Rocky intertidal communities of Argentinean Patagonia are exposed to harsh physical conditions caused by dry, strong southern
trade winds (mean speed 45 km h-1, gusts up to 140 km h-1) that result in intense desiccation of intertidal organisms. Predator distributions in these communities were evaluated from
April 2003 to December 2004 at two exposed headlands and six protected bays in Cabo dos Bahias (44°50′S, 65°40′W). Crabs and
sea stars dominated the predator assemblage, with occasional scavenger snails and fish also present. During low tide, predators
were never found in the open but were always associated with shelter (primarily within mussel beds and coralline algae), suggesting
a strong predator dependency on foundation species to buffer them from physical stress. Few predators (mostly crabs) emerged
from shelter at high tide. Unlike the larger predators found on Chilean rocky shores, invertebrate predators in this system
are diminutive, generally < 2 cm. The lone exception was the newly discovered invasive green crab,Carcinus mamas. Feeding trials, gut content analyses, and visual surveys indicated that native predators feed primarily on small, soft-bodied
prey.C. mamas fed on slow-moving and sessile animals, including the super abundant musselPerumytilus purpuratus, with much greater voracity than native predators. Because native intertidal organisms are dependent on mussel beds and coralline
algae for shelter from desiccation, successful invasion ofC. mamas may lead to a significant decrease in native diversity by consuming foundation species. This study represents a preliminary
survey of predator distributions and feeding habits on the rocky shores of Argentinean Patagonia and provides important baseline
data to evaluate trophic linkages and predatory effects on Patagonian rocky shores. 相似文献
On 22 March 2014, a massive, catastrophic landslide occurred near Oso, Washington, USA, sweeping more than 1 km across the adjacent valley flats and killing 43 people. For the following 5 weeks, hundreds of workers engaged in an exhaustive search, rescue, and recovery effort directly in the landslide runout path. These workers could not avoid the risks posed by additional large-scale slope collapses. In an effort to ensure worker safety, multiple agencies cooperated to swiftly deploy a monitoring and alerting system consisting of sensors, automated data processing and web-based display, along with defined communication protocols and clear calls to action for emergency management and search personnel. Guided by the principle that an accelerating landslide poses a greater threat than a steadily moving or stationary mass, the system was designed to detect ground motion and vibration using complementary monitoring techniques. Near real-time information was provided by continuous GPS, seismometers/geophones, and extensometers. This information was augmented by repeat-assessment techniques such as terrestrial and aerial laser scanning and time-lapse photography. Fortunately, no major additional landsliding occurred. However, we did detect small headscarp failures as well as slow movement of the remaining landslide mass with the monitoring system. This was an exceptional response situation and the lessons learned are applicable to other landslide disaster crises. They underscore the need for cogent landslide expertise and ready-to-deploy monitoring equipment, the value of using redundant monitoring techniques with distinct goals, the benefit of clearly defined communication protocols, and the importance of continued research into forecasting landslide behavior to allow timely warning.
We present a detailed, new time scale for an orogenic cycle (oceanic accretion–subduction–collision) that provides significant insights into Paleozoic continental growth processes in the southeastern segment of the long-lived Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). The most prominent tectonic feature in Inner Mongolia is the association of paired orogens. A southern orogen forms a typical arc-trench complex, in which a supra-subduction zone ophiolite records successive phases during its life cycle: birth (ca. 497–477 Ma), when the ocean floor of the ophiolite was formed; (2) youth (ca. 473–470 Ma), characterized by mantle wedge magmatism; (3) shortly after maturity (ca. 461–450 Ma), high-Mg adakite and adakite were produced by slab melting and subsequent interaction of the melt with the mantle wedge; (4) death, caused by subduction of a ridge crest (ca. 451–434 Ma) and by ridge collision with the ophiolite (ca. 428–423 Ma). The evolution of the magmatic arc exhibits three major coherent phases: arc volcanism (ca. 488–444 Ma); adakite plutonism (ca. 448–438 Ma) and collision (ca. 419–415 Ma) of the arc with a passive continental margin. The northern orogen, a product of ridge-trench interaction, evolved progressively from coeval generation of near-trench plutons (ca. 498–461 Ma) and juvenile arc crust (ca. 484–469 Ma), to ridge subduction (ca. 440–434 Ma), microcontinent accretion (ca. 430–420 Ma), and finally to forearc formation. The paired orogens followed a consistent progression from ocean floor subduction/arc formation (ca. 500–438 Ma), ridge subduction (ca. 451–434 Ma) to microcontinent accretion/collision (ca. 430–415 Ma); ridge subduction records the turning point that transformed oceanic lithosphere into continental crust. The recognition of this orogenic cycle followed by Permian–early Triassic terminal collision of the CAOB provides compelling evidence for episodic continental growth. 相似文献
The spatial and temporal variability of Hg emissions from urban paved surfaces was assessed through repeated measurements under varying environmental conditions at six sample sites in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The results show significant spatial variability of the Hg emissions with median values ranging from below detection limit to 5.2 ng/m2/h. Two of the sites consistently had higher Hg emissions (on several occasions >20 ng/m2/h) than the other 4, which were equivalently low (maximum emission: 2.1 ng/m2/h). A surrogate measure of the pavement Hg concentrations was obtained during each day of sampling through the collection of street dust. The median street dust concentration also showed significant spatial variability (ranging from 9.6 to 44.5 ng/g). Regression analysis showed that the spatial variability of the Hg emissions was significantly related to the street dust concentrations. Controlled experiments using Hg amended street dust confirmed the relationship between Hg surface concentration and emission magnitude. Within a given sample site, Hg emissions varied temporally and multiple regression analysis showed that within-site variability was significantly influenced by changes in solar radiation with only a minor effect from surface temperature. Controlled experiments using shade cloths confirmed that solar radiation can have a large influence on the magnitude of Hg emissions within a given site. The emissions measured in Toronto were contextualized through comparison sampling in Austin, Texas. The Hg emissions measured in Austin were within the range detected in Toronto and also showed significant correlation with Hg street dust concentrations between sites. To provide a holistic assessment of Hg emissions from urban environments, samples were also collected from other common urban surfaces (soil, roofs, and windows). Soils consistently had higher emissions than all the other surfaces (7.3 ng/m2/h, n = 39). 相似文献
We compared the distributions of 59 diatom species in surface sediments of 25 Costa Rican lakes with 21 environmental variables using canonical correspondence analysis (CCA). The distribution of taxa was related to the chemical and physical characteristics of the lakes. The most influential chemical variables were cation concentrations (especially magnesium) and related variables such as water hardness, pH, and temperature. Lake area and lake depth were among the most important physical variables.A number of taxa were identified as potential environmental indicators. The diatoms Brachysira serians var. brachysira and Frustulia rhomboides seem to be associated with low values of alkalinity, hardness, Ca, Mg, and SiO2. Cymbella minuta var. silesiaca is associated with low to moderate values of alkalinity, hardness, Ca, and Mg. Nitzschia cf. amphibia may be an indicator of moderate-to-high concentrations of Mg. Pinnularia braunii var. amphicephala seems to prefer low values of hardness, Ca, Mg, and SiO2.In many closed lakes, these environmental variables (Mg/Ca/hardness/alkalinity) increase with effective evaporation. Consequently, these diatoms may be indirectly tracking P:E ratios. Results from this initial, small data set indicate the potential of diatoms for inferring lake paleochemistry, and perhaps P:E ratios, in Costa Rica. 相似文献
Wetlands represent one of the world's most biodiverse and threatened ecosystem types and were diminished globally by about two‐thirds in the 20th century. There is continuing decline in wetland quantity and function due to infilling and other human activities. In addition, with climate change, warmer temperatures and changes in precipitation and evapotranspiration are reducing wetland surface and groundwater supplies, further altering wetland hydrology and vegetation. There is a need to automate inventory and monitoring of wetlands, and as a study system, we investigated the Shepard Slough wetlands complex, which includes numerous wetlands in urban, suburban, and agricultural zones in the prairie pothole region of southern Alberta, Canada. Here, wetlands are generally confined to depressions in the undulating terrain, challenging wetlands inventory and monitoring. This study applied threshold and frequency analysis routines for high‐resolution, single‐polarization (HH) RADARSAT‐2, synthetic aperture radar mapping. This enabled a growing season surface water extent hyroperiod‐based wetland classification, which can support water and wetland resource monitoring. This 3‐year study demonstrated synthetic aperture radar‐derived multitemporal open‐water masks provided an effective index of wetland permanence class, with overall accuracies of 89% to 95% compared with optical validation data, and RMSE between 0.2 and 0.7 m between model and field validation data. This allowed for characterizing the distribution and dynamics of 4 marsh wetlands hydroperiod classes, temporary, seasonal, semipermanent, and permanent, and mapping of the sequential vegetation bands that included emergent, obligate wetland, facultative wetland, and upland plant communities. Hydroperiod variation and surface water extent were found to be influenced by short‐term rainfall events in both wet and dry years. Seasonal hydroperiods in wetlands were particularly variable if there was a decrease in the temporary or semipermanent hydroperiod classes. In years with extreme rain events, the temporary wetlands especially increased relative to longer lasting wetlands (84% in 2015 with significant rainfall events, compared with 42% otherwise). 相似文献
A study of the isotopic composition of plankton from Woods Hole Harbor was conducted to investigate seasonal variation in carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in a shallow coastal environment. Stable isotopic ratios of carbon and nitrogen both showed temporal variation on the scale of weeks to months, with heaviest (most positive) values in summer to fall for both isotopes. Particulate organic matter (POM) δ13C values were highest (?19‰ to ?21‰) in August to November and lower (?21‰ to ?25‰) at other times of the year, while δ13N-POM values were highest (9.5‰ to 12‰) in March to September and lower (7.5‰ to 9.5‰) at other times of the year. Stable isotopic values were significantly correlated with temperature, DI13C, and C∶N ratios, but not with [DIC], [POC], [PN], [chlorophyll], or the taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton. There was no direct evidence of allochthonous inputs of carbon and nitrogen to the system. Woods Hole δ13C values were virtually identical to Georges Bank plankton values; similar POC: Chlorophyll and C∶N ratios in the two systems further suggest that Woods Hole Harbor is principally a marine system. The high δ13C values of net plankton (>20 μm) during summer and early fall are consistent with a smaller degree of photosynthetic isotopic fractionation at that time, related to temperature and/or [CO2(aq)]. This pattern was not seen, however, in total POM. Plankton δ13N values were higher in Woods Hole Harbor than on Georges Bank, especially during warmer periods, possibly due to high rates of nitrification and organic matter recycling in Woods Hole waters. Relatively wide ranges of stable isotopic values from both Woods Hole Harbor and Georges Bank suggest that seasonality should be considered when attempting to establish endmember C and N isotopic values for temperate marine plankton. Preliminary results from size-fractionated samples suggest that cyanobacteria may fractionate carbon isotopes to a greater degree than net phytoplankton. 相似文献