Late Pleistocene and Holocene Afromontane vegetation and headwater wetland dynamics within the Eastern Mau Forest,Kenya

The Mau Forest Complex is Kenya's largest fragment of Afromontane forest, providing critical ecosystem services, and has been subject to intense land use changes since colonial times. It forms the upper catchment of rivers that drain into major drainage networks, thus supporting the livelihoods of millions of Kenyans and providing important wildlife areas. We present the results of a sedimentological and palynological analysis of a Late Pleistocene–Holocene sediment record of Afromontane forest change from Nyabuiyabui wetland in the Eastern Mau Forest, a highland region that has received limited geological characterization and palaeoecological study. Sedimentology, pollen, charcoal, X-ray fluorescence and radiocarbon data record environmental and ecosystem change over the last ~16 000 cal a bp. The pollen record suggests Afromontane forests characterized the end of the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene with dominant taxa changing from Apodytes, Celtis, Dracaena, Hagenia and Podocarpus to Cordia, Croton, Ficus, Juniperus and Olea. The Late Holocene is characterized by a more open Afromontane forest with increased grass and herbaceous cover. Continuous Poaceae, Cyperaceae and Juncaceae vegetation currently cover the wetland and the water level has been decreasing over the recent past. Intensive agroforestry since the 1920s has reduced Afromontane forest cover as introduced taxa have increased (Pinus, Cupressus and Eucalyptus).     

随机森林模型预测岩溶区酸性煤矿井水锰污染

酸性煤矿井水严重威胁地下水的水质。如何更有效对受影响区域的地下水源进行动态监测是当前的一个关键问题。采用随机森林中的回归模型,利用自变量(采空区水位、岩溶水位、pH值、泉水流量、电导率)和因变量(污染离子浓度)的相关性,建立回归模型;使用测试数据进行误差分析,结果证明模型准度较高,所得预测值具有参考价值;得出各自变量对因变量影响的重要程度,分析结果与实际情况相符合。试验表明,随机森林回归模型在酸性煤矿井水污染预测方面具有适用性,可作为辅助手段监测水质污染情况,对今后工作有一定的指导意义和经济价值。     

区域性森林大火的真正成因

森林大火真正起因于地球排气中易燃还原性气体在腐殖层的临界积聚(气体体积分数大约为5%~6%)。现场气体(H2,CO)系统测量结果证实了这一点。测量结果显示,该林区腐殖层中H2、CO质量分数分别为(10~170)×10-6(本底值为0·5×10-6)和(2~60)×10-6(本底值为0·5×10-6),二者均远高于大气本底值数十到数百倍,而且未燃区的测值显然高于1998年燃区。     

考虑土-结构相互作用和岩土参数不确定性的核电厂结构地震响应分析

针对核电厂结构,在考虑土-结构相互作用(SSI)的情况下进行随机地震反应分析,探讨地基岩土参数的不确定性对反应堆厂房楼层反应谱(FRS)的影响。运用ANSYS软件模块建立核电厂(NPP)结构有限元模型,通过设置边界弹簧单元和阻尼装置来考虑SSI效应;并且通过设置具有概率意义的弹簧刚度和阻尼系数,来模拟土特性参数的不确定性。随机响应分析与确定性分析的结果对比,揭示了岩性地基条件下SSI效应对核电厂FRS的影响以及地基岩土参数不确定性对FRS的影响程度。研究表明,在岩性地基条件下,亦不应忽略SSI效应;考虑SSI效应的随机分析模型同确定性模型相比,二者的分析结果较为接近,两方法都可用于NPP的FRS敏感性分析评估之中,并可进行相互比照。     

Wall-to-wall spatial prediction of growing stock volume based on Italian National Forest Inventory plots and remotely sensed data

Spatial predictions of forest variables are required for supporting modern national and sub-national forest planning strategies, especially in the framework of a climate change scenario. Nowadays methods for constructing wall-to-wall maps and calculating small-area estimates of forest parameters are becoming essential components of most advanced National Forest Inventory (NFI) programs. Such methods are based on the assumption of a relationship between the forest variables and predictor variables that are available for the entire forest area. Many commonly used predictors are based on data obtained from active or passive remote sensing technologies. Italy has almost 40% of its land area covered by forests. Because of the great diversity of Italian forests with respect to composition, structure and management and underlying climatic, morphological and soil conditions, a relevant question is whether methods successfully used in less complex temperate and boreal forests may be applied successfully at country level in Italy.For a study area of more than 48,657 km² in central Italy of which 43% is covered by forest, the study presents the results of a test regarding wall-to-wall, spatially explicit estimation of forest growing stock volume (GSV) based on field measurement of 1350 plots during the last Italian NFI. For the same area, we used potential predictor variables that are available across the whole of Italy: cloud-free mosaics of multispectral optical satellite imagery (Landsat 5 TM), microwave sensor data (JAXA PALSAR), a canopy height model (CHM) from satellite LiDAR, and auxiliary variables from climate, temperature and precipitation maps, soil maps, and a digital terrain model.Two non-parametric (random forests and k-NN) and two parametric (multiple linear regression and geographically weighted regression) prediction methods were tested to produce wall-to-wall map of growing stock volume at 23-m resolution. Pixel level predictions were used to produce small-area, province-level model-assisted estimates. The performances of all the methods were compared in terms of percent root mean-square error using a leave-one-out procedure and an independent dataset was used for validation. Results were comparable to those available for other ecological regions using similar predictors, but random forests produced the most accurate results with a pixel level R² = 0.69 and RMSE_% = 37.2% against the independent validation dataset. Model-assisted estimates were more precise than the original design-based estimates provided by the NFI.     

Tree species identification within an extensive forest area with diverse management regimes using airborne hyperspectral data

Information on tree species composition is crucial in forest management and can be obtained using remote sensing. While the topic has been addressed frequently over the last years, the remote sensing-based identification of tree species across wide and complex forest areas is still sparse in the literature. Our study presents a tree species classification of a large fraction of the Białowieża Forest in Poland covering 62 000 ha and being subject to diverse management regimes. Key objectives were to obtain an accurate tree species map and to examine if the prevalent management strategy influences the classification results. Tree species classification was conducted based on airborne hyperspectral HySpex data. We applied an iterative Support Vector Machine classification and obtained a thematic map of 7 individual tree species (birch, oak, hornbeam, lime, alder, pine, spruce) and an additional class containing other broadleaves. Generally, the more heterogeneous the area was, the more errors we observed in the classification results. Managed forests were classified more accurately than reserves. Our findings indicate that mapping dominant tree species with airborne hyperspectral data can be accomplished also over large areas and that forest management and its effects on forest structure has an influence on classification accuracies and should be actively considered when progressing towards operational mapping of tree species composition.     

The effect of leaf-on and leaf-off forest canopy conditions on LiDAR derived estimations of forest structural diversity

Forest structural diversity metrics describing diversity in tree size and crown shape within forest stands can be used as indicators of biodiversity. These diversity metrics can be generated using airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) data to provide a rapid and cost effective alternative to ground-based inspection. Measures of tree height derived from LiDAR can be significantly affected by the canopy conditions at the time of data collection, in particular whether the canopy is under leaf-on or leaf-off conditions, but there have been no studies of the effects on structural diversity metrics. The aim of this research is to assess whether leaf-on/leaf-off changes in canopy conditions during LiDAR data collection affect the accuracy of calculated forest structural diversity metrics. We undertook a quantitative analysis of LiDAR ground detection and return height, and return height diversity from two airborne laser scanning surveys collected under leaf-on and leaf-off conditions to assess initial dataset differences. LiDAR data were then regressed against field-derived tree size diversity measurements using diversity metrics from each LiDAR dataset in isolation and, where appropriate, a mixture of the two. Models utilising leaf-off LiDAR diversity variables described DBH diversity, crown length diversity and crown width diversity more successfully than leaf-on (leaf-on models resulted in R² values of 0.66, 0.38 and 0.16, respectively, and leaf-off models 0.67, 0.37 and 0.23, respectively). When LiDAR datasets were combined into one model to describe tree height diversity and DBH diversity the models described 75% and 69% of the variance (R² of 0.75 for tree height diversity and 0.69 for DBH diversity). The results suggest that tree height diversity models derived from airborne LiDAR, collected (and where appropriate combined) under any seasonal conditions, can be used to differentiate between simple single and diverse multiple storey forest structure with confidence.     

住宅现浇钢筋混凝土楼板裂缝成因及防治

在建筑工程中,现浇钢筋混凝土楼板出现裂缝的情况较多,这已成为影响住宅工程质量的一大通病。对其产生裂缝的原因进行了分析,并结合工程实际,就预防和综合治理提出了较全面的对策。     

地震研究新方法——洋壳流理论简介

根据交换平衡力学原理[1],简要地介绍了洋壳流的概念及其运动特点。根据运行区域和方向的不同,把三大洋的海底扩张运动划分为不同的洋壳流,并绘出运行路线图。提出洋壳流运动方向、路线及力作用大小的判断方法,通过不同区域洋壳流相互力作用的对比,分析海底扩张运动对地震时空分布及变化规律的影响。