Arctic terrestrial vegetation is responding to warming with higher biomass and productivity, but the effects for freshwater ecosystems are unclear. Biofilm extracellular enzymes are important ...mediators of organic matter processing in aquatic ecosystems, thus understanding how enzyme activities change with water temperature and organic matter availability is important to assess the effects of climate change. Here, we studied biofilm enzyme activities in six streams differing in their riparian vegetation cover and water thermal regime on Disko Island, Greenland. For all streams, biofilms enzymes showed a low activity to decompose plant material, as expected in the Arctic. However, in contrast to simple polysaccharides, there was a significant increase in the capacity for hemicellulose decomposition, in streams with high-vegetation cover. Moreover, biofilms in high-vegetation streams showed greater autotrophy (chlorophyll
a
to total organic matter content) and higher phosphatase activity than stream with low-vegetation cover ones. Enzyme temperature sensitivity (measured as the rate of change of enzyme activity by biofilms incubated at 3 and 22 °C) did not change across the streams, but differed among enzymes types. Phosphatase and phenol oxidase enzymes presented the highest sensitivity to water temperature, which suggests that the degradation of organic phosphorous compounds and lignin could be disproportionately enhanced under warming climate scenarios.
Changes in land use/land cover (LULC) are the key factors driving biodiversity and ecosystem services decline globally. This study examines spatiotemporal LULC changes in a Ramsar coastal temporary ...wetland (Larnaca Salt Lake) on the island of Cyprus between 1963 and 2015. LULC changes in the area are related to variations in the provision of ecosystem services (ES) namely food provision, climate regulation, avifauna support and landscape aesthetics. LULC mapping was performed based on the interpretation of aerial photos taken in 1963, while 2015 mapping was based on CORINE classification validated by satellite image analysis and fieldwork. We used the following indicators for the ES examined: (1) crops’ yield for the estimation of food supply, (2) carbon storage potential for climate regulation, (3) land cover potential to support avifauna richness and (4) naturalness as a proxy for landscape aesthetics. Quantifications were based on a mixed-methods approach with the use of statistical data, expert opinion and bibliography. Estimates for every service were assigned to CORINE land use classes (CLC) present in the area. Landscape structure was measured using a suite of commonly employed landscape metrics. The results showed that between 1963 and 2015 there has been a significant reduction in food provisioning service by 75%, a 37% reduction in carbon storage capacity, an 11% reduction in the capacity to support avifauna, and a 13% reduction in landscape aesthetics. Increased soil surface sealing, mainly with the construction of the international airport, which resulted in the conversion of natural or semi-natural to artificial surfaces, has been the main reason for the decrease in ES supply over the last fifty years in the study area. The character of the area in terms of land use types richness and diversity remains fairly stable but the dominant land use types have experienced fragmentation. The study sets the basis for a monitoring scheme to evaluate the state of the temporary wetlands with emphasis placed on spatial processes as a link to ES provision.
Protected areas around the world are increasingly being recognized for their potential to protect various ecosystem services in addition to biodiversity. We carried out an ecosystem services (ES) ...assessment at the Rizoelia National Forest Park, a biodiversity hotspot in Cyprus. For ES assessment we used TESSA v.1.1 and an ES matrix-approach to map the capacity of habitat types in the area. According to TESSA the most important ES provided by the study area are aesthetic benefits, recreation/ tourism, biodiversity, global climate regulation, and environmental education. Total Carbon stock was estimated to 14247.327 tonnes and the total number of annual visits was 14471. There were no statistically significant differences in the number of visits among visitation periods but there were statistically significant differences among National Holidays, Weekends and Weekdays. We identified that plantations had the highest capacity for most groups of services particularly where their understory comprises semi-natural habitat types rich in biodiversity. This is the first study in Cyprus which provides a preliminary quantification of ES in a protected area context using widely employed tools. The paper discusses how these findings can help decision-makers to plan direct future restoration and management actions to the benefit of a wide range of stakeholders. Keywords: ES matrix-approach, island, mapping, Natura 2000, TESSA
Amphibious plants, living in land-water ecotones, have to cope with challenging and continuously changing growth conditions in their habitats with respect to nutrient and light availability. They ...have thus evolved a variety of mechanisms to tolerate and adapt to these changes. Therefore, the study of these plants is a major area of ecophysiology and environmental ecological research. However, our understanding of their capacity for physiological adaptation and tolerance remains limited and requires systemic approaches for comprehensive analyses. To this end, in this study, we have conducted a mesocosm experiment to analyze the response of
, a common amphibious species in Denmark, to nutrient enrichment and shading. Our study follows a systematic integration of morphological (including plant height, leaf number, and biomass accumulation), ecophysiological (photosynthesis-irradiance responses, leaf pigment content, and C and N content in plant organs), and leaf metabolomic measurements using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (39 mainly primary metabolites), based on bioinformatic methods. No studies of this type have been previously reported for this plant species. We observed that
responds to nutrient enrichment and light reduction through different mechanisms and were able to identify its nutrient enrichment acclimation threshold within the applied nutrient gradient. Up to that threshold, the morpho-physiological response to nutrient enrichment was profound, indicating fast-growing trends (higher growth rates and biomass accumulation), but only few parameters changed significantly from light to shade specific leaf area (SLA); quantum yield (
). Metabolomic analysis supported the morpho-physiological results regarding nutrient overloading, indicating also subtle changes due to shading not directly apparent in the other measurements. The combined profile analysis revealed leaf metabolite and morpho-physiological parameter associations. In this context, leaf lactate, currently of uncertain role in higher plants, emerged as a shading acclimation biomarker, along with SLA and
. The study enhances both the ecophysiology methodological toolbox and our knowledge of the adaptive capacity of amphibious species. It demonstrates that the educated combination of physiological with metabolomic measurements using bioinformatic approaches is a promising approach for ecophysiology research, enabling the elucidation of discriminatory metabolic shifts to be used for early diagnosis and even prognosis of natural ecosystem responses to climate change.
Constructed wetlands have become a widely used tool for reducing nutrient loading from agriculture drainage water running to aquatic ecosystems. To ensure a high nutrient removal efficiency, it is ...often suggested to use macrophytes to retain or remove nutrients via uptake and through the denitrifying biofilm. In Europe,
Phragmites australis
and
Typha
spp are the most commonly used aquatic plants in constructed wetlands (CWs) with free surface flow, and these species often form monocultures in the wetlands. In order to achieve a more diverse vegetation, there is a need to introduce more plant species. Creating a mass production of plant material reduces both handling time and the risk of depleting and disturbing vegetation in natural habitats such as streams or lakes. However, a successful and continuous production of such material during growing seasons requires knowledge of the selected species' establishment and propagation. We examined the relative growth rate (RGR) of six emergent macrophyte species collected from streams and small lakes located in Mid Jutland (Denmark), in seasonal experiments from March to October in order to determine the most efficient time period for their propagation. We found that all species had highest RGR in June, and that several species showed high growth efficiency from April to August. The results showed that it is possible to have a full production of emergent macrophytes throughout the growing season, and therefore, we suggest to propagate plants for use in constructed wetlands in order to enhance biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
Les zones humides construites sont devenues un outil largement utilisé pour réduire la charge en nutriments des eaux de drainage agricoles s'écoulant vers les écosystèmes aquatiques. Pour garantir une efficacité élevée de l'élimination des nutriments, il est souvent suggéré d'utiliser des macrophytes pour retenir ou éliminer les nutriments par absorption et par le biofilm dénitrifiant. En Europe,
Phragmites australis
et
Typha spp
sont les plantes aquatiques les plus couramment utilisées dans les zones humides construites (ZH) à écoulement superficiel libre, et ces espèces forment souvent des monocultures dans les zones humides. Afin d'obtenir une végétation plus diversifiée, il est nécessaire d'introduire davantage d'espèces végétales. La création d'une production de masse de matériel végétal réduit à la fois le temps de manipulation et le risque d'appauvrir et de perturber la végétation dans les habitats naturels tels que les cours d'eau ou les lacs. Cependant, une production réussie et continue de ce matériel pendant les saisons de croissance nécessite une connaissance de l'établissement et de la propagation des espèces sélectionnées. Nous avons examiné le taux de croissance relatif (RGR) de six espèces d'hélophytes collectées dans des cours d'eau et des petits lacs situés dans le centre du Jutland (Danemark), dans des expériences saisonnières de mars à octobre, afin de déterminer la période la plus efficace pour leur propagation. Nous avons constaté que toutes les espèces avaient le RGR le plus élevé en juin, et que plusieurs espèces présentaient une efficacité de croissance élevée d'avril à août. Les résultats ont montré qu'il est possible d'avoir une production importante de macrophytes émergés tout au long de la saison de croissance, et donc, nous suggérons de propager les plantes pour une utilisation dans les zones humides construites afin d'améliorer la biodiversité et le fonctionnement de l'écosystème.
The aim of the paper is to examine the variability of eastern Mediterranean landscapes using a common mapping framework relying on Landscape Character Mapping (LCM). LCM was adapted to the region’s ...specificities placing emphasis on the area’s coastal nature, landform variation, land use, in particular pastoral tradition, and settlement patterns, an important output of this study. We selected six study areas, in four countries namely Cyprus, Greece, Jordan and Lebanon, based on their rich cultural and natural heritage, covering a NW to SE gradient of both environmental and cultural settings. We used commonly employed landscape metrics to quantify landscape diversity in the study areas. Similarity in landscape types among study area was measured using Sørensen similarity index. The Kruskall–Walis test was used to test the variability among countries in terms of landscape character variation due to physical and cultural factors. Linear regression was used to assess whether landscape diversity increases with area size. The work has identified and mapped a total of 69 landscape types, of which 18 are rare. Rare landscape types were related to specific geomorphology or intensive anthropogenic activities, which do not occur elsewhere in the East Mediterranean region. The highest similarity was recorded between islands and between mountainous areas. The larger the area the higher is its landscape diversity. This works fills a gap in Mediterranean and sets a benchmark standard for landscape characterization work in the East Mediterranean, so as to enable much greater consistency between countries in future landscape mapping exercises and, ultimately, facilitate trans-boundary cooperation in landscape-scale nature and culture conservation.
European islands are hotspots of biological and cultural diversity, which, compared to mainland, are more vulnerable to climate change, tourism development, uncontrolled land-use changes and the ...consequences of financial crisis. These drivers of change have increasingly resulted in severe impacts on socio-economic and environmental parameters. Projected climate, land-use and socio-economic change will impact on islands’ biodiversity, ecosystem services and, in turn, on the quality of life of island inhabitants. Even if the existing methods can adequately predict the abovementioned changes of the larger islands, this is not the case for small and medium-size islands, where there is a need for refinement. Although ecosystem services (ES) assessments have been carried out worldwide in different geographical areas, islands are still under-represented. Despite the recognised islands’ importance and vulnerability, efforts to date have focused solely on the pressures they face. Still, we know little about ES supply, flow and demand and their spatio-temporal variability, whilst integrated approaches that consider ES cross-island realms (terrestrial, marine and their interface) remain scarce. Even more under-represented are studies that explore the telecoupled relationship amongst islands and their mainland counterparts. Moreover, the current conceptual approaches guiding ES mapping and assessment need further refinement to account for the complex manifestations of nature and culture arising from peoples’ interaction with island spaces. This paper discusses the creation of a platform for coordinated interdisciplinary research on several aspects of mapping and assessment of ES in small and medium European islands in order to synthesise and strengthen the knowledge base for conservation of island realms and contribute to their sustainable development.
Ecosystems deliver a range of services that are important for human well-being. Although Ecosystem Services (ES) assessments have been carried out worldwide in different geographical areas, islands ...are still under-represented. This research presents the first set of indicators developed for Mapping and Assessment of Ecosystems and their Services (MAES) provided by the ecosystems of Cyprus, as required by the EU Biodiversity Strategy, along with the rationale behind the selection criteria. In total, 269 potential indicators were assessed in terms of data availability at the national/subnational level and their suitability for MAES and were classified using a "traffic light" system on the basis of overall suitability (i.e. conceptually and in terms of datasets). The results showed that 89 indicators (Green indicators) can be directly used for assessing ES in Cyprus. Amongst these 89 Green indicators, 28 are considered to be new additions to the EU MAES list, since they were proposed solely for Cyprus ecosystems, as a result of consultation with local stakeholders. Provisioning and cultural services could be adequately mapped, but lack of data was observed for several regulating services (e.g. erosion, pollution, carbon sequestration). Not all Green indicators, identified herein, are relevant for assessing ES provided by ecosystems in Cyprus, whereas Green indicators which measure similar ES might be redundant. For a given geographical context, there might be relevant (and important) indicators which are not included in the MAES list and this is why consultation with stakeholders is advisable. Knowledge gaps and needs for further improving MAES on the island are also discussed.
► We examined macrophyte species assemblages along a Mediterranean river. ► We analyzed how water quality influence macrophyte communities. ► We investigated the seasonal variability of water ...chemistry and macrophyte taxa. ► Water velocity and temperature were key factors driving macrophyte assemblages. ► Nitrogen was also found to be a significant factor across all seasons.
We studied the aquatic macrophyte assemblage structure along a Mediterranean lotic ecosystem from the upper reaches to the most downstream areas. We examined how environmental characteristics affect the composition and abundance of macrophyte communities spatially and temporally. Field survey data were collected from the Acheron river catchment, between 2005 and 2007. The identification of plant assemblages and the hierarchical structure of each group of species were analyzed using hierarchical classification (Bray–Curtis) and Indicator Species Analysis (ISA). The relationships between macrophyte community composition and water quality were examined using Redundancy Analysis (RDA) while the temporal variability was assessed using Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA). A total of 81 aquatic macrophyte taxa were recorded and Bray–Curtis classification identified 6 different vegetation groups. ISA results produced bryophyte and pteridophyte indicator species for the fast flowing sites near river springs while lower parts were dominated by Phragmites australis, Potamogeton pectinatus and macroalgae species. In the mid-river sections 4 different vegetation groups were identified: (i) Scirpus holoschoenus–Polygonum salicifolium–Plantago major occupied fast flowing waters and riffle habitat, (ii) Arundo donax–Scirpus lacustris–Fontinalis antipyretica located at urban sites, (iii) Brachythecium rutabulum–Pellia endiviifolia–Equisetum telmateia located at shaded sites with low nutrient concentration; and (iv) hydrophytes and helophytes which were found to be dominant in Acherons river tributaries and were associated with slower flowing water, low water clarity and high nitrate and ammonia nitrogen concentrations.
Life form analysis indicated that mosses and liverworts (bryophytes) dominate the upper part of the river basin while emergent plants (helophytes) were abundant both in upper and middle reaches. Monte Carlo permutation testing revealed that NO3–N, NH4–N, pH, conductivity, water temperature, mean water velocity are strongly correlated with aquatic macrophyte distribution. Canonical Variates Analysis (CVA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA's) showed a strong seasonal signal with nitrogen nutrients (nitrite, nitrate, and ammonium), dissolved oxygen, pH and water temperature all significant discriminating variables. Nitrogen appeared to be the most important nutrient since it was found to be significant as nitrate, nitrite and ammonium forms in all seasons.
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