Ecosystem multifunctionality(EMF), the simultaneous provision of multiple ecosystem functions, is often affected by biodiversity and environmental factors. We know little about how the interactions between biodiversity and environmental factors affect EMF. In this case study, a structural equation model was used to clarify climatic and geographic pathways that affect EMF by varying biodiversity in the Tibetan alpine grasslands. In addition to services related to carbon, nitrogen, and water cycling, forage supply, which is related to plantproductivity and palatability, was included in the EMF index. The results showed that 72% of the variation in EMF could be explained by biodiversity and other environmental factors. The ratio of palatable richness to all species richness explained 8.3% of the EMF variation. We found that air temperature, elevation, and latitude all affected EMF, but in different ways. Air temperature and elevation impacted the aboveground parts of the ecosystem, which included plant height, aboveground biomass, richness of palatable species, and ratio of palatable richness to all species richness. Latitude affected EMF by varying both aboveground and belowground parts of the ecosystem, which included palatable speciesrichness and belowground biomass. Our results indicated that there are still uncertainties in the biodiversity–EMF relationships related to the variable components of EMF, and climatic and geographic factors. Clarification of pathways that affect EMF using structural equation modeling techniques could elucidate the mechanisms by which environmental changes affect EMF. 相似文献
A collection of brachiopods by the Institute of Oceanology, Academia Sinica (Qingdao), contains eight species from seven genera.
Six of the species have been recorded previously from China seas—Lingula adamsi, L. anatina, Discinisca stella, Pelagodiscus atlanticus, Campages mariae, Terebratalia coreanica. Two species (Terebratulina hataiana andFrenulina sanguinolenta) have been described from other parts of the Pacific area. The apparent absence of any endemic species is a noteworthy feature
of Chinese in comparison with Japanese faunas. 相似文献
In June 2018, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted a legislative regulation for incorporating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (EU-LULUCF) under its 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The LULUCF regulation aim to incentivise EU Member States to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and increase removals in the LULUCF sector. The regulation, however, does not set a target for increasing the LULUCF carbon sink, but rather includes a ‘no net debit’ target for LULUCF (Forests and Agricultural soils). For Managed Forest Land (MFL) an accounting framework with capped credits for additional mitigation against a set forest reference level (FRL) was agreed for 2021–2030. The FRL gives the projected future carbon sink in the two compliance periods 2021–2025 and 2026–2030 under “continuation of forest management practices as they were in the reference period 2000–2009”. This FRL was disputed by some Member States as it was perceived to put a limit on their future wood harvesting from MFL. Here we simulated with the EFISCEN European forest model the “continuation of forest management practices” and determined the corresponding wood harvest for 26 EU countries under progressing age classes.
Results
The simulations showed that under “continuation of forest management practices” the harvest (wood removals) in the 26 EU countries as a whole can increase from 420 million m3/year in 2000–2009 to 560 million m3/year in 2050 due to progressing age classes. This implies there is a possibility to increase absolute wood harvests without creating debits compared to the forest reference level. However, the manner in which ‘continuation of forest management’ developed with a progressing age class development over time, meant that in some countries the future harvesting exceeded 90% of the increment. Since this generally is considered to be unsustainable we additionally set a harvesting cut-off as max 90% of increment to be harvested for each individual country as a possible interpretation of sustainability criteria that are included in the regulation. Using this additional limit the projected harvest will only increase to 493 million m3/year.
Conclusions
The worry from Member States (MS) that the FRL will prevent any additional harvesting seems unwarranted. Due to differences between Member States concerning the state of their forest resources, the FRL as a baseline for harvesting works out very differently for the different Member States. The FRL may have other unforeseen consequences which we discuss. Under all scenarios the living forest biomass sink shows a decline. This can be counteracted through incentivising measures under Climate Smart Forestry.
Discrete element method has been widely adopted to simulate processes that are challenging to continuum-based approaches. However, its computational efficiency can be greatly compromised when large number of particles are required to model regions of less interest to researchers. Due to this, the application of DEM to boundary value problems has been limited. This paper introduces a three-dimensional discrete element–finite difference coupling method, in which the discrete–continuum interactions are modeled in local coordinate systems where the force and displacement compatibilities between the coupled subdomains are considered. The method is validated using a model dynamic compaction test on sand. The comparison between the numerical and physical test results shows that the coupling method can effectively simulate the dynamic compaction process. The responses of the DEM model show that dynamic stress propagation (compaction mechanism) and tamper penetration (bearing capacity mechanism) play very different roles in soil deformations. Under impact loading, the soil undergoes a transient weakening process induced by dynamic stress propagation, which makes the soil easier to densify under bearing capacity mechanism. The distribution of tamping energy between the two mechanisms can influence the compaction efficiency, and allocating higher compaction energy to bearing capacity mechanism could improve the efficiency of dynamic compaction.
A GIS-implemented, deterministic approach for the automated spatial evaluation of geometrical and kinematical properties of
rock slope terrains is presented. Based on spatially distributed directional information on planar geological fabrics and
DEM-derived topographic attribute data, the internal geometry of rock slopes can be characterized on a grid cell basis. For
such computations, different approaches for the analysis and regionalization of available structural directional information
applicable in specific tectonic settings are demonstrated and implemented in a GIS environment. Simple kinematical testing
procedures based on feasibility criteria can be conducted on a pixel basis to determine which failure mechanisms are likely
to occur at particular terrain locations. In combination with hydraulic and strength data on geological discontinuities, scenario-based
rock slope stability evaluations can be performed. For conceptual investigations on rock slope failure processes, a GIS-based
specification tool for a 2-D distinct element code (UDEC) was designed to operate with the GIS-encoded spatially distributed
rock slope data. The concepts of the proposed methodology for rock slope hazard assessments are demonstrated at three different
test sites in Germany. 相似文献