Modelling the effect of changing precipitation inputs on deep soil water utilization

Forests in the Southeastern United States are predicted to experience future changes in seasonal patterns of precipitation inputs as well as more variable precipitation events. These climate change‐induced alterations could increase drought and lower soil water availability. Drought could alter rooting patterns and increase the importance of deep roots that access subsurface water resources. To address plant response to drought in both deep rooting and soil water utilization as well as soil drainage, we utilize a throughfall reduction experiment in a loblolly pine plantation of the Southeastern United States to calibrate and validate a hydrological model. The model was accurately calibrated against field measured soil moisture data under ambient rainfall and validated using 30% throughfall reduction data. Using this model, we then tested these scenarios: (a) evenly reduced precipitation; (b) less precipitation in summer, more in winter; (c) same total amount of precipitation with less frequent but heavier storms; and (d) shallower rooting depth under the above 3 scenarios. When less precipitation was received, drainage decreased proportionally much faster than evapotranspiration implying plants will acquire water first to the detriment of drainage. When precipitation was reduced by more than 30%, plants relied on stored soil water to satisfy evapotranspiration suggesting 30% may be a threshold that if sustained over the long term would deplete plant available soil water. Under the third scenario, evapotranspiration and drainage decreased, whereas surface run‐off increased. Changes in root biomass measured before and 4 years after the throughfall reduction experiment were not detected among treatments. Model simulations, however, indicated gains in evapotranspiration with deeper roots under evenly reduced precipitation and seasonal precipitation redistribution scenarios but not when precipitation frequency was adjusted. Deep soil and deep rooting can provide an important buffer capacity when precipitation alone cannot satisfy the evapotranspirational demand of forests. How this buffering capacity will persist in the face of changing precipitation inputs, however, will depend less on seasonal redistribution than on the magnitude of reductions and changes in rainfall frequency.     

新疆和田地区耕地面源污染生态风险评价

随着化肥、农膜等在农业生产中的过量投入，耕地面源污染的程度随之加重。文章选取塔里木河流域上游和田地区为研究区域，依据P-S-R框架理论，构建和田地区耕地面源污染生态风险评价指标体系，加入土壤理化数据，使用生态风险评价模型对和田地区1980 年及2016 年耕地面源污染状况进行生态风险评价，运用耕地生态风险模型、生态风险转移矩阵、Arcgis分析和田地区耕地面源污染时空分异状况。研究结论如下：和田地区1980 年耕地生态风险等级均为II级或III级，呈“中间高，两侧低”分布；2016 年耕地生态风险等级上升至IV级或V级，呈“倒W型”分布，各县耕地面源污染程度较1980 年均有较大幅度的上升，其中墨玉县和于田县在2016 年耕地生态风险等级达到最高的V级，而民丰县因自身生态环境的强脆弱性，同样需要提高关注。根据面源污染“从源头治理”的原则，应切实推进和田地区耕地生态环境保护与治理，提高政府重视程度，增强技术指导，开展试点工作，改善和田地区耕地面源污染现状。     

张掖盆地地下水硝酸盐污染与人体健康风险评价

地下水是张掖盆地的重要水资源，其硝酸盐污染尚未得到足够重视。对张掖盆地2004、2015年地下水硝酸盐浓度进行了系统分析，并采用美国环境保护署（USEPA）推荐的健康风险评价模型评估了地下水硝酸盐的健康风险。结果表明：自2004年以来张掖盆地地下水硝酸盐污染日趋严重。2015年硝酸盐浓度最高已达到283.32 mg·L^-1，17.61%的采样点硝酸盐氮浓度超过GB5749-2006《生活饮用水卫生标准》中饮用地下水限量值（20 mg·L^-1）。研究区人群经皮肤接触途径摄入硝酸盐的健康风险在可接受水平，而饮水摄入硝酸盐的健康风险较高，总风险中饮水途径引起健康风险的贡献率占99.40%，远大于皮肤接触途径。儿童经饮水摄入和皮肤接触两种途径的健康风险均显著高于成人，分别为成人的1.544倍和1.039倍。32.39%的采样点地下水硝酸盐对儿童的健康风险超出了可接受水平，14.79%的采样点地下水硝酸盐对成人的健康风险不可接受。甘州区城区、临泽县北部边缘及高台县城区周围硝酸盐浓度最高，这些区域内所有人群都面临硝酸盐引发的高健康风险，其余区域硝酸盐引发的健康风险相对较低。     

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.

     

基于SPEI的渭河流域干旱时空变化特征分析

以标准化降水蒸散指数（SPEI）作为评估指标，基于渭河流域28个气象站点1961—2017年实测降水量和气温数据，采用Mann-Kendall（M-K）趋势检验、经验正交函数以及小波变换等方法分析渭河流域干旱时空变化特征，并研究渭河流域干旱与6种大尺度气候因子之间的相关关系，进一步探讨主要气候因子对流域干旱时空分布特征的潜在影响。研究表明：渭河流域在1961—2017年间整体呈现出变旱的趋势。通过经验正交函数分解，渭河流域干旱分布场主要有3种典型模态类型，分别为全局型、西北—东南反向分布型以及东—西反向分布型；同时，大尺度气候因子南方涛动指数SOI与流域干旱分布场具有更好的相关关系，对该区域内干旱变化有较强的影响。     

Precipitation patterns in flood season over China associated with the El Niño/Southern Osciliation

The precipitation patterns in flood season over China associated with the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are investigated, especially in the eastern China, using the rather long period rainfall data in this century. The results show that there were remarkable differences between the precipitation patterns in flood seasons of ENSO warm phase (El Niño year) and cold phase (La Niña year), as well as between the patterns in El Niño years and their following years. The most parts of China received below normal rainfall in flood season of the onset years of El Niño events, but the coastal area of Southeast China received above normal amounts. Comparatively, the most parts of China received above normal rainfall in flood season of the following years of El Niño events, but the eastern part of the reaches among the Huanghe (Yellow) River, the Huaihe River and the Haihe River, and the Northeast China received less. During ENSO cold phase, the reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River and the North China received more amounts than normal rainfall in flood season of the onset years of La Niña events, and the other regions of China received less. In the following years of La Niña events, the coastal area of the Southeast China, the most part of the Northeast China and the regions between the Huanghe River and the Huaihe River received more precipitation during flood seasons, but the other parts received below normal precipitation.     

Reliability assessment of granular filters in embankment dams

Empirical criteria have been used successfully to design filters of most embankment large dam projects throughout the world. However, these empirical rules are only applicable to a particular range of soils tested in laboratory and do not take into account the variability of the base material and filter particle sizes. In addition, it is widely accepted that the safety of fill dams is mainly dependent on the reliability of their filter performance. The work herein presented consists in a new general method for assessing the probability of fulfilling any empirical filter design criteria accounting for base and filter heterogeneity by means of first‐order reliability methods (FORM), so that reliability indexes and probabilities of fulfilling any particular criteria are obtained. This method will allow engineers to estimate the safety of existing filters in terms of probability of fulfilling their design criteria and might also be used as a decision tool on sampling needs and material size tolerances during construction. In addition, sensitivity analysis makes possible to analyse how reliabilities are influenced by different sources of input data. Finally, in case of a portfolio risk assessment, this method will allow engineers to compare the safety of several existing dams in order to prioritize safety investments and it is expected to be a very useful tool to evaluate probabilities of failure due to internal erosion. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

昆仑山口大地震与地形变异常的讨论

针对昆仑山口大地震，总结了多种地形变（大地测量）手段所显示的异常变化及其时空分布，结果显示：8．1级大震前存在空间尺度大，时间尺度的地形变前兆异常，简要介绍了相关的异常图像，给出了初步解释，并对未来震情的发展进行了探讨，认为近期内强震活动向华北迁移的可能性不大。     

雅砻江流域主汛期降水长期预报的一种方法

本文使用天气学方法，从影响雅砻江区域主汛期降水量的长期预报有关因子出发，再运用数理统计方法反复筛选，仅取３个主要因子：西部青藏高原８个站冬春积温，北部冬季极涡面积指数，南部冬季印缅槽平均强度，建立逐步回归预报方程。结果显示：对主汛期６～９月降水量预报拟合准确率为１６／１７即约９４％。回归分析中发现：尽管西太平洋副热带高压对盆地西部降水有很大影响，盛夏且与高原积温有较密切相关，但由放大范围长时段的青藏高原积温，对于雅砻江区域主汛期降水量的影响超过西太平洋副热高压，因而在逐步回归过程中，副高因子仍被剔除．     

Is Precipitation the Dominant Controlling Factor of High Inorganic Nitrogen Content in the Changjiang River and Its Mouth？

The main reasons for the high content of inorganic N and its increase by several times in the Changjiang River and its mouth during the last 40 years were analysed in this work. The inorganic N in precipitation in the Changjiang River catchment mainly comes from gaseous loss of fertilizer N, N resulting from the increases of population and livestock, and from high temperature combustions of fossil fuels. N from precipitation is the first N source in the Changjiang River water and the only direct cause of high content of inorganic N in the Changjiang River and its mouth. The lost N in gaseous form and from agriculture non-point sources fertilizer comprised about 60% of annual consumption of fertilizer N in the Changjiang River catchment and were key factors controlling the high content of inorganic N in the Changjiang River mouth. The fate of the N in precipitation and other N sources in the Changjiang River catchment are also discussed in this paper.