The variability and patchiness in composition of bacterial communities were studied in a large eutrophic boreal lake (280 km2) with a mean depth of <3 m. The present study was undertaken to determine the factors that influence species dispersal in the sediment environment of large shallow lakes and to test the hypothesis that species dispersal in the sediment is heterogeneous. Surficial sedimen...

Intensified human activities over the past decades have culminated in the prevalence of dire environmental consequences of sediment yield resulting mainly from land use changes. Understanding the role that land use changes play in the dynamics of sediment yield would greatly enhance decision-making processes related to land use and water resources management. In this study, we investigated the ...

Weathering on mountain slopes converts rock to sediment that erodes into channels and thus provides streams with tools for incision into bedrock. Both the size and flux of sediment from slopes can influence channel incision, making sediment production and erosion central to the interplay of climate and tectonics in landscape evolution. Although erosion rates are commonly measured using cosmogen...

Sediments have long been recognised as a source of contaminants in marine environments and, as a result, interim sediment quality guidelines were included in the ANZECC/ARMCANZ (2000) water quality guidelines. While toxicity tests with benthic temperate species have been developed and incorporated into marine sediment toxicity assessments over the past 10 years, there has been limited test deve...

Vegetated swales are an accepted and commonly implemented sustainable urban drainage system in the built urban environment. Laboratory and field research has defined the effectiveness of a vegetated swale in sediment detention during a single rainfall-runoff event. Event mean concentrations of suspended and bed load sediment have been calculated using current best analytical practice, providing...

In Neotropical streams, benthic sediment affects community structure and may impose energetic costs for some species yet to be a resource for others. This study tested the hypothesis that removal of benthic sediment through ingestion by Rana palmipes (Ranidae), a detritivorous tadpole, facilitated the growth of Ancistrus triradiatus (Loricariidae), an algivorous armored catfish. We hypothesized...

[1] On the basis of estimates of sediment accumulation in reservoirs, the impact of 50,000 dams on sediment supply and intertidal wetland response in the Yangtze River catchment is examined. The total storage capacity of reservoirs is 200 10 m, or 22% of the Yangtze annual runoff. The sediment accumulation rate in reservoirs has increased from 0 in 1950 to >850 10 t/yr in 2003. Although sedimen...

[1] Steep, rocky landscapes commonly exhibit high sediment yields and are especially sensitive to climate, tectonics, and wildfire. Predicting landscape response to these perturbations demands a quantitative understanding of erosion processes. However, existing models for hillslope sediment production and transport do not apply to landscapes with patchy soil and slopes that exceed the angle for...

The food source of sediment-ingesting animals is a subject of controversy, centering on the notion that the microbial biomass in sediments is insufficient to support caloric need. Gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum are omnivorous, sediment-ingesting fish that frequently impact the trophic structure of temperate lake and reservoir food webs. Prior gut content analyses of this fish have typically d...

Incubating salmonid eggs in streambeds are often threatened by deposition of fine sediment within the gravel. To relate sedimentation of spawning gravel beds to sediment transport, infiltration of fine sediment (<2 mm in diameter) into clean gravel beds, bed material size distributions, scour-fill depths, and sediment transport during 10 storm flow events were measured in three streams of north...