Population-influenced spatiotemporal pattern of natural disaster and social crisis in China,AD1–1910

Researchers mostly ascribe contemporary natural disaster and the concomitant social crisis to anomalous climate change or global warming. However, whether such a relationship is still valid in long-term historical settings remains doubtful. In this study, data obtained from historical records about natural calamities(flood and drought) and their social impacts(famine,cannibalism, and war) at provincial and decadal scales during AD1–1910 are applied to mathematical statistics such as correlation and regression analysis as well as spatial visualization. Also, the role of population in the nexus of meteorological catastrophes and human miseries is investigated. Results show that at the provincial scale, generally there is high consistency among different variables and most of them are clustered in eastern part of China, especially in the north. More in-depth examinations indicate regional disparities that variables account for higher proportion in the south during the later imperial era,which may be attributed to the southward movement of population center. At the decadal scale, drought is the primary contributor to famine and cannibalism, while severe or even out-of-control famine i.e. cannibalism is more likely to incur war than ordinary famine per se. Besides, population growth rate exerts its positive effect on natural hazards and food crises, whereas more wars bring population loss and relieve population stress despite the weak negative association. These findings supplement previous views and confirm that the distributions of disasters in ancient China are affected by population rather than climatic variability, which only determines the occurrence of disaster.     

养殖对曼氏无针乌贼(Sepiella maindroni)群体遗传多样性的影响

采用24条随机引物对曼氏无针乌贼1个野生群体和5代养殖群体共120个个体(每个群体20个个体)进行了RAPD群体遗传多样性分析,共扩增出119个位点,片段大小为400-2800bp,平均每条引物的扩增带数为4.96条。各群体的多态位点数19-24个不等,多态位点比例为13.33%-20.16%,Shannon指数为0.0768-0.1018。6个群体的平均杂合度为0.0825-0.1231,期望杂合度为0.1325-0.1524,平均杂合子偏离指数均为负值,表明存在杂合子缺失的现象。乌贼6个群体遗传分化系数FST值在0.0188-0.2436,其中最大出现在野生群体和第5代养殖群体之间。表明6个群体间遗传分化已基本处于遗传分化中等的范围内,而野生群体和第5代养殖群体之间已接近中等分化的底线。分子方差分析(AMOVA)结果表明,6个群体的遗传变异中有29.34%是由不同群体间的基因差异造成的。而如果将养殖后的5代群体作为一个总的群体,养殖群体内部有19.38%是由群体间的差异造成的。由此可见,养殖后的曼氏无针乌贼群体相比野生群体多样性指数有所降低,且随着养殖时间的增长养殖群体内部开始出现分化。     

Observations of urban and suburban environments with global satellite scatterometer data

A global and consistent characterization of land use and land change in urban and suburban environments is crucial for many fundamental social and natural science studies and applications. Presented here is a dense sampling method (DSM) that uses satellite scatterometer data to delineate urban and intraurban areas at a posting scale of about 1 km. DSM results are analyzed together with information on population and housing censuses, with Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) imagery, and with Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) night-light data. The analyses include Dallas-Fort Worth and Phoenix in the United States, Bogotá in Colombia, Dhaka in Bangladesh, Guangzhou in China, and Quito in Ecuador. Results show that scatterometer signatures correspond to buildings and infrastructures in urban and suburban environments. City extents detected by scatterometer data are significantly smaller than city light extents, but not all urban areas are detectable by the current SeaWinds scatterometer on the QuikSCAT satellite. Core commercial and industrial areas with high buildings and large factories are identified as high-backscatter centers. Data from DSM backscatter and DMSP nighttime lights have a good correlation with population density. However, the correlation relations from the two satellite datasets are different for different cities indicating that they contain complementary information. Together with night-light and census data, DSM and satellite scatterometer data provide new observations to study global urban and suburban environments and their changes. Furthermore, the capability of DSM to identify hydrological channels on the Greenland ice sheet and ecological biomes in central Africa demonstrates that DSM can be used to observe persistent structures in natural environments at a km scale, providing contemporaneous data to study human impacts beyond urban and suburban areas.     

基于形态性状的松江鲈鱼(Trachidermus fasciatus)种群鉴别

采用差异系数（C．D）和均数差异显著性这两种数理统计分析方法,对松江鲈鱼的鸭绿江、青龙河和富春江三个群体的表型性状,即85个样本的19项形态性状,其中包括10项可数性状和9项可量性状的差异进行了分析研究。结果表明,这三个群体彼此间的C．D值均小于亚种分化的判定标准1．28的水平,即各群体间的差异尚未达到亚种分化的水平,仍属同一种群。形态性状均数差异显著性的检验结果显示,松江鲈鱼青龙河与富春江两群体之间的差异较小,而鸭绿江群体与这两者的差异相对较大。     

Size increment of jumbo flying squid Dosidicus gigas mature females in Peruvian waters, 1989–2004

Changes in population structure of the jumbo flying squid Dosidicus gigas in Peruvian waters were studied based on size-at-maturity from 1989 to 2004. From 1989 to 1999, mature squid belonging to the medium-sized group prevailed, but from 2001 on, mature squids were larger. This change is not related to the changes in sea surface temperature and we hypothesized that it was caused by the population increase of mesopelagic fishes as prey.     

南极菲尔德斯半岛潮间带南极帽贝的种群生态学研究──夏季种群数量变化和垂直分布

于1994年12月—1995年3月（南极夏季）期间,对南极菲尔德斯半岛卵石滩、岩石滩潮间带南极帽贝的种群数量、垂直分布进行了定点、定时、定量的调查和观察。结果表明,南极帽贝的种群数量有明显下降,分别仅为起始数量的35％和52％。卵石滩潮间带的帽贝分布于中潮区及低潮区,尤其是低潮区,且有随季节（冬季来临）向潮下带移动的趋势。岩石滩潮间带的帽贝具有类似的垂直分布特征,但其在分布带上的发生频次有很大差异,呈波动状态。在垂直岩面上,帽贝数量在低潮区的底部更为集中。讨论了导致数量变化、垂直分布的可能原因。今后有必要深入研究种群数量的时空动态及其调控机理。     

The probability of detecting first generation stars of the Galaxy

First generation stars are the oldest stars that were formed in post-big bang, primitive gas, containing no elements heavier than carbon, with ages greater than 14 Gyr and having undergone no evolution so far. Observations over a long time have confirmed that, up to now, no stars with zero metallicity ([Fe/H]) or with [Fe/H]≤ −6 have been found in the Galaxy. To explain this absence, we shall make a theoretical calculation of the probability of detecting first generation stars using Tsuiimoto et al.'s model of chemical evolution of the galactic halo and assuming an initial mass function of the Miller-Scalo form. We use all the observational data on the halo stars to constrain the parameters. Our result is that, if the mass of the cloud that formed the stars is 10⁶–10⁷ M, then the probability of detecting first generation stars is 6.14×10⁻⁴–6.14×10⁻⁵.     

Metrics for the comparative analysis of geospatial datasets with applications to high-resolution grid-based population data

Geospatial data sciences have emerged as critical requirements for high-priority application solutions in diverse areas, including, but not limited to, the mitigation of natural and man-made disasters. Three sets of metrics, adopted or customized from geo-statistics, applied meteorology and signal processing, are tested in terms of their ability to evaluate geospatial datasets, specifically two population databases commonly used for disaster preparedness and consequence management. The two high-resolution, grid-based population datasets are the following: The LandScan dataset available from the Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIST) group at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the Gridded Population of the World (GPW) dataset available from the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) group at Columbia University. Case studies evaluate population data across the globe, specifically, the metropolitan areas of Washington DC, USA, Los-Angeles, USA, and Houston, USA, and London, UK, as well as the country of Iran. The geospatial metrics confirm that the two population datasets have significant differences, especially in the context of their utility for disaster readiness and mitigation. While this paper primarily focuses on grid based population datasets and disaster management applications, the sets of metrics developed here can be generalized to other geospatial datasets and applications. Future research needs to develop metrics for geospatial and temporal risks and associated uncertainties in the context of disaster management. The U. S. Government’s right to retain a non-exclusive, royalty-free license in and to any copyright is acknowledged.