The concept of habitat specificity revisited

Habitat specificity indices reflect richness (α) and/or distinctiveness (β) components of diversity. The latter may be defined by α and γ (landscape) diversity in two alternative ways: multiplicatively () and additively (). We demonstrate that the original habitat specificity concept of Wagner and Edwards (Landscape Ecol 16:121–131, 2001) consists of three independent components: core habitat specificity (uniqueness of the species composition), patch area and patch species richness. We describe habitat specificity as a family of indices that may include either area or richness components, or none or both, and open for use of different types of mean in calculation of core habitat specificity. Core habitat specificity is a beta diversity measure: the effective number of completely distinct communities in the landscape. Habitat specificity weighted by species number is a gamma diversity measure: the effective number of species that a patch contributes to landscape richness. We compared 12 habitat specificity indices by theoretical reasoning and by use of field data (vascular plant species in SE Norwegian agricultural landscapes). Habitat specificity indices are strongly influenced by weights for patch area and patch species richness, and the relative contribution of rare vs. common species (type of mean). The relevance of properties emphasized by each habitat specificity index for evaluation of patches in a biodiversity context is discussed. Core habitat specificity is emphasized as an ecologically interpretable measure that specifically addresses patch uniqueness while habitat specificity weighted by species number combines species richness and species composition in ways relevant for conservation biological assessment. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Modeling the water budget in a deep caldera lake and its hydrologic assessment: Lake Ikeda, Japan

The hydrologic assessment of a lake water budget can be helpful in achieving proper water management and sustainable water use. A model to analyze a lake water budget was developed and verified for Lake Ikeda, Japan. Lake evaporation was estimated by numerical analyses of lake water temperature and the lake energy budget. Inflow from the lake catchment area and leakage from the lake bottom were estimated based on the tank model and Darcy's law, and the model parameters were optimized by the shuffled complex evolution method. The estimated monthly lake evaporation rate is consistent with the evaporation rate estimated by the energy budget Bowen ratio method based on in situ data from 2004 to 2005. Moreover, the calculated time series of daily lake levels agrees well with those of measured lake levels during 1983 to 1999. Thus, the model is useful for evaluating the lake water budget. Numerical analysis reveals seasonal and annual variation characteristics in the water budget components. Precipitation, inflow from the catchment area, and river water supply are generally high during the rainy season from June to July with substantial annual variation. Lake evaporation is greatest in October and least in April, but the annual variation is relatively small. Agricultural water use is relatively high from April to September. There are no marked seasonal changes in leakage and drinking water use. The lake level is generally highest in September and lowest in March, which is characterized by seasonal changes in water budget components. The model was also applied to 17-year simulations under hypothetical hydrologic conditions to examine the effect of water use and agricultural water management on the lake level. Results indicate that river water supply, provided under the agricultural water management system, effectively compensates for the decrease in lake water resulting from agricultural water use.     

Combined use of optical and radar satellite data for the detection of tillage and irrigation operations: Case study in Central Morocco

The objective of this study is to present a new application of optical and radar remote sensing with high spatial (∼10 m) and temporal (a few days) resolutions for the detection of tillage and irrigation operations. The analysis was performed for irrigated wheat crops in the semi-arid Tensift/Marrakech plain (Central Morocco) using three FORMOSAT-2 images and two ASAR images acquired within one week at the beginning of the 2005/2006 agricultural season.The approach we developed uses simple mapping algorithms (band thresholding and decision tree) for the characterisation of soil surface states. The first images acquired by FORMOSAT and ASAR were processed to classify fields into three main categories: ploughed (in depth), prepared to be sown (harrowed), and not ploughed-not harrowed. This information was combined with a change detection analysis based on multitemporal images to identify harrowing and irrigation operations which occurred between two satellite observations.The performance of the algorithm was evaluated using data related to land use and agricultural practices collected on 124 fields. The analysis shows that drastic changes of surface states caused by ploughing or irrigation are detected without ambiguity (consistency index of 96%). This study provided evidence that optical and radar data contain complementary information for the detection of agricultural operations at the beginning of agricultural season. This information could be useful in regional decision support systems to refine crop calendars and to improve prediction of crop water needs over large areas.     

农业车辆视觉实际导航环境识别与分

分析了对路径识别影响较大的变光照环境、杂草环境和阴影环境对农业车辆导航路径的影响,提出一种实际环境中的农业车辆视觉导航研究方法,即先采用神经网络算法对农田环境进行自动分类,然后再相应的选择不同的路径识别方法进行处理.环境识别与分类试验结果证明,该方法能够提高农业车辆视觉导航系统的实用性和可靠性,导航环境的分类准确率为95%,单幅图像平均耗时23 ms.     

以项目示范为依托，开创农机化工作新局面

北海市农机化技术推广站以项目创建农机科技致富示范村为依托．结合农业生产和农民需求。组织技术指导员和农机科技人员。对科技示范户及农民进行“面对面,点对点”的科技指导和技术服务,开创农机化工作新局面。     

发挥农业综合开发“助推器”作用做大做强龙虾产业

盱眙县境内湖泊众多,水产资源十分丰富。著名的“盱眙龙虾”集养殖、加工、销售于一体的经济已成为当地主导产业,对发展农村经济、增加农民收入起着重要作用。盱眙农业综合开发紧紧围绕做大做强龙虾产业,通过建基地、办市场、扶企业、强产业。发挥农业开发“助推器”作用,促进了龙虾生产与销售,加速了龙虾产业的发展。     

瞄准问题，突出实践，力推农业综合开发科学发展

当前,全球金融危机对我国农业发展的冲击,深刻变化的国际环境,艰巨繁重的发展任务,复杂多样的社会矛盾对农业综合开发工作提出了新的要求。面对新的形势和任务,如何实现农业综合开发沿着正确方向科学发展。对此,城步苗族自治县农业综合开发办联系实际,紧抓这一历史机遇,努力实现农业综合开发科学跨越。     

提升我国农产品加工业的途径

改革开放30年来,我国农产品加工业取得了长足发展．但与国外发达国家相比还存在较大差距。提升我国农产品加工业的途径主要有：制定并落实扶持政策：以食品精深加工作为重点,以龙头企业为主干;优化产品结构,大力发展主导产业,优先发展品牌企业;加大技术投入,加快技术创新,提升自主创新能力;按照国际标准完善农产品加工质量标准体系;加强农产品原料生产基地建设;降低农产品加工企业的税负;构建营销体系,发挥协会作用,提升服务水平等。     

阳城县农产品质量安全工作存在问题及对策

农产品质量安全越来越受到人们的普遍关注,农产品质量安全与否,直接关系到人民群众的日常生活和生命安全,关系到社会和谐发展和社会稳定。在分析阳城县农产品质量安全管理工作现状的基面上,指出了存在一些不容忽视的潜在问题．并提出了有针对性的对策建议。     

Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) mortality in relation to the winter mixed layer depth in the Kuroshio Extension region

A drastic population change in Japanese sardine (Sardinops melanostictus) has been noted as being related to winter sea surface temperature (SST) in the Kuroshio Extension region. The former studies suggest two possible explanations. One is that temperature itself affects sardine. The other is that SST represents the environmental change of the Kuroshio Extension region and other causes directly affecting sardine. In this study, we found that sardine mortality from post‐larva to age 1 negatively correlated with the winter mixed layer depth (MLD) in the Kuroshio Extension region from 1979 to 1993. During the period of a deep winter mixed layer (during the early 1980s), sardine mortality was low, whereas mortality was high when the winter mixed layer was shallow (during the late 1980s to early 1990s). By using a lower trophic‐level ecosystem model forced by the observed time series of MLD, SST, light intensity and nutrient data, we found that the estimated spring zooplankton density drastically varies from year to year and has a significant negative correlation with sardine mortality. The inter‐annual variation of spring zooplankton density is caused by the winter MLD variation. During the deep winter mixed layer years, a phytoplankton bloom occurs in spring, whereas during the shallow winter mixed layer years, the bloom occurs in winter. The results of our study suggest that the decline in the Japanese sardine population during the late 1980s to early 1990s was due to an insufficient spring food supply in the Kuroshio Extension region where sardine larvae and juvenile are transported.