A comparison of sea level projections based on the observed and reconstructed sea level data around the Korean Peninsula

In an attempt to estimate accurate local sea level change, “sea level trend” modes are identified and separated from natural variability via cyclostationary empirical orthogonal function (CSEOF) analysis applied to both the tide gauge data (1965–2013) and the reconstruction data (1950–2010) around the Korean Peninsula. For the tide gauge data, ensemble empirical mode decomposition (EEMD) method is also used to estimate sea level trend to understand an uncertainty from different analysis tools. The three trend models—linear, quadratic, and exponential—are fitted to the amplitude time series of the trend mode so that future projection of sea level can be made. Based on a quadratic model, the rate of local sea level rise (SLR) is expected to be 4.63?±?1.1 mm year^?1 during 2010–2060. The estimates of “local” sea level trend vary up to ～30%. It should be noted that, although the three trend models estimate similar sea level trends during the observational period, the projected sea level trend and subsequent SLR differ significantly from one model to another and between the tide gauge data and the reconstruction data; this results in a substantial uncertainty in the future SLR around the Korean Peninsula.     

How effective is the new generation of GPM satellite precipitation in characterizing the rainfall variability over Malaysia?

We investigated the potential of the new generation of satellite precipitation product from the Global Precipitation Mission (GPM) to characterize the rainfall in Malaysia. Most satellite precipitation products have limited ability to precisely characterize the high dynamic rainfall variation that occurred at both time and scale in this humid tropical region due to the coarse grid size to meet the physical condition of the smaller land size, sub-continent and islands. Prior to the status quo, an improved satellite precipitation was required to accurately measure the rainfall and its distribution. Subsequently, the newly released of GPM precipitation product at half-hourly and 0.1° resolution served an opportunity to anticipate the aforementioned conflict. Nevertheless, related evidence was not found and therefore, this study made an initiative to fill the gap. A total of 843 rain gauges over east (Borneo) and west Malaysia (Peninsular) were used to evaluate the rainfall the GPM rainfall data. The assessment covered all critical rainy seasons which associated with Asian Monsoon including northeast (Nov. - Feb.), southwest (May - Aug.) and their subsequent inter-monsoon period (Mar. - Apr. & Sep. - Oct.). The ability of GPM to provide quantitative rainfall estimates and qualitative spatial rainfall patterns were analysed. Our results showed that the GPM had good capacity to depict the spatial rainfall patterns in less heterogeneous rainfall patterns (Spearman’s correlation, 0.591 to 0.891) compared to the clustered one (r = 0.368 to 0.721). Rainfall intensity and spatial heterogeneity that is largely driven by seasonal monsoon has significant influence on GPM ability to resolve local rainfall patterns. In quantitative rainfall estimation, large errors can be primarily associated with the rainfall intensity increment. 77% of the error variation can be explained through rainfall intensity particularly the high intensity (> 35 mm d^-1). A strong relationship between GPM rainfall and error was found from heavy (~35 mm d^-1) to violent rain (160 mm d^-1). The output of this study provides reference regarding the performance of GPM data for respective hydrology studies in this region.     

A linear projection for the timing of unprecedented climate in Korea

Recently we have had abnormal weather events worldwide that are attributed by climate scientists to the global warming induced by human activities. If the global warming continues in the future and such events occur more frequently and someday become normal, we will have an unprecedented climate. This study intends to answer when we will have an unprecedented warm climate, focusing more on the regional characteristics of the timing of unprecedented climate. Using an in-situ observational data from weather stations of annual-mean surface air temperature in Korea from 1973 to 2015, we estimate a timing of unprecedented climate with a linear regression method. Based on the in-situ data with statistically significant warming trends at 95% confidence level, an unprecedented climate in Korea is projected to occur first in Cheongju by 2043 and last in Haenam by 2168. This 125-year gap in the timing indicates that a regional difference in timing of unprecedented climate is considerably large in Korea. Despite the high sensitivity of linear estimation to the data period and resolution, our findings on the large regional difference in timing of unprecedented climate can give an insight into making policies for climate change mitigation and adaptation, not only for the central government but for provincial governments.     

Seasonal change in body length of important small copepods and relationship with environmental factors in Jiaozhou Bay,China

Differences among species in prosome length and in species’ response to environmental factors do exist. Therefore, it is useful to examine prosome length for different copepod species in variable environments. Seasonal variations in prosome length of four small copepods and their copepodite stages in the Jiaozhou Bay were compared and the relative influence of temperature, salinity, and chlorophyll concentration were examined. Two peaks were found in the mean prosome length of Paracalanus parvus (in early winter and May). For Acartia bifilosa, the maximum values of all copepodites occurred mainly from February to April, and decreased to the bottom in July. Prosome length of Acartia pacifica peaked when it first appeared in June, then reached to the minimum in July. Parvocalanus crassirostris only appeared from late summer to autumn and the mean prosome length showed no clear changes. Correlations of adult prosome length with environmental factors were evaluated. For the four species, temperature was negatively correlated to prosome length except for P. crassirostris. But the different species varied markedly in their responds to temperature. A. bifilosa showed a more definite trend of size variation with temperature than P. parvus and A. pacifica. Correlations of prosome length with salinity were significantly positive for almost all the small copepods. The relationship between chlorophyll concentration and prosome length was complicated for these copepods, but for P. parvus, chlorophyll concentration was also an important affecting factor. Furthermore, investigation needs to be done on food quality for some copepod. These results are essential to estimate the biomass and the production, and to understand these small copepods’ population dynamics in this human-affected bay.     

Spatial structure and land use control in Extended Metropolitan Region of Zhujiang River Delta,China

The Zhujiang (Pearl) River Delta is one of the most developed Extended Metropolitan Regions (EMR) in China.With the rapid urbanization,the agglomeration of population and industries has emerged,which has led to dramatic changes of spatial structure and land use in this region.With data of high resolution TM remote sensing images and Google Earth maps,this paper identified and analyzed the spatial pattern of the Zhujiang River Delta EMR using Envy and ArcGIS tools.It was found that 1) the industrial land uses were expanding substantially,particularly on the bank sides of the Zhujiang River estuary;2) large-scale housing developments were concentrated in the fringe of metropolitan areas such as those of Guangzhou and Shenzhen;3) a regional transportation network with the spatial pattern of ″1 circle +2 pieces + 3 axes″ had significantly affected the location choice of manufacture enterprises.At the same time,both highly specialized land use and severely mixed land use patterns were identified.As a consequence of the latter,land use efficiency of the whole EMR areas was reduced.Moreover,ecologic and environmental problems were severe.Based on the above analysis,suggestions were given from the viewpoint of spatial safety,land use efficiency,and the reorganization of spatial structure in the Zhujiang River Delta EMR.     

A comparative study of fish community in four main estuaries of China southeastern coastal areas and their adjacent waters

Based on literature and survery data of fish composition collected by bottom trawl investigation from 2006 to 2007 infour main estuaries of China southeastern coastal areas and their adjacent waters,changes of the taxonomic diversity across spatialand temporal scales of fish community were analyzed by taxonomic diversity indices.The results are as follows:a total number of1397 fish species(including some freshwater species),belonging to 2 classes,42 orders,186 families and 593 genera,were collected inthe studied sea areas.The species richness increased with lower latitudes,particularly so with Perciformes.There were 339 fish spe-cies in the Yangtze River Estuary and adjacent waters,belonging to 2 classes,31 orders,101 families and 231 genera.There were 535fish species in the Minjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters,belonging to 2 classes,33 orders,133 families and 323 genera.A totalnumber of 803 fish species were collected in the Jiulongjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters,which belonged to 2 classes,35 orders,155 families and 419 genera.And 1021 fish species which belonged to 2 classes,32 orders,153 families,and 466 genera were collectedin the Pearl River Estuary and adjacent waters.The numbers of orders and families of fish species from the northern to the southern wa-ters first increased and then decreased.The average variation in taxonomic distinctness(Λ+)gradually decreased with lower latitudes inthe four estuaries and adjacent waters.There were no significant differences in the average taxonomic distinctness(△+)among the fourestuaries and adjacent waters,and fish fauna were closely related with each other,and all of them belonged to the same zoogeographicalfauna(Indian-Malaysia fauna).Fish composition in the Minjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters was more similar to that in the Jiu-longjiang River Estuary and adjacent waters among the four estuaries.Compared with the historical data,the average taxonomic dis-tinctness of fish community showed a great decrease in the Minjiang River Estuary and the Jiulongjiang River Estuary and their adjacentwaters.     

A sulfotransferase specific to N-21 of gonyautoxin 2/3 from crude enzyme extraction of toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium tamarense CI01

Sulfotransferase (ST) is the first enzyme discovered in association with paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxin biosynthesis in toxic dinoflagellates. This study investigates the ST activity in crude enzyme extraction of a toxic dinoflagellate species, Alexandrium tamarense CI01. The results show that crude enzyme can transfer a sulfate group from 3’-phosphoadenosine 5’-phosphosulfate (PAPS) to N-21 in the carbamoyl group of gonyautoxin 2/3 (GTX2/3) to produce C1/C2, but is inactive toward STX to produce GTX5. The crude enzyme is optimally active at pH 6.0 and 15°C. The activity is enhanced by Co2 , Mg2 , Mn2 and Ca2 individually, but is inhibited by Cu2 . Moreover, the activity shows no difference when various sulfur compounds are used as sulfate donors. These results demonstrate that the ST specific to GTX2/3 is present in the cells of A. tamarense CI01 and is involved in PSP toxin biosynthesis. In addition, the ST from different dinoflagellates is species-specific, which explains well the various biosynthesis pathways of the PSP toxins in toxic dinoflagellates.     

The impact of physical processes on pollutant transport in Hangzhou Bay

A Lagrangian tracer model is set up for Hangzhou Bay based on Coupled Hydrodynamical Ecological model for Regional Shelf Sea (COHERENS). The study area is divided into eight subdomains to identify the dominant physical processes, and the studied periods are March (the dry season) and July (the wet season). The model performance has been first verified by sea-surface elevation and tidal current observations at several stations. Eight tracer experiments are designed and Lagrangian particle tracking is simulated to examine the impact of physical processes (tide, wind and river runoff) on the transport of passive tracer released within the surface layer. Numerical simulations and analysis indicate that: (1) wind does not change the tracer distribution after 30 days except for those released from the south area of the bay during the wet season; (2) the tide and the Qiantang River runoff are important for particle transport in the head area of the bay; (3) the Changjiang River runoff affects the tracer transport at the mouth of the bay, and its impact is smaller in the dry season than in the wet season. Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of China (No.40576080); National High Technology Research and Development Program of China (863 Program, No. 2007AA12Z182)     

Estimating aboveground biomass using Pléiades satellite image in a karst watershed of Guizhou Province,Southwestern China

Biomass in karst terrain has rarely been measured because the steep mountainous limestone terrain has limited the ability to sample woody plants.Satellite observation, especially at high spatial resolution, is an important surrogate for the quantification of the biomass of karst forests and shrublands. In this study, an artificial neural network(ANN) model was built using Pléiades satellite imagery and field biomass measurements to estimate the aboveground biomass(AGB) in the Houzhai River Watershed, which is a typical plateau karst basin in Central Guizhou Province, Southwestern China. A back-propagation ANN model was also developed.Seven vegetation indices, two spectral bands of Pléiades imagery, one geomorphological parameter,and land use/land cover were selected as model inputs. AGB was chosen as an output. The AGB estimated by the allometric functions in 78 quadrats was utilized as training data(54 quadrats, 70%),validation data(12 quadrats, 15%), and testing data(12 quadrats, 15%). Data-model comparison showed that the ANN model performed well with an absolute root mean square error of 11.85 t/ha, which was 9.88%of the average AGB. Based on the newly developed ANN model, an AGB map of the Houzhai River Watershed was produced. The average predicted AGB of the secondary evergreen and deciduous broadleaved mixed forest, which is the dominant forest type in the watershed, was 120.57 t/ha. The average AGBs of the large distributed shrubland,tussock, and farmland were 38.27, 9.76, and 11.69 t/ha, respectively. The spatial distribution pattern ofthe AGB estimated by the new ANN model in the karst basin was consistent with that of the field investigation. The model can be used to estimate the regional AGB of karst landscapes that are distributed widely over the Yun-Gui Plateau.     

Taxonomic distinctness of macrofauna as an ecological indicator in Laizhou Bay and adjacent waters

In this paper, we assessed the ecological and biodiversity status in the Bohai Sea through a quantitative survey on mac-rofaunal community at 25 stations in Laizhou Bay and adjacent waters in the autumn of 2006.We tested the robustness and effectiveness of taxonomic distinctness as an ecological indictor by analyzing its correlation with species richness and natural environmental variables and by analyzing other ecological indicators (Shannon-Wiener H' and W statistics from Abundance Biomass Comparison curve).Results so obtained indicated that the benthic environment of the study waters in general is not under major impact of anthropogenic disturbance, but some stations in Laizhou Bay and along the coast of the Shandong Peninsula and even in the central Bohai Sea might be moderately disturbed and showed signs of ecological degradation.The taxonomic distinctness measures △+ and Λ+ were independent of sampling effort and natural environment factors and were compliant to other ecological indicators.Further application of the taxonomic distinctness indicator to assess marine biodiversity and ecosystem health on a larger regional scale with historical data seems promising.