Spatial Pattern of Rural Settlements in the Upper Reaches of the Minjiang River——a Case Study in Maoxian County, Sichuan

A quantitative analysis of the spatial pattern of rural settlements in the upper reaches of the Minjiang River was made with the major data sources being the relevant ETM image and the national geographical database of China (including contour line, river and road) at the scale of 1:250 000, and using image interpretation and field investigation to obtain spatial information on rural settlements. The results of the spatial analysis technique of GIS and correlation analysis showed that most settlements (78.2 %) were located in the mountain area at 1500 ~ 2700 m altitude, and almost half in the arid valley area. More than 80.0 % of settlements had their slopes above 15°. Most settlements had good access to water resources, roads and communications, and tended to cluster close to the road network rather than the river. About half of the rural settlements in the study area were relatively concentrated, while the others were decentralized. Those with higher altitude usually had land with steep slope, inconvenient water and road accesses, and were located far apart from each other. In view of such a situation, further research should be done to make reasonablecountermeasures on these settlements for better living conditions and ecosystem stability.     

Micromorphology of landslide soil——Case study on the Jibazi landslide in Yunyang in the Three Gorges Region, China

Introduction The studies on landslides in the Three Gorges Region were conducted, e.g., those on affecting factors and forming mechanism of landslide (YIN Kunlong et al. 1998, DENG Qinglu et al. 2000, CHEN Yongbo et al. 2003, XU Qiang et al. 2003), on ris…     

Seasonal fluctuation of Myxobolus gibelioi（Myxosporea） plasmodia in the gills of the farmed allogyno—genetic gibel carp in China

The seasonal fluctuation of the plasmodia ofMyxobolus gibelioi Wu et Wang, 1982 in the gill filaments of the allogynogenetic gibel carpCarassius auratus gibelio (Bloch) in a fish pond in Hubei Province of China was investigated from August 1999 to July 2000. A total of 445 fish was examined; the overall prevalence of the plasmodium infection in the fish was 64.94% and mean abundance of plasmodia was 11.65±27.85 (mean±SD). Significant seasonal changes in prevalence and mean abundance, with higher levels of the plasmodia infection from late spring to autumn, were observed. This research was financially supported by the Projects for Knowledge Innovation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. KSCX2-1-04 and No. 1999051) and the Science & Technology Commision of Wuhan City (No. 995004095G).     

Digital Identification of Ecosystem Structure in the FIrtIna Valley of the Kakar Mountains in the Rize City of Turkey

Identifying the structure of protected mountain ecosystems is an important task for understanding conservation sustainability. The study area, the Firtina Valley, located in the Rize City on the Eastern Blacksea Coast, is one of the biological hotspots and a National Park of Turkey. In order to identify the structure of mountain ecosystems, we generated a GIS database for the main environmental parameters of the study area, including elevation,slope and aspect layers for topographic structure, 10year mean values of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI), data for vegetation structure, annual mean temperature and precipitation layers for climatic structure, main soil groups for soil structure and stream flow accumulation, stream flow length and stream order layers for hydrological structure.To identify the complex relations among environmental factors in the study area a data reduction method is applied with Principal Component Analysis(PCA). PCA is performed using data of 16 layers from Geographical Information Systems(GIS). PCA analysis reduced 16 dimensions into 5 dimensions containing 75% of the variation in all data. It is also revealed that the topographic structure, mainly altitude, dominates the ecosystems of the Firtina Valley, but it should be considered that the interactions of environmental factors in an ecosystem dynamics are very complex. The ecosystem structure is determined by the environmental factors direct or indirect effects on energy regulation of an ecosystem. Therefore the relationship between topographic elements and other abiotic-biotic elements in the Firtina Valley are important for environmental assessment and sustainability of a protected area, and these effects are explained in this study.     

Characteristics of the transition Layer in the South China Sea in 1998

CTD data on standard levels coolected during July and December in 1998 and the cubic spline interpolating method were used to study the characteristics of the transition layer temperature and salinity.The thermocline undergoes remarkable seasonal variation in the South China Sea (SCS),and especially in the region of the north shelf where the thermocline disappears in december.The thermocline is stronger and thicker in July than in December,There is no obvious seasonal variation in the halocline.Due to the upper Ekman transport caused by monsoon over the SCS,the thermocline slopes upward in July and downward in december from east to west in the northern SCS.The characteristics of the thermocline and halocline are influenced by local eddies in the SCS.The Zhujiang diluted flow influences significantly the SCS shelf‘s halocline.     

Generation of Reactive Oxygen Species in Different Fractions of the Coelomocytes of Holothurian Eupentacta fraudatrix in Response to the Thermostable Toxin of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis in Vitro

Pure fraction (92% - 95%) of phagocytes (FP) and a mixture of amoebocytes (62%) and morula cells (38 % )-FPMC- of the holothurian Eupentacta fraudatrix ( Holothuroidea,Dendrochirota ) were obtained by using ficoll-verographine step gradient. Basal production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in FP quantified by using reduction of nitroblue tetrazolium (NBT) was more than twice that in FPMC. Thermostable toxin of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (TST) at differentconcentrations ( 0.2; 0.5; 2.5 μg/ml, but not 0.1 μg/ml) stimulated NBT reduction in FPMC after 24 h incubation. In FP, TST at concentrations of 0.1 and 0.2 μg/ml inhibited and at concentrations of 0.5 and 2.5 μg/ml stimulated NBT reduction after 24 h incubation. Maximal effect was observed in FP and FPMC at TST concentrations of 0.5 and 0.2 μg/ml, respectively. Addition of catalase (0.7 μg/ml) to the cells treated with TST (2.5 μg/ml) was followed by a decrease in NBT reduction compared to that under toxin treatment alone. TST stimulated superoxide dismutase activity in ccncentration-dependent manner (maximum at 0.5 μg/ml concentration in FP) after 24 htreatment, and this stimulation was prevented by a commercial catalase. Plant lectin concanavalin A stimulated NBT reduction more than 5-fold in FPMC compared to the control. With addition of TST, lectin stimulated ROS to lesser extent than that with lectin alone. When catalase, TST, and lectin were added into the FPMC simultaneously, ROS increase was similar to that under lectin treatment alone. On the whole, data obtained indicated that ROS generation in holothurian coelomocytes especially occurs in both stimulated and not stimulated phagocytes, and that changes in ROS production by these cells may be one of the mechanisms of antibacterial protection of holothurians.     

Contrast between the Climatic States of the Warm Pool in the Indian Ocean and in the Pacific Ocean

Based on the analysis of Levitus data, the climatic states of the warm pool in the Indian Ocean (WPIO) and in the Pacific Ocean (WPPO) are studied. It is found that WPIO has a relatively smaller area, a shallower bottom and a slightly lower seawater temperature than those of WPPO. The horizontal area at different depths, volumes, central positions, and bottom depths of both WPIO and WPPO show quite apparent signals of seasonal variation. The maximum amplitude of WPIO surface area‘s seasonal variation is 58% larger over the annual mean value. WPIO‘s maximum volume variation amplitude is 66% larger over the annual mean value. The maximum variation amplitudes of the surface area and volume of WPPO are 20.9% and 20.6% larger over the annual mean value respectively. WPIO and WPPO show different temporal and spatial characteristics mainly due to the different wind fields and restriction of ocean basin geometry. For instance, seasonal northern displacement of WPIO is, to some extent, constrained by the basin of the Indian Ocean, while WPPO moves relatively freely in the longitudinal direction. The influence of WPIO and WPPO over the atmospheric motion must be quite different.     

What is attractive rural landscape? Differences in the social and expert assessment of the changes in the rural landscape of the Carpathian region in Poland with regard to the need of its protection

Contemporary villages of the mountain region are subject to uncontrolled structural and spatial transformations, which cause deformation of centuries-old spatial systems of high cultural and natural value. The aim of the study is to confront the opinions of the inhabitants and experts regarding the condition of the cultural landscape of the villages in south-eastern Poland. This area belongs to the Carpathian region of Central Europe. The historical and economic conditions of the studied region,...     

Recognition and Significance of Volcanic Rocks of the Anda Depression of the Songliao Basin in Jurassic-Cretaceous

In the northern Songliao Basin, volcanics are fre-quently found and related closely to tectonic activi-ties during Early Cretaceous. The lava is mainly erupted along deep faults and distributed along the margine of the faulted depression. In deep part of Xujiaweizi area, natural gas exploration has been very successful, such as in the well Wang 9-12, well Shengshen 101 and well Fangshen 9 which are all highly-yield gas wells. Anda fault depression is lo-cated in the north of Xujia…     

Application of first order rate kinetics to explain changes in bloom toxicity——the importance of understanding cell toxin quotas

Cyanobacteria are oxygenic photosynthetic Gram-negative bacteria that can form potentially toxic blooms in eutrophic and slow flowing aquatic ecosystems. Bloom toxicity varies spatially and temporally, but understanding the mechanisms that drive these changes remains largely a mystery. Changes in bloom toxicity may result from changes in intracellular toxin pool sizes of cyanotoxins with differing molecular toxicities, and/or from changes in the cell concentrations of toxic and non-toxic cyanobacterial species or strains within bloom populations. We show here how first-order rate kinetics at the cellular level can be used to explain how environmental conditions drive changes in bloom toxicity at the ecological level. First order rate constants can be calculated for changes in cell concentration( μ_c : specific cell division rate) or the volumetric biomass concentration( μ_g : specific growth rate) between short time intervals throughout the cell cycle. Similar first order rate constants can be calculated for changes in nett volumetric cyanotoxin concentration( μ_(tox) : specific cyanotoxin production rate) over similar time intervals. How μ_c(or μ_g) covaries with μ tox over the cell cycle shows conclusively when cyanotoxins are being produced and metabolised, and how the toxicity of cells change in response to environment stressors. When μ_(tox)/μ_c 1, cyanotoxin cell quotas increase and individual cells become more toxic because the nett cyanotoxin production rate is higher than the cell division rate. When μ_(tox)/μ_c =1, cell cyanotoxin quotas remains fixed because the nett cyanotoxin production rate matches the cell division rate. When μ_(tox)/μ_c 1, the cyanotoxin cell quota decreases because either the nett cyanotoxin production rate is lower than the cell division rate, or metabolic breakdown and/or secretion of cyanotoxins is occurring. These fundamental equations describe cyanotoxin metabolism dynamics at the cellular level and provide the necessary physiological background to understand how environmental stressors drive changes in bloom toxicity.     

Distribution of biomass of heterotrophic bacterioplankton in the Bohai Sea

Distribution, variation and impact factors of biomass of bacterioplankton from April to May 1999 in Bohai Sea were studied in DAPI method with epifluorescence microscopy. The biomass in surface waters showed a small day-night variation, varying from 0.13 to 2.51μg/dm^3 with an average of 0.84μg/dm^3. The biomass in bottom waters showed, however, a large variation, changing from 0.15 to 4.18μg/dm^3 with an average of 1.36μg/dm^3. The peak values occurred at 5 and 11 a.m. The bottom water biomass showed a significant correlation with particulate organic carbon （r=0.639, P〈0.05）. Heterotrophic bacterioplankton biomass was high in nearshore waters and low in offshore areas with a high biomass zone around Huanghe （Yellow） River mouth, showing the same distribution of nutrients. In vertical distribution, heterotrophic bacteria biomass in bottom waters was higher than that in surface water.     

Digital Identification of Ecosystem Structure in the F?rt?na Valley of the Ka?kar Mountains in the Rize City of Turkey

Identifying the structure of protected mountain ecosystems is an important task for understanding conservation sustainability. The study area, the F？rt？na Valley, located in the Rize City on the Eastern Blacksea Coast, is one of the biological hotspots and a National Park of Turkey. In order to identify the structure of mountain ecosystems, we generated a GIS database for the main environmental parameters of the study area, including elevation, slope and aspect layers for topographic structure, 10 year mean values of Normalized Difference Vegetation Index（NDVI）, data for vegetation structure, annual mean temperature and precipitation layers for climatic structure, main soil groups for soil structure and stream flow accumulation, stream flow length and stream order layers for hydrological structure .To identify the complex relations among environmental factors in the study area a data reduction method is applied with Principal Component Analysis （PCA）. PCA is performed using data of 16 layers from Geographical Information Systems （GIS）. PCA analysis reduced 16 dimensions into 5 dimensions containing 75% of the variation in all data. It is also revealed that the topographic structure, mainly altitude, dominates the ecosystems of the F？rt？na Valley, but it should be considered that the interactions of environmental factors in an ecosystem dynamics are very complex. The ecosystem structure is determined by the environmental factors direct or indirect effects on energy regulation of an ecosystem. Therefore the relationship between topographic elements and other abiotic-biotic elements in the Fcrtcna Valley are important for environmental assessment and sustainability of a protected area, and these effects are explained in this study.     

Seasonal variability of thermocline in the Yellow Sea

Based on the MASNUM wave-tide-circulation coupled numerical model, seasonal variability of thermocline in the Yellow Sea was simulated and compared with in-situ observations. Both simulated mixed layer depth (MLD) and thermocline intensity have similar spatial patterns to the observations. The simulated maximum MLD are 8 m and 22 m, while the corresponding observed values are 13 m and 27 m in July and October, respectively. The simulated thermocline intensity are 1.2℃/m and 0.5℃/m in July and October, respectively, which are 0.6℃/m less than those of the observations. It may be the main reason why the simulated thermocline is weaker than the observations that the model vertical resolution is less precise than that of the CTD data which is 1 m. Contours of both simulated and observed thermocline intensity present a circle in general. The wave-induced mixing plays a key role in the formation of the upper mixed layer in spring and summer. Tidal mixing enhances the thermocline intensity. Buoyancy-driven m     

Evaluation of the damage in fish spermatozoa cryopreservation

Cryodamages occur during sperm cryopreservation. Cryopreservation of fish sperm usually results in marked decrease in sperm quality, such as swelling or disruption of the plasma membrane, mitochondrial dysfunction, diminished sperm motility, impaired velocity, shorter motility period, denaturation, and release of some enzymes from spermatozoa. In this paper, damages in morphology, physiology, biochemistry and metabolism, and genetic integrity of fish semen after cryopreservation are discussed. New approaches in assessment of fish thawed sperm quality such as computer assisted sperm analysis, flow cytometic analysis combined with fluorescent probes and single cell gel electrophoresis are also briefly reviewed.     

Development-Conservation Dilemma in the NilgiriMountains of South India

The Nilgiri Mountains of south India is considered unique by anthropologists, geologists, climatologists, botanists as well as tourists. It has remained a subject of constant study and research over the last two centuries. Man-nature balance had continued undisturbed in the Nilgiris for thousands of years until the early 19th century when it became a British colony attracting, in due course, various developmental activities. Subsequently, the Nilgiris and its popular hill stations emerged as favourite places for the British population in India for rest and recuperation, game and for raising commercial plantations. In the process, the traditional indigenous crops were replaced by “English“ vegetables and the natural forests gave way to commercial plantations of coffee, tea and other exotic species of trees.     

RESEARCH ON THE SPATIAL STRUCTURE OF KARST MASSIF——Taking the Basin of the Houzhai Subterranean Stream in Puding Country for Example

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Anthropogenic Impacts on the Sediment Flux in the Dry-hot Valleys of Southwest China-an Example of the Longchuan River

The sediment flux data, measured from a dry-hot valley of the Longchuan River, a tributary of the lower Jinsha River, were analyzed with Mann-Kendall test, Seasonal Mann-Kendall test and Sen‘s test. In both the upper reaches (Xiaohekou) and the lower reaches (Xiaohuangguayuan), the sediment fluxes showed a significant increase from 1970 to 2001, despite the fact that the water discharge did not change significantly during the period and numerous reservoir constructions which contribute to the trap of sediment. This can be attributed to the intensification of human activities, especially the activities related to land surface disturbances such as deforestation and afforestation, expansion of agriculture land, and road constructions. This increase is more significant in the lower reaches of the river observed at the place of Xiaohuangguayuan due to the dry-hot climate. The profound increase in sediment flux has significant implications for effective management of the sedimentation problems of the on-going Three Gorges Reservoir.     

Multilayer distribution of carbon dioxide system in surface water of the Yellow Sea in spring

Surface water can be divided into three layers from top downward: surface microlayer (SML, thickness≤50 μm), subsurface layer (SSL, ≈25 cm) and surface layer (SL, 1–5m), among which the SML plays an important role on sea-air interaction because of its unique physical-chemical property. Carbon dioxide system including DIC (dissolved inorganic carbon), Alk (alkalinity), pH and pCO2 (partial pressure of CO2) in multilayered waters of the Yellow Sea was studied for the first time in March and May 2005. The results show that: DIC and Alk are obviously enriched in SML. The contents of DIC, Alk and pCO2 become lower in turn from SML, SSL to SL, higher in March and lower in May, whereas for pH it was opposite. The relationship between DIC and Alk is clearly positive, but negative between pH and pCO2. Meanwhile, pCO2 and temperature/salinity is also in positive relation, pCO2 decreases with latitude increase. DIC and Alk show a similar variation trend with the maximum at 02:00–03:00, but pH and pCO2 show an opposite pattern. In addition, the distribution patterns are similar to each other in the three layers. The Yellow Sea is shown to be a sink of atmospheric CO2 in spring by two methods: (1) comparing pCO2 in seawater and atmosphere; (2) turning direction of “pH-depth” curve. Calculation on the base of pCO2 data in SML in four models shows that carbon flux in spring in the area was about -6.96×106 t C.     

Seasonal fluctuation of Myxobolus gibelioi (Myxosporea) plasmodia in the gills of the farmed allogynogenetic gibel carp in China

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Post-sedimentary Transformation of Lateral Moraines——the Tributary Tongue Basins of the Kvíárjokull（Iceland）

The Kvíárjokull,a southern outlet glacier of the Vatnajokull,is confined in the mountain foreland by lateral moraines measuring a height of up to 150 m. Each of the lateral moraines shows considerable breaches with deviations of the main moraine ridges. The paper discusses the possible origins of these modifications of the lateral moraines as result of： 1） ice overlappings during glacier advances and subsequent breaches of the lateral moraine,2） bifurcations of the Kvíárjokull glacier tongue triggered by the preglacial relief conditions and the prehistorical moraine landscape leading to afflux conditions,3） drainage of ice-marginal glacier lakes and 4. volcanic activities,such as lava flows and volcanic-induced jokulhlaups. A historic-genetic model of the formation of the lateral moraines is presented considering the breaches in the lateral moraines as result from glacier bifurcations and therefore as former tributary tongue basins. Such breaches in the lateral moraines are also common landscape features at glaciers outside of Iceland and are from wider importance for the paleoreconstruction of former glacier stages. The knowledge of their development is essential for an adequate relative age classification of individual moraine ridges. In regard to the origin of the debris supply areas of the large-sized Kvíárjokull moraines,the resedimentation of prehistoric till deposits by younger glacier advances plays a role in the formation of the lateral moraines apart from englacial and supraglacial sediment transfer processes.