A comparison of wetness indices for the prediction of observed connected saturated areas under contrasting conditions

For lack of other widely available spatial information, topography is often used to predict water fluxes and water quality in mesoscale watersheds. Such data have however proven to be misleading in many environments where large and flat valley bottoms and/or highly conducive soil covers determine water storage and water transport mechanisms. Also, the focus is generally on the prediction of saturation areas regardless of whether they are connected to the catchment hydrographic network or rather present in isolated topographic depressions. Here soil information was coupled with terrain data towards the targeted prediction of connected saturated areas. The focus was on the 30 km² Girnock catchment (Cairngorm Mountains, northeast Scotland) and its 3 km² sub‐catchment, Bruntland Burn in which seven field surveys were done to capture actual maps of connected saturated areas in both dry and humid conditions. The 1 km² resolution UK Hydrology of Soil Types (HOST) classification was used to extract relevant, spatially variable, soil parameters. Results show that connected saturated areas were fairly well predicted by wetness indices but only in wet conditions when they covered more than 30% of the whole catchment area. Geomorphic indices including information on terrain shape, steepness, aspect, soil texture and soil depth showed potential but generally performed poorly. Indices based on soil and topographic data did not have more predictive power than those based on topographic information only: this was attributed to the coarse resolution of the HOST classification. Nevertheless, analyses provided interesting insights into the scale‐dependent water storage and transport mechanisms in both study catchments. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1961-2010年西北干旱区极端降水指数的时空变化分析

结合绝对阈值和百分位法定义极端降水事件的优点,提出了一种更灵敏的检测极端降水事件的方法. 该方法不仅能检测出常用降水指数无法检测到的降水量稀少地区尤其干旱区的极端降水事件,同时也能过滤掉其检测到的降水量丰富地区的虚假极端降水事件. 此方法首次被应用于统计1961年1月至2010年2月西北干旱区72个气象站点的年和季节的极端降水指数（大降水和强降水指数）,并分析了极端降水指数的时间变化趋势及其空间分布特征. 结果表明：西北干旱区春（3-5月）、秋（9-11月）、冬（12月至次年2月）三季极端降水指数无显著（P>0.05）变化趋势,夏季（6-8月）大降水的频率和降水量以及大降水降水量占总降水量的比重都显著增加;新疆地区极端降水指数为增加趋势的区域基本都分布在海拔较高（约海拔1 000 m以上）的地区;西北干旱区东部极端降水指数变化趋势的空间分布有明显的季节差异,表现为夏、秋季大部分地区为增加趋势,冬、春季大部分地区为减小趋势.     

黄土的独立物性指标及其与湿陷性参数的相关性分析

黄土的湿陷性是其重要的工程特性,常用一维压缩应力条件下的湿陷系数、自重湿陷系数和湿陷起始压力等指标定量评价。影响黄土湿陷性的因素较多,包括土的粒度、密度、湿度等基本物理性质指标,且各因素之间并非完全独立,存在一定相关性。采用因子分析法,通过对西安地铁4号线黄土高台地和宝鸡-兰州高速铁路隧道黄土塬湿陷性黄土场地地层物性质指标的统计分析和相关性分析,首先确定了相对独立的含水比（含水率与液限之比）和孔隙比3个物性指标反映的两个因子。然后,依据湿陷性黄土场地的试验资料,通过多元线性回归分析,分别得到了两个场地黄土的自重湿陷系数、湿陷起始压力以及压缩模量与含水比和孔隙比之间的相关关系。最后,比较分析了两个场地黄土自重湿陷系数、湿陷起始压力和压缩模量计算值与实测值,验证了利用因子分析法寻找影响黄土湿陷性的独立因子,建立黄土湿陷性参数与独立影响因子之间相关关系的合理性和准确性。针对两个地区两类地貌单元湿陷性黄土场地,建立的黄土湿陷性参数的相关关系具有快速、准确的评价黄土湿陷性和黄土地基湿陷变形的实际意义。     

Applicability and intercalibration of macrophyte quality indices to characterise the ecological status of Mediterranean transitional waters: the case of the Venice lagoon

In the framework of the WFD 2000/60/EC intercalibration process the updated versions of the EEI and R‐MaQI, proposed by Italy and Greece for the transitional waters, have been applied to the macrophytes of the Venice lagoon to test their comparability and relationships with the pressure gradients. Submerged macrophytes were collected during spring 2007 at 60 sites spread within the lagoon. At each site, five random samples were collected and the total coverage of benthic macrophytes in the field was estimated based on a number of tests of the bottom. To assess seagrass epiphytes, five shoots were collected for each replicate. Physico‐chemical data were collected in the water column at 14 sites selected to reflect the main hydro‐geomorphological and trophic gradients of the lagoon. The analyses performed indicated that the two metrics appeared to be weakly intercalibrated and only the 30% of the sampling sites displayed the same quality class. The main differences fell into the Moderate and Low classes and the two indices provided discordant results in the intermediate and confined areas of the lagoon. In contrast, the two indices showed good affinity in the marine areas of inlets, which are characterised by seagrass meadows and late‐successional macroalgae. Similar results were evidenced also in a redundancy analysis by the different relationships between quality classes and the physico‐chemical gradients. The main reason for this seems to be the heterogeneity of species–environment relationships inside the groups of species on which the indices are based. Critical aspects of methodological differences and applicability of the macrophyte indices proposed by Italy and Greece for the transitional waters of the Mediterranean eco‐region are discussed.     

Riparian vegetation dynamics across two different landscapes along the river Cauvery in the Kodagu region of Western Ghats

Decades of commercial planting and other anthropogenic processes are posing a threat to the riparian landscapes of the Cauvery river basin, which supports a high floral diversity. Despite this, the habitats in the upstream sections of the River Cauvery are still intact, as they are located in sacred groves. To understand the dynamism of riparian forests exposed to anthropogenic pressures, the upstream stretch of Cauvery extending from Kushalanagara to Talacauvery (~102 km) was categorized into two landscapes: agro ecosystem and sacred (i.e. preserved). The tree species were sampled using belt transects at 5 km intervals and the regeneration status of endemic species assessed using quadrats. A total of 128 species belonging to 47 families, and representing 1,590 individuals, was observed. Amongst them, 65% of unique species were exclusive to sacred landscapes. A rarefaction plot confirmed higher species richness for the sacred compared to the agro ecosystem landscapes, and diversity indices with more evenness in distribution were evident in sacred landscapes. A significant loss of endemic tree species in the agro ecosystem landscapes was found. Overall, this study demonstrates that an intense biotic pressure in terms of plantations and other anthropogenic activities have altered the species composition of the riparian zone in non-sacred areas. A permanent policy implication is required for the conservation of riparian buffers to avoid further ecosystem degradation and loss of biodiversity.     

1961-2012年辽宁省极端气温事件气候变化特征

利用辽宁省52个气象台站逐日平均气温、 最高气温和最低气温数据, 使用国际通用的10种极端气候指数, 研究了1961-2012年辽宁省极端气温事件的气候变化特征. 结果表明: 年平均极端气温事件空间分布存在明显的地区差异. 时间尺度上, 1961-2012年辽宁省年及四季极端暖事件(暖昼日数、 暖夜日数、 夏季日数、 热带夜数和热浪持续指数)呈增加趋势, 极端冷事件(冷昼日数、 冷夜日数、 结冰日数、 霜冻日数和寒潮持续指数)呈减少趋势; 极端暖事件在20世纪90年代中期开始明显增加, 极端冷事件在20世纪80年代末期开始显著减少; 极端暖事件的变化速率要小于极端冷事件. 辽宁省气温日较差有增大的趋势, 极端暖(冷)事件的增加(减少)在秋季(冬季)最为显著. 空间变化上, 极端气温事件在全省基本都呈一致的增加或减少的分布. 多数极端气温事件均存在8 a左右的周期, 检测到的突变的时间大致在20世纪80年代中期到90年代末期. 20世纪80年代末期辽宁省气候变暖后, 极端暖事件和冷事件均有明显的增加和减少.     

Landsat时序变化检测综述

时序变化检测已成为当前Landsat数据主流的变化检测方法。本文从检测算法对比、时序数据构建和精度评价等方面对Landsat时序变化检测进行回顾和评述,进而提出Landsat时序变化检测当前所存在的问题,及其所面临的挑战。Landsat时序变化检测算法可大致归纳为轨迹拟合法、光谱-时间轨迹法、基于模型的方法3大类,这些算法大多基于森林扰动提出;变化检测常用指标有波段型、植被指数型、线性变换型、组合型4大类,每类指标的优势不同,可综合多类指标以更全面地检测不同扰动类型。尽管Landsat时序变化检测已取得长足发展,但仍然面临诸多挑战,其中最大挑战是缺少一致性的参考数据集进行变化检测精度评价。     

An insight into the performance of benthic classification indices tested in Eastern Mediterranean coastal waters

This work evaluates four indices that have been used for benthic macroinvertebrate ecological quality classification in the Mediterranean Sea. Our study was based on the data obtained from the participation of Greece and Cyprus in the Mediterranean Geographical Intercalibration group. The indices AMBI, M-AMBI, MEDOCC and BENTIX were applied to the available benthic species data, and the succession of the ecological groups along the graded values of each index was plotted. The level of agreement among methods was calculated, and the performance of each method in estimating ecological quality status was evaluated. AMBI, based on the Atlantic model, and its derivative M-AMBI overestimated the statuses, while MEDOCC showed the best level of agreement with BENTIX. BENTIX gives equal weight to tolerant and opportunistic species groups, which correlates them more closely than the other indices and makes BENTIX the most sensitive in detecting ecological disturbances in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, where tolerant and opportunistic groups seem to play an equally important role in the response of benthic communities to stressors.     

Exploring the marine biotic index (AMBI): variations on a theme by Ángel Borja

The results of manipulating the input data to AMBI are explored using various transformations of numerical species abundance (NAMBI), biomass (BAMBI) and production (PAMBI) from a variety of stations on the NE Atlantic shelf at which the pollution/disturbance status is known. There is a close agreement between the proportions of species in the five AMBI ecological groups and a phylum level meta-analysis axis of increasing environmental impact. All AMBI measures provide a better monotonic relationship with the impact axis than do traditional species diversity measures, which show higher diversity at intermediate levels of disturbance. A marginally better relationship with the impact axis of the meta-analysis is achieved by a moderate (square root) transformation of the data. ‘Production’ data (an appropriate combination of abundance and biomass information) provide only a marginal improvement on abundance data, but are ecologically and functionally much more relevant. Severe transformation of the data, culminating in presence/absence, degrades the relationship with the impact axis, but if only simple species lists are available then these may still be useable in making an environmental assessment.     

Towards the application of the Water Framework Directive in Italy: Assessing the potential of benthic tools in Adriatic coastal transitional ecosystems

The potential of four benthic indices (AMBI/M-AMBI, BENTIX, BITS) was assessed in Italian coastal transitional ecosystems. The community composition showed a strong dominance of lagoonal, tolerant species, and out of more of 400 species found, only about 40 taxa were dominant. The full agreement of the four indices on an undegraded (Good or better) or degraded (Moderate or worse) status occurred only in 32.3% of stations. This study evidenced that BENTIX is inappropriate for eutrophic Adriatic lagoons, and that in such environments M-AMBI classification is actually too much dependent on diversity and richness, and seems unable to capture some peculiarities of benthic assemblages in transitional waters. AMBI and BITS gave similar classifications despite the different level of taxonomic identification needed. The unmodified use of these indices might impair accurate assessment of ecological quality status and decision-making on the managers’ point of view.