石河子垦区沙漠和绿洲下垫面生态条件下能量交换特征

 在古尔班通古特沙漠南部流动沙区及其以南100 km的滴灌棉田为绿洲下垫面的生态条件下,分析研究了能量输送的不同模式和日变化进程。在沙漠生态条件下, 大部分净辐射用于感热通量的散失,另一部分用于向地下传输,少部分则用于潜热输送;与沙漠相比,在滴灌棉田生态条件下的绿洲能量输送的基本模式为: 农田蒸散的潜热能量占绝大部分,少部分用于感热通量和土壤热通量的消耗,另一个与沙漠不同的特征是绿洲存在地表能量平衡差额。     

Diversity of terrestrial avifauna in response to distance from the shoreline of the Salton Sea

Large aquatic bodies influence surrounding terrestrial ecosystems by providing water and nutrients. In arid landscapes, the increased primary productivity that results may greatly enhance vertebrate biodiversity. The Salton Sea, a large saline lake in the Colorado Desert of southern California, provides nutrients in the form of hundreds of thousands of dead fish carcasses, brine flies, and chemical compounds through windborne salt sea spray. We performed point counts for landbirds and shorebirds monthly or every other month between March 2001 and February 2002 across a sampling grid of 35 points along the west edge of Salton Sea. We found that avian diversity (numbers of species and numbers per species) was dependent on proximity to the Sea. Diversity was at a maximum nearest the shore, and was significantly lower away from the Sea's edge, at all surveyed distances up to 1 km from the shore. Cover by the dominant shrubs on the study site also corresponded to proximity to the water's edge. Whereas one may hypothesize that the avian diversity patterns are caused by these differences in vegetation structure, our data did not support this. Future studies should further investigate this potential correlation between vegetation and bird patterns. Until more is understood about the relationship between elevated avian diversity and the physical environment of the land-shore interface, our results suggest that the Sea's surface be stabilized near its present level. Future management schemes at the Salton Sea that include reductions of water sources should be carefully analyzed, so as to not jeopardize the terrestrial avifauna at this unique ecosystem.     

Soil heterogeneity and the distribution of desert and steppe plant species across a desert-grassland ecotone

Bouteloua gracilis (Kunth) Lag. ex Griffiths (blue grama), Bouteloua eriopoda (Torr.) Torr. (black grama), and Larrea tridentata Coville (creosotebush) are dominant plants on the McKenzie Flats portion of the Llano de Manzano landform within Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge in central New Mexico, part of the biome ecotone from the Colorado Shortgrass Steppe to the Chihuahuan Desert. In this study, we examine the hypothesis that soil heterogeneity, determined by variation in surface soil depth, carbonate accumulation, and fine-textured fraction, controls relative dominance of the three species. The area is flat, generally <1% slope; however, abrupt soil differences exist even within the flattest parts of the landscape that correspond to the pattern of buried channels incised in a petrocalcic horizon (caliche) formed in a 0.5–1.2 million year-old paleosol beneath the current surface soil. Multivariate analyses of soil-moisture-related variables suggest that B. gracilis, a Colorado Shortgrass Steppe indicator, dominates the buried paleochannels where Holocene surface deposits are deepest and the argillic (clay-rich) B-horizon is thickest. B. eriopoda, dominant in Chihuahuan Desert grasslands, is most abundant where the buried petrocalcic horizon lies within 40–60 cm of the surface and the argillic horizon is thinner and weakly developed. L. tridentata, an indicator of desertified Chihuahuan Desert shrubland, is dominant where the petrocalcic horizon is exposed or near the surface. This study illustrates the strong relationship between geomorphology, soil development and vegetation patterns in arid and semi-arid environments.     

Changes in sand fractions of Binggou section and the expansion and contraction of the Tengger desert during 50–30 ka

Signs of the evolutionary process are well preserved in the aeolian deposits of desert margins and enable reconstruction of desert expansion and contraction. The sand content (percentage >63 µm) of loess in the loess–desert transitional zone was used as a proxy indicator for determining the proximity of the desert margin. According to the dominant wind direction, generally NW–SE in the northwest Chinese Loess Plateau, a transect was projected to observe spatial changes in sedimentological characteristics of aeolian deposits during the Last Glacial Period. The transect consists of 12 loess sections, starting at Shapotou in the transitional region between the Loess Plateau and the Tengger Desert and ending at Tianshui, which is located at the north foot of the Western Qinling Mountains in the southernmost part of the Loess Plateau. It shows the properties of temporal and spatial distribution of the Malan loess, with reduced sand content from northwest to southeast. A linear correlation model of sand content and distance was obtained, which was similar to the east of the Chinese Loess Plateau. According to this model, and on the basis of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating from Binggou section, a detailed and quantificational expansion and contraction for the Tengger Desert was established. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comprehensive evaluation on the ecological function of groundwater in the Shiyang River watershed

With an arid climate and shortage of water resources, the groundwater dependent ecosystems in the oasis–desert ecotone of the Shiyang River Watershed has been extremely damaged, and the water crisis in the oasis has become a major concern in the social and the scientific community. In this study, the degeneration characteristics of the groundwater ecological function was identified and comprehensive evaluated, based on groundwater depth data, vegetation quadrat and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Landsat program. The results showed that (1) the suitable groundwater depth for sustainable ecology in the Shiyang River Watershed is about 2-4 m; (2) the terms of degenerative, qualitative and disastrous stages of the groundwater ecological function are defined with the groundwater depths of about 5 m, 7 m and 10 m; (3) generally, the groundwater ecological function in the oasis-desert ecotone of the lower reaches of Shiyang River Watershed is weak with an area of 1 397.9 km² identified as the severe deterioration region, which accounted 74.7% of the total area. In the meantime, the percentages of the good, mild and moderate deterioration areas of groundwater ecological function are 3.5%, 5.5% and 16.3%, respectively, which were mainly distributed in the Qingtu lake area and the southeastern area of the Shoucheng town; (4) the degradation and shrinkage of natural oasis could be attributed to the dramatic groundwater decline, which is generally caused by irrational use of water and soil resources. This study could provide theoretical basis and scientific support for the decision-making in environmental management and ecological restoration of the Shiyang River Watershed.     

别里库姆沙漠胡杨回涡沙丘表层沉积物粒度特征

胡杨回涡沙丘是别里库姆沙漠常见的一种风积地貌类型,通过测试分析来自6个样区胡杨回涡沙丘的195个表层沉积物样品,结合粒级-标准偏差法、Sahu成因判别和相关统计分析法,对其粒度特征进行研究,以分析别里库姆沙漠表层沉积物类型、沉积环境的稳定性。结果表明:(1)胡杨回涡沙丘表层沉积物粒度组成以砂和粉砂为主,从北向南、从东向西沉积物粒级均呈现变细趋势。(2)6个样区平均粒径的均值属于极细砂或细砂范围,71.79%的物质样品分选较好,97.94%的沉积物样品属于近对称分布,100%的物质样品属于中等峰态。(3)6个样区的粒级-标准偏差曲线均呈现多峰分布,沉积环境不稳定。(4)6个样区胡杨回涡沙丘表层沉积物的Sahu成因判别值介于-7.277~ -5.912,均属于风成沉积。     

Testing the potential of using coarse-grain feldspars for post-IR IRSL dating of calcium sulphate-wedge growth in the Atacama Desert

The growth of vertically laminated calcium-sulphate wedges in the Atacama Desert is assumed to be driven by the interaction of moisture supply and salt dynamics in the subsurface. Geochronological data of these wedge laminations is yet sparse but indispensable to resolve wedge-growth phases and episodes of moisture supply and to use these deposits as a palaeoclimate archive in the hyperarid environment. Our pilot study presents a first approach of dating a calcium-sulphate wedge from the Atacama Desert using coarse-grain feldspar luminescence dating. Our results show a widespread and clustered equivalent-dose distribution of two wedge samples from ∼20 Gy up to saturation. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of quartz revealed unsuitable properties for dating wedge deposits. Consequently, we applied post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (post-IR IRSL) to coarse-grained feldspars. Since feldspar single-grain measurements yielded a low number of luminescent grains, we used 1 mm aliquots as reliable single-grain proxies for genuine single-grain measurements. Data from energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDX) showed that the feldspar single grains have large differences in their internal K content, resulting in an averaged internal K content of 3.9 ± 1.0 % for all luminescent grains. This result was subsequently used for dose rate and age calculations. Our results of equivalent-dose distributions and palaeodoses derived from the minimum age model reveal most recent wedge-growth activities at 10.6 ± 2.2 ka and 7.9 ± 1.8 ka for the two wedge samples.     

Test of high sampling density OSL dating of aeolian samples from the south margin of the Tengger Desert using the global standardised growth curve (gSGC) method

Chronostratigraphic records in the drylands of north China provide basic archives to reveal the dynamic connections between climate changes and the behaviour of aeolian systems. However, the interpretation of aeolian chronostratigraphy is not straightforward and may be associated with significant uncertainty due to a number of external and localised forces. Taking into account this complexity of aeolian systems, excluding preservation and sampling bias from palaeoclimatic signals requires that the interpretation of chronostratigraphic records be based on as many dates from as many sites as possible. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating provides a direct way to date aeolian sediments. However, the determination of equivalent dose (D_e) using the commonly applied single-aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol is relatively time-consuming for samples with burial doses exceeding 50 or 100 Gy.In this study, the global standardised growth curve (gSGC) method is applied to multi-grain aliquots of coarse quartz from various sites covering a wide region of the south margin of the Tengger Desert in north China to rapidly determine D_e for a large number of aliquots and samples. The large between-aliquot variability in the shape of the dose response curve (DRC) is significantly reduced using a least-squares normalisation procedure. The results of a leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) protocol demonstrates that D_e values determined using the gSGC and SAR methods are very consistent with each other up to at least 200 Gy and 400 Gy, for the 90–150 μm and 63–90 μm fractions, respectively. It suggests that the gSGC protocol can be used as an efficient procedure for D_e determination of a large number of aeolian samples from multiple sites. This in turn provides a better constraint for the interpretation of Late Quaternary aeolian chronostratigraphic records in drylands of north China.     

Distribution of plant species and species-soil relationship in the east central Gurbantunggut Desert,China

The distribution of plant species and relationships between species and soil factors in the east central part of Gurbantunggut Desert was studied to provide more insight into the flora and determine differences in vegetation across various parts of the desert. Two-way Cluster Analysis showed that the vegetation in the area could be divided into three groups, the first group was dominated by the shrub species, Ephedra przewalskii and the grass species, Carex physodes mainly in areas of flat grounds and gentle slopes; the second group was dominated by C. physodes, Artemisia songorica and A. xerophytica mainly on the slope of sand dunes and the third group was dominated by the shrub species, Haloxylon persicum mainly on the top of sand dunes. There was no difference in plant density between Groups 1 and 2 but there was a significant decrease in Group 3. Soil water under vegetation Group 3 was much lower than that in the other two groups at all soil depths. The EC, organic matter, total P and soluble Na, Ca and Mg varied very similarly with soil water. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) satisfactorily assessed the species-soil relations in the area. The distribution of plant species was strongly correlated with the soil factors of water content, organic matter, EC and nutrients. The variations in species occurrence explained by the three CCA axes were about 70%, indicating that some explanatory site variables may exist outside our studied parameters. Soil texture is suggested to be included in future studies to improve the explanation of CCA.     

塔克拉玛干沙漠公路人工防护林植被的C, N化学计量特征及其固存能力研究

本研究以塔克拉玛干沙漠公路沿线生物防护林为研究对象,研究防护林三种主要建林植物不同器官的C,N含量及其生物量,进而估算其C, N固存能力及固碳释氧价值。结果显示：沙拐枣每个器官的生物量均显著高于梭梭和柽柳(P<0.05),个体的总生物量是梭梭和柽柳的2-3倍。整个防护林在建林8年后的总生物量达到116786.4 t。C,N含量在不同器官中的含量不尽相同,三种植物均表现为凋落物C含量最低。而植物叶中的N含量均显著高于枝,凋落物和根系(P<0.05)。建林8年后梭梭单株的固碳量为1404.6g,固氮量为201.5g,柽柳单株的固碳量为1449.7g,固氮量为195.4g,沙拐枣单株的固碳量和固氮量显著高于其他两种,分别为3979.8g,为520.9g,(P<0.05)。建林8年后整个防护林的总固碳植为35886.3 t,总固氮值为4917.7 t。整个防护林的固碳总价值为22555.3万元,释氧价值为50320万元,总的固碳释氧价值达72875.3万元。