A Model Framework to Determine the Production Potential of Fish Derived from Coastal Habitats for Use in Habitat Restoration

Metrics of fish production are often used to guide habitat restoration in coastal ecosystems. In this study, we present a general model framework to estimate the absolute production potential of fish (i.e., fish and large decapods) derived from coastal habitats. Production potential represents lifetime production, whether or not the fish uses the habitat of interest for their entire lifespan. The framework uses an age-structured Leslie population matrix with length-dependent survival and fecundity, coupled with growth and length-weight functions. Uncertainty quantification was also included and accounted for parameter dependencies using copulas. Given the limited abundance data available, we made the simplifying assumptions of steady-state populations and a direct scaling of the resultant proportional stable age distribution with observed fish density (in at least one age class). Literature values for regional estimates of mortality and growth were used. We applied our model using data of fish density from seagrass (Zostera marina, eelgrass) beds and bare soft-sediment bottom on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. A total of 22 species of fish was collected. Species-specific estimates of fish production potential from seagrass ranged from 8.6 × 10^?3 to 50.0 g WW m^?2 year^?1, with uncertainty estimates being within the same order of magnitude as the median. Production potential of most fishes was enhanced by seagrass relative to adjacent bare sediment. The model framework can be adapted and extended to include increasing complexity (e.g., time dependencies) as more extensive data are acquired, and thus has application beyond that presented here.     

Wetland Accretion Rate Model of Ecosystem Resilience (WARMER) and Its Application to Habitat Sustainability for Endangered Species in the San Francisco Estuary

Salt marsh faunas are constrained by specific habitat requirements for marsh elevation relative to sea level and tidal range. As sea level rises, changes in relative elevation of the marsh plain will have differing impacts on the availability of habitat for marsh obligate species. The Wetland Accretion Rate Model for Ecosystem Resilience (WARMER) is a 1-D model of elevation that incorporates both biological and physical processes of vertical marsh accretion. Here, we use WARMER to evaluate changes in marsh surface elevation and the impact of these elevation changes on marsh habitat for specific species of concern. Model results were compared to elevation-based habitat criteria developed for marsh vegetation, the endangered California clapper rail (Rallus longirostris obsoletus), and the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys raviventris) to determine the response of marsh habitat for each species to predicted >1-m sea-level rise by 2100. Feedback between vertical accretion mechanisms and elevation reduced the effect of initial elevation in the modeled scenarios. Elevation decreased nonlinearly with larger changes in elevation during the latter half of the century when the rate of sea-level rise increased. Model scenarios indicated that changes in elevation will degrade habitat quality within salt marshes in the San Francisco Estuary, and degradation will accelerate in the latter half of the century as the rate of sea-level rise accelerates. A sensitivity analysis of the model results showed that inorganic sediment accumulation and the rate of sea-level rise had the greatest influence over salt marsh sustainability.     

Estimates of Natural Salinity and Hydrology in a Subtropical Estuarine Ecosystem: Implications for Greater Everglades Restoration

Disruption of the natural patterns of freshwater flow into estuarine ecosystems occurred in many locations around the world beginning in the twentieth century. To effectively restore these systems, establishing a pre-alteration perspective allows managers to develop science-based restoration targets for salinity and hydrology. This paper describes a process to develop targets based on natural hydrologic functions by coupling paleoecology and regression models using the subtropical Greater Everglades Ecosystem as an example. Paleoecological investigations characterize the circa 1900 CE (pre-alteration) salinity regime in Florida Bay based on molluscan remains in sediment cores. These paleosalinity estimates are converted into time series estimates of paleo-based salinity, stage, and flow using numeric and statistical models. Model outputs are weighted using the mean square error statistic and then combined. Results indicate that, in the absence of water management, salinity in Florida Bay would be about 3 to 9 salinity units lower than current conditions. To achieve this target, upstream freshwater levels must be about 0.25 m higher than indicated by recent observed data, with increased flow inputs to Florida Bay between 2.1 and 3.7 times existing flows. This flow deficit is comparable to the average volume of water currently being diverted from the Everglades ecosystem by water management. The products (paleo-based Florida Bay salinity and upstream hydrology) provide estimates of pre-alteration hydrology and salinity that represent target restoration conditions. This method can be applied to any estuarine ecosystem with available paleoecologic data and empirical and/or model-based hydrologic data.     

Eutrophication of an Urban Forest Ecosystem: Causes and Effects

Doklady Earth Sciences - The combined use of methods of passive dosimetry of the status of atmospheric air, phytoindication, and cartographic visualization of data made it possible to elaborate and...     

Understanding the Biogeochemical Process and Mechanism of Ecosystem Carbon Cycle from the Perspective of the Earth's Critical Zone

Previous research rarely considers the biogeochemistry process of the whole rock weathering layer-soil profile. The aim of Critical Zone science is re-understanding the structure and function of ecosystems from the canopy to bedrock, which emphasizes the relationship of material and energy between atmosphere and plant, between plant and soil, between soil and river in small watershed on the watershed scale. Carbon fixation and allocation are the key starting processes. Decomposition and transformation of soil carbon are the key turnover processes. Carbon migration and balance in small watershed are the key transfer processes. Further research is needed in the process, mechanism and ecology function of ecosystem carbon cycle from the canopy to bedrock based on the watershed scale. Carbon isotope technology has the function of indication, tracing and integration. Based on the ¹³C natural tracing and artificial labelling methods, we can further understand the process and mechnism of carbon biogeochemistry.     

基于水化学及稳定同位素的西藏察雅地下热水成因研究

西藏察雅分布有两处地下热水,其中娘曲热水流量达23 356 m ³/d,温度达36 ℃,掌握其成因以及地下水循环模式对铁路隧道的规划建设具有重要意义。为查明地下热水水化学特征及其成因模式,采用同位素水文地球化学方法进行研究。结果表明:两处地下热水主要阳离子为Ca ²⁺和Mg ²⁺,主要阴离子为SO₄^2-和HCO₃^-,溶解性总固体含量为1 255~2 051 mg/L,水化学类型分别为SO₄·HCO₃-Ca·Mg型和SO₄-Ca·Mg型。氢氧同位素分析结果表明,地下热水补给来源主要为大气降水,并具有 ¹⁸O漂移现象,反映了热水与围岩的氧同位素交换效应。地下热水的补给高程为4 146~4 185 m,热储温度为53.1~61.0 ℃,循环深度为1 409~2 020 m。其成因模式为:地下水在东北部高山区接收大气降水入渗补给,沿岩溶裂隙管道径流,经深循环获得大地热流加热,受构造及岩层阻水影响沿断层上升,在上升过程中与份额达0.79~0.91的浅层地下水混合,于沟谷等地势切割处出露成泉。综合水文地质条件与隧道位置分析,隧道穿越的两处岩溶富水条带,东部岩溶富水区对隧道突涌水威胁较小;西部岩溶富水区对隧道存在构造岩溶水高压突涌水风险,后期应注意防范。     

Effects of Oxygen Loss on Carbon Processing and Heterotrophic Prokaryotes from an Estuarine Ecosystem: Results from Stable Isotope Probing and Cytometry Analyses

Many aquatic ecosystems are experiencing a decline in their oxygen (O₂) content and this is predicted to continue. Implications of this change on several properties of bacterioplankton (heterotrophic prokaryotes) remain however are poorly known. In this study, oxic samples (～170 μM O₂?=?controls) from an oligohaline region of the Scheldt Estuary were purged with N₂ to yield low-O₂ samples (～69 μM O₂?=?treatments); all were amended with ¹³C-glucose and incubated in dark to examine carbon incorporation and cell size of heterotrophic prokaryotes, and relationships between organic matter (OM) degradation and phosphate (P) availability in waters following O₂ loss. Stable isotope (¹³C) probing of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA) and flow cytometry were used. In samples that have experienced O₂ loss, PLFA biomass became higher, prokaryotic cells had significantly larger size and higher nucleic acid content, but P concentrations was lower, compared to controls. P concentration and OM degradation were positively related in controls, but uncoupled in low-O₂ samples. Moreover, the dominant PLFA 16:1ω7c (likely mainly from Gram-negative bacteria) and the nucleic acid content of heterotrophic prokaryotic cells in low-O₂ samples explained (62–72 %) differences between controls and low-O₂ samples in P amounts. Shortly after incubations began, low-O₂ samples had consistently lower bacterial PLFA ¹³C-enrichments, suggesting involvement of facultatively anaerobic metabolism in carbon incorporation, and supporting the view that this metabolic pathway is widespread among pelagic bacteria in coastal nutrient-rich ecosystems. Estimates based on ¹³C-enrichment of PLFAs indicated that grazing by protozoa on some bacteria was stronger in low-O₂ samples than in controls, suggesting that the grazing pressure on some heterotrophic prokaryotes may increase at the onset of O₂ deficiency in nutrient-rich aquatic systems. These findings also suggest that physiological responses of heterotrophic prokaryotes to O₂ loss in such ecosystems include increases in cell activity, high carbon incorporation, and possibly phosphorus retention by cells that may contribute to reduce phosphate availability in waters.     

古气候恢复及其对沉积的控制作用——以四川盆地上三叠统须家河组为例

四川盆地上三叠统须家河组是盆地的主力产层,该组发育的6段地层表现为砂-泥间互的"三明治"式沉积结构.为了探讨古气候对这种沉积结构的控制作用,文章首次利用孢粉学方法、元素比值法和自然伽马曲线法分别恢复了四川盆地晚三叠世须家河期各段地层沉积时期的古气候.孢粉植被法识别出蕨类和裸子类孢粉化石共计78属,呈现"拟网叶蕨孢属-凹...     

Application of an Improved Flow-Stress-Damage Model to the Criticality Assessment of Water Inrush in a Mine: a Case Study

This paper presents a case study of water inrush on a mine working face from roof strata. The flow-rock failure process analysis (F-RFPA^2D) code with an improved flow-stress-damage (FSD) model was adopted to perform the failure and coupling analysis. The improved FSD model was used to represent the permeability variation at the four stages (elastic, damaged, cracked, and crack closure) of the rock failure process. The fracture initiation, propagation, and coalescence in the stressed strata and the seepage field evolution in the stress field are represented visually during the whole process of water inrush. The failure zone with high permeability induced by mining disturbance becomes the water-conducting zone after full excavation of the coal seam. The height of the water-conducting zone obtained in this study is in reasonable accordance with that predicted by an empirical formula. It is definitely clarified that the water inrush from the roof strata is induced by the failure zone full of vertical coalesced mine fractures. It is unlikely that roof accidents resulting in water inrush would occur if the water-conducting zone does not grow upwards into the aquifer. The main task for mine extraction under a confined aquifer is to locate the aquifer and find the maximum height of the water-conducting zone, which is very important for mine construction and support design.     

Ecosystem model of an estuarine submersed plant community: Calibration and simulation of eutrophication responses

As water quality in the Chesapeake Bay has declined over recent decades, formely healthy submersed plant communities have disappeared from littoral areas of the mesohaline estuary. A dynamic simulation model of shallow regions of bay tributaries (<1 m) was developed to investigate growth responses of submersed vascular plants to eutrophication and habitat degradation. Our objectives were to elucidate mechanisms responsible for the decline and to evaluate conditions required for plant restoration and survival. State varibles in the model are plant leaves, roots, phytoplankton, epiphytes, and detrital material. The model calculates biomass pools and biogeochemical rate processes over annual cycles with a time step of 6 h. Simulations were performed to investigate the influence of phytoplankton and epiphytes on the underwater light environment, how the balance of limiting resources (light and nutrients) controls growth and productivity of submersed plants, and conditions necessary, for the restoration of submersed vegetation. Model output for submersed plants was calibrated to baseline data from the mid 1970s (r²=0.86); simulations reproduced declines in plant biomass with increasing nutrient enrichment. Model experiments showed, that by increasing nutrient inputs 40% above levels observed in the 1960s, submersed plants disappeared within 1–2 yr due to enhanced growth of phytoplankton and epiphytes, which reduced light below required levels. Epiphytes were more important than were phytoplankton in attenuating light. The relationship between nutrient enrichment and plant loss rate was complex, as epiphyte density on leaf surfaces was not linearly related to nutrient levels. Relatively small nutrient increases could have a large effect on submersed plants because epiphyte density on leaves increased exponentially as leaf surface area decreased. Exchanges of organic carbon and nutrients between leaf and root compartments were seasonally variable and were critical for survival of submersed plants. The amount of root-rhizome material available for regrowth could control the outcome of nutrient reduction strategies. Consequently, model predictions of plant restoration success were highly dependent on initial conditions. The model is being used successfully as a research tool to interpret ecological relationships in the ongoing re-evaluation of management alternatives for submersed plant restoration.     

Reforming Watershed Restoration: Science in Need of Application and Applications in Need of Science

Coastal and inland waters are continuing to decline in many parts of the world despite major efforts made to restore them. This is due in part to the inadequate role that ecological science has played in shaping restoration efforts. A significant amount of fundamental ecological knowledge dealing with issues such as system dynamics, state changes, context-dependency of ecological response, and diversity is both under-used by managers and practitioners and under-developed by ecologists for use in real-world applications. Some of the science that is being ‘used’ has not been adequately tested. Thus, restoration ecology as a science and ecological restoration as a practice are in need of reform. I identify five ways in which our ecological knowledge should be influencing restoration to a far greater extent than at present including a need to: shift the focus to restoration of process and identification of the limiting factors instead of structures and single species, add ecological insurance to all projects, identify a probabilistic range of possible outcomes instead of a reference condition, expand the spatial scale of efforts, and apply hierarchical approaches to prioritization. Prominent examples of restoration methods or approaches that are commonly used despite little evidence to support their efficacy are highlighted such as the use of only structural enhancements to restore biodiversity. There are also major gaps in scientific knowledge that are of immediate need to policy makers, managers, and restoration practitioners including: predictive frameworks to guide the restoration of ecological processes, identification of social-ecological feedbacks that constrain ecosystem recovery and data to support decisions of where and how to implement restoration projects to achieve the largest gains. I encourage ecologists to respond to the demand for their scientific input so that restoration can shift from an engineering-driven process to a more sustainable enterprise that fully integrates ecological processes and social science methods.     

Doubt and the Values of an Ignorance-Based World View for Restoration: Coastal Louisiana Wetlands

Embracing doubt, a signature strength of science, is an essential core component of an ignorance-based-world view (IBWV) that assumes the areas of certainty are small relative to the large field of ignorance. The contrasting knowledge-based world view (KBWV) assumes that small and mostly insignificant knowledge gaps exist. When the KBWV is combined with a sense of urgency to “do something,” then the intellectual landscape is flattened, the introduction of new ideas is impeded, monitoring and adaptive management is marginalized, risky behaviors continue, and social learning is restricted. The history of three coastal Louisiana land-uses (agricultural impoundment, marsh management, and dredging) is one of ignored and untested assumptions that might have provided a cause-and-effect means to avoid catastrophic land losses—the result of a KBWV that remains the primary perspective of Louisiana’s current coastal restoration and management program that includes river diversions and a proposed expansion of hurricane protection levees into wetlands. I argue from the pathology of results that willful adoption of an IBWV in the administration, management, and implementation of restoration will reduce the scale and diversity of significant missteps in the future, improve project efficiencies, and cause fewer unintended consequences that cannot (again) be retracted.     

高精度古地貌恢复技术及应用——以辽西凸起南段东营组二段下段为例

辽西凸起南段东营组二段下段发育大型岩性-超覆圈闭,储层发育程度以及分布范围是本区油气富集的主控因素。以油组为单位在低勘探程度区开展高精度古地貌恢复,通过剥蚀量恢复,结合埋深和地震响应特征对原始地层厚度进行了压实恢复,并运用岩性、沉积相以及地震响应特征等对该地区进行古水深校正。通过对研究区沟谷的横截面积及延伸长度定量分析,下切沟谷沿地貌形态和地形坡度由高至低,依次发育V型、U型、W型,其发育横截面积和输砂能力依次降低,且不同时期沟谷形态和发育位置的迁移控制了沉积体系发育特征。精细刻画了不同时期储层分布和沉积体系演化特征。     

Spatially controlled Fe and Si isotope variations: an alternative view on the formation of the Torres del Paine pluton

We present new Fe and Si isotope ratio data for the Torres del Paine igneous complex in southern Chile. The multi-composition pluton consists of an approximately 1 km vertical exposure of homogenous granite overlying a contemporaneous 250-m-thick mafic gabbro suite. This first-of-its-kind spatially dependent Fe and Si isotope investigation of a convergent margin-related pluton aims to understand the nature of granite and silicic igneous rock formation. Results collected by MC-ICP-MS show a trend of increasing δ⁵⁶Fe and δ³⁰Si with increasing silica content as well as a systematic increase in δ⁵⁶Fe away from the mafic base of the pluton. The marginal Torres del Paine granites have heavier Fe isotope signatures (δ⁵⁶Fe = +0.25 ± 0.02 2se) compared to granites found in the interior pluton (δ⁵⁶Fe = +0.17 ± 0.02 2se). Cerro Toro country rock values are isotopically light in both Fe and Si isotopic systems (δ⁵⁶Fe = +0.05 ± 0.02 ‰; δ³⁰Si = ?0.38 ± 0.07 ‰). The variations in the Fe and Si isotopic data cannot be accounted for by local assimilation of the wall rocks, in situ fractional crystallization, late-stage fluid exsolution or some combination of these processes. Instead, we conclude that thermal diffusion or source magma variation is the most likely process producing Fe isotope ratio variations in the Torres del Paine pluton.     

Quantifying the Effects of Commercial Clam Aquaculture on C and N Cycling: an Integrated Ecosystem Approach

Increased interest in using bivalve cultivation to mitigate eutrophication requires a comprehensive understanding of the net carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) budgets associated with cultivation on an ecosystem scale. This study quantified C and N processes related to clam (Mercenaria mercenaria) aquaculture in a shallow coastal environment (Cherrystone Inlet, VA) where the industry has rapidly increased. Clam physiological rates were compared with basin-wide ecosystem fluxes including primary production, benthic nutrient regeneration, and respiration. Although clam beds occupy only 3 % of the ecosystem’s surface area, clams filtered 7–44 % of the system’s volume daily, consumed an annual average of 103 % of the phytoplankton production, creating a large flux of particulate C and N to the sediments. Annually, N regenerated and C respired by clam and microbial metabolism in clam beds were ～3- and ～1.5-fold higher, respectively, than N and C removed through harvest. Due to the short water residence time, the low watershed load, and the close vicinity of clam beds to the mouth of Cherrystone Inlet, cultivated clams are likely subsidized by phytoplankton from the Chesapeake Bay. Consequently, much of the N released by mineralization associated with clam cultivation is “new” N as it would not be present in the system without bivalve facilitation. Macroalgae that are fueled by the enhanced N regeneration from clams represents a eutrophying process resulting from aquaculture. This synthesis demonstrates the importance of considering impacts of bivalve aquaculture in an ecosystem context especially relative to the potential of bivalves to remove nutrients and enhance C sinks.     

Habitat use,temporal abundance variability,and diet of blue crabs from a New Jersey estuarine system

In a long-term, spatially comprehensive beam trawl survey of the Navesink River-Sandy Hook Bay estuary, the blue crabCallinectes sapidus was one of the most abundant species. Seasonal changes in abundance were evident, with low abundances in summer followed by peak abundances in the fall, after juveniles recruited to the estuary. We saw no long-term trends in abundance during the 5 yr study. Location in the navesink River or Sandy Hook Bay explained most of the variance in abundance within any one survey. In diet analyses, we found evidence of cannibalism in all seasons, but in the size range of crabs caught in this study (10–180 mm), we did not find a relationship between cannibalism and juvenile crab abundance. Within surveys, crabs divided into 20 mm size categories showed no sizerelated differences in location within the estuary or among 7 habitat types examined (algae bed, amphipod bed, beach, channel, marsh edge, mid-depth, and sandbar). Channels and sandbars tended to exhibit lower crab abundance than other habitats. Shallow habitats with and without cover were equally preferred by juvenile blue crabs, implying that the presence of structure was not critical. Spatial models of crab abundance (<- 80 mm carapace width) to environmental data were fit from several seasons of intensive sampling in the Navesink River-Sandy Hook Bay estuary between summer 1996 and spring 1998. These models indicated that fine-grained sediments, tmmperature, depth, and salinity were good indicators of crab abundance in spring, summer, and fall. Using these spatial models and environmental data collected in subsequent seasons (summer 1998−fall 1999), we were able to predict blue crab abundance in the river as evidenced by significant correlations between predicted and observed abundances. For the size range of crabs examined here, physical conditions may be as important as structural habitat types or cannibalism in determining habitat use in northerly estuaries.     

水-岩作用的线性规划模型与应用研究——以溪洛渡水电工程为例

采用水-岩作用热力学模拟的方法,以溪洛渡水电站工程为实例,从水化学方面对坝区复杂水文地质条件作了定量分析评价。研究成果充分反映了水-岩作用这种物理化学反应的结果,同时也为正确评价溪洛渡水电站复杂水文地质条件提供了可靠的依据。     

Freshwater Contributions and Nitrogen Sources in a South Texas Estuarine Ecosystem: a Time-Integrated Perspective from Stable Isotopic Ratios in the Eastern Oyster (<Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Crassostrea virginica</Emphasis>)

Freshwater inflows to Texas estuaries vary widely due to regional climate fluctuations and are being substantially altered by human activities. The natural abundance stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in oyster adductor muscle were used to acquire a time-integrated view of freshwater and nitrogen contributions to the Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve in South Texas. The study objective was to determine the influence of inputs from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers, which deliver approximately 1.6 km³ of water to the mid-Texas coastal region annually. A transect of sampling stations extending from the head of San Antonio Bay (northeast of the Reserve boundary) to the Aransas Pass ship channel (roughly 70 km to the southwest) was visited multiple times between 2009 and 2011. Carbon isotopic values increased from approximately ?25 to ?17‰ while δ¹⁵N values decreased from approximately +16 to +10‰ between the bay and ship channel. This range of carbon isotope values translates into time-integrated freshwater fractions as high as 0.8 (1 = 100% fresh) at the most inland sampling station to freshwater fractions around zero approaching the Gulf of Mexico. Contributions from the San Antonio and Guadalupe rivers to waters of the reserve vary between wet and dry years, but overall, the data suggest that these rivers are persistent and substantial sources of fresh water and nitrogen to the reserve. This study emphasizes the importance of connectivity and lateral exchanges among bays/lagoons when considering potential sources of fresh water and nitrogen that control ecosystem structure and function.     

Development and Application of a New Tensile Stress Model for Expansive Soils

Cracks initiate and propagate when tensile stress, caused by an increase in suction, becomes greater than tensile strength in expansive soils. It is important to understand the variation of tensile stress with suction for properly tackling the problems associated with cracks. In this paper, a new practical model is presented for predicting tensile stress from suction, and is verified using finite element analysis. The parametric study shows that drying time and diffusion coefficient control the distribution of tensile stress with depth and the depth to zero tensile stress, while elastic modulus, the difference between final surface suction and initial suction, and suction compression index control the magnitude of tensile stress. The new model can be used to predict the suction where the crack initiates using the soil water characteristic curve (SWCC), to estimate the depth of crack for a specific region, and to estimate the required drying time for a specific crack depth. The new model widens the general application of the SWCC approach in unsaturated soils and can be a useful tool to analyze the interaction between foundation or pavement subgrade and local climatic conditions.