Microbial photosynthesis in coral reef sediments (Heron Reef, Australia)

We investigated microphytobenthic photosynthesis at four stations in the coral reef sediments at Heron Reef, Australia. The microphytobenthos was dominated by diatoms, dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria, as indicated by biomarker pigment analysis. Conspicuous algae firmly attached to the sand grains (ca. 100 μm in diameter, surrounded by a hard transparent wall) were rich in peridinin, a marker pigment for dinoflagellates, but also showed a high diversity based on cyanobacterial 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Specimens of these algae that were buried below the photic zone exhibited an unexpected stimulation of respiration by light, resulting in an increase of local oxygen concentrations upon darkening. Net photosynthesis of the sediments varied between 1.9 and 8.5 mmol O₂ m⁻² h⁻¹ and was strongly correlated with Chl a content, which lay between 31 and 84 mg m⁻². An estimate based on our spatially limited dataset indicates that the microphytobenthic production for the entire reef is in the order of magnitude of the production estimated for corals. Photosynthesis stimulated calcification at all investigated sites (0.2–1.0 mmol Ca²⁺ m⁻² h⁻¹). The sediments of at least three stations were net calcifying. Sedimentary N₂-fixation rates (measured by acetylene reduction assays at two sites) ranged between 0.9 to 3.9 mmol N₂ m⁻² h⁻¹ and were highest in the light, indicating the importance of heterocystous cyanobacteria. In coral fingers no N₂-fixation was measurable, which stresses the importance of the sediment compartment for reef nitrogen cycling.     

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Spatial and temporal patterns of seagrass habitat use by fishes at the Ryukyu Islands,Japan

To investigate whether or not regional–temporal patterns of seagrass habitat use by fishes existed at the Ryukyu Islands (southern Japan), visual surveys were conducted in seagrass beds and adjacent coral reefs in northern, central, and southern Ryukyu Islands, in November 2004, and May, August, and November 2005, the northern region having less extensive seagrass beds compared with the central and southern regions. During the study period, the seagrass beds were utilized primarily by 31 species, the densities of some of the latter differing significantly among regions. With the exception of Apogonidae and Holocentridae, all species were diurnal and could be divided into 6 groups based on seagrass habitat use patterns; (1) permanent residents A (10 species, e.g. Stethojulis strigiventer), juveniles and adults living in seagrass beds as well as other habitats; (2) permanent residents B (5 species, e.g. Calotomus spinidens), juveniles and adults living only or mainly in seagrass beds; (3) seasonal residents A (4 species, e.g. Cheilodipterus quinquelineatus), juveniles living in seagrass beds as well as other habitats; (4) seasonal residents B (6 species, e.g. Lethrinus atkinsoni), juveniles living only or mainly in seagrass beds; (5) transients (5 species, e.g. Parupeneus indicus), occurring in seagrass beds in the course of foraging over a variety of habitats; and (6) casual species (1 species, Acanthurus blochii), occurring only occasionally in seagrass beds. Regarding temporal differences, juvenile densities in each group were high in May and August compared with November in each region, whereas adult densities did not differ drastically in each month. For regional differences, juvenile and adult densities of permanent residents A and B were higher in the southern and central regions than in the northern region. Moreover, some seasonal residents showed possible ontogenetic habitat shift from seagrass beds to coral reefs in each region. These results indicated that seagrass habitat use patterns by fishes changed temporally and regionally and there may be habitat connectivity between seagrass beds and coral reefs via ontogenetic migration in the Ryukyu Islands.     

北极海冰的年代际转型与中国冻雨年代际变化的关系

基于1961-2013年HadISST海冰密集度资料,定义了北极海冰的季节性融冰指数,结果显示近几十年来北极季节性融冰范围呈显著的上升趋势,并分别在20世纪70年代末和90年代中期存在显著的年代际转型,相应地,中国冻雨发生频数总体上呈现出显著的减少趋势,但也存在显著的年代际转型。在20世纪70年代末之前,北极季节性融冰范围较小但显著增长,中国冻雨频数年际变化振幅较大,且主要受巴伦支海、喀拉海海冰的影响;20世纪70年代末至90年代中期北极季节性融冰范围维持振荡特征,没有显著的线性趋势,中国冻雨频数变化振幅减小,与北极海冰相关较弱,主要相关因子为北大西洋及北太平洋海表温度变化;而90年代中期以后,北极海冰融化加快,特别是2007年以后,季节性融冰范围大大增加,而中国冻雨频数处于低发时段,其变化与太平洋扇区海冰及堪察加半岛附近海温呈显著负相关,季节性融冰的显著区域也从东西伯利亚海逆时针旋转向波弗特海-加拿大群岛北部扩张,同时向北极中央区扩张。不同年代影响冻雨的海温或海冰关键海区不同,产生特定的大气环流异常响应,进而影响到我国冻雨。     

A Comparison of De-noising Methods for Differential Phase Shift and Associated Rainfall Estimation

Measured differential phase shift ΦDP is known to be a noisy unstable polarimetric radar variable, such that the quality of ΦDP data has direct impact on specific differential phase shift KDP estimation, and subsequently, the KDP-based rainfall estimation. Over the past decades, many ΦDP de-noising methods have been developed; however, the de-noising effects in these methods and their impact on KDP-based rainfall estimation lack comprehensive comparative analysis. In this study, simulated noisy ΦDP data were generated and de-noised by using several methods such as finite-impulse response(FIR), Kalman, wavelet,traditional mean, and median filters. The biases were compared between KDP from simulated and observedΦDP radial profiles after de-noising by these methods. The results suggest that the complicated FIR, Kalman,and wavelet methods have a better de-noising effect than the traditional methods. After ΦDP was de-noised,the accuracy of the KDP-based rainfall estimation increased significantly based on the analysis of three actual rainfall events. The improvement in estimation was more obvious when KDP was estimated with ΦDP de-noised by Kalman, FIR, and wavelet methods when the average rainfall was heavier than 5 mm h-1.However, the improved estimation was not significant when the precipitation intensity further increased to a rainfall rate beyond 10 mm h-1. The performance of wavelet analysis was found to be the most stable of these filters.     

Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in the face of external biophysical stressors

Economic instruments such as Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) schemes are increasingly promoted to protect ecosystems (and their associated ecosystem services) that are threatened by processes of local and global change. Biophysical stressors external to a PES site, such as forest fires, pollution, sea level rise, and ocean acidification, may undermine ecosystem stability and sustained ecosystem service provision, yet their threats and impacts are difficult to account for within PES scheme design. We present a typology of external biophysical stressors, characterizing them in terms of stressor origin, spatial domain and temporal scale. We further analyse how external stressors can potentially impinge on key PES parameters, as they (1) threaten ecosystem service provision, additionality and permanence, (2) add challenges to the identification of PES providers and beneficiaries, and (3) add complexity and costs to PES mechanism design. Effective PES implementation under external stressors requires greater emphasis on the evaluation and mitigation of external stressors, and further instruments that can accommodate associated risks and uncertainties. A greater understanding of external stressors will increase our capacity to design multi-scale instruments to conserve important ecosystems in times of environmental change.     

Can dynamite-blasted reefs recover? A novel, low-tech approach to stimulating natural recovery in fish and coral populations

Throughout Southeast Asia, blast fishing creates persistent rubble fields with low coral cover and depauperate fish communities. We stabilized a 20-year-old rubble field in a Marine Protected Area in the Philippines, using plastic mesh and rock piles in replicated 17.5m(2) plots, thereby increasing topographic complexity, fish habitat, and recruitment substrate surface area. Multivariate analysis revealed fish community shifts within the rehabilitated area from that characteristic of rubble fields to one similar to the adjacent healthy reef within three years, as measured by changes in fish abundance and body size. Coral recruitment and percent cover increased over time, with 63.5% recruit survivorship within plots, compared with 6% on rubble. Our low-cost approach created a stable substrate favoring natural recovery processes. Both rehabilitation and the elimination of poaching were integral to success, emphasizing the synergism between the two and the need to incorporate both when considering mitigation.     

黄河银川平原段河岸摆动速率变化及其影响因素(英文)

It is important to examine the lateral shift rate variation of river banks in different periods. One of the challenges in this regard is how to obtain the shift rate of river banks, as gauging stations are deficient for the study of river reaches. The present study selected the Yinchuan Plain reach of the Yellow River with a length of 196 km as a case study, and searched each point of intersection of 153 cross-sections(interval between two adjacent cross-sections was 1.3 km) and river banks in 1975, 1990, 2010 and 2011, which were plotted according to remote sensing images in those years. Then the shift rates for the points of intersection during 1975–1990, 1990–2010 and 2010–2011 were calculated, as well as the average shift rates for different sections and different periods. The results show that the left bank of the river reach shifts mostly to the right, with the average shift rates being 36.5 m/a, 27.8 m/a and 61.5 m/a in the three periods, respectively. Contemporarily, the right bank shifts mostly to the right in the first period, while it shifts to the left in the second and third periods, with the average shift rates being 31.7 m/a, 23.1 m/a and 50.8 m/a in the three periods, respectively. The average shift rates for the left and right banks during the period 1975–2011 are 22.3 m/a and 14.8 m/a, respectively. The bank shift rates for sections A, B and C are different. The shift rate ratio of the left bank in the three sections is 1:7.6:4.6 for shift to the left and 1:1.7:3.8 for shift to the right, while that of the right bank is 1:1.8:1.2 for shift to the left and 1:5.6:17.7 for shift to the right during the period 1975–2011. Obviously, the average shift rate is the least in section A, while it is maximum in section B for shift to the left and in section C for shift to the right. The temporal variation of the shift rate is influenced by human activities, while the spatial variation is controlled by the local difference in bank materials.     

双偏振雷达差分传播相移的五种滤波方法对比分析

为了对双线偏振雷达的差分传播相移ΦDP进行滤波降噪处理,提高双线偏振雷达识别粒子、估测降水的能力。通过对C波段双线偏振雷达差分传播相移分别采用滑动平均、中值滤波、FIR滤波、卡尔曼滤波和小波分析5种不同方法地介绍,利用中国气象科学研究院灾害天气国家重点实验室移动式C波段双线偏振雷达(POLC)2013年外场试验观测资料,对比分析了经5种方法处理后的差分传播相移ΦDP径向数据,及其分别在降水估测中应用的效果。结果表明:采用FIR滤波方法、卡尔曼滤波方法和小波分析方法对ΦDP径向数据进行处理的效果比传统的滑动平均和中值滤波方法好;其中小波分析处理的ΦDP径向数据波动最小,再经过变距离法拟合的KDP数据的负值能够得到最有效地抑制,最后应用到R(KDP)降水估测中的精度最高。     

Applications of wavelet analysis in differential propagation phase shift data de-noising

Using numerical simulation data of the forward differential propagation shift （ΦDP） of polarimetric radar,the principle and performing steps of noise reduction by wavelet analysis are introduced in detail.Profiting from the multiscale analysis,various types of noises can be identified according to their characteristics in different scales,and suppressed in different resolutions by a penalty threshold strategy through which a fixed threshold value is applied,a default threshold strategy through which the threshold value is determined by the noise intensity,or a ΦDP penalty threshold strategy through which a special value is designed for ΦDP de-noising.Then,a hard-or soft-threshold function,depending on the de-noising purpose,is selected to reconstruct the signal.Combining the three noise suppression strategies and the two signal reconstruction functions,and without loss of generality,two schemes are presented to verify the de-noising effect by dbN wavelets：（1） the penalty threshold strategy with the soft threshold function scheme （PSS）; （2） the ΦDP penalty threshold strategy with the soft threshold function scheme （PPSS）.Furthermore,the wavelet de-noising is compared with the mean,median,Kalman,and finite impulse response （FIR） methods with simulation data and two actual cases.The results suggest that both of the two schemes perform well,especially when ΦDP data are simultaneously polluted by various scales and types of noises.A slight difference is that the PSS method can retain more detail,and the PPSS can smooth the signal more successfully.