Quantification of ecosystem carbon exchange characteristics in a dominant subtropical evergreen forest ecosystem

CO₂ fluxes were measured continuously for three years (2003?C2005) using the eddy covariance technique for the canopy layer with a height of 27 m above the ground in a dominant subtropical evergreen forest in Dinghushan, South China. By applying gapfilling methods, we quantified the different components of the carbon fluxes (net ecosystem exchange (NEE)), gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (R_eco) in order to assess the effects of meteorological variables on these fluxes and the atmospherecanopy interactions on the forest carbon cycle. Our results showed that monthly average daily maximum net CO₂ exchange of the whole ecosystem varied from ?3.79 to ?14.24 ??mol m^?2 s^?1 and was linearly related to photosynthetic active radiation. The Dinghushan forest acted as a net carbon sink of ?488 g C m^?2 y^?1, with a GPP of 1448 g Cm^?2 y^?1, and a R_eco of 961 g C m^?2 y^?1. Using a carboxylase-based model, we compared the predicted fluxes of CO₂ with measurements. GPP was modelled as 1443 g C m^?2 y^?1, and the model inversion results helped to explain ca. 90% of temporal variability of the measured ecosystem fluxes. Contribution of CO₂ fluxes in the subtropical forest in the dry season (October-March) was 62.2% of the annual total from the whole forest ecosystem. On average, 43.3% of the net annual carbon sink occurred between October and December, indicating that this time period is an important stage for uptake of CO₂ by the forest ecosystem from the atmosphere. Carbon uptake in the evergreen forest ecosystem is an indicator of the interaction of between the atmosphere and the canopy, especially in terms of driving climate factors such as temperature and rainfall events. We found that the Dinghushan evergreen forest is acting as a carbon sink almost year-round. The study can improve the evaluation of the net carbon uptake of tropical monsoon evergreen forest ecosystem in south China region under climate change conditions.     

An investigation of urban heat island intensity (UHII) as an indicator of urban heating

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the reliability of urban heat island intensity (UHII) as an indicator of urban heating. The diurnal patterns of air and surface-temperature based UHII and variations in urban and rural area heating were analyzed and discussed. The detailed air-temperature based UHII patterns were determined in one urban and four suburban areas of Hong Kong. UHII was determined as spatially-averaged air-temperature difference between an urban/suburban area and its surrounding rural area. Additionally, reported air and surface-temperature based UHII patterns were integrated in the discussion to carry out a comprehensive analysis. The urban and rural area heating variations (i.e., the diurnal variations in net radiation, sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and heat stored by an area) were examined in the light of UHII patterns to validate UHII as an indicator for urban heating. It is noted that the air-temperature based UHIIs were higher and positive in the night-time but lower and negative during the daytime. On the other hand, most of the surface-temperature based UHIIs, investigated through satellite data were positive during both the daytime and night-time. It is revealed that UHII can well reflect urban heating during night-time and early morning. However, the lower and negative UHII during solar peak time (daytime when solar radiation is the dominant source of heating) has seemingly not been representing urban heating.     

The indirect effects of floods and benefits of flood alleviation: evaluating the Chesil Sea Defence Scheme

The indirect or secondary economic effects of floods are under-researched owing to their spatial diffusion, measurement difficulties and their perceived lesser importance compared with direct flood damages. A case study of the Chesil Sea Defence Scheme, Dorset, shows that in specific circumstances these indirect effects can be highly significant. However, their real magnitude is profoundly affected by flood duration, the ability of organizations to transfer their economic activities away from the flood-affected area, and by the geographical boundaries of the economic analysis. The case study has clarified a number of assessment principles and thus paved the way for more systematic research.     

河西地区可持续发展能力评价及地域分异规律

采用熵技术支持下的层次分析模型和多层次多目标模糊综合测度模型求算出河西地区的可持续发展能力，进而总结出可持续发展能力的地域分异规律，认为区内各县市可持续发展能力差异较大，但其地域分异呈现出某种规律性，流域上游地区的可持续发展能力高于流域中下游地区，呈现出从上游到下游逐步递减的规律；工矿区可持续发展能力高于农区，呈现出从矿区到农区农步递减的规律，牧区的可持续发展能力高于农区，呈现出从牧区到农区逐步递减的规律；城区的可持续发展能力高于农区，呈现出从城区到农区逐步递减的规律，少数民族地区的可持续发展能力高于汉族地区，呈现出从少数民族地区到汉族地区逐步递减的规律，这种分异规律可为河西地区新世纪生态环境建设和经济社会可持续发展提供定量化的科学决策依据。     

The temporal and spatial relationship between NDVI and climatological parameters in Colorado

1 Introduction In recent years, many researchers have demonstrated that there are essential and evident correlations between NDVI and climatological parameters (temperature and precipitation). The analysis of correlation between climate forces and time-integrated NDVI over US Northern and Central Great Plains suggested that spatial and temporal variation of precipitation and potential evapotranspiration and growing degree days in growing season are the most important control on grassland…     

Regional patterns of postwildfire streamflow response in the Western United States: The importance of scale‐specific connectivity

Wildfires can impact streamflow by modifying net precipitation, infiltration, evapotranspiration, snowmelt, and hillslope run‐off pathways. Regional differences in fire trends and postwildfire streamflow responses across the conterminous United States have spurred concerns about the impact on streamflow in forests that serve as water resource areas. This is notably the case for the Western United States, where fire activity and burn severity have increased in conjunction with climate change and increased forest density due to human fire suppression. In this review, we discuss the effects of wildfire on hydrological processes with a special focus on regional differences in postwildfire streamflow responses in forests. Postwildfire peak flows and annual water yields are generally higher in regions with a Mediterranean or semi‐arid climate (Southern California and the Southwest) compared to the highlands (Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Northwest), where fire‐induced changes in hydraulic connectivity along the hillslope results in the delivery of more water, more rapidly to streams. No clear streamflow response patterns have been identified in the humid subtropical Southeastern United States, where most fires are prescribed fires with a low burn severity, and more research is needed in that region. Improved assessment of postwildfire streamflow relies on quantitative spatial knowledge of landscape variables such as prestorm soil moisture, burn severity and correlations with soil surface sealing, water repellency, and ash deposition. The latest studies furthermore emphasize that understanding the effects of hydrological processes on postwildfire dynamic hydraulic connectivity, notably at the hillslope and watershed scales, and the relationship between overlapping disturbances including those other than wildfire is necessary for the development of risk assessment tools.     

Atmospheric control of the cooling rate of impact melts and cryolavas on Titan’s surface

As on Earth, Titan’s atmosphere plays a major role in the cooling of heated surfaces. We have assessed the mechanisms by which Titan’s atmosphere, dominantly N₂ at a surface pressure of 1.5 × 10⁵ Pa, cools a warm or heated surface. These heated areas can be caused by impacts generating melt sheets and (possibly) by endogenic processes emplacing cryolavas (a low-temperature liquid that freezes on the surface). We find that for a cooling cryolava flow, lava lake, or impact melt body, heat loss is mainly driven by atmospheric convection. Radiative heat loss, a dominant heat loss mechanism with terrestrial silicate lava flows, plays only a minor role on Titan. Long-term cooling and solidification are dependent on melt sheet or flow thickness, and also local climate, because persistent winds will speed cooling. Relatively rapid cooling caused by winds reduces the detectability of these thermal events by instruments measuring surface thermal emission. Because surface temperature drops by ≈50% within ≈1 day of emplacement, fresh flows or impact melt may be difficult to detect via thermal emission unless an active eruption is directly observed. Cooling of flow or impact melt surfaces are orders of magnitude faster on Titan than on airless moons (e.g., Enceladus or Europa).Although upper surfaces cool fast, the internal cooling and solidification process is relatively slow. Cryolava flow lengths are, therefore, more likely to be volume (effusion) limited, rather than cooling-limited. More detailed modeling awaits constraints on the thermophysical properties of the likely cryomagmas and surface materials.     

A case study of land cover change (1950-2003) and runoff in a Mediterranean catchment

Mediterranean environments have been subject to major land cover change since the end of the second world war. Housing, agricultural activities, forests, green spaces and other land uses have shifted due to urbanisation and tourism. These changes influence runoff, and municipal authorities often cannot estimate the net impact of complex land cover transitions. During this period, elected representatives have become increasingly sensitive to the risks of flooding and have implemented a number of channel management strategies. The main objective of this case study was to analyse the impact of land cover change on total storm runoff between 1950 and 2003 in a Mediterranean catchment near St Tropez, France. A secondary objective was to compare these changes to the impacts of channel management on bankfull discharge. Aerial photographs were used to classify land cover in 3 urban categories, vineyards and bare soil, forests, and green spaces. Stream discharge was estimated using a distributed event based total runoff approach. After validating the model for a large winter event (114 mm) for 1982, runoff was calculated for the same event for 1950 and 2003. Land cover changes occurred mainly in the alluvial plain area. Total gauge catchment urban area increased from 30.1 ha to 393.8 between 1950 and 2003 at the expense mainly of agricultural land, but this was compensated in part by an increase in grassed area. Some of the loss in vineyards was replaced by clearing forested land on the first hills close to the plain. Bank stabilisation and channel maintenance since the 1980’s reduced surface roughness and increased channel area, thereby greatly increasing bankfull discharge. While the impact of urbanisation on runoff was small, channel management effects increased bankfull discharge substantially. Flood damage from extreme events was not studied here.     

Osteichthyans from the Fairpoint Member of the Fox Hills Formation (Maastrichtian), Meade County, South Dakota, USA

The Fairpoint Member of the Fox Hills Formation (upper Maastrichtian) in Meade County, South Dakota, USA, contains an osteichthyan assemblage indicative of transitional to marine shoreface deposits. The fauna consists of: Lepisosteus sp., Paralbula casei, Cylindracanthus cf. C. ornatus, Enchodus gladiolus, Hadrodus sp., and indeterminate osteichthyans with probable affinities to the Siluriformes and Beryciformes. The Fairpoint fauna is of limited species diversity and in this character mirrors many other Upper Cretaceous North American osteichthyan assemblages. Comparison to Upper Cretaceous chondrichthyan diversity and consideration of the structure of Cretaceous marine food webs suggest that osteichthyans are strongly under-represented in the Upper Cretaceous of North America. The small size and poor preservation potential of many Upper Cretaceous North American osteichthyans probably account for much of this observed paucity. Fairpoint osteichthyans are members of families that survive the Cretaceous–Paleocene boundary extinction event. Some of these genera and families are still extant and occur in a wide array of modern fresh, brackish, and shallow marine environments.