Stock Evaluation of Three Littoral Echinoid Species on the Catalan Coast North-Western Mediterranean

Abstract. We estimated the abundances of the three common littoral echinoid species Paracentrotus lividus, Arbacia lixula and Sphaerechinus granularis in a littoral zone between 0 and 10m depth on the Catalan shores NE Spain. Densities of each species were estimated from a total number of 11 571× 1 m² sampling units deployed at 152 sites along the 13 zones into which the coast was divided. The surface area available in each of these zones was estimated at the scale of the sampling unit 1 m² taking into account the fractal dimension of the shore. The stocks individuals > 2cm test diameter of these species for the whole Catalan shore ≅ 300 km, straight-line distance were estimated to be about 279.1 × 10⁶ individuals for P. lividus , 28.9 × 10⁶ individuals for A. lixula and 10.9 × 10⁶ individuals for S. granularis. These sea-urchins are key species in the regulation of algal communities and some of them P. lividus. S. granularis are of commercial interest. This information will provide a tool for the future monitoring and management of this resource, which now faces diverse pressures of human origin.     

Aeolization on the Atlantic coast of Galicia (NW Spain) from the end of the last glacial period to the present day: Chronology,origin and evolution of coastal dunes linked to sea-level oscillations

The Atlantic coast of Galicia (NW Spain) is a high-energy environment where shingle beaches are currently developing. These coarser sediments alternate with sandy deposits which are also considered as beaches typical of a low-energy environment. The physical association of both types of sediment with contrasted sedimentary significance raises problems of interpretation. The study of four outcrops of fossil aeolianites on this coast has allowed us to reconstruct their evolution from the end of the Upper Pleistocene to the present day. Their chronology, estimated by optically stimulated luminescence between 35 and 14 ky at the end of the last glaciation (MIS2), coincides with a local sea level 120 m below the present one. This implies a coastline shifted several kilometres from its current location and the subaerial exposure of a wide strip of the continental shelf covered by sands. The wind blew sand to form dunes towards the continent, covering the coastal areas, which then emerged with no other limitation than the active river channels. Sea-level rise during the Holocene transgression has progressively swamped these aeolian deposits, leaving only flooded dunes, relict coastal dunes and climbing dunes on cliffs up to 180 m high. The aeolian process continued as long as there was a sandy source area to erode, although accretion finished when the sea reached its current level (Late Holocene). Since then, the wind turned from accretion to erosion of the dunes and sand beaches. This erosion exposes the older shingle beaches (probably of Eemian age) buried under the aeolian sands, as well as old, submerged forest remains and megalithic monuments. The destruction of sand beaches and dunes currently observed along the Galician coast is linked, according to most researchers, to anthropogenic global warming. However, their management should consider these evolutive issues.     

大地水准面异常和非洲下地幔异常体的结构

根据南部非洲CMB上存在一尖锐边界S波低速异常体(超级地幔柱)的最新研究成果,利用地震层析成像及重力场理论,对该异常体的结构进行了探讨。通过建立模型,计算了该模型S波低速异常体所对应的密度异常产生的区域大地水准面异常,并将其和观测大地水准面异常进行对比。通过调整模型的几何构架、物理参数和力学平衡效应(流体静力学平衡及对流动力学效应所引起的核幔边界地形的起伏),寻找能够符合实际观测大地水准面异常的模型参数,最终得到非洲底部异常体的结构。单一的异常体模型计算结果表明,只有在选取低S波速度高密度异常时,模型预测大地水准面异常才能较好地吻合实际观测(EGM96)分布,由此可以推断,该异常体可能是高密度、低S波速的化学成分不同的异常体。但是当考虑全部地幔地震层析成像的数据,将其引入模型大地水准面异常的预测并且尝试一系列模型之后发现如果用简单叠加地幔地震层析成像数据和模型异常体对大地水准面的影响来预测该地区大地水准面异常,无法获得与观测大地水准面相吻合的结果。因而考虑更为复杂的动力学模型将是很有必要的。     

Optical and SAR sensor synergies for forest and land cover mapping in a tropical site in West Africa

The classification of tropical fragmented landscapes and moist forested areas is a challenge due to the presence of a continuum of vegetation successional stages, persistent cloud cover and the presence of small patches of different land cover types. To classify one such study area in West Africa we integrated the optical sensors Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and the Advanced Visible and Near Infrared Radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) with the Phased Arrayed L-band SAR (PALSAR) sensor, the latter two on-board the Advanced Land Observation Satellite (ALOS), using traditional Maximum Likelihood (MLC) and Neural Networks (NN) classifiers. The impact of texture variables and the use of SAR to cope with optical data unavailability were also investigated. SAR and optical integrated data produced the best classification overall accuracies using both MLC and NN, respectively equal to 91.1% and 92.7% for TM and 95.6% and 97.5% for AVNIR-2. Texture information derived from optical images was critical, improving results between 10.1% and 13.2%. In our study area, PALSAR alone was able to provide valuable information over the entire area: when the three forest classes were aggregated, it achieved 75.7% (with MCL) and 78.1% (with NN) overall classification accuracies. The selected classification and processing methods resulted in fine and accurate vegetation mapping in a previously untested region, exploiting all available sensors synergies and highlighting the advantages of each dataset.     

FIGHTING FIRE WITH A BROKEN TEACUP: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOUTH AFRICA'S LAND‐REDISTRIBUTION PROGRAM*

ABSTRACT. Since the rise of its first democratically elected government in 1994, South Africa has sought to redress its highly inequitable land distribution through a series of land‐reform programs. In this study we examine land‐redistribution efforts in two of South Africa's provinces, the Western Cape and Limpopo. By analyzing a cross‐section of projects in these two locales we develop a political ecology of stymied land‐reform possibilities to explain the limited progress to date. Given South Africa's ambitious goal of redistributing 30 percent of its white‐owned land by 2014 and the incremental and flawed nature of its redistribution program, we argue that the process is like trying to put out a fire with a broken teacup. Our results are based on interviews with policymakers, commercial farmers, and land‐redistribution beneficiaries, as well as on an analysis of land‐use change in Limpopo Province.     

Mapping land degradation by comparison of vegetation production to spatially derived estimates of potential production

There is an urgent need for quantitative methods by which actual, as opposed to potential degradation can be mapped using spatially consistent criteria for large regions. This study tested the Local NPP Scaling (LNS) method, where the growth season sum NDVI (∑NDVI), a surrogate for productivity, of each pixel was expressed relative to the highest values (90th percentile) of ∑NDVI observed in all pixels falling within the same land capability unit (LCU). The objective of this study was to determine if the LNS approach can be used to map degraded areas: (i) by determining if areas with low LNS values co-occur with degraded areas mapped with Landsat TM and (ii) testing the persistence of these areas over multiple years. Most of the areas with low LNS values did coincide with degraded areas, with the exception of four LCUs, which either contained steep precipitation gradients or landscape variability, which probably obscured the human impacts. The performance of the LNS method is therefore largely determined by the level of detail of the stratification data (e.g. LCUs) used. The conclusion is that the LNS method is a valuable tool for mapping land degradation at a regional scale.     

Knowledge of plant resource use based on location, gender and generation

The differences in knowledge of biological resource use between societal and demographic groups are often poorly understood; yet they are an important element of sustainability. Differences in gender and generational knowledge of locally useful woody plant species in South African savannas are examined. The results showed that young people and middle-aged females were highly knowledgeable. Over half of the total 267 woody plant species in nine use categories (i.e., medicinal, fruits–seeds, fuelwood, beverage, cultural, furniture, craft, fencing and housing poles) had multiple uses. Therefore, differences in knowledge of resource selection and use between social or demographic groups (for example based on gender and age) may appropriately inform conservation prioritisation, planning and monitoring.     

A record of vegetation dynamics and lake level changes from Lake Emakat,northern Tanzania,during the last c. 1200 years

Analyses of down-core variations in pollen and charcoal in two short cores of lake sediment and wood samples taken from the in situ remains of Nuxia congesta from Lake Emakat, a hydrologically-closed volcanic crater lake occupying the Empakaai Crater in northern Tanzania, have generated evidence of past vegetation change and lake level fluctuations. Eight AMS radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dates on bulk samples of lake sediment provide a chronological framework for the two cores and indicate that the sediment record analysed incorporates the last c. 1200 years. The in situ remains of a Nuxia congesta tree, now standing in deep water, were dated with three additional AMS ¹⁴C dates, suggesting tree growth within the interval ∼1500–1670 AD. Down-core variations in pollen from terrestrial taxa, particularly the montane forest trees Hagenia abyssinica and Nuxia congesta, indicate a broad period of generally more arid conditions in the catchment to c. 1200 AD and at a prolonged period between c. 1420 and 1680 AD. Variations in pollen from plants in lake margin vegetation indicate low lake levels, presumably as a result of reduced effective precipitation, contemporary with indications of relatively dry conditions mentioned above, but also during the late 18th and the late 19th centuries. The presence of charcoal throughout both cores indicates the frequent occurrence of vegetation fires. An increase in burning, evident in the charcoal data and dated to the early to mid second millennium AD, could relate to an expansion of human population levels and agricultural activity in the region.     

Crustal tomographic imaging of a transitional continental rift: the Ethiopian rift

In this study we image crustal structure beneath a magmatic continental rift to understand the interplay between crustal stretching and magmatism during the late stages of continental rifting: the Main Ethiopian Rift (MER). The northern sector of this region marks the transition from continental rifting in the East African Rift to incipient seafloor spreading in the southern Red Sea and western Gulf of Aden. Our local tomographic inversion exploits 172 broad-band instruments covering an area of 250 × 350 km of the rift and adjacent plateaux. The instruments recorded a total of 2139 local earthquakes over a 16-month period. Several synthetic tests show that resolution is good between 12 and 25 km depth (below sea level), but some horizontal velocity smearing is evident along the axis of the Main Ethiopian Rift below 16 km. We present a 3-D P -wave velocity model of the mid-crust and present the first 3-D Vp / Vs model of the region. Our models show high P -wave velocities (6.5 km s⁻¹) beneath the axis of the rift at a depth of 12–25 km. The presence of high Vp / Vs ratios (1.81–1.84) at the same depth range suggest that they are cooled mafic intrusions. The high Vp / Vs values, along with other geophysical evidence, suggest that dyking is pervasive beneath the axis of the rift from the mid-crustal depths to the surface and that some portion of partial melt may exist at lower crustal depths. Although the crustal stretching factor across the Main Ethiopian Rift is ∼1.7, our results indicate that magma intrusion in narrow zones accommodates a large proportion of extensional strain, with similarities to slow-spreading mid-ocean ridge processes.     

The Agulhas Plateau: structure and evolution of a Large Igneous Province

Large Igneous Provinces (LIP) are of great interest due to their role in crustal generation, magmatic processes and environmental impact. The Agulhas Plateau in the southwest Indian Ocean off South Africa has played a controversial role in this discussion due to unclear evidence for its continental or oceanic crustal affinity. With new geophysical data from seismic refraction and reflection profiling, we are able to present improved evidence for its crustal structure and composition. The velocity–depth model reveals a mean crustal thickness of 20 km with a maximum of 24 km, where three major units can be identified in the crust. In our seismic reflection records, evidence for volcanic flows on the Agulhas Plateau can be observed. The middle crust is thickened by magmatic intrusions. The up to 10 km thick lower crustal body is characterized by high seismic velocities of 7.0–7.6 km s⁻¹. The velocity–depth distribution suggests that the plateau consists of overthickened oceanic crust similar to other oceanic LIPs such as the Ontong-Java Plateau or the northern Kerguelen Plateau. The total volume of the Agulhas Plateau was estimated to be 4 × 10⁶ km³ of which about 10 per cent consists of extruded igneous material. We use this information to obtain a first estimate on carbon dioxide and sulphur dioxide emission caused by degassing from this material. The Agulhas Plateau was formed as part of a larger LIP consisting of the Agulhas Plateau itself, Northeast Georgia Rise and Maud Rise. The formation time of this LIP can be estimated between 100 and 94 (± 5) Ma.