will be proposed.

Restoration of a severely impacted riparian wetland system - The Pen Branch Project

Treesearch

Christopher Barton; Eric A. Nelson; Randall K. Kolka; Kenneth W. McLeod; William H. Conner; Michelle Lakly; Douglas Martin; John Wigginton; Carl C. Trettin; Joe Wisniewski

2000-01-01

The Savannah River Swamp is a 3020 ha forested wetland on the floodplain of the Savannah River and is located on the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site (SRS) near Aiken, SC (Fig. 1). Historically the swamp consisted of approximately 50% baldcypress-water tupelo stands, 40% mixed bottomland hardwood stands, and 10% shrub, marsh, and open water. Tributeries...

Variation in flood tolerance of container-grown seedlings of swamp white oak, bur oak, and white oak

Treesearch

Michael P. Walsh; J.W. Van Sambeek; Mark V. Coggeshall

2008-01-01

How much variation in flood tolerance exists among seedlings within oak species, given the flood frequency of sites from which acorns are collected, has been largely unexplored. Our studies examined initial growth and flood tolerance for seedlings of swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor Willd.), bur oak (Q. macrocarpa L.), and white...

Grafting influences on early acorn production in swamp white oak (Quercus bicolor Wild.)

Treesearch

Mark V. Coggeshall; J.W. Van Sambeek; H.E. Garrett

2008-01-01

Early fruiting of swamp white oak planting stock has been observed. The potential to exploit this trait for wildlife enhancement purposes was evaluated in a grafting study. Scions from both precocious and non-precocious ortets were grafted onto a series of related seedling rootstock sources. Acorn production was recorded through age 4 years. Acorn productivity of the...

Genetic diversity of infective larvae of Gnathostoma spinigerum (Nematoda: Gnathostomatidae) in freshwater swamp eels from Thailand.

PubMed

Eamsobhana, P; Wanachiwanawin, D; Roongruangchai, K; Song, S L; Yong, H S

2017-11-01

Human gnathostomiasis is a food-borne zoonosis caused by a tissue nematode of the genus Gnathostoma. The disease is highly endemic in Asia, including Thailand. The freshwater swamp eel (Monopterus albus), the second intermediate host of the gnathostome nematode, has an important role in transmitting the infection in Thailand. Surveys on the infective larvae of Gnathostoma spinigerum based on morphological features in freshwater swamp eels have been performed continuously and reported in Thailand. However, there is still limited molecular data on intra-species variations of the parasite. In this study, a total of 19 third-stage larvae of morphologically identified G. spinigerum were collected from 437 liver samples of freshwater swamp eels purchased from a large wholesale market in Bangkok, Thailand. Molecular characterization based on mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) sequences was performed to elucidate their genetic variations and phylogenetic relationship. Among the 19 infective larvae recovered from these eels, 16 were sequenced successfully. Phylogenetic analyses inferred from the partial COI gene showed the presence of three distinct COI haplotypes. Our findings confirm the presence of G. spinigerum as the main species in Thailand.

Finding and Using Wasted Water to Restore Baldcypress - Water Tupelo Swamps and Freshwater Marshes and Protect Against Salt Water Intrusion: A Case Study of the Lake Pontchartrain Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaffer, G. P.; Lane, R.; Day, J. W.; Barrett, S.

2017-12-01

We developed a geographic information system (GIS) containing substantial point and non-point freshwater sources along the North Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, from Lake Maurepas to the Pearl River, which potentially could be directed at degraded wetlands. Thus far, we have concentrated on municipal wastewater treatment facilities, subdivisions treating their own sewage, non-point source drainage features, and potential Mississippi River diversion sites. Most analysis, processing, and mapping were conducted in Arc GIS v9.2. Five classes of source water ranging from <25,000 to >100,000 gallons per day were mapped. These were color and size coded and the level of detail in the GIS varies according to aerial coverage. That is, the overall image is in broad brush and increasing detail is automatically provided as the user increases magnification The sources were then prioritized by size and distance from a marsh or swamp. Because assimilation wetlands into marshes in coastal Louisiana attract the introduced rodent nutria (Myocaster coypus) swamps were weighted higher than marshes. The top five sources were all wastewater facilities located near swamps.

Paleoecology of the Late Pennsylvanian-age Calhoun coal bed and implications for long-term dynamics of wetland ecosystems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Willard, D.A.; Phillips, T.L.; Lesnikowska, A.D.; DiMichele, W.A.

2007-01-01

Quantitative plant assemblage data from coal balls, miospores, megaspores, and compression floras from the Calhoun coal bed (Missourian) of the Illinois Basin (USA) are used to interpret spatial and temporal changes in plant communities in the paleo-peat swamp. Coal-ball and miospore floras from the Calhoun coal bed are dominated strongly by tree ferns, and pteridosperms and sigillarian lycopsids are subdominant, depending on geographic location within the coal bed. Although the overall composition of Calhoun peat-swamp assemblages is consistent both temporally and spatially, site-to-site differences and short-term shifts in species dominance indicate local topographic and hydrologic control on species composition within the broader context of the swamp. Statistical comparison of the Calhoun miospore assemblages with those from other Late Pennsylvanian coal beds suggests that the same basic species pool was represented in each peat-swamp landscape and that the relative patterns of dominance and diversity were persistent from site to site. Therefore, it appears that the relative patterns of proportional dominance stayed roughly the same from one coal bed to the next during Late Pennsylvanian glacially-driven climatic oscillations.

Carbon-14 Specific Activity Model Validation for Biota in Wetland Environments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yankovich, T.L.; Sharp, K.J.; Benz, M.L.

2008-01-15

In many cases, contaminants, such as radionuclides, can show highly localized spatial distributions in natural systems. Therefore, a key question for environmental assessment and monitoring becomes, how can these localized distributions of contaminants in the environment lead to organism exposure, and ultimately, the potential for effects to receptor biota? To address this question, an important first step is to conduct field surveys at sites of interest to map out the spatial distribution and extent of contaminants in areas that are being occupied and utilized by resident receptor biota. Work can then be conducted to establish predictive relationships between contaminant concentrationsmore » in biota tissues and those in environmental media with which biota interact, to gain an understanding of how representative ambient contaminant concentrations are of biota exposure. The objectives of this study were: - To conduct a field survey in a wetland ecosystem to characterize the spatial distribution of carbon- 14 ({sup 14}C), a radionuclide with dynamics in natural systems that can be described using a specific activity model; and - To determine whether {sup 14}C concentrations in environmental media reflect those measured in tissues of resident flora and fauna. A detailed field campaign was carried out in summer 2001 to characterize the spatial distribution and areal coverage of {sup 14}C in Duke Swamp, a wetland ecosystem on Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL)'s Chalk River Laboratories (CRL) site that receives {sup 14}C through releases from an up-gradient Waste Management Area (WMA), primarily through groundwater influx. Sampling of surface vegetation (dominantly comprised of Sphagnum moss) was conducted at a total of 69 locations, with complementary sampling of air, soil, fungi, aerial insects, ground-dwelling insects, amphibians, small mammals and snakes being carried out at a subset of five locations with varying {sup 14}C concentrations. Concentrations of {sup 14}C in resident Duke Swamp biota were compared to levels measured in environmental media (including moss, soil and air) to determine whether concentrations in such media reflect animal exposure, for application in routine environmental monitoring programs on the CRL site. In general, for most types of receptor animals, {sup 14}C specific activities were found to be similar to or less than those measured in air, soil and surface vegetation at all locations sampled, suggesting that in most cases, estimates of {sup 14}C levels in animals could either be realistically or conservatively predicted based on the values measured in environmental media. In the case of fungi, receptor-to-media {sup 14}C specific activity ratios fell between 0.04 and 0.23 relative to air, between 0.03 and 0.70 relative to soil, and between 0.078 and 0.31 relative to moss. Small mammal specific activities also generally fell well below those that would be predicted based on specific activities measured in environmental media, with ratios ranging from 0.11 to 0.36 relative to air, from 0.17 to 0.85 relative to soil and from 0.21 to 0.58 relative to moss. Similar ratios were also established for snakes; however, a notable exception occurred for amphibians, a type of animal that tends to spend relatively more time in aquatic environments than the other species tested. In the case of Duke Swamp amphibians, animal-to-air {sup 14}C specific activity ratios ranged from 0.40 to 2.3, animal-to-soil ratios ranged from 0.81 to 3.4 and animal-to-moss ratios ranged from 1.5 to 2.4. These higher {sup 14}C levels in amphibians relative to the environmental media may be due to increased {sup 14}C exposure of aquatic or amphibious animals that occupy systems receiving inputs via groundwater. In such systems, {sup 14}C is incorporated in aquatic plants and animals, and later transferred to higher predatory species, such as amphibians, that consume them. Therefore, with the exception of amphibians and other aquatic receptor species, it is reasonable to estimate concentrations of {sup 14}C in receptor biota in wetland environments like Duke Swamp at CRL, based on measurements of {sup 14}C in environmental media, including air, soil and surface vegetation. In the case of Duke Swamp amphibians, environmental media concentrations could still be roughly predicted if they are multiplied by a 4-fold correction factor. In addition, our study findings also confirm that in cases where elevated {sup 14}C levels are highly localized, elevated exposures to resident biota are also highly localized. Such information is critical to the development of cost-effective environmental monitoring programs that are protective of nonhuman biota, while reducing the need to capture and euthanize animals during routine monitoring.« less

Paleocene-eocene lignite beds of southwest Alabama: Parasequence beds in highstand systems tracts

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mancini, E.A.; Tew, B.H.; Carroll, R.E.

1993-09-01

In southwest Alabama, lignite beds are present in at least four stratigraphic intervals that span approximately 8 m.y. of geologic time. Lignite is found in the Paleocene Oak Hill Member and Coal Bluff Member of the Naheola Formation of the Midway Group and the Paleocene Tuscahoma Sand and the Eocene Hatchetigbee Formation of the Wilcox Group. Lignite beds range in thickness from 0.5 to 11 ft and consist of 32-53% moisture, 13-39% volatile matter, 4-36% fixed carbon, and 5-51% ash. These Paleocene and Eocene lignite beds occur as parasequence deposits in highstand systems tracts of four distinct third-order depositional sequences.more » The lignite beds are interpreted as strata within highstand systems tract parasequences that occur in mud-dominated regressive intervals. Lignite beds were deposited in coastal marsh and low-lying swamp environments as part of deltaic systems that prograded into southwestern Alabama from the west. As sediment was progressively delivered into the basin from these deltas, the effects of relative sea level rise during an individual cycle were overwhelmed, producing a net loss of accommodation and concomitant overall basinward progradation of the shoreline (regression). Small-scale fluctuations in water depth resulting from the interaction of eustasy, sediment yield, and subsidence led to cyclical flooding of the low-lying coastal marshes and swamps followed by periods of progradational and regression. Highstand systems tract deposition within a particular depositional sequence culminated with a relative sea level fall that resulted in a lowering of base level and an abrupt basinward shift in coastal onlap. Following sea level fall and the subsequent accumulation of the lowstand deposits, significant relative sea level rise resulted in the marine inundation of the area previously occupied by coastal marshes and swamps and deposition of the transgressive systems tract of the overlying sequence.« less

Family Home Childcare Providers: A Comparison of Subsidized and Non-Subsidized Working Environments and Employee Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shriner, Michael; Schlee, Bethanne M.; Mullis, Ronald L.; Cornille, Thomas A.; Mullis, Ann K.

2008-01-01

Federal and State Governments provide childcare subsidies for low-income working families. This study compares the encountered issues and working environments of family home providers of subsidized and non-subsidized childcare. Questionnaires were distributed throughout a southeastern state in the United States to 548 family home childcare…

Bringing Healthy Retail to Urban "Food Swamps": a Case Study of CBPR-Informed Policy and Neighborhood Change in San Francisco.

PubMed

Minkler, Meredith; Estrada, Jessica; Thayer, Ryan; Juachon, Lisa; Wakimoto, Patricia; Falbe, Jennifer

2018-04-09

In urban "food swamps" like San Francisco's Tenderloin, the absence of full-service grocery stores and plethora of corner stores saturated with tobacco, alcohol, and processed food contribute to high rates of chronic disease. We explore the genesis of the Tenderloin Healthy Corner Store Coalition, its relationship with health department and academic partners, and its contributions to the passage and implementation of a healthy retail ordinance through community-based participatory research (CBPR), capacity building, and advocacy. The healthy retail ordinance incentivizes small stores to increase space for healthy foods and decrease tobacco and alcohol availability. Through Yin's multi-method case study analysis, we examined the partnership's processes and contributions to the ordinance within the framework of Kingdon's three-stage policymaking model. We also assessed preliminary outcomes of the ordinance, including a 35% increase in produce sales and moderate declines in tobacco sales in the first four stores participating in the Tenderloin, as well as a "ripple effect," through which non-participating stores also improved their retail environments. Despite challenges, CBPR partnerships led by a strong community coalition concerned with bedrock issues like food justice and neighborhood inequities in tobacco exposure may represent an important avenue for health equity-focused research and its translation into practice.

Home range use by swamp rabbits (Sylvilagus aquaticus) in a frequently inundated bottomland forest

Treesearch

Patrick A. Zollner; Winston P. Smith; Leonard A. Brennan

2000-01-01

Home range size of six swamp rabbits in south-central Arkansas was estilnated by radio-telemetry from February 1991 through March 1992. The average home range size was significantly larger than previously reported estimates. This difference is partly attributable to the large number of observations per rabbit in our study, but may also be explained by our inclusion of...

Evaluation of six herbicides for control of swamp smartweed [Persicaria hydropiperoides (Michx.) Small] under flooded and moist soil conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Six herbicides (2,4-D, diquat, glyphosate, imazamox, imazapyr, and triclopyr) were tested for efficacy on swamp smartweed (Polygonum hydropiperoides Michx.) in two studies in Mississippi. In the first study in a pond, glyphosate (2.1 and 4.2 kg ai ha-1), imazapyr (0.3 and 0.5 kg ai ha-1), and tricl...

Presettlement Forests of the Black Swamp Area, Cache River,Woodruff County, Arkansas, from Notes of the First Land Survey

Treesearch

Thomas L. Foti

2001-01-01

Relationships between forest vegetation and soil were reconstructed from field notes of the 1846 Public Land Survey (PLS) along a portion of the Cache River including Black Swamp. Locations of corners were digitized long with species,diameter,and distance from section or quarter-section corners. Trees were grouped for analysis according to occurrence on groups of...

Water quality in the southern Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp in the vicinity of the Tamiami Trail, 1996-97

USGS Publications Warehouse

Miller, Ronald L.; McPherson, Benjamin F.; Haag, Kim H.

1999-01-01

The quality of water flowing southward in the Everglades and Big Cypress Swamp was characterized by three synoptic surveys along an 80-mile section of the Tamiami Trail and along a 24-mile transect down the Shark River Slough, by monthly sampling of a background reference site in the central Big Cypress Swamp, and by sampling of fish tissue for contaminants at several sites near the Trail. The quality of water along the Trail is spatially variable due to natural and human influences. Concentrations of dissolved solids and common ions such as chloride and sulfate were lowest in the central and eastern Big Cypress Swamp and were higher to the west due to the effects of seawater, especially during the dry season, and to the east due to canal drainage from the northern Everglades. Concentrations of total phosphorus tended to decrease from west to east along the 80-mile section of the Trail, and were usually about 0.01 milligram per liter or less in the Everglades. Short-term loads (based on average discharge for 4 days) of total phosphorus and total Kjeldahl nitrogen (ammonia plus organic nitrogen) across four gaged sections of the Tamiami Trail were highest in the Everglades near the S-12 structures primarily due to the relatively greater discharges in that section. Concentrations of dissolved solids and total phosphorus at the central Big Cypress Swamp site increased significantly during the dry season as waters ponded. Effects of nearby, upstream agricultural activities were evident at a site in the western Big Cypress Swamp where relatively high concentrations of total phosphorus, total mercury, and dissolved organic carbon and high periphyton biomass accumulation rates were measured and where several pesticides were detected. The most frequently detected pesticides along the Trail were atrazine (14 detections), tebuthiuron (11 detections), and metolachlor (5 detections), and most concentrations were less than 0.1 microgram per liter. DDT compounds were the only pesticides detected in fish from five sites. Total DDT ranged from 5 to 6 micrograms per kilogram in largemouth bass and from 11 to 17 micrograms per kilogram in Florida gar.

Palm Swamp Wetland Ecosystems of the Upper Amazon: Characterizing their Distribution and Inundation State Using Multiple Resolution Microwave Remote Sensing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podest, E.; McDonald, K. C.; Schröder, R.; Pinto, N.; Zimmermann, R.; Horna, V.

2011-12-01

Palm swamp wetlands are prevalent in the Amazon basin, including extensive regions in northern Peru. These ecosystems are characterized by constant surface inundation and moderate seasonal water level variation. The combination of constantly saturated soils, giving rise to low oxygen conditions, and warm temperatures year-round can lead to considerable methane release to the atmosphere. Because of the widespread occurrence and expected sensitivity of these ecosystems to climate change, knowledge of their spatial extent and inundation state is crucial for assessing the associated land-atmosphere carbon exchange. Precise spatio-temporal information on palm swamps is difficult to gather because of their remoteness and difficult accessibility. Spaceborne microwave remote sensing is an effective tool for characterizing these ecosystems since it is sensitive to surface water and vegetation structure and allows monitoring large inaccessible areas on a temporal basis regardless of atmospheric conditions or solar illumination. We are developing a remote sensing methodology using multiple resolution microwave remote sensing data to determine palm swamp distribution and inundation state over focus regions in the Amazon basin in northern Peru. For this purpose, two types of multi-temporal microwave data are used: 1) high-resolution (100 m) data from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) to derive maps of palm swamp extent and inundation from dual-polarization fine-beam and multi-temporal HH-polarized ScanSAR, and 2) coarse resolution (25 km) combined active and passive microwave data from QuikSCAT and AMSR-E to derive inundated area fraction on a weekly basis. We compare information content and accuracy of the coarse resolution products to the PALSAR-based datasets to ensure information harmonization. The synergistic combination of high and low resolution datasets will allow for characterization of palm swamps and assessment of their flooding status. This work has been undertaken partly within the framework of the JAXA ALOS Kyoto & Carbon Initiative. PALSAR data have been provided by JAXA/EORC. Portions of this work were carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Variation of soil hydraulic properties with alpine grassland degradation in the eastern Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Tao; Hou, Shuai; Wu, Shaohong; Liu, Yujie; Liu, Yanhua; Zou, Xintong; Herzberger, Anna; Liu, Jianguo

2017-05-01

Ecosystems in alpine mountainous regions are vulnerable and easily disturbed by global environmental change. Alpine swamp meadow, a unique grassland type in the eastern Tibetan Plateau that provides important ecosystem services to the upstream and downstream regions of international rivers of Asia and other parts of the world, is undergoing severe degradation, which can dramatically alter soil hydraulic properties and water cycling processes. However, the effects of alpine swamp meadow degradation on soil hydraulic properties and the corresponding influencing mechanisms are still poorly understood. In this study, soil moisture content (SMC), field capacity (FC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) together with several basic soil properties under lightly degraded (LD), moderately degraded (MD) and severely degraded (SD) alpine swamp meadow were investigated; the variations in SMC, FC and Ks with alpine swamp meadow degradation and their dominant influencing factors were analysed. The results showed that SMC and FC decreased consistently from LD to SD, while Ks decreased from LD to MD and then increased from MD to SD, following the order of LD > SD > MD. Significant differences in soil hydraulic properties between degradation degrees were found in the upper soil layers (0-20 cm), indicating that the influences of degradation were most pronounced in the topsoils. FC was positively correlated with capillary porosity, water-stable aggregates, soil organic carbon, and silt and clay content; Ks was positively correlated with non-capillary porosity (NCP). Relative to other soil properties, soil porosity is the dominant factor influencing FC and Ks. Capillary porosity explained 91.1 % of total variance in FC, and NCP explained 97.3 % of total variance in Ks. The combined effect of disappearing root activities and increasing sand content was responsible for the inconsistent patterns of NCP and Ks. Our findings suggest that alpine swamp meadow degradation would inevitably lead to reduced water holding capacity and rainfall infiltration. This study provides a more comprehensive understanding of the soil hydrological effects of vegetation degradation. Further hydrological modelling studies in the Tibetan Plateau and similar regions are recommended to understand the effects of degraded alpine swamp meadows on soil hydraulic properties.

New Insights on Water Buffalo Genomic Diversity and Post-Domestication Migration Routes From Medium Density SNP Chip Data.

PubMed

Colli, Licia; Milanesi, Marco; Vajana, Elia; Iamartino, Daniela; Bomba, Lorenzo; Puglisi, Francesco; Del Corvo, Marcello; Nicolazzi, Ezequiel L; Ahmed, Sahar S E; Herrera, Jesus R V; Cruz, Libertado; Zhang, Shujun; Liang, Aixin; Hua, Guohua; Yang, Liguo; Hao, Xingjie; Zuo, Fuyuan; Lai, Song-Jia; Wang, Shuilian; Liu, Ruyu; Gong, Yundeng; Mokhber, Mahdi; Mao, Yongjiang; Guan, Feng; Vlaic, Augustin; Vlaic, Bogdan; Ramunno, Luigi; Cosenza, Gianfranco; Ahmad, Ali; Soysal, Ihsan; Ünal, Emel Ö; Ketudat-Cairns, Mariena; Garcia, José F; Utsunomiya, Yuri T; Baruselli, Pietro S; Amaral, Maria E J; Parnpai, Rangsun; Drummond, Marcela G; Galbusera, Peter; Burton, James; Hoal, Eileen; Yusnizar, Yulnawati; Sumantri, Cece; Moioli, Bianca; Valentini, Alessio; Stella, Alessandra; Williams, John L; Ajmone-Marsan, Paolo

2018-01-01

The domestic water buffalo is native to the Asian continent but through historical migrations and recent importations, nowadays has a worldwide distribution. The two types of water buffalo, i.e., river and swamp, display distinct morphological and behavioral traits, different karyotypes and also have different purposes and geographical distributions. River buffaloes from Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Mozambique, Brazil and Colombia, and swamp buffaloes from China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil were genotyped with a species-specific medium-density 90K SNP panel. We estimated the levels of molecular diversity and described population structure, which revealed historical relationships between populations and migration events. Three distinct gene pools were identified in pure river as well as in pure swamp buffalo populations. Genomic admixture was seen in the Philippines and in Brazil, resulting from importations of animals for breed improvement. Our results were largely consistent with previous archeological, historical and molecular-based evidence for two independent domestication events for river- and swamp-type buffaloes, which occurred in the Indo-Pakistani region and close to the China/Indochina border, respectively. Based on a geographical analysis of the distribution of diversity, our evidence also indicated that the water buffalo spread out of the domestication centers followed two major divergent migration directions: river buffaloes migrated west from the Indian sub-continent while swamp buffaloes migrated from northern Indochina via an east-south-eastern route. These data suggest that the current distribution of water buffalo diversity has been shaped by the combined effects of multiple migration events occurred at different stages of the post-domestication history of the species.

Larval Gnathostoma spinigerum Detected in Asian Swamp Eels, Monopterus albus, Purchased from a Local Market in Yangon, Myanmar.

PubMed

Chai, Jong-Yil; Sohn, Woon-Mok; Na, Byoung-Kuk; Park, Jong-Bok; Jeoung, Hoo-Gn; Hoang, Eui-Hyug; Htoon, Thi Thi; Tin, Htay Htay

2015-10-01

The present study was performed to determine the infection status of swamp eels with Gnathostoma sp. larvae in Myanmar. We purchased total 37 Asian swamp eels, Monopterus albus, from a local market in Yangon in June and December 2013 and 2014. All collected eels were transferred with ice to our laboratory and each of them was examined by the artificial digestion technique. A total of 401 larval gnathostomes (1-96 larvae/eel) were detected in 33 (89.2%) swamp eels. Most of the larvae (n=383; 95.5%) were found in the muscle. The remaining 18 larvae were detected in the viscera. The advanced third-stage larvae (AdL3) were 2.3-4.4 mm long and 0.25-0.425 mm wide. The characteristic head bulb (0.093 × 0.221 mm in average size) with 4 rows of hooklets, muscular long esophagus (1.025 mm), and 2 pairs of cervical sacs (0.574 mm) were observed by light microscopy. The average number of hooklets in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rows was 41, 45, 48, and 51, respectively. As scanning electron microscopic findings, the characteristic 4-5 rows of hooklets on the head bulb, a cervical papilla, tegumental spines regularly arranged in the transverse striations, and an anus were well observed. Based on these morphological characters, they were identified as the AdL3 of Gnathostoma spinigerum. By the present study, it has been confirmed for the first time that Asian swamp eels, M. albus, from Yangon, Myanmar are heavily infected with G. spinigerum larvae.

Larval Gnathostoma spinigerum Detected in Asian Swamp Eels, Monopterus albus, Purchased from a Local Market in Yangon, Myanmar

PubMed Central

Chai, Jong-Yil; Sohn, Woon-Mok; Na, Byoung-Kuk; Park, Jong-Bok; Jeoung, Hoo-Gn; Hoang, Eui-Hyug; Htoon, Thi Thi; Tin, Htay Htay

2015-01-01

The present study was performed to determine the infection status of swamp eels with Gnathostoma sp. larvae in Myanmar. We purchased total 37 Asian swamp eels, Monopterus albus, from a local market in Yangon in June and December 2013 and 2014. All collected eels were transferred with ice to our laboratory and each of them was examined by the artificial digestion technique. A total of 401 larval gnathostomes (1-96 larvae/eel) were detected in 33 (89.2%) swamp eels. Most of the larvae (n=383; 95.5%) were found in the muscle. The remaining 18 larvae were detected in the viscera. The advanced third-stage larvae (AdL3) were 2.3-4.4 mm long and 0.25-0.425 mm wide. The characteristic head bulb (0.093 × 0.221 mm in average size) with 4 rows of hooklets, muscular long esophagus (1.025 mm), and 2 pairs of cervical sacs (0.574 mm) were observed by light microscopy. The average number of hooklets in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th rows was 41, 45, 48, and 51, respectively. As scanning electron microscopic findings, the characteristic 4-5 rows of hooklets on the head bulb, a cervical papilla, tegumental spines regularly arranged in the transverse striations, and an anus were well observed. Based on these morphological characters, they were identified as the AdL3 of Gnathostoma spinigerum. By the present study, it has been confirmed for the first time that Asian swamp eels, M. albus, from Yangon, Myanmar are heavily infected with G. spinigerum larvae. PMID:26537042

New Insights on Water Buffalo Genomic Diversity and Post-Domestication Migration Routes From Medium Density SNP Chip Data

PubMed Central

Colli, Licia; Milanesi, Marco; Vajana, Elia; Iamartino, Daniela; Bomba, Lorenzo; Puglisi, Francesco; Del Corvo, Marcello; Nicolazzi, Ezequiel L.; Ahmed, Sahar S. E.; Herrera, Jesus R. V.; Cruz, Libertado; Zhang, Shujun; Liang, Aixin; Hua, Guohua; Yang, Liguo; Hao, Xingjie; Zuo, Fuyuan; Lai, Song-Jia; Wang, Shuilian; Liu, Ruyu; Gong, Yundeng; Mokhber, Mahdi; Mao, Yongjiang; Guan, Feng; Vlaic, Augustin; Vlaic, Bogdan; Ramunno, Luigi; Cosenza, Gianfranco; Ahmad, Ali; Soysal, Ihsan; Ünal, Emel Ö.; Ketudat-Cairns, Mariena; Garcia, José F.; Utsunomiya, Yuri T.; Baruselli, Pietro S.; Amaral, Maria E. J.; Parnpai, Rangsun; Drummond, Marcela G.; Galbusera, Peter; Burton, James; Hoal, Eileen; Yusnizar, Yulnawati; Sumantri, Cece; Moioli, Bianca; Valentini, Alessio; Stella, Alessandra; Williams, John L.; Ajmone-Marsan, Paolo

2018-01-01

The domestic water buffalo is native to the Asian continent but through historical migrations and recent importations, nowadays has a worldwide distribution. The two types of water buffalo, i.e., river and swamp, display distinct morphological and behavioral traits, different karyotypes and also have different purposes and geographical distributions. River buffaloes from Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Romania, Bulgaria, Italy, Mozambique, Brazil and Colombia, and swamp buffaloes from China, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Brazil were genotyped with a species-specific medium-density 90K SNP panel. We estimated the levels of molecular diversity and described population structure, which revealed historical relationships between populations and migration events. Three distinct gene pools were identified in pure river as well as in pure swamp buffalo populations. Genomic admixture was seen in the Philippines and in Brazil, resulting from importations of animals for breed improvement. Our results were largely consistent with previous archeological, historical and molecular-based evidence for two independent domestication events for river- and swamp-type buffaloes, which occurred in the Indo-Pakistani region and close to the China/Indochina border, respectively. Based on a geographical analysis of the distribution of diversity, our evidence also indicated that the water buffalo spread out of the domestication centers followed two major divergent migration directions: river buffaloes migrated west from the Indian sub-continent while swamp buffaloes migrated from northern Indochina via an east-south-eastern route. These data suggest that the current distribution of water buffalo diversity has been shaped by the combined effects of multiple migration events occurred at different stages of the post-domestication history of the species. PMID:29552025

Design of a Water Environment Monitoring System Based on Wireless Sensor Networks

PubMed Central

Jiang, Peng; Xia, Hongbo; He, Zhiye; Wang, Zheming

2009-01-01

A water environmental monitoring system based on a wireless sensor network is proposed. It consists of three parts: data monitoring nodes, data base station and remote monitoring center. This system is suitable for the complex and large-scale water environment monitoring, such as for reservoirs, lakes, rivers, swamps, and shallow or deep groundwaters. This paper is devoted to the explanation and illustration for our new water environment monitoring system design. The system had successfully accomplished the online auto-monitoring of the water temperature and pH value environment of an artificial lake. The system's measurement capacity ranges from 0 to 80 °C for water temperature, with an accuracy of ±0.5 °C; from 0 to 14 on pH value, with an accuracy of ±0.05 pH units. Sensors applicable to different water quality scenarios should be installed at the nodes to meet the monitoring demands for a variety of water environments and to obtain different parameters. The monitoring system thus promises broad applicability prospects. PMID:22454592

Peat in the ?Niayes? of Senegal: depositional environment and Holocene evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lézine, A.-M.; Chateauneuf, J.-J.

The "Niayes" peat deposits north of Dakar, in Senegal, provide an unusual opportunity to study the continental and littoral detrital environment of the Holocene in West Africa. These organic deposits, that may attain a thickness of 10m, accumulated in Late Pleistocene interdune basins whose extend morphology depend closely upon the palaeohydrologic evolution of and the continental model for this zone during the Holocene. The present sub-Canarian climate of this region allows the preservation of an azonal vegetation of Guinean chorological affinity that is evidence of the wider development of now more southerly vegetation during the older Holocene. The nature of the sedimentary facies of these peatfields is closely related to the altitude of the basins of accumulation and the position of the fresh/salt water interface which conditions the recharge of the shallow aquifer. Thus, fresh-water and mangrove-swamp peats exist more or less closely associated according to the site. 14C age determinations gives ages for these deposits between 12000 B.P. and the present, and detailed palynological studies have shown that there were two periods of climatic optimum, one between 9000 and 7000 B.P. and one between 4000 and 2000 B.P. The highly variable rates of sedimentation (0.2-12,5 mm/y for the continental zones and 2 mm/y for the mangrove swamps) are related to the paleotopography of the water-table or to very local fluctuations of sea level. The evolution of the vegetal biomass, evaluated both qualitatively (relative representation of the various vegetation levels) and quantitatively (concentration of pollen per gram of dry sediment) during the course of the Holocene enables reconstruction of the complete climatic and hydrologic history of the region up to the dawn of the Present.

Nariva Swamp Ramsar Site, Trinidad and Tobago (West Indies) Wetland Habitat Restoration Initiative

Treesearch

Montserrat Carbonell; Nadra Nathai-Gyan

2005-01-01

Trinidad and Tobago, a twin island nation, is the most southerly of the Caribbean islands and lies just 11 km off the coast of Venezuela, near the Orinoco delta. Trinidad, the larger of the two islands, is approximately 5,000 km² and the Nariva Swamp is located on its eastern coast (fig. 1). In 1993, this site was designated as a wetland of international...

Deforestation and reforestation analysis from land-use changes in North Sumatran Mangroves, 1990-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basyuni, M.; Sulistiyono, N.

2018-02-01

Mangrove forest plays a critical role in the context of climate change in tropical and subtropical regions. The present study analyzed the deforestation and reforestation from land-use and land-cover changes from 1990, 2000, 2009 and 2015 in North Sumatran mangrove forest, Indonesia. The land-use/land-cover consists of thirteen classes namely, primary mangrove forest, secondary mangrove forest, shrub, swamp shrub, swamp, settlement, paddy field, oil palm plantation, aquaculture, dry land farming, mixed dry land farming, mining, and barren land. Results showed that primary mangrove forests significantly decreased 61.21% from 1990 to 2015, mostly deforestation was derived from 1990 to 2000 to be secondary mangrove forest and swamp shrub. During 25 years observed, no reforestation was noted in the primary mangrove forest. Similarly, secondary mangrove forest had been degraded from 56,128.75 ha in 1990 to only 35,768.48 ha in 2015. Drivers of deforestation found in secondary mangrove forests were aquaculture (43.32%), barren land (32.56%), swamp shrub (10.88%), and oil palm plantation (5.17%). On the other hand, reforested activity was occurred only 701.83 ha from 1990 to 2015, while the nonforest use has been increased. These data are likely to contribute towards coastal management planning, conservation, and rehabilitation of degraded mangrove forests.

The Use of an Invasive Species Habitat by a Small Folivorous Primate: Implications for Lemur Conservation in Madagascar.

PubMed

Eppley, Timothy M; Donati, Giuseppe; Ramanamanjato, Jean-Baptiste; Randriatafika, Faly; Andriamandimbiarisoa, Laza N; Rabehevitra, David; Ravelomanantsoa, Robertin; Ganzhorn, Jörg U

2015-01-01

The lemurs of Madagascar are among the most threatened mammalian taxa in the world, with habitat loss due to shifting cultivation and timber harvest heavily contributing to their precarious state. Deforestation often leads to fragmentation, resulting in mixed-habitat matrices throughout a landscape where disturbed areas are prone to invasion by exotic plants. Our study site, the Mandena littoral forest (southeast Madagascar), is a matrix of littoral forest, littoral swamp, and Melaleuca swamp habitats. Here, Melaleuca quinquenervia has invaded the wetland ecosystem, creating a mono-dominant habitat that currently provides the only potential habitat corridor between forest fragments. We sought to understand the role of this invasive Melaleuca swamp on the behavioral ecology of a threatened, small-bodied folivore, the southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis). We collected botanical and behavioral data on four groups of H. meridionalis between January and December 2013. Our results confirm Melaleuca swamp as an important part of their home range: while lemurs seasonally limited activities to certain habitats, all groups were capable of utilizing this invasive habitat for feeding and resting. Furthermore, the fact that Hapalemur use an invasive plant species as a dispersal corridor increases our knowledge of their ecological flexibility, and may be useful in the conservation management of remaining threatened populations.

Habitat-specific foraging of prothonotary warblers: Deducing habitat quality

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lyons, J.E.

2005-01-01

Foraging behavior often reflects food availability in predictable ways. For example, in habitats where food availability is high, predators should attack prey more often and move more slowly than in habitats where food availability is low. To assess relative food availability and habitat quality, I studied the foraging behavior of breeding Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) in two forest habitat types, cypress-gum swamp forest and coastal-plain levee forest. I quantified foraging behavior with focal animal sampling and continuous recording during foraging bouts. I measured two aspects of foraging behavior: 1) prey attack rate (attacks per minute), using four attack maneuvers (glean, sally, hover, strike), and 2) foraging speed (movements per minute), using three types of movement (hop, short flight [???1 m], long flight [>1 m]). Warblers attacked prey more often in cypress-gum swamp forest than in coastal-plain levee forest. Foraging speed, however, was not different between habitats. I also measured foraging effort (% time spent foraging) and relative frequency of attack maneuvers employed in each habitat; neither of these variables was influenced by forest type. I conclude that Prothonotary Warblers encounter more prey when foraging in cypress-gum swamps than in coastal-plain levee forest, and that greater food availability results in higher density and greater reproductive success for birds breeding in cypress-gum swamp.

The Use of an Invasive Species Habitat by a Small Folivorous Primate: Implications for Lemur Conservation in Madagascar

PubMed Central

Eppley, Timothy M.; Donati, Giuseppe; Ramanamanjato, Jean-Baptiste; Randriatafika, Faly; Andriamandimbiarisoa, Laza N.; Rabehevitra, David; Ravelomanantsoa, Robertin; Ganzhorn, Jörg U.

2015-01-01

The lemurs of Madagascar are among the most threatened mammalian taxa in the world, with habitat loss due to shifting cultivation and timber harvest heavily contributing to their precarious state. Deforestation often leads to fragmentation, resulting in mixed-habitat matrices throughout a landscape where disturbed areas are prone to invasion by exotic plants. Our study site, the Mandena littoral forest (southeast Madagascar), is a matrix of littoral forest, littoral swamp, and Melaleuca swamp habitats. Here, Melaleuca quinquenervia has invaded the wetland ecosystem, creating a mono-dominant habitat that currently provides the only potential habitat corridor between forest fragments. We sought to understand the role of this invasive Melaleuca swamp on the behavioral ecology of a threatened, small-bodied folivore, the southern bamboo lemur (Hapalemur meridionalis). We collected botanical and behavioral data on four groups of H. meridionalis between January and December 2013. Our results confirm Melaleuca swamp as an important part of their home range: while lemurs seasonally limited activities to certain habitats, all groups were capable of utilizing this invasive habitat for feeding and resting. Furthermore, the fact that Hapalemur use an invasive plant species as a dispersal corridor increases our knowledge of their ecological flexibility, and may be useful in the conservation management of remaining threatened populations. PMID:26536667

Vegetation correlates of gibbon density in the peat-swamp forest of the Sabangau catchment, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

PubMed

Hamard, Marie; Cheyne, Susan M; Nijman, Vincent

2010-06-01

Understanding the complex relationship between primates and their habitats is essential for effective conservation plans. Peat-swamp forest has recently been recognized as an important habitat for the Southern Bornean gibbon (Hylobates albibarbis), but information is scarce on the factors that link gibbon density to characteristics of this unique ecosystem. Our aims in this study were firstly to estimate gibbon density in different forest subtypes in a newly protected, secondary peat-swamp forest in the Sabangau Catchment, Indonesia, and secondly to identify which vegetation characteristics correlate with gibbon density. Data collection was conducted in a 37.1 km(2) area, using auditory sampling methods and vegetation "speed plotting". Gibbon densities varied between survey sites from 1.39 to 3.92 groups/km(2). Canopy cover, tree height, density of large trees and food availability were significantly correlated with gibbon density, identifying the preservation of tall trees and good canopy cover as a conservation priority for the gibbon population in the Sabangau forest. This survey indicates that selective logging, which specifically targets large trees and disrupts canopy cover, is likely to have adverse effects on gibbon populations in peat-swamp forests, and calls for greater protection of these little-studied ecosystems. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Fifth Graders' Flow Experience in a Digital Game-Based Science Learning Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zheng, Meixun

2012-01-01

This mixed methods study examined the flow experience of 5th graders in the CRYSTAL ISLAND game-based science learning environment. Participants were 73 5th graders from a suburban public school in the southeastern US. Quantitative data about students' science content learning and attitudes towards science was collected via pre-and post surveys.…

A New View of Glacial Age Coastal Wetlands from A Well-Preserved Underwater Baldcypress Forest in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeLong, K. L.; Harley, G. L.; Bentley, S. J.; Xu, K.; Reese, A.; Caporaso, A.; Obelcz, J.; Gonzalez Rodriguez, S. M.; Truong, J. T.; Shen, Z.; Raines, B.

2017-12-01

A unique site in the northern Gulf of Mexico contains well-preserved baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) stumps in life position deposited when sea level was lower during the last glacial interval presumably uncovered by Hurricane Ivan in 2004. Previous pollen and climate model studies suggest the southeastern USA was cold and dry during the glacial with boreal forests; however, little paleo-evidence for the northern gulf coast exist. Wood normally decomposes quickly in marine environments thus such sites are rare and understudied until this multi-disciplinary team began studying the site in 2012. The team has dived the site collecting 23 wood samples, conducted two geophysical surveys, and recovered 18 vibracores. Radiocarbon dating of tree stumps reveal that the trees are radiocarbon dead yet some dates from the woody fractions in the sediments above the trees have 14C ages from 37,350-41,830 years BP, which are close to the 14C dating limitations. Optically stimulated luminescence dating pushes burial of the forest back to 60-70 ka. Based on the site location (13.5 km offshore), water depth (18 m), and relative tectonic stability of this area, and geophysical surveys, these subtropical baldcypress trees lived 30 m above sea level in a backwater swamp in an area with topographic relief during a lower sea level stand in the last glacial interval (MIS 3-4) near the now buried and incised Mobile River channels. Pollen analysis from sediment core samples found an abundance of baldcypress and tupelo (Nyssa aquatic)with some pine pollen similar to the modern northern Gulf Coast. We developed a floating tree-ring chronology spanning 489 years using wood samples with bark still intact. This chronology reveals growth suppression events towards the end of their life with death occurring simultaneously and burial possibly caused by floodplain aggradation from a quick rise in sea level during the glacial interval. These large baldcypress trees and pollen results suggest the presence of robust subtropical coastal wetlands during the glacial interval; however, environmental stress decreased tree growth and sea level rise ultimately buried the forest. This site is yielding valuable information on glacial age environments, coastal geomorphology, sediment preservation of macro botanicals, and many other scientific questions.

Electrodynamic Dust Shield for Space Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mackey, Paul J.; Johansen, Michael R.; Olsen, Robert C.; Raines, Matthew G.; Phillips, James R., III; Cox, Rachel E.; Hogue, Michael D.; Pollard, Jacob R. S.; Calle, Carlos I.

2016-01-01

Dust mitigation technology has been highlighted by NASA and the International Space Exploration Coordination Group (ISECG) as a Global Exploration Roadmap (GER) critical technology need in order to reduce life cycle cost and risk, and increase the probability of mission success. The Electrostatics and Surface Physics Lab in Swamp Works at the Kennedy Space Center has developed an Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) to remove dust from multiple surfaces, including glass shields and thermal radiators. Further development is underway to improve the operation and reliability of the EDS as well as to perform material and component testing outside of the International Space Station (ISS) on the Materials on International Space Station Experiment (MISSE). This experiment is designed to verify that the EDS can withstand the harsh environment of space and will look to closely replicate the solar environment experienced on the Moon.

Recent benthic foraminifera assemblages from mangrove swamp and channels of Abu Dhabi (UAE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fiorini, Flavia; Lokier, Stephen W.; Odeh, Weaam A. S. Al; Paul, Andreas; Song, Jianfeng; Freeman, Mark; Michel, Françoise

2017-04-01

Zonation of Recent mangrove environments can be defined using benthic foraminifera, however, little is known about foraminifera from mangrove environments of the Persian/Arabian Gulf. The objective of this study is to produce a detailed micropaleontological and sedimentological analysis to identify foraminiferal associations from mangrove swamps and channels located on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island (UAE). Detailed sediment sampling collection in mangal environments of Eastern Abu Dhabi was carried out to assess the distribution of benthic foraminifera in different sedimentary facies in the mangal and in the surrounding natural environments of the upper and lower intertidal area (mud flats and channels). A 100 m transect across a natural channel in a mangal on the eastern side of Abu Dhabi Island was sampled in detail for sedimentological and foraminiferal analysis. Forty-seven samples were collected at 2 meter intervals along the transect in a number of different sedimentary facies including; fine sediment in areas exposed during low tide and close to mangrove trees (Avicennia marina), fine sediment rich in leaf material, coarse sediment in channels, and coarse sediments with a shell lag. At each sampling location environmental parameters were recorded, including water depth, salinity, temperature and pH. Samples collected for foraminiferal analysis were stained in rose Bengal in order to identify living specimens. Samples collected on the mud flat at the margin of the channel show a living foraminiferal assemblage characterised by abundant foraminifera belonging to the genera Ammonia, Elphidium, Cribroelphidium, Triloculina, Quinqueloculina, Sigmoilinita, Spiroloculina, Peneroplis and Spirolina. Samples collected in the lower (wet) intertidal area close to Avicennia marina roots, presented a low-diversity assemblage mostly comprising small-sized opportunistic foraminifera of the genera Ammonia and Cribroelphidium along with rare Triloculina and Quinqueloculina. Samples from the upper intertidal areas (often dry) close to Avicennia marina roots and leaf material, produced an assemblage exclusively composed of small-sized opportunistic Ammonia and Cribroelphidium, together with abundant specimensof agglutinated foraminifera belonging to the genera Trochammina. The samples collected in the higher energy settings (channels) were rich in foraminiferal tests, rare living forms were found in the coarser grained facies. The more abundant genera of foraminifera in these facies were miliolids belonging to the genera Triloculina, Quinqueloculina, Sigmoilina and epiphytic larger benthic foraminifera belonging to the genera Peneroplis, Spirolina and Sorites. The distribution of Recent benthic foraminifera from the mangrove environments of the Abu Dhabi region present a powerful tool for constructing a zonation of marine coastline environments and can be employed as a modern analogue for interpreting the depositional environment of ancient coastline sediments.

Panoramic Okavango Swamp, Botswana and Fires in Angola, Africa

NASA Image and Video Library

1991-08-11

In this panoramic view of the Okavango Swamp, Botswana, (19.0S, 22.0E), the Okavango River, seen in sunglint, flows into a topographic trough to form an inland delta. Water, trapped in the meandering delta distributaries is evaporated or transpired by vegetation. In Angola to the north, the many fires of the seasonal burning of savannah vegetation for land clearing, in preparation for agriculture, has filled the atmosphere with haze and smoke.

Training the Future - Swamp Work Activities

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-19

In the Swamp Works laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, student interns such as Thomas Muller, left, and Austin Langdon are joining agency scientists, contributing in the area of Exploration Research and Technology. Muller is pursuing a degree in computer engineering and control systems and Florida Tech. Langdon is an electrical engineering major at the University of Kentucky. The agency attracts its future workforce through the NASA Internship, Fellowships and Scholarships, or NIFS, Program.

New Space Technology Development

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mueller, Rob

2014-01-01

Visitors from Moon Express, a privately funded commercial space company, will be visiting KSC Swamp Works. This presentation includes a high-level introduction to NASA and commercial partnerships, as well as brief background on the moon - what we used to think about it hundreds of years ago, and what we know today with advanced technologies.***This third part being added includes Swamp Works technical capabilities and has a high-level overview of a selection of projects.***

Evolution of fluvial styles in the Eocene Wasatch Formation, Powder River Basin, Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Warwick, Peter D.; Flores, Romeo M.; Ethridge, Frank G.; Flores, Romeo M.

1987-01-01

Vertical and lateral facies changes in the lower part of the Eocene Wasatch Formation in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming represent an evolution of fluvial systems that varied from meandering to anastomosing. The meandering facies in the lower part of the study interval formed in a series of broad meanderbelts in a northnorthwestflowing system. Upon abandonment this meanderbelt facies served as a topographic high on which a raised or ombrotrophic Felix peat swamp developed. Peat accumulated until compaction permitted encroachment of crevasse splays from an adjoining transitional facies which consists of deposits of a slightly sinuous fluvial system. Crevasse splays eventually prograded over the peat swamp that was partly covered by lakes. Bifurcation, reunification, and transformation of crevasse channels into major conduits produced an anastomosing system that was characterized by diverging and converging channels separated by floodbasins drowned by lakes and partly covered swamps.

Estimation of daily age and timing of hatching of exotic Asian swamp eels Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793) in a backwater marsh of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Long, James M.; Lafleur, C.

2011-01-01

Otoliths were used to estimate daily age, growth, and hatching date of the exotic Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus) captured from a backwater marsh of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA. The eels were sampled using leaf litter traps (N = 140) from 17 July to 28 August 2008. The captured (N = 15) Asian swamp eels ranged in total length from 4.9 cm to 12.2 cm, and were estimated to be from 21 to 51 days old (N = 13), and hatched from 13 June to 7 August 2008. Assuming linear growth, these individuals grew an average rate of 0.2 cm per day. To the authors' knowledge, this was the first time otoliths were used to estimate daily age, growth, and hatching date for M. albus, which can be useful for understanding the ecology of this species in the wild.

Stratigraphic and interregional changes in Pennsylvanian coal-swamp vegetation: Environmental inferences

USGS Publications Warehouse

Phillips, T.L.; Peppers, R.A.; DiMichele, W.A.

1985-01-01

Quantitative analysis of Pennsylvanian coal-swamp vegetation provides a means of inferring organization and structure of communities. Distribution of these communities further provides inferences about environmental factors, including paleoclimate. Our observations are based on in situ, structurally preserved peat deposits in coal-ball concretions from 32 coal seams in the eastern one-half of the United States and from several seams in western Europe and on spore assemblages from more than 150 seams. There were three times of particularly significant and nearly synchronous vegetational changes in the Midcontinent and Appalachian coal regions during the Pennsylvanian Period. Each was different in kind and magnitude. The first marked changes occurred during the early part of the Middle Pennsylvanian with the fluctuating decline in the high level of lycopod dominance. The abundance of cordaites increased. There was a rise in the occurrences of the lycopod herbs to form intercalated marshlands and an overall increase in floral diversity. Changes ensuing from this time also include shifts in dominant species of lycopod trees and a sustained rise in abundance and diversity of tree-fern spores. The next significant time of change was during the middle part of the Middle Pennsylvanian, representing both a culmination of earlier trends and expansions of cordaites in the Midcontinent where there was a maximum change in species without net loss of diversity. Tree ferns and medullosan pteridosperms attained subdominant levels of abundance and diverse lycopod species dominated except in the Atokan-Desmoinesian transition of the Midcontinent. The third and sharpest break occurred near the Middle-Late Pennsylvanian boundary when extinctionsof the dominant, coal-swamp lycopods allowed development of tree-fern dominance. The Late Pennsylvanian coal swamps apparently were colonized or recolonized mainly by species from outside coal swamps rather than by the survivor populations of the Middle Pennsylvanian swamps. Paralleling the changes in floras through the Pennsylvanian are changes in preservational aspects of the peat. These include a decline in shoot/root ratios from approximately 1 to < 1 during the first time of vegetational changes and a rise in this ratio during the second; there was a parallel rise and fall in fusain abundance and a rise in wood/periderm ratios. The stratigraphic distribution of identified coal resources in the United States is interpreted as largely dependent on net changes in relative wetness of Pennsylvanian coal swamps, a pattern of drying during the first period of vegetational change, followed by a concomitant increase in continuous wet climate with brackish influence in the Midcontinent during the second; this was followed by a time of extreme moisture stress bringing on the third, and most severe, vegetational change. ?? 1986.

The 1979 Southeastern Virginia Urban Plume Study. Volume 1: Description of experiments and selected aircraft data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gregory, G. L.; Lee, R. B., III; Mathis, J. J., Jr.

1981-01-01

The Southeastern Virginia Urban Plume Study (SEV-UPS) utilizes remote sensors and satellite platforms to monitor the Earth's environment and resources. SEV-UPS focuses on the application of specific remote sensors to the monitoring and study of specific air quality problems. The 1979 SEV-UPS field program was conducted with specific objectives: (1) to provide correlative data to evaluate the Laser Absorption spectrometer ozone remote sensors; (2) to demonstrate the utility of the sensor for the study of urban ozone problems; (3) to provide additional insights into air quality phenomena occuring in Southeastern Virginia; and (4) to compare measurement results of various in situ measurement platforms. The field program included monitoring from 12 surface stations, 4 aircraft, 2 tethered balloons, 2 radiosonde release sites, and numerous surface meteorological observation sites. The aircraft monitored 03, NO, NOX, Bscat, temperature, and dewpoint temperature.

Checklists, safety, my culture and me.

PubMed

Raghunathan, Karthik

2012-07-01

The world is not flat. Hierarchy is a fact of life in society and in healthcare institutions. National, specialty-specific and institutional cultures may play an important role in shaping today's patient-safety climate. The influence of power distance on safety interventions is under-studied. Checklists may make power distance-hampered negotiations easier by providing a standardised aviation-like framework for communications and by democratising the environment. By using surveys and simulation, we might discover patterns of potentially hidden yet problematic interactions that might foster maintenance of the error swamp. We need to understand how people interact as members of a group as this is crucial for the development of generalisable safety interventions.

A Networked Learning Model for Construction of Personal Learning Environments in Seventh Grade Life Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Drexler, Wendy

2010-01-01

The purpose of this design-based research case study was to apply a networked learning approach to a seventh grade science class at a public school in the southeastern United States. Students adapted Web applications to construct personal learning environments for in-depth scientific inquiry of poisonous and venomous life forms. API widgets were…

Tonawanda Creek, Genesee County, New York, Regional Flood Control. Final Environmental Impact Statement.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-11-01

sedges, rushes, cattails, and iris and some woody shrub species, have established within or around the periphery of these areas that help to pro- vide...extensively in spring and fall. Shrub swamps are comprised of woody species such as red-osier dogwood, silky dogwood, arrow-wood, buckthorn, slippery...valuable to wildlife and are used extensively by migrating waterfowl during the spring and summer. Shrub swamps are dominated by woody species, including

Profiling Groundwater Salt Concentrations in Mangrove Swamps and Tropical Salt Flats

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ridd, Peter V.; Sam, Renagi

1996-11-01

The salt concentration of groundwater in mangrove swamps is an important parameter controlling the growth of mangrove species. Extremely high salt concentrations of groundwater in tropical salt flats are responsible for the complete absence of macrophytes. Determining groundwater salt concentrations can be a very time-consuming and laborious process if conventional techniques are used. Typically, groundwater samples must be extracted for later laboratory analysis. In this work, a simple conductivity probe has been developed which may be inserted easily to a depth of 2 m into the sediment. The changes in conductivity of the sediment is due primarily to porewater salt concentration, and thus ground conductivity is useful in determining changes in groundwater salt concentrations. Using the conductivity probe, transects of sediment conductivity can be undertaken quickly. As an example of a possible application of the probe, transects of ground conductivity were taken on a mangrove swamp/saltflat system. The transects show clearly the sharp delineation in conductivity between the salt flat and mangrove swamp due to a change in groundwater salt concentrations. Horizontal and vertical salt concentration gradients of up to 50 g l -1 m -1and 150 g l -1 m -1, respectively, were found. Very sharp changes in groundwater salt concentrations at the interface between salt flats and mangroves indicate that the mangroves may be modifying the salinity of the groundwater actively.

Physical and chemical characteristics and development of the Changuinola peat deposit of northwestern Panama

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cohen, A.D.; Raymond, R. Jr.; Thayer, G.

1987-08-01

A peat deposit occupying over 80 square kilometers, and averaging 8 meters in thickness, was discovered on the Caribbean coast of northwestern Panama near the town of Changuinola. This deposit occurs inland (behind) the present beach-barrier shoreline. It is thickest in the center and thins toward all edges (as if domed). The surface vegetation in the central regions consists primarily of ombrotrophic plants (especially sedges, grasses, Sphagnum, Sagittaria, and various scattered shrubs). Toward the edges, the deposit has a surface cover of more minerotrophic plants (such as swamp-forest trees, ferns, and palms). Petrographic/botanical analysis of the deposit with depth revealsmore » the presence of five peat types (swamp-forest, sedge-grass-fern, Sagittaria et al., Nymphaea et al., and Rhizophora). Typically peats of the thick, central portions of the deposit are very low in ash and sulfur (less than 2% ash and 0.3% sulfur). Ash contents tend to increase abruptly at the base and more gradually toward the edges of the deposit and sulfur contents increasing gradually toward the ocean and bay. Vertical and lateral variations in botanical, chemical, and physical properties of this deposit can be related to factors that have controlled: (1) the surrounding rocks and water chemistry; (2) the source vegetation; and (3) the environments in which these source ingredients were deposited. 3 refs., 10 figs.« less

High-resolution paleoenvironmental records during the late Quaternary from the marginal seas of East Asia: the intrusion of open-ocean current

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kong, G. S.; Kim, S. P.; Choi, H. S.

2012-04-01

Four long mud-dominated sediment cores (35m-long YSDP 103, 32m-long SSDP 102, 72m-long SSDP103 and 52m-long SSDP 105) were recovered in the continental shelves of Korea and were examined through the analysis of AMS 14C dating, lithology, organic geochemistry and stable isotopes to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental histories during the late Quaternary. These drill cores acquired from the thick Holocene mud deposits allow us to obtain high-resolution paleoenvironmental records concerning the intrusion of open-ocean warm currents triggered by the last deglacial sea-level rise. Various organic geochemical results (TOC, C/N, C/S, HI, δ13Corg) of core YSDP 103, taken from the southeastern Yellow Sea, showed that terrigenous organic matters were significantly dominant in the southeastern Yellow Sea between 16,600 and 4,300 cal. yr BP probably due to the influence of freshwater derived from an adjacent river and then the dominance of organic matter origin changed to marine type affected by surface primary productivity after 4,300 cal. yr BP. These results may indicate that the marine environment of the southeastern Yellow Sea changed from brackish to a modern-type shelf environment since 4,300 cal. yr BP, implying the intrusion of the open-ocean current. The δ18O values of benthic foraminifer Cibicides lobatulus, however, showed that variation changed from high-amplitude to low-amplitude fluctuations at around 3,500 cal. yr. The time discrepancy of 800 years between organic geochemical proxies and stable isotope proxies is interpreted to reflect that a modern-type shelf environment was not fully developed in the southeastern Yellow Sea until 3,500 cal. yr BP, even though the open-ocean current (Yellow Sea Warm Current) began to flow into the Yellow Sea at 4,300 cal. Yr. BP. The results of core SSDP 102 collected in the Korean Strait reveal that the area experienced 4 stages of environmental change during the last 13,900 cal. yr BP. Occurrence of well-rounded, oxidized rock fragments at the core bottom indicates that the area was under a fluvial environment before 13,900 cal. yr BP. Between 13,900 and 7,000 cal. yr BP, the dominances of terrigenous organic matters and coarse fractions reflect that the area was changed into the estuarine (deltaic) environment which was directly affected by the Nakdong River. Between 7,000 and 6,100 cal. yr BP, the occurrence of a sand layer with remarkably high coarse fraction and low TOC contents reflects that the temporary erosion occurred in this area probably due to the deceleration of sea-level rising rate. Since 6,100 cal. yr BP, the prevailing occurrences of marine organic matters and the fine-grained sediments indicate that the study area was changed into a modern-type shelf environment under the influence of the open-ocean current (Tsushima Current). The organic chemical result of core SSDP103 extracted in the central South Sea of Korea close to the Seomjin River mouth, indicates that the area was under a brackish coastal environment like tidal flat and estuarine at the early stage of deposition, which is supported by high occurrence of oyster shell fragments and terrigeneous organic matter. Even though there is some difficulty of age control due to older ages at depth of 33.8m, various geochemical proxies showed that the area began to change into a modern-type marine environment by far before 5.21cal. kyr, supported by increasing TOC, C/N and δ13Corg. Based on the results of core SSDP 105 collected from the southeastern coast of Korea, the occurrence of large, well-rounded gravel at depths of 34.3 - 32 m reflects that the southeastern coast of Korea was under a shallow coastal environment before 17,500 cal. yr. During the transgressive stage of sea-level between 17,500 and 8,100 cal. yr, this area was more under a coastal environment of erosion rather than the deposition of the fine-grained sediments as indicated by the dominance of coarse fractions. Since 8,100 cal. yr when sea-level rose nearly to the present level, the southeastern coast area began to change into a modern-type shelf environment influenced by the intrusion of the Tsushima Current, which is supported by significantly high TOC contents, high CaCO3 contents, and predominance of marine-type organic matters. In summary, long mud-dominated Holocene cores provided the opportunity to elucidate the onset of inflow of the open-ocean warm current during Holocene marine transgression in the marginal seas around the Korean Peninsula. The results of four long cores suggest that the timings of intrusion of warm currents are different from each other due to the influence of brackish coastal currents and river discharge rather than increased water depth. Also, a relative abundance of marine-type organic matter characteristic of oxygen and carbon isotopes showed differences even after establishing a modern-type marine environment, implying that properties of their environments are altered according to the changes of strength between river discharge and open-ocean current at their location.

The geology, botany and chemistry of selected peat-forming environments from temperate and tropical latitudes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cameron, C.C.; Esterle, J.S.; Palmer, C.A.

1989-01-01

Peat has been studied in several geologic settings: (1) glaciated terrain in cold temperate Maine and Minnesota, U.S.A.; (2) an island in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine, where sea level is rising; (3) the warm temperate U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, where sea level has changed often; and (4) the tropical coast of Sarawak, Malaysia, and the tropical delta of the Batang Hari River, Sumatra, Indonesia. Most of these deposits are domed (ombrotrophic or partly ombrotrophic) bogs in which peat accumulation continued above the surface of the surrounding soil. However, the bogs of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains are comparatively not as domed, and many have almost level surfaces. In some bogs, aquatic or semi-aquatic plant materials accumulated, replaced water in the depressions, and formed a surface on which marsh or swamp vegetation could subsequently live, die, and accumulate. In others, the plant materials accumulated initially on level silt or sand surfaces supporting marshes or swamps. As the peat dome formed, plants growing on it changed from luxuriant ones near the base of the dome, where nutrients were brought into the bog by surface and ground water, to stunted ones at the top of the dome, where the raised bogs are fed by nutrient-poor precipitation. The physical and chemical changes that take place in the sequence of environments from the pond stage of deposit development, through the grassy marsh stage, through the forested swamp stage, and finally through the heath dome stage can be measured in terms of acidity and ash, volatile matter, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen contents, as well as in the kind and distribution of trace elements. The organic and inorganic contents of the deposits relate to geomorphology, and geomorphology relates to their settings. As models of coal formation, some domed peat deposits may help in solving problems of distribution and character of ancient coal beds. But clearly not all peat deposits are precursors of coal. Most Holocene peat deposits are subject to destruction by erosion, fire and decomposition through microbial and chemical oxidation before burial. The best environments for coal precursors have biomass accumulation, a continuously rising water table within the mass, and minimum influx of clay and silt until preservation by burial. The most suitable settings for future economic coal deposits are domed bogs that accumulate thick, widespread peat having low ash and low sulfur contents. The ombrotrophic peat deposits of tropical Sarawak and Sumatra are thick and extensive, contain low-ash and low-sulfur peat, and have high heating values. They are considered to be the best tropical coal analogs because of their extent and chances of preservation; the base of the peat is below adjacent river levels, and chemical and structural conditions are favorable for accumulation. ?? 1989.

Mapping Palm Swamp Wetland Ecosystems in the Peruvian Amazon: a Multi-Sensor Remote Sensing Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Podest, E.; McDonald, K. C.; Schroeder, R.; Pinto, N.; Zimmerman, R.; Horna, V.

2012-12-01

Wetland ecosystems are prevalent in the Amazon basin, especially in northern Peru. Of specific interest are palm swamp wetlands because they are characterized by constant surface inundation and moderate seasonal water level variation. This combination of constantly saturated soils and warm temperatures year-round can lead to considerable methane release to the atmosphere. Because of the widespread occurrence and expected sensitivity of these ecosystems to climate change, it is critical to develop methods to quantify their spatial extent and inundation state in order to assess their carbon dynamics. Spatio-temporal information on palm swamps is difficult to gather because of their remoteness and difficult accessibility. Spaceborne microwave remote sensing is an effective tool for characterizing these ecosystems since it is sensitive to surface water and vegetation structure and allows monitoring large inaccessible areas on a temporal basis regardless of atmospheric conditions or solar illumination. We developed a remote sensing methodology using multi-sensor remote sensing data from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR), Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) DEM, and Landsat to derive maps at 100 meter resolution of palm swamp extent and inundation based on ground data collections; and combined active and passive microwave data from AMSR-E and QuikSCAT to derive inundation extent at 25 kilometer resolution on a weekly basis. We then compared information content and accuracy of the coarse resolution products relative to the high-resolution datasets. The synergistic combination of high and low resolution datasets allowed for characterization of palm swamps and assessment of their flooding status. This work has been undertaken partly within the framework of the JAXA ALOS Kyoto & Carbon Initiative. PALSAR data have been provided by JAXA. Portions of this work were carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Relationships among plants, soils and microbial communities along a hydrological gradient in the New Jersey Pinelands, USA

PubMed Central

Yu, Shen; Ehrenfeld, Joan G.

2010-01-01

Background and Aims Understanding the role of different components of hydrology in structuring wetland communities is not well developed. A sequence of adjacent wetlands located on a catenary sequence of soils and receiving the same sources and qualities of water is used to examine specifically the role of water-table median position and variability in affecting plant and microbial community composition and soil properties. Methods Two replicates of three types of wetland found adjacent to each other along a hydrological gradient in the New Jersey Pinelands (USA) were studied. Plant-community and water-table data were obtained within a 100-m2 plot in each community (pine swamp, maple swamp and Atlantic-white-cedar swamp). Monthly soil samples from each plot were analysed for soil moisture, organic matter, extractable nitrogen fractions, N mineralization rate and microbial community composition. Multivariate ordination methods were used to compare patterns among sites within and between data sets. Key Results The maple and pine wetlands were more similar to each other in plant community composition, soil properties and microbial community composition than either was to the cedar swamps. However, maple and pine wetlands differed from each other in water-table descriptors as much as they differed from the cedar swamps. All microbial communities were dominated by Gram-positive bacteria despite hydrologic differences among the sites. Water-table variability was as important as water-table level in affecting microbial communities. Conclusions Water tables affect wetland communities through both median level and variability. Differentiation of both plant and microbial communities are not simple transforms of differences in water-table position, even when other hydrologic factors are kept constant. Rather, soil genesis, a result of both water-table position and geologic history, appears to be the main factor affecting plant and microbial community similarities. PMID:19643908

Proceedings of the National Wetland Symposium: Wetland Hydrology Held in Chicago, Illinois on September 16-18 1987

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-09-16

the leached sand at both outcrops. Woody wetland vegetation in the form of a shrub swamp or a wooded swamp, as suggested The leached sand overlies...till vertical feet of woody moss peat was deposited that is more friable and reddish brown in color either by the persistence of a shrub or wooded...important and the dominant typically marshes, replacing many shrub and source of water for wetlands located on river forested wetlands slopes or

A new dwarf crayfish (Decapoda: Cambaridae) from floodplain swamps in central Alabama.

PubMed

Schuster, Guenter A; Kendrick, Michael R

2017-03-05

Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) rotatus, new species, is a dwarf crayfish from floodplain swamps in the Tombigbee and Black Warrior river drainages of Greene, Hale, and Marengo counties, Alabama. The new species is morphologically most similar to Cambarellus (Pandicambarus) lesliei. They differ in a several morphological characters. Cambarellus rotatus, new species, has gonopods that are rotated mesially so that the terminal elements oppose each other, and they have a short C-shaped sperm groove. These are unique features among known species of Cambarellus.

Peat in modern swamps mimics coal origins 300 M years ago

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Given, P.H.; Ryan, N.J.; Rhoads, C.A.

1985-07-01

Peat swamps can provide excellent models of ancient coal-forming processes. Peats of differing salinity and vegetational cover exhibit different trends of chemistry with depth, which have been studied in order to clarify ideas of coal origins. Thus changes with depth of phenolic structures determined by pyrolysis/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry reflect changes in plant source and partial microbial degradation of lignin, which will be reflected in the structure of coals that may form later. 12 refs., 3 figs.

CBR Operations in Cold Weather: A Bibliography. Volume 1

DTIC Science & Technology

1989-11-01

JOHNSTON R C SWAMP OAK TEST DATA DOD/DROLS ; HANNEMANN M M D ANALYSIS. 514727L ;HALLANGER N L ;KROTH J R ;WESTLAKE WILFRED J ; HAMILTON WILLIAM M 1953...E 1963 HANNA ALFRED E; SIMULATED COLD WEATHER DOD/DROLS RADIOLOGICAL DECONTAMINATION 296248 OF RECOVERY EQUIPMENT. HANNEMANN M M D 1967 JOHNSTON R C...SWAMP OAK TEST DATA DOD/DROLS ; HANNEMANN M M D ANALYSIS. 514727L ;HALLANGER N L ;KROTH J R ;WESTLAKE WILFRED J : 37 HELLBERG E N 1961 TAYLOR D

Growth and nutrition of baldcypress families planted under varying salinity regimes in Louisiana, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krauss, K.W.; Chambers, J.L.; Allen, J.A.; Soileau, D.M.; DeBosier, A.S.

2000-01-01

Saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico is one important factor in the destruction of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.) swamps along the Louisiana Gulf Coast, USA. Recent restoration efforts have focused on identification of baldcypress genotypes with greater tolerance to saline conditions than previously reported. To date, salt tolerance investigations have not been conducted under saline field conditions. In 1996, therefore, three plantations were established with 10 half-sib genotype collections of baldcypress in mesohaline wetlands. Tree survival and growth were measured at the end of two growing seasons, and foliar ion concentrations of Na, Cl, K, and Ca and available soil nutrients were measured during the 1996 growing season. In general, soil nutrient concentrations exceeded averages found in other baldcypress stands in the southeastern United States. Seedlings differed among sites in all parameters measured, with height, diameter, foliar biomass, and survival decreasing as site salinity increased. Average seedling height at the end of two years, for example, was 196.4 cm on the lowest salinity site and 121.6 cm on the highest. Several half-sib families maintained greater height growth increments (ranging from 25.5 to 54.5 cm on the highest salinity site), as well as lower foliar ion concentrations of K, Cl, and Ca. Results indicate that genotypic screening of baldcypress may improve growth and vigor of seedlings planted within wetlands impacted by saltwater intrusion.

The food environment is a complex social network.

PubMed

Brown, David R; Brewster, Luther G

2015-05-01

The lack of demonstrated impact of the South LA fast food ban suggests that the policy was too narrowly crafted. Healthy food deserts like South LA are simultaneously unhealthy food swamps; and face myriad interrelated social, economic, and environmental challenges. The food environment is a complex social network impacted by social, economic and political factors at the neighborhood, regional, national, and international levels. Banning one subtype of unhealthy food venue is not likely to limit the availability of unhealthy processed and packaged foods nor result in increased access to affordable healthy foods. Food deserts and food insecurity are symptoms of the interacting pathologies of poverty, distressed communities, and unhealthy global macroeconomic and industrial policies. Policies that seek to impact urban health disparities need to tackle root causes including poverty and the global production and distribution of cheap, addictive, unhealthy products that promote unhealthy lifestyles. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Geologic maps of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Atwater, Brian F.

1982-01-01

The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, the arm of the San Francisco Bay estuary that reaches into the Central Valley of California, differs from typical coastal-plain deltas in three important respects.  First, rather than meeting the ocean individually and directly, all major waterways of this delta discharge via a single constricted outlet into a chain of estuarine bays and straits.  Second, in the most common vertical sequence of deposits, peat and mud deposited in tidal marshes and swamps (tidal wetlands) directly overlie alluvium or eolian sand, a sequence recording a landward spread of tidal environments rather than the seaward migration of fluvial environments that is typical of coastal-plain deltas (Cosby, 1941, p. 43; Thompson, 1957, p. 12; Shlemon and Begg, 1975, p. 259; Atwater and Belknap, 1980).  Finally, intensive human use has led to a peculiar set of conflicts involving rights to water and responsibilities for flood-control levees (Kockelman and other, 1982).

Determine utility of ERTS-1 to detect and monitor area strip mining and reclamation. [southeastern Ohio

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rogers, R. H. (Principal Investigator); Pettyjohn, W. A.

1975-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Computer techniques were applied to process ERTS tapes acquired over coal mining operations in southeastern Ohio on 21 August 1972 and 3 September 1973. ERTS products obtained included geometrically correct map overlays showing stripped earth, partially reclaimed earth, water, and natural vegetation. Computer-generated tables listing the area covered by each land-water category in square kilometers and acres were produced. By comparing these mapping products, the study demonstrates the capability of ERTS to monitor changes in the extent of stripping, success of reclamation, and the secondary effects of mining on the environment.

Stratigraphic Reconstruction of a Late Pleistocene Cypress Forest Discovered on the Northern Gulf of Mexico Continental Shelf

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez Rodriguez, S. M.; Bentley, S. J.; Obelcz, J.; Truong, J. T.; DeLong, K. L.; Xu, K.; Harley, G. L.; Reese, C. A.; Caporaso, A.; Shen, Z.

2017-12-01

A previously buried bald cypress forest (Taxodium distichum) was discovered on the continental shelf, offshore of Orange Beach, Alabama, USA, in 20 m water depth. The forest was possibly exhumed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, and is now exposed as stumps in life position in a trough located in the northern Gulf of Mexico continental shelf seafloor. We are investigating the local stratigraphy, paleo-landscape, and mode of forest preservation of this unique site. In August 2015 and July 2016, submersible vibracores (18 in total) were collected. Core analysis included: bulk density and imaging via Geotek multi sensor core logger, sediment grain size, structure, and organic content via loss-on-ignition. Selected samples have been dated using 14C and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) methods. Multibeam and CHIRP subbottom bathymetry provide context for litho- and chrono-stratigraphy of the site. Integration of core lithostratigraphy and modern shelf bathymetry reveal Holocene transgressive sands blanketing diverse sedimentary facies that are truncated by the late Pleistocene-early Holocene ravinement. Deposits below the ravinement surface include interbedded sand and mud (exact age unknown, but possibly pertaining to a shallow marine environment), overlying a floodplain/swamp facies of woody debris, peat, and mud (provisionally dated by 14C to 41-45 ka). These units grade laterally into paleosols that appear to be 10-15 ka older, based on recently obtained preliminary OSL dates. Occurrence of paleosols and swamp deposits of broadly similar age and elevation suggests that the ancient landscape possessed topographic relief that allowed wetland and upland habitats to develop in close proximity. These new OSL dates enhance our initial hypothesis that floodplain aggradation in the area was a key factor that might have allowed forest preservation. The timing of temporary sea level rises (SLR) ca. 40 and 60 ka. with our 14C and preliminary OSL dates, suggests that floodplain aggradation associated with SLRs could have buried the swamp and forest sediments. Variable paleo-topography in the area at the time of burial provided enough sediment to keep the cypress forest blanketed, withstanding periods of erosion as sea level fluctuated through the late Pleistocene to Holocene, thus facilitating forest preservation.

The geology of selected peat-forming environments in temperate and tropical latitudes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cameron, C.C.; Palmer, C.A.; Esterle, J.S.

1990-01-01

We studied peat in several geologic and climatic settings: (1) a glaciated terrain in cold-temperate Maine and Minnesota, U.S.A.; (2) an island in a temperate maritime climate in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine, U.S.A., where sea level is rising rapidly and changing the environment of peat accumulation; (3) swamps along the warm-temperate U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, where sea level has changed often, thus creating sites for accumulation; and (4) in a tropical climate along the coast of Sarawak, Malaysia, and the delta of the Batang Hari River, Sumatra, Indonesia (Figs. 1 and 2). With the exception of the deposits on the Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains, most of the deposits described are domed bogs in which peat accumulation continued above the surface of the surrounding soil. The bogs of the U.S. Atlantic and Gulf Coastal Plains have almost level surfaces. All domed bogs are not entirely ombrotrophic (watered only from precipitation); multidomed bogs that rise from irregular or hilly surfaces may be crossed by streams that supply water to the bogs. The geologic processes or organic sedimentation, namely terrestrialization and paludification, are similar in all peat deposits considered here. Differences in geomorphology affecting the quantity and that quality of peat that has ash contents of less than 25%, which are desirable for commercial purposes, depend chiefly on: (1) high humidity, which is favorable to luxuriant growth of peat-forming vegetation; (2) a depositional setting that permits extensive accumulation relatively free from inorganic contamination from sea water and streams and from dust and volcanic ash; and (3) a stable regional water table that controls the rate of decomposition under aerobic conditions and protects the deposit against the ravages of fire. Differences in peat textures are due to the type of vegetation and to the degree of decomposition. The rate of decomposition is largely the result of the amount of oxidation and aerobic microbial activity. Stratigraphic distribution of various textures and amounts of inorganic components within a peat deposit is largely determined by the vertical positions occupied by peat-forming environments, such as pond, marsh, swamp and heath where vegetation accumulated, and the depth to zones of unoxygenated water. Peat also differs in the rate of accumulation. On the basis of carbon-14 dating, an estimated 8 m of peat in the tropical Batang Hari River deposit in Sumatra has been accumulating at the rate of about 1.5 m/1,000 yr, whereas peat in the cold-temperate deposit in Maine has been accumulating at the rate of 0.66 m/1,000 yr. Accumulation rates in domed deposits such as these are affected not only by factors controlling volume of biomass and aerobic decay but also by stream erosion and fires that remove peat. Such disconformities (see Fig. 2) within the deposit may be recognized by sudden vertical changes in degree of decomposition and/or the presence of charcoal. The trace-element content of peat deposits is affected by the environments of their settings. Samples of peat that have an ash content of less than 25% dry weight and that are from small, almost level swamp deposits along the Atlantic Coastal Plain of North Carolina were compared with similar samples from small domed bogs in Maine, a glaciated area. Samples from Nort Carolina, which are from deposits in thick fluvial and nearshore marine sediments far from the bedrock source, are generally higher in Ti, Cr and Pb. The Maine samples from deposits in glacial drift close to the bedrock source contain more Zn, Mn, P, Ca, Na and Fe. The kind and amount of trace elements within the deposits appear to relate largely to depositional setting, to kinds of bedrock source, and to the modes of transportation from source to peat swamp. Trace-element concentrations in the extensive Sumatra peat deposit, which represents a potentially commercial coal bed, are similar to those found in Appalachian c

Gnathostoma spinigerum in live Asian swamp eels (Monopterus spp.) from food markets and wild populations, United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cole, Rebecca A.; Choudhury, Anindo; Nico, Leo G.; Griffin, Kathryn M.

2014-01-01

In Southeast Asia, swamp eels (Synbranchidae: Monopterus spp.) are a common source of human gnathostomiasis, a foodborne zoonosis caused by advanced third-stage larvae (AL3) of Gnathostoma spp. nematodes. Live Asian swamp eels are imported to US ethnic food markets, and wild populations exist in several states. To determine whether these eels are infected, we examined 47 eels from markets and 67 wild-caught specimens. Nematodes were identified by morphologic features and ribosomal intergenic transcribed spacer–2 gene sequencing. Thirteen (27.7%) M. cuchia eels from markets were infected with 36 live G. spinigerum AL3: 21 (58.3%) in liver; 7 (19.4%) in muscle; 5 (13.8%) in gastrointestinal tract, and 3 (8.3%) in kidneys. Three (4.5%) wild-caught M. albus eels were infected with 5 G. turgidum AL3 in muscle, and 1 G. lamothei AL3 was found in a kidney (both North American spp.). Imported live eels are a potential source of human gnathostomiasis in the United States.

Wetland Boundary Determination in the Great Dismal Swamp Using Weighted Averages

USGS Publications Warehouse

Carter, Virginia; Garrett, Mary Keith; Gammon, Patricia T.

1988-01-01

A weighted average method was used to analyze transition zone vegetation in the Great Dismal Swamp to determine if a more uniform determination of wetland boundaries can be made nationwide. The method was applied to vegetation data collected on four transects and three vertical layers across the wetland-to-upland transition zone of the swamp. Ecological index values based on water tolerance were either taken from the literature or derived from local species tolerances. Wetland index values were calculated for 25-m increments using species cover and rankings based on the ecological indices. Wetland index values were used to designate increments as either wetland, transitional, or upland, and to examine the usefulness of a provisional wetland-upland break-point. The weighted average method did not provide for an objective placement of an absolute wetland boundary, but did serve to focus attention on the transitional boundary zone where supplementary information is necessary to select a wetland-upland breakpoint.

Gnathostoma spinigerum in live Asian swamp eels (Monopterus spp.) from food markets and wild populations, United States.

PubMed

Cole, Rebecca A; Choudhury, Anindo; Nico, Leo G; Griffin, Kathryn M

2014-04-01

In Southeast Asia, swamp eels (Synbranchidae: Monopterus spp.) are a common source of human gnathostomiasis, a foodborne zoonosis caused by advanced third-stage larvae (AL3) of Gnathostoma spp. nematodes. Live Asian swamp eels are imported to US ethnic food markets, and wild populations exist in several states. To determine whether these eels are infected, we examined 47 eels from markets and 67 wild-caught specimens. Nematodes were identified by morphologic features and ribosomal intergenic transcribed spacer-2 gene sequencing. Thirteen (27.7%) M. cuchia eels from markets were infected with 36 live G. spinigerum AL3: 21 (58.3%) in liver; 7 (19.4%) in muscle; 5 (13.8%) in gastrointestinal tract, and 3 (8.3%) in kidneys. Three (4.5%) wild-caught M. albus eels were infected with 5 G. turgidum AL3 in muscle, and 1 G. lamothei AL3 was found in a kidney (both North American spp.). Imported live eels are a potential source of human gnathostomiasis in the United States.

Ecological response of plant consumers to Middle-Upper Pennsylvanian extinctions in Illinois Basin coal swamps: Evidence from plant/arthropod interactions

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Labandeira, C.; Phillips, T.

1992-01-01

Paleobotanical studies of coal-swamp vegetation during the Middle to Upper Pennsylvanian of North America indicate major changes from lycopsid dominated to tree-fern dominated coal-swamp forests as a result of extinction. This taxonomic shift from lycopsids to tree ferns should have implications on dependent feeding guilds, such as detritivores and herbivores. Comparative coal-ball evidence from the Springfield and Herrin Coals (Carbondale Fm.) and Calhoun Coal (Mattoon Fm.) is used to address this issue. The two major feeding guilds of Pennsylvanian coal-swamps were detritivores and herbivores. Detritivores were dominant throughout the interval. Evidence suggests an increasing presence of herbivores during the Desmoinesianmore » and especially during the Missourian. Based on identifications of tissue types found in coprolite types and plant tissue damage patterns, detritivores such as oribatid mites and an unknown stem-parenchyma consumer of Psaronius tree ferns occur before and after the extinction. Based on available evidence, detritivores apparently exhibited stability, particularly since the taxonomic affiliation of their food resource shifted considerably, thus indicating dietary specificities based instead on tissue type. There is evidence for herbivory by stem-miners on Missourian age tree-fern petioles; this distinctive behavior has not been reported for Desmoinesean or older deposits. The arthropod body-fossil record is consistent with this pattern: detritivore groups such as roaches survive the extinction largely intact, whereas other groups such as diverse protorthopterans,'' some of which were most likely herbivorous, experienced a significant extinction.« less

Quantifying climatic impacts on peatland in the Zoige basin, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, P.; Li, Z.; Hu, X.

2017-12-01

Actual evapotranspiration (ET) of the Zoige basin in the Yellow River source region of China is a critical parameter for understanding water balance of peatland in the Zoige basin and hence the cause of the changing land cover. Using daily meteorological data sets of Zoige, Hongyuan, and Maqu stations from 1967 to 2011, the well-known FAO56 Penman-Monteith (P-M) formula was selected to calculate the reference crop evapotranspiration (ET0) in combination with the crop coefficient method in which the crop coefficient Kc is modified in terms of local climatic conditions. By classifying land cover of the Zoige basin in to swamp, grassland, water surface, and desert, the actual ET cover time for each type was obtained. Since late 1990s, the ET0 increased along with the increased air temperature. Different from previous studies, the ET of the swamp was slightly lower than that of water surface, but was slightly larger than the difference between annual precipitation and runoff in the Zoige basin. The increase of ET in the past 45 years was small in comparison with the change of the annual precipitation. More specifically, the annual precipitation, which was about 560-860 mm, slightly decreased between 1967 and 1997, and increased 2.23% in the 1998-2011 period. These results allowed us to conclude that though the slightly increased ET might be a factor leading to the long-term swamp dewatering, it cannot be the primary cause of the degraded peatland swamp and grassland in the Zoige basin.

Relative distribution and abundance of fishes and crayfish in 2010 and 2014 prior to saltcedar (Tamarix ssp.) removal in the Amargosa River Canyon, southeastern California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hereford, Mark E.

2016-07-22

The Amargosa River Canyon, located in the Mojave Desert of southeastern California, contains the longest perennial reach of the Amargosa River. Because of its diverse flora and fauna, it has been designated as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern and a Wild and Scenic River by the Bureau of Land Management. A survey of fishes conducted in summer 2010 indicated that endemic Amargosa River pupfish (Cyprinodon nevadensis amargosae) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus spp.) were abundant and occurred throughout the Amargosa River Canyon. The 2010 survey reported non-native red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) and western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis) captures were significantly higher, whereas pupfish captures were lower, in areas dominated by non-native saltcedar (Tamarix ssp.). Based on the 2010 survey, it was hypothesized that the invasion of saltcedar could result in a decrease in native species. In an effort to maintain and enhance native fish populations, the Bureau of Land Management removed saltcedar from a 1,550 meter reach of stream on the Amargosa River in autumn 2014 and autumn 2015. Prior to the removal of saltcedar, a survey of fishes and crayfish using baited minnow traps was conducted in the treatment reach to serve as a baseline for future comparisons with post-saltcedar removal surveys. During the 2014 survey, 1,073 pupfish and 960 speckled dace were captured within the treatment reach. Catch per unit effort of pupfish and speckled dace in the treatment reach was less in 2014 than in 2010, although differences could be owing to seasonal variation in capture probability. Non-native mosquitofish catch per unit effort decreased from 2010 to 2014; however, the catch per unit effort of crayfish increased from 2010 to 2014. Future monitoring efforts of this reach should be conducted at the same time period to account for potential seasonal fluctuations of abundance and distribution of fishes and crayfish. A more robust study design that accounts for variation in capture probability could be implemented to quantify the effects of habitat modifications on abundance of fishes and crayfish.

Supported Employment in a Rural Environment: Riverview Recycling.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tice, Carolyn; Shealy, Marilyn

1992-01-01

Provides an overview of supported employment programs for disabled individuals in rural areas. Describes a successful program in rural southeastern Ohio that employs 89 developmentally disabled persons in a countywide recycling program. Suggests methods for developing supported employment programs in rural areas. (LP)

Environmental Remediation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

None

2017-04-11

At Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, we are a leader in subsurface science and remediation. We use our expertise in these areas to characterize subsurface contaminants and assess contaminant transport. We're also using our capabilities to restore the Hanford Site in southeastern Washington State to a safe, clean environment.

Peridomiciliary Breeding Sites of Phlebotomine Sand Flies (Diptera: Psychodidae) in an Endemic Area of American Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Southeastern Brazil

PubMed Central

Vieira, Vivaldo Pim; Ferreira, Adelson Luiz; Biral dos Santos, Claudiney; Leite, Gustavo Rocha; Ferreira, Gabriel Eduardo Melim; Falqueto, Aloísio

2012-01-01

The occurrence of American cutaneous leishmaniasis (ACL) in areas modified by humans indicates that phlebotomine sand fly vectors breed close to human habitations. Potential peridomiciliary breeding sites of phlebotomines were sampled in an area of transmission of Leishmania (Viannia) braziliensis in Southeastern Brazil. Three concentric circles rounding houses and domestic animal shelters, with radii of 20, 40, and 60 m, defined the area to be monitored using adult emergence traps. Of the 67 phlebotomines collected, Lutzomyia intermedia comprised 71.6%; Lutzomyia schreiberi, 20.9%; and Lutzomyia migonei, 4.5%. The predominance of L. intermedia, the main species suspected of transmitting L. (V.) braziliensis in Southeastern Brazil, indicates its participation in the domiciliary transmission of ACL, providing evidence that the domiciliary ACL transmission cycle might be maintained by phlebotomines that breed close to human habitations. This finding might also help in planning measures that would make the peridomiciliary environment less favorable for phlebotomine breeding sites. PMID:23091196

Variation in the structure of bird nests between northern Manitoba and southeastern Ontario.

PubMed

Crossman, Carla A; Rohwer, Vanya G; Martin, Paul R

2011-04-28

Traits that converge in appearance under similar environmental conditions among phylogenetically independent lineages are thought to represent adaptations to local environments. We tested for convergence in nest morphology and composition of birds breeding in two ecologically different locations in Canada: Churchill in northern Manitoba and Elgin in southeastern Ontario. We examined nests from four families of passerine birds (Turdidae: Turdus, Parulidae: Dendroica, Emberizidae: Passerculus and Fringillidae: Carduelis) where closely related populations or species breed in both locations. Nests of American Robins, Yellow Warblers, and Carduelis finches had heavier nest masses, and tended to have thicker nest-walls, in northern Manitoba compared with conspecifics or congenerics breeding in southeastern Ontario. Together, all species showed evidence for wider internal and external nest-cup diameters in northern Manitoba, while individual species showed varying patterns for internal nest-cup and external nest depths. American Robins, Yellow Warblers, and Carduelis finches in northern Manitoba achieved heavier nest masses in different ways. American Robins increased all materials in similar proportions, and Yellow Warblers and Common Redpolls used greater amounts of select materials. While changes in nest composition vary uniquely for each species, the pattern of larger nests in northern Manitoba compared to southeastern Ontario in three of our four phylogenetically-independent comparisons suggests that birds are adapting to similar selective pressures between locations.

Rectal temperatures of immobilized, snare-trapped black bears in Great Dismal Swamp.

PubMed

Hellgren, E C; Vaughan, M R

1989-07-01

Rectal temperature was determined for 84 black bears (Ursus americanus) during 99 handlings in Great Dismal Swamp, Virginia and North Carolina (USA). All bears had been trapped with cable snares and immobilized with a 2:1 ketamine hydrochloridexylazine hydrochloride mixture. Temperatures were significantly greater in males and varied significantly by season. Immobilized bears began panting at rectal temperatures greater than 42.0 C. One death occurred at 43.0 C. We recommended cooling measures on black bears at rectal temperatures of greater than or equal to 40.0 C.

Space Resource Technologies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cox, Rachel

2017-01-01

PowerPoint presentation for the Society of Women Engineers presented by Rachel Cox to give an overview of NASA Swamp Works, the kind of work we do, explain what ISRU (living off the land in space) is about, and highlight several projects. Projects include RASSOR the space mining robot, Resource Prospector, ALTIP, Marco Polo, and regolith construction, including heat shields and 3D printing. Content is similar to what is presented on Swamp Works tours (we get about 2,000 visitors a year) and is high level and conceptual in nature (no engineering specsdimensions.)

Training the Future - Swamp Work Activities

NASA Image and Video Library

2017-07-19

In the Swamp Works laboratory at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, student interns, from the left, Jeremiah House, Thomas Muller and Austin Langdon are joining agency scientists, contributing in the area of Exploration Research and Technology. House is studying computer/electrical engineering at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Muller is pursuing a degree in computer engineering and control systems and Florida Tech. Langdon is an electrical engineering major at the University of Kentucky. The agency attracts its future workforce through the NASA Internship, Fellowships and Scholarships, or NIFS, Program.

National Program for Inspection of Non-Federal Dams. Spectacle Swamp Dam (CT 00476), Connecticut Coastal Basin, Wilton, Connecticut. Phase I Inspection Report.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-05-01

CT 00476 IA 𔄁V 7 4. TITLE (nd $ba#ile) S. TYPE OF REPORT a PERIOD COVERED Spectacle Swamp Dam INSPECTION REPORT NATIONAL PROGRAM FOR INSPECTION OF...PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELrihENT. PROJECT. TASK AREA & WORK UNIT NUMS1RS X 1I. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND ADDRESS Ia ...SCNEDULE 16. DISTRIOUTION STATEMENT (1 tklReport) APPROVAL FOR PUBLIC RELEASE: DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED 5 17. DISTRIOUTION STATEMENT (of IA * he r ieet

How does conversion from peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation affect emissions of nitrous oxide from the soil? A case study in Jambi, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartill, Jodie; Hergoualc'h, Kristell; Comeau, Louis-Pierre; Jo, Smith; Lou, Verchot

2017-04-01

Half of the peatlands across Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra are 'managed'. Conversion of peat swamp forest to workable oil palm plantation requires a drastic, potentially irreversible, change to the landscape, to which fertilizers are then routinely applied. A combination of these factors is now widely thought to increase soil nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, although there is high uncertainty due to gaps in the knowledge, both regionally and nationally. Despite the widespread use of fertilizers in plantations on peats, studies observing their effects remain very limited. Therefore, there is a need for in situ studies to evaluate how environmental parameters (edaphic properties, climate, soil moisture and N availability indicators) influence soil emissions. This 18 month study was located in plots local to each other, representing the start, intermediate and end of the land conversion process; namely mixed peat swamp forest, drained and logged forest and industrial oil palm plantation. Spatial variability was taken into account by differentiating the hollows and hummocks in the mixed peat swamp forest, and the fertilized zone and the zone without fertilizer addition in the oil palm plantation. Gas samples were collected each month from static chambers at the same time as key environmental parameters were measured. Intensive sampling was performed during a 35 day period following two fertilizer applications, in which urea was applied to palms at rates of 0.5 and 1 kg urea palm-1. Soil N2O emissions (kg N ha-1 y-1 ± SE) were low overall, but they were greater in the oil palm plantation (0.8 ± 0.1) than in the mixed peat swamp forest (0.3 ± 0.0) and the drained/logged forest (0.2 ± 0.0). In the mixed peat swamp forest, monthly average fluxes of N2O (g N ha-1 d-1 ± SE) were similar in the hollows (0.6 ± 0.2) and the hummocks (0.3 ± 0.1), whereas in the oil palm plantation they were consistently higher in the zone without fertilizer (2.5 ± 0.4) than in the fertilized zone (0.5 ± 0.1), even after fertilizer application. In the fertilized zones, the N2O fluxes following the two fertilizer applications were 2.4 and 4.5 times higher respectively than fluxes observed in the absence of fertilizers. No change in emissions was observed in the neighboring unfertilized zone at the time of fertilizer application. Soil N2O emissions were related to changes in air and soil temperature in the mixed peat swamp forest, air temperature and water table depth in the drained and logged forest, and rainfall on the day of measurement in the oil palm plantation. This research confirms that peat forest conversion to oil palm plantation has negative consequences on the emissions of N2O. It also corroborates an increase in emission due to fertilizer application, with a magnitude comparable to the emission factor provided by the IPCC guidelines, but this is restricted to the limited area of fertilizer application.

Interactive effects of substrate, hydroperiod, and nutrients on seedling growth of Salix nigra and Taxodium distichum

USGS Publications Warehouse

Day, Richard H.; Doyle, T.W.; Draugelis-Dale, R. O.

2006-01-01

The large river swamps of Louisiana have complex topography and hydrology, characterized by black willow (Salix nigra) dominance on accreting alluvial sediments and vast areas of baldcypress (Taxodium distichum) deepwater swamps with highly organic substrates. Seedling survival of these two wetland tree species is influenced by their growth rate in relation to the height and duration of annual flooding in riverine environments. This study examines the interactive effects of substrate, hydroperiod, and nutrients on growth rates of black willow and baldcypress seedlings. In a greenhouse experiment with a split-split-plot design, 1-year seedlings of black willow and baldcypress were subjected to two nutrient treatments (unfertilized versus fertilized), two hydroperiods (continuously flooded versus twice daily flooding/draining), and two substrates (sand versus commercial peat mix). Response variables included height, diameter, lateral branch count, biomass, and root:stem ratio. Black willow growth in height and diameter, as well as all biomass components, were significantly greater in peat substrate than in sand. Black willow showed a significant hydroperiod-nutrient interaction wherein fertilizer increased stem and root biomass under drained conditions, but flooded plants did not respond to fertilization. Baldcypress diameter and root biomass were higher in peat than in sand, and the same two variables increased with fertilization in flooded as well as drained treatments. These results can be used in Louisiana wetland forest models as inputs of seedling growth and survival, regeneration potential, and biomass accumulation rates of black willow and baldcypress.

Tectono-sedimentary analysis using the anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility: a study of the terrestrial and freshwater Neogene of the Orava Basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Łoziński, Maciej; Ziółkowski, Piotr; Wysocka, Anna

2017-10-01

The Orava Basin is an intramontane depression filled with presumably fine-grained sediments deposited in river, floodplain, swamp and lake settings. The basin infilling constitutes a crucial record of the neoalpine evolution of the Inner/Outer Carpathian boundary area since the Neogene, when the Jurassic-Paleogene basement became consolidated, uplifted and eroded. The combination of sedimentological and structural studies with anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility (AMS) measurements provided an effective tool for recognition of terrestrial environments and deformations of the basin infilling. The lithofacies-oriented sampling and statistical approach to the large dataset of AMS specimens were utilized to define 12 AMS facies based on anisotropy degree (P) and shape (T). The AMS facies allowed a distinction of sedimentary facies ambiguous for classical methods, especially floodplain and lacustrine sediments, as well as revealing their various vulnerabilities to tectonic modification of AMS. A spatial analysis of facies showed that tuffites along with lacustrine and swamp deposits were generally restricted to marginal and southern parts of the basin. Significant deformations were noticed at basin margins and within two intrabasinal tectonic zones, which indicated the tectonic activity of the Pieniny Klippen Belt after the Middle Miocene. The large southern area of the basin recorded consistent N-NE trending compression during basin inversion. This regional tectonic rearrangement resulted in a partial removal of the southernmost basin deposits and shaped the basin's present-day extent.

Late Holocene vegetation and fire dynamics from a savanna-forest ecotone in Roraima state, northern Brazilian Amazon

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

da Silva Meneses, Maria Ecilene Nunes; da Costa, Marcondes Lima; Behling, Hermann

2013-03-01

Two sediment cores from Mauritia flexuosa palm swamps have been studied by pollen and charcoal analysis. The cores Fazenda Cigana (FC) and Terra Indígena Aningal (TIA) were taken from a savanna-forest ecotone area in the Roraima State, northern Brazilian Amazon. Based on 5 radiocarbon dates, these records allow the reconstruction of the vegetation fire and climate dynamics during the past 1550 years. At the FC site was recorded a higher proportion of forest cover, suggesting local wetter climatic conditions favorable for forest expansion, especially by gallery forests, between 1550 and 1400 cal yr BP. Stands of M. flexuosa started to establish on the site indicating sufficient soil moisture. From 1400 to 1050 cal yr BP, forest cover retreated while savanna, and the Mauritia palm swamp expanded considerably. The FC site was marked by savanna and Mauritia cover with a slight increase of forest between ca. 1050 and 900 cal yr BP. From 900 to 300 cal yr BP the savanna and palm swamp taxa became dominant and the forest area decreased. At the TIA site the savanna cover was dominant between 1200 and 1000 cal yr BP. From 1000 to 700 forest expanded while savanna and Mauritia palm swamp reduced. Between 700 and 300 cal yr BP savanna and Mauritia palm swamp increased and forest area decreased. The high amount of charred particles found in the sediments, indicate fires with a marked increase between 1400 to 1000 cal yr BP (FC site) and 700 to 300 cal yr BP (TIA site), and probably caused the retreat of forest cover during these two time intervals. The relatively lower fire activity after 300 cal yr BP until present-day favored the increase of forested area at both TIA and FC sites. The arrival of the European settler and the subsequent introduction of cattle, is suggested as the main reason for the decrease of fire in the study region. The results point the fire caused by indigenous people as the principal controlling factor for forest and savanna dynamics during the past 1550 years.

Mapping Upper Amazon Palm Swamps with Spaceborne L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinto, N.; McDonald, K. C.; Podest, E.; Schroeder, R.; Zimmermann, R.; Horna, V.

2010-12-01

Palm swamp ecosystems are widespread in the Amazon basin, forming where seasonal flooding is moderate and surface inundation persists. Recent studies suggest that palm swamps have a disproportional role on tropical biogeochemistry: the combination of persistently saturated soils, warm temperatures, and low oxygen soils can support significant land-atmosphere methane flux. Potential impacts of climate change on these ecosystems include changes in temperature and precipitation regimes that influence primary productivity and flood extent significantly, potentially reversing net land-atmosphere carbon exchanges regionally. Data acquired from Earth-orbiting satellites provides the opportunity to characterize vegetation structure and monitor surface inundation independently of cloud cover. Building on efforts under our NASA MEaSUREs project for assembly of a global-scale Earth System Data Record (ESDR) of inundated wetlands, we develop and evaluate a systematic approach to map the distribution and composition of palm swamps in the upper Amazon using data sets from JAXA’s Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array L-Band SAR (PALSAR). Our input dataset consists of HH backscatter images acquired in 2007 and 2009. Ground measurements for training were obtained from a study site near Loreto, Peru (4.43S 75.34W) containing the palm species Mauritia flexuosa. The ALOS PALSAR images are first averaged temporally and spatially. We then develop ancillary data layers of flood extent, distance from open water, and SAR image texture. The PALSAR data and derived ancillary layers are combined with MODIS Vegetation Indices and SRTM elevation and input in a classification framework. Since palm swamps are found in persistently flooded areas, we evaluate the potential of identifying and mapping these ecosystems using multi-temporal SAR-based flood extent maps. We conclude by comparing the performance between a decision-tree supervised vs. unsupervised approach and by quantifying model accuracy on a second site in Puerto Maldonado (12.38S 70.45W). This work has been undertaken in part within the framework of the JAXA ALOS Kyoto & Carbon Initiative. ALOS PALSAR data have been provided by JAXA EORC. This work was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Anthropogenic ecological change and impacts on mosquito breeding and control strategies in salt-marshes, Northern Territory, Australia.

PubMed

Jacups, Susan; Warchot, Allan; Whelan, Peter

2012-06-01

Darwin, in the tropical north of Australia, is subject to high numbers of mosquitoes and several mosquito-borne diseases. Many of Darwin's residential areas were built in close proximity to tidally influenced swamps, where long-term storm-water run-off from nearby residences into these swamps has led to anthropogenic induced ecological change. When natural wet-dry cycles were disrupted, bare mud-flats and mangroves were transformed into perennial fresh to brackish-water reed swamps. Reed swamps provided year-round breeding habitat for many mosquito species, such that mosquito abundance was less predictable and seasonally dependent, but constant and often occurring in plague proportions. Drainage channels were constructed throughout the wetlands to reduce pooled water during dry-season months. This study assesses the impact of drainage interventions on vegetation and mosquito ecology in three salt-marshes in the Darwin area. Findings revealed a universal decline in dry-season mosquito abundance in each wetland system. However, some mosquito species increased in abundance during wet-season months. Due to the high expense and potentially detrimental environmental impacts of ecosystem and non-target species disturbance, large-scale modifications such as these are sparingly undertaken. However, our results indicate that some large scale environmental modification can assist the process of wetland restoration, as appears to be the case for these salt marsh systems. Drainage in all three systems has been restored to closer to their original salt-marsh ecosystems, while reducing mosquito abundances, thereby potentially lowering the risk of vector-borne disease transmission and mosquito pest biting problems.

Reconnaissance of the ground-water, surface-water system in the Zekiah Swamp Run basin, Charles and Prince Georges Counties, Maryland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hopkins, H.T.; Fisher, G.T.; McGreevy, L.J.

1986-01-01

The water table in the alluvium of the Zekiah Swamp Run valley in southern Maryland is above stream level during most of the year and the alluvial aquifer contributes water to the stream. During the summer, however, high evapotranspiration sometimes lowers the water table below the stream level. Water then moves from the stream to the alluvium and, at times, reaches of the stream become dry. Pumping from the confined aquifers has caused water levels to decline several tens of ft, which has increased the downward gradient between the water-table aquifer and the underlying confined aquifers. Three synoptic surveys of base flow show areal and temporal variations in stream discharge, pH, specific conductance, dissolved oxygen, and temperature. April 1984 base flows were high (141 cu ft/sec, at the Route 6 gage) because of high precipitation during March. July 1983 base flows were low (2.35 cu ft/sec at the Route 6 gage) and showed significant loss of streamflow because of high antecedent evapotranspiration. Estimates of inflow and outflow of the Zekiah Swamp Run basin above Route 6 during the 1984 water year include: Precipitation, 50.21 in; stream outflow, 20.10 in; shallow groundwater underflow, 0.1 in; stream outflow, 20.10 in; shallow groundwater underflow, 0.1 in; and evapotranspiration, 33 in. A streamflow budget of a 5.1 mi area of the valley of Zekiah Swamp Run between Routes 5 and 6, during the April 1984 survey and a loss of almost 5 cu ft during the July 1983 survey. (Author 's abstract)

Anatomically preserved marattiales from coal swamps of the Desmoinesian and Missourian of the midcontinent United States: Systematics, ecology and evolution

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lesnikowska, A.D.

1989-01-01

Eleven species-level assemblages of stems, frond members and fertile foliage of anatomically preserved Marattiales are proposed, based on specimens in coal balls from 16 coals in the Desmoinesian and Missourian (Westphalian D and Stephanian) of the Illinois, Forest City and Arkoma Basins. Four new combinations, Psaronius calicifolius (Millay) Lesnikowska, and Psaronius gnomus (Lesnikowska Millay) Lesnikowska, Psaronius illinoensis (Eqart) Lesnikowska, and Psaronius minor (Hoskins) Lesnikowska are made to accommodate well documented assemblages and seven are treated informally. The taxonomy of the fertile foliage is revised as follows: Scolecopteris dispora Lesnikowska sp. nov. is described from an Iowa coal and Scolecopteris parkerensismore » Lesnikowska sp. nov. from the Parker Coal of Indiana. Scolecopteris fragilis is made a synonym of S. mamayi, and S. revoluta, and S. saharaensis synonyms of S. minor. The type and Middle Pennsylvanian specimens of Scolecopteris parvifolia belong in S. minor but the Upper Pennsylvanian specimens are S. illinoensis. Only one species occurs in both the Middle and the Upper Pennsylvanian; the extinction event near the Middle/Upper Pennsylvanian boundary extended to coal-swamp Marattiales as well as tree lycopods. The Upper Pennsylvanian tree ferns are interpreted as derived from clastic-swamp species that recolonized the coal-swamp habitat after this extinction. Upper Pennsylvanian tree ferns were significantly larger than Middle Pennsylvanian ones and were characterized by a massive root mantle whereas as least one Middle Pennsylvanian species lacked a root mantle and had a scrambling habit. Biomass allocation to reproduction was significantly greater in the Middle Pennsylvanian species.« less

Nitrate reduction in sediments of lowland tropical streams draining swamp forest in Costa Rica: An ecosystem perspective

USGS Publications Warehouse

Duff, J.H.; Pringle, C.M.; Triska, F.J.

1996-01-01

Nitrate reduction and denitrification were measured in swamp forest streams draining lowland rain forest on Costa Rica's Atlantic slope foothills using the C2H2-block assay and sediment-water nutrient fluxes. Denitrification assays using the C2H2-block technique indicated that the full suite of denitrifying enzymes were present in the sediment but that only a small fraction of the functional activity could be expressed without adding NO3/-. Under optimal conditions, denitrification enzyme activity averaged 15 nmoles cm-3 sediment h-1. Areal NO3/- reduction rates measured from NO3/- loss in the overlying water of sediment- water flux chambers ranged from 65 to 470 umoles m-2 h-1. Oxygen loss rates accompanying NO3/-depletion averaged 750 umoles m-2 h-1. Corrected for denitrification of NO3/- oxidized from NH4/+ in the sediment, gross NO3/- reduction rates increase by 130 umoles m-2 h-1, indicating nitrification may be the predominant source of NO3/- for NO3/- reduction in swamp forest stream sediments. Under field conditions approximately 80% of the increase in inorganic N mass along a 1250-m reach of the Salto River was in the form of NO3/- with the balance NH4/+. Scrutiny of potential inorganic N sources suggested that mineralized N released from the streambed was a major source of the inorganic N increase. Despite significant NO3/- reduction potential, swamp forest stream sediments appear to be a source of inorganic N to downstream communities.

Redox potential characterization and soil greenhouse gas concentration across a hydrological gradient in a Gulf coast forest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yu, K.; Faulkner, S.P.; Patrick, W.H.

2006-01-01

Soil redox potential (Eh), concentrations of oxygen (O2) and three greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, and N2O) were measured in the soil profile of a coastal forest at ridge, transition, and swamp across a hydrological gradient. The results delineated a distinct boundary in soil Eh and O2 concentration between the ridge and swamp with essentially no overlap between the two locations. Critical soil Eh to initiate significant CH4 production under this field conditions was about +300 mV, much higher than in the homogenous soils (about -150 mV). The strength of CH4 source to the atmosphere was strong for the swamp, minor for the transition, and negligible or even negative (consumption) for the ridge. Maximum N2O concentration in the soils was found at about Eh +250 mV, and the soil N2O emission was estimated to account for less than 4% for the ridge and transition, and almost negligible for the swamp in the cumulative global warming potential (GWP) of these three gases. The dynamic nature of this study site in response to water table fluctuations across a hydrological gradient makes it an ideal model of impact of future sea level rise to coastal ecosystems. Soil carbon (C) sequestration potential due to increasing soil water content upon sea level rise and subsidence in this coastal forest was likely limited and temporal, and at the expense of increasing soil CH4 production and emission. ?? 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site Long Term Monitoring Program (1993-2009)

EPA Science Inventory

New Bedford Harbor (NBH), located in southeastern Massachusetts, was designated as a marine Superfund site in 1983 due to sediment contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Based on risks to human health and the environment, the first two phases of the site cleanup invo...

Diagnosing Student Learning Outcomes Using the Organizational Learning Contract Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sutton, Kyra Leigh; Ezell, Jeremy; Sankar, Chetan S.

2013-01-01

Using the Goodman and Beenen (2008) organizational learning contract framework as a diagnostic tool, this study investigates the effectiveness of an academic institution's learning environments by examining students' perception of their mastery of the institution's established curriculum learning goals. Students at a major Southeastern university…

Heterogeneity of Environments Associated with Transmission of Visceral Leishmaniasis in South-Eastern France and Implication for Control Strategies

PubMed Central

Faucher, Benoit; Gaudart, Jean; Faraut, Francoise; Pomares, Christelle; Mary, Charles; Marty, Pierre; Piarroux, Renaud

2012-01-01

Background Visceral leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum is currently spreading into new foci across Europe. Leishmania infantum transmission in the Old World was reported to be strongly associated with a few specific environments. Environmental changes due to global warming or human activity were therefore incriminated in the spread of the disease. However, comprehensive studies were lacking to reliably identify all the environments at risk and thereby optimize monitoring and control strategy. Methodology/Findings We exhaustively collected 328 cases of autochthonous visceral leishmaniasis from 1993 to 2009 in South-Eastern France. Leishmaniasis incidence decreased from 31 yearly cases between 1993 and 1997 to 12 yearly cases between 2005 and 2009 mostly because Leishmania/HIV coinfection were less frequent. No spread of human visceral leishmaniasis was observed in the studied region. Two major foci were identified, associated with opposite environments: whereas one involved semi-rural hillside environments partly made of mixed forests, the other involved urban and peri-urban areas in and around the region main town, Marseille. The two neighboring foci were related to differing environments despite similar vectors (P. perniciosus), canine reservoir, parasite (L. infantum zymodeme MON-1), and human host. Conclusions/Significance This unprecedented collection of cases highlighted the occurrence of protracted urban transmission of L. infantum in France, a worrisome finding as the disease is currently spreading in other areas around the Mediterranean. These results complete previous studies about more widespread canine leishmaniasis or human asymptomatic carriage. This first application of systematic geostatistical methods to European human visceral leishmaniasis demonstrated an unsuspected heterogeneity of environments associated with the transmission of the disease. These findings modify the current view of leishmaniasis epidemiology. They notably stress the need for locally defined control strategies and extensive monitoring including in urban environments. PMID:22880142

Heterogeneity of environments associated with transmission of visceral leishmaniasis in South-Eastern France and implication for control strategies.

PubMed

Faucher, Benoit; Gaudart, Jean; Faraut, Francoise; Pomares, Christelle; Mary, Charles; Marty, Pierre; Piarroux, Renaud

2012-01-01

Visceral leishmaniasis due to Leishmania infantum is currently spreading into new foci across Europe. Leishmania infantum transmission in the Old World was reported to be strongly associated with a few specific environments. Environmental changes due to global warming or human activity were therefore incriminated in the spread of the disease. However, comprehensive studies were lacking to reliably identify all the environments at risk and thereby optimize monitoring and control strategy. We exhaustively collected 328 cases of autochthonous visceral leishmaniasis from 1993 to 2009 in South-Eastern France. Leishmaniasis incidence decreased from 31 yearly cases between 1993 and 1997 to 12 yearly cases between 2005 and 2009 mostly because Leishmania/HIV coinfection were less frequent. No spread of human visceral leishmaniasis was observed in the studied region. Two major foci were identified, associated with opposite environments: whereas one involved semi-rural hillside environments partly made of mixed forests, the other involved urban and peri-urban areas in and around the region main town, Marseille. The two neighboring foci were related to differing environments despite similar vectors (P. perniciosus), canine reservoir, parasite (L. infantum zymodeme MON-1), and human host. This unprecedented collection of cases highlighted the occurrence of protracted urban transmission of L. infantum in France, a worrisome finding as the disease is currently spreading in other areas around the Mediterranean. These results complete previous studies about more widespread canine leishmaniasis or human asymptomatic carriage. This first application of systematic geostatistical methods to European human visceral leishmaniasis demonstrated an unsuspected heterogeneity of environments associated with the transmission of the disease. These findings modify the current view of leishmaniasis epidemiology. They notably stress the need for locally defined control strategies and extensive monitoring including in urban environments.

Prospect development of local beef cattle from South Kalimantan as supporting to food sovereignty in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahmatullah, S. N.; Sulaiman, A.; Askalani; Azizi, N. M. K.

2018-04-01

Development production of Indonesia local cattle didn’t balance increasing of consumption livestock in Indonesian so that’s makes imports are still high both local beef production. Indonesian local cattle is one of cattle the largest contributed the national meat production of ruminant particular group of cattle so that the livestock has the potential to be developed as a profitable business if doing of farmer. One of advantages is potential areas in South Kalimantan mainly swamp lands was very large. It’s one effort in national promoting food sovereignty programme and the provinces especially about introduction of Indonesian local cattle in the swamp area are also important. Availability of region in South Kalimantan spacious and great forage production, then prospects for cattle productivity there is huge so that’s can even increase income for farmers. The programme more serious support from the governance of South Kalimantan province to develop Indonesian local cattle in swamp area and in that’s a real policy for encouraging farmers to maintain Indonesian local cattle to make sustainable food in Indonesia.

Influence of macrophyte decomposition on growth rate and community structure of okefenokee swamp bacterioplankton.

PubMed

Murray, R E; Hodson, R E

1986-02-01

Dissolved substances released during decomposition of the white water lily (Nymphaea odorata) can alter the growth rate of Okefenokee Swamp bacterioplankton. In microcosm experiments dissolved compounds released from senescent Nymphaea leaves caused a transient reduction in the abundance and activity of water column bacterioplankton, followed by a period of intense bacterial growth. Rates of [H]thymidine incorporation and turnover of dissolved d-glucose were depressed by over 85%, 3 h after the addition of Nymphaea leachates to microcosms containing Okefenokee Swamp water. Bacterial activity subsequently recovered; after 20 h [H]thymidine incorporation in leachate-treated microcosms was 10-fold greater than that in control microcosms. The recovery of activity was due to a shift in the composition of the bacterial population toward resistance to the inhibitory compounds present in Nymphaea leachates. Inhibitory compounds released during the decomposition of aquatic macrophytes thus act as selective agents which alter the community structure of the bacterial population with respect to leachate resistance. Soluble compounds derived from macrophyte decomposition influence the rate of bacterial secondary production and the availability of microbial biomass to microconsumers.

Influence of macrophyte decomposition on growth rate and community structure of Okefenokee Swamp bacterioplankton

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murray, R.E.; Hodson, R.E.

1986-02-01

Dissolved substances released during decomposition of the white water lily (Nymphaea odorata) can alter the growth rate of Okefenokee Swamp bacterioplankton. In microcosm experiments dissolved compounds released bacterioplankton, followed by a period of intense bacterial growth. Rates of (/sup 3/H)thymidine incorporation and turnover of dissolved D-glucose were depressed by over 85%, 3 h after the addition of Nymphaea leachates to microcosms containing Okefenokee Swamp water. Bacterial activity subsequently recovered; after 20 h (/sup 3/H)thymidine incorporation in leachate-treated microcosms was 10-fold greater than that in control microcosms. The recovery of activity was due to a shift in the composition of themore » bacterial population toward resistance to the inhibitory compounds present in Nymphaea leachates. Inhibitory compounds released during the decomposition of aquatic macrophytes thus act as selective agents which alter the community structure of the bacterial population with respect to leachate resistance. Soluble compounds derived from macrophyte decomposition influence the rate of bacterial secondary production and the availability of microbial biomass to microconsumers.« less

Gnathostoma spinigerum in Live Asian Swamp Eels (Monopterus spp.) from Food Markets and Wild Populations, United States

PubMed Central

Choudhury, Anindo; Nico, Leo G.; Griffin, Kathryn M.

2014-01-01

In Southeast Asia, swamp eels (Synbranchidae: Monopterus spp.) are a common source of human gnathostomiasis, a foodborne zoonosis caused by advanced third-stage larvae (AL3) of Gnathostoma spp. nematodes. Live Asian swamp eels are imported to US ethnic food markets, and wild populations exist in several states. To determine whether these eels are infected, we examined 47 eels from markets and 67 wild-caught specimens. Nematodes were identified by morphologic features and ribosomal intergenic transcribed spacer–2 gene sequencing. Thirteen (27.7%) M. cuchia eels from markets were infected with 36 live G. spinigerum AL3: 21 (58.3%) in liver; 7 (19.4%) in muscle; 5 (13.8%) in gastrointestinal tract, and 3 (8.3%) in kidneys. Three (4.5%) wild-caught M. albus eels were infected with 5 G. turgidum AL3 in muscle, and 1 G. lamothei AL3 was found in a kidney (both North American spp.). Imported live eels are a potential source of human gnathostomiasis in the United States. PMID:24661441

Heavy Metals Uptake by Asian Swamp Eel, Monopterus albus from Paddy Fields of Kelantan, Peninsular Malaysia: Preliminary Study

PubMed Central

Yin, Sow Ai; Ismail, Ahmad; Zulkifli, Syaizwan Zahmir

2012-01-01

Swamp eel, Monopterus albus is one of the common fish in paddy fields, thus it is suitable to be a bio-monitor for heavy metals pollution studies in paddy fields. This study was conducted to assess heavy metals levels in swamp eels collected from paddy fields in Kelantan, Malaysia. The results showed zinc [Zn (86.40 μg/g dry weight)] was the highest accumulated metal in the kidney, liver, bone, gill, muscle and skin. Among the selected organs, gill had the highest concentrations of lead (Pb), cadmium (Cd) and nickel (Ni) whereas muscle showed the lowest total metal accumulation of Zn, Pb, copper (Cu), Cd and Ni. Based on the Malaysian Food Regulation, the levels of Zn and Cu in edible parts (muscle and skin) were within the safety limits. However, Cd, Pb and Ni exceeded the permissible limits. By comparing with the maximum level intake (MLI), Pb, Ni and Cd in edible parts can still be consumed. This investigation indicated that M. albus from paddy fields of Kelantan are safe for human consumption with little precaution. PMID:24575231

‘Leaves and Eats Shoots’: Direct Terrestrial Feeding Can Supplement Invasive Red Swamp Crayfish in Times of Need

PubMed Central

Grey, Jonathan; Jackson, Michelle C.

2012-01-01

We used stable isotope analyses to characterise the feeding dynamics of a population of red swamp crayfish in Lake Naivasha, Kenya, after the crash of submerged macrophytes and associated macroinvertebrates, and during a natural draw-down of the lake water level. We expected a heavy reliance upon a diet of detrital matter to sustain the population as a consequence, and indeed, for the majority of the crayfish population caught from the lake, we saw a concomitant shift in isotopic values reflecting a dietary change. However, we also caught individual crayfish that had occupied the footprints of hippopotamus and effectively extended their range beyond the lake up to 40 m into the riparian zone. Isotopic analysis confirmed limited nocturnal observations that these individuals were consuming living terrestrial plants in the vicinity of the footprints. These are the first empirical data to demonstrate direct use of terrestrial resources by an aquatic crayfish species and further highlight the traits that make red swamp crayfish such opportunistic and successful invaders. PMID:22880039

Deforestation trend in North Sumatra over 1990-2015

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Basyuni, M.; Sulistiyono, N.; Wati, R.; Hayati, R.

2018-02-01

Deforestation and forest degradation have been previously reported to contributing greenhouse gas emission, the primary driver of global warming. The present paper studies deforestation and reforestation trend in North Sumatra, Indonesia using land-use/land-cover change from 1990-2015. The land-use consists of three classes derived from forest land (primary and secondary dry land forest, primary and secondary swamp forest, primary and secondary mangrove forest). Non-Forest (shrub, oil palm plantation, forest plantation, settlement, barren land, swamp shrub, dry land farming, mixed dry land farming, paddy field, aquaculture, airport, transmigration, and mining), and water body (water and swamp). Results showed that from 33 regencies/city in North Sumatra, among them, 25 districts deforested, which was the highest deforestation rate in Labuhanbatu and South Labuhanbatu (2,238.08 and 1,652.55 ha/year, respectively), only one area reforested, and seven districts showed no deforestation or reforestation. During 25 years observed, the forest has been deforested 22.92%, while nonforest has been increased 11.33% of land-use. The significant increasing loss of North Sumatran forest implies conservation efforts and developing sustainable forest management.

Estimation of daily age and timing of hatching of exotic Asian swamp eels Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793) in a backwater marsh of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Long, J.M.; Lafleur, C.

2011-01-01

Otoliths were used to estimate daily age, growth, and hatching date of the exotic Asian swamp eel (Monopterus albus) captured from a backwater marsh of the Chattahoochee River, Georgia, USA. The eels were sampled using leaf litter traps (N=140) from 17 July to 28 August 2008. The captured (N=15) Asian swamp eels ranged in total length from 4.9cm to 12.2cm, and were estimated to be from 21 to 51days old (N=13), and hatched from 13 June to 7 August 2008. Assuming linear growth, these individuals grew an average rate of 0.2cm per day. To the authors' knowledge, this was the first time otoliths were used to estimate daily age, growth, and hatching date for M. albus, which can be useful for understanding the ecology of this species in the wild. Published 2011. This article is a US Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

Drier Forest Composition Associated with Hydrologic Change in the Apalachicola River, Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Darst, Melanie R.; Light, Helen M.

2008-01-01

Forests of the Apalachicola River floodplain had shorter flood durations, were drier in composition, and had 17 percent fewer trees in 2004 than in 1976. The change to drier forest composition is expected to continue for at least 80 more years. Floodplain drying was caused by large declines in river levels resulting from erosion of the river channel after 1954 and from decreased flows in spring and summer months since the 1970s. Water-level declines have been greatest at low and medium flows, which are the most common flows (occurring about 80 percent of the time). Water levels have remained relatively unchanged during large floods which continue to occur about three times per decade. A study conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey compared temporal changes in hydrologic conditions, forest composition, forest characteristics, and individual species of trees, as well as estimated the potential for change in composition of floodplain forests in the nontidal reach of the Apalachicola River. The study was conducted with the cooperation of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the Northwest Florida Water Management District. Forest composition and field observations from studies conducted in 1976-1984 (termed '1976 data') were used as baseline data for comparison with data from plots sampled in 2004-2006 ('2004 data'). Flood durations were shorter in all periods subsequent to 1923-1976. The periods of record used to calculate flood durations for forest data were subsets of the complete record available (1923-2004). At sampled plots in all forest types and reaches combined, flood durations changed an average of more than 70 percent toward the baseline flood duration of the next drier forest type. For all forest types, changes in flood durations toward the next drier type were greatest in the upper reach (95.9 percent) and least in the lower reach (42.0 percent). All forests are expected to be 38.2 percent drier in species composition by 2085, the year when the median age of surviving 2004 subcanopy trees will reach the median age (99 years) of the 2004 large canopy trees. The change will be greatest for forests in the upper reach (45.0 percent). Forest composition changes from pre-1954 to 2085 were calculated using Floodplain Indices from 1976 and 2004 tree-size classes and replicate plots. Species composition in high bottomland hardwood forests is expected to continue to change, and some low bottomland hardwood forests are expected to become high bottomland hardwood forests. Organisms associated with floodplain forests will be affected by the changes in tree species, which will alter the timing of leaf-out, fruiting, and leaf-drop, the types of fruit and debris produced, and soil chemistry. Swamps will contain more bottomland hardwood species, but will also have an overall loss of tree density. The density of trees in swamps significantly decreased by 37 percent from 1976 to 2004. Of the estimated 4.3 million (17 percent) fewer trees that existed in the nontidal floodplain in 2004 than in 1976, 3.3 million trees belonged to four swamp species: popash, Ogeechee tupelo, water tupelo, and bald cypress. Water tupelo, the most important tree in the nontidal floodplain in terms of basal area and density, has declined in number of trees by nearly 20 percent since 1976. Ogeechee tupelo, the species valuable to the tupelo honey industry, has declined in number of trees by at least 44 percent. Greater hydrologic variability in recent years may be the reason swamps have had a large decrease in tree density. Drier conditions are detrimental for the growth of swamp species, and periodic large floods kill invading bottomland hardwood trees. The loss of canopy density in swamps may result in the swamp floor being exposed to more light with an increase in the amount of ground cover present, which in turn, would reduce tree replacement. The microclimate of the swamp floor would become wa

Impact of Hypena opulenta on invasive swallow-worts (Vincetoxicum spp.) under different light environments

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pale and black swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum rossicum and V. nigrum; Apocynaceae, subfamily Asclepiadoideae) are European viny milkweeds that have become invasive in many habitats in the northeastern U.S.A. and southeastern Canada. A defoliating moth from the Ukraine, Hypena opulenta (Christoph) (Lepid...

Impact of the defoliating moth Hypena opulenta on invasive swallow-worts (Vincetoxicum species) under different light environments

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Black and pale swallow-wort (Vincetoxicum nigrum and V. rossicum, Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae) are twining vines from Europe that have become invasive in the northeastern USA and southeastern Canada. Hypena opulenta (Christoph) (Lepidoptera: Erebidae), a defoliating forest moth from the Ukraine, ha...

DISSOLVED ORGANIC FLUOROPHORES IN SOUTHEASTERN US COASTAL WATERS: CORRECTION METHOD FOR ELIMINATING RAYLEIGH AND RAMAN SCATTERING PEAKS IN EXCITATION-EMISSION MATRICES

EPA Science Inventory

Fluorescence-based observations provide useful, sensitive information concerning the nature and distribution of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) in coastal and freshwater environments. The excitation-emission matrix (EEM) technique has become widely used for evaluating sou...

Seroprevalence and isolation of viable Toxoplasma gondii from raptors in the southeastern USA

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Raptors are good indicators of the prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii in the environment because they prey on small mammals and birds. These prey species are a major source of infection in felids, which shed the environmentally resistant oocysts. We assessed T. gondii infection in 281 opportunistically...

"Discover Diversities": A Trans-Inter-Disciplinary (SEMEP) Project for Different School Levels and Teachers' Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pilo, Miranda; Gavio, Brigitte; Scaldarella, Elda; Di Carlo, Caterina; Martorano, Daniela

2011-01-01

"Discover Diversities" is a wide thematic developed within the SEMEP (South-Eastern Mediterranean Environmental Project) project, supported by UNESCO (United Nation Education, Science and Culture Organization). SEMEP is essentially a project for science education, focusing on Mediterranean environment. As the Mediterranean has been the…

Interspecific and environmentally induced variation in foliar dark respiration among eighteen southeastern deciduous tree species

Treesearch

Katherine A. Mitchell; Paul V. Bolstad; James M. Vose

1999-01-01

We measured variations in leaf dark respiration rate (Rd) and leaf nitrogen (N) across species, canopy light environment, and elevation for 18 co-occurring deciduous hardwood species in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina. Our overall objective was to estimate leaf...

Ammonia air-surface exchange in an unfertilized hay field in the southeastern U.S.

EPA Science Inventory

There is growing interest in the U.S. to derive total nitrogen deposition budgets for natural environments in support of critical loads approaches for managing ecosystem health. The contribution of NH3 to nitrogen dry deposition currently represents a significant uncertainty in s...

Vertical distribution of scab in large pecan trees

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Pecan scab (caused by Fusicladium effusum) is a destructive disease of pecan (Carya illinoensis) grown in humid environments, such as the southeastern US. The disease can cause severe yield loss, and although much is known about the processes of dispersal and infection, there is no information on di...

Proceedings of the Southern States Recreation Research Applications Workshop

Treesearch

H. Ken Cordell; J.W. Rawls; G.M. Broili; [Compilers

1976-01-01

North Carolina State University; the Forest Environment Research Division, USDA Forest Service; and the Southeastern Forest Experiment Station, USDA Forest Service sponsored this regional Workshop for recreation managers and planners in the Southern States. The objectives of the Workshop were to provide for interaction among recreation scientists, extension...

The New Bedford Harbor Superfund Site Long Term Monitoring Program: Results from 1993 to 2014

EPA Science Inventory

Background. New Bedford Harbor (NBH), located in southeastern Massachusetts, was designated as a marine Superfund site in 1983 due to sediment contamination by polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). Based on risks to human health and the environment, the first two phases of the site ...

An Evaluation of a Medical School Smoking Policy: A Student Research Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Decker, Jesse; Ronay, Ashley; Telfer, Megan; Becker, Craig M.; Cremeens, Jennifer; Swinker, Marian

2012-01-01

A medical school at a Southeastern university implemented a tobacco free policy to promote a healthy environment for its employees, patients, and visitors. Eighteen months post policy implementation, undergraduate students in the Department of Health Education and Promotion evaluated the satisfaction, awareness, and perceived…

Water, sanitation and hygiene in wetlands. A case study from the Ewaso Narok Swamp, Kenya.

PubMed

Anthonj, Carmen; Rechenburg, Andrea; Kistemann, Thomas

2016-10-01

Wetlands can be both a blessing and a curse. They are beneficial sources of safe water and nutrition and places from which humans derive their livelihoods. At the same time, wetlands are known to be sources of disease-causing microorganisms and invertebrates that can threaten human health. Safe water, sanitation and personal hygiene (WASH) are crucial preconditions for the prevention of disease transmission. And of special importance for people living in wetlands, depending on and being exposed to them. WASH should be prioritized especially in those wetlands that are subject to intensive use, that have a poor sanitation infrastructure, and which at the same time only provide limited water resources. However, despite this critical importance, WASH in wetlands is not well characterized in literature. This study therefore aimed at providing insights into the water, sanitation and hygiene conditions and behavioural determinants of households in wetlands by presenting the case of a rural wetland in East Africa. The mixed method approach included a broad set of empirical data collected during a household survey (n=400), an observational WASH assessment (n=397) and in-depth interviews (n=20) conducted from January to March 2015 in Ewaso Narok Swamp in Kenya. Different user groups of the wetland were targeted. The study in Ewaso Narok Swamp showed that wetland users' water supply and storage, sanitation and personal hygiene conditions were inadequate for large parts of the community and significantly differed between groups. Whereas the WASH conditions of people working in the service sector were rather positive, for pastoralists, they were correspondingly negative. The WASH behaviour was also perceived to be inadequate influenced by a variety of determining factors. The observational index as applied in this study indicated to be a valuable, rapid and efficient tool for assessing domestic WASH and for detecting differences between different groups in wetlands. Combined with the quantitative and qualitative data, the approach served as a very helpful model to develop a multi-layered understanding of WASH conditions and related behaviour. The people in the researched wetland use by far less improved water sources and sanitation facilities than the nationwide average for rural populations. Since Ewaso Narok Swamp serves as a model case for the domestic WASH conditions in a rural wetland in semiarid East Africa, this fact make the study relevant not only at a national, but also at an international level. The results underline the previously formulated need of an integrative approach that first and foremost complements wetland management by public health interventions. In order to improve WASH conditions and to change behaviour in the long term, interventions should include the provision of clean water and sanitation infrastructure, as well as widespread health education. The approach proved to be useful for wetland environments and will be integrated into the development of a health impact assessment tool for wetlands. Moreover, it can be adopted in other contexts. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

[The synanthropic potential of Kerteszia and Culex mosquitoes (Diptera:Culicidae) in Southeastern Brazil].

PubMed

Forattini, O P; Kakitani, I; dos Santos, R C; Kobayashi, K M; Ueno, H M; Fernández, Z

2000-12-01

To determine the synanthropic potential of Anopheles bellator and An. cruzii in a village close to a wild environment. For comparative purposes, Culex quinquefasciatus and Cx. sacchettae populations were also investigated. From October 1996 to January 2000, vectors investigations were carried out in Pedrinhas village, Southeastern of S. Paulo State, Brazil, through systematic collections with human bait, air aspirations and Shannon traps. The synanthropic index was estimated using Nuorteva's indices plus the Mihályi's endophylic factor. Attraction principle was s=35.7 for both Kerteszia species at the peridomiciliary environment through human bait. Cx. sacchettae showed a sr ratio of 12.8 with a degree of synanthropy. However active search through the aspiration method yielded negative s values, such as -43.1 for An. bellator and -48.2 for An. cruzii. For Cx. sacchettae that value was -3.0. These values were calculated when +100.00 was given to Cx. quinquefasciatus, which showed the highest synanthropic habits, corresponding to s =+93.8. The present data allow to conclude that what was observed until now for isolated rural dwellings is valid for small villages at the same conditions. This means that female Kerteszia adults tend to be in anthropic environment for blood seeking. After that, they return to the surrounding natural environment of the village. Regarding Cx. Sacchettae, they seem to have an anthropic adaptation tendency.

Origin and distribution of tonsteins in late permian coal seams of Southwestern China

USGS Publications Warehouse

Zhou, Yinzhu; Ren, Y.-L.; Bohor, B.F.

1982-01-01

We have surveyed the areal and stratigraphic distribution of tonsteins in Late Permian coalfields of southwestern China over an area of several hundred thousand square kilometers. We studied the relationship between tonstein distribution and sedimentary environment. Based on mineralogical and petrographic data, we have concluded that these tonsteins originated as air-fall volcanic ashes. Following accumulation in the peat swamps, in situ alteration of the vitric and lithic components took place under acidic conditions, leading to the formation of kaolinite. Based on petrologic, mineralogic, and chemical analytical data, we have determined that the application of mineralogic and geochemical criteria for tonsteins may be useful in correlating coal beds, predicting coal qualities and reconstructing related sedimentary paleoenvironmental conditions. ?? 1982.

The levantine amber belt

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nissenbaum, A.; Horowitz, A.

1992-02-01

Amber, a fossil resin, is found in Early Cretaceous sanstones and fine clastics in Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel. The term "Levantine amber belt" is coined for this amber-containing sediment belt. The amber occurs as small nodules of various colors and frequently contains inclusions of macro- and microorganisms. The Lebanese amber contains Lepidoptera and the amber from southern Israel is rich in fungal remains. The source of the amber, based on geochemical and palynological evidence, is assumed to be from a conifer belonging to the Araucariaceae. The resins were produced by trees growing in a tropical near shore environment. The amber was transported into small swamps and was preserved there together with lignite. Later reworking of those deposits resulted in redeposition of the amber in oxidized sandstones.

Variation in the Structure of Bird Nests between Northern Manitoba and Southeastern Ontario

PubMed Central

Crossman, Carla A.; Rohwer, Vanya G.; Martin, Paul R.

2011-01-01

Traits that converge in appearance under similar environmental conditions among phylogenetically independent lineages are thought to represent adaptations to local environments. We tested for convergence in nest morphology and composition of birds breeding in two ecologically different locations in Canada: Churchill in northern Manitoba and Elgin in southeastern Ontario. We examined nests from four families of passerine birds (Turdidae: Turdus, Parulidae: Dendroica, Emberizidae: Passerculus and Fringillidae: Carduelis) where closely related populations or species breed in both locations. Nests of American Robins, Yellow Warblers, and Carduelis finches had heavier nest masses, and tended to have thicker nest-walls, in northern Manitoba compared with conspecifics or congenerics breeding in southeastern Ontario. Together, all species showed evidence for wider internal and external nest-cup diameters in northern Manitoba, while individual species showed varying patterns for internal nest-cup and external nest depths. American Robins, Yellow Warblers, and Carduelis finches in northern Manitoba achieved heavier nest masses in different ways. American Robins increased all materials in similar proportions, and Yellow Warblers and Common Redpolls used greater amounts of select materials. While changes in nest composition vary uniquely for each species, the pattern of larger nests in northern Manitoba compared to southeastern Ontario in three of our four phylogenetically-independent comparisons suggests that birds are adapting to similar selective pressures between locations. PMID:21552515

Population structure, body mass, activity, and orientation of an aquatic snake (Seminatrix pygaea) during a drought

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dodd, C.K.

1993-01-01

The snout – vent length, tail length, weight, sex, activity, and orientation of a population of swamp snakes (Seminatrix pygaea) in north – central Florida were recorded from 1985 through 1990. A small temporary pond was monitored for 1343 days, using a drift fence – pitfall trap sampling regime. I captured 123 different snakes, plus 45 recaptures. Juveniles comprised 89% of the snakes at the pond. Females were generally longer and weighed more than males, although regression analysis showed no differences between the sexes in the relationship of length versus wet body mass. Males had longer tails than females. The sex ratio of snakes with a snout – vent length of more than 150 mm was 1:1. Activity occurred throughout the year but peaked during summer. Hydroperiod and weather conditions did not appear to influence snake activity. During the latter years of the study, a regional drought that began in the mid-1980s became quite severe. However, drought had little direct effect on overland migration or body condition but caused snakes to leave or to shorten the amount of time they spent within the pond basin. Snakes immigrated and emigrated nonrandomly; orientation was directed to and from the nearest large water body. Certain temporary ponds may comprise developmental habitat for Seminatrix pygaea. The dynamic wet – dry climatic cycles in southeastern North America may lead to the formation of metapopulations in some aquatic snakes.

Carbon Storage in Wetlands and Lakes of the Eastern US

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Renik, Byrdie; Peteet, Dorothy; Hansen, James E. (Technical Monitor)

2001-01-01

Carbon stored underground may participate in a positive feedback with climate warming, as higher temperatures accelerate decomposition reactions and hence CO2 release. Assessing how below-ground carbon storage varies with modern climate and paleoclimate will advance understanding of this feedback in two ways. First, it will estimate the sensitivity of carbon storage to temperature and precipitation changes. Second, it will help quantify the size of carbon stocks available for the feedback, by indicating how current regional climate differences affect carbon storage. Whereas many studies of below-ground carbon storage concentrate on soils, this investigation focuses on the saturated and primarily organic material stored in wetlands and lake sediments. This study surveys research done on organic sediment depth and organic content at 50-100 sites in the eastern U.S., integrating our own research with the work of others. Storage depth is evaluated for sediments from the past 10,000 years, a date reflected in pollen profiles. Organic content is measured chiefly by loss-on-ignition (101). These variables are compared to characteristics of the sites such as latitude, altitude, and vegetation as well as local climate. Preliminary results suggest a strong relationship between latitude and depth of organic material stored over the last 10,000 years, with more accumulation in the northeastern US than the southeastern US. Linking the percent organic matter to actual carbon content is in progress with wetlands from Black Rock Forest and Alpine Swamp.

Population genetic structure of a widespread coniferous tree, Taxodium distichum [L.] Rich. (Cupressaceae), in the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley and Florida

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tanaka, Ayako; Ohtani, Masato; Suyama, Yoshihisa; Inomata, Nobuyuki; Tsumura, Yoshihiko; Middleton, Beth A.; Tachida, Hidenori; Kusumi, Junko

2012-01-01

Studies of genetic variation can elucidate the structure of present and past populations as well as the genetic basis of the phenotypic variability of species. Taxodium distichum is a coniferous tree dominant in lowland river flood plains and swamps of the southeastern USA which exhibits morphological variability and adaption to stressful habitats. This study provides a survey of the Mississippi River Alluvial Valley (MAV) and Florida to elucidate their population structure and the extent of genetic differentiation between the two regions and sympatric varieties, including bald cypress (var. distichum) and pond cypress (var. imbricatum). We determined the genotypes of 12 simple sequence repeat loci totaling 444 adult individuals from 18 natural populations. Bayesian clustering analysis revealed high levels of differentiation between the MAV and the Florida regions. Within the MAV region, there was a significant correlation between genetic and geographical distances. In addition, we found that there was almost no genetic differentiation between the varieties. Most genetic variation was found within individuals (76.73 %), 1.67 % among individuals within population, 15.36 % among populations within the regions, and 9.23 % between regions within the variety. Our results suggest that (1) the populations of the MAV and the Florida regions are divided into two major genetic groups, which might originate from different glacial refugia, and (2) the patterns of genetic differentiation and phenotypic differentiation were not parallel in this species.

Celestine-bearing geodes from Wayne and Emery counties, southeastern Utah: Genesis and mineralogy

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kile, Daniel E.; Dayvault, Richard D.; Hood, William C.; Hatch, H. Steven

2015-01-01

Geodes containing celestine with associated quartz, calcite, chlorite, and other minerals occur in the Jurassic Curtis Formation of Emery and Wayne counties off the east and south flanks of the San Rafael Swell in southeastern Utah. The two areas discussed in this article produce geodes to 25 cm wide containing bladed to tabular celestine crystals that are as much as 4.5 cm in length. An evaporative littoral system resulting in the formation of anhydrite nodules is proposed as the initial environment for this deposit. Subsequent silicification of the nodules and, in some cases, the formation of hollow spaces within the silicified nodules, provided a geode structure for the eventual crystallization of celestine and associated minerals.

Forest Types in the Lower Suwannee River Floodplain, Florida?-A Report and Interactive Map

USGS Publications Warehouse

Darst, M.R.; Light, H.M.; Lewis, L.J.; Sepulveda, A.A.

2003-01-01

A map of forest types in the lower Suwannee River floodplain, Florida, was created during a study conducted from 1996 to 2000 by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Suwannee River Water Management District. The map is presented with this report on a compact disc with interactive viewing software. The forest map can be used by scientists for ecological studies in the floodplain based on land cover types and by landowners and management personnel making land use decisions. The study area is the 10-year floodplain of the lower Suwannee River from its confluence with the Santa Fe River to the lower limit of forests near the Gulf of Mexico. The floodplain is divided into three reaches: riverine (non-tidal), upper tidal, and lower tidal, due to changes in hydrology, vegetation, and soils with proximity to the coast. The 10-year floodplain covers about 21,170 hectares; nearly 88 percent of this area (18,580 hectares) is mapped as 14 major forest types. Approximately 29 percent (5,319 hectares) of these forests have been altered by agriculture or development. About 75 percent of the area of major forest types (13,994 hectares) is wetland forests and about 25 percent (4,586 hectares) is upland forests. Tidal wetland forests (8,955 hectares) cover a much greater area than riverine wetland forests (5,039 hectares). Oak/pine upland forests are present in the riverine and upper tidal reaches of the floodplain on elevations that are inundated only briefly during the highest floods. High bottomland hardwoods are present on the higher levees, ridges, and flats of the riverine reach where soils are usually sandy. Low bottomland hardwood forests are present in the riverine reach on swamp margins and low levees and flats that are flooded continuously for several weeks or longer every 1 to 3 years. Riverine swamps are present in the lowest and wettest areas of the non-tidal floodplain that are either inundated or saturated most of the time. Upper tidal bottomland hardwood forests are present on sandy soils on high flats and in transitional areas between upland forests and swamps. Upper tidal mixed forests are found on low levees or between swamps and higher forest types. Upper tidal swamps are present at elevations below median monthly high stage and usually have surface soils that are permanently saturated mucks. Lower tidal hammocks are found on higher elevations that do not receive regular tidal inundation but have a high water table and are briefly inundated by storm surges several times a decade. Lower tidal mixed forests include swamps with numerous small hummocks or less common larger hummocks. Lower tidal swamps are found on deep muck soils that are below the elevation of the median daily or monthly high stage. Seven additional land cover types (2,590 hectares) are mapped. Water in the main channel of the lower Suwannee River (1,767 hectares) was mapped separately from open water in the floodplain (239 hectares). Other land cover types are: seepage slopes (70 hectares), isolated forested wetlands (19 hectares), marshes upstream of the tree line (505 hectares), beds of emergent aquatic vegetation (21 hectares), and floodplain glades (46 hectares)

Sedimentology of the Paestum travertines, Salerno, Southern Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anzalone, E.; Ferreri, V.; D'Argenio, B.

2009-04-01

The Paestum travertines, outcrop in the southern part of the Sele plain (Campania, southern Italy)and span in age from the late Pleistocene to the Recent. We have considered both the travertines resting under the ancient town of Paestum (founded by Sybaris Greeks in the VII century b.C.) and in its vicinities, as well as the travertine incrustations that post-date the VII century a.C. and partly cover the archaeological area. The textures and sedimentary features of the above rocks allow the environmental dynamics of the ancient as well as of the recent travertine deposits to be interpreted. The age of the ancient travertines ranges from 30-40 ka to 70-75 ka, even though more recent times of deposition cannot be excluded. They are genetically related to the waters springing from the south- western margin of the Mesozoic-Tertiary carbonates of Monte Soprano and Monte Sottano. These waters flow also through the travertines and their neighbouring deposits, feeding other springs along the coast. The travertines, both in situ and forming the building blocks of the town walls, have been classified using the textural nomenclature of the primary incrustations. On this basis, different lithofacies have been recognized and grouped into 3 main lithofacies associations: 1) Microhermal and Stromatolitic Travertines associated with Grain Supported Phytoclastic Travertines (gentle to steep slope environments); this lithofacies association is largely represented in the foundation travertines as well as in the blocks used to build the walls and the monuments of the ancient town; 2) Phytohermal and Microhermal Travertines (rapid and waterfall environments); this lithofacies association is well exposed in the foundation travertines of Porta Marina (western side of the town) and in some wall blocks (e.g. nearby Porta Sirena, eastern side of the town); 3) Phytoclastic and Phytohermal Travertines (swamp and marsh environments); this lithofacies association is common in the blocks forming the town wall between Porta Sirena and Porta Giustizia (southern-eastern side of Paestum) and in the civil and sacred architecture. The time-space relationships among the above lithofacies associations clearly emerge in the Porta Marina area both in the Greek walls of the ancient town (slope and swamp facies) and in the outcropping travertine substrate (slope and waterfall deposits). Based on the above sedimentological results, it may be inferred that, like other ambient temperature travertine systems studied in southern Italy, the Paestum travertine growth developed over a gentle slope surface (in our case dipping to the west), laterally evolving into rapid and waterfall deposits. At the same time, the aggradational growth of the travertine system resulted in a flattened summit area with widespread swamp and marsh environments. The ruins of Paestum, including the lower parts of sacred and civil buildings as well as town roads and walls, are even today largely covered by recent semi-coherent travertines (tufa), originating from waters that encrusted and then "fossilized" a large part of the town. Inside the town walls, these materials were pedogenized and nowadays are largely cultivated around and within the archeological area. A portion of these deposits was removed during the excavations of the beginning of last century, but traces of them may still be observed in different parts of the ancient town. Like the foundation travertines, the recent deposits are mainly made up of calcareous encrustations. Gastropods, ostracods and other organisms typical of terrestrial humid environments may be found in the phytoclastic textures. Usually, they are weakly cemented and at places incorporate different materials, including brick, wood and coal fragments. These sediments patchy cover the town within the wall perimeter, for a few decimetres in the sacred areas, but reaching over 4 meters downhill and outside the walls: a process of "fossilization" that appears to have been particularly effective at Porta Marina, on the sea side of Paestum, where the door structures were almost completely buried by fan shaped calcareous deposits, precipitating from waters flowing from inside the town.

Swamp Neighborhoods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lowry, D. S.

2017-12-01

The fields of anthropology, evironmental science, and "planetary health" are all speaking about the need to properly assess the relationships between human health and anthropogenic environmental influences. Using ethnographic data gathered from an NSF-funded research project in the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina after Hurricane Matthew, I will present the importance of specific, culturally-centered, historically contextualized studies of the environment as we are increasingly placed in highly important (but too general) global environmental discussions. I will focus on the importance of the Lumbee Tribe (one of the largest Native American communities in the U.S.) as a key research site to help us understand how to engage in global environmental debates. I will illustrate how we must take account particular communities as they fade into and out of one another in the past and present. As such, I will argue that "planetary health" and other environemental health discourses must be accountable through interdisciplinary/interprofessional/interclass relationships that place the power of academic work in the environment safely in the hands of the most vulnerable populations.

RASSOR - Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gill, Tracy R.; Mueller, Rob

2015-01-01

The Regolith Advanced Surface Systems Operations Robot (RASSOR) is a lightweight excavator for mining in reduced gravity. RASSOR addresses the need for a lightweight (<100 kg) robot that is able to overcome excavation reaction forces while operating in reduced gravity environments such as the moon or Mars. A nominal mission would send RASSOR to the moon to operate for five years delivering regolith feedstock to a separate chemical plant, which extracts oxygen from the regolith using H2 reduction methods. RASSOR would make 35 trips of 20 kg loads every 24 hours. With four RASSORs operating at one time, the mission would achieve 10 tonnes of oxygen per year (8 t for rocket propellant and 2 t for life support). Accessing craters in space environments may be extremely hard and harsh due to volatile resources - survival is challenging. New technologies and methods are required. RASSOR is a product of KSC Swamp Works which establishes rapid, innovative and cost effective exploration mission solutions by leveraging partnerships across NASA, industry and academia.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cebi, F.H.; Korkmaz, S.; Akcay, M.

The majority of coal deposits in the world are of Carboniferous and Tertiary age but Jurassic coals are seldom present. They are also exposed in northern Turkey and occur both at the lower and upper sections of the Liassic-Dogger volcanic- and volcani-clastic series. The coals at the base of the Jurassic units are characterized by higher Ba, Th, Zr, and Cr-Ni and lower S values than those at the top of the units, indicating, in general, laterally consistent trace element contents. The vertical distribution of trace elements in individual coal seams is also rather consistent. The B contents of coalsmore » from the Godul and Norsun areas vary from 1.5 to 4.3 ppm whereas those from the Alansa area are in the range of 95 to 138 ppm. This suggests that the coals in the Godul and Norsun areas were deposited in a swamp environment inundated by the sea from time to time, whereas coals of the Alansa were deposited in a saline environment.« less

Differences in impacts of Hurricane Sandy on freshwater swamps on the Delmarva Peninsula, Mid−Atlantic Coast, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, Beth A.

2016-01-01

Hurricane wind and surge may have different influences on the subsequent composition of forests. During Hurricane Sandy, while damaging winds were highest near landfall in New Jersey, inundation occurred along the entire eastern seaboard from Georgia to Maine. In this study, a comparison of damage from salinity intrusion vs. wind/surge was recorded in swamps of the Delmarva Peninsula along the Pocomoke (MD) and Nanticoke (DE) Rivers, south of the most intense wind damage. Hickory Point Cypress Swamp (Hickory) was closest to the Chesapeake Bay and may have been subjected to a salinity surge as evidenced by elevated salinity levels at a gage upstream of this swamp (storm salinity = 13.1 ppt at Nassawango Creek, Snow Hill, Maryland). After Hurricane Sandy, 8% of the standing trees died at Hickory including Acer rubrum, Amelanchier laevis, Ilex spp., and Taxodium distichum. In Plot 2 of Hickory, 25% of the standing trees were dead, and soil salinity levels were the highest recorded in the study. The most important variables related to structural tree damage were soil salinity and proximity to the Atlantic coast as based on Stepwise Regression and NMDS procedures. Wind damage was mostly restricted to broken branches although tipped−up trees were found at Hickory, Whiton and Porter (species: Liquidamabar styraciflua, Pinus taeda, Populus deltoides, Quercus pagoda and Ilex spp.). These trees fell mostly in an east or east−southeast direction (88o−107o) in keeping with the wind direction of Hurricane Sandy on the Delmarva Peninsula. Coastal restoration and management can be informed by the specific differences in hurricane damage to vegetation by salt versus wind.

Simulating groundwater flow and runoff for the Oro Moraine aquifer system. Part II. Automated calibration and mass balance calculations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beckers, J.; Frind, E. O.

2001-03-01

A steady-state groundwater model of the Oro Moraine aquifer system in Central Ontario, Canada, is developed. The model is used to identify the role of baseflow in the water balance of the Minesing Swamp, a 70 km 2 wetland of international significance. Lithologic descriptions are used to develop a hydrostratigraphic conceptual model of the aquifer system. The numerical model uses long-term averages to represent temporal variations of the flow regime and includes a mechanism to redistribute recharge in response to near-surface geologic heterogeneity. The model is calibrated to water level and streamflow measurements through inverse modeling. Observed baseflow and runoff quantities validate the water mass balance of the numerical model and provide information on the fraction of the water surplus that contributes to groundwater flow. The inverse algorithm is used to compare alternative model zonation scenarios, illustrating the power of non-linear regression in calibrating complex aquifer systems. The adjoint method is used to identify sensitive recharge areas for groundwater discharge to the Minesing Swamp. Model results suggest that nearby urban development will have a significant impact on baseflow to the swamp. Although the direct baseflow contribution makes up only a small fraction of the total inflow to the swamp, it provides an important steady influx of water over relatively large portions of the wetland. Urban development will also impact baseflow to the headwaters of local streams. The model provides valuable insight into crucial characteristics of the aquifer system although definite conclusions regarding details of its water budget are difficult to draw given current data limitations. The model therefore also serves to guide future data collection and studies of sub-areas within the basin.

A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands.

PubMed

Turetsky, Merritt R; Kotowska, Agnieszka; Bubier, Jill; Dise, Nancy B; Crill, Patrick; Hornibrook, Ed R C; Minkkinen, Kari; Moore, Tim R; Myers-Smith, Isla H; Nykänen, Hannu; Olefeldt, David; Rinne, Janne; Saarnio, Sanna; Shurpali, Narasinha; Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina; Waddington, J Michael; White, Jeffrey R; Wickland, Kimberly P; Wilmking, Martin

2014-07-01

Wetlands are the largest natural source of atmospheric methane. Here, we assess controls on methane flux using a database of approximately 19 000 instantaneous measurements from 71 wetland sites located across subtropical, temperate, and northern high latitude regions. Our analyses confirm general controls on wetland methane emissions from soil temperature, water table, and vegetation, but also show that these relationships are modified depending on wetland type (bog, fen, or swamp), region (subarctic to temperate), and disturbance. Fen methane flux was more sensitive to vegetation and less sensitive to temperature than bog or swamp fluxes. The optimal water table for methane flux was consistently below the peat surface in bogs, close to the peat surface in poor fens, and above the peat surface in rich fens. However, the largest flux in bogs occurred when dry 30-day averaged antecedent conditions were followed by wet conditions, while in fens and swamps, the largest flux occurred when both 30-day averaged antecedent and current conditions were wet. Drained wetlands exhibited distinct characteristics, e.g. the absence of large flux following wet and warm conditions, suggesting that the same functional relationships between methane flux and environmental conditions cannot be used across pristine and disturbed wetlands. Together, our results suggest that water table and temperature are dominant controls on methane flux in pristine bogs and swamps, while other processes, such as vascular transport in pristine fens, have the potential to partially override the effect of these controls in other wetland types. Because wetland types vary in methane emissions and have distinct controls, these ecosystems need to be considered separately to yield reliable estimates of global wetland methane release. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

A synthesis of methane emissions from 71 northern, temperate, and subtropical wetlands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Turetsky, Merritt R.; Kotowska, Agnieszka; Bubier, Jill; Dise, Nancy B.; Crill, Patrick; Hornibrook, Ed R.C.; Minkkinen, Kari; Moore, Tim R.; Myers-Smith, Isla H.; Nykanen, Hannu; Olefeldt, David; Rinne, Janne; Saarnio, Sanna; Shurpali, Narasinha; Tuittila, Eeva-Stiina; Waddington, J. Michael; White, Jeffrey R.; Wickland, Kimberly P.; Wilmking, Martin

2014-01-01

Wetlands are the largest natural source of atmospheric methane. Here, we assess controls on methane flux using a database of approximately 19 000 instantaneous measurements from 71 wetland sites located across subtropical, temperate, and northern high latitude regions. Our analyses confirm general controls on wetland methane emissions from soil temperature, water table, and vegetation, but also show that these relationships are modified depending on wetland type (bog, fen, or swamp), region (subarctic to temperate), and disturbance. Fen methane flux was more sensitive to vegetation and less sensitive to temperature than bog or swamp fluxes. The optimal water table for methane flux was consistently below the peat surface in bogs, close to the peat surface in poor fens, and above the peat surface in rich fens. However, the largest flux in bogs occurred when dry 30-day averaged antecedent conditions were followed by wet conditions, while in fens and swamps, the largest flux occurred when both 30-day averaged antecedent and current conditions were wet. Drained wetlands exhibited distinct characteristics, e.g. the absence of large flux following wet and warm conditions, suggesting that the same functional relationships between methane flux and environmental conditions cannot be used across pristine and disturbed wetlands. Together, our results suggest that water table and temperature are dominant controls on methane flux in pristine bogs and swamps, while other processes, such as vascular transport in pristine fens, have the potential to partially override the effect of these controls in other wetland types. Because wetland types vary in methane emissions and have distinct controls, these ecosystems need to be considered separately to yield reliable estimates of global wetland methane release.

Geology and ground-water resources of southeastern New Hampshire

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bradley, Edward

1964-01-01

The continued growth and development of southeastern New Hampshire, an area of about 390 square miles adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean, will depend partly on effectively satisfying the demand for water, which has increased rapidly since World War II. The report identifies and describes the principal geologic units with respect to the occurrence of ground water. These units include bedrock and the various unconsolidated deposits that mantle the bedrock surface discontinuously throughout the area. The bedrock formations, consisting of igneous and metamorphic rocks, chiefly of Paleozoic age, form a single water-bearing unit. Ground water is in joints and fractures. The fractures are small and scattered and therefore impart only a low permeability to the rocks. Wells in the bedrock commonly produce small but reliable supplies of ground water at depths of less than 150 feet. The yields of about 80 wells inventoried for this report ranged from 1? to 100 gpm (gallons per minute) and the median was 912 gpm. Depths ranged from 45 to 600 feet. The unconsolidated deposits consist of glacial drift of Pleistocene age; swamp deposits, alluvium, and beach deposits of Recent age; and eolian deposits of Pleistocene -and Recent age. For this report the glacial drift is divided into till, ice-contact deposits, marine deposits, and outwash and shore deposits. Glacial till forms a discontinuous blanket, commonly less than 15 but in some hills (drumlins) as much as about 200 feet thick. It has a low permeability but, because of its widespread outcrop area, it has been utilized as a source of water for numerous domestic supplies. Because most wells in till are shallow, many fail to meet modern demands during dry summers. Ice-contact deposits locally form kames, kame terraces, kame plains, and ice-channel fillings throughout the area. They overlie bedrock and till and range in thickness from less than 1 foot to as much as 190 feet. In general, the ice-contact deposits are coarse textured and permeable, but variations in- the physical and hydrologic properties of a single deposit and from deposit to deposit are common. Ice-contact deposits are the source of the larger ground-water supplies in southeastern New Hampshire. Marine deposits underlie lowlands and valleys to a distance of about 20 miles inland from the present coastline. They commonly overlie bedrock and till and at places overlie or are interbedded with ice-contact deposits. Marine deposits range in thickness from less than 1 foot to possibly 75 feet. They are fine textured and impermeable; they do not yield water to wells in southeastern New Hampshire but generally act as a barrier to ground-water movement. Outwash and shore deposits form broad sand plains or gently sloping terraces of small extent. At most places the outwash and shore deposits, which range in thickness from less than 1 foot to about 50 feet, overlie marine deposits, but at some places they overlie bedrock, till, or ice-contact deposits. The outwash and shore deposits are fine textured and moderately permeable. They commonly yield enough ground water to meet the needs of farms, homes, and small industries. Alluvium underlies the flood plains and channels of the principal streams and overlies bedrock and older unconsolidated deposits wherever streams cross the older units. The alluvium generally is not tapped by wells. Beach deposits occupy areas along the Atlantic Ocean between promontories of bedrock or till. In general beach deposits are permeable and are a source of water supplies for domestic use. Yields of wells are limited, however, by the danger of drawing in salty water. Recharge in southeastern New Hampshire is derived principally from precipitation on outcrop areas of ice-contact deposits and outwash and shore deposits during the nongrowing season. Ground water is discharged naturally by springs, by effluent seepage to streams and other bodies of surface water, and by evapotranspiration. It

Holocene Climate Variability in the Central North Pacific: An Organic Geochemical Record from Ka'au Crater Swamp, O'ahu, Hawai'i

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Street, J. H.; Beilman, D.; Timmermann, A.; Gaidos, E.; Paytan, A.

2010-12-01

North Pacific climate is known to have varied during the Holocene, with significant “downstream” effects on the regional climate and hydrology of western North America. Evidence from paleoclimatic studies along the northeast Pacific margin hints at several broad-scale regime shifts since the early Holocene, with spatial expressions analogous to those observed during phase shifts of the modern ENSO and PDO, though occurring on much longer (centennial to millennial) timescales. Nonetheless, the timing, magnitude and spatial patterns of Holocene rearrangements in oceanic and atmospheric circulation in the North Pacific remain incompletely defined. The main Hawaiian Islands (19 - 22 °N, 155 - 160 °W) are uniquely situated to “sample” climate variability in the subtropical, central North Pacific. Precipitation in Hawai’i is strongly influenced by the seasonal migration of the Pacific Anticyclone and the associated trade winds, and, during the winter, the frequency and intensity of westerly moisture-bearing storms. On interannual to decadal timescales, basin-wide circulation changes related to ENSO and PDO modulate trade wind strength and the occurrence of winter storm patterns, leading to local variations in precipitation. Terrestrial paleoclimatic records from Hawai’i are rare, but of great potential value to reconstruct aspects of central North Pacific atmospheric circulation during the Holocene, including the influence of the tropical ENSO system. In this study we present initial results from a 4.5 m, ~14 kyr sedimentary sequence recovered from Ka’au Crater Swamp, located near the leeward crest of the Ko’olau range of southeastern O’ahu, in a zone of high precipitation (>330 cm/yr). We utilize carbon and nitrogen elemental abundances (TOC, TN, C/N) and isotopic compositions (δ13C, δ15N) of bulk organic matter and ratios of biomarker compounds to reconstruct changes in vegetation, organic matter sources, and biogeochemical cycling in relation to climatic variables. Variation in elemental abundances and ratios, particularly in the mid-Holocene, suggest a sensitive response to climate. In addition, we evaluate the use of compound-specific hydrogen isotope (δD) measurements on plant leaf-wax compounds extracted from the sediment as a means of reconstructing paleohydrologic conditions and moisture sources to the site. Leaf-wax δD at Ka’au Crater is affected by changes in the isotopic composition precipitation as well as local water balance, both of which respond to variations in trade wind strength and the balance among the several winter circulation patterns.

Marine reserve design for conservation and fisheries management: a case study from the California Channel Islands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Airame, S.J.; Dugan, E.; Lafferty, K.D.; Leslie, H.M.; McArdle, D.A.; Warner, R.R.

2003-01-01

Five races of cottontail rabbits belonging to three species occur in Virginia. One of them, the Mearns cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi), is reported here for the first time. It occurs in six southwestern counties of the state, while the eastern cottontail (S. f. mallurus) occurs in the remainder of the state with the exception of Smith and Fishermans islands off the eastern coast of Cape Charles, where it is replaced by Hitchens cottontail (S. f. hitchensi). The New England cottontail (S. transitionalis) is found on the higher mountain peaks, above 3000 feet, and the swamp rabbit (S. palustris) occurs in the Dismal Swamp region of southeastern Virginia.....The height of the breeding season for the eastern cottontail in Virginia is March and April, but breeding continues through the entire year except in December and January. The average litter size based on embryo counts was 4.7. The sex ratio of 234 specimens from all parts of the state, taken mostly in the December to February period, was 53 males to 47 females. That of a group of 145 rabbits live-trapped at Blacksburg during February and Marchwas 58 males to 42 females. The figures show that males are more active than females during the winter months, and therefore are more easily taken then....In transplanting cottontails from one section of the state to another, it is recommended that only cottontails of the same race as those originally present in the region being restocked be released there....Tularemia is not a common disease among rabbits in Virginia, but the rabbit ticks are often carriers of the disease and may transmit it to rabbits. Rabbit ticks are also found to be carriers of Rocky Mountain fever and American Q. fever. After the ticks drop off the rabbits to hibernate in the ground, which is likely to occur during mid-winter in Virginia, there is relatively little danger of humans contracting tularemia by contact with rabbits. Present laws in Virginia which prohibit rabbit hunting until the opening of the general hunting season, November 15and November 20--west and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, respectively--protect the licensed hunters to which these regulations apply, but landowners or tenants are still allowed to take rabbits for their own use on their own land at any time. It is recommended that as a public health measure the taking of cottontails be completely prohibited to all until the opening of the general hunting season.

The cottontail rabbits of Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Llewellyn, L.M.; Handley, C.O.

1945-01-01

Five races of cottontail rabbits belonging to three species occur in Virginia. One of them, the Mearns cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi), is reported here for the first time. It occurs in six southwestern counties of the state, while the eastern cottontail (S. f. mallurus) occurs in the remainder of the state with the exception of Smith and Fishermans islands off the eastern coast of Cape Charles, where it is replaced by Hitchens cottontail (S. f. hitchensi). The New England cottontail (S. transitionalis) is found on the higher mountain peaks, above 3000 feet, and the swamp rabbit (S. palustris) occurs in the Dismal Swamp region of southeastern Virginia.....The height of the breeding season for the eastern cottontail in Virginia is March and April, but breeding continues through the entire year except in December and January. The average litter size based on embryo counts was 4.7. The sex ratio of 234 specimens from all parts of the state, taken mostly in the December to February period, was 53 males to 47 females. That of a group of 145 rabbits live-trapped at Blacksburg during February and Marchwas 58 males to 42 females. The figures show that males are more active than females during the winter months, and therefore are more easily taken then....In transplanting cottontails from one section of the state to another, it is recommended that only cottontails of the same race as those originally present in the region being restocked be released there....Tularemia is not a common disease among rabbits in Virginia, but the rabbit ticks are often carriers of the disease and may transmit it to rabbits. Rabbit ticks are also found to be carriers of Rocky Mountain fever and American Q. fever. After the ticks drop off the rabbits to hibernate in the ground, which is likely to occur during mid-winter in Virginia, there is relatively little danger of humans contracting tularemia by contact with rabbits. Present laws in Virginia which prohibit rabbit hunting until the opening of the general hunting season, November 15and November 20--west and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, respectively--protect the licensed hunters to which these regulations apply, but landowners or tenants are still allowed to take rabbits for their own use on their own land at any time. It is recommended that as a public health measure the taking of cottontails be completely prohibited to all until the opening of the general hunting season.

Michigan's commercial fisheries of the Great Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Van Oosten, John

1938-01-01

Five races of cottontail rabbits belonging to three species occur in Virginia. One of them, the Mearns cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus mearnsi), is reported here for the first time. It occurs in six southwestern counties of the state, while the eastern cottontail (S. f. mallurus) occurs in the remainder of the state with the exception of Smith and Fishermans islands off the eastern coast of Cape Charles, where it is replaced by Hitchens cottontail (S. f. hitchensi). The New England cottontail (S. transitionalis) is found on the higher mountain peaks, above 3000 feet, and the swamp rabbit (S. palustris) occurs in the Dismal Swamp region of southeastern Virginia.....The height of the breeding season for the eastern cottontail in Virginia is March and April, but breeding continues through the entire year except in December and January. The average litter size based on embryo counts was 4.7. The sex ratio of 234 specimens from all parts of the state, taken mostly in the December to February period, was 53 males to 47 females. That of a group of 145 rabbits live-trapped at Blacksburg during February and Marchwas 58 males to 42 females. The figures show that males are more active than females during the winter months, and therefore are more easily taken then....In transplanting cottontails from one section of the state to another, it is recommended that only cottontails of the same race as those originally present in the region being restocked be released there....Tularemia is not a common disease among rabbits in Virginia, but the rabbit ticks are often carriers of the disease and may transmit it to rabbits. Rabbit ticks are also found to be carriers of Rocky Mountain fever and American Q. fever. After the ticks drop off the rabbits to hibernate in the ground, which is likely to occur during mid-winter in Virginia, there is relatively little danger of humans contracting tularemia by contact with rabbits. Present laws in Virginia which prohibit rabbit hunting until the opening of the general hunting season, November 15and November 20--west and east of the Blue Ridge Mountains, respectively--protect the licensed hunters to which these regulations apply, but landowners or tenants are still allowed to take rabbits for their own use on their own land at any time. It is recommended that as a public health measure the taking of cottontails be completely prohibited to all until the opening of the general hunting season.

Post-fire fluxes and sources of carbon in previously burnt tropical swamp peatlands, Brunei

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lupascu, M.; Akhtar, H.; Smith, T. E. L.; Sukmaria binti Hj Sukri, R.

2017-12-01

Tropical peatlands hold about 15-19% of the global organic carbon (C) pool of which 77% in Southeast Asia. Nonetheless Southeast Asian peatlands have been exploited for timber and land for agriculture leading to rapid deforestation, extensive drainage and frequent fires. Direct C-emissions through peat combustion must be quantified to examine the impact of peat fires on global and regional C-budgets, however it is also essential to evaluate oxidative decomposition of peat after fires for a complete understanding of ecosystem-scale fire impact. This kind of investigation is necessary also to understand the effect of peat burning on peat decomposition, because burning effects on the belowground environment are variable, depending on burnt frequency and fire severity. After a fire, ecosystems act as a C-source for months-to-years as ecosystem-respiration (Reco) exceeds photosynthesis. Furthermore during fires, the surface peat with a higher proportion of the more modern rapidly-cycled C burns preferentially. The loss of the surface peat possibly can reduce oxidative soil CO2 emissions, as the deeper, older peat, has more recalcitrant compounds. However, CO2emissions from this old C pool are a net flux to the atmosphere compared to the modern C. Within this context, we are quantifying the magnitudes and patterns of ecosystem-atmosphere fluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) through cavity-ring spectroscopy in different transects of an intact tropical peat swamp forest and in two degraded forest areas affected by two and six fires over the last 40 years in Brunei, on the island of Borneo. We are using natural tracers such as δ13C and 14C to investigate the age and sources (auto- and heterotrophic) of C contributing to Reco and we are continuously monitoring soil temperature and water table level. Preliminary data show a similar magnitude of CO2 efflux between the intact (5.3 µmol CO2 m-2 s-1) and burnt areas (6.4 µmol CO2 m-2 s-1), with higher soil temperature in the latter. Our results will give a deeper insight into the vulnerability of the C pool in tropical peat swamp forest after fire events and aim at improving terrestrial soil C budget.

Flaser and wavy bedding in ephemeral streams: a modern and an ancient example

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martin, A. J.

2000-10-01

Flaser and wavy bedding are sedimentary structures characterized by alternating rippled sand and mud layers. These structures often are considered to form mostly in tidally influenced environments; published examples from fluvial environments are rare. Flaser and wavy bedding were found in two ephemeral stream deposits: the Jurassic Kayenta Formation and the modern wash in Seven Mile Canyon, both located in southeastern Utah, USA. These examples demonstrate that flaser bedding can form and be preserved in ephemeral streams.

Examining the Perceptions of Brand Images Regarding Competing MBA Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hinds, Timothee; Falgoust, Dexter; Thomas, Kerry, Jr.; Budden, Michael C.

2010-01-01

In today's economic environment, it is crucial to create a strong, consistent brand image within a graduate business program. This study examines the perceptions that students at Southeastern Louisiana University hold about its MBA program and the MBA programs of its main competitors. A focus group was conducted to identify competitors and factors…

Wetlands postcard

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ball, Lianne C.

2016-05-25

Research conducted by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey provides reliable scientific information for the management of wetlands ranging from small freshwater alpine lakes in the Western United States to coastal wetlands of the Great Lakes and salt marshes along the Southeastern coast. Learn more about USGS wetlands research at: http://www.usgs.gov/ecosystems/environments/wetlands.html.

The Perceptions of Transition Services and Postsecondary Success for Students with Disabilities in Comprehensive Development Programs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freemon, Ebony Marie

2017-01-01

This study examined transition services provided to students with disabilities in their secondary environments and whether or not these services prepared students with disabilities to post-secondary transition. Fifty students with varying disabilities from seven southeastern high schools participated in this study. Quantitative and qualitative…

Studying Leadership within Successful Rural Communities in a Southeastern State: A Qualitative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ricketts, Kristina G.

2009-01-01

Many rural communities are experiencing a diversity of issues, but what part does leadership play in these communities? This qualitative study describes the environment within two communities in the southeast focusing on community variables of psychological sense of community, community leadership, and social capital. Leaders were identified and a…

A Study of College Professors' Perceptions of International Students in STEM Classrooms at a Technical University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abendschein, Barbara Feeney

2017-01-01

This study investigated the perceptions of STEM professors at a Southeastern technical college about the international students in their undergraduate classrooms, including impact on the learning environment, academic abilities and proficiency in meeting course goals, contribution to class activities and recommendations for improved preparation.…

Listening, Play, and Social Attraction in the Mentoring of New Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Young, Raymond W.; Cates, Carl M.

2010-01-01

This study explores the roles of mentors and proteges as they manage dialectical tensions in a professional environment. Sixty-two first-year teachers in a county school district in the southeastern USA answered a questionnaire about their mentors' empathic and directive listening, playful communication, social attractiveness, and ability to help…

Perceptions of Technology-Mediated Instruction at a Southeastern Community College

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patton, MarQo

2017-01-01

This qualitative dominant, mixed methods research study examined student and instructor perceptions of technology used to mediate learning in a community college environment. Methods of data collection for this study included a questionnaire with Likert scale and open response items, student and instructor interviews, and an analysis of a random…

Fire, Habitat structure and herpetofauna in the Southeast

Treesearch

Cathryn H. Greenberg

2002-01-01

In this paper I review studies of herpetofauna in two fire-maintained, xeric pineland southeastern U.S. ecosystems, longleaf pine-turkey oak sandhills and Florida sand pine scrub. I address evolutionary adaptations of herpetofauna to these xeric environments, and how fire disturbance influences herpetofaunal community composition by structuring habitat. Where data are...

Integrating the Intangibles into Asynchronous Online Instruction: Strategies for Improving Interaction and Social Presence

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McGuire, Beverley Foulks

2016-01-01

This paper considers how instructors of asynchronous online courses in the Humanities might integrate intangibles associated with face-to-face instruction into their online environments. It presents a case study of asynchronous online instruction in a philosophy and religion department at a midsize public university in the southeastern United…

Novel insights into the Elm Yellows phytoplasma genome and into the metagenome of Elm Yellows-infected elms

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In North America, American elms were historically present throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The longevity of these trees, their resistance to the harsh urban environment, and their aesthetics led to their wide use in landscaping and streetscaping over several decade...

Direct isotopic evidence for subsistence variability in Middle Pleistocene Neanderthals (Payre, southeastern France)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bocherens, Hervé; Díaz-Zorita Bonilla, Marta; Daujeard, Camille; Fernandes, Paul; Raynal, Jean-Paul; Moncel, Marie-Hélène

2016-12-01

The site of Payre (SE France) is presented as a case study to decipher possible changes in subsistence and land-use strategies during the middle Pleistocene in Europe. This study applies carbon and oxygen isotopic data (δ13C and δ18O) in dental tooth enamel from four distinct Middle Pleistocene Neanderthals coming from two phases of occupation. This allows us to test if these different Neanderthals were similar in their subsistence strategies and mobility during their childhood, and to compare them with terrestrial predators and to herbivores dwelling in different areas around the cave. The results show that Neanderthals were exploiting the environment differently over time in the absence of a significant environmental change. This change of environment exploitation coincides with different durations of occupation. The age of the individuals allows us to discuss the mobility of young Neanderthals and the topographies they lived on before arriving in the cave. The combination of results obtained from various approaches throws a new light on the investigation of Neanderthal ecosystem and land-use patterns during the Early Middle Palaeolithic in Southeastern France.

Parathelphusa pardus, a new species of lowland freshwater crab from swamps in central Sumatra, Indonesia (Crustacea: Brachyura: Gecarcinucidae).

PubMed

Ng, Peter K L; Riady, Rikhi; Windarti, Windarti

2016-02-29

A new species of gecarcinucid freshwater crab of the genus Parathelphusa H. Milne Edwards, 1853, is described from freshwater swamp habitats in Pekanbaru, Riau Province, in central-eastern Sumatra, Indonesia. Parathelphusa pardus sp. nov., has a very distinctive colour pattern, and in this respect, resembles P. maindroni (Rathbun, 1902) from Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia; P. batamensis Ng, 1992, from Batam Island, Indonesia; P. reticulata Ng, 1990, from Singapore; and P. oxygona Nobili, 1901, from western Sarawak. It can be distinguished from these species and congeners by a suite of carapace, ambulatory leg, thoracic sternal and most importantly, male first gonopod characters.

Pseudocapillaria (Ichthyocapillaria) ophisterni sp. n. (Nematoda : Capillariidae) from the swamp-eel Ophisternon aenigmaticum (Pisces) in Mexico.

PubMed

Moravec, F; Salgado-Maldonado, G; Jiménez-García, I

2000-04-01

A new nematode species, Pseudocapillaria ophisterni sp. n., is described from the intestine and rarely from the stomach of the swamp-eel, Ophisternon aenigmaticum Rosen et Greenwood, from Catemaco Lake, Veracruz, Mexico. In having both caudal lobes in the male interconnected by a distinct dorsal membrane, it belongs to the subgenus Ichthyocapillaria. It differs from the three species in this subgenus mainly in possessing either a distinctly longer spicule or a smaller length of oesophagus relative to body length. It also differs in host type and geographical distribution. P. ophisterni is the first capillariid species reported from synbranchiform fishes.

Influence of Macrophyte Decomposition on Growth Rate and Community Structure of Okefenokee Swamp Bacterioplankton †

PubMed Central

Murray, Robert E.; Hodson, Robert E.

1986-01-01

Dissolved substances released during decomposition of the white water lily (Nymphaea odorata) can alter the growth rate of Okefenokee Swamp bacterioplankton. In microcosm experiments dissolved compounds released from senescent Nymphaea leaves caused a transient reduction in the abundance and activity of water column bacterioplankton, followed by a period of intense bacterial growth. Rates of [3H]thymidine incorporation and turnover of dissolved d-glucose were depressed by over 85%, 3 h after the addition of Nymphaea leachates to microcosms containing Okefenokee Swamp water. Bacterial activity subsequently recovered; after 20 h [3H]thymidine incorporation in leachate-treated microcosms was 10-fold greater than that in control microcosms. The recovery of activity was due to a shift in the composition of the bacterial population toward resistance to the inhibitory compounds present in Nymphaea leachates. Inhibitory compounds released during the decomposition of aquatic macrophytes thus act as selective agents which alter the community structure of the bacterial population with respect to leachate resistance. Soluble compounds derived from macrophyte decomposition influence the rate of bacterial secondary production and the availability of microbial biomass to microconsumers. Images PMID:16346986

Characterising Wetland Properties in Relation to the Abundance of an Invasive Species

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanosik, L. E.; McEnroe, N. A.

2008-12-01

Purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) is a colorful but aggressive invasive species found at the Goodyear Swamp Sanctuary in Upstate New York. Flowering from June to September allows a large number of seeds to spread quickly throughout the growing season. This invasive species can alter can alter a wetland's functional properties by impacting the hydrology and soil properties. These modified properties are of concern to wetland scientists and wetland managers as the characterisation of wetland condition becomes more important. Control or eradication of purple loosestrife within the Goodyear Swamp has become regionally important and is carried out by a U.S. Department of Agriculture approved leaf-eating beetle Galerucella calmariensis. A study to investigate the environmental conditions in which purple loosestrife has propagated and changed the native flora of Goodyear Swamp was developed. The aim was to characterize the soil physiochemical properties and hydrological conditions under which the species occurs. These data are relevant to be able to highlight the wetland conditions under which purple loosestrife might invade and to be able to compare treated and untreated wetlands. We highlight key differences in wetland functional properties caused by the invasion of this species.

Efficiency of semi-automated fluorescent multiplex PCRs with 11 microsatellite markers for genetic studies of deer populations.

PubMed

Bonnet, A; Thévenon, S; Maudet, F; Maillard, J C

2002-10-01

Thirty bovine and eight ovine microsatellite primer pairs were tested on four tropical deer species: Eld's and Swamp deer (highly threatened) and Rusa and Vietnamese Sika deer (economically important). Thirty markers gave an amplified product in all four species (78.9%). The number of polymorphic microsatellite markers varied among the species from 14 in Eld's deer (47%) to 20 in Swamp deer (67%). Among them, 11 microsatellite loci were multiplexed in three polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) and labelled with three different fluorochromes that can be loaded in one gel-lane. To test the efficiency of the multiplex, primary genetic studies (mean number of alleles, expected heterozygosities and Fis values) were carried out on four deer populations. Parentage exclusion probability and probability of identity were computed and discussed on a Swamp deer population. These multiplexes PCRs were also tested on several other deer species and subspecies. The aim of this study is to establish a tool useful for genetic studies of population structure and diversity in four tropical deer species which with few modifications can be applied to other species of the genus Cervus.

Surface energy exchanges over contrasting vegetation types on a subtropical sand island

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gray, Michael; McGowan, Hamish; Lowry, Andrew; Guyot, Adrien

2017-04-01

The surface energy balance of subtropical coastal vegetation communities has thus far received little attention. Here we present a multi-year observational data set using the eddy covariance method to quantify for the first time the surface energy balance over three contrasting vegetation types on a subtropical sand island in eastern Australia: a periodically inundated sedge swamp, an exotic pine plantation and a coastal heath. Maximum daily sensible heat flux varied between sites but was typically > 280 Wm-2 in the coastal heath and pine plantation but no more than 250 Wm-2 in the swamp when dry and < 110 Wm-2 when inundated. Maximum daily latent heat flux was up to 300 Wm-2 in the coastal heath and pine, but in the swamp it was up to 250 Wm-2 when dry and 209 Wm-2 when inundated. On seasonal timescales, the coastal heath and swamp were both found to be dominated by latent heat flux, with Bowen ratio (β) < 1, whereas the pine plantation typically exhibited β > 1. The partitioning of energy, as represented by β, is similar to a variety of Australian ecosystems, and a range of coastal vegetation types in other latitudes, but differs from other tropical or subtropical locations which have strongly seasonal rainfall patterns and therefore a switch from β > 1 before rainfall to β < 1 afterwards. The energy fluxes over the three vegetation types responded to seasonal changes in background meteorology with the most important influences being net radiation, absolute humidity, and rainfall. The main factor differentiating the sites was soil water content, with the remnant coastal heath and swamp having ready access to water but the exotic pine plantation having much drier soils. Should the current balance between remnant vegetation and the pine plantation undergo changes there would be a corresponding shift in the surface energy balance of the island as a whole, and altered plant water use may lead to reduced water table depth, important because the groundwater of the local islands is used as part of a regional water grid. A better understanding of the response of coastal vegetation to atmospheric forcing will enable more informed decision making on land use changes, as coastal regions the world over face development pressure.

Research on Integrated Mapping——A Case Study of Integrated Land Use with Swamp Mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, S.; Yan, F.; Chang, L.

2015-12-01

Unified real estate registration system shows the attention, determination and effort to of CPC Central Committee and State Council on real estate registration in China. However, under current situation, China's real estate registration work made less progress. One of the reasons is that it's hard to express the property right of real estate on one map under the multi-sector management system. Under current multi-sector management system in China, different departments usually just survey and mapping the land type under its jurisdiction. For example, wetland investigation only mapping all kinds of wetland resources but not mapping other resource types. As a result, it cause he problem of coincidence or leak in integration of different results from different departments. As resources of the earth's surface, the total area of forest, grassland, wetland and so on should be equal to the total area of the earth's surface area. However, under the current system, the area of all kinds of resources is not equal to the sum of the earth's surface. Therefore, it is of great importance to express all the resources on one map. On one hand, this is conducive to find out the real area and distribution of resources and avoid the problem of coincidence or leak in integration; On the other hand, it is helpful to study the dynamic change of different resources. Therefore, we first proposed the "integrated mapping" as a solution, and take integrated land use with swamp mapping in Northeast China as an example to investigate the feasibility and difficulty. Study showed that: integrated land use with swamp mapping can be achieved through combining land use survey standards with swamps survey standards and "second mapping" program. Based on the experience of integrated land use with swamp mapping, we point out its reference function on integrated mapping and unified real estate registration system. We concluded that: (1) Comprehending and integrating different survey standard of different resources is the premise of "integrated mapping", (2) We put forward "multiple code" and "multiple interpretation" scheme in order to solve the problem of "attribute overlap", (3) The area of "attribute overlap" can be segmented by a certain ratio to determine the property right in unified real estate registration.

Greenhouse gas efflux from an impacted Malaysian tropical peat swamp (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waldron, S.; Vihermaa, L. E.; Evers, S.; Garnett, M.; Newton, J.; Padfield, R.

2013-12-01

Tropical peatlands constitute ~11% of global peatland area and ~12% of the global peat C pool. Malaysia alone contains 10% of tropical peats. Due to rising global demands for food and biofuels, SE-Asia peat swamp forest ecosystems are threatened by increasing amounts of drainage, fire and conversion to plantation. These processes can change the GHG emissions and thus net ecosystem C balance. However, in comparison to temperate and boreal peatlands, there is a lack of data on terrestrial-aquatic-atmospheric carbon transfer from tropical peatlands, both those that are little disturbed and those facing anthropogenic pressures. Lateral transport of soil-respired carbon, and fluvial respiration or UV-oxidation of terrestrial DOC primes atmospheric carbon dioxide efflux. We now know that DOC lost from disturbed tropical peat swamp forests can be centuries to millennia old and originates deep within the peat column - this carbon may fuel efflux of old carbon dioxide and so anthropogenic land-use change renders the older, slower carbon cycles shorter and faster. Currently we have no knowledge of how significant ';older-slower' terrestrial-aquatic-atmospheric cycles are in disturbed tropical peatlands. Further, in some areas for commercial reasons, or by conservation bodies trying to minimise peat habitat loss, logged peats have been left to regenerate. Consequently, unpicking the legacy of multiple land uses on magnitude, age and source of GHG emissions is challenging but required to support land management decisions and projections of response to a changing climate. Here, we present the results of our first field campaign in July 2013 to the Raja Musa and Sungai Karang Peat Swamp Forest Reserves in North Selangor, Malaysia. This is one of Malaysia's largest oceanic peat swamps, and has been selectively logged and drained for 80 years, but is now subject to a 30 year logging ban to aid forest regeneration and build up wood stocks. From sites subject to different land use, we will present measurements of i) spatial variation in fluvial carbon dioxide and methane concentrations and associated efflux rates, and ii) the stable carbon isotopic composition of DIC and novel determination of the age of the effluxed carbon dioxide. From this we can consider if younger-faster or older-slower carbon cycling dominates the terrestrial-aquatic-atmospheric C transfer during this dry period sampling.

Depositional aspects and a guide to Paleocene coal-bearing sequences, Powder River Basin

USGS Publications Warehouse

Flores, Romeo M.; Warwick, Peter D.; Moore, Timothy A.; Flores, Romeo M.; Warwick, Peter D.; Moore, Timothy A.; Glass, Gary; Smith, Archie; Nichols, Douglas J.; Wolfe, Jack A.; Stanton, Ronald W.; Weaver, Jean

1989-01-01

The Paleocene coal-bearing sequences in the northern Powder River Basin are contained in the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation and include anomalously thick (54 m) subbituminous coals. These thick coals have been the target of exploration and development for the past few decades. For the past decade, these coals have also been the object of depositional modeling studies [Law, 1976; Galloway, 1979; Flores, 1981, 1983, 1986; Ethridge and others, 1981; Ayers and Kaiser, 1984; Warwick, 1985; Ayers, 1986; Moore, 1986; Warwick and Stanton, 1988].Intensive modeling of these coals has resulted in two major schools of thought. Firstly, Galloway [1979], Flores [1981, 1983, 1986], Ethridge and others [1981], Warwick [1985], Moore [1986], and Warwick and Stanton [1988] believe that the coals formed from peat that accumulated in swamps of fluvial systems. The fluvial systems are interpreted as a basin axis trunktributary complex that drained to the north-northeast into the Williston Basin. Secondly, Ayers and Kaiser [1984] and Ayers [1986] believe that the coals formed from peat swamps of deltaic systems. These deltas are envisioned to have prograded east to west from the Black Hills and infilled Lebo lake that was centrally located along the basin axis.In order to explain the low ash content of the thick coals, Flores [1981] proposed that they are formed as domed peats, similar in geomorphology to swamps associated with the modern fluvial systems in Borneo as described by Anderson [1964]. Ethridge and others [1981] suggested that these fluvial-related swamps are platforms well above drainage systems and are fed by ground water that is recharged from surrounding highlands. Warwick [1985], Warwick and Stanton [1988], Satchell [1984], and Pocknall and Flores [1987] confirmed the domed peat hypothesis by investigating the petrology and palynology of the thick coals.The purpose of this paper is to provide a guide to the depositional aspects of the thick coals in the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation and, because of the biases of the field trip leaders, it elaborates on the fluvial origin of the swamps in which the thick coals formed. Case histories of these thick coals and associated sediments in the Gillette, Powder River, and Kaycee-Linch areas of Wyoming and in the Decker-Tongue River area of Montana (fig. 1) are highlighted on this field trip.

Paleoecological interpretation of a middle Pennsylvanian coal bed in the central Appalachian basin, U.S.A.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eble, C.F.; Grady, W.C.

1990-01-01

At least 180 small spore species assignable to 62 miospore genera have been identified from the Middle Pennsylvanian Hernshaw coal bed in southern West Virginia, and its stratigraphic equivalent, the Fire Clay coal bed, in eastern Kentucky. The established natural affinities of a majority of these miospore taxa indicate that the Hernshaw-Fire Clay peat swamp supported a diverse flora consisting of arborescent and "herbaceous" lycopods, ferns (tree-like and small varities), calamities and cordaites. Four floral groupings are recognized in the Hernshaw-Fire Clay coal bed. The inferred paleoecology and vertical stratification of each of these four floral groupings is similar in structure to the "phasic" floral communities found in modern domed peat systems, suggesting that the ancient Hernshaw-Fire Clay peat swamp was a domed deposit. Compositional characteristics (petrographic make up, ash yield and sulfur content) associated with the four groupings are consistent with, and support this interpretation. Where uninterrupted by inorganic partings, the Hernshaw-Fire Clay coal bed commonly contains basal coal layers dominated by Lycospora-bearing arborescent lycopods, with successive increments showing a progression to a more fern- and "herbaceous"-lycopod-dominant flora in younger layers. These observations are corroborated by petrographic analyses, which show the bed to be compositionally stratified. Increments dominated by Lycospora have high vitrinite contents, in contrast to increments containing increased percentages of fern- and "herbaceous"-lycopod-affiliated taxa that are enriched in inertinite macerals. The volcanic ash fall, preserved as the flint-clay parting in the Hernshaw-Fire Clay coal bed, had a considerable effect on the development of the ancient Hernshaw-Fire Clay peat swamp. Besides interrupting peat formation, the presence of an inorganic substrate represent a major change in edaphic conditions within the swamp. This disruption is demonstrated by a change in palynflora and by the establishment and proliferation of some plant groups, notably cordaites and calamites, that may have been better adapted to growth on mineral soils. These palynologic and petrographic relationships, thought to be indicative of a domed peat-swamp origin, are not confined to the Hernshaw-Fire Clay coal bed, but appear to be characteristic of many coal beds in the Appalachian basin, and also of coal beds in other basins. ?? 1990.

Periodicity in stem growth and litterfall in tidal freshwater forested wetlands: influence of salinity and drought on nitrogen recycling

USGS Publications Warehouse

Cormier, Nicole; Krauss, Ken W.; Conner, William H.

2013-01-01

Many tidally influenced freshwater forested wetlands (tidal swamps) along the south Atlantic coast of the USA are currently undergoing dieback and decline. Salinity often drives conversion of tidal swamps to marsh, especially under conditions of regional drought. During this change, alterations in nitrogen (N) uptake from dominant vegetation or timing of N recycling from the canopy during annual litter senescence may help to facilitate marsh encroachment by providing for greater bioavailable N with small increases in salinity. To monitor these changes along with shifts in stand productivity, we established sites along two tidal swamp landscape transects on the lower reaches of the Waccamaw River (South Carolina) and Savannah River (Georgia) representing freshwater (≤0.1 psu), low oligohaline (1.1–1.6 psu), and high oligohaline (2.6–4.1 psu) stands; the latter stands have active marsh encroachment. Aboveground tree productivity was monitored on all sites through monthly litterfall collection and dendrometer band measurements from 2005 to 2009. Litterfall samples were pooled by season and analyzed for total N and carbon (C). On average between the two rivers, freshwater, low oligohaline, and high oligohaline tidal swamps returned 8,126, 3,831, and 1,471 mg N m−2 year−1, respectively, to the forest floor through litterfall, with differences related to total litterfall volume rather than foliar N concentrations. High oligohaline sites were most inconsistent in patterns of foliar N concentrations and N loading from the canopy. Leaf N content generally decreased and foliar C/N generally increased with salinization (excepting one site), with all sites being fairly inefficient in resorbing N from leaves prior to senescence. Stands with higher salinity also had greater flood frequency and duration, lower basal area increments, lower tree densities, higher numbers of dead or dying trees, and much reduced leaf litter fall (103 vs. 624 g m−2 year−1) over the five study years. Our data suggest that alternative processes, such as the rate of decomposition and potential for N mineralization, on tidal swamp sites undergoing salinity-induced state change may be more important for controlling N biogeochemical cycling in soils than differences among sites in N loading via litterfall.

How could a freshwater swamp produce a chemical signature characteristic of a saltmarsh?

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCloskey, Terrence; Smith, Christopher G.; Liu, Kam-biu; Marot, Marci E.; Haller, Christian

2018-01-01

Reduction–oxidation (redox) reaction conditions, which are of great importance for the soil chemistry of coastal marshes, can be temporally dynamic. We present a transect of cores from northwest Florida wherein radical postdepositional changes in the redox regime has created atypical geochemical profiles at the bottom of the sedimentary column. The stratigraphy is consistent along the transect, consisting of, from the bottom upward, carbonate bedrock, a gray clay, an organic mud section, a dense clay layer, and an upper organic mud unit representing the current saltwater marsh. However, the geochemical signature of the lower organic mud unit suggests pervasive redox reactions, although the interval has been identified as representing a freshwater marsh, an unlikely environment for such conditions. Analyses indicate that this discrepancy results from postdepositional diagenesis driven by millennial-scale environmental parameters. Rising sea level that led to the deposition of the capping clay layer, created anaerobic conditions in the freshwater swamp interval, and isolated it hydrologically from the rest of the sediment column. The subsequent infiltration of marine water into this organic material led to sulfate reduction, the buildup of H2S and FeS, and anoxic conditions. Continued sulfidation eventually resulted in euxinic conditions, as evidenced by elevated levels of Fe, S, and especially Mo, the diagnostic marker of euxinia. Because this chemical transformation occurred long after the original deposition the geochemical signature does not reflect soil chemistry at the time of deposition and cannot be used to infer syn-depositional environmental conditions, emphasizing the importance of recognizing diagenetic processes in paleoenvironmental studies.

Late Holocene swampy forest of Loango Bay (Congo). Sedimentary environments and organic matter deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malounguila-Nganga, Dieudonné; Giresse, Pierre; Boussafir, Mohammed; Miyouna, Timothée

2017-10-01

This region, comprised between the Kouilou estuary and Pointe-Noire, is characterised by a very specific morphological setting. On the continental side, the coastal sector is dominated by cliffs of sand over 100 m high, referred to as the Série des Cirques, whereas, on the ocean side, very active erosion is presently taking place which has resulted in a retreat of the shoreline of more than 100 m over the last hundred years. New 14C datings and different analyses of organic matter and clay minerals (X-Ray data) were performed in order to reconstruct the geological and ecological evolution of the area during the Late Holocene and replace it in the palaeoclimatic scheme deduced from previous regional studies. From 7 to 6000 yr cal BP, the accumulation of important beach barriers by the oceanic drift allowed the definition of a narrow swamp depression several tens of kilometres long. A dense ombrophile and hydromorphic forest, in spite of being very close to the oceanic coast, remained sheltered from any brackish influence and fed accumulations of peat and organic muds. The emersive trend of 3000-2000 yr BP, i.e. the passage from a vast forest swamp with a water body several metres deep to a wet zone with some emersions, is expressed by a large colluvial accumulation. High primary production is not clearly attested in this wet area. High HI values would indicate rather long-lasting conservation in a swampy environment, the lowest values indicating alternating episodes of emersion and immersion. In such peatlands, OM preservation is favoured by an anoxic environment and rapid burial. The δ 13C values of older peats dated ca. 7000 yr cal BP are -28 to -26‰, typical of a C3 origin. Thus, the ca. -16‰ value indicates the greatest opening of the cover, suggesting a forest-savanna mosaic ca. 2500 yr cal BP. At Kivesso, several proxies suggest a wetter trend towards 500 yr cal BP. An ultimate drier trend is observed during the last two centuries, which has been attested to by a δ 13C ratio indicating a clear decrease of the forest extent, probably linked to local Kivesso edaphic conditions.

Situating mental health work in place: Qualitative findings from interviews with Veterans in Southeastern Louisiana and Northern California.

PubMed

Abraham, Traci H; Koenig, Christopher J; Zamora, Kara; Hill, Coleen; Uddo, Madeline; Kelly, Adam P; Hamilton, Michelle F; Curran, Geoffrey M; Pyne, Jeffrey M; Seal, Karen H

2017-09-01

Most chronic illness management occurs outside clinics and hospitals, in the everyday lives of individuals. We use data from semi-structured interviews with 37 veterans from Southeastern Louisiana and Northern California to illustrate how "health work" for mental health concerns are shaped by place. Using health work as an orienting concept for analysis, we discerned variation between the two study sites in how Veterans used interacting with the natural environment, cultivating time alone, and religious practice to manage their mental health and well-being. Through these findings, we advocate for a situated notion of health work that is mindful of how health-related behaviors are shaped by place and the attributes that constitute place. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Biogeographic history and high-elevation adaptations inferred from the mitochondrial genome of Glyptosternoid fishes (Sisoridae, Siluriformes) from the southeastern Tibetan Plateau.

PubMed

Ma, Xiuhui; Kang, Jingliang; Chen, Weitao; Zhou, Chuanjiang; He, Shunping

2015-10-28

The distribution of the Chinese Glyptosternoid catfish is limited to the rivers of the Tibetan Plateau and peripheral regions, especially the drainage areas of southeastern Tibet. Therefore, Glyptosternoid fishes are ideal for reconstructing the geological history of the southeastern Tibet drainage patterns and mitochondrial genetic adaptions to high elevations. Our phylogenetic results support the monophyly of the Sisoridae and the Glyptosternoid fishes. The reconstructed ancestral geographical distribution suggests that the ancestral Glyptosternoids was widely distributed throughout the Brahmaputra drainage in the eastern Himalayas and Tibetan area during the Late Miocene (c. 5.5 Ma). We found that the Glyptosternoid fishes lineage had a higher ratio of nonsynonymous to synonymous substitutions than those found in non-Glyptosternoids. In addition, ωpss was estimated to be 10.73, which is significantly higher than 1 (p-value 0.0002), in COX1, which indicates positive selection in the common ancestral branch of Glyptosternoid fishes in China. We also found other signatures of positive selection in the branch of specialized species. These results imply mitochondrial genetic adaptation to high elevations in the Glyptosternoids. We reconstructed a possible scenario for the southeastern Tibetan drainage patterns based on the adaptive geographical distribution of the Chinese Glyptosternoids in this drainage. The Glyptosternoids may have experienced accelerated evolutionary rates in mitochondrial genes that were driven by positive selection to better adapt to the high-elevation environment of the Tibetan Plateau.

Richness and abundance of the cardini group of Drosophila (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest biomes in northeastern Brazil.

PubMed

Rohde, Cláudia; Silva, Diva Maria Izabel O; Oliveira, Geórgia F; Monteiro, Liv S; Montes, Martín A; Garcia, Ana Cristina L

2014-12-01

Brazil has a high diversity of flies of the genus Drosophila, and part of this richness is represented by the cardini group. We analyzed the fluctuations in the richness and abundance of this group, in environments that had never previously been studied in the northeastern region of Brazil. Among the 28,204 drosophilids sampled, 1,294 belonged to the cardini group and were represented by D. polymorpha, D. cardini, D. neocardini and D. cardinoides. Occurrences of D. neocardini and D. cardinoides were registered for the first time in the Caatinga. In this biome, D. cardini stood out as having the highest abundance, and D. polymorpha was not observed. In the coastal Atlantic Forest, D. cardini was not registered, but D. polymorpha was found in all the localities investigated. Mangrove swamps were the environment with the lowest abundance and richness of the cardini group. The High-altitude Forest presented the highest richness of this group. We suggest that the high abundance of D. polymorpha in the High-altitude Forest and in the coastal Atlantic Forest may be a reflection of the historical relationship between these two environments.

Richness and abundance of the cardini group of Drosophila (Diptera, Drosophilidae) in the Caatinga and Atlantic Forest biomes in northeastern Brazil.

PubMed

Rohde, Cláudia; Silva, Diva Maria Izabel O; Oliveira, Geórgia F; Monteiro, Liv S; Montes, Martín A; Garcia, Ana Cristina L

2014-11-11

Brazil has a high diversity of flies of the genus Drosophila, and part of this richness is represented by the cardini group. We analyzed the fluctuations in the richness and abundance of this group, in environments that had never previously been studied in the northeastern region of Brazil. Among the 28,204 drosophilids sampled, 1,294 belonged to the cardini group and were represented by D. polymorpha, D. cardini, D. neocardini and D. cardinoides. Occurrences of D. neocardini and D. cardinoides were registered for the first time in the Caatinga. In this biome, D. cardini stood out as having the highest abundance, and D. polymorpha was not observed. In the coastal Atlantic Forest, D. cardini was not registered, but D. polymorpha was found in all the localities investigated. Mangrove swamps were the environment with the lowest abundance and richness of the cardini group. The High-altitude Forest presented the highest richness of this group. We suggest that the high abundance of D. polymorpha in the High-altitude Forest and in the coastal Atlantic Forest may be a reflection of the historical relationship between these two environments.

KSC-2013-3900

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-11-07

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Dr. Carlos Calle, senior research scientist on the Electrodynamic Dust Shield for Dust Mitigation project, manages the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory in the SwampWorks at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Electrodynamic dust shield, or EDS, technology is based on concepts originally developed by NASA as early as 1967 and later by the University of Tokyo. In 2003, NASA, in collaboration with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, started development of the EDS for dust particle removal from solar panels to be used on future missions to the moon, an asteroid or Mars. A flight experiment to expose the dust shields to the space environment currently is under development. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/content/scientists-developing-ways-to-mitigate-dust-problem-for-explorers/ Photo credit: NASA/Dan Casper

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nelson, E.A.; Rogers, V.A.

Swamp tupelo seedlings were planted in four areas which experienced previous tree mortality at the seeplines of the F- and H-Area Seepage Basins. The sites represented a range in severity of impact and stage of recovery. Seedlings were planted in February of 1994 and followed through the first growing season in the field. Survival on all sites through the first growing season was excellent, with greater than 92% of the seedlings still alive. Most seedlings appeared healthy with few external signs of stress. The performance of the seedlings will be followed in subsequent years to determine the physical state ofmore » the soil environment on seedling growth. Hopefully, the results will indicate that artificial reforestation can begin on similarly impacted sites prior to the beginning of natural revegetation of the site.« less

Towards a Scalable and Adaptive Application Support Platform for Large-Scale Distributed E-Sciences in High-Performance Network Environments

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wu, Chase Qishi; Zhu, Michelle Mengxia

The advent of large-scale collaborative scientific applications has demonstrated the potential for broad scientific communities to pool globally distributed resources to produce unprecedented data acquisition, movement, and analysis. System resources including supercomputers, data repositories, computing facilities, network infrastructures, storage systems, and display devices have been increasingly deployed at national laboratories and academic institutes. These resources are typically shared by large communities of users over Internet or dedicated networks and hence exhibit an inherent dynamic nature in their availability, accessibility, capacity, and stability. Scientific applications using either experimental facilities or computation-based simulations with various physical, chemical, climatic, and biological models featuremore » diverse scientific workflows as simple as linear pipelines or as complex as a directed acyclic graphs, which must be executed and supported over wide-area networks with massively distributed resources. Application users oftentimes need to manually configure their computing tasks over networks in an ad hoc manner, hence significantly limiting the productivity of scientists and constraining the utilization of resources. The success of these large-scale distributed applications requires a highly adaptive and massively scalable workflow platform that provides automated and optimized computing and networking services. This project is to design and develop a generic Scientific Workflow Automation and Management Platform (SWAMP), which contains a web-based user interface specially tailored for a target application, a set of user libraries, and several easy-to-use computing and networking toolkits for application scientists to conveniently assemble, execute, monitor, and control complex computing workflows in heterogeneous high-performance network environments. SWAMP will enable the automation and management of the entire process of scientific workflows with the convenience of a few mouse clicks while hiding the implementation and technical details from end users. Particularly, we will consider two types of applications with distinct performance requirements: data-centric and service-centric applications. For data-centric applications, the main workflow task involves large-volume data generation, catalog, storage, and movement typically from supercomputers or experimental facilities to a team of geographically distributed users; while for service-centric applications, the main focus of workflow is on data archiving, preprocessing, filtering, synthesis, visualization, and other application-specific analysis. We will conduct a comprehensive comparison of existing workflow systems and choose the best suited one with open-source code, a flexible system structure, and a large user base as the starting point for our development. Based on the chosen system, we will develop and integrate new components including a black box design of computing modules, performance monitoring and prediction, and workflow optimization and reconfiguration, which are missing from existing workflow systems. A modular design for separating specification, execution, and monitoring aspects will be adopted to establish a common generic infrastructure suited for a wide spectrum of science applications. We will further design and develop efficient workflow mapping and scheduling algorithms to optimize the workflow performance in terms of minimum end-to-end delay, maximum frame rate, and highest reliability. We will develop and demonstrate the SWAMP system in a local environment, the grid network, and the 100Gpbs Advanced Network Initiative (ANI) testbed. The demonstration will target scientific applications in climate modeling and high energy physics and the functions to be demonstrated include workflow deployment, execution, steering, and reconfiguration. Throughout the project period, we will work closely with the science communities in the fields of climate modeling and high energy physics including Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) and Large Hadron Collider (LHC) projects to mature the system for production use.« less

Try This! Imitation and Copying in the Outdoor Learning World of Sea Kayaking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Magnussen, Leif Inge

2010-01-01

This paper examines the relationships between sea kayakers and their socio-cultural environment to explore the use of copying and imitation as learning strategies. The research involved ethnographic fieldwork conducted in sea kayak communities of south-eastern parts of Norway, between late autumn 2006 until the fall of 2008. Some of the key…

Instructional Uses of Podcasting in Online Learning Environments: A Cooperative Inquiry Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Abbie; Brown, Carol; Fine, Bethann; Luterbach, Kenneth; Sugar, William; Vinciguerra, David C.

2009-01-01

A report on the results of a year-long cooperative inquiry study in which 11 faculty members at a southeastern university examined their various uses of podcasting for instruction. Through participation in the study, members developed insights into what technologies are most commonly applied to the task of podcast production and dissemination as…

Is Heterobasidion annosum Poorly Adapted to Incite Disease in Cool, Wet Environments?

Treesearch

Charles G. Shaw III

1989-01-01

An argument is advanced to suggest that infection and damage caused in coniferous forests by Heterobasidion annosum are markedly less severe, and survival of the fungus less common, under cool, wet conditions than in other climates. This premise is supported by the author's incisive insights, experience in southeastern Alaska, and data from this...

An Examination of Farmworker Pesticide Educators in a Southeastern State: Informal Science Educators and Risk Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

LePrevost, Catherine E.

2011-01-01

Because pesticide exposure is a significant hazard to farmworkers in their working and living environments, basic pesticide toxicology is a topic for farmworker science education that has implications beyond scientific literacy to encompass farmworkers' safety and health. Migrant and seasonal farmworkers have been identified as an at-risk…

Community Air Sensor Network (CAIRSENSE) project: Evaluation of low-cost sensor performance in a suburban environment in the southeastern United States

EPA Science Inventory

Advances in air pollution sensor technology have enabled the development of small and low cost systems to measure outdoor air pollution. The deployment of a large number of sensors across a small geographic area would have potential benefits to supplement traditional monitoring n...

Faculty Attitude towards Integrating Technology in Teaching at a Four-Year Southeastern University

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmore, Donna Venetta

2011-01-01

Studies have shown that computer technology has brought about a noticeable change in the manner in which education is delivered to students. Further research suggests that the use of technology enables educators to effectively communicate with their students in an interactive learning environment designed to meet their individual needs. Moreover,…

Wind erosion of soils burned by wildfire

Treesearch

N. S. Wagenbrenner; M. J. Germino; B. K. Lamb; R. B. Foltz; P. R. Robichaud

2011-01-01

Wind erosion and aeolian transport processes are largely unstudied in the post-wildfire environment, but recent studies have shown that wind erosion can play a major role in burned landscapes. A wind erosion monitoring system was installed immediately following a wildfire in southeastern Idaho, USA to measure wind erosion from the burned area (Figure 1). This paper...

76 FR 62087 - Draft Conservation Plan and Draft Environmental Assessment; Dunes Sagebrush Lizard, Texas

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-06

... known as the sand dune lizard, and the lesser prairie-chicken, among the Service, the Bureau of Land... southeastern New Mexico and west Texas. The species only occurs in sand dune complexes associated with shinnery... direct, indirect, and cumulative impacts of the TCP on the quality of the human environment and other...

Carbon pools in stream-riparian corridors: legacy of disturbance along mountain streams of south-eastern Wyoming

Treesearch

Claire M. Ruffing; Kathleen A. Dwire; Melinda D. Daniels

2016-01-01

Streams and their accompanying riparian environments are intrinsic components of terrestrial carbon cycling. However, they have been understudied in terms of the magnitude of their storage components and the role of disturbance in determining carbon storage capacity. This study presents partial carbon budgets for stream-riparian corridors along six study...

Global Change and the Function and Distribution of Wetlands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Middleton, Beth A.

2012-01-01

The Global Change Ecology and Wetlands book series will highlight the latest research from the world leaders in the field of climate change in wetlands. Global Change and the Function and Distribution of Wetlands highlights information of importance to wetland ecologists.  The chapters include syntheses of international studies on the effects of drought on function and regeneration in wetlands, sea level rise and the distribution of mangrove swamps, former distributions of swamp species and future lessons from paleoecology, and shifts in atmospheric emissions across geographical regions in wetlands.  Overall, the book will contribute to a better understanding of the potential effects of climate change on world wetland distribution and function.

Effect of environmental contaminants in the Mississippi River Basin on carboxylesterases from four aquatic species

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jaiswal, R.; Huang, T.; Obih, P.

1995-12-31

The objectives of this study are to investigate the sensitivity of different classes of esterases in various aquatic species to environmental contaminants and the possible use of these enzymes as biomarkers for monitoring the effects of pollutants. Acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE), and the non-specific carboxylesterases (CaE) were analyzed in three fish species, Ictiobus bubalus (small mouth buffalo), Ictiobus cyprinellus (big mouth buffalo) and Lepisosteus oculatus (spotted gar) and the green tree frog, Hyla cinerea. These samples were collected from the Devil`s Swamp Site (DSS), an industrial site known to be highly contaminated at the Mississippi River Basin, and Lake Tunica,more » a nonindustrial site. ACHE and BuChE activities in the subcellular fractions of liver and brain were significantly lower in fishes and frogs obtained from DSS when compared to the same species obtained from Tunica swamp site. The greatest decrease was observed with ACHE activity in the liver and brain of Ictiobus bubalus from DSS. CaE activity analyzed with p-nitrophenyl acetate was found to be significantly lower in the liver of all three fish species collected from DSS when compared to the same fish species obtained from the Tunica swamp site.« less

HTO and OBT concentrations in a wetland ecosystem

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kim, S. B.; Workman, W. J. G.; Davis, P. A.

2008-07-15

Tritiated water (HTO) and organically bound tritium (OBT) concentrations in the non-human biota inhabiting Duke Swamp were measured during the 2005 growing season. Samples of surface water, soil, plants, precipitation, wild animals and air moisture were collected from 2005 May to October at five locations in the swamp and analyzed for their tritium content. HTO concentrations in air moisture decreased with height since the tritium source is in the ground. Soil HTO concentrations were not closely related to the concentrations in nearby surface water and the HTO concentration in balsam fir needles showed no clear pattern with height. HTO concentrationsmore » in moss, grass and alder leaves decreased in September, which is the time when metabolic activity is reduced. OBT concentrations in a given compartment showed less variation than the HTO concentrations in that compartment. The OBT/HTO ratio was approximately one for soil and less than one for plants, with the exception of lichen. The OBT/HTO ratio in most wild animals was also less than one, but increased to more than 2.0 for mice. Although the tritium concentrations varied substantially in space and time in Duke Swamp, the fact that OBT/HTO <1 for most compartments suggests that equilibrium conditions hold locally. (authors)« less

The ecology of hydric hammocks: A community profile

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Vince, S.W.; Humphrey, S.R.; Simons, R.W.

1989-09-01

This publication describes the nature and dynamics of a type of forested wetland called hydric hammock. Hydric hammock has not been carefully defined or studied, and it often is ignored or lumped with other mixed hardwood forests. Hydric hammock occurs at low elevations along the gulf coast of Florida from Aripeka to St. Marks and at various inland sites in Florida. The largest contiguous tracts occur along the gulf coast and the St. Johns River. Sites typically are gentle slopes between mesic hammock or pine flatwoods and river swamp, wet prairie, or marsh. Hydric hammocks occur on soils that aremore » poorly drained or have high water tables, and occasional flooding saturates the soils long enough to restrict or modify species composition. Hydric hammocks typically contain live and swamp laurel oaks ({ital Quercus virginiana} and {ital Quercus laurifolia}), cabbage palm ({ital Sabal palmetto}), southern red-cedar ({ital Juniperus silicicola}), sweetgum ({ital Liquidambar styraciflua}), and hornbeam ({ital Carpinus caroliniana}). Hydric hammocks lack certain tree species while sharing others with both upslope mesic forests and downslope swamp forests. The vertebrate fauna contains no unique species but has a high diversity of species and high abundance of selected species. Hydric hammocks are particularly important habitat for game species and for overwintering passerine birds. 148 refs., 40 figs., 12 tabs.« less

Investigation of acidity and other water-quality characteristics of Upper Oyster Creek, Ocean County, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fusillo, Thomas V.; Schornick, J.C.; Koester, H.E.; Harriman, D.A.

1980-01-01

Water-quality data collected in the upper Oyster Creek drainage basin, Ocean County, N.J., indicate that the stream has excellent water quality except for a persistently low pH. The mean concentrations of the major inorganic ions were all less than 6.0 milligrams per liter. Mean concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus were 0.15 mg/L and 0.01 mg/L, respectively. Dissolved oxygen averaged 8.7 mg/L and 81% saturation. Low pH levels are typical of streams draining cedar swamps. In Oyster Creek, the pH tended to decrease downstream due to chemical and biological processes. The pH levels in swamps were one-half unit or more lower than the pH levels in the adjacent stream. Sharp declines in stream pH were noted during runoff periods as the result of the mixing of poorly-buffered stream water with more highly acidic water from surrounding swamp areas. The quality of ground water within the study area was similar to the quality of streamflow, except for higher iron and ammonia-nitrogen concentrations and a higher pH range of 4.9 to 6.5. Precipitation represented a major source of many chemical constituents in the ground- and surface-waters of the Oyster Creek basin. (USGS)

Vascular epiphytes and host trees of ant-gardens in an anthropic landscape in southeastern Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morales-Linares, Jonas; García-Franco, José G.; Flores-Palacios, Alejandro; Valenzuela-González, Jorge E.; Mata-Rosas, Martín; Díaz-Castelazo, Cecilia

2016-12-01

Ant-gardens (AGs) are considered one of the most complex mutualist systems between ants and plants, since interactions involving dispersal, protection, and nutrition occur simultaneously in them; however, little is known about the effects of the transformation of ecosystems on their diversity and interactions. In five environments with different land use within an anthropic landscape in southeastern Mexico, we investigated the diversity and composition of epiphytes and host trees of AGs built by Azteca gnava. A total of 10,871 individuals of 26 epiphytic species, associating with 859 AGs located in 161 host trees, were recorded. The diversity and composition of epiphytes tended to be different between environments; however, Aechmea tillandsioides and Codonanthe uleana were the most important species and considered true AG epiphytes, because they were the most frequent, abundant, and occurred exclusively in AGs. Other important species were the orchids Epidendrum flexuosum, Coryanthes picturata, and Epidendrum pachyrachis, and should also be considered true AG epiphytes, because they occurred almost exclusively in the AGs. The AG abundance in agroforestry plantations was similar or even greater than in riparian vegetation (natural habitat). The AGs were registered in 37 host species but were more frequent in Mangifera indica and Citrus sinensis. We conclude that true epiphytes of A. gnava AGs persist in different environments and host trees, and even these AGs could proliferate in agroforestry plantations of anthropic landscapes.

Vascular epiphytes and host trees of ant-gardens in an anthropic landscape in southeastern Mexico.

PubMed

Morales-Linares, Jonas; García-Franco, José G; Flores-Palacios, Alejandro; Valenzuela-González, Jorge E; Mata-Rosas, Martín; Díaz-Castelazo, Cecilia

2016-12-01

Ant-gardens (AGs) are considered one of the most complex mutualist systems between ants and plants, since interactions involving dispersal, protection, and nutrition occur simultaneously in them; however, little is known about the effects of the transformation of ecosystems on their diversity and interactions. In five environments with different land use within an anthropic landscape in southeastern Mexico, we investigated the diversity and composition of epiphytes and host trees of AGs built by Azteca gnava. A total of 10,871 individuals of 26 epiphytic species, associating with 859 AGs located in 161 host trees, were recorded. The diversity and composition of epiphytes tended to be different between environments; however, Aechmea tillandsioides and Codonanthe uleana were the most important species and considered true AG epiphytes, because they were the most frequent, abundant, and occurred exclusively in AGs. Other important species were the orchids Epidendrum flexuosum, Coryanthes picturata, and Epidendrum pachyrachis, and should also be considered true AG epiphytes, because they occurred almost exclusively in the AGs. The AG abundance in agroforestry plantations was similar or even greater than in riparian vegetation (natural habitat). The AGs were registered in 37 host species but were more frequent in Mangifera indica and Citrus sinensis. We conclude that true epiphytes of A. gnava AGs persist in different environments and host trees, and even these AGs could proliferate in agroforestry plantations of anthropic landscapes.

Patterns of Detection and Capture Are Associated with Cohabiting Predators and Prey

PubMed Central

Lazenby, Billie T.; Dickman, Christopher R.

2013-01-01

Avoidance behaviour can play an important role in structuring ecosystems but can be difficult to uncover and quantify. Remote cameras have great but as yet unrealized potential to uncover patterns arising from predatory, competitive or other interactions that structure animal communities by detecting species that are active at the same sites and recording their behaviours and times of activity. Here, we use multi-season, two-species occupancy models to test for evidence of interactions between introduced (feral cat Felis catus) and native predator (Tasmanian devil Sarcophilus harrisii) and predator and small mammal (swamp rat Rattus lutreolus velutinus) combinations at baited camera sites in the cool temperate forests of southern Tasmania. In addition, we investigate the capture rates of swamp rats in traps scented with feral cat and devil faecal odours. We observed that one species could reduce the probability of detecting another at a camera site. In particular, feral cats were detected less frequently at camera sites occupied by devils, whereas patterns of swamp rat detection associated with devils or feral cats varied with study site. Captures of swamp rats were not associated with odours on traps, although fewer captures tended to occur in traps scented with the faecal odour of feral cats. The observation that a native carnivorous marsupial, the Tasmanian devil, can suppress the detectability of an introduced eutherian predator, the feral cat, is consistent with a dominant predator – mesopredator relationship. Such a relationship has important implications for the interaction between feral cats and the lower trophic guilds that form their prey, especially if cat activity increases in places where devil populations are declining. More generally, population estimates derived from devices such as remote cameras need to acknowledge the potential for one species to change the detectability of another, and incorporate this in assessments of numbers and survival. PMID:23565172

Landscape-scale changes in forest canopy structure across a partially logged tropical peat swamp

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wedeux, B. M. M.; Coomes, D. A.

2015-11-01

Forest canopy structure is strongly influenced by environmental factors and disturbance, and in turn influences key ecosystem processes including productivity, evapotranspiration and habitat availability. In tropical forests increasingly modified by human activities, the interplay between environmental factors and disturbance legacies on forest canopy structure across landscapes is practically unexplored. We used airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to measure the canopy of old-growth and selectively logged peat swamp forest across a peat dome in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, and quantified how canopy structure metrics varied with peat depth and under logging. Several million canopy gaps in different height cross-sections of the canopy were measured in 100 plots of 1 km2 spanning the peat dome, allowing us to describe canopy structure with seven metrics. Old-growth forest became shorter and had simpler vertical canopy profiles on deeper peat, consistent with previous work linking deep peat to stunted tree growth. Gap size frequency distributions (GSFDs) indicated fewer and smaller canopy gaps on the deeper peat (i.e. the scaling exponent of Pareto functions increased from 1.76 to 3.76 with peat depth). Areas subjected to concessionary logging until 2000, and illegal logging since then, had the same canopy top height as old-growth forest, indicating the persistence of some large trees, but mean canopy height was significantly reduced. With logging, the total area of canopy gaps increased and the GSFD scaling exponent was reduced. Logging effects were most evident on the deepest peat, where nutrient depletion and waterlogged conditions restrain tree growth and recovery. A tight relationship exists between canopy structure and peat depth gradient within the old-growth tropical peat swamp forest. This relationship breaks down after selective logging, with canopy structural recovery, as observed by ALS, modulated by environmental conditions. These findings improve our understanding of tropical peat swamp ecology and provide important insights for managers aiming to restore degraded forests.

Physicochemical properties and carbon density of alpine sod layer with their variation across habitat gradients in the Zoige Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peixi, Su; Zijuan, Zhou; Rui, Shi; tingting, Xie

2017-04-01

The alpine sod layer is a soft, tough and resistant to shifting surface soil layer under the formation of the natural vegetation in the plateau cold region, understanding its ecological function is a prerequisite to promote grass and animal husbandry production for recuperation and protection, and the active use of project construction. Based on the extensive investigation on the alpine vegetation of the Zoige Plateau in the Eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau of China, set up moisture gradient community sample plots: swamp, degraded swamp, swampy meadow, wet meadow, dry meadow and degraded meadow, and the elevation gradient community sample plots: subalpine meadow, subalpine shrub meadow, alpine shrub meadow and alpine meadow were set up. The sod layer bulk density, soil particle composition and soil organic carbon (SOC) content of different types of community plots were analyzed and to compare its carbon sequestration capacity on the moisture and elevation gradients. The results showed that the average thickness of the sod layer was 30 cm, the bulk density of the swamp was the smallest, and the SOC content was above 300 g/kg. The bulk density of degraded meadow was the highest while its SOC content was decreased significantly. The SOC density of sod layer in different communities was between 10 and 24 kg C/m2, and decreased with the decreasing of soil water availability, and meadow degradation significantly decreased the soil organic carbon storage in sod layer. The sod layer SOC density of alpine shrub meadow was 15% higher than that of meadow on the altitudinal gradient. It was concluded that the mass water content threshold value for maintaining the sod layer stable is 30%. In the degraded succession of alpine vegetation from swamp to meadow, the bulk density and compactness of sod layer became larger, while the organic carbon content, carbon density and carbon storage decreased. The higher the gravel content of swamp, the more easily degraded, and the higher the sand content of the meadow, the more easily degraded. Shrub meadow had higher carbon sequestration capacity than that of meadow, but the productive function of shrub meadow was lower. Keeping the sustainable development of grassland productivity and maintaining the carbon sequestration ecological function, it is necessary to prevent the degradation of the sod layer, and restrain the succession from meadow to scrub meadow. Key Words: surface soil layer, soil organic carbon, carbon density, alpine vegetation, Zoige Plateau

Effects of an invasive plant, Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera), on development and survival of anuran larvae

Treesearch

Taylor B. Cotten; Matthew A. Kwiatkowski; Daniel Saenz; Michael Collyer

2012-01-01

Amphibians are considered one of the most threatened vertebrate groups. Although numerous studies have addressed the many causes of amphibian population decline, little is known about effects of invasive plants. Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera) is an exotic deciduous tree that has invaded the southeastern United States. Amphibian larvae in environments invaded by T....

The history and future of methyl bromide alternatives in the southern United States

Treesearch

Tom E. Starkey

2012-01-01

This article gives a brief history of the efforts of the Southern Forest Nursery Management Cooperative (SFNMC) in testing methyl bromide (MBr) alternatives for soil fumigation. In the southeastern United States, fumigation with MBr has been the most commonly used method for producing high quality, pest-free forest seedlings in an environment that is conducive for soil...

Family by environment interactions for loblolly and slash pine plantations in the southeastern United States

Treesearch

Brian E. Roth; Eric J. Jokela; Timothy A. Martin; Dudley A. Huber; Timothy L. White

2010-01-01

Few studies have quantified the combined effects of silvicultural treatments and genetic improvement on unit area production of full-sib family blocks of loblolly and slash pine. We examined genotype (family) by environmental interactions (G x E) through age five years using a factorial experiment consisting of silvicultural treatment intensity, planting density and...

Seasonal variability in methane and nitrous oxide fluxes from tropical peatlands in the western Amazon basin

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arn Teh, Yit; Murphy, Wayne A.; Berrio, Juan-Carlos; Boom, Arnoud; Page, Susan E.

2017-08-01

The Amazon plays a critical role in global atmospheric budgets of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). However, while we have a relatively good understanding of the continental-scale flux of these greenhouse gases (GHGs), one of the key gaps in knowledge is the specific contribution of peatland ecosystems to the regional budgets of these GHGs. Here we report CH4 and N2O fluxes from lowland tropical peatlands in the Pastaza-Marañón foreland basin (PMFB) in Peru, one of the largest peatland complexes in the Amazon basin. The goal of this research was to quantify the range and magnitude of CH4 and N2O fluxes from this region, assess seasonal trends in trace gas exchange, and determine the role of different environmental variables in driving GHG flux. Trace gas fluxes were determined from the most numerically dominant peatland vegetation types in the region: forested vegetation, forested (short pole) vegetation, Mauritia flexuosa-dominated palm swamp, and mixed palm swamp. Data were collected in both wet and dry seasons over the course of four field campaigns from 2012 to 2014. Diffusive CH4 emissions averaged 36.05 ± 3.09 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1 across the entire dataset, with diffusive CH4 flux varying significantly among vegetation types and between seasons. Net ebullition of CH4 averaged 973.3 ± 161.4 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1 and did not vary significantly among vegetation types or between seasons. Diffusive CH4 flux was greatest for mixed palm swamp (52.0 ± 16.0 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1), followed by M. flexuosa palm swamp (36.7 ± 3.9 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1), forested (short pole) vegetation (31.6 ± 6.6 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1), and forested vegetation (29.8 ± 10.0 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1). Diffusive CH4 flux also showed marked seasonality, with divergent seasonal patterns among ecosystems. Forested vegetation and mixed palm swamp showed significantly higher dry season (47.2 ± 5.4 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1 and 85.5 ± 26.4 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1, respectively) compared to wet season emissions (6.8 ± 1.0 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1 and 5.2 ± 2.7 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1, respectively). In contrast, forested (short pole) vegetation and M. flexuosa palm swamp showed the opposite trend, with dry season flux of 9.6 ± 2.6 and 25.5 ± 2.9 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1, respectively, versus wet season flux of 103.4 ± 13.6 and 53.4 ± 9.8 mg CH4-C m-2 day-1, respectively. These divergent seasonal trends may be linked to very high water tables (> 1 m) in forested vegetation and mixed palm swamp during the wet season, which may have constrained CH4 transport across the soil-atmosphere interface. Diffusive N2O flux was very low (0.70 ± 0.34 µg N2O-N m-2 day-1) and did not vary significantly among ecosystems or between seasons. We conclude that peatlands in the PMFB are large and regionally significant sources of atmospheric CH4 that need to be better accounted for in regional emissions inventories. In contrast, N2O flux was negligible, suggesting that this region does not make a significant contribution to regional atmospheric budgets of N2O. The divergent seasonal pattern in CH4 flux among vegetation types challenges our underlying assumptions of the controls on CH4 flux in tropical peatlands and emphasizes the need for more process-based measurements during periods of high water table.

Unprecedented decline in measles morbidity and mortality in Calabar, south-eastern Nigeria.

PubMed

Ekanem, E E; Ochigbo, S O; Kwagtsule, J U

2000-10-01

The features of measles presenting at the University of CalabarTeaching Hospital, in south-eastern Nigeria between January 1992 to December 1996, were compared with those of a previous period (January 1984 to December 1987) in the same institution. The aim was to detect any changes in trends, morbidity and mortality from the infection in this environment. There were only 36 cases (7.2 per year) in the current period compared with 436 (109 per year) in the previous period (chi2=48.4, P<0.001). There were also highly significant falls in the incidence of malnutrition and bronchopneumonia (P<0.05) in the current period. Notably, there were no cases of dehydration or keratomalacia in the current period. The case fatality rate was 2.8% compared with 20.0% in the previous period (P<0.02). These unprecedented changes in the incidence, morbidity and mortality from measles are attributed to the continuing Expanded Programme on Immunization, oral rehydration therapy, appropriate nutritional management and vitamin A prophylaxis. With maintenance and strengthening of these strategies, the elimination of measles and measles deaths in the near future is feasible in this environment.

Are Physicians Likely to Adopt Emerging Mobile Technologies? Attitudes and Innovation Factors Affecting Smartphone Use in the Southeastern United States

PubMed Central

Putzer, Gavin J; Park, Yangil

2012-01-01

The smartphone has emerged as an important technological device to assist physicians with medical decision making, clinical tasks, and other computing functions. A smartphone is a device that combines mobile telecommunication with Internet accessibility as well as word processing. Moreover, smartphones have additional features such as applications pertinent to clinical medicine and practice management. The purpose of this study was to investigate the innovation factors that affect a physician's decision to adopt an emerging mobile technological device such as a smartphone. The study sample consisted of 103 physicians from community hospitals and academic medical centers in the southeastern United States. Innovation factors are elements that affect an individual's attitude toward using and adopting an emerging technology. In our model, the innovation characteristics of compatibility, job relevance, the internal environment, observability, personal experience, and the external environment were all significant predictors of attitude toward using a smartphone. These influential innovation factors presumably are salient predictors of a physician's attitude toward using a smartphone to assist with clinical tasks. Health information technology devices such as smartphones offer promise as a means to improve clinical efficiency, medical quality, and care coordination and possibly reduce healthcare costs. PMID:22737094

Relationship of fluviodeltaic facies to coal deposition in the lower Fort Union formation (Palaeocene), south-western North Dakota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Belt, Edward S.; Flores, Romeo M.; Warwick, Peter D.; Conway, Kevin M.; Johnson, Kirk R.; Waskowitz, Robert S.; Rahmani, R.A.; Flores, Romeo M.

1984-01-01

Facies analysis of the Ludlow and Tongue River Members of the Palaeocene Fort Union Formation provides an understanding of the relationship between fluviodeltaic environments and associated coal deposition in the south-western Williston Basin. The Ludlow Member consists of high-constructive delta facies that interfinger with brackish-water tongues of the Cannonball Member of the Fort Union Formation. The lower part of the Ludlow Member was deposited on a lower delta plain that consisted of interdistributary crevasse and subdelta lobes. The upper part of the Ludlow Member was deposited in meander belts of the upper delta plain. The delta plain facies of the Ludlow Member is overlain by alluvial plain facies consisting of swamp, crevasse-lobe, lacustrine, and trunk meander belt deposits of the Tongue River Member. The Ludlow delta is believed to have been fed by fluvial systems that probably flowed from the Powder River Basin to the Williston Basin undeterred by the Cedar Creek Anticline. However, the evidence indicates that the Cedar Creek Anticline was prominent enough, during early Tongue River Member deposition, to cause the obstruction of the regional fluvial system flowing from the SW, and the formation of local drainage.The Ludlow Member contains 18 coal beds in the area studied, of which the T-Cross and Yule coals are as thick as 4 m (12 ft). Abandoned delta lobes served as platforms where coals formed, which in turn, were drowned by mainly fresh water and subordinate brackish water. Repetition of deltaic sedimentation, abandonment, and occupation by swamp led to preservation of the T-Cross and Oyster coals in areas as extensive as 260 km2 (< 100 miles2).

Hazardous materials in aquatic environments of the Mississippi River Basin. Quarterly project status report, July 1, 1993--September 30, 1993

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1993-11-01

This document is a brief progress report from each of the research and education projects that are currently funded through the ERWM contract. During third quarter 1993, approval was given by DOE for purchase of equipment. Equipment purchases were initiated and much of the equipment has been received and installed. The committees in charge of coordination of sampling and analyses associated with the collaborative research groups continued to meet and address these issues. Sampling has been done in the lower part of Devil`s Swamp and in the Devil`s Swamp Lake area. In addition, extensive sampling has been done in Bayoumore » Trepagnier and in Bayou St. John. During this period, Tulane and Xavier Universities continued working closely with Oak Ridge National Laboratories (ORNL). The ORNL 1993 summer student internship program was completed. Plans were made for expanding the program to support 8 students next summer. Leonard Price, a Xavier University Chemistry professor and John Walz, a Tulane University Engineering professor each spent 5 weeks at ORNL. During this time these faculty worked with ORNL researchers exploring mutual interests and discussing possible future collaborations. In September, Drs. Carl Gehrs, Lee Shugart and Marshall Adams of ORNL, visited the Tulane and Xavier campuses. They presented two seminars and met with several of the investigators being supported by the ERWM contract. Tulane/Xavier project administrators participated in the Office of Technology Development`s ``New Technologies and Program Exhibition`` in the Rayburn House Office Building on September 23 and in the Hart Senate Office Building on September 27.« less

Settlement on the Shores of Lake Lisan and adjacent swamps: Hindered aridization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agnon, A.; Goring-Morris, N.

2014-12-01

Increased rainfall/evaporation ratio had merged the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee basins to a 260 km long Lake Lisan during the Last Glacial Maximum, 160 m below current mean sea level (mbsl). The timing of the natural drop to the 400 mbsl (Dead Sea level) has been precisely determined to 25-11 ka. Human settlements had initiated near the retreating shorelines at 21 ka. However, rather than following the dropping level, the subsequent settlement took advantage of swamps perched above 240 mbsl.Along with an increased number of persons in the communities that left artefacts in the lacustrine and shore sediments, the technologies for exploiting the environment for survival had evolved. Some of the finds attest to activities that were not tied immediately to physical survival. The development of art and of social behaviour raises fascinating issues regarding our perception of the capabilities and motives of Mankind during the change from hunter-gatherer subsistence to one based on cultivation of plants and livestock associated with settlement.The changes in the lifestyle are likely related to the environmental changes, some of which can be reconstructed by modern geological tools. On the other hand, some of the findings of the archaeological studies can help resolve geological issues, such as aridization around 9 ka, attested by initiation of gully washers that form boulder deposits over Netiv Hagdud site. The aridization is hindered relatively to lake level drop, presumably due to evolving spatial distribution of rainfall, where the rift shoulders still receive rain, while lake decline reflects aridization in the southern drainage, namely the Negev. This observation accords with speleothem studies from the rift shoulders.

Origin of VC-only plumes from naturally enhanced dechlorination in a peat-rich hydrogeologic setting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Filippini, Maria; Amorosi, Alessandro; Campo, Bruno; Herrero-Martìn, Sara; Nijenhuis, Ivonne; Parker, Beth L.; Gargini, Alessandro

2016-09-01

The occurrence of vinyl chloride (VC) is often a main concern at sites contaminated with chlorinated solvents due to its high degree of toxicity and carcinogenicity. VC occurrence in aquifers is most often related to the degradation of higher chlorinated ethenes or ethanes and it is generally detected in plumes along with parent contaminants. However, specific combination of stratigraphic, hydrogeologic and geochemical conditions can enhance the degradation of parents and lead to the formation of plumes almost entirely composed of VC (i.e. VC-only plumes). This paper investigates the causes of VC-only plumes in the aquifers below the city of Ferrara (northern Italy) by combining multiple lines of evidence. The City of Ferrara is located on an alluvial lowland, built by the River Po, and is made up of alternating unconsolidated sandy aquifer and silt-clay aquitard deposits of fluvial origin. This region has been strongly impacted by prior industrial activities, with the occurrence of chlorinated compounds at several sites. VC-only plumes with uncertain source location were found at two contaminated sites. The source zone of a third plume composed of chloroethenes from PCE to VC was investigated for high resolution depositional facies architecture and contaminant distribution (contaminant concentration and Compound Specific Isotope Analysis - CSIA). The investigation suggested that degradation of PCE and TCE takes place during contaminant migration through peat-rich (swamp) layers related to the Holocene transgression, which locally act as a ;reactor; for stimulating degradation with the accumulation of VC in the strongly reducing environment of the peat. Regional-scale stratigraphic architecture showed the ubiquitous occurrence of swamp layers at distinct stratigraphic levels in the investigated system and their apparent linkage to the in situ creation of the VC-only plumes.

Temporal assemblage turnovers of intertidal foraminiferal communities from tropical (SE Caribbean) and temperate (NE England and SW Spain) regions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Costelloe, Ashleigh; Wilson, Brent; Horton, Benjamin P.; Hayek, Lee-Ann C.

2018-05-01

This is the first quantitative study of temporal assemblage turnovers of the relationships between intertidal foraminifera. Time series datasets collected from tropical Caroni Swamp and Claxton Bay (Trinidad, SE Caribbean) and temperate Cowpen Marsh (NE England, U.K.) and Bay of Cadiz (SW Spain) were used. The assemblage turnover index (ATI) examined species interrelationships through comparisons of monthly or biweekly species proportional abundances over one or two years. Species contributing to major assemblage turnovers (ATI > x + σ) were identified using the conditioned on-boundary index (CoBI). Foraminiferal species are heterogeneously distributed within the sediment; multiple sample stations at a study location cumulatively represent the foraminiferal metacommunity and clusters represent foraminiferal assemblages. The ATI and CoBI were applied to the proportional abundances of live specimens recorded for the metacommunity and assemblages at each location. At Caroni Swamp and Claxton Bay, major assemblage turnovers were driven by the most abundant species and the majority coincided with seasonal change or the arrival of the seasonal Orinoco plume in the Gulf of Paria. Seasonal turnovers of the foraminiferal metacommunities at temperate Cowpen Marsh and Bay of Cádiz occurred during the summer and winter. Major assemblage turnovers in the upper Cowpen Marsh occurred in the summer, and the lower marsh in the winter. Foraminiferans are useful bioindicators for monitoring the health of coastal environments. Understanding foraminiferal population dynamics will allow cyclical changes to be differentiated from abrupt and persistent changes, which are related to anthropogenic disturbances or long-term climate change. The ATI and CoBI are useful indices for quantitatively exploring relationships of foraminiferal populations over time.

Relationships between sedimentation, depositional environments, and coal quality: upper Potomac coalfield, West Virginia and Maryland

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jake, T.R.

1987-09-01

Evaluations were made of sedimentation patterns and depositional environments from approximately 450 core logs and 225 surface exposures in the Upper Potomac coalfield. The relationships between the clastic depositional facies and the distribution and quality of the Bakerstown and upper Freeport coals were also investigated. Data from 61 Bakerstown and 35 upper Freeport coal samples from selected cores indicate a change from uniform coal quality to highly variable coal quality when moving from related interchannel and bay-fill facies to channel, channel-fill, levee, and crevasse-splay facies. Areas of uniform coal quality range from 20-26% ash and 55-62% fixed carbon (weight percent,more » dry basis), whereas areas of highly variable coal quality range from 26-54% ash and 33-55% fixed carbon. The channel and related facies represent areas where increased fresh water was introduced into the topogenous swamp system, causing increased microbial degradation and the concentration of authigenic minerals within the peat material. These conditions, combined with the introduction of detrital minerals, resulted in areas of lower quality coal.« less

39 CFR 776.3 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... buildings, structures and improvements. Contending site means a site or existing building for a proposed... saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs, and similar areas. ...

Swamp Works- Multiple Projects

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carelli, Jonathan M.; Schuler, Jason M.; Chandler, Meredith L.

2013-01-01

My Surface Systems internship over the summer 2013 session covered a broad range of projects that utilized multiple fields of engineering and technology. This internship included a project to create a command center for a 120 ton regolith bin, for the design and assembly of a blast shield to add further protection for the Surface Systems engineers, for the design and assembly of a portable four monitor hyper wall strip that could extend as large as needed, research and programming a nano drill that could be utilized on a next generation robot or rover, and social media tasks including the making of videos, posting to social networking websites and creation of a new outreach program to help spread the word about the Swamp Works laboratory.

Three approaches to the classification of inland wetlands. [Dismal Swamp, Tennessee, and Florida

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gammon, P. T.; Malone, D.; Brooks, P. D.; Carter, V.

1977-01-01

In the Dismal Swamp project, seasonal, color-infrared aerial photographs and LANDSAT digital data were interpreted for a detailed analysis of the vegetative communities in a large, highly altered wetland. In Western Tennessee, seasonal high altitude color-infrared aerial photographs provided the hydrologic and vegetative information needed to map inland wetlands, using a classification system developed for the Tennessee Valley Region. In Florida, color-infrared aerial photographs were analyzed to produce wetland maps using three existing classification systems to evaluate the information content and mappability of each system. The methods used in each of the three projects can be extended or modified for use in the mapping of inland wetlands in other parts of the United States.

Effects of irrigation on seed production and vegetative characteristics of four moist-soil plants on impounded wetlands in California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Mushet, D.M.; Euliss, N.H.; Harris, S.W.

1992-01-01

We examined the effects of irrigation on 4 moist-soil plants commonly managed for waterfowl in the Sacramento Valley, California. Irrigation resulted in taller and heavier swamp timothy (Heleochloa schoenoides), pricklegrass (Crypsis niliaca), and sprangletop (Leptochloa fasicularis). Barnyardgrass (Echinochloa crusgalli) grew taller in irrigated wetlands, but no significant difference in weight was detected. Only sprangletop yielded larger seed masses in response to irrigation. Without irrigation, swamp timothy and pricklegrass assumed a typical prostrate growth form, but with irrigation, they assumed a vertical growth form. Irrigation did not significantly affect plant density. Because of rising water costs, wetland managers should consider wildlife management objectives and plant responses before implementing irrigation practices.

My Brother’s Keeper National Lab Week

NASA Image and Video Library

2016-03-02

Jose Nunez of NASA Kennedy Space Center’s Exploration Research and Technology Programs talks to students in the My Brother’s Keeper program outside the Florida spaceport’s Swamp Works Lab. Kennedy is one of six NASA centers that participated in My Brother’s Keeper National Lab Week. The event is a nationwide effort to bring youth from underrepresented communities into federal labs and centers for hands-on activities, tours and inspirational speakers. Sixty students from the nearby cities of Orlando and Sanford visited Kennedy, where they toured the Vehicle Assembly Building, the Space Station Processing Facility and the center’s innovative Swamp Works Labs. The students also had a chance to meet and ask questions of a panel of subject matter experts from across Kennedy.

Philippines: Environment and natural resource management study. World Bank country study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

1989-01-01

This study addresses the most significant issues of natural-resource management in the Philippines. These include the disappearence or degradation of forests; erosion and changes in hydrological regimes; the conversion of mangrove swamps to fishponds; degradation of coral reefs; and depletion of nearshore fisheries through overfishing and destructive techniques. The issues addressed concern the extent and rate of degradation of these resource stocks, the impact thereof on the national economy, and the scope for ameliorative measures through policy responses, management changes, and investments. The Government is responsible for management of public resources, which include over half of the land area ofmore » the Philippines as well as the coastal waters. Historically, public management has been less than optimal, as evidenced by an unsustainable rate of deforestation and the recent stagnation or decline in extractive fisheries.« less

SUBMICROSCOPIC ( less than 1 mu m) MINERAL CONTENTS OF VITRINITES IN SELECTED BITUMINOUS COAL BEDS.

USGS Publications Warehouse

Minkin, J.A.; Chao, E.C.T.; Thompson, C.L.; Wandless, M.-V.; Dulong, F.T.; Larson, R.R.; Neuzil, S.G.; ,

1983-01-01

An important aspect of the petrographic description of coal is the characterization of coal quality, including chemical attributes. For geologic investigations, data on the concentrations, distribution, and modes of occurrence of minor and trace elements provide a basis for reconstructing the probable geochemical environment of the swamp material that was converted into peat, and the geochemical conditions that prevailed during and subsequent to coalification. We have been using electron (EPMA) and proton (PIXE) microprobe analytical methods to obtain data on the chemical characteristics of specific coal constituents in their original associations within coal samples. The present study is aimed at evaluation of the nature of mineral occurrences and heterogeneous elemental concentrations within vitrinites. Vitrinites are usually the most abundant, and therefore most important, maceral group in bituminous coal. 8 refs.

KSC-2013-3901

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-11-07

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Dr. Carlos Calle, senior research scientist on the Electrodynamic Dust Shield for Dust Mitigation project, demonstrates equipment used in his experiments in the Electrostatics and Surface Physics Laboratory in the SwampWorks at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Electrodynamic dust shield, or EDS, technology is based on concepts originally developed by NASA as early as 1967 and later by the University of Tokyo. In 2003, NASA, in collaboration with the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, started development of the EDS for dust particle removal from solar panels to be used on future missions to the moon, an asteroid or Mars. A flight experiment to expose the dust shields to the space environment currently is under development. For more information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/content/scientists-developing-ways-to-mitigate-dust-problem-for-explorers/ Photo credit: NASA/Dan Casper

Stormwater, Students, and Swamp.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leeds, Charles W.

2000-01-01

Discusses Villanova University's (Pennsylvania) development of a stormwater wetland area to help collect water from small storms, remove sediment and pollutants, and return the water into a local stream. (GR)

Perceived Barriers to and Facilitators of Hypertension Management among Underserved African American Older Adults.

PubMed

Rimando, Marylen

2015-08-07

To understand the perceived barriers to and facilitators of hypertension self-management among underserved African American older adults in a southeastern clinic. Qualitative descriptive. Urban cardiovascular health clinic in a southeastern state. 28 African Americans diagnosed with hypertension. Interview questions were focused on knowledge of hypertension management and barriers and facilitators to hypertension self-management. Thematic content analysis was applied. Patients reported increased hypertension knowledge after attending the clinic. All patients reported knowledge of the severe consequences of uncontrolled hypertension. Perceived barriers to hypertension management included lack of money, lack of motivation to exercise, and fear of injury from exercising. Perceived facilitators of hypertension management included weight loss, unexpected diagnosis of hypertension, family members with hypertension and diabetes, and social support. Findings suggest that perceived barriers and facilitators influence a patient's decision to manage hypertension. Findings suggest the importance of health literacy and patient-provider communication at this particular clinic. Possible factors in the social environment may influence hypertension management. This study adds to the literature by understanding the perceived barriers to and facilitators of hypertension management of an underserved sample in a southeastern clinic. The results suggest a need for the redesign and transformation of future hypertension education strategies aimed at this clinic sample.

Timing of floods in southeastern China: Seasonal properties and potential causes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Qiang; Gu, Xihui; Singh, Vijay P.; Shi, Peijun; Luo, Ming

2017-09-01

Flood hazards and flood risks in southeastern China have been causing increasing concerns due to dense population and highly-developed economy. This study attempted to address changes of seasonality, timing of peak floods and variability of occurrence date of peak floods using circular statistical methods and the modified Mann-Kendall trend detection method. The causes of peak flood changes were also investigated. Results indicated that: (1) floods were subject to more seasonality and temporal clustering when compared to precipitation extremes. However, seasonality of floods and extreme precipitation was subject to spatial heterogeneity in northern Guangdong. Similar changing patterns of peak floods and extreme precipitation were found in coastal regions; (2) significant increasing/decreasing seasonality, but no confirmed spatial patterns, were observed for peak floods and extreme precipitation. Peak floods in northern Guangdong province had decreasing variability, but had larger variability in coastal regions; (3) tropical cyclones had remarkable impacts on extreme precipitation changes in coastal regions of southeastern China, and peak floods as well. The landfalling of tropical cyclones was decreasing and concentrated during June-September; this is the major reason for earlier but enhanced seasonality of peak floods in coastal regions. This study sheds new light on flood behavior in coastal regions in a changing environment.

Community-Based Environmental Education in the Fishing Villages of Tuticorin and Its Role in Conservation of the Environment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patterson, Jamila; Linden, Eva; Edward, J. K. Patterson; Wilhelmsson, Dan; Lofgren, Inger

2009-01-01

The coastal town of Tuticorin is situated in the southern part of the Gulf of Mannar Marine National Park on the Southeastern Indian coast. The four islands off the Tuticorin coast are fringed by corals reefs and seagrass beds. Destructive fishing methods including blast fishing, near-shore trawling, coral mining, sedimentation and pollution have,…

Novel insights into the elm yellows phytoplasma genome and into the metagenome of elm yellows-infected elms

Treesearch

Christina Rosa; Paolo Margaria; Scott M. Geib; Erin D. Scully

2017-01-01

In North America, American elms were historically present throughout the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The longevity of these trees, their resistance to the harsh urban environment, and their aesthetics led to their wide use in landscaping and streetscaping over several decades. American elms were one of most cultivated plants in the United States...

Catastrophic fat tails and non-smooth damage functions-fire economics and climate change adaptation for public policy

Treesearch

Adriana Keeting; John Handmer

2013-01-01

South-eastern Australia is one of the most fire prone environments on earth. Devastating fires in February 2009 appear to have been off the charts climatically and economically, they led to a new category of fire danger aptly called 'catastrophic'. Almost all wildfire losses have been associated with these extreme conditions and climate change will see an...

What Makes Me Happy, and What Makes Me Scared? An Analysis of Drawings Made by Norwegian and Palestinian Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maagerø, Eva; Sunde, Tone

2016-01-01

In this article, we present and discuss a project in which children in two different environments, in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and in the south-eastern part of Norway, were given the opportunity to express themselves through drawings. We investigate how differently--and how similarly--the children express themselves when they were…

Development of a technique and conceptual design of a survey instrument for beta dosimetry in the nuclear power industry

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Murphy, R.O.

1986-01-01

Before an employee of the nuclear power industry can be assigned to work in an area with radiation hazards, the total dose rate from all radiation present should be known to determine the risk. As the plants age, the level of maintenance has increased and certain tasks have required the workers to be exposed to intense beta radiation fields. Currently available survey instruments do not accurately assess the beta dose or dose rate in many circumstances due to several factors, including the fluctuation of the response of the detector due to the variation in the energy of the beta particlesmore » comprising the radiation field. This research involved developing a technique for calculating the beta dose rate, using the differential energy spectrum and the fluence rate for the beta particles, the fundamental features of the beta radiation. The energy spectrum was used to determine a spectrum weighted average mass stopping power (SWAMPS). The SWAMPS, when multiplied by the fluence rate, gives the energy deposited per unit mass per second, which is the absorbed dose rate for the beta radiation. Reference sources were developed and calibrated using an extrapolation chamber that had, itself, been calibrated using beta sources at the National Bureau of Standards. Different spectrometry systems were tested for applicability to the SWAMPS technique.« less

Extreme Historical Droughts in the South-Eastern Alps — Analyses Based on Standardised Precipitation Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brenčič, Mihael

2016-10-01

Droughts are natural phenomena affecting the environment and human activities. There are various drought definitions and quantitative indices; among them is the Standardised Precipitation Index (SPI). In the drought investigations, historical events are poorly characterised and little data are available. To decipher past drought appearances in the southeastern Alps with a focus on Slovenia, precipitation data from HISTALP data repository were taken to identify extreme drought events (SPI ≤ -2.00) from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. Several long-term extreme drought crises were identified in the region (between the years 1888 and 1896; after World War I, during and after World War II). After 1968, drought patterns detected with SPI changed: shorter, extreme droughts with different time patterns appeared. SPI indices of different time spans showed correlated structures in space and between each other, indicating structured relations.

40 CFR 503.9 - General definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... site. (t) Pollutant is an organic substance, an inorganic substance, a combination of organic and... typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs...

40 CFR 503.9 - General definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... site. (t) Pollutant is an organic substance, an inorganic substance, a combination of organic and... typically adapted for life in saturated soil conditions. Wetlands generally include swamps, marshes, bogs...