Search results for " Litter"
showing 10 items of 156 documents
Increase inabovegroundfreshlitterquantityover-stimulatessoil respiration inatemperatedeciduousforest
2010
In the context of climate change, the amount of carbon allocated to soil, particularly fresh litter, is predicted to increase with terrestrial ecosystem productivity, and may alter soil carbon storage capacities. In this study we performed a 1-year litter-manipulation experiment to examine how soil CO2 efflux was altered by the amount of fresh litter. Three treatments were applied: litter exclusion (E), control (C, natural amount: 486 g m −2 ) and litter addition (A, twice the natural amount: 972 g m −2
What is in our seas? Assessing anthropogenic litter on the seafloor of the central Mediterranean Sea
2020
Abstract Abundance, composition, and distribution of macro-litter found on the seafloor of the Strait of Sicily between 10 and 800 m depth has been studied using data collected by bottom trawl surveys MEDITS from 2015 to 2019. Three waste categories based on the items use were considered: single-use, fishing-related and generic-use. Over 600 sampling sites, just 14% of these were litter-free. The five-years average density of seafloor litter was 79.6 items/km2 and ranged between 46.8 in 2019 and 118.1 items/km2 in 2015. The predominant waste type was plastic (58% of all items). Regardless of material type, single-use items were a dominant (60% of items) and widespread (79% of hauls) fractio…
Tropical Andean forests are highly susceptible to nutrient inputs--rapid effects of experimental N and P addition to an Ecuadorian montane forest.
2012
Tropical regions are facing increasing atmospheric inputs of nutrients, which will have unknown consequences for the structure and functioning of these systems. Here, we show that Neotropical montane rainforests respond rapidly to moderate additions of N (50 kg ha -1 yr -1) and P (10 kg ha -1 yr -1). Monitoring of nutrient fluxes demonstrated that the majority of added nutrients remained in the system, in either soil or vegetation. N and P additions led to not only an increase in foliar N and P concentrations, but also altered soil microbial biomass, standing fine root biomass, stem growth, and litterfall. The different effects suggest that trees are primarily limited by P, whereas some pro…
Ultraviolet radiation accelerates photodegradation under controlled conditions but slows the decomposition of senescent leaves from forest stands in …
2019
Depending on the environment, sunlight can positively or negatively affect litter decomposition, through the ensemble of direct and indirect processes constituting photodegradation. Which of these processes predominate depends on the ecosystem studied and on the spectral composition of sunlight received. To examine the relevance of photodegradation for litter decomposition in forest understoreys, we filtered ultraviolet radiation (UV) and blue light from leaves of Fagus sylvatica and Bettda pendula at two different stages of senescence in both a controlled-environment experiment and outdoors in four different forest stands (Picea abies, Pagus sylvatica, Acer platanoides, Betula pendula). Co…
Additive effects of temperature and infection with an acanthocephalan parasite on the shredding activity of Gammarus fossarum (Crustacea: Amphipoda):…
2017
10 pages; International audience; Climate change can have critical impacts on the ecological role of keystone species, leading to subsequent alterations within ecosystems. The consequences of climate change may be best predicted by understanding its interaction with the cumulative effects of other stressors, although this approach is rarely adopted. However, whether this interaction is additive or interactive can hardly be predicted from studies examining a single factor at a time. In particular, biotic interactions are known to induce modifications in the functional role of many species. Here, we explored the effect of temperature on leaf consumption by a keystone freshwater shredder, the …
Response of the N and P cycles of an old-growth montane forest in Ecuador to experimental low-level N and P amendments
2010
Abstract Atmospheric nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) depositions are expected to increase in the tropics as a consequence of increasing human activities in the next decades. In the literature, it is frequently assumed that tropical montane forests are N-limited, while tropical lowland forests are P-limited. In a low-level N and P addition experiment, we determined the short-term response of N and P cycles in a north Andean montane forest on Palaeozoic shists and metasandstones at an elevation of 2100 m a.s.l. to increased N and P inputs. We evaluated experimental N, P and N + P additions (50 kg ha −1 yr −1 of N, 10 kg ha −1 yr −1 of P and 50 kg + 10 kg ha −1 yr −1 of N and P, respectivel…
Ingestion of microplastics and occurrence of parasite association in Mediterranean anchovy and sardine
2020
10 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, supplementary data https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111399
First Assessment of Plasticizers in Marine Coastal Litter-Feeder Fauna in the Mediterranean Sea
2021
Micro and nanoplastics are harmful to marine life due to their high level of fragmentation and resistance to degradation. Over the past two decades, marine coastal sediment has shown an increasing amount of microplastics being a sort of trap for debris wastes or chemicals. In such an environment some species may be successful candidates to be used as monitors of environmental and health hazards and can be considered a mirror of threats of natural habitats. Such species play a key role in the food web of littoral systems since they are litter-feeders, and are prey for fishes or higher trophic level species. A preliminary investigation was conducted on five species of small-sized amphipod cru…
Using Boops boops (osteichthyes) to assess microplastic ingestion in the Mediterranean Sea
2020
Abstract This study assesses microplastic ingestion in Boops boops at different geographical areas in the Mediterranean Sea. A total of 884 fish were caught at 20 coastal sites in Spain, France, Italy and Greece and analyzed using a common methodological protocol. Microplastics were found in 46.8% of the sampled fish, with an average number of items per individual of 1.17 ± 0.07. Filaments were the predominant shape type, while polyethylene and polypropylene were indicated by FTIR as the most common polymer types of ingested microplastics. The frequency of occurrence, as well as the abundance and proportion of types (size, shape, color and polymer) of ingested microplastics, varied among ge…
Amount, composition, and spatial distribution of floating macro litter along fixed trans-border transects in the Mediterranean basin
2018
Marine litter is a major source of pollution in the Mediterranean basin, but despite legislative requirements, scant information is available for the ongoing assessment of this threat. Using higher size classes as proxy for litter distribution, this study gave a synoptic estimation of the amount, composition, and distribution of floating macro-litter in the Mediterranean. The average amount of macro-litter was in a range of 2-5 items/km2, with the highest in the Adriatic basin. Seasonal patterns were present in almost all study areas and were significant in the Ligurian Sea, Sardinian-Balearic basin, and Central Tyrrhenian Sea. Plastic accounted for > 80% of litter in all areas and seaso…