Trophic significance of the kelp Laminaria digitata (Lamour.) for the associated food web: a between-sites comparison

This study aimed at establishing the trophic significance of the kelp Laminaria digitata for consumers inhabiting two rocky shores of Northern Brittany (France), displaying contrasted ecological conditions. The general trophic structure did not vary between these two sites, with a wide diversity of filter-feeders and predators, and only 14% of the species sampled belonging to the grazers' trophic group. The diversity of food sources fueling the food web appeared also similar. The food webs comprised four trophic levels and the prevalence of omnivory appeared relatively low compared to previous studies in the same area. Conversely, to the food web structure, which did not differ, the biochemical composition of L. digitata differed between the two sites, and was correlated to a larger diversity of grazers feeding on this kelp in sheltered conditions. This indicated that the spatial variability occurring in the nutritive value of L. digitata is likely to deeply affect the functioning of kelp-associated food webs. The contribution of L. digitata-derived organic matter to the diet of filter-feeders inhabiting these two environments was assessed using the mixing model Isosource, which showed the higher contribution of kelp matter in sheltered conditions. These results highlight the spatial variability that may occur in the functioning of kelp-associated food webs. Moreover, this suggests that hydrodynamics is likely to control the availability of kelp-derived organic matter to local filter-feeders, probably through an increase of detritus export in exposed areas.     

Spatio-temporal variability of small copepods (especially Oithona plumifera) in shallow nearshore waters off the south coast of South Africa

Although small copepods are one of the main dietary sources for many commercially important fish, their role in the pelagic trophic dynamics has traditionally been underestimated due to the methodology commonly used in plankton sampling. Temporal variation in abundance of adults and nauplii of small copepods (particularly Oithona plumifera) in nearshore waters on the south coast of South Africa was investigated fortnightly over 14 months at site (km) and location (100 m) scales. Sampling was within <500 m of the shore, where depth was ca. 10 m, using vertical hauls of an 80-μm mesh plankton net from 1 m above the seabed to the surface. Twenty-seven adult copepod taxa were recorded, but Oithona spp. was consistently the most abundant. Taxon richness was 7–19 on each sampling occasion. There was strong temporal variation (Oithona varied between 0 and 2300 m⁻³), but much of this was short-term variability (e.g. between consecutive sampling sessions), with no seasonality or other long-term discernable patterns. There were periods of consistently low numbers, but very high numbers often followed samples with low abundances. Nor was there spatial structure at the location scale, though numbers differed between sites. Despite considerable variability at the location scale within sites, Kenton consistently showed higher densities than High Rocks. Separate analyses, with Bonferroni adjustment, showed that this difference was significant on eight out of 21 occasions for Oithona, six for other pelagic copepods and three for nauplii. This suggests that hydrodynamics favour aggregation of plankton at Kenton. A high degree of short-term variability, with a tendency for aggregation of small zooplankton at certain sites has implications for both pelagic processes and food-web links between the benthic and pelagic environments.     

海洋传感观测服务柔性开发技术研究

海洋传感观测服务能够实现多个海洋观测系统间的数据共享与集成,支持大范围、多学科的海洋科学研究。在软件开发过程中,由于不同观测系统的数据库异构互异,导致传感器观测服务软件难以复用,开发效率低。本文针对数据库结构的相似性进行分析,提出海洋传感观测服务的柔性开发模型,设计可适配于异构数据库的服务构件。该构件通过配置观测数据在具体数据库的存储结构,实现了数据库结构向服务模式定义的映射;服务构件根据配置信息生成数据库查询语句,实现观测数据的自动提取,避免了数据库异构导致的重复开发的问题。通过将服务构件应用在实际开发中,验证了该模型的有效性与可行性。     

生态系统服务弹性敏感性系数的合理性与决策属性探讨

在经济学弹性基本概念的基础之上,采用数学推导的方式重点探讨3种生态系统服务弹性敏感性评价模型的合理性与决策属性。研究结果表明：① Kreuter敏感性系数大小始终为0~1;在极限形式下,生态系统服务价值变率函数与Kreuter敏感性系数具有相同的数学表达式与值域;所以这两种敏感性评价模型把1作为是否敏感的评价标准并不合适。生态系统服务交叉敏感性系数不符合一般意义上的“交叉敏感性”的概念,并且其计算公式不符合弹性的基本定义。② 弹性敏感性计算方式适用于随机变量间的研究,不适用于具有确定性关系的变量;生态系统服务框架下的3种弹性敏感性系数均建立在具有确定性关系的生态系统服务价值计算公式的基础之上,导致其敏感性计算结果缺乏深层次的决策属性。     

论地理国情监测的技术支撑

地理国情监测是新时期空间信息科学的重要使命。对地理国情监测的必要性和内容进行了讨论,逐一剖析了空天地一体化遥感技术、全球卫星导航定位技术、网格GIS技术、地理信息网络服务、多维时空数据挖掘技术、空间信息云计算技术等在地理国情监测中的地位和作用、面临的问题和发展建议,以期为全面实现地理国情的定期监测、日常监测和应急监测奠定技术基础。     

基于“天地图”的位置服务平台的设计与实现

在位置服务平台建设过程中,为了解决全国性地图数据源、标准统一、详实性、现势性等问题,设计在地图数据源上采用国家、省、市三级的"天地图"地图服务。并且介绍了平台的分布式架构、多服务器集群服务技术、多终端协议集成服务技术及"天地图"接入实现应用的方法。     

基于流域的我国生态功能区划方法研究

生态功能区划是我国正在开展的一项关于资源与环境管理的重大基础性工作.生态功能区划的理论和方法是当前生态学、环境科学、地理学等学科面临的一项新的热点课题.本文首先讨论了生态功能区划的概念,从认识区划看,生态功能区划属于生态系统区域划分的范畴,从实践的角度,则强调人文活动对生态系统可持续能力产生的影响,指出自然生态区不是生态功能区,生态功能区须反映人类的利用和价值判断.生态功能区划,不单是以自然要素或自然系统的"地带性分异"为基础,更是以生态系统的等级结构和尺度原则为基础,用生态系统完整性的评价测量人类活动对生态系统的影响,将生态功能区划的科学基础落在"基于生态系统的管理"平台上.文章提出了基于流域的我国生态功能区划的初步思想,讨论了区划的原则和方法,建立了生态系统完整性评价和功能区划分的指标体系.其基本内容是,认识并按照生态系统的自然边界划分生态系统单元;进行生态系统完整性评价;在此基础上划分不同的生态功能区,确定主导生态功能.     

Food web structure of two Mediterranean lagoons under varying degree of eutrophication

The food web structure and functioning of two north-western Mediterranean lagoons exhibiting contrasting degrees of eutrophication and marine influences were compared through δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N analysis of major potential food sources and consumers. The Lapalme Lagoon is well preserved and has kept a natural and temporary connection with the open sea. Conversely, the Canet Lagoon is heavily eutrophicated and its water exchange with the open sea has been artificially reduced. In Lapalme, all potential food sources and consumers exhibited δ¹⁵N values indicative of pristine coastal areas. Suspended particulate organic matter (POM) and sediment organic matter (SOM) pools seemed to constitute the main food sources of most primary consumers. Both primary producers and all consumers were much more ¹⁵N-enriched (by  10‰) and more ¹³C-depleted in Canet than in Lapalme. This reflected: (1) the assimilation of important amounts of anthropogenic nitrogen in the food web, and (2) a marked and uniform influence of ¹³C-depleted allochtonous sources of carbon. Based on the mean δ¹⁵N of primary consumers, we found rather similar food web lengths in both lagoons with top consumers at trophic levels 3.6 and 4.0 in Canet and Lapalme, respectively. However, the eutrophication of the Canet Lagoon resulted in a simplification of the food web structure (i.e., a single trophic pathway from a ¹⁵N-enriched fraction of the SOM pool to top predators) compared to what was observed in Lapalme Lagoon where additional ¹³C-enriched food sources played a significant trophic role. Moreover, some consumers of Canet tended to exploit primary producers to a larger extent (and thus to exhibit lower trophic levels) than in Lapalme.     

Modeling dynamic assessment of ecosystem services based on remote sensing technology: A sampling of the Gansu grassland ecosystem

The ecosystem is important because it is the life sustaining system for human survival.Three ecosystem characteristics are:regional particularities,ecosystem complexity and conventional cultural particularities.This paper develops a remote sensing based dynamic model to assess grassland ecosystem service values involving multidisciplinary knowledge.The ecological value of grassland ecosystems is focused on using a remote sensing technique in the model,and setting up the framework for a dynamic assessing model.The grassland ecological services condition and value in 1985 is used as the benchmark.The dynamic model has two adjusting indicators:biomass and price index.The biomass is simulated using the CASA(Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach) model.The price index was obtained from statistics data published by the statistical bureau.Results show that the grassland ecosystem value in Gansu Province was 28.36 billion Chinese Yuan in 1985,140.37 billion in 1999 and 130.86 billion in 2002.     

Assessment of the management of organizations supplying ecosystem services from tropical forests

Global environmental change leads to degradation of tropical forests in many countries. In response to this pressure, programs for payments for ecosystem services (PES) are developing and organizations are emerging which manage forests in order to supply ecosystem services, rather than only harvest timber. Typically such services are carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, pollination, and watershed protection. Public or private actors interested to invest in or donate money for the provisioning of such services are faced with the problem of choosing the appropriate organization supplying ecosystem services. The goal of this paper was to develop an assessment framework based on the balanced scorecard concept including drivers, impact, performance and context variables. Results of a survey of international market actors were used to determine assessment criteria and their weights. Putting the focus of this paper on drivers and impacts, we assessed Latin American organizations that “sell” ecosystem services from tropical forests in terms of their general management, marketing, forest management, client and stakeholder satisfaction, and forest ecosystem status. We found that supplying organizations vary widely with respect to their achievements in these areas. However, the variance of assessment results is influenced even more by the variance in weights the international market actors allocate to the assessment criteria. The insights of this study can contribute to the continuous improvement of management processes in supplying organizations and can support investors and donors in their decision-making with respect to organization supplying ecosystem services.