Diel Fluctuations of a Shallow Water Fish Community in the Inner Oslofjord, Norway

Abstract. A shallow water fish community in the inner Oslofjord, Norway, was sampled with a beach seine at 4h intervals over two 36 h periods (25-26th May and 28-29th September, 1982). Night length varied from 1 h in May to 11 h in September. Differences in the community composition were observed between May and September. The diversity of the fish community changed between the two months although the interpretation of the change was dependent on the method used to analyse the community. The three dominant species ( Gasterosteus aculeatus, Sprattus sprattus , and Ammodytes tobianus ) showed diel variations in catch rate which were out of phase with each other. The percentage overlap in abundance of the dominant species was low. The summation of the individual periodicities resulted in aperiodicity at the community level. There were fluctuations, over a diel cycle, in all the community parameters (number of individuals, number of species, species diversity [H'J, species richness [D] and evenness [J']) which affect measures of resource partitioning in fish communities and which should therefore be considered in ecological studies. Diel fluctuations in abundance of some individual shallow water species varied between seasons causing problems in population estimates.     

Late Quaternary fluvial activity in the dry valleys (mekgacha) of the Middle and Southern Kalahari,southern Africa

Kalahari dry ‘fossil’ valleys (mekgacha) have been little used in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, partly because the origins and functions of the valleys are a subject of debate, and partly because they contain few datable sediments. In the Middle Kalahari the valleys are endoreic, and, following a decline in ground-water tables owing to human interference over the past 150 years, rarely contain water. Evidence from three sites suggests that the valleys contained standing water between 15000 and 12000 yr BP, and that the main Okwa-Mmone system flowed into palaeolake Makgadikgadi at 920 m a.s.l. during this period. The Southern Kalahari contains the exoreic Molopo network which is hydrologically more active, being prone to surface flows in response to extreme rainfall events. The spring—fed Kuruman valley has two terraces, the lower composed of a series of flood deposits of late Holocene age. The flood of February 1988 provides a useful analogue for the conditions under which these deposits were formed, and of the temporal regime of the Kuruman River. Comparison with adjacent sites suggests that evidence put forward to indicate cycles of climatic amelioration in the last 4000 yr may, in part, represents the effect of extreme precipitation events. Historical floods show a strong correlation to Southern Oscillation high-phase (cold event) episodes, suggesting possibilities for extension of the Southern Oscillation record through palaeoflood studies.     

Seasonal fluctuations and compositions of two populations of small demersal fishes on the west coast of Scotland

The soft sediment fish communities below 20 m depth were studied at two sites on the west coast of Scotland (Irvine Bay, Firth of Clyde and the Lynn of Lorne) using small meshed beam trawls. In both cases the emphasis was on the small demersal fish (<15 cm) within these communities. The Irvine Bay community was studied between May 1978 and December 1979 and the Lynn of Lorne community between February 1975 and October 1976.Twenty-seven fish species were recorded in Irvine Bay and 32 in the Lynn of Lorne. In both communities four species constituted more than 78% of the total annual abundance, two gobies (Lesueurigobius friesii and Pomatoschistus norvegicus) were high in the dominance ranking for both sites. The species abundance lists were similar for both sites (0·62 level of similarity) but the species lists for each site were different (0·36 level of similarity). The overall mean density of small demersal fish was similar for both sites (Irvine Bay = 0·045 individuals m^?2 and the Lynn of Lorne = 0·047 individuals m^?2). There were two periods of high abundance for both communities (late autumn to winter and late spring). There was, however, a low repeatability between successive years. The species richness (D) was relatively high (Irvine Bay = 1·5-3·08, Lynn of Lorne = 1·4-3·34) as was the species diversity (H′) (Irvine Bay = 1·17-1·97, Lynn of Lorne = 1·23-1·95). The proportional representation ($\text{J′}$) of each species within the community was greater in Irvine Bay ($\text{J′}$ = 0·57-0·77) than in the Lynn of Lorne ($\text{J′}$ = 0·50-0·72). Therefore these two communities of small demersal fish appeared to be similar at the community level but the way in which this was achieved was different.     

Shonkin Sag laccolith,Montana

The Shonkin Sag differentiation sequence displays systematic variations in major and trace elements with evolution. The accumulative more mafic shonkinites are enriched in Co, Ni, Cr; La, Ce, Zr, and Nb are concentrated in the most evolved differentiate, chemically a nepheline syenite. Maximum abundances of K, Rb, Ba, Pb, and Sr occur in the intermediate syenitic differentiates (differentiation index=64.0–68.8). A change in the variation trends for K, Rb, Pb, Sr, Na, Ce, and Zr coincided with a change in the rate of decrease of oxygen fugacity with falling temperature.