Long‐term spatial dynamics in vegetated seascapes: fragmentation and habitat loss in a human‐impacted subtropical lagoon

Vegetated coastal seascapes exhibit dynamic spatial patterning, some of which is directly linked to human coastal activities. Human activities (e.g. coastal development) have modified freshwater flow to marine environments, resulting in significant changes to submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) communities. Yet, very little is known about the spatially complex process of SAV habitat loss and fragmentation that affects ecosystem function. Using habitat mapping from aerial photography spanning 71 years (1938–2009) for Biscayne Bay (Florida, USA), we quantify both SAV habitat loss and fragmentation using a novel fragmentation index. To understand the influence of water management practices on SAV seascapes, habitat loss and fragmentation were compared between nearshore and offshore locations, as well as locations adjacent to and distant from canals that transport freshwater into the marine environment. Habitat loss and fragmentation were significantly higher along the shoreline compared with offshore seascapes. Nearshore habitats experienced a net loss of 3.31% of the total SAV mapped (2.57 km²) over the time series. While areas adjacent to canals had significantly higher SAV cover, they still experienced wide fluctuations in cover and fragmentation over time. All sites exhibited higher fragmentation in 2009 compared with 1938, with four sites exhibiting high fragmentation levels between the 1990s and 2000s. We demonstrate that freshwater inputs into coastal bays modify the amount of SAV and the fragmentation dynamics of SAV habitats. Spatial changes are greater close to shore and canals, indicating that these coastal developments have transformative impacts on vegetated habitats, with undetermined consequences for the provisioning of ecosystem goods and services.     

Elastic behaviour and structural evolution of topaz at high pressure

The elastic behaviour and the high-pressure structural evolution of a natural topaz, Al_2.00Si_1.05O_4.00(OH_0.26F_1.75), have been investigated by means of in situ single-crystal X-ray diffraction up to 10.55(5) GPa. No phase transition has been observed within the pressure range investigated. Unit-cell volume data were fitted with a third-order Birch-Murnaghan Equation of State (III-BM-EoS). The III-BM-EoS parameters, simultaneously refined using the data weighted by the uncertainties in P and V, are: V ₀=345.57(7) ų, K _T0=164(2) GPa and K′=2.9(4). The axial-EoS parameters are: a ₀=4.6634(3) Å, K _T0(a)=152(2) GPa, K′(a)=2.8(4) for the a-axis; b ₀=8.8349(5) Å, K _T0(b)=224(3) GPa, K′(b)=2.6(6) for the b-axis; c ₀=8.3875(7) Å, K _T0(c)=137(2) GPa, K′(c)=2.9(4) for the c-axis. The magnitude and the orientation of the principal Lagrangian unit-strain ellipsoid were determined. At P−P ₀=10.55 GPa, the ratios ε₁:ε₂:ε₃ are 1.00:1.42:1.56 (with ε₁||b, ε₂||a, ε₃||c and |ε₃| > |ε₂| > |ε₁|). Four structural refinements, performed at 0.0001, 3.14(5), 5.79(5) and 8.39(5) GPa describe the structural evolution in terms of polyhedral distortions.     

Hydraulic failure of diaphragm walls: a possible methodology for safety improvement

The paper presents a methodology aimed at reducing—or even avoiding—the risk of heave and uplift failures of reinforced concrete diaphragm walls. The method is based on the simple concept of increasing the drainage capacity of the embedded portion of the retaining walls. The behaviour of a strutted excavation in a cohesionless soil below groundwater is examined by means of two distinct series of numerical analyses, respectively focused on the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of the retaining system. It is shown that, for some frequent cases, such methodology is capable to improve the safety of the retaining system with respect to both hydraulic and geotechnical limit states.     

Empirical fragility and vulnerability curves for buildings exposed to slow-moving landslides at medium and large scales

Slow-moving landslides yearly induce huge economic losses worldwide in terms of damage to facilities and interruption of human activities. Within the landslide risk management framework, the consequence analysis is a key step entailing procedures mainly based on identifying and quantifying the exposed elements, defining an intensity criterion and assessing the expected losses. This paper presents a two-scale (medium and large) procedure for vulnerability assessment of buildings located in areas affected by slow-moving landslides. Their intensity derives from Differential Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (DInSAR) satellite data analysis, which in the last decade proved to be capable of providing cost-effective long-term displacement archives. The analyses carried out on two study areas of southern Italy (one per each of the addressed scales) lead to the generation, as an absolute novelty, of both empirical fragility and vulnerability curves for buildings in slow-moving landslide-affected areas. These curves, once further validated, can be valuably used as tools for consequence forecasting purposes and, more in general, for planning the most suitable slow-moving landslide risk mitigation strategies.     

Gamma-ray bursts with peculiar temporal asymmetry

Based on Link & Epstein's study of temporal asymmetry of 631 gamma-ray bursts from the BATSE 3B catalogue, we identify the population of bursts with rising times that are longer than their decays, thus showing atypical profiles. We analyse their sky distribution, morphology, time–space clustering and other average properties and compare them with those associated with the bulk of the bursts. We show how most of the peculiar bursts analysed are consistent with recent fireball models, but a fraction of bursts (∼4 per cent of the total sample) appear to be inconsistent.     

Holocene recurrent explosive activity at Chimborazo volcano (Ecuador)

Ice-capped Chimborazo is one of the large composite Ecuadorian volcanoes whose recent eruptive activity is poorly known. This paper presents the characteristics and the ages of a newly discovered Holocene sequence of pyroclastic deposits on the east and north sides of the cone. Lying upon a moraine of the Late-Glacial period, the most complete section of ~ 4.5 m in thickness is located 5 km from the present summit crater. It consists of seven massive or diffusely stratified ash flow layers and four fallout layers interbedded with seven paleosoils.     

Threshold level approach for streamflow drought analysis in the Central Andes of Argentina: a climatological assessment

A streamflow drought climatology was developed over the Central Andes of Argentina, a semi-arid region highly vulnerable to climatic variations, based on the analysis of daily historical streamflow records. A threshold level approach was applied on a daily basis for three different severity levels in order to depict the main characteristics of droughts – number of drought events, mean duration and mean severity – over the period 1957–2014. Based on three annual indices that summarize the frequency of drought events, their duration and severity, we identified the main regional dry periods and the main modes of variability through an empirical decomposition. These modes are linked to La Niña conditions on inter-annual time scales and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation for the decadal variations, showing the influence of the tropical Pacific Ocean in the development of streamflow drought conditions and its relevance for potential predictability of hydroclimatic variations over the region.     

Characterization of wood-laden flows in rivers

Inorganic sediment is not the only solid-fraction component of river flows; flows may also carry significant amounts of large organic material (i.e. large wood), but the characteristics of these wood-laden flows (WLFs) are not well understood yet. With the aim to shed light on these relatively unexamined phenomena, we collected home videos showing natural flows with wood as the main solid component. Analyses of these videos as well as the watersheds and streams where the videos were recorded allowed us to define for the first time WLFs, describe the main characteristics of these flows and broaden the definition of wood transport regimes (adding a new regime called here hypercongested wood transport). According to our results, WLFs may occur repeatedly, in a large range of catchment sizes, generally in steep, highly confined single thread channels in mountain areas. WLFs are typically highly unsteady and the log motion is non-uniform, as described for other inorganic sediment-laden flows (e.g. debris flows). The conceptual integration of wood into our understanding of flow phenomena is illustrated by a novel classification defining the transition from clear water to hypercongested, wood and sediment-laden flows, according to the composition of the mixture (sediment, wood, and water). We define the relevant metrics for the quantification and modelling of WLFs, including an exhaustive discussion of different modelling approaches (i.e. Voellmy, Bingham and Manning) and provide a first attempt to simulate WLFs. We draw attention to WLF phenomena to encourage further field, theoretical, and experimental investigations that may contribute to a better understanding of flows in river basins, leading to more accurate predictions, and better hazard mitigation and management strategies. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial clustering of Ultra Steep Spectrum sources and galaxies

We present measurements of the clustering properties of galaxies in the field of redshift range 0.5 ≲ z ≲ 1.5 Ultra Steep Spectrum radio sources selected from the Sydney University Molonglo Sky Survey and the National Radio Astronomy Observatories Very Large Array Sky Survey. Galaxies in these USS fields were identified in deep near-infrared observations, complete down to   K _s= 20  , using the IRIS2 instrument at the Anglo-Australian Telescope. We used the redshift distribution of   K _s < 20  galaxies taken from Cimatti et al. (2002) to constrain the correlation length r ₀. We find a strong correlation signal of galaxies with   K _s < 20  around our USS sample. A comoving correlation length   r ₀= 14.0 ± 2.8  h ⁻¹ Mpc  and γ= 1.98 ± 0.15 are derived in a flat cosmological model universe.
We compare our findings with those obtained in a cosmological N -body simulation populated with galform semi-analytic galaxies. We find that clusters of galaxies with masses in the range   M = 10^13.4–14.2  h ⁻¹ M_⊙  have a cluster–galaxy cross-correlation amplitude comparable to those found between the USS hosts and galaxies. These results suggest that distant radio galaxies are excellent tracers of galaxy overdensities and pinpoint the progenitors of present day rich clusters of galaxies.