Potential use of retention/detention reservoirs stocked with vascular aquatic macrophytes was evaluated, using a microcosm reservoir for reducing the N and P levels of agricultural drainage effluents (waste water). The treatments evaluated were reservoirs stocked with (i) pennywort (Hydrocotyle umbellata L.), (ii) water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes [Mart] Solms), (iii) cattails (Typha latifol...

Chemical communication plays an integral part in the rhizosphere and in larger ecological processes. The idea of kin recognition and perception of kin-specific chemical signals have long been recognized in microbial and animal models. By contrast, general chemical communication between plants has been well established, especially with regard to the negative communication between plants of two d...

Historically, atmospheric precipitation has been the primary source of N and P to the Florida Everglades. Alterations to the natural hydrology, surface water runoff from agricultural lands, and controlled releases from Lake Okeechobee have increased nutrient loading to the Everglades. A nutrient front encompassing approximately 8000 ha has developed in a northern Everglades marsh, Water Conserv...

We surveyed 29 wild rice growers, representing 96% of the California acreage grown in 1993, to determine current practices for blackbird damage control. Twenty-seven growers (93%) had blackbird damage. The period of greatest damage and most intensive control was July through September. Red-winged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) most frequently caused damage, but three other species of blackbir...

Anthropogenic nutrient inputs to the northern Everglades of Florida during the last three decades have resulted in alteration of vegetation and soil nutrient storage. Due to the nutrient-limited status of this ecosystem, increased loading may have altered the capacity for long-term nutrient accumulation. Our study was conducted to determine the potential long-term nutrient accumulation rates fo...

Wetlands are significant contributors to global CHU emission. We measured CH» emissions at two pristine wetlands [Okefenokee swamp and the Everglades (Water Conservation Area 2A)] and two reclaimed wetlands (Sunny Hill Farm and Apopka Marsh) in Southeastern USA, and we attempted to relate emissions to CRi production rates of the soil and the soil's biological and chemical properties. Methane em...

Trophic accumulation of mercury (Hg) in aquatic ecosystems is of global concern due to health effects associated with eating fish with elevated Hg levels. The methylated form of Hg bioaccumulates so it is important to understand how inorganic Hg is transformed to methylmercury in the environment. Here, a new site for Hg methylation, the periphyton communities that are prevalent in the Florida E...

This extension note describes the basic ecological features of wetland ecosystems. It is a foundational document that provides important concepts and background information to be applied in future extension notes on wetland management. Major topics and concepts covered in this document are: • definition of a wetland ecosystem and comparison of characteristics with other related ecosystems, • re...

--We compared Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) and Red-winged Blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus) to determine possible explanations for the lack of Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) parasitism on Yellow-heads. Twenty-three cowbird eggs were cross-fostered from Red-winged Blackbird nests to Yellow-headed Blackbird nests. Eleven of the cross-fostered cowbird eggs hatched...

We captured and photographed a male Comet Darner (Anax longipes) from the Crieff area, in southern Wellington County, during the 2005 Hamilton Odonate Count. It was in suitable breeding habitat for this species, and may have emerged at the site, although searches for reproductive evidence later in the season were unsuccessful. There are three previous Canadian records for Anax longipes—this is ...