Vegetation change in the coastal-lowland rainforest at Avai'o'vuna Swamp, Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga

Avai'o'vuna Swamp, a small coastal wetland in Vava'u, Kingdom of Tonga, produced a 4500-year pollen and sediment record. Results are: (1) a mid-Holocene sea level highstand is confirmed for Tonga between about 4500 and 2600 ¹⁴C yr B.P.; marine clay contains pollen from mangroves (Rhizophora mangle), coastal forest trees (Barringtonia asiatica and Cocos nucifera), and rainforest trees (Alphitonia, Rhus, Hedycarya and Calophyllum). (2) Microscopic charcoal first appeared at 2600 ¹⁴C yr B.P., coincident with the arrival of Polynesians. (3) Cocos, Pandanus, Excoecaria, Macaranga, and Elaeocarpaceae pollen reflects the establishment of a mixed coastal-lowland rainforest in the last 2500 years. (4) The loss of Hedycarya, Elaeocarpus, Calophyllum, and Guettarda and the reduction of Terminalia and taxa in the Papilionaceae family by about 1000 years ago may be due to habitat destruction and the loss of dispersal capabilities of some species through the extinction of the two largest pigeons in Tonga.     

温带气旋爆发性发展的中期背景及预报

在研究了冬季(11—1月)西北太平洋温带气旋爆发性发展前5天,对流层中高层超长波及长波配置及西风急流、动量输送等物理量特征的基础上,综合出气旋爆发性发展的中期预报着眼点,应用数值预报产品可有效地延长预报时效。     

Infiltration-excess caused by Stemflow in a cyclone-prone tropical rainforest

Tropical rainforest canopy trees that have large projected areas of upwardly inclined branches are capable of funnelling large volumes of rainwater down their trunks. During periods of prolonged heavy rainfall on Mount Bellenden Ker in northeast Queensland, Australia, stemflow volumes were found to be as much as two orders of magnitude greater than the volume of incident rainfall expected in a rain gauge occupying an area equal to the trunk basal area. Stemflow totals ranging from 6000 to 70000 litres were generated by individual trees from 7800 mm of rainfall over two successive wet seasons. The combination of high intensity rainfall and the funnelling effect results in significant quantities of infiltration-excess at the ground surface. Stemflow fluxes as high as 31.4 cm³ min^?1 per cm² of basal area (i.e. the equivalent of 314 mm min^?1) were recorded when rainfall intensity was only 2 mm min^?1. The mean infiltration capacity of the topsoil was determined to be 6.2 mm min^?1. The areas over which the stemflow would have had to spread in order to infiltrate were computed to be as much as 3 m² around the bases of individual canopy trees. Approximations of the distances that the infiltration-excess would have travelled away from the tree bases were calculated by assuming that the infiltration area either expands radially outward in the form of an annulus or extends straight downslope from the tree base.     

Carbon budgets of three temperate forest ecosystems in Dongling Mt.,Beijing,China

There is a general agreement that forest ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere function as signifi-cant sinks for atmospheric CO2; however, their magnitude and distribution remain large uncertainties. In this paper, we report the carbon (C) stock and its change of vegetation, forest floor detritus, and mineral soil, annual net biomass increment and litterfall production, and respiration of vegetation and soils between 1992 to 1994, for three temperate forest ecosystems, birch (Betula platyphylla) forest, oak (Quercus liaotungensis) forest and pine (Pinus tabulaeformis) plantation in Mt. Dongling, Beijing, China. We then evaluate the C budgets of these forest ecosystems. Our results indicated that total C density (organic C per hectare) of these forests ranged from 250 to 300 t C ha-1, of which 35―54 t C ha-1 from vegetation biomass C and 209―244 t C ha-1 from soil organic C (1 m depth, including forest floor detritus). Biomass C of all three forests showed a net increase, with 1.33―3.55 t C ha-1 a-1 during the study period. Litterfall production, vegetation autotrophic respiration, and soil heterotrophic respira-tion were estimated at 1.63―2.34, 2.19―6.93, and 1.81―3.49 t C ha-1 a-1, respectively. Ecosystem gross primary production fluctuated between 5.39 and 12.82 t C ha-1 a-1, about half of which (46%―59%, 3.20―5.89 t C ha-1 a-1) was converted to net primary production. Our results suggested that pine forest fixed C of 4.08 t ha-1 a-1, whereas secondary forests (birch and oak forest) were nearly in balance in CO2 exchange between the atmosphere and ecosystems.     

Stormflow generation and flowpath characteristics in an Amazonian rainforest catchment

The Amazon basin covers an area of roughly 7 × 10⁶ km² and encompasses diverse soil – landscape types with potentially differing hydrological behaviour. This study was conducted in the Ultisol landscape of the western Amazon basin in Peru. Processes of stormflow generation were investigated on an event basis in a first‐order rainforest catchment to establish a causal link between soil physical and precipitation characteristics, hillslope flowpaths and stormflow hydrograph attributes. A sharp decrease in soil hydraulic conductivity with depth and high rainfall intensity and frequency favour rapid near‐surface flowpaths, mainly in the form of saturation‐excess overland flow and return flow. The latter results in an almost random occurrence of overland flow, with no obvious topographic control. Hillslope flowpaths do not vary much with respect to the hydrograph attributes time of rise, response time, lag time and centroid lag time. They have the same response time as streamflow, but a somewhat lower time of rise and significantly shorter lag times. The recession constant for hillslope hydrographs is about 10 min, in contrast to the streamflow recession constants of 28, 75 and 149 min. Stormflow generation in this Ultisol rainforest catchment differs strongly from that reported for Oxisol rainforest catchments. These two soilscapes may define a spectrum of possible catchment hydrological behaviour in the Amazon basin. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

内蒙古半干旱草原土壤—植被—大气相互作用——科学问题与实验计划概述

“内蒙古半干旱草原土壤－植被－大气相互作用（ＩｎｎｅｒＭｏｎｇｏｌｉａＳｅｍｉ－ＡｒｉｄＧｒａｓｌａｎｄＳｏｉｌ－Ｖｅｇｅｔａｔｉｏｎ－ＡｔｍｏｓｐｈｅｒｅＳｕｒｆａｃｅＳｔｕｄｙ,ＩＭＧＲＡＳＳ）”是国家自然科学基金委在“九五”期间支持的跨学部重大项目。该项目是全球变化研究的一个重要组成部分,主要着眼于具有全球代表性的温带半干旱草原区域中土壤－植被－大气相互作用的过程与参数化方案研究,理解在人类活动逐步增强背景下气候变化对草原生态的作用与反馈,定量了解中纬半干旱草原在温室气体排放与生物地球化学循环中的作用,发展利用卫星定量遥感陆气相互作用的反演方法与集成。这一项目将由一项中尺度综合观测和几项研究课题构成,希望成为我国对全球变化研究的新的独特贡献,亦为温带半干旱草原可持续发展提供进一步的对策依据。本文简要介绍ＩＭＧＲＡＳＳ项目的科学问题与实验计划。     

基于Forest-DNDC的长白山阔叶红松林土壤碳氮温室气体通量的模拟研究（英文）

土壤温室气体排放是土壤与大气之间的温室气体交换的重要途径,但对土壤温室气体排放动态变化的理解和收支水平的估算仍存在较大的不确定性。基于动态箱原位监测的高频、连续土壤温室气体通量数据,本研究初步检验了生物地球化学模型(Forest-DNDC)对长白山阔叶红松林(CBF)土壤CH_4、CO_2和N_2O温室气体通量的模拟效果。结果显示,当前版本的Forest-DNDC可以反演得到土壤温度、土壤湿度和积雪等主要环境要素的总体变化趋势,但是对于环境要素季节变化的准确模拟尚存在较明显偏差,特别是在非生长季节。模拟得到的土壤CH_4通量与监测结果相当接近,并且受到了土壤温度和积雪变化的显著调控。受温度变化的影响,模拟CO_2通量的季节变化与测定值相似,均在夏季达到高峰,但模拟的土壤CO_2排放量明显小于实际测定结果。与监测的土壤N_2O通量在春季冻融期间出现排放高峰的变化显著不同的是,模拟土壤N_2O通量主要受温度变化的影响,其最大值出现在夏季。因此,有必要结合更长时段的土壤温室气体监测数据,进一步优化模型参数与过程,特别是土壤水热传导和温室气体的产生过程等,为模拟改进和生态系统碳氮收支评估,以及从站点到区域的扩展提供支撑。     

Responses of two temperate sponge species to ocean acidification

There are still major gaps in our understanding of the impact of ocean acidification (OA) on some groups of organisms within different geographic regions. We investigated the effect of OA on two common and ecologically important temperate sponge species in New Zealand (Tethya bergquistae and Crella incrustans). Sponges were kept at pH 8 (control) and 7.6 for 4 weeks. Responses of the two species varied, with T. bergquistae kept at pH 7.6 showing some mortality in response to reduced pH and evidence of tissues necrosis. In contrast, only one C. incrustans died in the pH 7.6 treatment and showed little evidence of any tissue degradation. Only T. bergquistae showed evidence for physiological effects of reduced pH as respiration rates were generally higher in the pH 7.6 treatment. Our results provide preliminary evidence to support a general tolerance of temperate sponges to reduced pH, but that some species-specific responses may exist.     

Climatic patterns in a tropical rainforest in Brunei

Meteorological parameters were monitored on an hourly basis over ten months during 1991–2, from altitudes of 45 and 913 metres in an undisturbed tropical rainforest in Brunei, near the north-west coast of Borneo. In general, the observed characteristics of the climate accorded with the regional meteorological systems and with published results from other studies in northern Borneo, although a greater degree of temporal variability was apparent. The seasonal variability was probably enhanced by the El Niño Southern Oscillation event of early 1992. Rainfall events were typically highly variable in nature, although storm intensity profiles were broadly similar. High magnitude and high intensity events are common among the large total number of events. More rain, of generally higher intensity, fell on the mountain. The total daily solar energy receipt was similar at both altitudes owing to greater cloud cover on the mountain. Temperatures varied significantly with season at both altitudes and the mean lapse rate was 4.5°C/km. Relative humidity at 913 metres tended to be significantly higher during the day and significantly lower at night than at 45 metres. Wind directions were dominantly controlled by local mountain and valley wind systems. Wind speeds were significantly higher during the dry seasons and at the higher altitude. Previous studies have shown that small but significant variations in meteorological parameters can have distinct ecological responses, and rainfall characteristics are important controls on geomorphological processes.     

玉龙雪山冰川崩塌成因分析

玉龙雪山是亚欧大陆距赤道最近的海洋型冰川分布区。2004-03-12上午,玉龙雪山东坡干河坝山谷上方漾弓江5号冰川区发生一次剧烈的的崩塌,2005年又有小规模的崩塌发生。通过实地考察认为,这是冰岩体崩塌事件。通过对气象资料的分析发现,区域气候变暖对冰川和永冻带稳定性的干扰是崩塌发生的主要原因,特别因为2003年和2005年为两个极端干热的年份。通过与本区其他冰川的变化对比,说明这次冰川崩塌可能是本区一些小冰川对区域变暖响应的另一种方式。同时发现,这次崩塌在现场留下的堆积物,在合适的天气条件下极易形成泥石流。