University of East Anglia

About: University of East Anglia is a education organization based out in Norwich, Norfolk, United Kingdom. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Climate change. The organization has 13250 authors who have published 37504 publications receiving 1669060 citations. The organization is also known as: UEA.

Socio-economic futures in climate change impact assessment: using scenarios as ‘learning machines’

Abstract: Climate impact assessment needs to take account of two interrelated processes: socio-economic change and climate change. To date, future change in socio-economic systems has not been sufficiently integrated with an analysis of climate change impacts. Participative and synthetic scenario approaches offer a means for dealing with critical issues of indeterminacy, innovation, reflexivity and framing in analysing change in socio-economic systems, paving the way for a coherent way of handling of socio-economic futures in impact assessment. We argue that scenarios represent heuristic tools that encourage social learning in climate impact assessment. The advantages and disadvantages of a scenario-based approach are explored using examples from regional climate impact assessment in the UK.

Flow Resistance in Gravel-Bed Rivers

Abstract: The resistance to uniform flow in straight gravel-bed rivers is basically dependent on the flow geometry, the cross-sectional variation in roughness heights, and the roughness height of the graded gravel bed sediment. The effect of these factors on the resistance to flow is evaluated and a general approach for the estimation of the Darcy-Weisbach friction factor is presented. Independent field data indicates that the method can be successfully applied to predict the resistance to uniform flow in gravel-bed rivers.

Comparative metatranscriptomics reveals kingdom level changes in the rhizosphere microbiome of plants

Abstract: Plant–microbe interactions in the rhizosphere have important roles in biogeochemical cycling, and maintenance of plant health and productivity, yet remain poorly understood. Using RNA-based metatranscriptomics, the global active microbiomes were analysed in soil and rhizospheres of wheat, oat, pea and an oat mutant (sad1) deficient in production of anti-fungal avenacins. Rhizosphere microbiomes differed from bulk soil and between plant species. Pea (a legume) had a much stronger effect on the rhizosphere than wheat and oat (cereals), resulting in a dramatically different rhizosphere community. The relative abundance of eukaryotes in the oat and pea rhizospheres was more than fivefold higher than in the wheat rhizosphere or bulk soil. Nematodes and bacterivorous protozoa were enriched in all rhizospheres, whereas the pea rhizosphere was highly enriched for fungi. Metabolic capabilities for rhizosphere colonisation were selected, including cellulose degradation (cereals), H2 oxidation (pea) and methylotrophy (all plants). Avenacins had little effect on the prokaryotic community of oat, but the eukaryotic community was strongly altered in the sad1 mutant, suggesting that avenacins have a broader role than protecting from fungal pathogens. Profiling microbial communities with metatranscriptomics allows comparison of relative abundance, from multiple samples, across all domains of life, without polymerase chain reaction bias. This revealed profound differences in the rhizosphere microbiome, particularly at the kingdom level between plants.

The seasonal variation of dimethyl sulfide and dimethylsulfoniopropionate concentrations in nearshore waters1

Abstract: Concentrations of biogenic dimethyl sulfide (DMS) in seawater around mainland Britain in winter and summer (1985) ranged from 1 to 1,100 ng S (DMS) liter-‘. The mean winter DMS concentration was 4 ng S (DMS) liter-’ compared with the mean summer concentration of 220. Analyses of phytoplankton species composition in summer indicate that the main sources of DMS were coccolithophores, various dinoflagellates including the bloom species Gyrodinium aureolum, and certain unidentified taxa of small flagellates. Concentrations of dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), the precursor of DMS, were measured in 53 of the summer samples, and its mean concentration was about an order of magnitude greater than that of DMS. Particulate (>0.2 pm) and dissolved fractions of DMSP were operationally resolved, with the latter showing the stronger correlation with DMS. Preliminary estimates for the areal and temporal average flux of sulfur (DMS) from the North Sea to the atmosphere during summer are of the order of lo3 pg S m-2 d-l, a 60-fold increase over winter flux. Biogenic emission in summer is equivalent to about 16% of the spatially averaged anthropogenic emission from Europe.