Explore the vast range of titles available.

Denitrification, N-fixation, and dissolved inorganic and organic fluxes of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) were measured in each of the major benthic habitat types of a shallow oligotrophic sub-tropical coastal system, and N and P budgets were constructed to quantify the importance of each habitat to N and P cycling in the whole ecosystem. The productivity/respiration (p/r) ratio (trophic status) of the habitats was an important control on the rates, direction (uptake, efflux) and composition (dissolved inorganic N (DIN), dissolved organic N (DON), N₂) of N fluxes across the sediment-water interface, with an efflux below p/r = 1.5 and an uptake above p/r = 1.5. The Zostera Seagrass Community was the most important habitat for N loss via net N₂ effluxes (denitrification; 48%). Denitrification rates in seagrass were higher than those previously measured in temperate regions, most likely due to greater availability of NH₄ ⁺ for coupled nitrification-denitrification. Yabby Shoals (sub-tidal shoals inhabited by burrowing shrimp, Trypaea australiensis) accounted for the second largest loss of N via denitrification, the largest recycling of DIN and dissolved inorganic P (DIP; statistically significant only during the dark in summer) across the sediment-water interface and the second largest uptake of DON (statistically significant only in summer). This study highlighted that shallow subtropical coastal systems have a complex mosaic of benthic habitats and that some less ‘iconic' habitats (i.e. non-seagrass) also make an important functional contribution that controls the flow of N and P through the whole ecosystem.

Denitrification efficiency [DE; (N₂ - N/(DIN + N₂ - N) x 100%)] as an indicator of change associated with nutrient over-enrichment was evaluated for 22 shallow coastal ecosystems in Australia. The rate of carbon decomposition (which can be considered a proxy for carbon loading) is an important control on the efficiency with which coastal sediments in depositional mud basins with low water column nitrate concentrations recycle nitrogen as N₂. The relationship between DE and carbon loading is due to changes in carbon and nitrate (NO₃) supply associated with sediment biocomplexity. At the DE optimum (500-1,000 μmol m⁻² h⁻¹), there is an overlap of aerobic and anaerobic respiration zones (caused primarily by the existence of anaerobic micro-niches within the oxic zone, and oxidized burrow structures penetrating into the anaerobic zone), which enhances denitrification by improving both the organic carbon and nitrate supply to denitrifiers. On either side of the DE optimum zone, there is a reduction in denitrification sites as the sediment loses its three-dimensional complexity. At low organic carbon loadings, a thick oxic zone with low macrofauna biomass exists, resulting in limited anoxic sites for denitrification, and at high carbon loadings, there is a thick anoxic zone and a resultant lack of oxygen for nitrification and associated NO₃ production. We propose a trophic scheme for defining critical (sustainable) carbon loading rates and possible thresholds for shallow coastal ecosystems based on the relationship between denitrification efficiency and carbon loading for 17 of the 22 Australian coastal ecosystems. The denitrification efficiency “optimum” occurs between carbon loadings of about 50 and 100 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. Coastal managers can use this simple trophic scheme to classify the current state of their shallow coastal ecosystems and for determining what carbon loading rate is necessary to achieve any future state.

The major benthic habitats in a shallow oligotrophic sub-tropical coastal system were mapped, benthic productivity and respiration were measured seasonally (summer, winter) in each open water habitat, and an annual carbon budget was constructed using measured, modelled and literature fluxes to estimate the functional importance of each major benthic habitat to the whole ecosystem. Stable Zostera Seagrass Communities covered 16% of the open water system but made little contribution to whole system metabolism. In contrast, ephemeral Halophila Seagrass Communities covered only 8% of the open water system but contributed 46% of the net productivity (p). The less ‘iconic' Inter- and Sub-tidal Pimpama Shoals also only had a small areal extent (10%) but accounted for 50% of the net benthic production. Similarly, Yabby Shoals only covered 27% of the open water system but accounted for 89% of the net respiration (r). Budget estimates suggest that lateral import of organic matter, most likely tidally transported phytoplankton trapped in seagrass beds, across the Broadwater boundaries was required to balance the carbon budget if any reasonable estimate of burial was invoked. However, budget errors make it difficult to distinguish this import from zero. This study demonstrated that shallow subtropical coastal systems have a complex mosaic of benthic habitats, and that some of the less ‘iconic' habitats (i.e. non-seagrass, non-mangrove) also make an important functional contribution that controls the flow of energy and nutrients through the whole ecosystem and determines the net ecosystem metabolism and possible exchanges with adjacent systems.

Abstract A Product-Service System (PSS) is an integrated combination of products and services. This Western concept embraces a service-led competitive strategy, environmental sustainability, and the basis to differentiate from competitors who simply offer lower priced products. This paper aims to report the state-of-the-art of PSS research by presenting a clinical review of literature currently available on this topic. The literature is classified and the major outcomes of each study are addressed and analysed. On this basis, this paper defines the PSS concept, reports on its origin and features, gives examples of applications along with potential benefits and barriers to adoption, summarizes available tools and methodologies, and identifies future research challenges.

Bottom trawling and eutrophication are large stressors that are critically coupled. Here we show, using a before‐after control‐effect design, the significant reduction in denitrification as a result of experimental bottom trawling in a shallow coastal system. Trawl disturbance destroys the complex three‐dimensional redox structures in surface sediments that maximize denitrification potential, resulting in up to a 50% reduction in net denitrification. The decrease in net denitrification also increased after each trawling event suggesting a declining resilience to trawling and eutrophication. Bottom trawling occurs at such a large scale that it could result in significant amounts of nitrogen being retained on the continental shelf. As such, impacts on the global ocean nitrogen cycle and associated eutrophication should be counted among the many negative consequences of extensive seafloor trawling.

Oxygen flux between aquatic ecosystems and the water column is a measure of ecosystem metabolism. However, the oxygen flux varies during the day in a “hysteretic” pattern: there is higher net oxygen production at a given irradiance in the morning than in the afternoon. In this study, we investigated the mechanism responsible for the hysteresis in oxygen flux by measuring the daily pattern of oxygen flux, light, and temperature in a seagrass ecosystem (Zostera muelleri in Swansea Shoals, Australia) at three depths. We hypothesised that the oxygen flux pattern could be due to diel variations in either gross primary production or respiration in response to light history or temperature. Hysteresis in oxygen flux was clearly observed at all three depths. We compared this data to mathematical models, and found that the modification of ecosystem respiration by light history is the best explanation for the hysteresis in oxygen flux. Light history-dependent respiration might be due to diel variations in seagrass respiration or the dependence of bacterial production on dissolved organic carbon exudates. Our results indicate that the daily variation in respiration rate may be as important as the daily changes of photosynthetic characteristics in determining the metabolic status of aquatic ecosystems.

Climatic variables, water quality, benthic fluxes, sediment properties, and infauna were measured six times over an annual cycle in a shallow subtropical embayment to characterize carbon and nutrient cycling, and elucidate the role of pelagicbenthic coupling. Organic carbon (OC) inputs to the bay are dominated by phytoplankton (mean 74%), followed by catchment inputs (15%), and benthic microalgae (BMA; 9%). The importance of catchment inputs was highly variable and dependent on antecedent rainfall, with significant storage of allochthonous OC in sediments following high flow events and remineralization of this material supporting productivity during the subsequent period. Outputs were dominated by benthic mineralization (mean 59% of total inputs), followed by pelagic mineralization (16%), burial (1%), and assimilation in macrofaunal biomass (2%). The net ecosystem metabolism (NEM = production minus respiration) varied between — 4 and 33% (mean 9%) of total primary production, whereas the productivity/respiration (p/r) ranged between 0.96 and 1.5 (mean 1.13). Up to 100% of the NEM is potentially removed via the demersal detritivore pathway. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) inputs from the catchment contributed less than 1% of the total phytoplankton demand, implicating internal DIN recycling (pelagic 23% and benthic 19%) and potentially benthic dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) fluxes (27%) or Í fixation (up to 47%) as important processes sustaining productivity. Although phytoplankton dominated OC inputs in this system, BMA exerted strong seasonal controls over benthic DIN fluxes, limiting pelagic productivity when mixing/photic depth approached 1.3. The results of this study suggest low DIN: TOC and net autotrophic NEM may be a significant feature of shallow sub-tropical systems where the mixing/photic depth is consistently less than 4.

We examined temporal variability in benthic metabolism and nitrogen (N) cycling in the subtropical Brunswick Estuary, Australia from December 2000 to December 2002. Benthic metabolism was tightly coupled to the production of labile carbon (C) in the water column (phytodetritus) and temperature, both of which increased in summer, resulting in increased rates of benthic metabolism and a shift to sulfate reduction. C: N ratios of remineralized material showed a consistently low return of N relative to \"Redfield\"-type material over the 2-yr study period (up to 84: 1 and averaging 31: 1). The highest remineralized C: N ratios occurred at a sediment CO2 productivity/respiration of ∼0.4, which corresponds to maximum respiration and maximum productivity, and also when water-column dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations were lowest, reflecting potential N limitation. The \"missing N\" was most likely assimilated by heterotrophic bacteria and autotrophic benthic microalgae (BMA). Extracellular organic carbon extruded by the BMA and subsequently decomposed may also account for some of the high remineralized C: N ratios. Net N2 effluxes were controlled by a complex interaction between the supply of NO3- from the water column and nitrification, the supply and decomposition of labile C, benthic productivity, and macrofauna abundance. A N mass balance for the sediment over the 2-yr study period showed that a significant proportion of the mineralized nitrogen may have been removed from the microbial loop and passed up to the metazoan levels of the food chain. About 22% of the remineralized N was permanently removed via denitrification. This active competition for limited N resources between heterotrophs, autotrophs, and chemoautotrophs appears to be a mechanism by which N-limited oligotrophic subtropical estuaries tightly recycle and conserve N.

Biomass and morphometrics of Zostera muelleri were monitored across depth, sediment type, and nutrient gradients in 2 coastal lakes (Tuggerah Lakes and Lake Macquarie) on the east coast of Australia. Tuggerah Lakes had significantly higher nutrient, chlorophyll a, and suspended sediment concentrations in the water column and significantly higher fine sediment fraction and sediment organic matter content. Seagrass above-ground biomass (AGB) was significantly greater in the mesotrophic Tuggerah Lakes, while below-ground biomass (BGB) was significantly greater in the oligotrophic Lake Macquarie, most likely reflecting the different nutrient status of the lakes. Light gradients were the primary control over total biomass, BGB, and shoot density across the study area. Although no general trends between light and AGB were found in this study, lake- and site-specific relationships between light, AGB:BGB ratios, and leaf area index were seen to vary along gradients in nutrient status and sediment quality. These trends are thought to be driven by morphological acclimation that allows seagrass to maintain favourable plant carbon and net community metabolism balances while minimising sulphide exposure. Seagrass depth limits were best predicted by a multilinear model including Secchi depth, fine sediment fraction, and organic matter content, suggesting that negative feedbacks associated with sulphide exposure in the rhizosphere increased the minimum light requirements of this species. Our results support an emerging view that sediment quality and nutrient status are important controls over minimum light requirements in seagrasses. Morphological plasticity can moderate but not completely compensate for the negative impacts of sediment properties on minimum light requirements.

The influence of marine plants representing different stages of eutrophication on carbon decomposition and production, benthic nutrient fluxes and denitrification was examined in 4 shallow warm-temperate Australian lagoons. Differences in carbon production and decomposition across the lagoons were the main regulators of the quantity and quality of benthic nutrient fluxes and the relative proportion of nitrogen lost through denitrification. For example, the efficiency with which the lagoon sediments recycled nitrogen as N₂, (i.e. denitrification efficiency: N₂-N/(N₂-N + DIN), decreased as carbon decomposition rates increased. C:N ratios of the remineralised organic matter in some of the plant-sediment systems were much higher than expected from the xstoichiometry of the dominant carbon supply. Dark DON fluxes were also very high in all the plant-sediment systems (30 to 80% of the total nitrogen flux). We offer 2 alternative explanations for the observed sediment and benthic flux characteristics: (1) The low dark C:N ratios of the remineralised organic matter may have been due to dark uptake by benthic microalgae and possibly other plants. The large DON effluxes were either the hydrolysis product of freshly producedin situorganic material or/and associated with the grazing of benthic microalgae. This explanation has important implications regarding the importance of benthic microalage as a sink for nitrogen. (2) Alternatively, the high C:N ratios of the remineralised organic matter may have been directly related to the large dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) effluxes; large DON effluxes with a low C:N ratio increase the C:N ratio of organic matter in the surface sediments, which in turn causes an uptake and accumulation of nitrogen by bacteria due to N-limitation of the microbial decomposition. Production by all the plant groups had a significant influence on benthic nutrient fluxes, with a typical pattern of an efflux during the dark cycle and an uptake during the light cycle. As such, the sediment productivity/respiration (p/r) ratio was one of the major controls on (best indicators of) net benthic inorganic and organic nutrient fluxes and appears to be one of the key changes which occur in shallow coastal lagoons as these become eutrophic. This has important management implications, demonstrating the need to maintain the balance of benthic autotrophy and heterotrophy. The robustness of the denitrification efficiency and sedimentp/rrelationships across such a diverse range of plant-sediment systems that represent the different stages of eutrophication suggests that these may be useful in synthesising denitrification and benthic flux data across shallow coastal systems and in defining suitable carbon loading rates.