Plant life-form and germination in a Mexican inter-tropical desert: effects of soil water potential and temperature

We investigated the effects of soil water potential (SWP) and temperature on seed germination of six coexisting species of an inter-tropical desert. These species include three life-forms; the shrubs Cercidium praecox andProsopis laevigata ; the columnar succulents Neobuxbaumia tetetzo and Pachycereus hollianus; and the arborescent semi-succulents Beaucarnea gracilis and Yucca periculosa. In the six species germinability increased and germination time and speed of germination (t⁵⁰) decreased as SWP decreased. The SWP treatments were 0 MPa, −0·12 MPa, −0·2 MPa, −0·41 MPa and −0·66 MPa. There was, however, a SWP threshold below which germination time and t⁵⁰increased and germinability decreased. The shrubs had the highest germinability whereas the columnar succulents had the lowest. The shrubs also had shorter germination time andt⁵⁰ than arborescent semi-succulents whereas seeds of the columnar succulents were indeterminate. In all species except P. laevigata germinability increased and the germination time and t⁵⁰decreased as temperature increased. The temperature treatments were 12°C, 20°C and 26°C. The shrubs had the shortest t⁵⁰and germination time and the highest germinability at all temperatures. Arborescent semi-succulents had the lowest germinability and longest germination time and t⁵⁰at the three temperatures treatments. Our results support the hypothesis that in desert environments different plant life-forms utilise different germination strategies to persist.     

Evaluation of combination rules for maximum response calculation in multicomponent seismic analysis

The existing rules for combining peak response to individual components of ground motion are evaluated. The response values r_e to two horizontal components of ground motion estimated by four multicomponent combination rules—SRSS‐, 30%‐, 40%‐ and simplified‐SRSS‐rules—are compared with the critical response, r_cr, obtained by the CQC3‐rule, which takes into account the direction of the principal ground components with respect to the structural axes and provides the largest response over all possible seismic incident angles. The following results are obtained in the first part of the paper and are valid for any elastic structure and any earthquake design response spectrum: For realistic values of the ratio γ of the design spectra for the two principal components of ground motion the SRSS‐rule estimate lies between 0.79r_cr and 1.00r_cr, the Simplified‐SRSS‐rule estimate lies between 1.00r_cr and 1.26r_cr, the 40%‐rule estimate lies between 0.99r_cr and 1.25r_cr, and the 30%‐rule estimate lies between 0.92r_cr and 1.16r_cr. None of the multicomponent combination rules account for the increase in response of systems if the vibration periods of the two modes that contribute most to the response to the x‐ and y‐components of ground motion are close to each other. Evaluated in the second part of the paper is the accuracy of the multicomponent combination rules in estimating the response of a range of one‐storey systems with (a) symmetrical plan and (b) unsymmetrical plan, and of two multistorey buildings. The SRSS‐rule underestimates the response by up to 16% and the other three rules overestimate it by up to 18%. Although these errors appear to be smaller than the many approximations inherent in structural design, they can be eliminated with very little additional computation by using an explicit formula for the critical response based on the CQC3 rule. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Interannual-decadal variability of wintertime mixed layer depths in the North Pacific detected by an ensemble of ocean syntheses

Climate Dynamics - The interannual-decadal variability of the wintertime mixed layer depths (MLDs) over the North Pacific is investigated from an empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of an...     

The effect of migratory shorebirds on the benthic species of three southwestern Atlantic Argentinean estuaries

We experimentally evaluate the effect of migratory shorebirds on the benthic fauna of three southwestern Atlantic Argentinean stop-over and wintering sites: Bahía Samborombon (35°30′–36°22′S, 57°23′W), Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon (37°40′S, 57°26′W), and Bahía Blanca (38°48′–39°25′S, 50°–62°25′W). The experiments consisted of exclusion ceilings and controls (both 1 m²), with 10 replicates each and aligned at the same tidal level. During December 1994–May 1995 these experiments were done, twice in Bahía Samborombon, twice at two sites (Sotelo and Celpa) 4 km apart in Mar Chiquita coastal lagoon, and three times in Bahía Blanca. Three polychaete species (Laeonereis acuta, Nephtys fluviatilis, andHeteromastus similis) were found in similar densities in both areas of the Mar Chiquita lagoon.L. acuta andN. fluviatilis were affected in Sotelo, but there was no treatment effect in Celpa. In Sotelo the most abundant shorebirds were Hudsonian godwit (Limosa haemastica), American golden plover (Pluvialis dominica), and White-rumped sandpiper (Calidris fuscicollis), and in Celpa the most abundant shorebirds were White-rumped sandpiper, two-banded plower (Charadrius falklandicus), and lesser yellowlegs (Tringa flavipes). The largest polychaete densities were in the upper sediment layer (0–6 cm), which was also the most affected layer. Three polychaete species were found in Bahía Samborombon (L. acuta, H. similis, andNeanthes succinea), but onlyH. similis showed a treatment effect. The most abundant shorebirds in Samborombon were white-rumped sandpiper and two-banded plover. No effect was detected in Bahía Blanca, where the most abundant shorebirds were white-rumped sandpiper and American golden plover. In all cases, the species affected by shorebirds were the most abundant species. From the two sites of Mar Chiquita, there was a treatment effect only in Sotelo, which was also the area with higher shorebirds counts. However, much lower densities observed in Samborombon (similar to the unaffected area of Mar Chiquita) also produced a significant decrease in infaunal abundance. These evidences also suggest that just selection of study sites may produce different views of the interaction between shorebirds and benthic species.     

Using modular 3D digital earth applications based on point clouds for the study of complex sites

This article discusses the use of 3D technologies in digital earth applications (DEAs) to study complex sites. These are large areas containing objects with heterogeneous shapes and semantic information. The study proposes that DEAs should be modular, have multi-tier architectures, and be developed as Free and Open Source Software if possible. In DEAs requiring high reliability in the 3D measurements, point clouds are proposed as basis for the 3D Digital digital earth representation. For the development of DEAs, we propose to follow a workflow with four components: data acquisition and processing, data management, data analysis and data visualization. For every component, technological challenges of using 3D technologies are identified and solutions applied for a case study are presented. The case study is a modular 3D DEA developed for the archaeological project Mapping the Via Appia. The 3D DEA allows archaeologists to virtually analyze a complex study area.     

Numerical calculation of covariances between area means

When area means are given on a regular grid, their covariance functions, needed in least squares collocation to estimate quantities statistically related to the data, can be calculated as accurately as desired and very efficiently in the form of a Fourier series truncated at a suitably high frequency.     

Evaluation of simulated ground motions for predicting elastic response of long period structures and inelastic response of structures

The response of linear elastic and non-linear hysteretic systems having a single degree of freedom to recorded and simulated ground motions is studied. The objective is to evaluate whether the commonly used simulated motions are appropriate for predicting inelastic response of structures and elastic response of long period structures. Eight simulated motions were generated to model properties of horizontal ground motions recorded during four earthquakes. The simulated motions are sample functions of a stationary, Gaussian white noise process, multiplied by a temporal intensity function and passed through a linear single-degree-of-freedom filter. Two versions, corresponding to parabolic and ‘standard’ base line corrections (BLC), of each of the simulated and recorded accelerograms were considered. The following general conclusions are deduced. Simulated ground motions should be subjected to the standard BLC, because it results in more reliable ground velocities and displacements, which in turn would lead to more reliable predictions of response of long period structures. Furthermore, the spectral density of the underlying random process, from which the simulated motions are obtained, should be modified to be more representative of the frequency content of recorded motions, especially in the low frequency range. Such an improved model can be expected to lead to better agreement, over a broad range of periods, in the average response spectra of simulated and recorded motions, for elastic as well as inelastic systems.     

Distribution of suspended sediment concentration in wide sediment‐laden streams: A novel power‐law theory

The diffusion equation of suspended sediment concentration in a wide sediment‐laden stream flow is dependent on the vertical gradient of streamwise velocity and the sediment diffusivity. This study aims at investigating the influence of the streamwise velocity laws on the suspended sediment concentration distributions, resulting from the solution of the diffusion equation. Firstly, the sediment concentration distributions are obtained numerically from the solution of the diffusion equation using different velocity laws and compared with the experimental data. It is found that the power‐law approximation produces good computational results for the concentration distributions. The accuracy of using a power‐law velocity model is comparable with the results obtained from other classical velocity laws, namely log‐law, log wake‐law and stratified log‐law. Secondly, a novel analytical solution is proposed for the determination of sediment concentration distribution, where a power‐law, wall‐concentration profile is coupled with a concentration wake function. The power‐law model (for velocity and concentration) is calibrated using the experimental data, and then a generalized wake function is obtained by choosing a suitable law. The developed power‐law model involving the wake function adjusted by an exponent predicts the sediment concentration distributions quite satisfactorily. Finally, a new explicit formula for the suspended‐load transport rate is derived from the proposed theory, where numerical computation of integrals, as needed in the Einstein theory, is avoided.     

Construction of a high-resolution gridded rainfall dataset for Peru from 1981 to the present day

ABSTRACT

A new gridded rainfall dataset available for Peru is introduced, called PISCOp V2.1 (Peruvian Interpolated data of SENAMHI’s Climatological and Hydrological Observations). PISCOp has been developed for the period 1981 to the present, with an average latency of eight weeks at 0.1° spatial resolution. The merging algorithm is based on geostatistical and deterministic interpolation methods including three different rainfall sources: (i) the national quality-controlled and infilled raingauge dataset, (ii) radar-gauge merged precipitation climatologies and (iii) the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation (CHIRP) estimates. The validation results suggest that precipitation estimates are acceptable showing the highest performance for the Pacific coast and the western flank of the Andes. Furthermore, a meticulous quality-control and gap-infilling procedure allowed us to reduce the formation of inhomogeneities (non-climatic breaks). The dataset is publicly available at https://piscoprec.github.io/ and is intended to support hydrological studies and water management practices.     

Modeling the effects of pulsed versus chronic sand inputs on salmonid spawning habitat in a low‐gradient gravel‐bed river

It is widely recognized that high supplies of fine sediment, largely sand, can negatively impact the aquatic habitat quality of gravel‐bed rivers, but effects of the style of input (chronic vs. pulsed) have not been examined quantitatively. We hypothesize that a continuous (i.e. chronic) supply of sand will be more detrimental to the quality of aquatic habitat than an instantaneous sand pulse equal to the integrated volume of the chronic supply. We investigate this issue by applying a two‐dimensional numerical model to a 1 km long reach of prime salmonid spawning habitat in central Idaho. Results show that in both supply scenarios, sand moves through the study reach as bed load, and that both the movement and depth of sand on the streambed mirrors the hydrograph of this snowmelt‐dominated river. Predictions indicate greater and more persistent mortality of salmonid embryos under chronic supplies than pulse inputs, supporting our hypothesis. However, predicted mortality varies both with salmonid species and location of spawning. We found that the greatest impacts occur closer to the location of the sand input under both supply scenarios. Results also suggest that reach‐scale morphology may modulate the impact of sand loads, and that under conditions of high sand loading climate‐related increases in flow magnitude could increase embryo mortality through sand deposition, rather than streambed scour. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.