Genetic seascape of the threatened Caribbean elkhorn coral,Acropora palmata,on the Puerto Rico Shelf

It has been proposed that the elkhorn coral Acropora palmata is genetically separated into two distinct provinces in the Caribbean, an eastern and a western population admixing in Western Puerto Rico and around the Mona Passage. In this study, the genetic structure of A. palmata sampled at 11 Puerto Rican localities and localities from Curaçao, the Bahamas and Guadeloupe were examined. Analyses using five microsatellite markers showed that 75% of sampled colonies had unique genotypes, the rest being clone mates. Genetic diversity among genets was high (H_E = 0.761) and consistent across localities (0.685–0.844). F_ST ranged from ?0.011 to 0.047, supporting low but significant genetic differentiation between localities within the previously reported eastern and western genetic provinces. Plots of genetic per geographic distances and significant Mantel tests supported isolation‐by‐distance (IBD) within Puerto Rico. Analysis with the software STRUCTURE favored a scenario with weak differentiation between two populations, assigning Eastern Puerto Rican locations (Fajardo and Culebra), Guadeloupe and Curaçao to the Caribbean eastern population and Western Puerto Rican locations (west of Vega Baja and Ponce), Mona and the Bahamas to the Caribbean western population. Vieques and San Juan area harbored admixed profiles. Standardized F_ST per 1000 km unit further supported higher differentiation between localities belonging to different STRUCTURE populations, with IBD being stronger within Puerto Rico than on larger regional scales. This stronger genetic transition seems to separate localities between putative eastern and western provinces in the Eastern Puerto Rican region, but not around the Mona Passage.     

Bilinear surface smoothing for spatial interpolation with optional incorporation of an explanatory variable. Part 2: Application to synthesized and rainfall data

ABSTRACT

The non-parametric mathematical framework of bilinear surface smoothing (BSS) methodology provides flexible means for spatial (two dimensional) interpolation of variables. As presented in a companion paper, interpolation is accomplished by means of fitting consecutive bilinear surface into a regression model with known break points and adjustable smoothing terms defined by means of angles formed by those bilinear surface. Additionally, the second version of the methodology (BSSE) incorporates, in an objective manner, the influence of an explanatory variable available at a considerably denser dataset. In the present study, both versions are explored and illustrated using both synthesized and real world (hydrological) data, and practical aspects of their application are discussed. Also, comparison and validation against the results of commonly used spatial interpolation methods (inverse distance weighted, spline, ordinary kriging and ordinary cokriging) are performed in the context of the real world application. In every case, the method’s efficiency to perform interpolation between data points that are interrelated in a complicated manner was confirmed. Especially during the validation procedure presented in the real world case study, BSSE yielded very good results, outperforming those of the other interpolation methods. Given the simplicity of the approach, the proposed mathematical framework’s overall performance is quite satisfactory, indicating its applicability for diverse tasks of scientific and engineering hydrology and beyond.

Editor Z. W. Kundzewicz; Associate editor A. Carsteanu     

Reducing Groundwater Pumping Cost Using Alternate Pulsed Pumping

This paper deals with water pumping cost minimization, in a confined infinite aquifer, proposing an alternate pulsed pumping schedule. The transient flow analysis is conducted for two wells with equal pumping rates. Specifically, two pumping schedules are analytically compared. In the first case, well users pump simultaneously, and in the second one they cooperate so that they pump alternately. This paper proves that the proposed alternate pumping schedule works as a stabilizer, reducing the high hydraulic drawdowns values, regardless of the aquifer characteristics. Moreover, pumping alternately is better in terms of pumping cost, compared to simultaneous pumping, though benefit become negligible as distance between wells becomes large. Two simplified equations are proposed, one to find the difference of the hydraulic drawdowns between the two pumping schedules and the other one to find the economic benefit of each well from cooperation. The equations are finally applied to a number of cases and their results are compared to the results obtained from an algorithm created to calculate the hydraulic drawdowns and the pumping cost, using the Theis equation. The results can be very useful in irrigation scheduling, as they can be applied to systems of well users/farmers, to reduce pumping cost.     

Studies on Migratory Movements of the Prawn Penaeus kerathurus (Forskal, 1775) at Amvrakikos Gulf, Western Greece

Abstract. The prawn Penaeus kerathurus completes its life cycle in Amvrakikos Gulf. The reasons for not entering the open sea depend on the status of biotic and abiotic factors of the gulf. The migratory movements of the species in the gulf are described by a simple square model, in each corner of which, the wintering, spawning, nursery, and recruitment area exist. The wintering area is located below the 25m isobath and wintering period lasts from late December to late March. Spermatophores on females are observed throughout the year but the highest percentages between April and August. The spawning season begins late in spring and continues through the summer. The spawning area is located below the 10m isobath, mainly around 25m. The nursery area of Penaeus kerathurus is in shallow waters near river estuaries, and the temporal limits were determined to be between mid-summer and mid-autumn. Finally, the recruitment area is located near the nursery area, with recruitment taking place in autumn, while the major stock renewal is restricted to winter.     

Some consequences of the decomposition of organic matter in the Elefsis bay,an anoxic basin

Observations in Elefsis Bay, an anoxic basin in the Saronikos Gulf, indicate that the large accumulation of ammonia, phosphates and silicates in the deep water are the result of the decomposition of organic matter during the anoxic period. The processes of denitrification, nitrate reduction and organic decomposition are also evident. Ammonia predominates in the inorganic fraction within the whole water column.     

Nitric acid forming potential of five prototype hydrocarbons

The nitric acid formed from trans-2-butene, propene, ethene, toluene, and n-butane in single hydrocarbon/NO₂/purified air systems was examined in smog chamber experiments. The effect of hydrocarbon and NO₂ concentrations on the maximum HNO₃ yield, defined as percentages of initial NO₂ converted to HNO₃, was studied in two sets of experiments. In every hydrocarbon system, we found no effect of hydrocarbon concentration variation on the nitric acid formed. Out of initially added 100 ppb NO₂, in the hydrocarbon-rich systems, ethene formed most HNO₃ (45%), followed by propene, toluene, and n-butane (24%), and trans-2-butene (13%). When the initial NO₂ concentration was varied with a constant hydrocarbon concentration, the amount of HNO₃ formed was found to linearly increase with the added NO₂ down to |HC|/|NO₂| ratios, which depended on the nature of the hydrocarbon studied. The initial rate of HNO₃ formation in hydrocarbon excess experiments varied between 50, 35, 23, 16, and 8 ppb/hr for butene, propene, toluene, ethene, and butane systems, respectively.     

Palynological study of Holocene sediments from Lake Doirani in northern Greece

A palynological investigation was conducted on two cores with Holocene sediments collected from the northeastern littoral part of the border Lake Doirani in northern Greece. The radiocarbon dates indicated that the analyzed sediments accumulated during the last 5000 yrs. The pollen-stratigraphic record revealed the environmental changes in the catchment area, starting from a natural undisturbed landscape to one modified by increasing anthropogenic influences. The tree vegetation dominated by Quercus woods in the lowlands and byPinus, Abies, and Fagus at higher altitudes, lasted for the period 2900 - 830 cal. B.C. Subsequently it was replaced by xerothermic herb and tree vegetation as a result of intensive human activity - and farming and stock-breeding. The accumulation of sediments with more sand and gravel in historical time was the result of increased erosion.     

Development and testing of the Revised Morgan-Morgan-Finney (RMMF) soil erosion model under different pedological datasets

The study aims to investigate the effect of soil properties delineation on erosion modelling. To that end, the soil attributes of the Venetikos River catchment, northwestern Greece, are described using two pedological datasets, i.e. field samples and classification maps. The goal is to select the most appropriate for the accurate estimation of erosion. The Revised Morgan-Morgan-Finney (RMMF) model is developed per base map (annual or multi-annual), keeping all other parameters unchanged. Modelled sediment yield (SY) values are validated against “observed” ones, calculated utilizing the sediment rating curve methodology. Overall, the classification maps approach (164.35 t km^-2 year^?1) performed better than the soil samples one (82.97 t km^-2 year^?1), displaying higher convergence to the synthetic SY (548.9 t km^-2 year^?1). The discrepancy among approaches is attributed to the different computation methodologies (thus pedological background) used. Both approximations successfully identified the high-risk erosion areas. The same conclusions arose from the multi-annual application of the model.     

Optimal multi-step collocation: application to the space-wise approach for GOCE data analysis

Collocation is widely used in physical geodesy. Its application requires to solve systems with a dimension equal to the number of observations, causing numerical problems when many observations are available. To overcome this drawback, tailored step-wise techniques are usually applied. An example of these step-wise techniques is the space-wise approach to the GOCE mission data processing. The original idea of this approach was to implement a two-step procedure, which consists of first predicting gridded values at satellite altitude by collocation and then deriving the geo-potential spherical harmonic coefficients by numerical integration. The idea was generalized to a multi-step iterative procedure by introducing a time-wise Wiener filter to reduce the highly correlated observation noise. Recent studies have shown how to optimize the original two-step procedure, while the theoretical optimization of the full multi-step procedure is investigated in this work. An iterative operator is derived so that the final estimated spherical harmonic coefficients are optimal with respect to the Wiener–Kolmogorov principle, as if they were estimated by a direct collocation. The logical scheme used to derive this optimal operator can be applied not only in the case of the space-wise approach but, in general, for any case of step-wise collocation. Several numerical tests based on simulated realistic GOCE data are performed. The results show that adding a pre-processing time-wise filter to the two-step procedure of data gridding and spherical harmonic analysis is useful, in the sense that the accuracy of the estimated geo-potential coefficients is improved. This happens because, in its practical implementation, the gridding is made by collocation over local patches of data, while the observation noise has a time-correlation so long that it cannot be treated inside the patch size. Therefore, the multi-step operator, which is in theory equivalent to the two-step operator and to the direct collocation, is in practice superior thanks to the time-wise filter that reduces the noise correlation before the gridding. The criteria for the choice of this filter are investigated numerically.