We assess the relative magnitude of uncertainty sources on ecosystem indicators of the 21st century climate change on two boreal forest sites. In addition to RCP and climate model uncertainties, we included the overlooked model parameter uncertainty and management actions in our analysis. Management was the dominant uncertainty factor for the more verdant southern site, followed by RCP, climate and parameter uncertainties. The uncertainties were estimated with canonical correlation analysis.

In the East China Sea, hypoxia occurs frequently from spring to fall due to high primary production and subsequent decomposition of organic matter. Nitrogen inputs from the Changjiang and the open ocean have been suggested to contribute to hypoxia formation. We used a numerical modelling approach to quantify the relative contributions of these nitrogen sources. We found that the Changjiang dominates, which suggests that nitrogen management in the watershed would improve oxygen conditions.

In a small, deep lake on the Swiss Plateau, net fluxes of labile P fractions in sediments that can be released to surface waters have been predominately controlled by past hypolimnetic anoxic conditions since the early 1900s. More than 40 years of hypolimnetic withdrawal can effectively reduce net P fluxes in sediments and internal P loads but not effectively decrease eutrophication. These findings should likely serve the management of deep eutrophic lakes in temperate zones.

Exploitation of deep-sea resources in one of the largest ecosystems on the planet has rendered research of its biodiversity more urgent than ever before. We investigated the known habitats and connectivity of deep-sea scavenging amphipods and obtained important knowledge about several species. We also demonstrated that a long-term disturbance experiment has possibly reduced amphipod biodiversity. These data and further sampling expeditions are instrumental for formulating sustainable policies.

We studied the removal of phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in the eutrophic Stockholm archipelago (SA). High sedimentation rates and sediment P contents lead to high P burial. Benthic denitrification is the primary nitrate-reducing pathway. Together, these mechanisms limit P and N transport to the open Baltic Sea. We expect that further nutrient load reduction will contribute to recovery of the SA from low-oxygen conditions and that the sediments will continue to remove part of the P and N loads.

Deep-sea mining for polymetallic nodules is expected to have severe environmental impacts. Through prognostic modelling, this study aims to provide a holistic assessment of the biogeochemical recovery after a disturbance event. It was found that the recovery strongly depends on the impact type; e.g. complete removal of the surface sediment reduces seafloor nutrient fluxes over centuries.

Coastal marine ecosystems are among the most ecologically and economically productive areas providing a large fraction of ecosystem goods and services to human populations, and B vitamins have long been considered important growth factors for phytoplankton. Our findings indicate that the responses of microbial plankton to B-vitamin supply are mainly driven by the bacterial community composition and that microbial plankton in this area seems to be well adapted to cope with B-vitamin shortage.

The boron isotope pH proxy is increasingly being used to reconstruct ocean pH in the past. Here we detail a novel analytical methodology for measuring the boron isotopic composition (δ¹¹B) of diatom opal and apply this to the study of the diatom Thalassiosira weissflogii grown in culture over a range of pH. To our knowledge this is the first study of its kind and provides unique insights into the way in which diatoms incorporate boron and their potential as archives of palaeoclimate records.

The following paper highlights the importance of benthic N-transformation rates in different sediment types in the southern North Sea as a source of fixed nitrogen for primary producers and also as a sink of fixed nitrogen. Sedimentary fluxes of dissolved inorganic nitrogen support ∼7 to 59 % of the average annual primary production. Semi-permeable and permeable sediments contribute ∼68 % of the total benthic N₂ production rates, counteracting eutrophication in the southern North Sea.

We measured greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes at a bog site in northwestern Germany that has been heavily degraded by peat mining. During the 2-year investigation period, half of the area was still being mined, whereas the remaining half had been rewetted shortly before. We could therefore estimate the impact of rewetting on GHG flux dynamics. Rewetting had a considerable effect on the annual GHG balance and led to increased (up to 84  %) methane and decreased (up to 40  %) carbon dioxide release.

Multiple factors have been accused of triggering coastal hypoxia off the Changjiang Estuary. In situ observations, remote sensing and numerical simulation data were used to study dissolved oxygen depletion in the area. Oxygen distributions can be explained by wind forcing and river discharge, as well as concurrent features in surface and deep layer circulation. If summer monsoon prevails, hypoxia more likely occurs in the north while hypoxia in the south appears if the summer monsoon is weaker.