Category: Outputs

Van Asperen, E.N., Perrotti, A., Baker, A. (2020) Coprophilous fungal spores: NPPs for the study of past megaherbivores. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 511, https://doi.org/10.1144/SP511-2020-41

Published online on Dec. 2020 /Jan. 2021

This publication, lead by my colleague Eline van Asperen, will be an invaluable resources to scholars researching past populations of megharbivores or other aspects of palaeoeology using non-pollen palynomorphs, whether be it for the MSc dissertation, PhD, postdoc or at any point of their career. It is supplemented by an open-access key to the identification of dung fungal spores, which supersedes that previously provided on this blog (but some may find useful to still have access to both!):

https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5240664

Abstract:

Spores from coprophilous fungi are some of the most widely used non-pollen palynomorphs. Over the last decades, these spores have become increasingly important as a proxy to study the Pleistocene and Holocene megafauna. Although the number of types used in palaeoecology is relatively small, there is a wide range of coprophilous fungal taxa whose utility in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction remains under-researched. However, environmental and taphonomic factors influencing preservation and recovery of these spores are still poorly understood. Furthermore, our understanding of whether and how spores are transported across the landscape is limited.

Dung fungal spore presence appears to correlate well with megaherbivore presence. However, depending on the site, some limitations can remain to quantitative reconstructions of megaherbivore abundance from dung fungal spore records. The presence of dung fungal spores is often more significant than their absence and variation in in abundance with time should be interpreted with caution. Correlation with other proxies may provide a promising way forward.

The majority of studies using dung fungal spores as an indicator for large herbivore abundance are of records of Late Pleistocene and Holocene age, with a focus on Late Quaternary megafaunal extinction. However, more research could potentially extend records further back in time.

Sinha P, Rollason E, Bracken LJ, Wainwright J, Reaney SM. 2020. A new framework for integrated, holistic, and transparent evaluation of inter-basin water transfer schemes. Science of the Total Environment.

Water shortages are forecast to affect 50% of the world’s population by 2030, impacting developing nations most acutely. To increase water security there has been a significant increase in Inter-basin Water Transfer (IBWT) schemes, engineering mega-projects that redistribute water from one basin to another. However, the implementation of these schemes is often contested, and evaluation of their complex impacts inadequate, or hidden from full public scrutiny. There is an urgent need to develop more integrated, holistic, and transparent ways of evaluating the multiple interlinking impacts of IBWT schemes of this scale. In this paper, we address this gap by outlining an experimental methodology to evaluate IBWT schemes using a multidisciplinary and transparent methodology which utilises publicly available data. We illustrate the method using a case study from the Inter-Linking Rivers Project in Northern India, comparing the results of the experimental approach against the official analysis of the proposed scheme produced by the State Government of Jharkhand. The results demonstrate that the proposed experimental method allows more detailed evaluation of spatial and temporal variability in water availability and demand, as well as holistic evaluation of the functioning of the proposed scheme under different future scenarios. Based on these results we propose a flexible framework for future evaluation of proposed water transfer schemes which embeds the principles of integrated assessment, transparency, and sound science which can be adapted to other IBWT projects across the world

D. A. Oluwadare, H. E. Carney, M. H. Sarker, C. J. Ennis, 2020. Kinetics of water-extractable zinc release from seaweed (Fucus serratus) as soil amendment. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science. 183, 136–143. DOI: 10.1002/jpln.201900398

First published: 07 February 2020

Abstract:

Soil fertilization with trace-metal rich organic fertilizers such as Fucus serratus seaweed may be an effective way to combat micronutrient deficiency. In this study the kinetics of zinc release from Fucus serratus seaweed was investigated in a packed soil column leaching experiment over 1,776 h. The release of zinc from control (soil only) and treatment (soil + seaweed; equivalent zinc application rate of 1.42 kg ha⁻¹) columns, measured by ICP-MS, demonstrated two distinct release stages. The cumulative zinc release data for each phase were fitted to five kinetic models: zero order, first order, Elovich, power function and parabolic diffusion. In the first stage (0–400 hours) the release of zinc from both control and treatment was best described by a parabolic rate law, indicating release of zinc from a soluble soil reservoir. In the second stage (400–1,776 h) zinc release followed a zero order rate law indicative of slow release from an essentially insoluble reservoir. The modelled difference between the amount of zinc released from treatment and control columns in stage 1 (230 ± 11 µg) represented the total amount of zinc added via seaweed. The parabolic rate constant for seaweed zinc release was 12.09 µg g⁻¹ h^−0.5. In summary, the addition of F. serratus to soil is a viable source of labile zinc and a low cost agronomic option for mitigating zinc deficiency in soils.