Aquatic habitats of forested floodplain systems receive large inputs of allochthonous plant litter. We examined the decomposition of, and microbial productivity associated with, leaves of a common floodplain tree, Populus gr. nigra, in the mainstem and floodplain pond of a seventh order river in 2 consecutive years. Litter bags were submerged at both sites, retrieved periodically, and analyzed ...

In many terrestrial ecosystems plant productivity is limited by the availability of mineral nitrogen, which is produced by soil microbial transformations of organic N in soil organic matter (SOM-N). Mineral N availability results from two opposing processes, 1) gross mineral N production (gross ammonification/ gross nitrification) and 2) microbial N immobilization. These processes can be influe...

Grasses such as Miscanthus ×giganteus and Panicum virgatum (switchgrass) can potentially be used to produce bioenergy on a large scale in the Midwestern USA. The biomass productivity of these warm-season perennial grasses, particularly M. × giganteus, can be substantial, even when grown with limited inputs. The literature, however, varies regarding the nitrogen requirements for M. ×giganteus bi...

BACKGROUND Microalgae are a promising platform for producing neutral lipids, to be used in the application for biofuels or commodities in the feed and food industry. A very promising candidate is the oleaginous green microalga Scenedesmus obliquus, because it accumulates up to 45% w/w triacylglycerol (TAG) under nitrogen starvation. Under these conditions, starch is accumulated as well. Starch ...

Prokaryotic heterotrophs (hereafter, bacteria) represent a large proportion of global biomass, and therefore bacterial biomass stoichiometry likely exerts control on global phosphorus (P), carbon (C), and nitrogen cycling and primary productivity. In this study we grew recently isolated freshwater heterotrophic bacteria across an ecologically relevant range of resource C:P ratios (organic C to ...

Microalgae that can grow fast and convert solar energy into chemical energy efficiently are being considered as a promising feedstock of renewable biofuel. Mass production of microalgal oil faces a number of technical barriers that make the current production of biodiesel economically unfeasible. Small size (≈1-20 μm) and negatively charged surface of the microalgal cells pose difficulties in t...

Invertebrate herbivores are ubiquitous in most terrestrial ecosystems, and theory predicts that their impact on plant community biomass should depend on diversity and productivity of the associated plant communities. To elucidate general patterns in the relationship between invertebrate herbivory, plant diversity, and productivity, we carried out a long-term herbivore exclusion experiment at mu...

In response to our recent paper (1), Szuwalski and Hilborn (2) make several points about the timing of recruitment failures, the effect of fishing on productivity, and our choice of using biomass, not recruitment, as the indicator for collapses. We address these points here to show that not only do they not affect our conclusions, but that we are largely in agreement regarding the biological pr...

Coastal vegetative habitats are known to be highly productive environments with a high ability to capture and store carbon. During disturbance this important function could be compromised as plant photosynthetic capacity, biomass, and/or growth are reduced. To evaluate effects of disturbance on CO2 capture in plants we performed a five-month manipulative experiment in a tropical seagrass (Thala...