Prospective modelling of 3D hyporheic exchange based on high‐resolution topography and stream elevation

River managers and scientists interested in hyporheic processes need adequate tools for characterizing hyporheic exchange flow (HEF) at local sites where only poor information on subsurface properties are available. This study evaluates a three‐dimensional modelling approach, on the basis of detailed surface parameterization and a simplified subsurface structure, for comparison of potential HEF characteristics at three experimental reaches at the channel‐unit scale. First, calibration is conducted to determine the best fit‐of‐heads given the model simplification, then the structure of residuals are used to evaluate the origin of the misfit, and finally, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to identify inter‐site differences in HEF. Results show that such an approach can highlight potential magnitude differences in HEF characteristics between reaches. The sensitivity analysis is successful in delineating the small area of exchange that remains under conditions of high groundwater discharge. In this case, however, the calibrated model performs poorly in representing the exchange pattern at the sediment–water interface, thus suggesting that the approach is less adequate for a deterministic simulation of observed heads. The summary statistics are in the range of similar published models, for which the reported indicator is the root mean square error on heads normalized by the head drop over the reach. We recommend, however, that modellers use a more comparable indicator, such as a measure of the residuals normalized by a measure of observed vertical head differences. Overall, when subsurface data are unavailable or sparse, a three‐dimensional groundwater model based on high‐resolution topographic data combined with a sensitivity analysis appears as a useful tool for a preliminary characterization of HEF. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Up‐scaling potential impacts on water flows from agricultural water interventions: opportunities and trade‐offs in the Osman Sagar catchment,Musi sub‐basin,India

Agricultural water management (AWM) has been shown to improve and secure yields in the tropics and has been suggested as an important way to combat poverty in the region. In this paper, we describe potential impacts on upstream and downstream flows of extensive AWM interventions, using the watershed development programme of the Osman Sagar catchment of Musi sub‐basin, Andhra Pradesh semi‐arid India, as an example. Various AWM interventions are compared with a non‐intervention state and the current state of the study area, using 31 years of data by application of the calibrated and validated ARCSWAT 2005 (Version 2.1.4a) modelling tool. Different AWM interventions contribute to improved livelihoods of upstream smallholder farmers by increasing soil moisture availability and groundwater recharge, which can subsequently be used for irrigation. The result is higher crop production and hence larger incomes. Moreover, lower flow intensities and sediment losses reduced by 30–50%, reducing the risk of flooding and sediment accumulation in the Osman Sagar drinking water reservoir. On the other hand, AWM interventions are predicted to result in reduced total water inflows to the Osman Sagar reservoir from 11% of the total annual rainfall (754 mm) recorded at present, to 8% if AWM interventions were implemented at large scale throughout the catchment. A cost–benefit analysis of AWM interventions showed that the highest net economic returns were achieved at intermediate intervention levels (only in‐situ AWM). Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Air quality planning in California’s changing climate

California is home to some of the worst air quality in the nation and ninety percent of the state’s population lives in areas that are out of attainment with at least one of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Increasing temperatures associated with climate change will make meeting air quality standards more difficult. Under a changing climate, additional emission reductions will be needed to achieve clean air standards. These additional emission reductions and associated costs are called the “climate penalty.” Air quality planning is the process of assessing the emission reductions needed to meet air quality standards and outlining the programs and policies that will be implemented to achieve these emission reductions. This paper reviews the challenges that a changing climate will pose for air quality planning in California and identifies opportunities for adaptation. While state air quality regulators in California are taking enormous strides to address global warming, less work is happening at the regional, air district level. Air districts are the agencies responsible for developing air quality improvement plans. An important first step for regional air quality regulators will be to quantify the climate penalty and understand their region’s vulnerability to climate change. Limitations in regulatory authority could impede measures to improve preparedness. Regional agencies will likely need to look to state and federal agencies for additional emission reductions.     

Subtidal Galeolaria hystrix (Polychaeta: Serpulidae) reefs in Paterson Inlet,Stewart Island,New Zealand

Serpulid patch reefs of Galeolaria hystrix Mörch, 1863 were found in water depths of 9–16 m in Big Glory Bay, Paterson Inlet, Stewart Island, and here we report preliminary studies of these important habitat‐formers. This is the first observation of this species in subtidal patch reefs; 114 reefs were noted in a survey of 28 000 m². Most reefs were 1–5 m in diameter, and up to 1.5 m high. Up to 65% of the serpulid tubes were occupied by living G. hystrix during a mid‐winter diving survey; 64% of reefs observed were whole, whereas 36% were broken or dead. Radiometric dating of a basal specimen of reef carbonate showed it to be less than 50 years old. Production of high‐Mg calcite, ranging from 9 to 11 wt% MgCO3, by G. hystrix may be as much as 11 kg CaCO3 m^‐2y^‐1, but was not reflected in surrounding sediments, which were dominantly terrigenous muds. A rich reef fauna, both sessile and motile, was associated with the reefs. Further study of these unusual temperate reefs is strongly recommended.     

Monochromatic observations of three nebular objects in the direction of NGC 1714

Using a CCD as detector, we have observed three nebulosities not yet listed in catalogues; they all present a planetary nebula morphology and are situated in the immediate neighbourhood (less than 3 arc min to the East) of NGC 1714. Observations have been made through interference filters centered on the main emission lines of these objects.The observations were made at the E.S.O. in La Silla (Chile).European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Santrago de Chile.     

Sisterhood and Seine‐Nets: Engendering Development and Conservation in Ghana's Marine Fishery

As processors and marketers of fish, women fishtraders in the Fanti town of Cape Coast, Ghana have become powerful financers and owners of canoes, nets, and other fishing equipment. Since the 1960s, when motors were first introduced to Ghana's artisanal canoe fleet, two interrelated processes have occurred in Cape Coast. First, Ghana's fisheries have become increasingly exploited and—in the case of some species—overfished. Second, the social relations of production in the artisanal sector have shifted from being socially embedded to being more market‐based and impersonal. I argue that two recent Women in Development (WID) projects in particular have contributed to the breakdown of fishtraders’ traditional economic networks and livelihood strategies: (a) loan schemes that target women's associations, and (b) the 1985 Intestate Succession Law, which reconfigured inheritance rights. These WID projects, based on western notions of gender and the household, have created disharmony and mistrust among Cape Coast's fishtraders rather than promoting their “development.” The breakdown of fishtraders’ labor and marketing organizations has resulted in increasingly desperate strategies to get fish, increased degradation of Ghana's marine environment, and uncertainty for the future of the coastal economy.     

Mid-Holocene Hemlock Decline in Eastern North America Linked with Phytophagous Insect Activity

Macrofossil evidence indicates that the mid-Holocene hemlock [Tsuga canadensisL. (Carr.)] decline that occurred over a wide area in eastern North America was associated with phytophagous insect activity.In situhemlock macrofossils and insect remains found in a paludified dunefield at the northern limit of hemlock testify that two defoliation events occurred at 4910 ± 90 and 4200 ± 100 yr B.P., respectively. The sharp coincidence of remains from hemlock needles with chewing damage typical of hemlock looper feeding, head capsules from the hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria) and the spruce budworm (Choristoneura fumiferana), absence of hemlock fruiting remains, and tree-ring anomalies in fossil hemlocks that died prematurely (<165 yr) suggest that defoliation affected hemlock reproductive capacity and pollen productivity, or more likely caused mass mortality. Our findings indicate that defoliation can affect ecosystems for centuries, especially when long-lived tree species are involved.     

The structure of a typical double-ring planetary nebula NGC 2392

Monochromatic photographs in H, [Nii] 6584 and [Oiii] 5007 Å show many different details in the morphological structure of the Eskimo Nebula (NGC 2392). H and [Nii] images show, in a first approximation, similar structure (elliptical inner ring and broken outer ring) whereas both rings in [Oiii] are quite circular and regular in brightness. A photometric study using the method described by Louise (1974) gives various geometrical parameters of both rings which are practically the same for the observed lines. In other words, the classical stratification structure in planetary nebulae is not clearly observed in NGC 2392, in good agreement with previous observations (Wilson, 1950). This fact is probably a consequence of the peculiar structure in the geometry of the nebula. A model consisting of an inner toroid surrounded by a spherical shell is proposed to account for both photometric and spectroscopic observations.