Paleolimnological evidence of the consequences of recent increased dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in lakes of the northeastern USA

As a result of reductions in sulfate deposition and changing climate, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations have increased in many lakes situated in forests of northeastern North America and northern Europe since the 1990s. Although this increase is well documented, the associated ecological implications remain unclear. In particular, DOC strongly influences the vertical temperature structure of lakes, with increasing DOC often leading to a shallower epilimnion. We investigated the effect of increased DOC concentrations on lake thermal structure using fossil diatom records from six remote Maine lakes. Sedimentary diatom profiles from three pairs of small (<0.5 km²) lakes were compared, with each pair containing one lake with a documented significant increase in DOC and the other experiencing no change in DOC since the early 1990s. Lake thermal structure was inferred from changes in the relative abundance of Discostella stelligera and Aulacoseira species, two diatom taxa that are associated with changes in thermal stratification. The three lakes without increasing DOC showed no change in diatom-inferred mixing depth over the past few decades. Of the lakes with documented increases in DOC, two showed the highest turnover in diatom community structure over time. Profiles from both of these lakes also indicated directional change in diatom-inferred mixing depth over the past 20 years, but the direction of change differed. This study demonstrates that recent increases in DOC have the potential to alter the physical and biological structure of lakes, but that these responses may differ across lakes.     

Organic carbon accumulation in oligotrophic coastal lakes in southern Brazil during the last century

Journal of Paleolimnology - We report organic carbon (OC) accumulation rates in three freshwater ecosystems in southern Brazil, along the largest shallow coastal lagoon ecosystem in the world, the...     

Diatom transfer-functions for quantifying past air temperature, pH and total organic carbon concentration from lakes in northern Sweden

The relationships between diatoms (Bacillariophyceae) in surface sediments of lakes and summer air temperature, pH and total organic carbon concentration (TOC) were explored along a steep climatic gradient in northern Sweden to provide a tool to infer past climate conditions from sediment cores. The study sites are in an area with low human impact and range from boreal forest to alpine tundra. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) constrained to mean July air temperature and pH clearly showed that diatom community composition was different between lakes situated in conifer-, mountain birch- and alpine-vegetation zones. As a consequence, diatoms and multivariate ordination methods can be used to infer past changes in treeline position and dominant forest type. Quantitative inference models were developed to estimate mean July air temperature, pH and TOC from sedimentary diatom assemblages using weighted averaging (WA) and weighted averaging partial least squares (WA-PLS) regression. Relationships between diatoms and mean July air temperature were independent of lake-water pH, TOC, alkalinity and maximum depth. The results demonstrated that diatoms in lake sediments can provide useful and independent quantitative information for estimating past changes in mean July air temperature (R² _jack = 0.62, RMSEP = 0.86 °C; R² and root mean squared error of prediction (RMSEP) based on jack-knifing), pH (R² _jack = 0.61, RMSEP = 0.30) and TOC (R² _jack = 0.49, RMSEP = 1.33 mg l^-1). The paper focuses mainly on the relationship between diatom community composition and mean July air temperature, but the relationships to pH and TOC are also discussed.     

Mining and hydrological transformations in Upper Silesia from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century

This paper analyses the influence of mining on hydrological conditions in Upper Silesia from the fifteenth to the nineteenth centuries. The perturbation of local hydrological conditions began in the fifteenth century as a result of wide-scale mining of iron, silver and lead ores. Further changes took place during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, following the application of gravitational mine drainage. As a result, a compact cone of depression, covering an area of about three square kilometres was created. In the eighteenth century, the activities of mills, sawmills and smelters caused considerable changes in the surface river network and created the so-called anthropogenic Upper Silesian Lakeland. At the end of the eighteenth century, underground mining activity was renewed and as a result the area of the compact cone of depression increased to ten square kilometres and its depth reached 50 metres.     

A comparison of the reactions to government taxation measures of twentieth century mining companies and nineteenth century pastoralists

This paper compares pastoralists in South Australia in the nineteenth century with Australian mining companies in the twentieth century as they resist the efforts of government to extract a greater proportion of the wealth created in the exploitation of natural resources. In effect, in both cases the struggle relates to the allocation of economic rent between private and corporate capital on the one hand, and the owners of the resources, the people of Australia, on the other. It is difficult not to be impressed by the similarities in the ideologies, objectives and strategies of these two groups of resource exploiters, separated though they are by over one hundred years.     

Dissolved and total organic and inorganic carbon in some British rivers

Rivers transport both organic and inorganic carbon from their sources to the sea. Results of ~800 organic and inorganic analyses from various British rivers of contrasting size and land use are presented here: (1) the headwater River Tern, a rural river of 852 km² catchment; (2) the Ouseburn, a small urban 55 km² catchment; (3) the River Tyne, a larger river system of ~3000 km² catchment; (4) a spatial survey from 205 sample sites on ~60 rivers from SW England. We found that, with the exception of peat-rich headwaters, DIC concentration is always greater than DOC. DIC is primarily in the form HCO₃ ⁻ , with DIC concentrations highest in highly urbanised catchments, typically greater than those observed in catchments with carbonate bedrock, demonstrating a significant and previously unrecognised anthropogenic inorganic carbon input to urban rivers.     

清末以来洞庭湖区通江湖泊的时空演变

本文利用清光绪22年以来17个时段的多种历史地图和航天航空遥感数据,采用遥感解译、数据统计分析与历史对比方法,分析清末以来洞庭湖区通江湖泊面积的时序变化,探究空间演变特征。结合水利部门发布的典型年份监测数据,检验了遥感获取的湖泊面积精度,误差仅为0.62%。结果显示：洞庭湖通江湖泊面积从1896年的5216.37 km²减少到2019年的2702.74 km²,萎缩率为48.19%。1949年前的53年为明显萎缩期,年均萎缩15.66 km²;20世纪50年代为陡崖式萎缩期,年均萎缩139.05 km²;20世纪60—70年代为快速萎缩期,年均萎缩21.66 km²;1980年以来为基本稳定期,年均萎缩0.13 km²,面积仅减少了5.10 km²。就具体湖泊而言,东洞庭湖是各通江湖泊中面积萎缩最大的湖泊,减幅为922.60 km²;其次是目平湖,减幅为588.05 km²;再次是南洞庭湖,减幅为448.37 km²;七里湖的面积变化很小,但经历了先扩张后萎缩的过程。1998—2002年实施“退田还湖”工程,洞庭湖面积增加了10.50 km²。总体而言,清末以来洞庭湖区通江湖泊的演变主要表现为大通湖的封闭析出、整修南洞庭湖的湖垸置换与南迁、围垦西洞庭湖的局部残存、东洞庭湖的三面合围以及1998年特大洪灾后有限的“退田还湖”。本文为长江流域生态修复和环境保护战略提供了客观资料和技术支撑。     

19世纪以来基督教新教在广东的空间扩散模式

地理环境往往会对宗教的扩散和分布产生重要影响。扩散是宗教地理研究关注的一个重要方面,而对具体宗教扩散模式的研究在国内尚属薄弱。对基督教新教自19世纪初传入广东后的空间扩散形态进行分析,发现存在着多种扩散模式。其中,点轴式迁移扩散最为普遍,但中间障碍的存在常常使发展轴线发生变换;等级扩散呈现出按照人口分布规模、交通地重要性和行政等级的特征;传染扩散模式随着媒介的变化而不断演进;依托海岛的跳板式扩散则是沿海地区基督教扩散的特殊形式。这些模式虽是从经典文化扩散模式演化而来,但在具体特征上已有显著变化。研究试图对传统的文化扩散模式进行重新解读,并为"腹地－口岸－市场"的文化扩散理论提供成熟案例。     

Factors influencing the recession rate of Niagara Falls since the 19th century

The rate of recession of Niagara Falls (Horseshoe and American Falls) in northeastern North America has been documented since the 19th century; it shows a decreasing trend from ca. 1 m y^− 1 a century ago to ca. 0.1 m y^− 1 at present. Reduction of the flow volume in the Niagara River due to diversion into bypassing hydroelectric schemes has often been taken to be the factor responsible, but other factors such as changes in the waterfall shape could play a role and call for a quantitative study. Here, we examine the effect of physical factors on the historically varying recession rates of Niagara Falls, using an empirical equation which has previously been proposed based on a non-dimensional multiparametric model which incorporates flow volume, waterfall shape and bedrock strength. The changes in recession rates of Niagara Falls in the last century are successfully modeled by this empirical equation; these changes are caused by variations in flow volume and lip length. This result supports the validity of the empirical equation for waterfalls in rivers carrying little transported sediment. Our analysis also suggests that the decrease in the recession rate of Horseshoe Falls is related to both artificial reduction in river discharge and natural increase in waterfall lip length, whereas that of American Falls is solely due to the reduction in flow volume.     

Paleolimnological reconstruction of recent acidity changes in four Sierra Nevada lakes

We have completed a paleolimnological analysis of sediment cores from four lakes in the Sierra Nevada Range of California (USA). The diatom-inferred pH profile from Harriet Lake in Yosemite National Park (present pH=6.52) indicates no significant trends over the last 250 years. Inferred pH from Emerald Lake in Sequoia National Park (present pH=6.10) indicates a very small increase (<0.1 pH unit) over the past 60 years and perhaps another small increase (ca. 0.15 pH unit) since 1976. Eastern Brook Lake in Inyo National Forest (present pH=7.06) shows evidence of both long-term alkalinification (ca. 0.3 pH unit over the last 200 years) and pH fluctuations since 1970. Lake 45 in King's Canyon National Park (present pH=5.16) appears to have acidified slightly (ca. 0.2 pH unit) over the last 60 years. Factors causing the observed trends are uncertain, but a role for acidic deposition cannot be ruled out.     

An expanded weighted-averaging model for inferring past total phosphorus concentrations from diatom assemblages in eutrophic British Columbia (Canada) lakes

Eighteen lakes were added to a published training set of 46 British Columbia (BC) lakes in order to expand the original range of total phosphorus (TP) concentrations. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) was used to analyze the relationship between diatom assemblages and environmental variables. Specific conductivity and [TP] each explained significant (P0.05) directions of variance in the distribution of the diatoms. The relationship between diatom assemblages and [TP] was sufficiently strong to warrant the development of a weighted-averaging (WA) regression and calibration model that can be used to infer past trophic status from fossil diatom assemblages.The relationship between observed and inferred [TP] was not improved by the addition of more eutrophic lakes, however the [TP] range and the number of taxa used in the transfer function are now superior to the original model. Diatom species assemblages changed very little in lakes with TP concentrations greater than 85 µg 1^–1, so we document the development of a model containing lakes with TP85 µg 1^–1. The updated model uses 59 training lakes and covers a range of species optima from 6 to 41.9 µg 1^–1 TP, and a total of 150 diatom taxa.The updated inference model provided a more realistic reconstruction of the anthropogenic history of a highly eutrophic BC lake. The model can now be used to infer past nutrient conditions in other BC lakes in order to assess changes in trophic status.     

21世纪以来俄罗斯人口增长与空间分布格局变化

在“一带一路”与“中蒙俄经济走廊”倡议的背景下,利用人口增减变化率、人口重心、人口密度变化率、人口地理集中度、人口商度等研究21世纪以来俄罗斯的人口增长与空间分布格局变化。结果表明：（1）21世纪以来,俄罗斯人口经历了先降后增的变化过程;中央区的人口显著上升,伏尔加、西伯利亚与远东区均呈下降趋势;莫斯科、圣彼得堡、乌拉尔区、北高加索区南端的联邦主体人口快速增加,西伯利亚区多数联邦主体人口缓慢增加,远东东部、莫斯科外围地域、伏尔加区多数联邦主体的人口缓慢减少,西北区北端联邦主体的人口急剧减少。（2）俄人口空间分布格局变化主要受地区间人口迁移流动的影响。空间上,俄人口重心不断朝西北向迁移,莫斯科市与圣彼得堡市的人口密度快速增加,远东与东西伯利亚区的人口密度缓慢降低,强化了俄人口分界线——“圣彼得堡-图瓦线”。以“圣图线”为界,俄“西密东疏”“欧洲密、亚洲疏”的格局短期不会改变,整体呈“一横、四纵、两团”及若干区域人口集团的空间结构。     

20世纪以来强火山喷发对中国温度变化区域差异的影响

本文根据1901年以来的62次强火山(VEI≥4)喷发年表和英国东安格利亚大学气候研究中心发布的格点气温资料(CRU TS v.3.22),采用时序叠加分析方法,辨识了不同纬度、不同季节强火山喷发对中国温度变化区域差异的影响。结果表明：不同纬度强火山喷发后的1~2年,中国温度基本以下降为主,但降温强度存在显著的区域与季节差异。高纬火山喷发后的显著降温区域发生在东北和东南地区,冬半年温度下降达1.2°C,夏半年温度下降2.0°C;中低纬火山喷发后,冬半年温度的显著下降区域发生在青藏、东南和东中部地区,幅度为1.3~2.2°C,夏半年温度下降幅度比冬半年小;赤道火山喷发后,冬半年温度显著下降区域发生在东北、东南和青藏地区,且降温幅度均大于1.2°C,夏半年西北和东中部地区降温幅度偏小。此外,强火山喷发后第3年,部分地区还出现二次降温现象,降幅甚至超过第一次;然而,同一纬度强火山喷发后,其所造成的降温幅度和降温区域差异与强火山喷发的季节关系不大。     

Spatially distributed modelling and mapping of soil organic carbon and total nitrogen stocks in the Eastern Mau Forest Reserve,Kenya

Detailed knowledge about the estimates and spatial patterns of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks is fundamental for sustainable land management and climate change mitigation. This study aimed at: (1) mapping the spatial patterns, and (2) quantifying SOC and TN stocks to 30 cm depth in the Eastern Mau Forest Reserve using field, remote sensing, geographical information systems (GIS), and statistical modelling approaches. This is a critical ecosystem offering essential services, but its sustainability is threatened by deforestation and degradation. Results revealed that elevation, silt content, TN concentration, and Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager band 11 explained 72% of the variability in SOC stocks, while the same factors (except silt content) explained 71% of the variability in TN stocks. The results further showed that soil properties, particularly TN and SOC concentrations, were more important than that other environmental factors in controlling the observed patterns of SOC and TN stocks, respectively. Forests stored the highest amounts of SOC and TN (3.78 Tg C and 0.38 Tg N) followed by croplands (2.46 Tg C and 0.25 Tg N) and grasslands (0.57 Tg C and 0.06 Tg N). Overall, the Eastern Mau Forest Reserve stored approximately 6.81 Tg C and 0.69 Tg N. The highest estimates of SOC and TN stocks (hotspots) occurred on the western and northwestern parts where forests dominated, while the lowest estimates (coldspots) occurred on the eastern side where croplands had been established. Therefore, the hotspots need policies that promote conservation, while the coldspots need those that support accumulation of SOC and TN stocks.     

Selective erosion of clay,organic carbon and total nitrogen in grazed semiarid rangelands of northeastern Patagonia,Argentina

In arid and semiarid rangelands, soil erosion has been widely considered an important soil degradation process and one of the main factors responsible for declining soil fertility. In this study, we determined the sediment production and the enrichment ratios of clay, organic C, and total N by using rainfall simulations on runoff plots (0.60 × 1.67 m) in three plant communities of northeastern Patagonia: grass (GS), degraded grass with scattered shrubs (DGS), and degraded shrub steppes (DSS). Our results clearly indicate that spatial variability in soil loss rate and enrichment process exists as a result of the local differences in both plant composition and soil surface characteristics. Sediment production was significantly lower in the GS (14.2 g m⁻²) compared with the DGS and DSS (38.2 and 51.5 g m⁻², respectively). In the GS, the enrichment ratio of clay was significantly greater (3.9) and enrichment ratio of organic C was lower (3.1) than in the DGS and the DSS, though differences in enrichment ratios of total N were not significant. The high rate of soil loss and nutrients through overland-flow may limit the opportunities that promote the pathway from DGS back to GS community, favoring the dominance of shrubs.     

基于历史文献资料的17世纪以来东北亚台风信息挖掘

西北太平洋地区,尤其是东北亚地区,台风灾害多发,这些地区的台风的运动轨迹变化会对社会经济发展带来深刻的影响。台风活动跨海而行,因此将东北亚几个国家的历史台风信息结合起来,才能看出其全貌。中日两国,最早通过仪器观测描述的台风路径分别为1879年和1878年,历史时期的东北亚地区台风事件只能靠历史文献来推测。以在台风路径的推测上具有问题（台风影响范围评估、详细记录时间的利用、2次相近台风的辨别等）的4次台风事件为例,讨论17世纪以来东北亚台风路径的推测方法。通过对台风个案的讨论,指出将致灾记录和感应记录相结合的可行性;利用仪器观测时期台风记录验证历史文献记载的有效性。相当一部分日记资料在古风暴研究中仍处于未被发掘状态。历史上流传至今的公用日记和各名家的家记,拥有较长的写作时间和较为均质的写作内容,可提高跨国界古风暴研究的时空分辨率。     

Evaluation of the eco-efficiency of four major urban agglomerations in coastal eastern China

Urban agglomerations in China have become the strategic core of national economic development and the main component of the new type of urbanization. However, they are threatened by a series of eco-environmental problems and challenges, including the severe overexploitation of natural resources. Eco-efficiency, which is defined as accomplishing the greatest possible economic benefit with the least possible resource input and damage to the environment, is used as an indicator to quantify the sustainability of urban agglomerations. In this work, a traditional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model with a slack-based measurement (SBM) model of undesirable outputs, was used to assess and compare the economic efficiency and eco-efficiency of four major urban agglomerations in eastern China (UAECs) in 2005, 2011, and 2014. The spatio-temporal characteristics of the evolution of urban agglomerations were analyzed. Based on the results of a slack analysis, suggestions for improving the eco-efficiency of the four UAECs are provided. The overall economic efficiency of urban agglomerations located in the Shandong Peninsula, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta displayed a V-shaped pattern (decreased and then increased). In contrast, the overall economic efficiency of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration declined during the study period. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei urban agglomeration had a considerable loss of economic efficiency due to pollution, whereas the Shandong Peninsula urban agglomeration was less impacted. Overall, the eco-environmental efficiency of the four UAECs declined from 2005 to 2011 and then increased from 2011 to 2014. In addition, the urban eco-efficiency in the four coastal UAECs was characterized by different evolution patterns. The eco-efficiency was higher in the peri-urban areas of the core cities, riverside areas, and seaside areas and lower in the inland cities. The core cities of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Delta, and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations were characterized by high resource consumption, economic benefit output, and eco-efficiency. In most of cities in the urban agglomerations, the emission of pollutants declined, leading to a reduction of pollutants and mitigation of environmental problems. In addition, a differential analysis, from the perspective of urban agglomeration, was performed, and concrete suggestions for improvement are proposed.

     

Diatom responses to 20th century climate-related environmental changes in high-elevation mountain lakes of the northern Canadian Cordillera

Diatom responses to 20th century climate-related environmental change were assessed from three high-elevation lakes in the northern Canadian Cordillera. Dominance of small benthic Fragilaria diatoms reflect the generally cold conditions with long periods of ice cover that have characterized these mountain lakes over at least the last ~300 years until the period of recent warming. At the turn of the 20th century, salient shifts in the diatom assemblages reveal individualistic limnological responses with the onset of climate warming trends in northwest Canada. At YK3 Lake, an oligotrophic, chemically dilute, alpine lake, increased representation of the planktonic Cyclotella pseudostelligera may reflect longer ice-free conditions and/or more stable thermal stratification. By contrast, in the more productive, alkaline lakes (BC2 and Deadspruce lakes), changes to more diverse assemblages of periphytic diatoms suggest greater benthic habitat availability, most likely associated with the enhanced growth of aquatic plants with lengthening of the growing seasons. In addition, diatom assemblages from these lakes suggest less alkaline conditions following the onset of 20th century climate warming. Continued alkalinity reduction throughout the 20th century is qualitatively inferred at the lower elevation, treeline lake (Deadspruce Lake), while greater representation of alkaliphilous Fragilaria diatoms after ~1950 suggested increased alkalinity at the alpine BC2 Lake. Our results confirm the sensitivity of diatoms from high-elevation mountain lakes to regional climate change in northwest Canada. Individualistic limnological responses to 20th century warming are potentially attributed to differences in their physical setting (e.g., bedrock geology, elevation, catchment vegetation) in this complex mountain environment.     

Paleoecological investigation of recent lake acidification in the northern Great Lakes states

Paleoecological analyses of sediments from nine northern Great Lakes states (NGLS) lakes reveal small pH changes in seven of these lakes since 1860, four of these being declines. The largest diatom-inferred (DI) pH declines of 0.5 pH units were found in Brown L. and Denton L., Wisconsin. Two other lakes with suspected total alkalinity declines (based on an acidification model and on historical water chemistry, respectively), McNearney L., Michigan, and Camp 12 L., Wisconsin, have not acidified recently according to diatom-inference techniques. Many of the observed trends of increasing pH are coincident with logging; floristic composition of diatom assemblages also changed coincident with fisheries manipulations in some lakes, but these floristic trends did not affect DI pH. Sediment core profiles of Pb, S, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons provide a record of atmospheric deposition of fossil fuel combustion products beginning around the turn of the century; onset is later and accumulation rates are smaller than for other northeastern study regions of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) Project. The response of diatom species to lakewater pH in the NGLS region is very strong and similar to response in other regions. Overall, there is little paleoecological evidence that acidic deposition has caused significant acidification of lakes in the NGLS region.This is the twelfth of a series of papers to be published by this journal which is a contribution of the Paleoecological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) project. Drs. D.F. Charles and D.R. Whitehead are guest editors for this series.