Physical and Human Factors Influencing Potential Fish Habitat Distribution along a Mountain River, France

Potential fish habitat along the Drôme River, France, is a function of the distribution of large woody debris, boulders, undercut banks, gravel substrate, and pools. The distribution of these features is, in turn, a function of channel geomorphology, watershed and riparian forest characteristics. We conducted field work and analysed aerial photographs for 190 elementary segments of 500 m length along the Drôme River's 95 km course from the Alps westward to its confluence with the Rhône River near Loriol. The Drôme River does not follow the classic pattern of a monotone downstream decrease in gradient and change in channel characteristics. Although channel gradient, braided index and channel incision all decrease downstream, stream power is independent of longitudinal distance. These variables are largely controlled by geomorphic, human or hydrologic factors at the reach scale. Potential fish habitat richness decreases downstream, but individual habitat variables affecting habitat richness do not necessarily decrease downstream, many being controlled by local factors rather than by position along the continuum. Large woody debris is more abundant in braided reaches located directly downstream of confluences with main tributaries or downstream input sites. Boulders are most abundant downstream of failed bank protection works or in gorges. To improve fish habitat in the Drôme River, we recommend taking a long-term and large-scale perspective. Because structures placed in this unstable channel are likely to be washed downstream, we propose to emulate natural river dynamics and to permit large woody debris to enter the channel in unstable reaches via bank erosion, and that this debris not be removed (as is routinely done now) but permitted to migrate downstream through the system, creating fish habitat en route.     

山东高唐EF3级龙卷S波段双偏振雷达探测特征

利用济南CINRAD/SA-D双偏振天气雷达的探测数据,结合龙卷实地调查资料,对2021年7月11日发生在山东聊城高唐的一次EF3级龙卷风暴的雷达回波演变过程、龙卷风暴单体的结构及龙卷风暴的中气旋(M)、龙卷涡旋特征(TVS)和龙卷碎片特征(TDS)进行分析。结果表明:(1)龙卷发生在高空冷涡及地面气旋共同作用天气形势下,龙卷位于地面气旋中心东偏北方向约200 km处;螺旋状对流云带中2个较强对流单体合并发展,演变成超级单体风暴,其后部下沉气流较强,与强的入流共同作用,诱发了强龙卷。(2)风暴中中气旋的顶高大多在5~7 km之间;龙卷发生前中气旋最大切变平均值为19×10^(-3)s^(-1),龙卷维持期间,中气旋最大切变平均值达到51×10^(-3)s^(-1)。(3)高唐龙卷涡旋底层双偏振参量主要特征是大的水平极化反射率因子,小的甚至负的差分反射率ZDR,小的相关系数CC;TDS时间及空间特征是,底层CC都小于0.7,CC低值区的面积在龙卷生成后随时间明显增大,CC值底层最小,随高度逐渐增大;CC低值区的面积低层和顶层较大,中间层较小;龙卷生成后TDS最大高度随时间逐渐增高,龙卷最强时TDS最高达到4.8 km,之后逐渐降低;龙卷消散后,1.5°以上TDS的特征很快消失,0.5°仰角TDS特征继续维持了大约11 min。     

Empirical predictors of annual bed load travel distance,and implications for salmonid habitat restoration and protection

Measurements of annual travel distance (L_b) of bed load sediment at 16 locations in Alaska, the intermountain USA, west coast USA and Scotland are strongly correlated with bankfull channel width (r² = 0·86, p < 0·001). Travel distance of particles is probably limited by trapping in bars, which have a longitudinal spacing proportional to channel width. Increased abundance of woody debris reduces bar spacing and may reduce L_b. Longer cumulative duration of bed load transporting flows in a year appears to increase L_b. Other predictors of annual travel distance such as stream power per unit length, drainage area and bankfull discharge were less well correlated with L_b (r² ranging from 0·27 to 0·51). Stream power per unit bed area, basal shear stress and slope were not significantly related to L_b (r² < 0·05). Most correlations were improved when regressions were limited to data from the west coast USA. Travel distance estimates can be used to help identify reaches that may take longer to recover from large, short‐term increases in sediment supply. Published in 2001 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

阿勒泰市强降水衍生泥石流灾害分析

调查分析阿勒泰市区泥石流灾情、引发的气象因素以及有利的环流形势.结果表明:阿勒泰市泥石流灾害以市区东北部发生频率高,为重灾区,阿勒泰市泥石流主要发生在6-8月的强雷雨时段;中小尺度强雷雨是引发阿勒泰市泥石流直接的动力因素,降水超过15 mm并伴有雷暴可作为阿勒泰市泥石流气象预警指标;阿勒泰市夏季中小尺度系统引发的短时强降水有两种天气尺度环流背景.     

Deep-sea faunal communities associated with a lost intermodal shipping container in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary,CA

Carrying assorted cargo and covered with paints of varying toxicity, lost intermodal containers may take centuries to degrade on the deep seafloor. In June 2004, scientists from Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) discovered a recently lost container during a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) dive on a sediment-covered seabed at 1281 m depth in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS). The site was revisited by ROV in March 2011. Analyses of sediment samples and high-definition video indicate that faunal assemblages on the container’s exterior and the seabed within 10 m of the container differed significantly from those up to 500 m. The container surface provides hard substratum for colonization by taxa typically found in rocky habitats. However, some key taxa that dominate rocky areas were absent or rare on the container, perhaps related to its potential toxicity or limited time for colonization and growth. Ecological effects appear to be restricted to the container surface and the benthos within ∼10 m.     

Plastic debris as nesting material in a Kittiwake-(Rissa tridactyla)-colony at the Jammerbugt, Northwest Denmark

This paper continues the investigations of Clemens and Hartwig from 1992 on the proportion of garbage used as nesting material in the Kittiwake colony at Bulbjerg in the Jammerbugt in Northwest Denmark. Whereas in the year 1992 plastic garbage items were included in 39.3% of 466 Kittiwake nests in the Bulbjerg colony, in 2005 57.2% of 311 nests contained plastic debris. Although it has been forbidden to dispose of plastic garbage into the marine environment since the implementation of the MARPOL 73/78-Agreement/Annex V (Regulation for the Prevention of Pollution by Ship Waste) of 1989 and especially since the declaration of the North Sea as a MARPOL-Special Area for garbage in 1991, the pollution of the oceans and the North Sea is still an ubiquitous problem, particularly with regard to plastic waste. Plastic waste is presumably not used preferentially for nest-building, but in the context of available nesting material in the waters surrounding the breeding colony. Therefore the share of garbage parts in nests of certain species of birds is an indicator of the amount of waste in the natural environment in the vicinity of their breeding site.     

GIS‐assisted modelling for debris flow hazard assessment based on the events of May 1998 in the area of Sarno,Southern Italy: Part I. Maximum run‐out

Based on the debris flow events that occurred in May 1998 in the area of Sarno, Southern Italy, this paper presents an approach to simulate debris flow maximum run‐out. On the basis of the flow source areas and an average thickness of 1·2 m of the scarps, we estimated debris flow volumes of the order of 10⁴ and 10⁵ m³. Flow mobility ratios (ΔH/L) derived from the x, y, z coordinates of the lower‐most limit of the source areas (i.e. apex of the alluvial fan) and the distal limit of the flows ranged between 0·27 and 0·09. We performed regression analyses that showed a good correlation between the estimated flow volumes and mobility ratios. This paper presents a methodology for predicting maximum run‐out of future debris flow events, based on the developed empirical relationship. We implemented the equation that resulted from the calibration as a set of GIS macros written in Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and running within ArcGIS. We carried out sensitivity analyses and observed that hazard mapping with this methodology should attempt to delineate hazard zones with a minimum horizontal resolution of 0·4 km. The developed procedure enables the rapid delineation of debris flow maximum extent within reasonable levels of uncertainty, it incorporates sensitivities and it facilitates hazard assessments via graphic user interfaces and with modest computing resources. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marine debris surveys at Volunteer Beach, Falkland Islands, during the summer of 2001/02

This survey evaluated the monthly accumulation rate of marine debris and the types of objects washed ashore at Volunteer Beach on East Falkland between October 2001 and March 2002. The mean (±SD) accumulation rate of marine debris was 77 ± 25 items/km/month, of a mean weight of 17.3 ± 12 kg. Forty different objects were collected and the five most frequent items were cotton fabric, string, polystyrene packing sheet, plastic packing tape and broken plastic pieces. The debris on Volunteer Beach was dominated by fishing debris; 42% of the items were discarded fishing equipment, while 39% of the items were of a packaging or associated nature. The mostly likely source of this household waste was fishing vessels, with Falkland Islands Government (FIG) fisheries observers seeing 27 of the 40 items of debris collected from Volunteer Beach being discarded from fishing vessels. It is suggested that, although further marine debris research is warranted, more effective at-sea ship waste disposal regulations are required in Falkland waters to reduce environmental and economic threats both at the local and international level.     

Bed material texture in low order streams on the Queen Charlotte Islands,British Columbia

Low order channels comprise a large proportion of the links of every drainage basin, and are often at the centre of land management concerns. They exhibit hydrological and geomorphological characteristics atypical of higher order links. This paper examines the nature and causes of variations in the bed material texture of two streams on the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia. The extant, functional exponential model is found to be inadequate for explaining observed changes in grain size parameters with distance downstream. Recurrent disruption of sediment transport by large organic debris jams, and the sporadic contamination of the fluvial sediment population by colluvial inputs, preclude the development of longitudinal structure. Rather, grain size varies erratically over short distances. A stochastic model best describes the observed variations, and should be adopted as an alternative to the exponential model in low order links. Characteristic variances are controlled by the degree of hillslope-channel coupling, and the extent and characteristics of non-alluvial storage mechanisms.