Assessing conservation practices in Amalacaxco Gorge (Izta-Popo National Park,Central Mexico) using fallout <Superscript>137</Superscript>CS and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL)

This study aims to assess conservation practices in Izta-Popo National Park (Central Mexico) by evaluating the mechanisms of sediment transfer. We applied a methodology based on fallout 137Cs and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) analysis. This was tested in the upper catchment of Amalacaxco Gorge, selected for being one of the sectors of the park in which man-made actions have been implemented in last decades to favor forest growth in the alpine grassland and to reduce the effect of water runoff. We quantified the 137Cs activity using gamma and beta spectrometry of fine sediment grains extracted from the surface of parcels of 0.4 m2 in areas of natural forest, natural alpine grassland, alpine grassland with conservation practices, ravines and trails. In general, 137Cs values increases as local slope decreases as it was expected. The natural forest is the most stable area in terms of soil erosion and sediment accumulation and, mean 137Cs activity was taken as reference to assess cumulative zones, with higher 137Cs values and erosive, with lower. We found that trails are accumulative surfaces but in other areas, erosion predominates. Man-made ditches, trenches and afforestation in the alpine grassland have higher 137Cs values than the natural grassland, which indicates that conservation practices are limiting the sediment transfer from hillslopes to channels, however, soil retention is less than in the natural grassland. Additionally, we evaluated the luminescence (OSL) values obtained from samples extracted from the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into different sectors of the study area to assess the grade of resetting of fluvial materials. These luminescence results indicated that the sediment transported in ravines that are cutting into the natural forest and alpine grassland is bleached more efficiently than the sediment transported in the alpine grassland with conservation practices. Results of fallout 137Cs and luminescence strongly suggest that man-made actions in this part of the Izta-Popo National Park are dramatically modifying the natural mechanisms of sediment transfer and favoring soil erosion. We conclude that made ditches, trenches and afforestation are not an effective conservation practice in Amalacaxco Gorge because they are promoting soil erosion instead of reducing it.     

~(137)Cs tracing dynamics of soil erosion,organic carbon,and total nitrogen in terraced fields and forestland in the Middle Mountains of Nepal

The Middle Mountains is one of the regions of Nepal most vulnerable to water erosion, where fragile geology, steep topography, anomalous climatic conditions, and intensive human activity have resulted in serious soil erosion and enhanced land degradation. Based on the 137 Cs tracing method, spatial variations in soil erosion, organic carbon, and total nitrogen(TN) in terraced fields lacking field banks and forestland were determined. Soil samples were collected at approximately 5 m and 20 m intervals along terraced field series and forestland transects respectively. Mean 137 Cs inventories of the four soil cores from the reference site was estimated at 574.33 ± 126.22 Bq m-2(1 Bq(i.e., one Becquerel) is equal to 1 disintegration per second(1 dps)). For each terrace, the 137 Cs inventory generally increased fromupper to lower slope positions, accompanied by a decrease in the soil erosion rate. Along the entire terraced toposequence, 137 Cs data showed that abrupt changes in soil erosion rates could occur between the lower part of the upper terrace and the upper part of the immediate terrace within a small distance. This result indicated that tillage erosion is also a dominant erosion type in the sloping farmland of this area. At the same time, we observed a fluctuant decrease in soil erosion rates for the whole terraced toposequence as well as a net deposition at the toe terrace. Although steep terraces(lacking banks and hedgerows) to some extent could act to limit soil sediment accumulation in catchments, soil erosion in the terraced field was determined to be serious. For forestland, with the exception of serious soil erosion that had taken place at the top of slopes due to concentrated flows from a country road situated above the forestland site, spatialvariation in soil erosion was similar to the "standard" water erosion model. Soil organic carbon(SOC) and TN inventories showed similar spatial patterns to the 137 Cs inventory for both toposequences investigated. However, due to the different dominant erosion processes between the two, we found similar patterns between the 0.002 mm soil particle size fraction(clay sized) and 137 Cs inventories in terraced fields, while different patterns could be found between 137 Cs inventories and the 0.002 mm soil particle size fraction in the forestland site. Such results confirm that 137 Cs can successfully trace soil erosion, SOC and soil nitrogen dynamics in steep terraced fields and forestland in the Middle Mountains of Nepal.     

Anthropogenic Effect on Deposition Dynamics of Lake Sediments Based on ~（137）Cs and ~（210）Pb_（ex） Techniques in Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve,China

Radionuclide dating techniques characterized by137Cs and210Pbex have recently been applied in the study of lake sediments around the world.In this study,a chronological series of sediment cores was established based on137Cs and210Pbex analyses along with the evaluation of sediment properties,such as particle size distribution,total organic carbon(TOC),carbonate content,and acid-insoluble residue,to study sediment accumulation rates,sediment sources,and responses to human activities in the Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve in southwestern China.In terms of the particle size distribution of sediments,silt content was the highest,and clay and sand contents were relatively low.The sediments displayed high TOC contents because of the significant amounts of vegetation grown in the lakes.The carbonate content was also high due to the overall geological background of carbonates in Jiuzhaigou.Carbonate content tended to decline from top to bottom in the sediment cores,whereas the acid-insoluble residue tended to increase.These results suggested that the depth variation of the environmental parameters of the sediments in two lakes in Jiuzhaigou would correspond to each other.The results indicated that the sediment rate of Jiuzhaigou was generally high with strong siltation,indicating that serious soil loss was induced by intensive human activities in the basin over the past decades.The increases in the mass accumulation rate,contents of acid-insoluble residue,and mean particle size during the periods of 1840–1900s,late 1930s–early 1950s,1966–1978,and2003–2006 revealed the occurrence of severe soil and water loss as a result of extensive agricultural expansion,large-scale deforestation,and road construction in Jiuzhaigou.The deposition rate and the properties of lacustrine sediments could reflect the significant impact of human activities on lake sedimentation during Jiuzhaigou′s history.     

Assessing discharge periodicity in mountain catchments using classified environmental conditions (Tatra Mountains,Poland)

The periodicity of a river expressed in cycles of various lengths (monthly,seasonal,multiannual) is a result of climatic factors and overiapping environmental c...     

Zooplankton community of Keibul Lamjao National Park (KLNP) Manipur,India in relation to the physico-chemical variables of the water

Keibul Lamjao National Park(KLNP), a floating park in Loktak Lake, Manipur(India) was studied from Winter(WIN) to Post Monsoon(POM) for its zooplankton composition and some selected water parameters. The resultant data were subjected to multivariate techniques ? Principal Component Analysis(PCA) and Canonical Correspondence Analysis(CCA). Analyses of water parameters with PCA revealed that the first PC axis(PC1) accounts for maximum variance in the seasonal data, explaining a variability of 91%. The PCA revealed that the seasonal variability in water parameters was due to the wet and dry cycle of seasons and the stations were distinguished on the basis of transparency and turbidity. Zooplankton abundance was dominated by copepods followed by cladocerans. Temporally, abundance of copepods reached a maximum during Post-monsoon(POM)(3 880 ind./L). Spatially, S6 was found to be most abundant of the other stations in zooplankton. Copepodites and nauplii larvae were the major components of zooplankton. The Rotifera were the least abundant among the three zooplankton groups. Brachionus formed the major component of Rotifera zooplankton at all the stations during the study period. In the Cladocera, Macrothrix was present during all the four seasons, while Pleuroxus, Oxyurella, Kurzia and, Diaphanosoma were rare. The CCA shows that maximal temporal variability in zooplankton abundance was explained by temperature and rainfall. ANOVA revealed no significant difference in mean zooplankton abundance among the seasons, but there was a statistically significant difference among the sites.     

Diversity,endemism and conservation of ferns (Polypodiales) in the Mexican Mountain Component

We analyzed the distributional patterns of 95 selected species of leptosporangiate ferns inhabiting the Mexican Mountain Component, using grid-cells of one geographical degree as unit areas, applying endemism indices and richness and beta diversity analyses. Distributional data were obtained from several herbaria and specialized literature. Five grid-cells appear to be important for fern species richness, as they contain 35 to 49 species. These grid-cells are located in the Sierra Madre Oriental (SMO), Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt (TMVB) and the Sierra Madre del Sur (SMS). Mean richness by latitudinal belts of one degree showed that the belts with highest values are related to the TMVB and SMS. A total of 13 grid-cells were recognized as important from the perspective of endemism; most of them are located also in the SMO, TMVB and SMS. The richest gridcells coincided with one of the main centres of endemism for ferns obtained in this study, located in the convergence of the southern part of the SMO, the eastern portion of the TMVB and the northern part of the SMS, reflecting the high humidity existing on the mountain slopes facing the Gulf of Mexico. Some important grid-cells recognized from richness and endemism analyses coincide with Mexican Natural Protected Areas. The beta diversity analysis showed a low degree of similarity among grid-cells, implying a high species replacement, as the result of environmental heterogeneity occurring in the Mexican mountain systems. On the other hand, the spatial analysis suggested a pattern of phytogeographical regionalization comprising two main areas: the Mexican Transition Zone and the Mexican Central Plateau. Ferns play an important role in the Mexican biodiversity and contributing to the beta diversity of Mexico.     

Balancing timber production and habitat conservation of Okinawa Rails(Gallirallus okinawae): Application of a harvest scheduling optimization model in subtropical forest in Okinawa,Japan

Finding the right balance between timber production and the management of forest-dependent wildlife species, present a difficult challenge for forest resource managers and policy makers in Okinawa,Japan. A possible explanation of this can be found in the unique nature of the forest management area which is populated with various kinds of rare and endangered species. This issue has been brought to light as a result of the nomination of northern Okinawa Island in 2018 as a candidate for World Natural Heritage site. The nomination has raised public awareness to the possibility of conflicting management objectives between timber extraction and the conservation of habitat for forest-dependent wildlife species. Managing exclusively for one objective over the other may fail to meet the demand for both forest products and wildlife habitat,ultimately jeopardizing the stability of human and wildlife communities. It is therefore important to achieve a better balance between the objective of timber production and conservation of wildlife habitat.Despite the significance of this subject area, current ongoing discussions on how to effectively manage for forest resources, often lack scientific basis to make sound judgement or evaluate tradeoffs between conflicting objectives. Quantifying the effect of these forest management activities on wildlife habitat provides useful and important information needed to make forest management and policy decisions. In this study we develop a spatial timber harvest scheduling model that incorporates habitat suitability index(HSI)models for the Okinawa Rail(Gallirallus okinawae),an endangered avian species found on Okinawa,Japan. To illustrate how the proposed coupling model assembles spatial information, which ultimately aids the study of forest management effects on wildlife habitat, we apply these models to a forest area in Okinawa and conduct a simple simulation analysis.