Plant community patterns in a gypsum area of NE Spain. I. Interactions with topographic factors and soil erosion

The aim of this paper is to explain how topographical factors and soil erosion affect plant community patterns in the gypsum hills of the Middle Ebro Basin (NE Spain).Both the altitudinal location on the hill and, secondarily, the aspect determine a regular distribution pattern of the plant communities, which is closely related to soil and erosion features, as well as to some plant attributes. Tall perennial grasses dominate the valley bottoms, and scrub vegetation the hillsides and hilltops. Water availability, soil depth and particle movement down the slope are the main factors that could explain this segregation.     

Oceanographic Characteristics of a Multi-Specific Fishing Ground of the Central South Brazil Bight

In the Central South Brazil Bight, a multispecific demersal trawl fishery is conducted by trawlers licensed for the industrial pink shrimp (Penaeus paulensis and Penaeus brasiliensis) fishery. In addition to the pink shrimp, many by-catch species have become increasingly valued in the last two decades. In spite of the importance of this multispecific fishery, the oceanographic characteristics of the inner continental shelf, onshore the 100 m isobath, are poorly known. In this paper we present, for the fist time, monthly oceanographic records taken from December 1995 to May 1997 with the R/V ‘Diadorim’ at two of the main fishing grounds of this region. Water temperature data showed the formation of a strong thermocline during summer, from November to April. This thermal gradient, due to the South Atlantic central water (SACW) intrusion that reaches these shallow waters, disappeared with the homogenization of the water column during autumn and winter, from May to September. This cold and low salinity water does not originate from local river discharges, but also represents an advection of sub-Antartic water mass. After this and during spring, a new thermocline develops, reaching its maximal expression from February to March. A maximal gradient was registered in February 1997, when the temperature dropped from 26°C at 7 m to 16°C at 14 m depth. This result shows that the SACW intrusion is a large-scale phenomenon that regularly influences the whole inner continental shelf up to 20 m. Demersal fishing grounds located in this area were covered during summer by a cold and nutrient-rich mass of water that resulted in an unusual maximum of chlorophyll a values near the bottom (30 m). The homogenization of the water column and the presence of another cold water mass during winter resulted in a strong semi-annual thermal cycle on the bottom. The role of this important oceanographic process in fishery production and dynamics deserves further investigation, but the data presented here show evidence for the importance of this phenomenon.     

Streamflow variability and its relationship with climate indices in western rivers of Argentina

The objective of this study was to examine the streamflow variability of Argentinean Andean basins (22°–52°S). Trends and step changes of seven hydrological variables were analysed. In addition, relationships between the hydrological variables and Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), Niño 3.4, and Southern Annular Mode (SAM) indices were analysed. Most streamflow variables showed upward trends in the northwest and central-western basins, while downward trends were identified in the Patagonia (southwestern) region. Streamflow of the central-western and Patagonian basins was positively correlated with the Niño 3.4 index. Moreover, an inverse relationship with the SAM was found in watersheds south of 37°S. Positive step changes associated with the PDO phases in the north and central-western basins in the mid-1970s were detected, while negative step changes resulted in Patagonia between 1970 and 2000. This research provides new evidence of the influence of major climate modes on streamflow variability in the western rivers of Argentina.     

Source wavelet correction for practical Marchenko imaging: A sub-salt field-data example from the Gulf of Mexico

Imaging a target zone below a salt body can be challenging because large velocity contrasts in the overburden between the salt and surrounding sediments generate internal multiples, which interfere with primary reflections from the target level in the imaging process. This can lead to an erroneous interpretation of reflections in the sub-salt area if multiples are misinterpreted as primaries. The Marchenko redatuming method may enable imaging of the sub-salt target area where the effect of the multiply-scattering overburden is removed. This is achieved by creating a redatumed reflection response where virtual sources and receivers are located below the overburden using a macromodel of the velocity field and the surface reflection data. The accuracy of the redatumed data and the associated internal multiple removal, however, depends on the accurate knowledge of the source wavelet of the acquired reflection data. For the first time, we propose a method which can accurately and reliably correct the amplitudes of the reflection response in field data as required by the Marchenko method. Our method operates by iteratively and automatically updating the source function so as to cancel the most artefact energy in the focusing functions, which are also generated by the Marchenko method. We demonstrate the method on a synthetic dataset and successfully apply it to a field dataset acquired in a deep-water salt environment in the Gulf of Mexico. After the successful source wavelet estimation for the field dataset, we create sub-salt target-oriented images with Marchenko redatumed data. Marchenko images using the proposed source wavelet estimation show clear improvements, such as increased continuity of reflectors, compared to surface-based images and to conventional Marchenko images computed without the inverted source wavelet. Our improvements are corroborated by evidence in the literature and our own synthetic results.     

Human exclusion from rocky shores in a mediterranean marine protected area (MPA): an opportunity to investigate the effects of trampling

The effect of human trampling on the abundance of small invertebrates inhabiting rocky shallow bottoms was studied at Asinara Island MPA. To this aim we have conducted two experiments. The first was a quantitative study and tested the hypothesis that small invertebrates are more abundant at no-entry locations than at the location visited by tourists through time (before, during and after tourist season). The second was a manipulative experiment and tested the hypothesis that the abundance of small invertebrates is indirectly related to experimental trampling intensities. The effect due to tourist visitation was not highlighted on overall assemblages, suggesting that present seasonal tourist load at the MPA does not cause a significantly negative effect on the zoobenthic community studied. Although tourists exhibited trampling activity at the visited location, none of taxa examined showed a significant lower abundance during and strictly after the end of seasonal tourism peak in the visited location, rather than at control locations. However, results obtained with the second experiment suggested that the effects of different experimental trampling intensities on small invertebrates were variable among taxa. The experimental trampling caused immediate declines in the density of tanaids, nematodes, acari, bivalves, gammarids, echinoderms, isopods, and harpacticoids. For some of these taxa a recovery in abundance was observed within one month. This kind of data may offer important information to estimate the number of visitors compatible with the sensitivity of zoobenthic assemblages, and may substantially contribute to appropriate MPA management.     

Lateglacial and Holocene palaeoenvironments at Sierra La Madera,northwestern Mexico: Sharp signals of Younger Dryas and North American monsoon

During the last glacial termination, the climate system experienced intense global variations whose causes and impacts are not fully defined, particularly for low latitudes. The northwestern Mexico Sky Islands present a climate-sensitive ideal setting to record palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic changes due to their physiographic complexity and location in the ecotone between temperate and tropical ecosystems. High-resolution pollen analysis and a detailed sedimentological study were conducted at the Ciénega Tonibabi tropical thorn scrub site. The 15 540–0 cal a bp nearly continuous record shows that the North Atlantic Ocean did have a cold and humid climatic influence during the glacial stages of the end of the Pleistocene, including a sharp pulse during the Younger Dryas. However, a shift to the Pacific Ocean influence occurred during the Holocene, which led to the development of the El Niño conditions prevailing today. Colder and warmer phases follow one another with higher or lower winter precipitation, including a sharp Bølling–Allerød and development and intensification of the North American monsoon. They are reflected in hydrological changes as well as in the advances, retreats and intermingling of coniferous forests and tropical thorn scrub.