Effects of differing coverage of moss‐dominated soil crusts on hydrological processes and implications for disturbance in the Mu Us Sandland,China

To study the effects of biological soil crusts (BSCs) on hydrological processes and their implications for disturbance in the Mu Us Sandland, the water infiltration, evaporation and soil moisture of high coverage (100% BSCs), middle coverage (40% BSCs) and low coverage (0% BSCs, bare sand) of moss‐dominated crusts were conducted in this study, respectively. The conclusions are as follows: (1) the main effects of moss‐dominated crusts in the Mu Us Sandland on the infiltration of rainwater were to reduce the infiltration depths and to retain the limited rainwater in shallow soil; (2) moss‐dominated crusts have no significant effects on daily evaporation when the volumetric water content at 4 cm depth in 100% BSCs (VWC4) was over 24.7%, on enhanced daily evaporation when the VWC4 ranged from 6.5% to 24.7% and on reduced daily evaporation when the VWC4 was less than 6.5%; and (3) decreasing the coverage of moss‐dominated crusts (from 100% to 40%) did not significantly change its effects on infiltration, evaporation and soil moisture. Our results demonstrated that for the growth and regeneration of shrubs, which were dominated by Artemisia ordosica in the Mu Us Sandland, high coverage of moss‐dominated crusts has negative effects on hydrological processes, and these negative effects could not be significantly reduced by decreasing the coverage of moss‐dominated crusts from 100% to 40%. Therefore, for the sustained and healthy development of shrub communities in the Mu Us Sandland, it is necessary to take appropriate measures for the well‐developed BSCs in the sites with high vegetation coverage in the rainy season. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

局部区域模型重力异常快速算法

地球重力场位系数模型可以用于计算局部重力扰动场元。然而随着地球重力场模型阶次的提高、局域重力场计算范围的增大,其计算速度往往不能满足工程需求。针对这一问题,在对位系数模型泰勒级数展开的基础上提出了采用向量运算、混合编程的方法,同时对连带勒让德函数Belikov递推方法中与经纬度无关的量进行了预先计算,有效提高了计算速度。提出的方法对于利用超高阶次重力场模型快速解算大范围、高分辨率重力场元数据以及累加求和计算具有一定的参考与借鉴意义。     

Selection and quality assessment of Landsat data for the North American forest dynamics forest history maps of the US

Using the NASA Earth Exchange platform, the North American Forest Dynamics (NAFD) project mapped forest history wall-to-wall, annually for the contiguous US (1986–2010) using the Vegetation Change Tracker algorithm. As with any effort to identify real changes in remotely sensed time-series, data gaps, shifts in seasonality, misregistration, inconsistent radiometry and cloud contamination can be sources of error. We discuss the NAFD image selection and processing stream (NISPS) that was designed to minimize these sources of error. The NISPS image quality assessments highlighted issues with the Landsat archive and metadata including inadequate georegistration, unreliability of the pre-2009 L5 cloud cover assessments algorithm, missing growing-season imagery and paucity of clear views. Assessment maps of Landsat 5–7 image quantities and qualities are presented that offer novel perspectives on the growing-season archive considered for this study. Over 150,000+ Landsat images were considered for the NAFD project. Optimally, one high quality cloud-free image in each year or a total of 12,152 images would be used. However, to accommodate data gaps and cloud/shadow contamination 23,338 images were needed. In 220 specific path-row image years no acceptable images were found resulting in data gaps in the annual national map products.     

Geochemical and isotopic characterization of trace fossil infillings: New insights on tracemaker activity after the K/Pg impact event

Geochemical and isotopic analyses of the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary deposits were conducted at the Caravaca section (External Subbetic, southeast of Spain) in order to evaluate the recovery of the macrobenthic tracemaker community and the bioturbational disturbance. Samples from the infilling material of several lower Danian dark-colored trace fossils (Chondrites, Planolites, Thalassinoides and Zoophycos) located in the uppermost 8-cm of the light upper Maastrichtian strata, as well as samples from the host sedimentary rock of these trace fossils, were analyzed and compared with data from the lower Danian deposits. The values of element ratios indicative of extraterrestrial contamination (Cr/Al, Co/Al and Ni/Al) are higher in the infilling trace fossil material than in the upper Maastrichtian and lower Danian deposits, which suggests a contribution of the ejecta layer. Regarding the isotope composition, the δ¹³C values are lower in the infilling material than in the Maastrichtian host sedimentary rocks surrounding the traces, while the δ¹⁸O are higher in the infilling material. The geochemical and isotopic compositions of the infilling material evidence the unconsolidated character of the sediment, including the red boundary layer. Softground conditions confirm a relatively rapid recovery by the macrobenthic tracemaker community, starting a few millimeters above the K/Pg boundary layer. The mixture of the infilling material of the trace fossils moreover reveals a significant macrobenthic tracemaker activity affecting K–Pg boundary transition sediments that may have significantly altered original signatures.     

Landscape pattern and transition under natural and anthropogenic disturbance in an arid region of northwestern China

There is a pressing need to determine the relationships between driving variables and landscape transformations. Human activities shape landscapes and turn them into complex assemblages of highly diverse structures. Other factors, including climate and topography, also play significant roles in landscape transitions, and identifying the interactions among the variables is critical to environmental management. This study analyzed the configurations and spatial-temporal processes of landscape changes from 1998 to 2011 under different anthropogenic disturbances, identified the main variables that determine the landscape patterns and transitions, and quantified the relationships between pairs of driver sets. Landsat images of Baicheng and Tekes from 1998, 2006 and 2011 were used to classify landscapes by supervised classification. Redundancy analysis (RDA) and variation partitioning were performed to identify the main driving forces and to quantify the unique, shared, and total explained variation of the sets of variables. The results indicate that the proportions of otherwise identical landscapes in Baicheng and Tekes were very different. The area of the grassland in Tekes was much larger than that of the cropland; however, the differences between the grassland and cropland in Baicheng were not as pronounced. Much of the grassland in Tekes was located in an area that was near residents, whereas most of the grassland in Baicheng was far from residents. The slope, elevation, annual precipitation, annual temperature, and distance to the nearest resident were strong driving forces influencing the patterns and transitions of the landscapes. The results of the variation partitioning indicated complex interrelationships among all of the pairs of driver sets. All of the variable sets had significant explanatory roles, most of which had both unique and shared variations with the others. The results of this study can assist policy makers and planners in implementing sustainable landscape management and effective protection strategies.     

MASNUM-WAM海浪模式集合Kalman滤波同化研究-I.风场扰动对海浪模拟影响

模式集合样本的代表性和观测信息的可靠性是制约数据同化效果的重要因素,而前者对海浪模式同化的影响尤为显著。由于海浪模式对初始场的敏感性较弱,来自大气的风输入源函数是海浪的重要能量输入,如何合理地对风输入进行扰动,构造海浪的集合模式运行,是实现和改进海浪模式集合Kalman滤波同化的关键问题。为了实现海浪模式集合运行,本文提出了风场的三种集合扰动方案,分别为：纯随机数、随机场和时间滞后的风场扰动方法。本研究利用2014年1月ECMWF全球风场,基于这三种风场扰动方法开展了集合海浪模式的集合运行实验,并统计分析了海浪特征要素（有效波高）和二维波数谱对风场扰动的响应。结果表明,随机场集合扰动方案所构造的风场集合效果最佳,所得海浪模拟结果的集合样本发散度适中,能够较为合理地反映背景误差的统计特征,可用于进一步的集合Kalman滤波海浪数据同化实验。     

人为干扰对滨海湿地生态系统的影响

对滨海湿地生态系统的主要人为干扰方式进行了系统辨识,详细阐述了不同人为干扰方式对滨海湿地生态系统结构、功能及服务的影响。综合分析了人为干扰造成的滨海湿地生态系统的结构改变、功能破坏、服务减少,其中,城市化、工业化进程干扰对滨海湿地生态系统的影响最为严重,并提出了滨海湿地保护对策。     

Long-term effects of a toxic algal bloom on subtidal soft-sediment macroinvertebrate communities in Wellington Harbour, New Zealand

The long-term effects (>1 year) of a naturally occurring toxic plankton bloom (Karenia brevisulcata) on subtidal benthic macroinvertebrate communities were investigated in Wellington Harbour, a semi-enclosed temperate embayment in New Zealand. For 3 years communities were sampled at three different sites in the harbour. Analyses revealed that community recovery following the bloom was site-specific. Multivariate analyses indicated that at one site community composition was approaching recovery 3 years post-bloom. At the second site, a sequential recovery process was indicated, whereas at the third site the community composition oscillated from year to year, but did not show any signs of a sequential recovery process. The nature of the hydrodynamic regime was identified as a major factor influencing the observed recovery processes. Communities exposed to an active hydrodynamic regime were less affected by the bloom and differed little in their composition pre- and post-bloom, as they were naturally in a perpetual state of recovery as indicated by a dominance of r-selected species. The community at the hydrodynamically less active site was more affected by the bloom and exhibited temporal differences in composition consistent with successional models. Complete recovery to a pre-disturbance climax community dominated by K-selected species is likely to take 4–5 years, if not interrupted by other disturbances. Given the increased occurrence of harmful algal blooms worldwide, more monitoring and manipulative studies are needed to further evaluate the effects of such disturbances on macrobenthic communities.     

强震前的地磁异常现象

震前地磁Z分量的日变化异常主要表现在幅度和相位上的变化, 文中利用我国50多个地磁台多年的资料, 重点研究了1997年11月8日玛尼7.5级地震和2005年11月26日江西九江5.7级地震。 发现玛尼地震和九江地震以及大多数中强地震前, 全国地磁台站地磁Z分量日变化幅度的极小值出现时间(低点时间)在空间分布上异常特征, 即低点位移现象。 这种少见的异常现象与强震发生有较好的相关性。 发震日期为异常日后的第27天或第41天的前后4天, 强震发生地区在低点位移突变分界线附近。 结果显示, 在玛尼7.5级地震和江西九江5.7级临震前, 震中周围出现区域性Z分量日变化幅度异常现象。