A century of limnological evolution and interactive threats in the Panama Canal: Long-term assessments from a shallow basin.

Large tropical river dam projects are expected to accelerate over the forthcoming decades to satisfy growing demand for energy, irrigation and flood control. When tropical rivers are dammed the immediate impacts are relatively well studied, but the long-term (decades-centuries) consequences of impoundment remain poorly known. We combined historical records of water quality, river flow and climate with a multi-proxy (macrofossils, diatoms, biomarkers and trace elements) palaeoecological approach to reconstruct the limnological evolution of a shallow basin in Gatun Lake (Panama Canal, Panama) and assess the effects of multiple linked factors (river damming, forest flooding, deforestation, invasive species, pollution and hydro-climate) on the study area. Results show that a century after dam construction, species invasion, deforestation and salt intrusions have forced a gradual change in the study basin from a swamp-type environment towards a more saline lake-governed system of benthic-littoral production likely associated with the expansion of macrophyte stands. Hydrology still remains the most important long-term (decades) structural factor stimulating salinity intrusions, primary productivity, deposition of minerals, and reduction of water transparency during wet periods. During dry periods, physical-chemical conditions are in turn linked to clear water and aerobic conditions while nutrients shift to available forms for the aquatic biota in the detrital-rich reductive sediments. Our study suggests that to preserve the natural riverine system functioning of this area of the Panama Canal, management activities must address long-term ecosystem structural drivers such as river flow, runoff patterns and physical-chemical conditions.

Temperature and Monsoon Tango in a Tropical Stalagmite: Last Glacial-Interglacial Climate Dynamics.

High-resolution paleoclimate data on stable isotopes in a stalagmite were coupled to glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs). The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM) transitioned from limited rainfall during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to intense precipitation during early Holocene (22 to 6 ka). This was associated with changes in stalagmite growth, abundance of branched (br) and isoprenoid (iso) GDGTs, as well as δ18O, δ13C, Sr/Ca and GDGT-derived signals providing both temperature and moisture information. The reconstructed mean annual air temperature (MAAT) of the most modern stalagmite sample at ~19 °C, matches the surface and cave MAAT, but was ~4 °C lower during LGM. Warming at the end of LGM occurred before ISM strengthened and indicate 6 ka lag consistent with sea surface temperature records. The isotope records during the Younger Dryas show rapid progressions to dry conditions and weak monsoons, but these shifts are not coupled to TEX86. Moreover, change to wetter and stronger ISM, along with warmer Holocene conditions are not continuous indicating a decoupling of local temperatures from ISM.

Molecular dynamics simulation study of the effect of glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether hydroxylation on membrane thermostability.

Archaeal tetraether membrane lipids span the whole membrane width and present two C40 isoprenoid chains bound by two glycerol groups (or one glycerol and calditol). These lipids confer stability and maintain the membrane fluidity in mesophile to extremophile environments, making them very attractive for biotechnological applications. The isoprenoid lipid composition in archaeal membranes varies with temperature, which has placed these lipids in the focus of paleo-climatological studies for over a decade. Non-hydroxylated isoprenoid archaeal lipids are typically used as paleo-thermometry proxies, but recently identified hydroxylated (OH) derivatives have also been proposed as temperature proxies. The relative abundance of hydroxylated lipids increases at lower temperatures, but the physiological function of the OH moiety remains unknown. Here we present molecular dynamics simulations of membranes formed by the acyclic glycerol-dialkyl-glycerol-tetraether caldarchaeol (GDGT-0), the most widespread archaeal core lipid, and its mono-hydroxylated variant (OH-GDGT-0) to better understand the physico-chemical properties conferred to the membrane by this additional moiety. The molecular dynamics simulations indicate that the additional OH group forms hydrogen bonds mainly with the sugar moieties of neighbouring lipids and with water molecules, effectively increasing the size of the polar headgroups. The hydroxylation also introduces local disorder that propagates along the entire alkyl chains, resulting in a slightly more fluid membrane. These changes would help to maintain trans-membrane transport in cold environments, explaining why the relative abundance of hydroxylated Archaea lipids increases at lower temperatures. The in silico approach aids to understand the underlying physiological mechanisms behind the hydroxylated lipid based paleo-thermometer recently proposed.

Distribution of intact and core membrane lipids of archaeal glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers among size-fractionated particulate organic matter in hood canal, puget sound.

There is great interest in the membrane lipids of archaea (glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers [GDGTs]) as tracers of archaeal biomass because of their utility as paleoproxies and because of the biogeochemical importance of archaea. While core GDGTs (formed by hydrolysis of polar head groups of intact GDGTs after cell death) are appropriate for paleostudies, they have also been used to trace archaeal populations. Also, despite the small size (0.2 by 0.7 µm) of cultivated marine archaea, 0.7-µm glass-fiber filters (GFFs) are typically used to collect GDGTs from natural waters. We quantified both core and intact GDGTs in free-living (0.2- to 0.7-µm), suspended (0.7- to 60-µm), and aggregate (>60-µm) particle size fractions in Puget Sound (Washington State). On average, the free-living fraction contained 36% of total GDGTs, 90% of which were intact. The intermediate-size fraction contained 62% of GDGTs, and 29% of these were intact. The aggregate fraction contained 2% of the total GDGT pool, and 29% of these were intact. Our results demonstrate that intact GDGTs are largely in the free-living fraction. Because only intact GDGTs are present in living cells, protocols that target this size fraction and analyze the intact GDGT pool are necessary to track living populations in marine waters. Core GDGT enrichment in larger-size fractions indicates that archaeal biomass may quickly become attached or entrained in particles once the archaea are dead or dying. While the concentrations of the two pools were generally not correlated, the similar sizes of the core and intact GDGT pools suggest that core GDGTs are removed from the water column on timescales similar to those of cell replication, on timescales of days to weeks.

Bacterial dominance in subseafloor sediments characterized by methane hydrates.

The degradation of organic carbon in subseafloor sediments on continental margins contributes to the largest reservoir of methane on Earth. Sediments in the Andaman Sea are composed of ~ 1% marine-derived organic carbon and biogenic methane is present. Our objective was to determine microbial abundance and diversity in sediments that transition the gas hydrate occurrence zone (GHOZ) in the Andaman Sea. Microscopic cell enumeration revealed that most sediment layers harbored relatively low microbial abundance (10(3)-10(5) cells cm(-3)). Archaea were never detected despite the use of both DNA- and lipid-based methods. Statistical analysis of terminal restriction fragment length polymorphisms revealed distinct microbial communities from above, within, and below the GHOZ, and GHOZ samples were correlated with a decrease in organic carbon. Primer-tagged pyrosequences of bacterial 16S rRNA genes showed that members of the phylum Firmicutes are predominant in all zones. Compared with other seafloor settings that contain biogenic methane, this deep subseafloor habitat has a unique microbial community and the low cell abundance detected can help to refine global subseafloor microbial abundance.

A method for upscaling soil parameters for use in a dynamic modelling assessment of water quality in the Pyrenees.

Dynamic modelling of hydrochemistry is a valuable tool to study and predict the recovery of surface waters from acidification, and to assess the effects of confounding factors (such as delayed soil response and changing climate) that cause hysteresis during reversal from acidification. The availability of soil data is often a limitation for the regional application of dynamic models. Here we present a method to upscale site-specific soil properties to a regional scale in order to circumvent that problem. The method proposed for upscaling relied on multiple regression models between soil properties and a suite of environmental variables used as predictors. Soil measurements were made during a field survey in 13 catchments in the Pyrenees (NW Spain). The environmental variables were derived from mapped or remotely sensed topographic, lithological, land-cover, and climatic information. Regression models were then used to model soil parameters, which were supplied as input for the biogeochemical model MAGIC (Model for Acidification of Groundwater In Catchments) in order to reconstruct the history of acidification in Pyrenean lakes and forecast the recovery under a scenario of reduced acid deposition. The resulting simulations were then compared with model runs using field measurements as input parameters. These comparisons showed that regional averages for the key water and soil chemistry variables were suitably reproduced when using the modelled parameters. Simulations of water chemistry at the catchment scale also showed good results, whereas simulated soil parameters reflected uncertainty in the initial modelled estimates.

Analytical methodology for TEX86 paleothermometry by high-performance liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry.

The TEX86 is a recently proposed paleothermometer through which ancient seawater temperatures of up to 120 My ago can be reconstructed. It is based on the relative distribution of glycerol dibiphytanyl glycerol tetraethers as measured by high-performance liquid chromatography/atmospheric pressure chemical ionization-mass spectrometry (HPLC/APCI-MS). The aim of this study was to examine and improve several analytical aspects in the determination of this important proxy in environmental matrices. Comparison of TEX86 analysis using single ion mode (SIM) and mass scanning (m/z 950 to 1450) detection, respectively, revealed that SIM is up to 2 orders of magnitude more sensitive and that the TEX86 can be determined with a reproducibility of +/-0.004 or +/-0.3 degrees C using this method. Comparison of TEX86 values obtained with two different HPLC/APCI-MS set-ups revealed no significant differences. In addition, analysis of TEX86 of extracts obtained by Soxhlet, ultrasonic, and accelerated high-pressure extraction techniques also showed no significant differences between the methods. Our results suggest that TEX86 analysis by HPLC/APCI-MS is robust and can be determined with analytical errors comparable to those of other temperature proxies.