Distribution of contaminants in biota and sediments in the Musquash Estuary, Atlantic Canada, marine protected area site initiative and contaminant exclusion zone

The Musquash Estuary, one of the last ecologically intact estuaries in New Brunswick, has been designated an area of interest for a marine protected area (MPA) under the Oceans Act. The area has been assessed for contaminant background levels as required for establishing MPA environmental quality. American lobster (Homarus americanus), blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) and sediments were collected for assessing contaminant levels and distribution in the harbour. Levels of contaminants from the indicator species and the abiotic component have shown: (1) two extremes of high and low Cu and Ag in lobster from the area; and (2) lower metal levels in inner Musquash Harbour sediments and mussels than in those from the harbour mouth. These suggest that deposition of contaminants into the Musquash MPA site was due to transport of contaminants by coastal currents from upstream coastal industrial activities. This reverse trend with higher contaminant levels in the biotic and abiotic components in the outer harbour than in the inner harbour differs from a contaminated harbour and suggests that a contaminant exclusion zone should be considered for controlling contamination from nearby coastal and estuarine industrial sites to protect the sensitive habitats within the marine protected area.     

The use of dinoflagellate cysts to separate human-induced from natural variability in the trophic state of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries

To obtain insight into the natural and/or human-induced changes in the trophic state of the distal portion of the Po River discharge plume over the last two centuries, high temporal resolution dinoflagellate cyst records were established at three sites. Cyst production rates appear to reflect the natural variability in the river's discharge, whereas cyst associations reflect the trophic state of the upper waters, which in turn can be related to agricultural development. The increased abundances of Lingulodinium machaerophorum and Stelladinium stellatum found as early as 1890 and 1920 correspond to the beginning of the industrial revolution in Italy and the first chemical production and dispersion of ammonia throughout Europe. After 1955, the increased abundances of these species and of Polykrikos schwartzii, Brigantedinium spp. and Pentapharsodinium dalei correspond to agriculturally induced alterations of the hypertrophic conditions. A slight improvement in water quality can be observed from 1987 onward.     

Nutrient concentrations and fluxes in the Changjiang Estuary during summer

In June 2003 and 2006 concentrations of nutrient were determined in the Changjiang Estuary. The data indicated that phosphate and nitrate did not behave conservatively in the estuary, but silicate behaved conservatively. An important mobilization of phosphate and nitrate was observed from the river up to halfway in the estuary. Both input flux (from river to estuary) and output flux (from estuary to coastal zone) of phosphate, silicate and nitrate were calculated from statistical interpretations of the salinity profiles. There was a large discrepancy between input and output fluxes of phosphate and nitrate. The river fluxes of silicate, phosphate and nitrate (f_r) are augmented 5.3%, 28.9% and 36.6% in June 2003 and 1.0%, 62.5%, 31.7% in June 2006 by internal inputs (f_i). The phosphate and nitrate fluxes are enhanced through the estuarine process, while silicate flux is unaltered. The authors present some long-term data for nutrient concentrations and the ratios of silicon to nitrogen to phosphorus in the Changjiang Estuary. Silicate level falled in the last two decades, while concentration of nitrate increased. Phosphate concentration had no significant change.     

室内地标提取的POI显著度定量评价模型

室内地标在室内位置信息服务（location based service,LBS）中发挥着重要作用。针对室外地标提取方法不能完全适用于更为复杂的室内环境的问题,提出了一种显著度定量评价模型用于在室内环境中提取地标。以大型商场的室内环境为研究对象,从视觉、认知、空间3个方面分析影响室内兴趣点（point of interest,POI）显著性的主要因素,并用这些因素构建了室内POI整体显著度评价模型。选择武汉市群光购物中心室内的POI数据进行显著度计算,依据显著度的差异性提取了多层地标,反映不同粒度的室内区域空间知识。提取的多层地标可以作为室内智能导航系统中的重要标识,为在复杂的大型商场内实现快速寻路、多粒度路径导引提供关键线索。     

黑龙江省基础综合省情地理信息系统——构建有关问题的探讨

本文通过对“黑龙江省综合省情地理信息系统”的介绍,对建立“黑龙江省综合省情地理信息系统”的过程、软件平台选取基础地理数据选择、统计数据录入、数值更新机制建立等问题进行了总结性的探讨。以期对今后的工作和同行位起到一些参考作用     

Differences in spatial and seasonal patterns of macrophyte assemblages between a coastal lagoon and the open sea

Although benthic macrophytes must be considered in monitoring programs to establish the ecological status of transitional and coastal waters in the European Union, the patterns of variability in species composition of macrophyte assemblages in Mediterranean coastal lagoons has scarcely been studied. In this work the spatial (both vertical and horizontal) and seasonal dynamics of macrophyte assemblages in a coastal lagoon (Mar Menor) are compared with those of open coastal assemblages in the SW Mediterranean to analyze any biological variability in lagoon assemblages and the factors that determine such variability. Different assemblages, characterized by well defined groups of species, can be described according to their isolation from the open sea and the type of substratum; at the same time, a vertical zonation pattern, similar to that found in all marine communities but more compressed, exists. This implies that when applying the EU Water Framework Directive or assessing environmental impact, a lagoon should not be considered spatially uniform and unique unit but as a mosaic of assemblages.