Predators of juvenile blue crabs outside of refuge habitats in lower Chesapeake Bay

Blue crabsCallinectes sapidus in lower Chesapeake Bay are subject to high rates of predation during the late summer of their first year of growth as they migrate out of vegetated nursery habitats. Predators, potentially contributing to this pattern, were identified in video-recorded field observations of tethered juvenile crabs (20–25 mm carapace width). Predators were also tested in large laboratory tanks containing similarly-sized untethered crabs as prey. Seven different predators attacked tethered crabs in the field. Only two predators, larger blue crabs and northern puffers,Sphoeroides maculatus, consistently succeeded in preying on crabs in both field and laboratory settings. These results confirm the importance of cannibalism on juvenile blue crabs and identify puffers as a potentially overlooked source of predation pressure.     

Kinetics of Disproportionation of Inorganic Polysulfides in Undersaturated Aqueous Solutions at Environmentally Relevant Conditions

The rate of the reversible homogeneous disproportionation of polysulfides was studied by following the optical absorbance of polysulfide solutions in a continuous plug flow reactor equipped with an on-line photometric detector. In order to avoid heterogeneous slow reactions involving sulfur colloids or precipitate, the reaction was initiated by an abrupt pH change from an undersaturated solution containing predominantly tetrasulfide species to a pH where pentasulfide is the dominant species. The disproportionation was found to follow first order reversible reaction dynamics. At environmentally relevant conditions the characteristic time of the disproportionation reaction is of the order of 10 s. This characteristic time implies that necessary conditions for speciation of the different polysulfide species by chromatography or another separation and subsequent quantification scheme should be of the order of 1 s.     

日照市短时冰雹定时-定点-定量预报

利用1960～2000年青岛、射阳、徐州3站08时探空资料及日照站08时地面气象资料，分析了日照地区出现的16次降雹天气的时空分布特征，在对降雹天气分型的基础上利用积云数值模式计算降雹因子，用降雹因子和单站要素因子建立历史降雹因子个例库，用历史实况资料建立实况个例库，用距离相似法实现日照地区短时冰雹定时、定点、定量的客观预报。     

西北地区东部春季土壤湿度变化的初步研究

利用中国西北地区东部 (包括宁夏、内蒙古西部以及甘肃、陕西两省 35°N以北地区 )农业气象站近 2 0年固定地段旬土壤湿度资料 ,对该地区春季土壤湿度的变化进行了初步分析。结果表明 ,中国西北地区东部土壤湿度的变化具有 3年左右的周期 ,而且 2 0世纪 90年代以来呈下降的趋势 ,这与该地区的降水和气温变化有关系 ;西北地区东部的土壤湿度变化对该地区群发性沙尘暴的爆发有一定影响     

Stationary spatially modulated fourier transform spectro-radiometer

Journal of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing - A stationary, compact, spatially modulated Fourier Transform spectro-radiometer based on triangular, common path Sagnac interferometer has been...     

Change detection in Sal forest in Dehradun Forest Division using remote sensing and geographical information system

The review of study site have revealed the change in vegetation cover of Sal Dense to Sal Medium and Sal Open in 6 forest Mosaics owing to biotic and abiotic conditions prevailing in the specific areas. Analysis carried out using thematic map derived from aerial photograph of 1976 and satellite data of IRS 1C LISS III False Colour Composite (FCC) of March 1999 revealed the cause for change in forest density classes. Deforestation, encroachment and agriculture have been identified as the underlying causes, which have affected some specific locations to a marked extent. There has been a progressive and remarkable change among vegetation classes from 1976 to 1999. It is evident from forest type and density map that Sal density has significantly reduced from Sal Dense 65.61 % in 1976 to Sal Dense 11.12% in the year 1999 followed by Sal Open 11.18 % and Sal Medium 18.24 %. The overall change has been estimated to be 42.11% of the total forested area.