Description: The ability of management strategies to achieve the fishery management goals are impacted by environmental variation and, therefore, also by global climate change. Management strategies can be modified to use environmental data using the "dynamic B 0 " concept, and changing the set of years used to define biomass reference points. Two approaches have been developed to apply management strategy evaluation to evaluate the impact of environmental variation on the performance of management strategies. The "mechanistic approach" estimates the relationship between the environment and elements of the population dynamics of the fished species and makes predictions for population trends using the outputs from global climate models. In contrast, the "empirical approach" examines possible broad scenarios without explicitly identifying mechanisms. Many reviewed studies have found that modifying management strategies to include environmental factors does not improve the ability to achieve management goals much, if at all, and only if the manner in which these factors drive the system is well known. As such, until the skill of stock projection models improves, it seems more appropriate to consider the implications of plausible broad forecasts related to how biological parameters may change in the future as a way to assess the robustness of management strategies, rather than attempting specific predictions per se .

Description: Purpose   Global climate change (GCC), especially global warming, has affected the material cycling (e.g., carbon, nutrients, and organic chemicals) and the energy flows of terrestrial ecosystems. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were regarded as anthropogenic organic carbon (OC) source, and be coupled with the natural carbon (C) and nutrient biogeochemical cycling in ecosystems. The objective of this work was to review the current literature and explore potential coupling processes and mechanisms between POPs and biogeochemical cycles of C and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems induced by global warming. Results and discussion   Global warming has caused many physical, chemical, and biological changes in terrestrial ecosystems. POPs environmental fate in these ecosystems is controlled mainly by temperature and biogeochemical processes. Global warming may accelerate the re-emissions and redistribution of POPs among environmental compartments via soil–air exchange. Soil–air exchange is a key process controlling the fate and transportation of POPs and terrestrial ecosystem C at regional and global scales. Soil respiration is one of the largest terrestrial C flux induced by microbe and plant metabolism, which can affect POPs biotransformation in terrestrial ecosystems. Carbon flow through food web structure also may have important consequences for the biomagnification of POPs in the ecosystems and further lead to biodiversity loss induced by climate change and POPs pollution stress. Moreover, the integrated techniques and biological adaptation strategy help to fully explore the coupling mechanisms, functioning and trends of POPs and C and nutrient biogeochemical cycling processes in terrestrial ecosystems. Conclusions and perspectives   There is increasing evidence that the environmental fate of POPs has been linked with biogeochemical cycles of C and nutrients in terrestrial ecosystems under GCC. However, the relationships between POPs and the biogeochemical cycles of C and nutrients are still not well understood. Further study is needed to explore the coupling mechanisms of POP environmental fate and C biogeochemical cycle by using the integrated techniques under GCC scenario and develop biological and ecological management strategies to mitigate GCC and environmental stressors. Content Type Journal Article Category SOILS, SEC 3 • REMEDIATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CONTAMINATED OR DEGRADED LANDS • REVIEW ARTICLE Pages 1-9 DOI 10.1007/s11368-011-0462-0 Authors Ying Teng, Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008 People’s Republic of China Zhihong Xu, Environmental Futures Centre and School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia Yongming Luo, Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing, 210008 People’s Republic of China Frédérique Reverchon, Environmental Futures Centre and School of Biomolecular and Physical Sciences, Griffith University, Nathan, QLD 4111, Australia Journal Journal of Soils and Sediments Online ISSN 1614-7480 Print ISSN 1439-0108

Description: The field of ecoinformatics provides concepts, methods and standards to guide management and analysis of ecological data with particular emphasis on exploration of co-occurrences of organisms and their linkage to environmental conditions and taxon attributes. In this editorial, introducing the Special Feature ‘Ecoinformatics and global change’, we reflect on the development of ecoinformatics and explore its importance for future global change research with special focus on vegetation-plot data. We show how papers in this Special Feature illustrate important directions and approaches in this emerging field. We suggest that ecoinformatics has the potential to make profound contributions to pure and applied sciences, and that the analyses, databases, meta-databases, data exchange formats and analytical tools presented in this Special Feature advance this approach to vegetation science and illustrate and address important open questions. We conclude by describing important future directions for the development of the field including incentives for data sharing, creation of tools for more robust statistical analysis, utilities for integration of data that conform to divergent taxonomic standards, and databases that provide detailed plot-specific data so as to allow users to find and access data appropriate to their research needs.

Description: Purpose   Managing declining nutrient use efficiency in crop production has been a global priority to maintain high agricultural productivity with finite non-renewable nutrient resources, in particular phosphorus (P). Rapid spectroscopic methods increase measurement density of soil nutrients and improve the accuracy of rates of additional P inputs. Materials and methods   Soil P was measured by a multi-element energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopic (XRFS) method to estimate the spatial distribution of soil total (XRFS-P) and bioavailable P in a Fluvisol occurring on a 20-ha contiguous area comprised of seven elongated field strips under a wheat–maize rotation near the Quzhou Agricultural Experiment Station in the North China Plain. Results and discussion   Soil XRFS-P was highly variable along the length of the field strips and across the entire area after decades of continuous cultivation. A linear relationship existed between XRFS-P and bicarbonate-extractable P or Mehlich 3-extractable P, allowing a description of the spatial distribution of bioavailable P based on XRFS, in both directions of a two-dimensional grid covering the entire area ( p  〈 0.05). Distinct management zones were identified for more precise placement of additional P. Conclusions   Direct element-specific analysis and a high sample throughput make XRFS an indispensable component of a new approach to sustainably manage P, and other macronutrients of low atomic number Z such as K, Ca, or Cl in production fields, based on their site-specific variations in the soil. Concerning P, this rapid precision approach provides a promising avenue to manage soil P as a regionalized variable while preventing zones of deficiency or surplus P that can affect plant productivity or potential loss from a field, respectively. Content Type Journal Article Pages 1-12 DOI 10.1007/s11368-011-0347-2 Authors Thanh H. Dao, USDA-ARS Environmental Management and ByProducts Utilization Laboratory, BARC-East Bldg. 306, Beltsville, MD 20705, USA Yuxin X. Miao, College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Fusuo S. Zhang, College of Resources and Environmental Science, China Agricultural University, Beijing, People’s Republic of China Journal Journal of Soils and Sediments Online ISSN 1614-7480 Print ISSN 1439-0108

Description: Welcomme, R. L. 2011. An overview of global catch statistics for inland fish. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 68: 1751–1756. The reported global inland fish catch passed 10 million tonnes in 2008, after almost linear growth from the early 1950s. The rise coincides with an increasing number of reports of falling catches resulting from environmental degradation. It is thought that catches from inland waters were underreported in the past because of constraints on collecting the relevant data. National approaches to data collection are not generally comparable and their accuracy not usually assessed. National data processing and reporting should be audited, and training undertaken to harmonize these activities. The apparently bigger catches probably result from better reporting of actual catches rather than any increase in the amount of fish landed. Current data are sufficient only for a general overview of global inland catches of fish, rather than for the detailed analysis needed for management, policy formulation, and the valuation of inland fisheries. There is a need for improved approaches to data collection and for historical catches to be corrected to account for changes in methodologies and reporting procedures.

Description: Questions: What are the most likely environmental drivers for compositional herb layer changes as indicated by trait differences between winner and loser species? Location: Weser-Elbe region (NW Germany). Methods: We resurveyed the herb layer communities of ancient forest patches on base-rich sites of 175 semi-permanent plots. Species traits were tested for their ability to discriminate between winner and loser species using logistic regression analyses and deviance partitioning. Results: Of 115 species tested, 31 were identified as winner species and 30 as loser species. Winner species had higher seed longevity, flowered later in the season and more often had an oceanic distribution compared to loser species. Loser species tended to have a higher specific leaf area, were more susceptible to deer browsing and had a performance optimum at higher soil pH compared to winner species. The loser species also represented several ancient forest and threatened species. Deviance partitioning indicated that local drivers (i.e. disturbance due to forest management) were primarily responsible for the species shifts, while regional drivers (i.e. browsing pressure and acidification from atmospheric deposition) and global drivers (i.e. climate warming) had moderate effects. There was no evidence that canopy closure, drainage or eutrophication contributed to herb layer changes. Conclusions: The relative importance of the different drivers as indicated by the winner and loser species differs from that found in previous long-term studies. Relating species traits to species performance is a valuable tool that provides insight into the environmental drivers that are most likely responsible for herb layer changes.

Description: Tropical forests are biologically diverse ecosystems that play important roles in the carbon cycle and maintenance of global biodiversity. Understanding how tropical forests respond to environmental changes is important, as changes in carbon storage can modulate the rate and magnitude of climate change. Applying an ecoinformatics approach for managing long-term forest inventory plot data, where individual trees are tracked over time, facilitates regional and cross-continental forest research to evaluate changes in taxonomic composition, growth, recruitment and mortality rates, and carbon and biomass stocks. We developed ForestPlots.net as a secure, online inventory data repository and to facilitate data management of long-term tropical forest plots to promote scientific collaborations among independent researchers. The key novel features of the database are: (a) a design that efficiently deals with time-series data; (b) data management tools to assess potential errors; and (c) a query library to generate outputs (e.g. biomass and carbon stock changes over time).

Description: Purpose   The sensitivity of soil organic carbon to global change drivers, according to the depth profile, is receiving increasing attention because of its importance in the global carbon cycle and its potential feedback to climate change. A better knowledge of the vertical distribution of SOC and its controlling factors—the aim of this study—will help scientists predict the consequences of global change. Materials and methods   The study area was the Murcia Province (S.E. Spain) under semiarid Mediterranean conditions. The database used consists of 312 soil profiles collected in a systematic grid, each 12 km 2 covering a total area of 11,004 km 2 . Statistical analysis to study the relationships between SOC concentration and control factors in different soil use scenarios was conducted at fixed depths of 0–20, 20–40, 40–60, and 60–100 cm. Results and discussion   SOC concentration in the top 40 cm ranged between 6.1 and 31.5 g kg −1 , with significant differences according to land use, soil type and lithology, while below this depth, no differences were observed (SOC concentration 2.1–6.8 g kg −1 ). The ANOVA showed that land use was the most important factor controlling SOC concentration in the 0–40 cm depth. Significant differences were found in the relative importance of environmental and textural factors according to land use and soil depth. In forestland, mean annual precipitation and texture were the main predictors of SOC, while in cropland and shrubland, the main predictors were mean annual temperature and lithology. Total SOC stored in the top 1 m in the region was about 79 Tg with a low mean density of 7.18 kg Cm −3 . The vertical distribution of SOC was shallower in forestland and deeper in cropland. A reduction in rainfall would lead to SOC decrease in forestland and shrubland, and an increase of mean annual temperature would adversely affect SOC in croplands and shrubland. With increasing depth, the relative importance of climatic factors decreases and texture becomes more important in controlling SOC in all land uses. Conclusions   Due to climate change, impacts will be much greater in surface SOC, the strategies for C sequestration should be focused on subsoil sequestration, which was hindered in forestland due to bedrock limitations to soil depth. In these conditions, sequestration in cropland through appropriate management practices is recommended. Content Type Journal Article Category SOILS, SEC 1 • SOIL ORGANIC MATTER DYNAMICS AND NUTRIENT CYCLING • RESEARCH ARTICLE Pages 1-13 DOI 10.1007/s11368-012-0617-7 Authors Juan Albaladejo, Soil and Water Conservation Department, CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Roque Ortiz, Agricultural Chemistry, Geology and Soil Science Department, Murcia University, Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Noelia Garcia-Franco, Soil and Water Conservation Department, CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Antonio Ruiz Navarro, Soil and Water Conservation Department, CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Maria Almagro, Soil and Water Conservation Department, CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Javier Garcia Pintado, Soil and Water Conservation Department, CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Maria Martínez-Mena, Soil and Water Conservation Department, CEBAS-CSIC (Spanish Research Council), Campus de Espinardo, 30100 Murcia, Spain Journal Journal of Soils and Sediments Online ISSN 1614-7480 Print ISSN 1439-0108

Description: Wigand, L. A., Klinger, T., and Logsdon, M. G. 2013. Patterns in groundfish abundance along the Eastern Bering Sea outer continental margin. – ICES Journal of Marine Science, 70: 1181–1197. Place-based management approaches require understanding the spatial arrangement and interaction of elements. To address this need, we explored the utility of spatial-pattern analysis to understand the distribution of groundfish in the Eastern Bering Sea outer continental margin. We divided this region into discrete geomorphological units to explore spatial pattern on a range of scales. We used groundfish catch per unit effort (cpue) trawl survey data collected in four years to quantify spatial autocorrelation. Global statistics indicated that groundfish cpue was dominated by clusters of low values in all years. Local statistics showed that clusters of low values in groundfish cpue were confined to the southern portion of the study area, while clusters of high values varied across the study area. Outliers were most commonly found in close proximity to the shelf–slope break. Our results reveal the existence of spatial dependency in groundfish abundance and demonstrate that spatial analysis can be used to better understand spatial arrangements of these and other living marine resources, and to quantify and validate the local ecological knowledge of resource users. Our results indicate the feasibility of using spatially explicit tools to improve integration and visualization of marine environmental data for purposes of management and conservation.