A family-level macroinvertebrate biotic index for ecological assessment of lakes in Yunnan,China

Persistent economic growth in Chinese southwestern Yunnan Province is setting aquatic ecosystems in its plateau lakes under enormous pressure. While several different systems have previously been used to study these lakes, no existing methodology adequately measures both the chemical and biotic parameters of these water bodies. Here, we present a novel Biotic Monitoring Yunnan Lakes (BMYL) index that provides a general assessment tool for ecological deterioration that is caused by organic pollution. Principal Component Analysis is used to analyze the occurrence of families of macroinvertebrates and chemical properties of the lakes. In brief, families of macroinvertebrates were given a score from 10 to 1 based on sensitivity to organic enrichment and eutrophication. Sampling at each lake yielded an Average Score per Lake (ASPL) which is calculated by dividing the total BMYL by the total number of scoring families. High ASPL values characterize a biologically intact lake containing relatively large numbers of high scoring taxa, while lower ASPL values denote a polluted lake that does not support many high scoring taxa. The results of the BMYL show a notably more accurate characterization of the long-term health of concerned aquatic ecosystems than studies that use abundance levels of species or a simple analysis of chemical parameter.     

Distribution and source apportionments of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in mariculture sediments from the Pearl River Delta, South China

Surface and core sediments collected from six mariculture farms in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) were analyzed to evaluate contamination levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The ∑PCBs (37 congeners) concentrations ranged from 5.10 to 11.0 ng g(-1) (mean 7.96 ng g(-1)) in surface and 3.19 to 22.1 ng g(-1) (mean 7.75 ng g(-1)) in core sediments, respectively. The concentrations were significantly higher than that measured in the sediments of their corresponding reference sites, whereby the average enrichment percentages were 62.0% and 42.7% in surface and core sediments, respectively. Significant correlations (R2=0.77, p<0.05) of PCB homologue group proportions between fish feeds and surface mariculture sediments suggested that fish feed input was probably the main source for the enrichment of PCBs. Due to the fact that PCBs could be transferred along food chains, PCB contamination in fish feeds and mariculture sediments should not be overlooked.     

Development of a distributed hydrological model to facilitate watershed management

To facilitate precise and cost-effective watershed management, a simple yet spatially and temporally distributed hydrological model (DHM-WM) was developed. The DHM-WM is based on the Mishra-Singh version of the curve number method, with several modifications: The spatial distribution of soil moisture was considered in moisture updating; the travel time of surface runoff was calculated on a grid cell basis for routing; a simple tile flow module was included as an option. The DHM-WM was tested on a tile-drained agricultural watershed in Indiana, USA. The model with the tile flow module performed well in the study area, providing a balanced water budget and reasonable flow partitioning. The daily coefficient of determination and Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient were 0.58 and 0.56, for the calibration period, and 0.63 and 0.62 for the validation period. The DHM-WM also provides detailed information about the source areas of flow components, the travel time and pathways of surface runoff.

EDITOR A. Castellarin; ASSOCIATE EDITOR F.-J. Chang     

Analysis of the Characteristics of the D.P.R. Korean Seismic Event on September 23, 2017

A M3. 4 seismic event occurred in the Punggye-ri nuclear test site,D. P. R Korea at 16∶29 p.m. on September 23,2017. We analyzed the waveforms of this event recorded by the China Earthquake Networks Center. In conclusion,this event is complex,including an explosion with a successive earthquake. Although the beginning of the event is an explosion,fault dislocation plays the main role in the event.     

Potential wind erosion rate response to climate and land‐use changes in the watershed of the Ningxia–Inner Mongolia reach of the Yellow River,China, 1986–2013

Climate and land‐use changes could strongly affect wind erosion and in turn cause a series of environmental problems. Thus, the objective of this study was to assess potential wind erosion rate (PWER) response to climate and land‐use changes in the watershed of the Ningxia–Inner Mongolia Reach of the Yellow River (NIMRYR), China. The watershed of NIMRYR suffers from serious wind erosion hazards, and over recent decades, wind erosion intensity and distribution has changed, following climate and land‐use changes. To understand these processes in the NIMRYR watershed, the Integrated Wind Erosion Modelling System (IWEMS) and the Revised Wind Erosion Equation (RWEQ) were used to calculate the PWER under different climate conditions and land‐use scenarios, and to assess the influences of climate and land‐use changes on the PWER. The results show the PWER in the whole watershed had a significant declining trend from 1986 to 2013. The results of the relationship among PWER, climate change, and land‐use changes showed that climate change was the dominant control on the PWER change in this watershed. Compared to the period 1986–1995, the average PWER decreased 23.32% and 64.98% as a result of climate change in the periods 1996–2005 and 2006–2013, respectively. In contrast with climate change, the effects of land‐use changes on the average PWER were much lower, and represented a change in PWER of less than 3.3% across the whole watershed. The study method we used could provide some valuable reference for wind erosion modelling, and the research results should help climate and land‐use researchers to develop strategies to reduce wind erosion. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear tidal waves in a kind of estuary with gradually varying cross-section

-Nonlinear tidal waves in a kind of estuary are studied in the paper using one-dimensional nonlinear hydrody-namic equations with friction. The estuary has exponentially varying width B=B0 e-bx and uniform depth h. The one-dimensional hydrodynamic equations are solved by perturbation method. It was found that our solution included two special cases, Pelisenpeki's solution and Airy's solution. The former can be got by letting b=0 in our solutions, and the latter by setting 6 = 0 and f= 0 (f is linear frictional coefficient). In terms of the second-order solution, the physical mechanism of nonlinear tidal waves in estuaries with gradually varying cross-section is explored. It is shown that, under the assumption of linear friction coefficient, shallow water constituent waves consist of two parts, one is produced by shallow water nonlinear effect outside the estuary, the other is generated by shallow water nonlinear effect inside estuary. In addition, the physical mechanism of the residual tidal current and     

青海湖全新世植被演变及气候变迁：QH85—14C孔孢粉数值分析

本文应用青海湖QH85-14C孔取得的具有~(14)C测年数据所支持的原始孢粉资料,进行数值分析(有序聚类、主成份分析、滑动平均和回归分析)。从而对青海湖区11000年以来的植被和气候变化进一步讨论。     

南海蜑螺科一新记录属和一新记录种记述 (软体动物门:腹足纲:珍珠蜑螺目)

作者在整理中国科学院海洋生物标本馆馆藏蜑螺科Neritidae标本时,鉴定出产自海南三亚的一新记录属饰纹蜑螺属Vittina Baker,1924和一新记录种：裂蜑螺Vittina pennata（von Born,1778）。文中详细描述了本种的贝壳形态特征,查明了其生活习性和地理分布特点,并与相似种进行了比较和总结。     

Modelling the effect of wave overtopping on nearshore hydrodynamics and morphodynamics around shore-parallel breakwaters

Wave overtopping nearshore coastal structures, such as shore-parallel breakwaters, can significantly alter the current circulation and sediment transport patterns around the structures, which in turn affects the formation of tombolos and salients in the nearshore area. This paper describes the implementation of a wave overtopping module into an existing depth-averaged coastal morphological mode: COAST2D and model applications to investigate the effect of wave overtopping on the hydrodynamics and morphodynamics around a group of shore-parallel breakwaters. The hydrodynamic aspects of the model were validated against a series of laboratory conditions. The model was then applied to a study site at Sea Palling, Norfolk, UK, where 9 shore-parallel segmented breakwaters including 4 surface-piercing and 5 low-crested breakwaters are present, for the storm conditions in Nov 2006. The model results were compared with laboratory data and field measurements, showing a good agreement on both hydrodynamics and morphological changes. Further analysis of wave overtopping effect on the nearshore hydrodynamics and morphodynamics reveals that wave overtopping has significant impacts on the nearshore circulation, sediment transport and the resulting morphological changes within such a complex breakwater scheme under the storm and macro-tide conditions. The results indicate the importance of including the wave overtopping in modelling nearshore morphodynamics with the presence of coastal structures.