You cannot conserve a species that has not been found: The case of the marine sponge Axinella polypoides in Liguria,Italy

1. Detailed knowledge about the distribution of species in need of protection is required for the management of Marine Protected Areas, a major tool to reduce marine biodiversity loss. Such knowledge is deficient for most marine invertebrates.
2. Axinella polypoides is a marine sponge included on the list of protected species by the Barcelona Convention (1976) and the Bern Convention (1987). This large and erect species has an important ecological role in habitat forming and benthic–pelagic coupling.
3. Bathymetrical, geographical and ecological data over the last 60 years were collated from publications and reports, together with new surveys to assess the distribution and protection status in Liguria of A. polypoides. It identified a more widespread distribution than previously thought, which points at a general need for dedicated investigations on the occurrence of species that require protection.
4. Bathymetrical distribution was trimodal, with peaks corresponding to different geomorphological settings: coastal cliff bases (around 38 m depth), inner shelf shoals (52 m) and rocks amidst coarse sediment on the outer shelf (79 m). Density was significantly greater at the shallowest depths. The species was mostly found in the coralligenous biocoenosis, in association with other characteristic species or forming a monospecific facies.
5. On (sub)vertical cliffs, A. polypoides often exhibited an unusual cane shape, rather than the typical bushy morphology, thus causing confusion with the congeneric A. cannabina, a more southern species. Records of the latter in the Ligurian Sea therefore need confirmation.
6. Only a minority (22.6%) of A. polypoides records were in Marine Protected Areas, the remainder being located in areas with no current environmental protection plans in place. While the occurrence of this species in MPAs remained stable over the decades, the only quantitative historical data available indicated that populations in non-protected areas were declining owing to anthropogenic impacts (fishing and anchoring).

     

On the relationship between the Oyashio front and saury fishing grounds in the north-western Pacific: a forecasting method for fishing ground locations

The relationships between fishing ground locations of Pacific saury (Cololabis saira) and the two Oyashio fronts, the offshore front between 146^oE and 155^oE and the coastal Oyashio intrusion, before the saury fishing season, were examined using data from 1971 to 1991. Interannual geographical shifts of both the offshore Oyashio front and saury fishing grounds had a dominant interdecadal fluctuation. In years when the offshore front shifted north (south), the fishing grounds were formed relatively nearshore (offshore). When the offshore front shifted north, the fishing grounds were formed further nearshore in years the coastal Oyashio intrusion extended south. When the offshore front shifted south, on the other hand, the southward extension of the coastal intrusion did not necessarily cause formation of coastal fishing grounds. These results showed that locations of the fishing grounds depend not only on local and instantaneous oceanographic environments around the fishing grounds, but also on oceanographic conditions over an extensive range of the Oyashio area. This might indicate that the ecology of the saury's northward migration, through mixed water regions between the Kuroshio and Oyashio fronts in spring and summer, has a close relation to the shift of the offshore Oyashio front over a time range of months. A practical forecasting method for locations of saury fishing grounds is proposed based on the oceanography before the fishing season.     

Vertical movements of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus) associated with islands, buoys, and seamounts near the main Hawaiian Islands from archival tagging data

To learn more about the movement patterns of bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus), we deployed archival tags on 87 fish ranging in fork length from 50 to 154 cm. Thirteen fish were recaptured, from which 11 archival tags were returned, representing in aggregate 943 days‐at‐liberty. We successfully retrieved data from 10 tags, representing 474 days in aggregate. The largest fish recaptured was 44.5 kg [131 cm fork length (FL)] and the smallest 2.8 kg (52 cm). The deepest descent recorded was 817 m, the coldest temperature visited 4.7°C, and minimum oxygen level reached ～1 mL L^?1. Fish spent little time at depths where water temperatures were below 7°C and oxygen levels less than ～2 mL L^?1. Five fish were recaptured near the offshore weather buoy where they were tagged. Based on vertical movement patterns, it appeared that all stayed immediately associated with the buoy for up to 34 days. During this time they remained primarily in the uniform temperature surface layer (i.e. above 100 m). In contrast, fish not associated with a floating object showed the W‐shaped vertical movement patterns during the day characteristic of bigeye tuna (i.e. descending to ～300–500 m and then returning regularly to the surface layer). Four fish were tagged and subsequently recaptured near Cross Seamount up to 76 days later. These fish exhibited vertical movement patterns similar to, but less regular than, those of fish not associated with any structure. Bigeye tuna appear to follow the diel vertical movements of the deep sound scattering layer (SSL) organisms and thus to exploit them effectively as a prey resource. Average night‐time depth was correlated with lunar illumination, a behaviour which mimics movements of the SSL.     

种肥深度对东北北部春玉米氮磷钾吸收及产量的影响

以东农253玉米品种为材料,采用分层施肥方法,研究种肥深度变化对东北北部春玉米氮磷钾吸收及产量的影响。结果表明,种肥深度对玉米植株氮磷钾积累量影响较大,在苗期氮磷钾积累量以种肥同层（D₀）和种下6 cm（D_-6）处理较高;成熟期以种肥同层（D₀）、种下6 cm（D_-6）、种下12 cm（D_-12）处理较高。玉米植株干物质量及产量与种肥深度呈单峰曲线变化趋势,玉米植株苗期和成熟期干物质量以种下6 cm（D_-6）和种下12 cm（D_-12）处理较高;玉米产量以种下12 cm（D_-12）处理最高,但与种肥同层（D₀）、种下6 cm（D_-6）处理差异不显著,显著高于种下18 cm（D_-18）、种下24 cm（D_-24）和不施肥（对照）。种子与肥料同层条件下会影响玉米的出苗和干物质积累量,种肥施于种下3 cm以上时,对玉米出苗及干物质积累量无明显影响,种肥的适宜深度为种下3~12 cm。     

地下水埋深对玉米生长发育及水分利用的影响

为研究地下水埋深对作物的生长发育及水分利用的影响,选择具有代表性的夏玉米为研究对象,借助地中渗透仪,通过人工控制设置不同地下水埋深（分别设置0.2,0.4,0.6,0.8,1.0和1.2 m）,探讨地下水埋深对不同生育期夏玉米的形态指标、产量、耗水量及地下水补给量的影响,分析不同地下水埋深条件下水分利用率差异.结果表明：地下水埋深对玉米株高的影响不具有统计学意义,而地下水埋深过浅或过深均会明显抑制植株叶面积指数和茎粗的增长（P〈0.05）,地下水埋深0.4 m时叶面积指数和茎粗最大.随作物生育进程,根系数量和根系干质量随地下水埋深增大,先减小后增大.玉米灌浆前,单株根系伤流量随地下水埋深增大而增大,而灌浆前后则无显著影响.地下水位埋深过深或过浅均影响穗长、秃尖长、穗粒数、百粒质量及经济产量.分析表明,0.53 m为当地玉米产量最优地下水位埋深.玉米生长期内0~80 cm土层土壤含水量随着地下水埋深增大而降低,同一地下水埋深处理玉米生育期内土壤含水量变化幅度较小.夏玉米全生育期耗水量、阶段耗水量及耗水强度随地下水位埋深增大而直线减少,回归方程在P〈0.01水平下具有统计学意义;同样夏玉米全生育期地下水补给量、阶段地下水补给量及地下水补给强度随地下水位埋深增大而直线减少,回归方程在P〈0.01水平下也具有统计学意义.玉米水分利用率随地下水埋深增大而增大,地下水埋深1.2 m处理水分利用率最高.研究成果对江淮丘陵区地下水资源利用及评价、玉米高产高效灌溉制度的制订具有实际意义.     

痕量灌溉管不同埋深对日光温室沙培黄瓜的影响

以微喷灌溉(CK)为对照,研究痕量灌溉管在沙培中不同埋深对日光温室春季黄瓜生长、产量和水分生产效率等的影响.结果表明,T3处理(25cm)的黄瓜生长与CK(微喷)相比受到显著抑制,T1 (5cm)、T2(15cm)处理黄瓜生物积累量、叶片净光合速率、果实品质与CK相比均有所提高,不同处理间叶片电导率、MDA、根系活力差异不显著,T1、T2、T3处理沙子含水量均低于CK;T1处理的产量比T2处理提高了1.9％;与CK相比的T1、T2处理水分生产效率分别提高50.9％、60.0％.分析表明,日光温室沙培黄瓜栽培中痕量灌溉管埋设深度为5 cm最佳.     

矿化度对微润灌土壤入渗特性的影响

采用室内土箱模拟试验的方式,研究了5种矿化度条件下微润灌土壤水分的入渗特性。试验结果表明:矿化度对湿润体形状影响小,微润灌湿润体横剖面呈近似圆形;矿化度对湿润体体积影响较大,矿化水湿润体体积大于清水的湿润体体积。当矿化度为3 g/L时,微润灌湿润体湿润锋运移速率最大,湿润锋运移速率与时间呈幂函数关系。矿化水可增加微润灌的累计入渗量,但累计入渗量与矿化度之间不是单调关系,当矿化度为3 g/L时,累计入渗量达到最大,土壤平均含水率也最大。     

马蹄形隧洞断面收缩水深的迭代法计算

为了得到计算马蹄形断面隧洞收缩水深的好方法,该文通过引入恰当的无量纲参数并对马蹄形隧洞收缩断面的能量方程做恰当的数学变换,使各种马蹄形断面收缩水深的计算公式统一化,并推导出计算收缩水深的迭代公式;给出判别收缩水深范围的分界流量,即可计算断面收缩水深。算例表明,该方法简单、准确、通用。     

Denitrification characteristics of pond sediments in a Chinese agricultural watershed

Ponds are widely distributed in rice-based agricultural watersheds, particularly in southern China, and may play an important role in nitrate (     ) removal. However, the denitrification rate of pond sediment, measured using the acetylene (C₂H₂) inhibition technique, indicated that the amount of nitrogen removed by denitrification accounted for <1% of the total nitrogen applied. The present study was undertaken to determine the effects of sediment depth and temperature on denitrification of pond sediment using the C₂H₂ inhibition technique. The highest denitrification potential was found in the upper 5 cm of sediment, but this only accounted for approximately 34% of the total denitrification of the upper 0–30 cm of sediment, suggesting that sediment denitrification potential would be underestimated if only the upper 5 cm of sediment was measured. The denitrification potential was low and showed a weak response over a temperature range of 6–18°C, whereas denitrification increased significantly from 18 to 30°C, indicating that denitrification may play an important role in the removal of     in warm seasons. A comparison of the     disappearance and C₂H₂ inhibition methods showed that they were significantly ( P  < 0.01) and positively correlated. However, the C₂H₂ inhibition method gave only approximately 25% of the values determined by the     disappearance method.