Spatial patch structure and adaptive strategy for desert shrub of Reaumuria soongorica in arid ecosystem of the Heihe River Basin

In many arid ecosystems, vegetation frequently occurs in high-cover patches interspersed in a matrix of low plant cover. However, theoretical explanations for shrub patch pattern dynamics along climate gradients remain unclear on a large scale. This context aimed to assess the variance of the Reaumuria soongorica patch structure along the precipitation gradient and the factors that affect patch structure formation in the middle and lower Heihe River Basin (HRB). Field investigations on vegetation patterns and heterogeneity in soil properties were conducted during 2014 and 2015. The results showed that patch height, size and plant-to-patch distance were smaller in high precipitation habitats than in low precipitation sites. Climate, soil and vegetation explained 82.5% of the variance in patch structure. Spatially, R. soongorica shifted from a clumped to a random pattern on the landscape towards the MAP gradient, and heterogeneity in the surface soil properties (the ratio of biological soil crust (BSC) to bare gravels (BG)) determined the R. soongorica population distribution pattern in the middle and lower HRB. A conceptual model, which integrated water availability and plant facilitation and competition effects, was revealed that R. soongorica changed from a flexible water use strategy in high precipitation regions to a consistent water use strategy in low precipitation areas. Our study provides a comprehensive quantification of the variance in shrub patch structure along a precipitation gradient and may improve our understanding of vegetation pattern dynamics in the Gobi Desert under future climate change.

     

Hydrological management strategies for the control of algal blooms in regulated lowland rivers

Reservoirs of lowland floodplain rivers with eutrophic backgrounds cause variations in the hydrological and hydraulic conditions of estuaries and low-dam reservoir areas, which can promote planktonic algae to proliferate and algal bloom outbreaks. Understanding the ecological effects of variations in hydrological and hydraulic processes in lowland rivers is important for algal bloom control. In this study, the middle and lower reaches of the Han River, China, a typical regulated lowland river with a eutrophic background, are selected. Based on the effect of hydrological and hydraulic variability on algal blooms, a hydrological management strategy for river algal bloom control is proposed. The results showed that (a) differences in river morphology and background nutrient levels cause significant differences in the critical threshold flow velocities for algal bloom outbreaks between natural river and low-dam reservoir sections; there is no uniform threshold flow velocity for algal bloom control. (b) There are significant differences in the river hydrological/hydraulic conditions between years with and without algal blooms. The average river flow, water level and velocity in years with algal blooms are significantly lower than those in years without algal blooms. (c) For different river sections where algal blooms occur and to meet the threshold flow velocities, the joint operation of cascade reservoirs and diversion projects is an effective method to prevent and control algal blooms in regulated lowland rivers. This study is expected to deepen our understanding of the ecological significance of special hydrological processes and guide algal bloom management in regulated lowland rivers.     

风和径流量对长江口缺氧影响的数值模拟

受自然和人类活动的影响，海洋缺氧现象日益严重，威胁着海洋生态环境，海洋缺氧问题已经引起了人们的广泛关注。本文应用区域海洋模式并耦合生态模式，对东海的生态系统进行了数值模拟和分析研究。与观测数据比较显示，该模型能较好地模拟长江口外生态变量的分布趋势。另外本文通过设置不同敏感性实验，探讨风和径流量对长江口底层缺氧现象的影响，结果分析表明，风和径流量对长江口外缺氧区的形成有显著的影响。径流量变化虽然对长江口外缺氧区的季节变化影响并不显著，但是对缺氧区域面积却存在显著的影响。径流量增加，水体层化增强，表层叶绿素浓度增加，最终导致缺氧区域范围扩展；径流量减小，水体层化减弱，表层叶绿素浓度减小，缺氧区域范围缩小。风向和风速的改变不仅影响长江口外缺氧区的季节变化，还影响缺氧区域面积。     

Model simulations to determine optimal fishing effort and season duration for a tropical shrimp fishery

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Kuwait’s shrimp fishery presents typical tropical shrimp fishery characteristics with highly variable recruitment, fast growth and strong seasonal...     

Study of the flood control scheduling scheme for the Three Gorges Reservoir in a catastrophic flood

The Three Gorges Project is the world's largest water conservancy project. According to the design standards for the 1,000‐year flood, flood diversion areas in the Jingjiang reach of the Yangtze River must be utilized to ensure the safety of the Jingjiang area and the city of Wuhan. However, once these areas are used, the economic and life loss in these areas may be very great. Therefore, it is vital to reduce this loss by developing a scheme that reduces the use of the flood diversion areas through flood regulation by the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), under the premise of ensuring the safety of the Three Gorges Dam. For a 1,000‐year flood on the basis of a highly destructive flood in 1954, this paper evaluates scheduling schemes in which flood diversion areas are or are not used. The schemes are simulated based on 2.5‐m resolution reservoir topography and an optimized model of dynamic capacity flood regulation. The simulation results show the following. (a) In accord with the normal flood‐control regulation discharge, the maximum water level above the dam should be not more than 175 m, which ensures the safety of the dam and reservoir area. However, it is necessary to utilize the flood diversion areas within the Jingjiang area, and flood discharge can reach 2.81 billion m³. (b) In the case of relying on the TGR to impound floodwaters independently rather than using the flood diversion areas, the maximum water level above the dam reaches 177.35 m, which is less than the flood check level of 180.4 m to ensure the safety of the Three Gorges Dam. The average increase of the TGR water level in the Chongqing area is not more than 0.11 m, which indicates no significant effect on the upstream reservoir area. Comparing the various scheduling schemes, when the flood diversion areas are not used, it is believed that the TGR can execute safe flood control for a 1,000‐year flood, thereby greatly reducing flood damage.     

Predicting quantiles of water quality from catchment characteristics

Water quality is often highly variable both in space and time, which poses challenges for modelling the more extreme concentrations. This study developed an alternative approach to predicting water quality quantiles at individual locations. We focused on river water quality data that were collected over 25 years, at 102 catchments across the State of Victoria, Australia. We analysed and modelled spatial patterns of the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles of the concentrations of sediments, nutrients and salt, with six common constituents: total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate-nitrite (NO_x), and electrical conductivity (EC). To predict the spatial variation of each quantile for each constituent, we developed statistical regression models and exhaustively searched through 50 catchment characteristics to identify the best set of predictors for that quantile. The models predict the spatial variation in individual quantiles of TSS, TKN and EC well (66%–96% spatial variation explained), while those for TP, FRP and NO_x have lower performance (37%–73% spatial variation explained). The most common factors that influence the spatial variations of the different constituents and quantiles are: annual temperature, percentage of cropping land area in catchment and channel slope. The statistical models developed can be used to predict how low- and high-concentration quantiles change with landscape characteristics, and thus provide a useful tool for catchment managers to inform planning and policy making with changing climate and land use conditions.     

Analytical study of ground motion caused by seismic wave propagation across faulted rock masses

Studying seismic wave propagation across rock masses and the induced ground motion is an important topic, which receives considerable attention in design and construction of underground cavern/tunnel constructions and mining activities. The current study investigates wave propagation across a rock mass with one fault and the induced ground motion using a recursive approach. The rocks beside the fault are assumed as viscoelastic media with seismic quality factors, Q_p and Q_s. Two kinds of interactions between stress waves and a discontinuity and between stress waves and a free surface are analyzed, respectively. As the result of the wave superposition, the mathematical expressions for induced ground vibration are deduced. The proposed approach is then compared with the existing analysis for special cases. Finally, parametric studies are carried out, which includes the influences of fault stiffness, incident angle, and frequency of incident waves on the peak particle velocities of the ground motions.     

玉米素和水杨酸对雨生红球藻(Haematococcus pluvialis)生长及虾青素积累的影响

虾青素是一种具有强抗氧化活性的类胡萝卜素,而雨生红球藻是天然虾青素的主要来源。本文以雨生红球藻(Haematococcus pluvialis)为材料,研究了植物激素玉米素和水杨酸对雨生红球藻的生长、虾青素含量及相关基因表达的影响。分别添加5种浓度的玉米素或水杨酸,结果发现0.05mg/L玉米素或25mg/L水杨酸处理5d后雨生红球藻虾青素积累最多。该浓度玉米素或水杨酸可显著提高光胁迫下藻细胞密度,最高分别达到3.4×10~5cell/mL和3.0×10~5cell/mL;同时玉米素与水杨酸组中虾青素含量显著上升,分别为1.7%和1.6%,比对照组分别增加29.2%和25.6%。玉米素缓解了高光逆境条件下光合作用基因——Rubisco大亚基(rbcL)及其活化酶(rca)、碳酸酐酶(ca)的下调表达,但对虾青素合成途径β-胡萝卜素酮化酶基因(bkt)的表达量没有显著影响;而水杨酸则相反,在胁迫后期不能缓解光合作用相关基因的下调表达,但可使bkt基因显著上调,最高可达对照组的2.5倍。本研究首次比较了玉米素和水杨酸对雨生红球藻生长和虾青素积累的影响,发现玉米素比水杨酸具有更好的促进雨生红球藻中虾青素积累的效果。     

珠江口淇澳岛滨海湿地沉积环境演化及其对人类活动的响应

滨海湿地作为人类活动和全球变化反应最为敏感的区域，其沉积记录可以反映出周边地区环境变化及人类活动信息。珠江口淇澳岛滨海湿地钻孔分析结果表明，在中全新世期间淇澳岛附近海域为河口湾环境，在风化层以上开始出现淤积，但在4 200 a BP前后受极冷气候的影响，沉积物粗化；自2 500 a BP以来，沉积环境相对稳定，在小冰期期间略有变化。沉积速率计算结果显示:淇澳岛附近海域自中全新世高海面以来的平均沉积速率为0.29 cm/a，4 160~2 500 a BP、2 500 a BP-1488年、1488-1893年、1893-1986年、1990-2007年期间的平均沉积速率分别为:0.17 cm/a、0.23 cm/a、0.35 cm/a、1.37 cm/a和5.94 cm/a，沉积速率逐渐增大，反映了珠江三角洲演化过程中沉积相与沉积环境的变化；1986-1990年期间的海堤建造极大地扰动了该钻孔上部的沉积过程，在工程施工期间共沉积了厚度约112 cm的沉积层，而在海堤建成后，沉积速率也显著增大。沉积物总有机碳、总氮和C/N值的垂向分布表明，在4 160~2 500 a BP期间受海洋环境影响较大，沉积物中有机碳以海源为主，2 500 a BP以来沉积物中碳、氮含量明显增大，C/N也相应变大，有机碳主要来源于陆源输入，但在小冰期期间海源有机碳贡献略有所增大；近百年来由于受人类活动影响显著，陆源有机碳的贡献快速增加。     

Numerical Simulation of the Vortex-Induced Vibration of A Curved Flexible Riser in Shear Flow

A series of fully three-dimensional(3 D) numerical simulations of flow past a free-to-oscillate curved flexible riser in shear flow were conducted at Reynolds number of 185–1015. The numerical results obtained by the two-way fluid–structure interaction(FSI) simulations are in good agreement with the experimental results reported in the earlier study. It is further found that the frequency transition is out of phase not only in the inline(IL) and crossflow(CF) directions but also along the span direction. The mode competition leads to the non-zero nodes of the rootmean-square(RMS) amplitude and the relatively chaotic trajectories. The fluid–structure interaction is to some extent reflected by the transverse velocity of the ambient fluid, which reaches the maximum value when the riser reaches the equilibrium position. Moreover, the local maximum transverse velocities occur at the peak CF amplitudes, and the values are relatively large when the vibration is in the resonance regions. The 3 D vortex columns are shed nearly parallel to the axis of the curved flexible riser. As the local Reynolds number increases from 0 at the bottom of the riser to the maximum value at the top, the wake undergoes a transition from a two-dimensional structure to a 3 D one. More irregular small-scale vortices appeared at the wake region of the riser, undergoing large amplitude responses.