Search results for "OMAS"
showing 10 items of 1725 documents
Ecological Limits to Sustainable Use of Wood Fuels
2018
A theoretical study of a simple analytical model of biomass accumulation to assess conditions of the neutrality of CO2-emissions from burning wood (biomass) is reported. Conditions under sustainability defined with respect to harvesting are shown to satisfy requirements of CO2-neutrality on local scale while burning wood under conditions of shrinking global forest area is not and should be taken into account in the balance of global emissions. Other ecological restraints—conservation of biodiversity in particular, are discussed concerning conditions imposed by the economic system and reflecting on the visions of bio-economy.
Consequence of litter removal on pedogenesis: A case study in Bachs and Irchel (Switzerland)
2016
In forests, soils contain at least twice as much carbon than plants that mostly grow in the upper layers. Litter at the interface between soils and the atmosphere regulates a variety of biogeochemical cycles, which are important for both plants and soils and have possible implications for other environmental components. We have compared leachates collected during an incubation experiment on: a) beech and oak leaves; b) organic subhorizons OLn, OLv, OF, and mineral A horizon; c) treated with litter removal (and untreated) plots, to assess the changes in the chemical composition of the litter layers and leachates during weathering and their influence on the underlying horizons. . Two differen…
Novel virocell metabolic potential revealed in agricultural soils by virus-enriched soil metagenome analysis
2021
International audience; Viruses are now recognized as important players in microbial dynamics and biogeochemical cycles in the oceans. Yet, compared with aquatic ecosystems, virus discovery in terrestrial ecosystems has been challenging partly due to the inherent complexity of soils. To expand our understanding of soil viruses and their putative contributions to soil microbial processes, we analysed metagenomes of community-level virus-enriched suspensions by tangential flow filtration obtained from two French agricultural soils. We found viral sequences representing a total of 239 viral operational taxonomic units that corresponded to 29.5% of the mapping reads in the metagenomic datasets.…
Genetic integrity of European wildcats: Variation across biomes mandates geographically tailored conservation strategies
2022
Hybridisation between domestic and wild taxa can pose severe threats to wildlife conservation, and human-induced hybridisation, often linked to species' introductions and habitat degradation, may promote reproductive opportunities between species for which natural interbreeding would be highly unlikely. Using a biome-specific approach, we examine the effects of a suite of ecological drivers on the European wildcat's genetic integrity, while assessing the role played by protected areas in this process. We used genotype data from 1217 putative European wildcat samples from 13 European countries to assess the effects of landcover, disturbance and legal landscape protection on the European wild…
Intake and milk production of goats grazing Sulla forage under different stocking rates
2010
This investigation aimed to individuate the dietary factors affecting the milk urea nitrogen (MUN) concentration in goats grazing herbaceous pasture and, particularly, to verify the relationship linking the diet crude protein (CP) content to MUN. A total of 205 individual observations regarding dietary and milk variables of 37 Girgentana goats involved in two experiments were used. Goats, averaging 154±14 days in milk and 38.1±5.4 kg of live weight, grazed on swards and received 500 g/d of barley meal. Sward biomass, herbage selected by goats and individual milk yield were measured and sampled weekly. The herbage intake and diet digestibility were estimated by the n-alkane method. Milk urea…
Advancing cyanobacteria biomass estimation from hyperspectral observations: Demonstrations with HICO and PRISMA imagery
2021
Retrieval of the phycocyanin concentration (PC), a characteristic pigment of, and proxy for, cyanobacteria biomass, from hyperspectral satellite remote sensing measurements is challenging due to uncertainties in the remote sensing reflectance (?R) resulting from atmospheric correction and instrument radiometric noise. Although several individual algorithms have been proven to capture local variations in cyanobacteria biomass in specific regions, their performance has not been assessed on hyperspectral images from satellite sensors. Our work leverages a machine-learning model, Mixture Density Networks (MDNs), trained on a large (N = 939) dataset of collocated in situ chlorophyll-a concentrat…
Potential for large-bodied zooplankton and dreissenids to alter the productivity and autotrophic structure of lakes.
2014
While limnological studies have emphasized the importance of grazers on algal biomass and primary production in pelagic habitats, few studies have examined their potential role in altering total ecosystem primary production and it's partitioning between pelagic and benthic habitats. We modified an existing ecosystem production model to include biotic feedbacks associated with two groups of large-bodied grazers of phytoplankton (large-bodied zooplankton and dreissenid mussels) and estimated their effects on total ecosystem production (TEP), and the partitioning of TEP between phytoplankton and periphyton (autotrophic structure) across large gradients in lake size and total phosphorus (TP) co…
Comparative study of phytoplankton in an oligotrophic soft water lake under different pH-phosphate ranges
1998
This work reports phytoplankton changes in a shallow, acidic and oligotrophic lake (Loch Rusky, Scotland) from two different periods: one with artificial phosphate fertilization and neutral pH (SRP 3–18 µg l-1, pH 6.6–7.8, 1972–73) and the other with low phosphate and acidic pH values (SRP <1.5 µg l-1, pH 5.6–6.9, 1985–86). Phosphate enhanced markedly total algal biomass and favoured the presence of cyanophytes, especially in the summer epilimnion, while cryptophytes dominated at this time during unfertilized periods. Anabaena sp. peaked during summer and a higher density of Ceratium hirundinella and Peridinium sp. in mid-summer was also observed during the fertilized period. Otherwise, alg…
Effects of eutrophication and organic loading on the occurrence of profundal harpacticoids in a lake in southern Finland.
1992
Harpacticoids made up 19 and 30% of the meiobenthos proper by number and 39 and 55% by biomass at maximum depths and a depth of 20 m, respectively, in Lake Paijanne. Harpacticoids accounted for higher proportions of the total meiobenthos in oligotrophic and unpolluted areas than in polluted areas. Seven species were identified, with Canthocamptus staphylinus confined to semi-lotic areas influenced by organic pollution from a pulp mill. Other species exhibited somewhat different distributions in oligotrophic and mesotrophic areas. Harpacticoid densities were most closely correlated with oxygen content and phytoplankton biomass, and correlations with environmental values were closer at maximu…
Spatial distribution of phytoplankton in the Gulf of Riga during spring and summer stages
1999
Distribution patterns of chlorophyll a, phytoplankton species and biomass were studied in the Gulf of Riga, one of the most eutrophicated areas of the Baltic Sea. Quasi-synoptic measurements were carried out during four seasonal stages (spring bloom 1995, early-summer stage 1994, cyanobacterial bloom 1994, and late summer stage 1993). For each stage, common factor analysis was used to simplify the highly correlated patterns of nutrients, salinity, temperature and the depth of mixed layer. Obtained latent variables were used to explain spatial distribution of phytoplankton. Generally, the distribution of phytoplankton variables followed closely the patterns of nutrient rich fresh water. Duri…