Do Spur-Throated Grasshoppers, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Melanoplus</Emphasis> spp. (Orthoptera: Acrididae), Exert Top-Down Control on Smooth Cordgrass <Emphasis Type="Italic">Spartina alterniflora</Emphasis> in Northern New England?

Recently, strong top-down (consumer) control of cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) has been demonstrated. Here, we manipulated the densities of cordgrass consumers, acridid grasshoppers (Melanoplus bivittatus and Melanoplus femurrubrum), to examine their impact on cordgrass in the Plum Island Estuary (PIE), MA, USA. After 1 month, there was no detectable effect of grasshopper density on S. alterniflora biomass and grasshoppers at the highest densities (34 individuals per square meter) consumed only ~14% of the standing stock biomass. However, significant impacts of grasshopper density on grazing damage were seen. For example, plant damage and scarring length increased by 160% and 6,156%, respectively, at the highest grasshopper densities relative to exclusion (zero grasshoppers) densities. Plant height was significantly reduced with increasing grasshopper densities, although this may be a function of leaf tip removal instead of reduced plant growth. No other strong consumers of cordgrass (e.g., Littoraria irrorata, Prokelisia marginata) were observed in PIE and we suggest that consumer regulation of cordgrass is weak in this system.     

The activity of silica in kimberlites,revisited

The activity of silica in a silicate liquid in equilibrium with olivine and orthopyroxene decreases with increasing pressure. In contrast, the activity of silica in an unbuffered silicate liquid changes little with pressure. Although the implications of these pressure dependencies have been considered by previous authors in terms of inferring pressures of origin of magmas, less consideration has been given to the implications of these dependencies on the evolution of the magma en route to the surface, or to the mantle through which the magma passes. In this paper, a combination of Schreinemakers’ analysis in isothermal section and calculated reactions in space is used to (a) rationalize the absence of orthopyroxene xenocrysts in kimberlites and the relative abundance of olivine “megacrysts” therein, (b) propose another reason for the paucity of xenocrystic mantle-derived carbonates in kimberlites, (c) explain why clinopyroxene is much less reactive in the kimberlite melt than is orthopyroxene, and (d) explore the implications of the relative stabilities of olivine, orthopyroxene, and clinopyroxene in kimberlitic magma for the mantle through which the magma transits.

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A precise bathymetric map of the world’s deepest seafloor,Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench

Data from three bathymetric surveys by R/V Kairei using a 12-kHz multibeam echosounder and differential GPS were used to create an improved topographic model of the Challenger Deep in the southwestern part of the Mariana Trench, which is known as the deepest seafloor in the world. The strike of most of the elongated structures related to plate bending accompanied by subduction of the Pacific plate is N70°E and is not parallel to the trench axis. The bending-related structures were formed by reactivation of seafloor spreading fabric. Challenger Deep consists of three en echelon depressions along the trench axis, each of which is 6–10 km long, about 2 km wide, and deeper than 10,850 m. The eastern depression is the deepest, with a depth of 10,920 ± 5 m.     

Long-term (1998–2007) trends on the spatial distribution of heterotrophic ciliates in the East China Sea in summer: effect of the Three Gorges Dam construction

The spatial distribution of heterotrophic ciliates, environmental factors and potential food items (bacteria, Synechococcus spp. and nanoflagellates) were measured in the East China Sea to examine which variables contributed importantly to the long-term distribution of ciliates between 1998 and 2007. In July 1998 and June 2003, heterotrophic ciliates were found to be abundant (1,000–2,000 × 10³ cells m⁻³) in regions where surface salinity <32 but extremely low (<500 × 10³ cells m⁻³) in shelf waters of surface salinity >32. After August 2003, shortly after the completion of the Three Gorges Dam, we found no significant areal differences in the abundance of heterotrophic ciliates (HC). However, we found a significantly negative correlation between temperature and HC abundance of surface water after the completion of the dam, suggesting that temperature had a greater influence on HC abundance, once the original saline state had changed. For the long-term trends on the vertical distribution of HC, their abundance was significantly higher in the upper 50 m of the water column than at either 75 or 100 m. Abundance of Synechococcus spp. at these levels varied significantly in regions of surface salinity <32, suggesting that ciliates and picophytoplankton contribute greatly to mediating the transfer of organic matter to higher trophic levels in this marine ecosystem.     

Degradation and utilization of protein derived from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pseudomonas aeruginosa</Emphasis> by marine microbial community

Microbial degradation and utilization of proteins derived from bacterial detritus were investigated in a microcosm experiment using Pseudomonas aeruginosa detritus as a substrate. To assess the effects of natural marine microbial communities on degradation and utilization of protein derived from P. aeruginosa cells, four microcosms were prepared: natural seawater (containing the natural microbial community) with P. aeruginosa detritus (N+Pa), autoclaved seawater with P. aeruginosa detritus (A+Pa), natural seawater (N) and autoclaved seawater (A) without adding anything as a control. The numbers of total and growing bacterial cells, protease activity, and transition of P. aeruginosa proteins were monitored in the four microcosms. Changes in the numbers of total and growing bacterial cells and protease activities indicated that bacterial detritus significantly stimulated the microbial community in the microcosms. Both the surviving P. aeruginosa in A+Pa and natural microbial community in N+Pa microcosms were able to degrade and utilize P. aeruginosa detritus; however, the community in N+Pa including various microbes maintained high activity longer, indicating that diversity is an important factor in keeping the community active. Even under the very high protease activity in N+Pa, 39-kDa and 48-kDa proteins from P. aeruginosa remained in the microcosm during the entire experiment (150 days). Immunoblotting suggested the 48-kDa protein was an intact molecule of OprP, which had been detected from the dissolved fraction of natural seawater in previous studies. This result suggests that the protein molecules that had been detected from natural seawater actually had a high tolerance to microbial degradation.     

Combined gamma and M-test-based ANN and ARIMA models for groundwater fluctuation forecasting in semiarid regions

The shortage of surface water in arid and semiarid regions has led to the more use of the groundwater resources. In these areas, the groundwater is essential for activities such as water supply and irrigation. One of the most important stages in sustainable yield of groundwater resources is awareness of groundwater level. In this study, we have applied artificial neural networks (ANN) and autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) models for groundwater level forecasting to 4 months ahead in Shiraz basin, southwestern Iran. Time series analysis was conducted according to the Box–Jenkins method. Meanwhile, gamma and M-test were considered for determining the optimal input combination and length of training and testing data in the ANN model. The results indicated that performance of multilayer perceptron neural network (4, 14, 1) and ARIMA (2, 1, 2) is satisfactory in the groundwater level forecasting for one month ahead. The performance comparison shows that the ARIMA model performs appreciably better than the ANN.     

Recent Rapid Regional Climate Warming on the Antarctic Peninsula

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that mean global warming was 0.6 ± 0.2 °C during the 20th century and cited anthropogenic increases in greenhouse gases as the likely cause of temperature rise in the last 50 years. But this mean value conceals the substantial complexity of observed climate change, which is seasonally- and diurnally-biased, decadally-variable and geographically patchy. In particular, over the last 50 years three high-latitude areas have undergone recent rapid regional (RRR) warming, which was substantially more rapid than the global mean. However, each RRR warming occupies a different climatic regime and may have an entirely different underlying cause. We discuss the significance of RRR warming in one area, the Antarctic Peninsula. Here warming was much more rapid than in the rest of Antarctica where it was not significantly different to the global mean. We highlight climate proxies that appear to show that RRR warming on the Antarctic Peninsula is unprecedented over the last two millennia, and so unlikely to be a natural mode of variability. So while the station records do not indicate a ubiquitous polar amplification of global warming, the RRR warming on the Antarctic Peninsula might be a regional amplification of such warming. This, however, remains unproven since we cannot yet be sure what mechanism leads to such an amplification. We discuss several possible candidate mechanisms: changing oceanographic or changing atmospheric circulation, or a regional air-sea-ice feedback amplifying greenhouse warming. We can show that atmospheric warming and reduction in sea-ice duration coincide in a small area on the west of the Antarctic Peninsula, but here we cannot yet distinguish cause and effect. Thus for the present we cannot determine which process is the probable cause of RRR warming on the Antarctic Peninsula and until the mechanism initiating and sustaining the RRR warming is understood, and is convincingly reproduced in climate models, we lack a sound basis for predicting climate change in this region over the coming century.     

Research on the loss of group residential buildings under fierce winds

The prediction and assessment of the loss of group residential buildings under fierce winds are not only an important but also a very basic work. Many rural buildings, especially situated in southeastern of China, have suffered great damage and losses during such wind events in past 10 years. One new methodology is proposed in this study in order to estimate and evaluate the loss reasonably based on group building types and distribution, wind intensities and directions. This methodology comprehensively considers the mechanisms of interaction between the roof tiles, roof panels, doors and windows, which are more likely damaged seriously during fierce winds, the physical properties of those components, the wind pressure coefficients on the surface of group buildings in different wind directions, etc. Then Monte Carlo simulation is used to estimate the damage of group residential buildings under simulated fluctuating winds with different speeds and measured typhoon records. The simulation results indicate that our proposed quantified assessment method can be utilized for official, developers, architects, designers and homeowners to estimate and mitigate the losses that might be experienced during wind-related disasters either pre- or post-construction.     

改进的能量守恒方法及其在CHAMP重力场恢复中的应用

An efficient method for gravity field determination from CHAMP orbits and accelerometer data is referred to as the energy balance approach. A new CHAMP gravity field recovery strategy based on the improved energy balance approach IS developed in this paper. The method simultaneously solves the spherical harmonic coefficients, daily Integration constant, scale and bias parameters. Two 60 degree and order gravitational potential models, XISM-CHAMPO1S from the classical energy balance approach, and XISM-CHAMPO2S from the improved energy balance, are determined using about one year＇s worth of CHAMP kinematic orbits from TUM and accelerometer data from GFZ. Comparisons among XISM-CHAMPO1S, XISM-CHAMPO2S, EIGEN-CGO3C, EIGEN-CHAMPO3S, EIGEN2, ENIGNIS and EGM96 are made. The results show that the XISM-CHAMPO2S model is more accurate than EGM96, EIGENIS, EIGEN2 and XISM-CHAMPO1S at the same degree and order, and has almost the same accuracy as EIGEN-CHAMPO3S.     

The relationship between significant wave height and Indian Ocean Dipole in the equatorial North Indian Ocean

Based on reanalysis data, we find that the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) plays an important role in the variability of wave climate in the equatorial Northern Indian Ocean (NIO). Significant wave height (SWH) in the equatorial NIO, especially over the waters southeast to Sri Lanka, exhibits strong interannual variations. SWH anomalies in the waters southeast to Sri Lanka correlate well with dipole mode index (DMI) during both summer and autumn. Negative SWH anomalies occur over the oceanic area southeast to Sri Lanka during positive IOD events and vary with different types of IOD. During positive prolonged (unseasonable) IOD, the SWH anomalies are the strongest in autumn (summer); while during positive normal IOD, the SWH anomalies are weak in both summer and autumn. Strong easterly wind anomalies over the southeast oceanic area of Sri Lanka during positive IOD events weaken the original equatorial westerly wind stress, which leads to the decrease in wind-sea waves. The longer wave period during positive IOD events further confirms less wind-sea waves. The SWH anomaly pattern during negative IOD events is nearly opposite to that during positive IOD events.