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Summary We have examined the effect that acid deposition and other sources of acidity have had over the last 110–140 years on soil under woodland (Broadbalk and Geescroft Wildernesses) and grassland (Park Grass) comprising some of the Classical Experiments at Rothamsted Experimental Station. Changes in soil chemistry have been followed by analysing some of the unique archive of stored samples for pH, water‐soluble and exchangeable base cations, aluminium, iron and manganese, exchangeable acidity, cation exchange capacity (CEC) and soluble anions. Proton balances and historical data show the importance of acid deposition to acidification and concomitant changes in the chemistry of the soil. The pH of the surface soil of Geescroft Wilderness has fallen from 6.2 to 3.8 since 1883. The decrease in the pH of the unlimed, unfertilized plot on Park Grass was less over a similar period (from pH 5.2 to 4.2), illustrating the significant effect of the woodland canopy on the interception of acidifying pollutants. The effect of increasing acidity on the soil chemistry of Geescroft Wilderness is seen in its decreasing base saturation and CEC, with base cations moving down the soil profile. Clay minerals are being irreversibly weathered, and Mn and Al progressively mobilized, so that today Al occupies 70% of the exchange complex in the surface soil. Even with present reductions in sulphur deposition critical loads for sulphur, nitrogen and acidity are still exceeded. Such semi‐natural ecosystems are unsustainable under the current climate of pollution.

A method to obtain underwater topography for coastal areas using state-of-the-art remote sensing data and techniques worldwide is presented. The data from the new Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite TerraSAR-X with high resolution up to 1 m are used to render the ocean waves. As bathymetry is reflected by long swell wave refraction governed by underwater structures in shallow areas, it can be derived using the dispersion relation from observed swell properties. To complete the bathymetric maps, optical satellite data of the QuickBird satellite are fused to map extreme shallow waters, e.g., in near-coast areas. The algorithms for bathymetry estimation from optical and SAR data are combined and integrated in order to cover different depth domains. Both techniques make use of different physical phenomena and mathematical treatment. The optical methods based on sunlight reflection analysis provide depths in shallow water up to 20 m in preferably calm weather conditions. The depth estimation from SAR is based on the observation of long waves and covers the areas between about 70-and 10-m water depths depending on sea state and acquisition quality. The depths in the range of 20 m up to 10 m represent the domain where the synergy of data from both sources arises. Thus, the results derived from SAR and optical sensors complement each other. In this study, a bathymetry map near Rottnest Island, Australia, is derived. QuickBird satellite optical data and radar data from TerraSAR-X have been used. The depths estimated are aligned on two different grids. The first one is a uniform rectangular mesh with a horizontal resolution of 150 m, which corresponds to an average swell wavelength observed in the 10×10-km SAR image acquired. The second mesh has a resolution of 150 m for depths up to 20 m (deeper domain covered by SARbased technique) and 2.4 m resolution for the shallow domain imaged by an optical sensor. This new technique provides a platform for mapping of coastal bathymetry over a broad area on a scale that is relevant to marine planners, managers, and offshore industry.

Coral reefs in the wider Caribbean declined in hard coral cover by ~80% since the 1970s, but spatiotemporal analyses for sub-regions are lacking. Here, we explored benthic change patterns in the Mexican Caribbean reefs through meta-analysis between 1978 and 2016 including 125 coral reef sites. Findings revealed that hard coral cover decreased from ~26% in the 1970s to 16% in 2016, whereas macroalgae cover increased to ~30% in 2016. Both groups showed high spatiotemporal variability. Hard coral cover declined in total by 12% from 1978 to 2004 but increased again by 5% between 2005 and 2016 indicating some coral recovery after the 2005 mass bleaching event and hurricane impacts. In 2016, more than 80% of studied reefs were dominated by macroalgae, while only 15% were dominated by hard corals. This stands in contrast to 1978 when all reef sites surveyed were dominated by hard corals. This study is among the first within the Caribbean region that reports local recovery in coral cover in the caribbean, while other caribbean reefs have failed to recover. Most Mexican caribbean coral reefs are now no longer dominated by hard corals. in order to prevent further reef degradation, viable and reliable conservation alternatives are required. Monitoring change in coral reef ecosystems is essential in an era when humanity is having a widespread and long-term impact on nature. Current anthropogenic climate change and local stressors (such as overfishing and a mix of pollution and sedimentation from coastal development 1) place coral reefs as the most endangered ecosystems on earth 2. Rapid reversals in their health have been reported globally 3 , including reefs from the Caribbean region, where declines of the live hard coral cover of ~80% between 1975 and 2000 have been documented 4-6. In the late 1970s, entire populations of reef-building coral species (i.e. Acropora palmata and Acropora cervicornis) collapsed as a result of the white-band disease 7. Furthermore, the mass mortality of black sea urchins (Diadema antillarum), overfishing and eutrophication 8 have resulted in a proliferation of more opportunistic, fast-growing organisms such as (macro)algae that outcompete reef-building corals 8-11. As a result, many Caribbean benthic coral reef communities changed drastically from low coral cover to persistent states of high cover (macro)algae in the process of so-called phase shifts 11-15. Efforts to mitigate or reverse phase shifts and reef degradation in the Caribbean include the development of new coral reef monitoring and managing strategies 16-18. Monitoring efforts of Caribbean reefs began in the late 1970s at various reef locations for short durations 19. It was until 1980 when coral reef monitoring programs first began for some countries due to the evident reef degradation and increasing threats 19. In the Mesoamerican Reef System (MAR), the monitoring officially began in 2005 with the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative 20. The MAR is recognized by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) as one of 200 global priority ec...

Summary The usefulness of stored soils from long‐term experiments is often questioned because of changes that might occur during storage. We examined changes during long‐term storage (8–69 years) in the chemical properties of soils with a range of pH values (3.4–8.1 in water) from woodland and grassland experiments at Rothamsted Experimental Station in the UK. No significant changes during storage were measured for total C and N. Large but erratic changes in exchangeable Na+ content between 1959 and 1991 were probably caused by contamination of the 1959 samples by perspiration and from sodium‐based glassware. Exchangeable K+ increased during storage but only by a small amount. Small changes in exchangeable Ca2+ and Mg2+ were measured in some samples but not in others. Generally the amount of exchangeable cations increased slightly during storage. This is probably linked to the decreases of  0.4 units in the pH of acid soils, which we attribute to the hydrolysis of approximately 0.25% of the exchangeable Al3+. A doubling of the amount of exchangeable Mn2+ during storage for 32 years was probably caused by re‐equilibration of Mn species. The most practicable way to prepare soil samples for long‐term storage is to dry them in air. However, those who study changes in soil by re‐analysing samples of the soil stored for a long time must (i) use the same methods of analysis, or (ii) demonstrate that different methods lead to the same results, and (iii) know what changes can arise during storage.