Comparison of taxon calibrations,modern analogue techniques,and forest-stand simulation models for the quantitative reconstruction of past vegetation: A critique

Taxon calibrations based on eastern North America or on the southeastern United States alone suggest a different forest composition from that based on Wisconsin/Michigan, which is argued as preferable. Questions are raised about how well comparison with modern analogues distinguishes forest characteristics. The simulation model used by Delcourt and Delcourt is thought to be inappropriate, partly because it is constrained by faulty climatic data. Models are seen as complementary to other techniques rather than as an alternative methodology.     

Raindrop impact and water flow on the vegetative surfaces of trees and the effects on stemflow and throughfall generation

The physical processes of raindrop impact and water flow on the leaves and branches of selected tropical tree species were examined under laboratory conditions using simulated rainfall. Inclined branches were found to be particularly efficient in detaining impacting water droplets. This efficiency in raindrop detention increases linearly as a function of branch inclination on branches that are initially dry. On branches that have been thoroughly wetted, this increase in raindrop detention with branch inclination is best expressed as a logarithmic function. At branch inclinations of 60° above the horizontal, the quantity of branchflow was found to be > 80 per cent of the total quantity of impacting rainfall, indicating that < 20 per cent was lost to rainsplash. The strong positive relationship between branchflow and branch inclination explains why trees with large projected areas of steeply inclined upthrust branches have significant quantities of intercepted water draining from their branches and trunks under heavy rainfall conditions. This drainage from the woody frame of trees influences surficial processes by generating both stemflow and large throughfall droplets.     

Hillslope gullying in the Solway Firth — Morecambe Bay region, Great Britain: Responses to human impact and/or climatic deterioration?

In the Solway Firth — Morecambe Bay region of Great Britain there is evidence for heightened hillslope instability during the late Holocene (after 3000 cal. BP). Little or no hillslope geomorphic activity has been identified occurring during the early Holocene, but there is abundant evidence for late Holocene hillslope erosion (gullying) and associated alluvial fan and valley floor deposition. Interpretation of the regional radiocarbon chronology available from organic matter buried beneath alluvial fan units suggests much of this geomorphic activity can be attributed to four phases of more extensive gullying identified after 2500–2200, 1300–1000, 1000–800 and 500 cal. BP. Both climate and human impact models can be evoked to explain the crossing of geomorphic thresholds: and palaeoecological data on climatic change (bog surface wetness) and human impact (pollen), together with archaeological and documentary evidence of landscape history, provide a context for addressing the causes of late Holocene geomorphic instability. High magnitude storm events are the primary agent responsible for gully incision, but neither such events nor cooler/wetter climatic episodes appear to have produced gully systems in the region before 3000 cal. BP. Increased gullying after 2500–2200 cal. BP coincides with population expansion during Iron Age and Romano-British times. The widespread and extensive gullying after 1300–1000 cal. BP and after 1000–800 cal. BP coincides with periods of population expansion and a growing rural economy identified during Norse times, 9–10th centuries AD, and during the Medieval Period, 12–13th centuries AD. These periods were separated by a downturn associated with the ‘harrying of the north’ AD 1069 to 1070. The gullying episode after 500 cal. BP also coincides with increased anthropogenic pressure on the uplands, with population growth and agricultural expansion after AD 1500 following 150 years of malaise caused by livestock and human (the Black Death) plagues, poor harvests and conflicts on the Scottish/English border. The increased susceptibility to erosion of gullies is a response to increased anthropogenic pressure on upland hillslopes during the late Holocene, and the role of this pressure appears crucial in priming hillslopes before subsequent major storm events. In particular, the cycles of expansion and contraction in both population and agriculture appear to have affected the susceptibility of the upland landscape to erosion, and the hillslope gullying record in the region, therefore, contributes to understanding of the timing and spatial pattern of human exploitation of the upland landscape.     

植被覆盖地表主动微波遥感反演土壤水分算法研究

主动微波遥感监测土壤水分具有全天时、全天候并对地物有一定的穿透能力等特点,突破了传统测量方法和光学遥感获取土壤水分的局限。文中在分析植被对微波信号影响的基础上,总结了当前国内外基于主动微波遥感监测植被覆盖地表土壤水分的原理和方法,指出利用，宋朝景“水-云模型”从总的极化雷达后向散射中去除植被影响后,能够改进后向散射系数和土壤含水量之间的关系。最后利用ENVISAT ASAR数据,结合实地采样获得的土壤含水量数据拟合两者之间的关系,结果表明农作物覆盖地表土壤水分变化的估算算法还需要进一步发展和改进以提高反演精度。     

新疆地区表土孢粉分布规律及其与植被关系研究

对中国新疆地区218个样点进行植被调查及表土孢粉分析的研究结果表明,新疆地区温带山地针叶林、高寒草甸及盐生草甸、温带草原、荒漠以及荒漠-沙漠过渡带均具有相对特殊的孢粉组合,新疆南北向样带的孢粉图式揭示出表土孢粉从北到南随地形、纬度和植被的改变而发生的空间变化。针叶林区表土孢粉浓度平均值为22 602粒/g、草原为3 834粒/g、荒漠为1 762粒/g、沙漠为0-10粒/g。但在同一植被类型中,特别是在草原和荒漠中,孢粉浓度与植被盖度之间并不呈现线性相关关系。根据大空间尺度样品的A/C(蒿Artemisia/藜Chenopodiaceae)值的中位数统计,草原为1.264、荒漠为0.565、沙漠为0.243。Ep/C(麻黄Ephedra/藜Chenopodiaceae)比值的中位数在荒漠为0.098、草原为0.063。     

Evolution of the variability of surface temperature and vegetation density in the great plains

This study focuses on how the variability of land surface temperature and vegetation density at the SGP ARM-CART site changes over episodic (day to day) and seasonal time scales using AVHRR satellite data. Four drying periods throughout the year are analyzed. Land surface temperature had an erratic relationship with time exhibiting no deterministic pattern from day-to-day or season-to-season. Furthermore, it did not exhibit spatial pattern persistence. On the other hand, vegetation density had a consistent spatial pattern and temporal decay during average length drying periods (less than 7 days) as well as within a season. However, there were distinct differences in the seasonal pattern of variation between winter and growing seasons. In addition, the paper highlights a methodology to quantify the relationships that exist at the land surface between the primary parameter of interest and the controlling variables.     

半干旱区植被覆盖度对边界层气候热力影响的数值模拟

在陆－气相互作用的中小尺度系统研究中，水平非均匀下垫面的强迫作用是主要的物理过程。本文利用能量闭合二维陆面过程与大气边界层耦合模式，研究了我国西北半干旱地区（３８°Ｎ，１０５°Ｅ）夏季下垫面物理特征的变化对区域边界层气候的影响。结果表明：土壤湿度、植被覆盖度对局地环流和区域边界层气候的形成起着决定性的作用。模拟结果揭示了在半干旱地区大面积植树造林、提高植被覆盖度，可涵养土壤水分，改善局地生态环境，是人工持续改造干旱、半干旱荒漠地区局地气候的重要途径。     

Combining European Earth Observation products with Dynamic Global Vegetation Models for estimating Essential Biodiversity Variables

ABSTRACT

Global, fast and accessible monitoring of biodiversity is one of the main pillars of the efforts undertaken in order to revert it loss. The Group on Earth Observations Biodiversity Observation Network (GEO-BON) provided an expert-based definition of the biological properties that should be monitored, the Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs). Initiatives to provide indicators for EBVs rely on global, freely available remote sensing (RS) products in combination with empirical models and field data, and are invaluable for decision making. In this study, we provide alternatives for the expansion and improvement of the EBV indicators, by suggesting current and future data from the European Space Agencýs COPERNICUS and explore the potential of RS-integrated Dynamic Global Vegetation Models (DGVMs) for the estimation of EBVs. Our review found that mainly due to the inclusion of the Sentinel constellation, Copernicus products have similar or superior potential for EBV indicator estimation in relation to their NASA counterparts. DGVMs simulate the ecosystem level EBVs (ecosystem function and structure), and when integrated with remote sensing data have great potential to not only offer improved estimation of current states but to provide projection of ecosystem impacts. We suggest that focus on producing EBV relevant outputs should be a priority within the research community, to support biodiversity preservation efforts.     

Cases-97: Late-Morning Warming And Moistening Of The Convective Boundary Layer Over The Walnut River Watershed

Aircraft, radiosonde, surface-flux, and boundary-layer windprofiler data from the Cooperative Atmosphere Surface Exchange Study's 1997 field project, CASES-97, are combined with synoptic data to study the evolution of the vertically-averaged mixed-layerpotential temperature []and mixing-ratio [Q] onthree nearly-cloudless days from 1000 CST to 1200CST (local noon is approximately 1230 CST). This was achieved through examination of the terms in the time-tendency (`budget')equations for []and [Q]. We estimate three of the terms –local time rate of change, vertical flux divergence, andhorizontal advection. For the [Q]-budget, vertical flux divergence usually dominates, buthorizontal advection is significant on one of the three days. The [Q]-budget balances for two of the three days to within the large experimental error. For the -budget,vertical flux divergence accounts for most of the morningwarming, with horizontal advection of secondary importance.The residual in the -budget has the same sign for all three days, indicating that not all the heating is accounted for. We can balance the []-budgets to within experimental error on two of the three days by correcting the vertical-flux divergence for apparent low biases in the flux measurements of one of the aircraft and in the surface fluxes, and accounting for direct heating of the mixed layer by radiative flux divergence allowing for the effects of carbonaceous aerosols. The [];-budget with these corrections also balances on the third day if horizontal gradients from synoptic maps are used to estimate the horizontal advection. However, the corrected budget for this day does not balance if the horizontal gradient in the advection term is estimated using CASES-97aircraft and radiosondes; we suggest that persistent mesoscale circulations led to an overestimate of the horizontal gradient andhence horizontal advection.     

Analytical solutions for water flow passing over a vegetal area

This study is aimed at investigating the vertical velocity profile of flow passing over a vegetal area by an analytical approach. The soil ground is considered as pervious and thus non-zero velocity at the ground surface can be estimated. The soil and vegetation layers are regarded as homogeneous and isotropic porous media. Therefore the solution of the flow can be obtained by applying the theory of turbulent flow and Biot’s theory of poroelasticity after dividing the flow field into three layers: homogenous water, vegetation and pervious soil. The velocity distribution is compared with the experimental data of [Rowiński PM, Kubrak J. A mixing-length model for predicting vertical velocity distribution on flows through emergent vegetation. J Hydrol Sci 2002;47(6):893–904] to show its validity. In addition, five dimensionless parameters denoting the variation of slope, permeability of soil, Reynolds stress, density of vegetation, and relative height of vegetation are proposed to reveal their effects on the surface water flow. The analytical solutions of flow velocity can also be simplified into simpler expressions to describe the flow passing over a non-vegetated area.