Decoupling the effects of deforestation and climate variability in the Tapajós river basin in the Brazilian Amazon

Tropical river basins are experiencing major hydrological alterations as a result of climate variability and deforestation. These drivers of flow changes are often difficult to isolate in large basins based on either observations or experiments; however, combining these methods with numerical models can help identify the contribution of climate and deforestation to hydrological alterations. This paper presents a study carried out in the Tapaj?s River (Brazil), a 477,000 km² basin in South‐eastern Amazonia, in which we analysed the role of annual land cover change on daily river flows. Analysis of observed spatial and temporal trends in rainfall, forest cover, and river flow metrics for 1976 to 2008 indicates a significant shortening of the wet season and reduction in river flows through most of the basin despite no significant trend in annual precipitation. Coincident with seasonal trends over the past 4 decades, over 35% of the original forest (140,000 out of 400,000 km²) was cleared. In order to determine the effects of land clearing and rainfall variability to trends in river flows, we conducted hindcast simulations with ED2 + R, a terrestrial biosphere model incorporating fine scale ecosystem heterogeneity arising from annual land‐use change and linked to a flow routing scheme. The simulations indicated basin‐wide increases in dry season flows caused by land cover transitions beginning in the early 1990s when forest cover dropped to 80% of its original extent. Simulations of historical potential vegetation in the absence of land cover transitions indicate that reduction in rainfall during the dry season (mean of ?9 mm per month) would have had an opposite and larger magnitude effect than deforestation (maximum of +4 mm/month), leading to the overall net negative trend in river flows. In light of the expected increase in future climate variability and water infrastructure development in the Amazon and other tropical basins, this study presents an approach for analysing how multiple drivers of change are altering regional hydrology and water resources management.     

Algal interactions on shallow subtidal reefs in northern New Zealand: A review

In north‐eastern New Zealand, nearshore subtidal reefs are dominated by large brown algae of the orders Fucales and Laminariales. Species of the genera Carpophyllum, Sargasswn, and Landsburgia are the most conspicuous fucaleans, whereas Ecklonia radiata is the only common laminarian. Three categories of events affect the composition of stands of these algae: first, the competitive effects of adult canopies on recruitment to the substratum below; second, the seasonality of spore release and availability of free space; and third, the demographic characteristics of species and their influence on recruitment. Adult canopies suppress recruitment of all species. Both repro‐duction and recruitment are seasonal in occurrence and most recruits appear within a few metres of adults of their own species. A comparison of representative Fucales and Laminariales shows important differences in how these taxa colonise substrata. Propagules of fucaleans are larger at settlement and fewer in number than those of laminarians. Compared to laminarians, however, higher numbers of fucalean adults are generally required to form a closed canopy. The number of recruits and the survival of each life history stage are affected by the population structure of algal stands. The importance of the demographic characteristics of individual species in assessing these processes is highlighted.     

东海近岸带鱼(Trichiurus japonicus)线粒体控制区序列的群体遗传变异研究

带鱼(Trichiurusjaponicus)是广泛分布于东亚大陆架海域的暖温性近底层经济鱼类,也是东海区最重要的海洋渔业捕捞对象。然而,目前的研究报道对东海近岸带鱼群体遗传变异特性认识不足,不利于其种群的遗传资源保护和管理。本研究利用线粒体控制区序列对东海近岸带鱼6个群体191个个体的遗传多样性、遗传分化和历史动态进行分析。在577 bp长的控制区序列中共检测到70个多态位点,定义了121个单倍型。群体总的单倍型多样性较高(0.9911),但总的核苷酸多样性较低(0.0092),群体间遗传多样性水平差异较小。单倍型遗传学关系、Fst值和分子方差分析结果均表明群体间的遗传分化不显著,存在广泛的基因交流。历史动态分析结果表明东海近岸带鱼群体在更新世中晚期可能经历了瓶颈效应和随后的群体快速扩张,这是导致群体遗传多样性较低的主要原因。带鱼较强的扩散能力、洄游行为、海洋环流以及近期的群体扩张可能是造成东海近岸带鱼缺乏显著的系统地理种群结构的原因。研究结果提示,在线粒体DNA水平上,东海近岸带鱼群体是一个随机交配的种群,在遗传资源管理上可作为一个单元进行管理。     

Vulnerability of families and households to natural hazards: A case study of storm surge flooding in Sarasota County,Florida

The role that family and household structure, size, and ethnic/racial composition play in increasing or decreasing vulnerability to natural hazards, which has been missing from the literature, is investigated. The study first reviews the conceptual foundations of the relationships between families/households and natural hazards vulnerability and then employs a principal components analysis to uncover spatial variations in the vulnerability of families and households to hurricane storm surge hazards in Sarasota County, Florida. The analysis identifies and maps five principal components that explain approximately 83% of the variance in family/household population: nuclear families/households; Black families/households; nonfamily, young adult group households; Hispanic families/households; and Asian families/households. Comparison of storm surge risk maps with the locations of these families/households shows the relative vulnerability of each of these family/household categories, with elderly householders living alone on exposed barrier islands being the most vulnerable. The research suggests that family and household structures integrate several socio-demographic vulnerability indicators central to most social vulnerability assessments. Results indicate that future research and hazard mitigation policies should focus on families and households as core analytical units. Findings also suggest that recognizing the diversity of families and households is important to reducing vulnerability to natural hazards.     

Mapping the human record in the British early Palaeolithic: evidence from the Solent River system

The lithic record from the Solent River and its tributaries is re‐examined in the light of recent interpretations about the changing demography of Britain during the Lower and early Middle Palaeolithic. Existing models of the terrace stratigraphies in the Solent and its tributary areas are reviewed and the corresponding archaeological record (specifically handaxes) for each terrace is assessed to provide models for the relative changes in human occupation through time. The Bournemouth area is studied in detail to examine the effects of quarrying and urbanisation on collection history and on the biases it introduces to the record. In addition, the effects of reworking of artefacts from higher into lower terraces are assessed, and shown to be a significant problem. Although there is very little absolute dating available for the Solent area, a cautious interpretation of the results from these analyses would suggest a pre‐Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 date for the first appearance of humans, a peak in population between MIS 12 and 10, and a decline in population during MIS 9 and 8. Owing to poor contextual data and small sample sizes, it is not clear when Levallois technology was introduced. This record is compared and contrasted to that from the Thames Valley. It is suggested that changes in the palaeogeography of Britain, in particular land connections to the continent, might have contributed to differences in the archaeological records from the Solent and Thames regions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于COI基因的中国沿海青蚶野生群体遗传结构及种群动态研究

本研究利用形态学方法和基于线粒体细胞色素氧化酶亚基Ⅰ(COⅠ)的遗传学方法分析了中国沿海青蚶(Barbatia virescens)6个地理群体的形态差异、遗传多样性、遗传结构及其种群历史动态。单因素方差分析(ANOVA)和Tukey检验表明,青蚶不同地理种群间表现出显著形态差异(P0.05)。经PCR扩增测序获得长度为587bp的COⅠ基因片段,112个个体共检测到18个多态性位点、17个单倍型,每个群体均有特有单倍型。青蚶群体的遗传多样性水平较低,总群体的平均单倍型多样度为0.5472,平均核苷酸多样度为0.000974。AMOVA分析表明,群体内个体间的遗传分化是青蚶群体遗传变异的主要原因,占87.40%。阳江群体与其他群体之间存在显著的低程度的遗传分化,而其他群体间的遗传分化不显著。单倍型网络关系图呈典型的星状拓扑结构,没有表现出显著的地理谱系结构。单倍型邻接树结果也没有明显分支,未呈现出地域性差异。中性检验和核苷酸不配对分析结果揭示青蚶种群历史上经历了群体扩事件,扩张时间约为26万年前。研究结果为青蚶资源的保护和可持续利用提供了基础资料。     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Redundant Spaces in Cities and Regions? Studies in Industrial Decline and Social Change . J. Anderson, S. Duncan and R. Hudson. eds. The Social Consequences and Challenges of New Agricultural Technologies . Gigi M. Berardi and Charles C. Geisler, eds. Determinants of Fertility in Developing Countries, Vol. I, Supply and Demand for Children . Rodolfo A. Bultao and Ronald D. Lee, eds. Computer Mapping: Progress in the‘80s . James R. Carter. Washington: Colonial Africa . A. J. Christopher. Geography of the Soviet Union . J. P. Cole. Chicago Mapmakers, Essays on the Rise of the City's Map Trade . Michael P. Conzen, ed. Changes in the Land: Indians, Colonists and the Ecology of New England . William Cronon. Mizner's Florida: American Resort Architecture . Donald W. Curl. Geographical Studies on the Soviet Union: Essays in Honor of Chauncy D. Harris . George Demko and Roland J. Fuchs, eds. Fluvial Hydrology . S. Lawrence Dingman. Pueblo Indian Water Rights: Struggle For a Precious Resource . Charles T. DuMars, Marilyn O'Leary and Albert E. Utton. Women in the Cities of Asia: Migration and Urban Adaptation . James T. Fawcett, Siew-Ean Khoo, and Peter C. Smith, eds. America's National Parks and Their Keepers . Ronald A. Foresta. Neighborhood Revitalization and the Postindustrial City . Dennis E. Gale. China in Canada: A Dialogue on Resources and Development . R. Louis Gentilcore, ed. China: The 80s Era . Norton Ginsburg and Bernard A. Lalor, eds. Boulder, CO: Global Resources: Challenges of Interdependence . Martin I. Glassner, ed. River Networks . Texas: A Geography . Terry G. Jordan with John L. Bean, Jr. and William M. Holmes. The American Frontier: An Archaeological Study of Settlement Pattern and Process . Kenneth E. Lewis. Water Resources, Geography and Law . Olen Paul Matthews. A Field Guide to American Houses . Virginia and Lee McAlester. Population: Patterns, Dynamics, and Prospects . James L. Newman and Gordon E. Matzke. Wood, Brick, and Stone, The North American Settlement Landscape, Vol. 1: Houses . Allen G. Noble. Historical Analysis in Geography . William Norton. The Displaced Worker and Community Response: Case Study of Portsmouth, Scioto County, Ohio . H. Milton Patton and Janet W. Patton. Disaster Management: Warning Response and Community Relocation . Ronald W. Perry and Alvin H. Muskatel. The Anthropology of Space: Explorations into the Natural Philosophy and Semantics of the Navajo . Rik Pinxten, Ingrid van Dooren, and Frank Harvey. What STYLE Is It? A Guide To American Architecture . John C. Poppeliers, S. Allen Chambers, Jr., and Nancy B. Schwartz. Appalachia: A Regional Geography—Land, People and Development . Karl Raitz and Richard Ulack. An Introduction to Urban Geography . John R. Short. Ford, A Village in the West Highlands of Scotland: A Case Study of Repopulation and Social Change in a Small Community . John B. Stephenson. Income and Jobs: USA Diagnosing the Reality . George Sternlieb and James W. Hughes. Weather and Climate of the Antarctic . W. Schwerdtfeger. History and Ecology: Studies of the Grassland, James C. Malin . Robert P. Swierenga, ed. Optimal Control of Spatial Systems . K. C. Tan and R. J. Bennett. Social Science and Revolutions . Stan Taylor. The Global Textile Industry . Brian Toyne, Jeffrey S. Arpan, David A. Ricks, Terence A. Shimp and Andy Barnett. Integrated Water Development: Water Use and Conservation Practice in Western Colorado . James L. Wescoat, Jr. Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Maps and Graphics for the Visually Handicapped . Joseph W. Wiedel, ed.     

Ratio of neonate to adult size explains life history characteristics in cladoceran zooplankton

The size ratio of adults to neonates varies greatly in cladocerans across taxa. In this study we tested the impact of this ratio (using length basis) on the selected life history parameters of nine species of freshwater cladocerans (Alona rectangula, Pleuroxus aduncus, Scapholeberis mucronata, Moina macrocopa, Moina wierzejskii, Ceriodaphnia dubia, Daphnia laevis, Diaphanosoma birgei and Daphnia pulex). Experiments were conducted on a mixed diet of Chlorella vulgaris (1.0·10⁶ cells mL^–1) and Scenedesmus acutus (0.5·10⁶ cells mL^–1) at (22 ± 1)°C. Using a cohort life table experimental design, we quantified age‐specific reproductive output. Body sizes of neonates and adults as well as dry weight were determined using standard procedures. We found that the ratio of neonate to adult body length decreased with increasing body size of the adult. In terms of clutch size, however, smaller taxa produced lower numbers of offspring than larger ones. The influence of ratio neonate/adult size on average lifespan, age at first reproduction and at the maximum clutch showed U‐shaped curves. In smaller taxa (< 700 μm) and larger taxa (> 1500 μm) the ratio between the neonate and adult body size was less than 0.4 or more than 0.6. In medium sized taxa (1000?1500 μm), the ratio of neonate to adult size was between 0.4 and 0.6. The results have been discussed in relation to the life history strategies of cladocerans.     

Environmental impacts of household appliances in Europe and scenarios for their impact reduction

Assessing the environmental impact due to consumption of goods and services is a pivotal step towards achieving the sustainable development goal related to responsible production and consumption (i.e. SDG 12). Household appliances plays a crucial role and should be assessed in a systemic manner, namely considering all life cycle stages, technological efficiency, and affluence aspects. The present study assess the impact of such household appliances used in Europe, and tests scenarios of potential impact reduction at various scales. Life cycle assessment is applied to 14 different household appliances (ranging from dishwashers to television devices) selected to build a set of representative products, based on their economic value and diffusion in households in Europe. Related impacts are calculated with the Environmental Footprint method for calculating a Consumer Footprint “appliances” for the baseline year 2010. A number of scenarios encompassing eco-solutions on a technical level, changes in consumption pattern, behavioral changes, as well as the combination of all these aspects are run to estimate the Consumer Footprint related to household appliances for the year 2030, compared against this baseline scenario. The baseline Consumer Footprint is confirming the importance of the use phase in leading the impacts in almost all impact categories. Testing different scenarios concludes that there is a reduction of the impact for most of the categories (with up to 67% for the ozone depletion potential, and still around 35% for the global warming potential), while two of the here examined impact categories (i.e. land-use and mineral resource depletion) show an overall potential that is even negative – i.e. the results of all scenarios are higher than the ones of the 2010 baseline scenario. The increase in purchase and use of such appliances may offset energy efficiency benefits in some of the examined categories. Hence, the assessment of sustainability of appliances consumption should always include several scales, from the efficiency of the products (micro scale), to the improvement of the energy mix (meso scale), up to accounting for socio-economic drivers and patterns of consumption affecting the overall appliances stock (macro scale).     

BOOK REVIEWS

Book Reviewed in this article: Geographical Aspects of Health and Disease in India . Rais Akhtar and A.T.A. Learmonth , eds . Antarctic Treaty System: An Assessment . Proceedings of a Workshop at Beardmore South Field Camp, Antarctica. American Electoral Mosaics . J. Clark Archer and Fred M. Shelley . Kompas op Suidwes-Afrika/Namibie . W.S. Barnard , ed . Jerusalem in the 19th Century: The Old City . Yehoshua Ben -Arieh . The World as a Total System . Kenneth E. Boulding . A Social History of Housing 1815–1985, Second Ed . John Burnett . Human Migration . W.A.V. Clark . Regional Population Projection Models . Andrei Rogers . The State of Population Theory: Forward from Malthus . David Coleman and Roger Schofield , eds . Imagining Tomorrow: History, Technology and the American Future . Joseph C. Corn , ed. Swidden Agriculture in Indonesia: The Subsistence Strategies of the Kalimantan Kantú . Michael R. Dove . Glacial Geologic Processes . David Drewry . Physics of Desertification . Farouk El -Baz and M.H.A. Hassan , eds . Housing the Homeless . Jon Erickson and Charles Wilhelm , eds . Settlement Patterns in Missouri: A Study of Population Origins, with a Wall Map . Russel L. Gerlach . Desert Development: Man and Technology in Sparselands . Yehuda Gradus , ed . Nuclear Winter. The Evidence and Risks . Owen Greene , Ian Percival and Irene Ridge . The Take-off of Suburbia and the Crisis of the Central City . Günter Heinritz and Elisabeth Lichtenberger , eds . Regional Input-Output Analysis . Geoffrey J. D. Hewings . Spatial Transportation Modeling . Christian Werner . The Atlas of Georgia . Thomas W. Hodler and Howard A. Schretter , eds . Latin America. 5th ed . Preston E. James and C.W. Minkel . Applied Remote Sensing . C.P. Lo . Localities, Class, and Gender . The Lancaster Regionalism Group . Urban Social Movements: The City after Castells . Stuart Lowe . Politics and Method . Doreen Massey and Richard Meegan , eds . Land Use . A. S. Mather . The Kingdom of Coal . Donald L. Miller and Richard E. Sharpless . The Presidio and Militia on the Northern Frontier of New Spain, A Documentary History, Vol. 1: 1570–1700 . Thomas H. Naylor and Charles W. Polzer , S.J., comps . and eds . Nuclear Power: Siting and Safety . Stan Openshaw . The Central African Republic: The Continent's Hidden Heart . Thomas O'Toole . Environmental and Dynamic Geomorphology . Márton Pécsi , ed . Remote Sensing Principles and Interpretation . Floyd F. Sabins , Jr . Acid Rain and Friendly Neighbors: The Policy Dispute between Canada and the United States . Jurgen Schmandt and Hilliard Roderick , eds . Earth's Changing Surface: An Introduction to Geomorphology . M.J. Selby . International Migration: The Female Experience . Rita J. Simon and Caroline B. Brettell , eds . On Geography and Its History . D.R. Stoddart . Transportation Networks: A Quantitative Approach . D. Teodorovic . Processes in Physical Geography . R.D. Thompson , A.M. Mannion , C.W. Mitchell , M. Parry , J.R.G. Townshend . Imaging Radar for Resources Surveys . J.W. Trevett . Dominance and Affection: The Making of Pets . Yi -Fu Tuan . Capturing the Horizon. The Historical Geography of Transportation since the Transportation Revolution of the Sixteenth Century . James E. Vance , Jr . Nations at Risk: The Impact of the Computer Revolution . Edward Yourdon .