Effects of changing spatial scale on acoustic observations of patchiness in the Gulf Stream

We examine the influence of spatial scale on studies of nektonic patchiness at the north edge of the Gulf Stream by altering the grain size of acoustic cross sections and applying a patch-finding algorithm. From original pictures of 180 pixels deep by 540–1260 pixels long, we averaged depth and length, to give 9 scales ranging from fine grain (1 m vertical × 25 m horizontal sized pixels) to coarse grain (12 m × 300 m sized pixels). Measures of overall echo intensity within patches were the most predictable and showed little change with scale. Measures of variability of the echo within patches showed simple negative trends with scale and were best measured at fine spatial scales. Patch size and shape related variables have a more complex relationship with scale with differences between day and night transects more pronounced at intermediate scales. This suggests behavioral patch forming mechanisms within the nekton occur at a specific grain size (4 m vertical × 100 m horizontal) within the Gulf Stream front.     

江苏省褐飞虱迁入量的中长期预测模型

根据1983-2010年江苏省褐飞虱灯诱资料及1982-2010年全球海温场资料和美国国家环境预测中心（NCEP）气象再分析资料,对江苏稻区代表站高邮、通州和宜兴的褐飞虱迁入量与前一年1月-当年6月太平洋海温场、前一年12月-当年6月中南半岛近地表气温场和前一年7月-当年6月北半球大气环流特征量的相关关系进行分析,并运用逐步回归方法建立一系列褐飞虱年总迁入量的预测预报方程。结果表明：（1）高邮、通州和宜兴3站的褐飞虱迁入量在不同时空阈限内与太平洋海温场、中南半岛气温场和北半球大气环流特征量之间存在不同程度的相关性。3站褐飞虱迁入量的对数值与前一年海温场呈负相关,其中与通州和宜兴站褐飞虱迁入量对数值相关显著的海温区主要分布在北、中太平洋,高邮站则在南太平洋;高邮站褐飞虱迁入量的对数值与前一年12月和当年4月中南半岛西南部的近地表气温场呈正相关,通州站与前一年12月和当年2、3月中南半岛北部的近地表气温场呈负相关,宜兴站与当年1、3月中南半岛西南部的近地表气温场呈正相关、与当年4月中南半岛大部的近地表气温场呈负相关;3站褐飞虱迁入量的对数值主要与前一年7月-当年6月的各副高指数、各极涡指数、大西洋欧洲环流型、亚洲纬向环流指数、东亚槽强度、冷空气强度、西太平洋编号台风强度、南方涛动指数等相关显著。（2）从上述海温场、气温场和环流特征量中筛选出显著相关（P<0.05）的因子作为预测因子,建立褐飞虱年迁入量的预测模型,并筛选出回检正确率70%以上、预检正确率66.7%以上模型17个,适用性评估表明,各模型的预报结果与实测值基本吻合,表明模型可应用于单站褐飞虱年迁入量的预测。     

贵州省红枫湖流域溪流级别、景观背景与水质的关系

选择红枫湖上游的夏云镇流域,研究不同溪流级别与溪流水质的关系。浑浊度、铵态氮含量与溪流级别存在较为明显的关系,总的来看,随溪流级别增加,溪流水浑浊度及铵态氮含量增加。在空间上表现为自上游至下游水质快速下降。未来应在加大水质监测密度的基础上,定量研究区分不同土地利用方式对水质的影响程度,为有效控制面源污染和治理红枫湖水环境提供基础依据。     

春甘蓝新品种--黔甘1号

春甘春新品种‘黔甘１号’，叶球扁圆，结球紧实，商品外观好；单球质量１．８kg；中早熟，冬性强，露地越冬栽培不易先期抽薹且丰产；叶肉细嫩，风味品质好，经济性状优良；宜作春甘蓝栽培，也可作冬甘蓝栽培。     

湖北巴东县旅游产业发展探析

巴东旅游资源丰富,且具有一定的国际国内客源市场,但随着三峡水位的升高,一些旅游景点被淹没,特别是神农溪景区面临着巨大挑战。在这种情况下,优化升级旅游产品结构、强化基础设施建设、提高服务质量、整合旅游资源、加强区域协作、加大促销力度,是巴东旅游业可持续发展的必然选择。     

Biodiversity management approaches for stream–riparian areas: Perspectives for Pacific Northwest headwater forests,microclimates, and amphibians

Stream–riparian areas represent a nexus of biodiversity, with disproportionate numbers of species tied to and interacting within this key habitat. New research in Pacific Northwest headwater forests, especially the characterization of microclimates and amphibian distributions, is expanding our perspective of riparian zones, and suggests the need for alternative designs to manage stream–riparian zones and their adjacent uplands. High biodiversity in riparian areas can be attributed to cool moist conditions, high productivity and complex habitat. All 47 northwestern amphibian species have stream–riparian associations, with a third being obligate forms to general stream–riparian areas, and a quarter with life histories reliant on headwater landscapes in particular. Recent recognition that stream-breeding amphibians can disperse hundreds of meters into uplands implies that connectivity among neighboring drainages may be important to their population structures and dynamics. Microclimate studies substantiate a “stream effect” of cool moist conditions permeating upslope into warmer, drier forests. We review forest management approaches relative to headwater riparian areas in the U.S. Pacific Northwest, and we propose scenarios designed to retain all habitats used by amphibians with complex life histories. These include a mix of riparian and upslope management approaches to address the breeding, foraging, overwintering, and dispersal functions of these animals. We speculate that the stream microclimate effect can partly counterbalance edge effects imposed by upslope forest disturbances, hence appropriately sized and managed riparian buffers can protect suitable microclimates at streams and within riparian forests. We propose one approach that focuses habitat conservation in headwater areas – where present management allows extensive logging – on sensitive target species, such as tailed frogs and torrent salamanders that often occur patchily. Assuming both high patchiness and some concordance among the distribution of sensitive species, protecting areas with higher abundances of these animals could justify less protection of currently unoccupied or low-density habitats, where more intensive forest management for timber production could occur. Also, we outline an approach that protects juxtaposed headwater patches, retaining connectivity among sub-drainages using a 6th-field watershed spatial scale for assuring well-distributed protected areas across forested landscapes. However, research is needed to test this approach and to determine whether it is sufficient to buffer downstream water quality and habitat from impacts of headwater management. Offering too-sparse protection everywhere is likely insufficient to conserve headwater habitats and biodiversity, while our alternative targeted protection of selected headwaters does not bind the entire forest landscape into a biodiversity reserve.     

Biophysical dynamics of western transition zones: a preliminary synthesis

The nature of the western portions of the biogeographic temperate or transition zones in the North Pacific and North Atlantic is reviewed. The physical transport of nutrients and biomass into them from the Kuroshio and Gulf Stream as well as from the poleward sides are estimated. The conclusion is that the upwelling in the two western boundary currents makes the largest contribution to the nutrient and biomass fluxes into these transition zones. A conservative estimate of the amount of upwelled fluid is derived from absolute velocity sections in the Gulf Stream. The estimate suggests that upwelling into the euphotic zone exceeds 2 × 10⁶ m³ s^–1. This implies that upwelling in these western boundary currents matches or exceeds that in eastern boundary currents such as the California Current. The two western boundary regimes have very different poleward situations. The Oyashio extension flows parallel to the Kuroshio and is a deep current. The North Atlantic Shelf Front flow is to the west where it is ultimately entrained into the edge of the Gulf Stream. There does not seem to be any tendency for this to occur in the Kuroshio. Despite these differences in the northern and western boundaries, the two transition zones are similar with large amplitude meanders, anticyclonic rings and streamers dominating their physical structure. The physical features responsible for the transfer of materials from the boundary current extensions into the transition zones are similar in both systems. Ring formation contributes only ? 10% of the transfer, while ring‐induced streamers contribute 30%. The rest of the transport is contributed by branching of the boundary current front. Both currents have well developed secondary fronts consisting of subtropical surface water pulled into the transition zone. Biologically, the upwelling in both western boundary currents leads to a biomass maximum along the boundary in both secondary producers (copepods) and in small pelagic fish. In the Kuroshio, the latter are the Japanese sardine, Sardinops melanostictus, that spawn in the Kuroshio and then enter the transition zone for the summer and fall months. In the Gulf Stream, the dominate species are menhaden, Brevoortia tyrannus and B. smithi. These species make use of the coastal environments of North America and although the adults spawn in the Gulf Stream, they are not thought to play a major role in the Slope Water, transition zone. The similar differences in the use of the Kuroshio and the Gulf Stream ecosystems occurs in the behaviour of bluefin tuna, squid and other large pelagics. The Gulf Stream system also lacks an equivalent to Pacific saury, Cololabis saira. The biology therefore is at least subtly different, with saury and sardines being replaced by mid‐water fish in the North Atlantic. A fuller comparison of the biology with quantitative methods in both systems should be encouraged.     

Response of vegetation, shade and stream temperature to debris torrents in two western Oregon watersheds

This study examines watershed patterns of riparian vegetation, shade, and stream temperature eight years after extreme storm events triggered numerous debris torrents throughout the Pacific Northwest. We examined twelve impacted streams in two western Oregon watersheds: the Calapooia River in the western Cascades and the Williams River in the Coast Range. Red alder (Alnus rubra) and willow (Salix spp.) were the dominant species on debris torrented areas in both watersheds. Post-disturbance vegetation recovery was significant in both watersheds, impacting shade and stream temperatures. However, red alder density, basal area, and height were significantly greater along streams in the Williams River watershed than along streams in the Calapooia River watershed. Willow density, basal area and height were similar between the watersheds. Stream shading levels mirrored red alder growth, with greater average shading in the Williams River watershed. The greater shade translated into lower summer maximum stream temperatures and maximum diurnal stream temperature fluctuations in the Williams River as compared to the Calapooia River watershed. Minimum stream temperatures were not different between the two watersheds. The rapid re-growth of red alder along the Williams River watershed ultimately lead to a rapid decline in maximum summer stream temperatures for that watershed compared to the Calapooia River watershed. The location where the disturbance occurred had an important role in determining the rate and pathway of stream recovery.     

Linking a cougar decline, trophic cascade, and catastrophic regime shift in Zion National Park

The strength of top-down forces in terrestrial food webs is highly debated as there are few examples illustrating the role of large mammalian carnivores in structuring biotic and abiotic systems. Based on the results of this study we hypothesize that an increase in human visitation within Zion Canyon of Zion National Park ultimately resulted in a catastrophic regime shift through pathways involving trophic cascades and abiotic environmental changes. Increases in human visitors in Zion Canyon apparently reduced cougar (Puma concolor) densities, which subsequently led to higher mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) densities, higher browsing intensities and reduced recruitment of riparian cottonwood trees (Populus fremontii), increased bank erosion, and reductions in both terrestrial and aquatic species abundance. These results may have broad implications with regard to our understanding of alternative ecosystem states where large carnivores have been removed or are being recovered.     

Impact of upstream changes in rain-fed agriculture on downstream flow in a semi-arid basin

The downstream impacts of increasing water consumption in the upstream rain-fed areas of the Karkheh Basin, Iran are simulated using the semi-distributed SWAT model. Three scenarios are tested at subbasin and basin levels: converting rain-fed areas to irrigation agriculture (S1), improving soil water availability through rainwater harvesting (S2), and a combination of both (S3). The results of these scenarios were compared against the baseline period 1988-2000. The S1 scenario shows a 10% reduction in mean annual flow at the basin level, varying from 8-15% across the subbasins. The reductions in mean monthly flows are in the range of 1-56% at the basin level, with June witnessing the highest flow reduction. Flow reductions are comparatively higher in the upstream parts of the basin, as a result of a relatively higher potential of developing rain-fed areas coupled with comparatively lower amount of available runoff. The impacts of S2 are generally small with reductions of 2-5% and 1-9% in mean annual and mean monthly flows, respectively. The results of S3 are in general similar to those of S1. Although the estimated annual flow reductions remain well within the available water resources development potential, measures needs to be taken to avoid excessive flow reductions in May, June and July. It is recommended that only a limited agricultural area should be converted from rain-fed to irrigated agriculture (about 0.1 million ha), and should practice supplementary irrigation. The supplies should also be augmented through developing additional water storage. Adopting such measures is extremely important for the upper subbasins Gamasiab and Qarasou where comparatively higher flow reductions were estimated.