Movement patterns of individual migrating western rock lobster,Panulirus cygnus,in Western Australia

Abstract

Migrating and pre‐migrating western rock lobster Panulirus cygnus were tagged with datastorage tags that recorded temperature and pressure, which was converted to depth (Pressure (kPa) — surface pressure (kPa)/10)) at Dongara and Jurien Bay in Western Australia between December 2005 and December 2007. All lobsters were fitted with tag flotation devices, and returns were made by either commercial fishers or beachcombers who located detached tags. A total of 135 lobsters were released with “backpack” flotation tags, but only 84 (62.2%) of the backpacks carried data‐storage tags. Depths of release ranged from 5 to 113 m. Of the tagged lobsters released, commercial fishers recaptured 52 (38.5%), whereas 11 tags (8.1%) were found by beachcombers. At least 33%, and possibly up to 63%, of animals identified by their pale coloration as pre‐migrating individuals, failed to migrate. Those that did migrate (n = 11) were at liberty from 1 to 94 days and showed generally similar movement patterns in that they migrated only at night from darkness (after 2000 h) until after moonrise. However, their movement patterns were less constrained by the rising of the moon in deep water. Only 27% migrated nightly, compared with 73% that skipped migrating on one or more nights, to restart some days later. This latter proportion would likely have been considerably greater, but some migrating animals were only at large for short periods before recapture, and therefore had little time to show any variation to the nocturnal migration pattern. Individual speeds of migration during periods of activity were estimated for nine lobsters as 0.20 to 0.68 km h^?1, with a mean speed of 0.44 km h^?1, or 7.4 m min^?1. Improved knowledge of daily movement patterns resulting from this study provides a potentially important input into technological improvements in bait and pot design.     

吸力历史对非饱和土力学性质的影响

现在被广泛公认的由Fredlund提出的非饱和土力学的双参数理论,即净应力和吸力为非饱和土的应力状态变量,不能直接考虑吸力历史及其饱和度对非饱和土的应力-应变关系和强度的影响。非饱和土三轴试验结果表明,即使净应力和吸力相同的条件下,经过干-湿循环试样与未经过干-湿循环试样的应力比-应变关系和强度是不相同的。在其他条件相同时,经历过干-湿循环的试样比未经过干-湿循环试样的应力比-应变关系要高、强度大和体变小。经过干-湿循环试样的饱和度低而强度高,主要是由于经过先期较高的吸力,相当于受过较大的前期有效压力,使试样成为超固结土。更多不同吸力历史的对比试验有待于进一步研究,以便为非饱和土的水力-力学特性耦合弹塑性本构模型定量地表示上述非饱和土的性质提供基础性试验数据。     

介观尺度孔隙流体流动作用对纵波传播特征的影响研究——以周期性层状孔隙介质为例

介观尺度孔隙流体流动是地震频段岩石表现出较强速度频散与衰减的主要作用.利用周期性层状孔隙介质模型,基于准静态孔弹性理论给出了模型中孔隙压力、孔隙流体相对运动速度以及固体骨架位移等物理量的数学解析表达式,同时利用Biot理论将其扩展至全频段条件下,克服了传统White模型中介质分界面处流体压力不连续的假设. 在此基础上对准静态与全频段下模型介质中孔隙压力、孔隙流体相对运动速度变化形式及其对弹性波传播特征的影响进行了讨论,为更有效理解介观尺度下流体流动耗散和频散机制提供物理依据.研究结果表明,低频条件下快纵波孔压在介质层内近于定值,慢纵波通过流体扩散改变总孔隙压力, 随频率的增加慢波所形成的流体扩散作用逐渐减弱致使介质中总孔压逐渐接近于快纵波孔压,在较高频率下孔压与应力的二次耦合作用使总孔压超过快纵波孔压.介质中孔隙流体相对运动速度与慢纵波形成的流体相对运动速度变化形式一致;随频率的增加孔隙流体逐渐从排水的弛豫状态过渡到非弛豫状态,其纵波速度-含水饱和度变化形式也从符合孔隙流体均匀分布模式过渡到斑块分布模式,同时介质在不同含水饱和度下的衰减峰值与慢纵波所形成的孔隙流体相对流动速度具有明显的相关性.     

Characterization of hydraulic suitability of Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) spawning habitat in the Yangtze River

Hydrodynamic flow fields affect the ecological processes such as the water diversity and the distribution of organisms. Understanding the hydrodynamic and ecological processes is critical for the restoration and protection of especially fragile ecological habitats in river systems. This study uses turbulent flow to characterize the ecological behaviour of Chinese Sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) in the Yangtze River. The Delft3D‐Flow model, which is first validated with field‐measured data, is used to simulate the flow field within spawning habitats of Chinese Sturgeon, downstream of Gezhouba Dam. The model‐simulated turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) and its distribution pattern are then used to characterize the hydraulic environment of the fish's spawning habitat. For the spawning habitat, downstream of Gezhouba Dam, the lower limit of TKE for the Chinese Sturgeon egg mass field is 0.025 m²/s², which occurs at a velocity less than 1.7 m/s. Chinese Sturgeon prefers habitats with TKE range of 0.010 ~ 0.015 m²/s² for resting. This suggests that discharge regimes provide the basis for ecological regulation of the Three Gorges Reservoir and the scientific reference for river management. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Changes in vertical distribution and aggregative behaviour in response to population density for larval sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis) and sea stars (Asterias rubens)

We examined the effects of the presence of larval conspecifics on larval vertical distribution of four‐arm and six‐arm plutei of Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis and bipinnaria of Asterias rubens, in laboratory experiments, by manipulating population density. Larvae were introduced to experimental columns (10 × 10 × 30 cm) at one of two or three population densities (S. droebachiensis: 0.1 and 10 larvae·ml^?1; A. rubens: 0.1, 1 and 10 larvae·ml^?1). Subsequent changes in vertical distribution were determined from images of the larvae in the columns illuminated by a 532‐nm laser and captured by a high‐resolution camera. Larvae of both species were found higher in the water column in the high than in the low and intermediate population densities. The relationship between vertical swimming velocity and nearest neighbour distance (NND) was measured for four‐arm plutei of S. droebachiensis, and used to determine a range in distances among individuals that may affect potential interactions. The variation in swimming velocity decreased with increasing proximity below a threshold distance among individuals of 10 mm, which was greater than the estimated distance in the high population density. We suggest that the increased larval aggregation near the water surface under high population density is the result of a behavioural response to conspecifics.     

A tool for site prioritisation of marine protected areas under data poor conditions

A challenge of managing data poor fisheries lies in overcoming uncertainties associated with a lack of information on biological and socio-economic conditions. This paper focuses on site prioritisation for marine protected areas, a process that usually imposes moderate to heavy demands on data, time, local expertise, and funds. A fuzzy logic decision support tool for zoning marine areas that is suitable for use in data poor conditions is developed. This tool, the Protected Area Suitability Index (PASI), assesses the suitability of sites for protection based on fishers’ preferences for that site and the site’s conservation value. Only eight input attributes are required to run the PASI, which operates on a series of heuristic rules to estimate a site suitability score that ranges from 0 to 10, where 10 indicates that a site is highly suitable for being protected from fishing. Sensitivity analysis reveals that the PASI is relatively robust, and produces reliable results even as the system is degraded by the loss of data. Eighteen actively fished sites and 11 sites that are closed to fishing are assessed to evaluate how well the PASI is able to distinguish differences between sites. The estimated scores are significantly different (p<0.05), whereby non-fished sites are scored as being more suitable for protection than fished sites. The PASI can be used as a decision support tool to facilitate systematic marine spatial management under data poor conditions, especially in the task of identifying suitable sites for protection.     

固化淤泥压缩特性的试验研究

淤泥固化技术在国内已经进入到工程应用阶段,明确固化淤泥的压缩特性对于指导淤泥固化工程的设计具有重要意义。通过单因素试验方案对不同初始含水率、不同水泥添加量、不同养护龄期的固化淤泥的压缩特性进行了研究。结果发现,固化淤泥压缩特性的最大特点是存在固结屈服应力,当荷载小于固结屈服应力时固化淤泥的压缩性非常小,而固化淤泥屈服之后的压缩性是屈服前压缩性的20倍以上,并且远大于未处理淤泥的压缩特性。淤泥本身是高压缩性的土,固化处理以后变为中等压缩性和低压缩性的土体。固化淤泥的固结屈服应力随水泥量增加线性增大,龄期越长、含水率越低固结屈服应力越大。固化淤泥的这种在固结屈服应力处发生突变的压缩特性和天然沉积结构性土类似,可以用双对数压缩模式来表示固化淤泥的这种压缩特性。     

石灰改良膨胀土的应力-应变-强度特征与本构描述

为探讨石灰改良膨胀土的变形特征与破坏机制,以压实度为95 %的荆门石灰改良膨胀土为研究对象,开展了单轴、侧限、三轴压缩应力状态下的力学性质试验。试验结果表明：即使湿化饱和后石灰土也具有较高的刚度与强度;单轴压缩状态下,无论饱和还是非饱和状态,石灰土的破坏都为典型的脆性破坏;三轴压缩状态下石灰土破坏前剪缩,同时伴随应变强化,即将破坏时开始剪胀,随后表现为应变软化;围压对石灰土的脆性破坏与破坏后的剪胀有一定的抑制作用,但即使在200 kPa围压下,试样仍发生脆性破坏。在辨明石灰土应力、变形机制的基础上,选用Duncan模型描述其脆性破坏前表现出的压硬性、剪缩性与应变强化特性,标定了相应模型参数,通过数值模拟与平行试验的对比验证了模型的适用性与参数的可靠性。     

A SUSPENDED SEDIMENT BUDGET OF THE YICHANG-WUHAN REACH OF THE YANGTZE RIVER, CHINA

The amount of the sediment deposition in the Yichan-Wuhan reach of the middle Yangtze River (also known as Changjiang River) has been determined using the concept of sediment budget at the channel-reach scale. The fill-scour processes of the middle Yangtze River were studied during the period 1956–1997 in response to the variation in sediment load and flow inputs. The results show that 13.3% of the net input of sediment was deposited in the studied river reach. Since 1956, the output sediment load of the studied reach increased with time to 1981, followed by a decline. The increase in output before 1981 can be related to the man-made bend neck-cutoff which caused a decrease in the sediment load diverted through the 'three outfalls' (i.e. the three distributaries from the Yangtze main stem to the Dongting Lake) and increased the sediment-carrying capacity of the river. Thereby, the river could transport more sediment to the outlet of the studied river reach. The decrease in the sediment load output after 1984 was directly due to the decreased sediment load at Yichang station. Multiple regression equations have been established to assess the contributions of influencing factors to the variation in sediment deposition amount in the studied river reach.     

Monitoring and numerical analysis of behaviour of Miaojiaba concrete-face rockfill dam built on river gravel foundation in China

This study evaluated the behaviour of a concrete face rockfill dam (CFRD) built on river gravel foundation on the basis of in-situ measurement records and numerical analysis. The monitoring records were obtained from a detailed deformation-monitoring system. A 3D finite element analysis was performed to assess long-term dam behaviour. The behaviour of the CFRD built on river gravel foundation was analysed comprehensively. A discussion of behaviour, especially with relevance to the behaviour of dams built on stiff-foundation, was included. The effect of the river gravel foundation was analysed, and the exact mechanisms were discussed. The relative contribution of various factors on the long-term behaviour of the CFRD was also studied. In-situ measurements were compared with numerical results to discuss the capability of the numerical model to predict the dam behaviour.