A statistical approach to evaluating distance metrics and analog assignments for pollen records

The modern analog technique typically uses a distance metric to determine the dissimilarity between fossil and modern biological assemblages. Despite this quantitative approach, interpretation of distance metrics is usually qualitative and rules for selection of analogs tend to be ad hoc. We present a statistical tool, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, which provides a framework for identifying analogs from distance metrics. If modern assemblages are placed into groups (e.g., biomes), this method can (1) evaluate the ability of different distance metrics to distinguish among groups, (2) objectively identify thresholds of the distance metric for determining analogs, and (3) compute a likelihood ratio and a Bayesian probability that a modern group is an analog for an unknown (fossil) assemblage. Applied to a set of 1689 modern pollen assemblages from eastern North America classified into eight biomes, ROC analysis confirmed that the squared-chord distance (SCD) outperforms most other distance metrics. The optimal threshold increased when more dissimilar biomes were compared. The probability of an analog vs no-analog result (a likelihood ratio) increased sharply when SCD decreased below the optimal threshold, indicating a nonlinear relationship between SCD and the probability of analog. Probabilities of analog computed for a postglacial pollen record at Tannersville Bog (Pennsylvania, USA) identified transitions between biomes and periods of no analog.     

The Influence of Vegetation Cover on Summer Precipitation in China： a Statistical Analysis of NDVI and Climate Data

This study provides new evidence for the feedback effects of vegetation cover on summer precipitation in different regions of China by calculating immediate (same season), and one-and two-season lagged correlations between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and summer precipitation. The results show that the correlation coefficients between NDVI in spring and the previous winter and precipitation in summer are positive in most regions of China, and they show significant difference between regions. The stronger one-and two-season lagged correlations occur in the eastern arid/semi-arid region, Central China,and Southwest China out of the eight climatic regions of China, and this implies that vegetation cover change has more sensitive feedback effects on summer precipitation in the three regions. The three regions are defined as sensitive regions. Spatial analyses of correlations between spring NDVI averaged over each sensitive region and summer precipitation of 160 stations suggest that the vegetation cover strongly affects summer precipitation not only over the sensitive region itself but also over other regions, especially the downstream region.     

植被冠层多角度遥感研究进展

综述了近年来关于植被冠层多角度遥感研究的最新成果，分别讨论了二向性反射的正向模型和参量反演问题在理论和实际应用中的新进展。分析了卫星平台多角度遥感的应用前景及面临的困难，指出了未来多角度遥感研究的新方向。     

上海自然植被的特征、分区与保护

上海地区有种子植物约134科510属919种。种子植物的分区类型共15°个,其中泛热带分布、北温带和东亚分布各占总属数的27.8%、21.6%和11.9%.地带性植被以常绿阔叶林和常绿落叶阔叶混交林为主,其中红楠群落和青冈栎群落能较好地反映中亚热带的植被和环境特征。非地带性植被以潮间带植被和水生植被为主。上海自然植被的类型和分布规律反映了本区地处中亚热带向北亚热带过渡地带的气候特征以及濒江临海的环境特点。同时其现状也表明了上海的自然植被处于不断增长的压力之下所发生的变化,因此亟需加以保护。上海的植被区划可分为隶属于北亚热带常绿落叶阔叶林地带的河口沙洲植被区,碟缘高地植被区和东北淀泖低地植被区,以及隶属于中亚热带常绿阔叶林地带的西南丘陵、低地植被区等。     

RELATIONSHIP OF ECO-ENVIONMENTAL CHANGE WITH NATURAL EROSION AND ARTIFICIALLY ACCELERATED EROSION

Ｆｏｒｌｏｎｇｔｉｍｅ,ｔｈｅｐｒｏｂｌｅｍａｂｏｕｔｎａｔｕｒａｌｅｒｏｓｉｏｎａｎｄａｒｔｉｆｉｃｉａｌｌｙａｃｃｅｌｅｒａｔｅｄｅｒｏｓｉｏｎｉｓｉｎｄｉｓｐｕｔｅ.ＨｉｓｔｏｒｉｃａｌｇｅｏｇｒａｐｈｅｒｓｃｏｎｓｉｄｅｒｔｈａｔｈｕｍａｎｉｎｄｕｃｅｄｅｃｏｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｄｅｓｔｒｕｃｔｉｏｎｉｓａｃｃｏｕｎｔａｂｌｅｆｏｒｔｈｅｓｅｖｅｒｅｓｏｉｌｅｒｏｓｉｏｎａｎｄｅｃｏｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔｄｅｔｅｒｉｏｒａｔｉｏｎｏｎＬｏｅｓｓＰｌａｔｅａｕ[7,8].Ｓｏｍｅｇｅｏｌｏｇ…     

Dynamik der Schilfröhrichte am Bodensee unter dem Einfluss von Wasserstandsvariationen

On the basis of different sets of aerial photos the dynamics of the reed bed areas of Lake Constance were investigated in relation to the dynamics of the water levels. The objectives of the study were to quantify the changes of reed areas due to different flood events in the last decades and their recovery in the time periods between these events. The results should given information of the relevance of water level variations on reed bed dynamics and the regeneration times of reed beds after extreme disturbance events.Following the extreme flood at Lake Constance in 1999 the reed belts of Lake Constance lost approximately 30 ha (24%) of the lakeside reed beds. The loss is comparable to the situation in the late 1960s, when approximately 40 ha died back due to the extreme flood in 1965 and the high spring water levels in the subsequent years. In the time period between the extreme floods of 1965 and 1999, the reed areas expanded to nearly 85% of the area before 1965. The expansion rates increased with increasing distance to the flood event of 1965. Especially in periods with series of years of low spring water level the expansion rates were high.The damage degrees of the reed areas in the years 2000 and 2002 showed a clear relation to the elevation (i.e. average water level) of the stands. The damage degree increased with decreasing elevation. Furthermore the regeneration process of severely damaged stands was related to the elevation level of the stands. Whereas stands at high elevation regenerate fast, those at low elevation died off completely in the years after the extreme flood. This supports the hypothesis that the water level flutuations play a major role in the reed dynamics of Lake Constance.As a consequence of the climate change an increase in the frequency of high spring water levels is expected. Thus, it seems unlikely that reed stands will ever expand again to the same area as before 1965.     

Seasonal and inter-annual relationships between vegetation and climate in central New Mexico, USA

Linear correlations between seasonal and inter-annual measures of meteorological variables and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) are calculated at six nearby yet distinct vegetation communities in semi-arid New Mexico, USA Monsoon season (June–September) precipitation shows considerable positive correlation with NDVI values from the contemporaneous summer, following spring, and following summer. Non-monsoon precipitation (October–May), temperature, and wind display both positive and negative correlations with NDVI values. These meteorological variables influence NDVI variability at different seasons and time lags. Thus vegetation responds to short-term climate variability in complex ways and serves as a source of memory for the climate system.     

Influence of groundwater level change on vegetation coverage and their spatial variation in arid regions

Sampling and testing are conducted on groundwater depth and vegetation coverage in the 670 km2 of the Sangong River Basin and semi-variance function analysis is made afterwards on the data obtained by the application of geo-statistics. Results showed that the variance curve of the groundwater depth and vegetation coverage displays an exponential model. Analysis of sampling data in 2003 indicates that the groundwater depth and vegetation coverage change similarly in space in this area. The Sangong River Basin is composed of upper oasis, middle ecotone and lower sand dune. In oasis and ecotone, influenced by irrigation of the adjoining oasis, groundwater level has been raised and soil water content also increased compared with sand dune nearby, vegetation developed well. But in the lower reaches of the Sangong River Basin, because of descending of groundwater level, soil water content decreased and vegetation degenerated. From oasis to abandoned land and desert grassland, vegetation coverage and groundwater level changed greatly with significant difference respectively in spatial variation. Distinct but similar spatial variability exists among the groundwater depth and vegetation coverage in the study area, namely, the vegetation coverage decreasing (increasing) as the groundwater depth increases (decreases). This illustrates the great dependence of vegetation coverage on groundwater depth in arid regions and further implies that among the great number of factors affecting vegetation coverage in arid regions, groundwater depth turns out to be the most determinant one.     

Anabranching in mixed bedrock-alluvial rivers: the example of the Orange River above Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape Province, South Africa

Anabranching is characteristic of a number of rivers in diverse environmental settings worldwide, but has only infrequently been described from bedrock-influenced rivers. A prime example of a mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching river is provided by a 150-km long reach of the Orange River above Augrabies Falls, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Here, the perennial Orange flows through arid terrain consisting mainly of Precambrian granites and gneisses, and the river has preferentially eroded bedrock joints, fractures and foliations to form multiple channels which divide around numerous, large (up to 15 km long and 2 km wide), stable islands formed of alluvium and/or bedrock. Significant local variations in channel-bed gradient occur along the river, which strongly control anabranching style through an influence on local sediment budgets. In relatively long (>10 km), lower gradient reaches (<0.0013) within the anabranching reach, sediment supply exceeds local transport capacity, bedrock usually only crops out in channel beds, and channels divide around alluvial islands which are formed by accretion in the lee of bedrock outcrop or at the junction with ephemeral tributaries. Riparian vegetation probably plays a key role in the survival and growth of these islands by increasing flow roughness, inducing deposition, and stabilising the sediments. Less commonly, channels may form by eroding into once-continuous island or floodplain surfaces. In shorter (<10 km), higher gradient reaches (>0.0013) within the anabranching reach, local transport capacity exceeds sediment supply, bedrock crops out extensively, and channels flow over an irregular bedrock pavement or divide around rocky islands. Channel incision into bedrock probably occurs mainly by abrasion, with the general absence of boulder bedforms suggesting that hydraulic plucking is relatively unimportant in this setting. Mixed bedrock-alluvial anabranching also occurs in a number of other rivers worldwide, and appears to be a stable and often long-lived river pattern adjusted to a number of factors commonly acting in combination: (1) jointed/fractured granitoid rock outcrop; (2) erosion-resistant banks and islands; (3) locally variable channel-bed gradients; (4) variable flow regimes.     

Natural recovery from accelerated forest ditch and stream bank erosion five years after harvesting of plantation forest on Plynlimon,mid‐Wales

Erosion rates surveyed using 230 erosion pins on 24 occasions over eight years (1994–2001) on forested stream banks, tributaries and forest ditches in the 0·89 km² Nant Tanllwyth catchment, part of the Hafren Forest on Plynlimon, mid‐Wales, showed statistically significant increases of up to 40 mm a^?1 in mean erosion rates during the two‐year period in which environmentally sensitive plot‐scale timber harvesting operations took place (1996–97). In the four years following timber harvesting mean erosion rates at all sites recovered to levels that were lower than before the harvesting operations began. This is attributed to increased light levels, following canopy removal, allowing vegetation to colonize exposed banks. There was a statistically significant relationship (p < 0·05) between mean erosion rate in 2000–01 (four years after harvesting) and percentage vegetation cover at erosion monitoring sites in the clearfelled (south tributaries) area though the same relationship did not hold for sites on the mainstream banks or for sites on the north (mature forest) ditch sites. The implications of natural vegetation colonization for management of such streams are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.