Effects of Bathymetric Grid-Cell Sizes on Habitat Suitability Analysis of Cold-water Gorgonian Corals on Seamounts

We investigated the effects of the spatial resolution of bathymetry data on the predicted local distribution of large gorgonian corals on the southern Emperor Seamounts in the high seas of North Pacific. Terrain attributes were calculated from bathymetric survey data at six different grid-cell sizes (25–800 m) to investigate how the values of bottom terrain attributes and the prediction of MaxEnt habitat suitability models would vary with grid-cell size. The values of each terrain attribute showed different patterns among different grid-cell sizes, and MaxEnt demonstrated better performance at grid-cell size of 100 m or less than at larger sizes.     

一种环境敏感型造礁石珊瑚Pocillopora sp.共生虫黄藻和细菌的生态特征

在气候和人类活动的长期影响下,南海珊瑚礁演变出生境各异的珊瑚礁生态系统.珊瑚对特殊生境的适应离不开体内共生微生物类群的调节.分析共生微生物的生态特征有助于了解珊瑚的环境适应机制,同时可以对珊瑚未来的进化趋势做出评估.本研究从南海低纬度的南沙群岛(NS)和西沙群岛(XS)以及相对高纬度的海南陵水(LS)3个珊瑚礁区采集一...     

Strontium stable isotopes fractionate in the soil environments?

This study shows that the stable isotopic composition of strontium (the ⁸⁸Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio expressed as δ^88/86Sr value relative to the NBS987 standard) varies significantly in sedimentary terrestrial environments. The abundances of ⁸⁶Sr, ⁸⁸Sr isotopes were analyzed by MC-ICP-MS “Nu Plasma”. All studied rocks and waters show δ^88/86Sr values that are distinctly different from the measured NBS987 standard (yielding 0.01 ± 0.05‰, all errors are reported as 2σ). Modern corals from the northern Gulf of Aqaba, Red Sea yielded significantly different value than seawater (δ^88/86Sr = 0.22 ± 0.07‰, compared to 0.35 ± 0.06‰, respectively), in an excellent correlation with the δ^88/86Sr analyses reported by Fietzke and Eisenhauer [Fietzke, J., Eisenhauer, A., 2006. Determination of temperature-dependent stable strontium isotopes (⁸⁸Sr/⁸⁶Sr) fractionation via bracketing standard MC-ICP-MS. Geochm. Geophys. Geosyst. 7 (no. 8)] on other coral samples. All carbonate samples that originated in the marine environment: corals (porites and acropora from the northern Gulf of Aqaba); Cretaceous limestone and runoff from the Judea Mountains as well as lacustrine evaporitic aragonite (Dead Sea); and Red Sea and Atlantic seawater yield an average δ^88/86Sr value of 0.26 ± 0.1‰. On the other hand, secondary materials (products of chemical weathering) from the terrestrial environment of the Judea Mountain such as terra rossa soil and speleothem calcite (that derives its Sr from the above-lying soil) yielded significantly lower δ^88/86Sr value of − 0.17 ± 0.06‰. This indicates that strontium isotopes fractionate in the soil environment calling for a possible development of strontium isotopes as a tracer for processes of chemical weathering and pedogenesis.     

中国及邻区石炭纪构造古地理及生物古地理

本文包括3部分:（1）扼要回顾了中国及邻区晚海西阶段的地质构造背景和构造古地理特征。根据全球构造活动论和地壳发展阶段论的观点,把中国及邻区晚海西阶段的大地构造单元分为4个构造域,10个亚构造域。（2）论述中国和世界石炭纪生物古地理分区。根据四射珊瑚和腕足动物群分析,把全球早石炭世生物古地理区系分为两个生物大区、6个生物区和8个生物亚区。在中国境内对生物亚区内部生物地方中心的分异作了进一步划分。（3）简述中国石炭纪古地理和某些有关的沉积矿产。中国石炭系矿产除了重要的煤以外,还有石膏矿、铝土矿和不同类型的铁矿。这些沉积矿产的分布主要受到古气候、古地理和构造条件的控制。     

Winter rainfall interception by two mature open‐grown trees in Davis,California

A rainfall interception measuring system was developed and tested for open‐grown trees. The system includes direct measurements of gross precipitation, throughfall and stemflow, as well as continuous collection of micrometeorological data. The data were sampled every second and collected at 30‐s time steps using pressure transducers monitoring water depth in collection containers coupled to Campbell CR10 dataloggers. The system was tested on a 9‐year‐old broadleaf deciduous tree (pear, Pyrus calleryana ‘Bradford’) and an 8‐year‐old broadleaf evergreen tree (cork oak, Quercus suber) representing trees having divergent canopy distributions of foliage and stems. Partitioning of gross precipitation into throughfall, stemflow and canopy interception is presented for these two mature open‐grown trees during the 1996–1998 rainy seasons. Interception losses accounted for about 15% of gross precipitation for the pear tree and 27% for the oak tree. The fraction of gross precipitation reaching the ground included 8% by stemflow and 77% by throughfall for the pear tree, as compared with 15% and 58%, respectively, for the oak tree. The analysis of temporal patterns in interception indicates that it was greatest at the beginning of each rainfall event. Rainfall frequency is more significant than rainfall rate and duration in determining interception losses. Both stemflow and throughfall varied with rainfall intensity and wind speed. Increasing precipitation rates and wind speed increased stemflow but reduced throughfall. Analysis of rainfall interception processes at different time‐scales indicates that canopy interception varied from 100% at the beginning of the rain event to about 3% at the maximum rain intensity for the oak tree. These values reflected the canopy surface water storage changes during the rain event. The winter domain precipitation at our study site in the Central Valley of California limited our opportunities to collect interception data during non‐winter seasons. This precipitation pattern makes the results more specific to the Mediterranean climate region. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

渤海中部郯庐断裂带的近期活动与渤海新近纪新生断裂

渤海中部的郯庐断裂带在平面上表现为不连续的几条北北东走向断层,地震反射剖面和钻探资料显示断层两侧沉积厚度的巨大差异,表明新近纪以来它们是在沉降运动背景下活动的具有大幅度倾滑位移的正断层,构成渤海盆地内凹陷与凸起的边界。这些断层在剖面上有一定弯曲和倾斜,向下延伸深度不超过10~12km。在此深度以上的地壳浅部,没有水平方向位移以及其它直接变形证据表明郯庐断裂带有走滑运动分量。从地震机制解得到的走滑断层运动反映渤海地区地壳深部的变形及相应的构造应力状态,与浅部残留的伸展构造应力同时存在。根据断裂力学分析,认为中新世末以来渤海浅层新近系内出现的大量近东西向小断裂可能是现代构造应力场作用的结果,与郯庐断裂带或其它基底老断裂没有继承性或派生的成因关系。     

热带与亚热带遥感：需求、挑战与机遇

热带与亚热带拥有大量丰富的自然资源,同时也正在经历着快速的城市化进程,其资源、生态、环境等都面临着前所未有的挑战。同时,热带与亚热带地区存在着大量的自然灾害(如台风、干旱、地震等),威胁着该地区人类经济社会的可持续发展。应用遥感技术对热带与亚热带区域进行全面的监测,对于热带与亚热带区域甚至全球的可持续发展具有重要的意义。然而,由于热带与亚热带特殊的地理条件(如多云多雨等),遥感监测需要克服特殊的技术挑战。本文通过Web of Science核心数据库的7594篇研究论文进行分析,综述了热带与亚热带遥感的研究现状,分别从热带与亚热带遥感的需求、现状、挑战和机遇,通过共被引文献分析和主题词频率分析,建立共被引文献网络和主题词网络,并通过非监督机器学习进行聚类,分别识别出22个共被引文献聚类和6个主题词聚类。通过对这些共被引文献类别和主题词类别的深入分析,本文总结了:(1)热带与亚热带遥感研究的主要监测对象,包括城市地表、热带雨林、红树林、珊瑚、热带草原、生物多样性和自然灾害;(2)热带与亚热带遥感主要采用的遥感技术,包括:遥感数据的选择和使用、遥感数据分析的方法、多云多雨的问题应对以及多源遥感技术。最后,从现代遥感技术的快速发展,本文从8个方面讨论热带与亚热带遥感面临的挑战和未来发展的机遇。     

Population genetics of cold‐water coral associated Pleustidae (Crustacea,Amphipoda) reveals cryptic diversity and recent expansion off Iceland

Amphipoda are a diverse and important faunal component of deep‐sea habitats worldwide. However, relatively little is known about species that are associated with cold‐water corals, in particular concerning their genetic diversity, population genetic processes, population differentiation, and potential host specificity. We exemplarily investigate these questions studying three pleustid species—Stenopleustes aff. malmgreni (Boeck, 1871), Stenopleustes aff. nodifera (Sars, 1883) and Neopleustes aff. boecki (Hansen, 1888)—that are associated with cold‐water corals and polychaete assemblages along the Reykjanes Ridge southwest of Iceland. We sequenced mitochondrial COI and performed ddRAD to study thousands of nuclear loci. These species and a pair of morphologically cryptic species within Stenopleustes aff. nodifera were consistently delimited by COI and ddRAD. We conclude that all of our studied species are new to science, raising the number of pleustids reported from cold‐water corals to six. Two species were collected only once, and these species exhibited high levels of inbreeding, suggesting little exchange with other populations, which might be a result of strong host specificity. The other two species were wider distributed, with very low differentiation among populations, even between populations separated by 130 km. These species showed signs of recent population expansions, possibly in relation to changes in the cold‐water coral associated ecosystem (e.g., due to glacial cycles and/or volcanic or geothermal activities). They had lower levels of inbreeding and were each associated with three different host coral species, which might facilitate dispersal and gene flow. Our results show divergent population genetic patterns for the studied pleustid species. These might be attributed to the species’ host specificity and highlight important differences among species with seemingly similar life‐styles. Species diversities appear to be greatly underestimated, limiting our abilities to truly assess the vulnerability of the fauna living in these threatened cold‐water coral habitats.     

An overview of cold-water coral protection on the high seas: The Hatton bank (NE Atlantic)—A case study

The present paper provides an overview of cold-water corals protection in the Hatton Bank deep-water fisheries through the implementation of the United Nations General Assembly resolution 61/105. The methodology and scientific evidence used to propose protection of cold-water coral ecosystems in the high seas (∼16,000 km²) are briefly summarised. The role of international agents and importance of interdisciplinary research for making management decisions are furthermore described. Implementation was slow because (i) of scarce initial scientific knowledge, (ii) research on the high seas was difficult and expensive, (iii) there were several international interests at stake, (iv) agreement from a number of agents was needed, and (v) international advisory and decision making processes were quite slow. Some lessons learned are also discussed since these may help to increase protection efficiency of deep-sea vulnerable marine ecosystems in the high seas.     

In situ observations of fish associated with coral reefs off Ireland

The abundance and behaviour of fish on and around coral reefs at Twin Mounds and Giant Mounds, carbonate mounds located on the continental shelf off Ireland (600-1100 m), were studied using two Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dives. We recorded 30 fish taxa on the dives, together with three species of Scleractinia (Lophelia pertusa, Madrepora oculata and Desmophyllum cristagalli) and a diverse range of other corals (Antipatharia, Alcyonacea, and Stylasteridae). Stands of live coral provided the only habitat in which Guttigadus latifrons was observed whereas Neocyttus helgae was found predominantly on structural habitats provided by dead coral. Significantly more fish were found on structurally complex coral rubble habitats than on flatter areas where coral rubble was clogged with sand. The most common species recorded was Lepidion eques (2136 individuals), which always occurred a few cm above bottom and was significantly more active on the reefs than on sedimentary habitats. Synaphobranchus kaupii (1157 indiv.), N. helgae (198 indiv.) and Micromesistius poutassou (116 indiv.) were also common; S. kaupii did not exhibit habitat-related differences in behaviour, whilst N. helgae was more active over the reefs and other structured habitats whereas M. poutassou was more active with decreasing habitat complexity. Trawl damage and abandoned fishing gear was observed at both sites. We conclude that Irish coral reefs provide complex habitats that are home to a diverse assemblage of fish utilising the range of niches occurring both above and within the reef structure.