Effects of kelp Ecklonia maxima inclusion in formulated feed on the growth,feed utilisation and gut microbiota of South African abalone Haliotis midae

The effect of kelp Ecklonia maxima inclusion in formulated feeds on abalone growth and gut bacterial communities has not been previously investigated in South Africa. An eight-month on-farm growth trial was conducted with sub-adult Haliotis midae (～43 mm shell length) fed graded levels of kelp in formulated feeds. Kelp inclusion (0.44–3.54% of pellet dry mass) promoted faster growth (65.7–74.5% total mass gain), with better feed and protein conversions (apparent feed conversion ratio [FCR] 1.4–1.8, apparent protein efficiency ratio [PER] 2.3–2.7), as compared with the non-supplemented feed (52.3% total mass gain, FCR 2.1, PER 1.9; p < 0.001). Abalone-gut bacterial DNA was sequenced using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing and the sequences were clustered into operational taxonomic units (OTUs) at a 97% similarity level. A supplementary 16S rRNA gene denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis was employed. The dominant OTUs differed in terms of their relative abundances, with an autochthonous Mycoplasma strain being significantly more abundant (p = 0.03) in the gut of abalone fed a kelp-supplemented feed. The DGGE band patterns displayed higher within-group variability for abalone fed the control diet, suggesting that dietary kelp inclusion promotes gut-bacteria homeostasis. This may contribute to better feed utilisation and growth in abalone fed kelp-supplemented feeds.     

Transmission electron microscopy of subsolidus oxidation and weathering of olivine

Olivine crystals in basaltic andesites which crop out in the Abert Rim, south-central Oregon have been studied by high-resolution and analytical transmission electron microscopy. The observations reveal three distinct assemblages of alteration products that seem to correspond to three episodes of olivine oxidation. The olivine crystals contain rare, dense arrays of coherently intergrown Ti-free magnetite and inclusions of a phase inferred to be amorphous silica. We interpret this first assemblage to be the product of an early subsolidus oxidation event in the lava. The second olivine alteration assemblage contains complex ordered intergrowths on (001) of forsterite-rich olivine and laihunite (distorted olivine structure with Fe³⁺ charge balanced by vacancies). Based on experimental results for laihunite synthesis (Kondoh et al. 1985), these intergrowths probably formed by olivine oxidation between 400 and 800°C. The third episode of alteration involves the destruction of olivine by low-temperature hydrothermal alteration and weathering. Elongate etch-pits and channels in the margins of fresh olivine crystals contain semi-oriented bands of smectite. Olivine weathers to smectite and hematite, and subsequently to arrays of oriented hematite crystals. The textures resemble those reported by Eggleton (1984) and Smith et al. (1987). We find no evidence for a metastable phase intermediate between olivine and smectite (M — Eggleton 1984). The presence of laihunite exerts a strong control on the geometry of olivine weathering. Single laihunite layers and laihunite-forsteritic olivine intergrowths increase the resistance of crystals to weathering. Preferential development of channels between laihunite layers occurs where growth of laihunite produced compositional variations in olivine, rather than where coherency-strain is associated with laihunite-olivine interfaces.     

Climate variability,snow, and physiographic controls on storm hydrographs in small forested basins,western Cascades,Oregon

Large floods are often attributed to the melting of snow during a rain event. This study tested how climate variability, snowpack presence, and basin physiography were related to storm hydrograph shape in three small (<1 km²) basins with old‐growth forest in western Oregon. Relationships between hydrograph characteristics and precipitation were tested for approximately 800 storms over a nearly 30‐year period. Analyses controlled for (1) snowpack presence/absence, (2) antecedent soil moisture, and (3) hillslope length and gradient. For small storms (<150 mm precipitation), controlling for precipitation, the presence of a snowpack on near‐saturated soil increased the threshold of precipitation before hydrograph rise, extended the start lag, centroid lag, and duration of storm hydrographs, and increased the peak discharge. The presence of a snowpack on near‐saturated soil sped up and steepened storm hydrographs in a basin with short steep slopes, but delayed storm hydrographs in basins with longer or more gentle slopes. Hydrographs of the largest events, which were extreme regional rain and rain‐on‐snow floods, were not sensitive to landform characteristics or snowpack presence/absence. Although the presence of a snowpack did not increase peak discharge in small, forested basins during large storms, it had contrasting effects on storm timing in small basins, potentially synchronizing small basin contributions to the larger basin hydrograph during large rain‐on‐snow events. By altering the relative timing of hydrographs, snowpack melting could produce extreme floods from precipitation events whose size is not extreme. Further work is needed to examine effects of canopy openings, snowpack, and climate warming on extreme rain‐on‐snow floods at the large basin scale. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lake ecosystem dynamics and links to climate change inferred from a stable isotope and organic palaeorecord from a mountain lake in southwestern China (ca. 22.6–10.5 cal ka BP)

A detailed understanding of long-term climatic and environmental change in southwestern China is hampered by a lack of long-term regional palaeorecords. Organic analysis (%TOC, %TN, C/N ratios and δ¹³C values) of a sediment sequence from Lake Shudu, Yunnan Province (ca. 22.6–10.5 cal ka BP) indicates generally low aquatic palaeoproductivity rates over millennial timescales in response to cold, dry climatic conditions. However, the record is punctuated by two marked phases of increased aquatic productivity from ca. 17.7 to 17.1 cal ka BP and from ca. 11.9 to 10.5 cal ka BP. We hypothesise that these shifts reflect a marked, stepwise lacustrine response to Asian summer monsoon strengthening during the last deglaciation.     

The perturbation of alternating geomagnetic fields by discontinuities with high conductivity contrasts

The perturbation of alternating geomagnetic fields by conductivity discontinuities is considered. A numerical method is used to solve the two-dimensional induction problem. Models in which the conductivity contrast between conductive regions is great, such as between oceanic and continental regions, are considered. The perturbation field distributions for models with higher conductivity contrasts are compared with lower conductivity contrast models using a method recently developed by Jones (1972). Total field solutions are obtained for several models by using a very large grid as well as a folding-in technique. Results from the two methods for the various models are compared. It is found that the folding-in technique offers an alternative method for handling higher conductivity contrasts.     

Harmonization of land-use scenarios for the period 1500�C2100: 600?years of global gridded annual land-use transitions, wood harvest, and resulting secondary lands

In preparation for the fifth Assessment Report (AR5) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international community is developing new advanced Earth System Models (ESMs) to assess the combined effects of human activities (e.g. land use and fossil fuel emissions) on the carbon-climate system. In addition, four Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) scenarios of the future (2005?C2100) are being provided by four Integrated Assessment Model (IAM) teams to be used as input to the ESMs for future carbon-climate projections (Moss et al. 2010). The diversity of approaches and requirements among IAMs and ESMs for tracking land-use change, along with the dependence of model projections on land-use history, presents a challenge for effectively passing data between these communities and for smoothly transitioning from the historical estimates to future projections. Here, a harmonized set of land-use scenarios are presented that smoothly connects historical reconstructions of land use with future projections, in the format required by ESMs. The land-use harmonization strategy estimates fractional land-use patterns and underlying land-use transitions annually for the time period 1500?C2100 at 0.5°?×?0.5° resolution. Inputs include new gridded historical maps of crop and pasture data from HYDE 3.1 for 1500?C2005, updated estimates of historical national wood harvest and of shifting cultivation, and future information on crop, pasture, and wood harvest from the IAM implementations of the RCPs for the period 2005?C2100. The computational method integrates these multiple data sources, while minimizing differences at the transition between the historical reconstruction ending conditions and IAM initial conditions, and working to preserve the future changes depicted by the IAMs at the grid cell level. This study for the first time harmonizes land-use history data together with future scenario information from multiple IAMs into a single consistent, spatially gridded, set of land-use change scenarios for studies of human impacts on the past, present, and future Earth system.