Biologie und Bewirtschaftung des Seesaiblings (Salvelinus alpinus L.) im Zugersee

In recent years yields of the Alpine char fishery of Lake Zug have only been about 5% of traditional yields at the turn of the century. Major results of a biological investigation of the species are presented. Management implications based on the biological study, that should reverse the trend of diminishing yields, are made.     

Precipitation water storage capacity in a temperate mixed oak–beech canopy

The storage capacity of a temperate mixed oak–beech stand was investigated as a function of stand density and species composition. Measurements were performed in selected zones delimited by three neighbouring trees. Three independent approaches were compared: (i) a spraying laboratory experiment to estimate the water storage on foliage before and after dripping; (ii) a mechanistic model describing rainfall partitioning within the forest canopy and providing estimates of foliage storage capacities; and (iii) linear regression analyses to evaluate the canopy (foliage + branches) storage capacity using the relationship between throughfall and rainfall. Good agreement was generally observed between the laboratory experiment and the mechanistic model estimates, while estimations from the regression method tended to exceed those from the other approaches. Storage capacity estimates ranged from 0·22 mm to 0·80 mm for pure oak zones, from 0·24 mm to 1·12 mm for mixed zones and from 0·53 mm to 1·17 mm for pure beech zones. The increase of storage capacity with increasing proportion of beech in the canopy resulted from higher beech LAI compared with oak. Similarly, for mixed and pure beech canopies, storage capacity was higher for high density zones than for low density zones as a result of the increase in LAI with increasing local basal area; in contrast, for pure oak, the storage capacity was not related to basal area because of the lower shade‐tolerance of this species compared with beech. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nature and role of CO2 in some hot and cold HCO3/Na/CO2-rich Portuguese mineral waters: a review and reinterpretation

 At the northern part of the Portuguese mainland, the upflow zone of several hot and cold HCO₃/Na/CO₂-rich mineral waters is mainly associated with important NNE–SSW faults. Several geochemical studies have been carried out on thermal and non-thermal hydromineral manifestations that occur along or near these long tectonic alignments. The slight chemical differences that exist between these meteoric hot and cold HCO₃/Na/CO₂-rich mineral waters seem to be mainly caused by CO₂. δ¹³C_(TIDC) values observed in these groundwaters range between –6.00 and –1.00‰ versus V-PDB (V denotes Vienna, the site of the International Atomic Energy Agency; PDB originates from the CaCO₃ of the rostrum of a Cretaceous belemnite, Belemnitella americana, collected in the Peedee formation of South Carolina, USA) indicating a deep-seated (mantle) origin for most of the CO₂. Nevertheless, in the case of the heavier δ¹³C_(TIDC) values, the contribution of metamorphic CO₂ or the dissolution of carbonate rock levels at depth cannot be excluded. Concerning the hot waters, the lack of a positive ¹⁸O-shift should be attributed to water-rock interaction in a low temperature environment, rather than to the isotopic influence of CO₂ on the δ¹⁸O-value of the waters. Received: 9 August 1999 · Accepted: 8 March 2000     

Changes in stream water quality due to logging of the boreal forest in the Montmorency Forest,Québec

Summer stream water quality was monitored before and following the logging of 50% of the boreal forest within three small watersheds (<50 ha) nested in the ‘Ruisseau des Eaux‐Volées’ Experimental Watershed, Montmorency Forest (Québec, Canada). Logging was conducted in winter, on snow cover according to recommended best management practices (BMPs) to minimize soil disturbance and protect advance growth. A 20‐m forest buffer was maintained along perennial streams. In watershed 7·2, cut‐blocks were located near the stream network and logging was partially allowed within the riparian buffer zone. In watersheds 7·5 and 7·7, logging occurred farther away from the stream network. Observations were also made for watershed 7·3 that collected the runoff from watersheds 7·2 and 7·5, and watershed 7·6, the uproad portion of watershed 7·7. The control watershed 0·2 was contiguous to the impacted watersheds and remained undisturbed. Following clearcutting, changes in summer daily maximum and minimum stream temperatures remained within ± 1 °C while changes in diurnal variation did not decrease by more than 0·5 °C. Concentrations of NO₃^? greatly increased by up to 6000% and concentrations of K⁺ increased by up to 300% during the second summer after logging. Smaller increases were observed for Fe_total (up to 71%), specific conductance (up to 26%), and Mg²⁺ (up to 19%). Post‐logging pH decreased slightly by no more than 7% while PO₄^3? concentration remained relatively constant. Suspended sediment concentrations appeared to increase during post‐logging, but there was not enough pre‐logging data to statistically confirm this result. Logging of moderate intensity and respecting established BMPs may account for the limited changes of water quality parameters and the low exceedances of the criteria for the protection of aquatic life. The proximity of the cutover to the stream network and logging within the riparian zone did not appear to affect water quality. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Low calcification rates and calcium carbonate production in Porites panamensis at its northernmost geographic distribution

Porites panamensis is a hermatypic coral present in the eastern Pacific Ocean. Skeletal growth parameters have been reported, but studies of the relationship between annual calcification rates and environmental controls are scarce. In this study, we investigated three aspects of the annual calcification rates of P. panamensis: growth parameters among three P. panamensis populations; the sea surface temperature as a calcification rate control spanning a latitudinal gradient; and calcium carbonate production among three sites. Growth parameters varied among the sites due to the colony growth form. Massive colonies in the north showed a higher calcification rate than encrusting colonies in the south (mean: 1.22–0.49 g CaCO₃ · cm^?2 · yr^?1), where variations in calcification rates were related to growth rate (0.91–0.38 cm · yr^?1) rather than to skeletal density differences (overall mean ± SD, 1.31 ± 0.04 g CaCO₃ · cm^?3). Our results showed a positive linear relationship between annual calcification rates and sea surface temperatures within these P. panamensis populations. Differences were related to distinct oceanographic environments (within and at the entrance of the Gulf of California) with different sea surface temperature regimes and other chemical properties. Different populations calcified under different environmental conditions. Calcium carbonate production was dependent upon the calcification rate and coral cover and so carbonate production was higher in the north (coral cover 12%) than in the south (coral cover 3.5). Thus, the studied sites showed low calcium carbonate production (0.25–0.43 kg CaCO₃ · m^?2 · yr^?1). Our results showed reduced calcification rates, regional temperature regime control over calcification rates, different growth forms, low coral cover and low calcium carbonate production rates in P. panamensis.     

Isotropic and anisotropic pointing models

This paper describes an alternative approach for generating pointing models for telescopes equipped with serial kinematics, esp. equatorial or alt-az mounts. Our model construction does not exploit any assumption for the underlying physical constraints of the mount, however, one can assign various effects to the respective components of the equations. In order to recover the pointing model parameters, classical linear least squares fitting procedures can be applied. This parameterization also lacks any kind of parametric singularity. We demonstrate the efficiency of this type of model on real measurements with meter-class telescopes where the results provide a root mean square accuracy of 1.5?2 arcseconds.     

The lunar rock and mineral characterization consortium: Deconstruction and integrated mineralogical,petrologic, and spectroscopic analyses of mare basalts

The lunar rock and mineral characterization consortium (LRMCC) has conducted coordinated mineralogy/petrography/spectroscopy analyses of a suite of pristine lunar basalts. Four basalt slabs (two low‐Ti, two high‐Ti) and paired thin sections were analyzed. Thin sections were analyzed for mineralogy/petrography, while the slabs were used to prepare particulate separates of major mineral phases and bulk samples. Mineral separates and particulate bulk samples were crushed to controlled grain sizes and their reflectance spectra measured in the NASA RELAB at Brown University. The resulting data set provides an essential foundation for spectral mixing models, offers valuable endmember constraints for space weathering analyses, and represents critical new ground truth results for lunar science and exploration efforts.     

Evidence of space weathering in regolith breccias II: Asteroidal regolith breccias

Abstract– Space weathering products, such as agglutinates and nanophase iron‐bearing rims are easily preserved through lithification in lunar regolith breccias, thus such products, if produced, should be preserved in asteroidal regolith breccias as well. A study of representative regolith breccia meteorites, Fayetteville (H4) and Kapoeta (howardite), was undertaken to search for physical evidence of space weathering on asteroids. Amorphous or npFe⁰‐bearing rims cannot be positively identified in Fayetteville, although possible glass rims were found. Extensive friction melt was discovered in the meteorite that is difficult to differentiate from weathered materials. Several melt products, including spherules and agglutinates, as well as one irradiated rim and one possible npFe⁰‐bearing rim were identified in Kapoeta. The existence of these products suggests that lunar‐like space weathering processes are, or have been, active on asteroids.