Modeling the impacts of reforestation on future climate in West Africa

This study investigates the potential impacts of reforestation in West Africa on the projected regional climate in the near two decades (2031–2050) under the SRES A1B scenario. A regional climate model (RegCM3) forced with a global circulation model (ECHAM5) simulations was used for the study. The study evaluates the capability of the regional model in simulating the present-day climate over West Africa, projects the future climate over the region and investigates impacts of seven hypothetical reforestation options on the projected future climate. Three of these reforestation options assume zonal reforestation over West Africa (i.e., over the Sahel, Savanna and Guinea), while the other four assume random reforestation over Nigeria. With the elevated GHGs (A1B scenario), a warmer and drier climate is projected over West Africa in 2031–2050. The maximum warming (+2.5°C) and drying (?2?mm?day^?1) occur in the western part of the Sahel because the West Africa Monsoon (WAM) flow is stronger and deflects the cool moist air more eastward, thereby lowering the warming and drying in the eastern part. In the simulations, reforestation reduces the projected warming and drying over the reforested zones but increases them outside the zones because it influences the northward progression of WAM in summer. It reduces the speed of the flow by weakening the temperature gradient that drives the flow and by increasing the surface drag on the flow over the reforested zone. Hence, in summer, the reforestation delays the onset of monsoon flow in transporting cool moist air over the area located downwind of the reforested zone, consequently enhancing the projected warming and drying over the area. The impact of reforesting Nigeria is not limited to the country; while it lowers the warming over part of the country (and over Togo), it increases the warming over Chad and Cameroon. This study, therefore, suggests that using reforestation to mitigate the projected future climate change in West Africa could have both positive and negative impacts on the regional climate, reducing temperature in some places and increasing it in others. Hence, reforestation in West Africa requires a mutual agreement among the West African nations because the impacts of reforestation do not recognize political boundaries.     

Nitrogenase activity and estimates of nitrogen fixation by freshwater benthic blue‐green algae

The sandy substrate of Lake Taharoa (west coast, North Island, New Zealand ‐ 35°50'S, 173°41'E) is covered by communities of filamentous algae that extend from the exposed beach down to 21 m depth. The algae bind the sand to form crusts and mats which may break off as discrete plates. The dominant species are the blue‐greens Microcoleus, Nostoc, Phormidium, Lyngbya, Oscillatoria, Scytonema, Stigonema, Shizothrix, Calothrix, Dichothrix, Tolypothrix, and Anabaena, with occasional high concentrations of the desmid Cylindrocystis. Nitrogenase activity, measured by acetylene reduction, showed a wide range of rates (4–150 μmol C₂H₄ m^‐2h^‐1). Estimates of annual rates of nitrogen fixation by the Taharoa communities are comparable with those for periphytic blue‐green algae‐dominated systems reported elsewhere.     

Limnology of Lake Waikaremoana with special reference to littoral and pelagic primary producers

Lake Waikaremoana, the North Island's deepest lake (248 m), lies in a natural forested catchment, but the lake itself has been modified for hydro‐electric power generation and by the introduction of trout, smelt, and adventive aquatic plants. The lake is a warm monomictic water body of low conductivity (82 μS cm^‐1) and a high seasonal water column stability. The waters are oligotrophic, with epilimnetic dissolved reactive phosphorus concentrations typically < 1 mg m^‐3. The concentration of NO₃‐N is seasonally variable but generally high in winter and spring with maximum epilimnetic values approaching 70 mg m ³. This contrasts with other central North Island lakes. Horizontal variability in surface chlorophyll a is low as are the absolute values (< 1–2 mg m^‐3). A notable feature is the formation of a deep chlorophyll maximum within the metalim‐nion comprised largely of Sphaewcystis schweteri as opposed to diatoms and flagellates which normally dominate the epilimnion. Vascular macro‐phytes (maximum biomass 659 g m² dry weight) extended to 9 m and characeans (maximum biomass 447 g m²dry weight) to 16 m. Total phyto‐plankton primary production was calculated as 4524 tCy^‐1 and macrophyte production as 578 t C y^‐1. The proportion of macrophyte to phy‐toplankton production (0.14) is higher than in the other deep lakes of the central North Island.     

INFORMATION THEORY AND SEQUENCES OF LAND USE: AN APPLICATION

This paper addresses the question of how far into the past previous land-use patterns provide significant information concerning present or future patterns. The provision of information is viewed as a reduction in uncertainty. An information-theoretic approach that permits both statistical and graphical analysis is suggested. Application of this method to the analysis of land-use change in three townships on the fringe of Akron, Ohio suggests that, to a varying degree, the processes of change are first-order Markov processes.     

Radio sources in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey – II. Local radio luminosity functions for AGN and star-forming galaxies at 1.4 GHz

We have cross-matched the 1.4-GHz NRAO VLA Sky Survey (NVSS) with the first 210 fields observed in the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey (2dFGRS), covering an effective area of 325 deg² (about 20 per cent of the final 2dFGRS area). This yields a set of optical spectra of 912 candidate NVSS counterparts, of which we identify 757 as genuine radio identifications – the largest and most homogeneous set of radio source spectra ever obtained. The 2dFGRS radio sources span the redshift range     to 0.438, and are a mixture of active galaxies (60 per cent) and star-forming galaxies (40 per cent). About 25 per cent of the 2dFGRS radio sources are spatially resolved by NVSS, and the sample includes three giant radio galaxies with projected linear size greater than 1 Mpc. The high quality of the 2dF spectra means we can usually distinguish unambiguously between AGN and star-forming galaxies. We make a new determination of the local radio luminosity function at 1.4 GHz for both active and star-forming galaxies, and derive a local star formation density of         .     

A multiple-parameter approach to andesitic tephra correlation, Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand

A multi-parameter approach was used to correlate andesitic tephras in a complex tephra sequence ranging in age from ca. 23 to ca. 75 ka on the eastern ring plain of Ruapehu volcano, North Island. Field properties, combined with ferromagnesian mineral assemblages and mineral compositions, were required to map and correlate this sequence. Three tephra units could be identified based on their unique physical appearance, but other tephras could not be correlated on this basis alone. Hornblende and olivine proved to be valuable marker minerals enabling further distinction of two of the marker units recognised by field properties, as well as defining two further marker tephras. Unweathered titanomagnetite crystals, present in all of the tephras, were subjected to major-element analysis by electron microprobe. Canonical discriminant function analysis (DFA) of these analyses enabled the grouping and discrimination of tephra units, further aiding the identification of defined marker units, as well as defining new marker units. The titanomagnetite chemistry showed a strong relationship to the ferromagnesian mineralogy, showing that the ferromagnesian phenocrysts formed from the same melt or under the same melt conditions prior to eruption of each tephra. Canonical DFA was also applied to hornblende and olivine mineral analyses to identify further marker beds and to confirm identifications of previously defined units. This statistical analysis was found to be invaluable in reducing the large amount of compositional data from this study into a useable form for andesitic tephra correlation and mapping.     

Conjugate photoelectrons at L = 5·6 and the 6300 Å postsunset enhancement

A series of simultaneous incoherent-backscatter and 6300 Å tilting-filter photometer observations were made in the winter and early spring of 1972 at Chatanika, Alaska. These observations have been combined for magnetically quiet nights to deduce the presence of excitation by two sources in addition to dissociative recombination. The first appears to be a source that is steady for at least three hours, centered about local midnight, but that varies from night to night, taking on values between 10 and 40 Rayleighs for the nights in question. It is suggested that this source may be a flux of low-energy electrons or protons. The second source is impact excitation by electrons from the magnetic conjugate point. The emission due to this source appears to be small immediately after local sunset, rises to a maximum at about 92° conjugate solar zenith angle (CSZA), and then decreases to zero in the vicinity of 105° CSZA. The deduced intensities for this source at 92° CSZA are in the region of 15–30 Rayleighs for local F-layer critical frequencies of 3?2 MHz, respectively.     

An alternative approach to determine a vessel's center of gravity: the center of buoyancy method

The location of a ship's vertical center of gravity (KG) is an important measurement needed to estimate the initial stability of a vessel. Traditionally, this measurement is obtained by determining the metacentric height (GM) using results from the inclining experiment. Such an approach is valid only for hull forms that are inclined to a small angle such that the metacenter remains stationary. This paper documents an alternative method for finding KG, called the center of buoyancy (CoB) method, which is based on the location of the centroid of the displaced volume. While the center of buoyancy method is valid for all ships, it is especially suited for vessels of unusual form. For such vessels, the location of the metacenter may change significantly at small angles of inclination, thereby making the conventional inclining reduction inaccurate. This paper addresses the need for the center of buoyancy method and details the steps required for its application.