Tidal channel meanders serve as stepping-stones to facilitate cordgrass landward spread by creating invasion windows.

Understanding the mechanisms by which the geomorphic structures affect habitat invasibility by mediating various abiotic and biotic factors is essential for predicting whether these geomorphic structures may provide spatial windows of opportunity to facilitate range-expansion of invasive species in salt marshes. Many studies have linked geomorphic landscape features such as tidal channels to invasion by exotic plants, but the role of tidal channel meanders (i.e., convex and concave sides) in regulating the Spartina alterniflora invasion remains unclear. Here, we examined the combined effects of tidal channel meander-mediated hydrodynamic variables, soil abiotic stresses, and propagule pressure on the colonization of Spartina in the Yellow River Delta, China, by conducting field observations and experiments. The results showed that lower hydrodynamic disturbance, bed shear stress, and higher propagule pressure triggered by eddies due to the convex structure of channel meanders facilitated Spartina seedling establishment and growth, whereas the concave side considerably inhibited the Spartina invasion. Lower soil abiotic stresses also significantly promoted the invasibility of the channel meanders by Spartina. Based on these findings, we propose a conceptual framework to illustrate the effects of the meandering geomorphology of tidal channels on the mechanisms that might allow the landward spread of Spartina and related processes. Our results demonstrate that the meandering geomorphic structures of tidal channels could act as stepping-stones to significantly facilitate the landward invasion of Spartina along tidal channels. This implies that geomorphic characteristics of tidal channels should be integrated into invasive species control and salt marsh management strategies.

Effects of waves, burial depth and material density on microplastic retention in coastal sediments.

Coastal sediments, recognized as a major sink for microplastics (MPs), are subject to frequent physical disturbances, such as wave disturbance and associated sediment dynamics. Yet it remains poorly understood how wave disturbance regulates MPs accumulation in such a dynamic environment. Here, we examined the effects of waves and their interactions with material density and burial depth on the retention of MPs in coastal sediments, through manipulative experiments in a mangrove habitat along the coast of South China. The results clearly revealed that stronger waves removed more buried MPs from the sediments. Moreover, storms can have disproportional effects on MPs retention by inducing large waves and strong sediment erosion. We also demonstrated that MPs retention generally increased linearly with growing material density and non-linearly with raised burial depth in the sediment. Overall, our findings highlight the importance of both external and internal factors in shaping MPs retention in coastal ecosystems like mangroves, which is essential to assess and predict MPs accumulation patterns as well as its impacts on ecosystem functioning of such blue carbon habitats.

The role of bio-geomorphic feedbacks in shaping microplastic burial in blue carbon habitats.

Coastal sediments are considered as hotspots of microplastics (MPs), with substantial MPs stocks found in blue carbon habitats such as mangroves and tidal marshes, where wave-damping vegetation reduces sediment erosion and enhances accretion. Here, we examined the effects of such bio-geomorphic feedbacks in shaping MPs burial, through a year-round field study in a mangrove habitat along the coast of South China. The results revealed that MPs abundance decreased significantly with the increase of cumulative sediment erosion as the strength of bio-geomorphic feedbacks declined. More shapes and colors of MPs were found at locations with weaker waves and less sediment erosion, where the average particle size was also higher. Our findings highlight the importance of bio-geomorphic feedbacks in affecting both the abundance and characteristics of the buried MPs. Such knowledge extends our understanding of MPs transport and burial from the perspective of bio-geomorphology, which is essential to assess and predict MPs accumulation patterns as well as its impacts on ecosystem functioning of the blue carbon habitats.

Estimating Biomass and Carbon Sequestration Capacity of Phragmites australis Using Remote Sensing and Growth Dynamics Modeling: A Case Study in Beijing Hanshiqiao Wetland Nature Reserve, China.

Estimating the biomass of Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud., i.e., a common wetland macrophyte, and the associated carbon sequestration capacity has attracted increasing attention. Hanshiqiao Wetland Nature Reserve (HWNR) is a large P. australis wetland in Beijing, China, and provides an ideal case study site for such purpose in an urban setting. In this study, an existing P. australis growth dynamics model was adapted to estimate the plant biomass, which was in turn converted to the associated carbon sequestration capacity in the HWNR throughout a typical year. To account for local differences, the modeling parameters were calibrated against the above-ground biomass (AGB) of P. australis retrieved from hyperspectral images of the study site. We also analyzed the sensitivity of the modeling parameters and the influence of environmental factors, particularly the nutrient availability, on the growth dynamics and carbon sequestration capacity of P. australis. Our results show that the maximum AGB and below-ground biomass (BGB) of P. australis in the HWNR are 2.93 × 103 and 2.49 × 103 g m-2, respectively, which are higher than the reported level from nearby sites with similar latitudes, presumably due to the relatively high nutrient availability and more suitable inundation conditions in the HWNR. The annual carbon sequestration capacity of P. australis in the HWNR was estimated to be 2040.73 gC m-2 yr-1, which was also found to be highly dependent on nutrient availability, with a 50% increase (decrease) in the constant of the nutrient availability KNP, resulting in a 12% increase (23% decrease) in the annual carbon sequestration capacity. This implies that a comprehensive management of urban wetlands that often encounter eutrophication problems to synergize the effects of nutrient control and carbon sequestration is worth considering in future practices.

Scale-dependent biogeomorphic feedbacks control the tidal marsh evolution under Spartina alterniflora invasion.

The mechanisms of biogeomorphic feedbacks and its influencing factors have been extensively studied for pioneer species colonization in tidal environment. However, biogeomorphic impacts of alien species over the entire invasion process coupled with hydro-geomorphologic processes and ecoengineering traits still lack sufficient understanding to forecast salt marsh succession. In this study, we developed a bio-hydrogeomorphic model to account for the tidal platform evolution and vegetation distribution under Spartina alterniflora invasion in the Yellow River Delta, China. Our field observation and modelling results revealed that salt marsh transformed from a stabilized to a self-organized system due to the significant geomorphic-biological feedback under Spartina alterniflora invasion. Tidal channels took shape differently along the elevation gradient of the intertidal platform. Patch-scale feedbacks promoted the channel initiation in the low-elevated zone during early colonization phase. While landscape-scale feedbacks dominated channel incision in the middle to high platform during the mature phase. Specifically, the channel initiation in the middle-elevated ecotone could be attributed to the change from homogenous sheet flow to concentrated channel flow along the marsh edge, which was determined by tidal prism and discrepancy in organism traits. Hence, our study showed that scale-dependent feedback and gaps in ecoengineering capacity of organism determined the morphological variation in the invasive ecosystem. This would provide the insights into biogeomorphic impacts of invasive species and scientific conservation for native ecosystems.

Naringenin ameliorates hypoxia/reoxygenation-induced endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis in H9c2 myocardial cells: involvement in ATF6, IRE1α and PERK signaling activation.

Naringenin, a flavanone mainly derived from grapes and citrus fruits, has been reported to exhibit cardioprotective effects. Accumulating evidence has confirmed that endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated apoptosis participates in the process of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury and inhibiting ER stress is a potential therapeutic target/strategy in preventing cardiovascular diseases. Herein, the current study was designed to investigate whether naringenin protects H9c2 myocardial cells against hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury via attenuating ER stress or ER stress-mediated apoptosis. Our results showed that naringenin treatment resulted in obvious increases in the viability of H9c2 cells and the expression of Bcl-2 (anti-apoptotic protein), and decreases in the morphological changes of apoptotic cells, the activity of caspase-3 and the expression of Bax (pro-apoptotic protein) in H/R-treated H9c2 cells, implying the protective effects of naringenin against H/R-induced injury. In addition, naringenin also significantly reversed H/R-induced ER stress as evidenced by the up-regulation of Glucose-regulated protein 78, C/EBP homologous protein and Cleaved caspase-12 proteins. Meanwhile, naringenin remarkably reversed H/R-induced the increases in the expression of cleaved activating transcription factor 6 (ATF6) and phosphorylation levels of phospho-extracellular regulated protein kinases (PERK) and inositol-requiring enzyme-1α (IRE1α) in H9c2 cells. Finally, we found that ATF6 siRNA, PERK siRNA or IRE1α siRNA abolished H/R-induced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in H9c2 cells. In conclusion, these results confirmed that ER stress-mediated apoptosis contributes to the protection effects of naringenin against H/R injury, which is potentially involved in ATF6, IRE1α and PERK signaling activation.