The influence of relative sediment supply on riverine habitat heterogeneity

The diversity of aquatic habitats in streams is linked to physical processes that act at various spatial and temporal scales. Two components of many that contribute to creating habitat heterogeneity in streams are the interaction between sediment supply and transport capacity and the presence of local in-stream structures, such as large woody debris and boulders. Data from previously published flume and field studies and a new field study on tributaries to the South Yuba River in Nevada County, California, USA, were used to evaluate the relationship between habitat heterogeneity, local in-stream structural features and relative sediment supply. Habitat heterogeneity was quantified using spatial heterogeneity measures from the field of landscape ecology. Relative sediment supply, as expressed by the sediment supply/transport capacity ratio, which controls channel morphology and substrate textures, two key physical habitat characteristics, was quantified using a dimensionless bedload transport ratio, q. Calculated q values were plotted against an ecologically meaningful heterogeneity index, Shannon's Diversity Index, measured for each study reach, as well as the percent area of in-stream structural elements. The results indicate two potential mechanisms for how relative sediment supply may drive geomorphic diversity in natural river systems at the reach scale. When less mobile structural elements form a small proportion of the reach landscape, the supply/capacity ratio dictates the range of sediment textures and geomorphic features observed within the reach. In these settings, channels with a moderate relative sediment supply exhibit the highest textural and geomorphic diversity. In contrast, when less mobile structural elements are abundant, forced local scour and deposition creates high habitat heterogeneity, even in the presence of high relative sediment supply.     

Impact of habitat heterogeneity on plant community pattern in Gurbantunggut Desert

This paper reports a geomorphologic landscape investigation, vegetation survey and soil sampling at 14 sites across the Gurbantunggut Desert between 87o37'09'-88o24'04'E and 44o14'04'-45o41'52'N. The study encountered 8 species of low trees and shrubs, 5 of perennial herbs, 8 of annual plants and 48 of ephemeral and ephemeroid plants. These species of plants represent one-third of the species found in the Gurbantunggut Desert, and their communities make up a large proportion of desert vegetation with great landscape significance. In the investigation we found that the plant communities are accordingly succeeded with the spatial variation of macro-ecoenvironment. Using Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Correlation Analysis (CA) we found that the micro-ecoenvironment heterogeneity of aeolian sandy soil's physical and chemical properties such as soil nutrient, soil moisture, soil salt, pH etc. only impacted the diversity of herb synusia (PIEherb) of the desert, with a negative correlation. Meanwhile, the impact of microhabitat on the plant community pattern with an antagonistic interaction made vegetation's eco-distribution in a temporary equilibrium.     

Application of lidar digital terrain modelling to predict intertidal habitat development at a managed retreat site: Abbotts Hall,Essex, UK

A key question in designing any managed retreat site concerns the nature of the habitats which will be created, and their likely long‐term sustainability and development. Studies of historical sea wall failures in Essex have shown that former reclaimed areas may respond to renewed tidal ?ooding in different ways depending on a number of factors, most importantly the elevation of the land at the time of breach, which governs the frequency and duration of tidal ?ooding. This paper demonstrates how digital terrain modelling using airborne lidar data can be used to calculate the elevation of the land behind a breach and to predict the likely habitats which will be created. When combined with data from sites of historical sea wall failure, predictions can also be made about the likely geomorphological and biological evolution of the created habitats in the longer term. At Abbotts Hall on the northern side of Salcott Creek, Essex, where a managed retreat scheme was activated in October 2002, the highest areas above 2·35 m OD were predicted to develop stable saltmarsh, intermediate areas between 2·1 and 2·34 m OD to develop potentially unstable saltmarsh which is likely undergo internal dissection, and the lowest areas below 2·1 m OD to remain as mud?at or lagoon. Approximately 38 per cent of the site was predicted to develop stable saltmarsh, and nearly 50 per cent to remain as lagoon or mud?at. Monitoring is now being undertaken but it will be several years before the accuracy of the predictions can be assessed. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Challenging assumptions of future coastal habitat development around the UK

One habitat management requirement forced by 21st century relative sea‐level rise (RSLR), will be the need to re‐comprehend the dimensions of long‐term transgressive behaviour of coastal systems being forced by such RSLR. Fresh approaches to the conceptual modelling and subsequent implementation of new coastal and peri‐marine habitats will be required. There is concern that existing approaches to forecasting coastal systems development (and by implication their associated scarce coastal habitats) over the next century depend on a certain premise of orderly spatial succession of habitats. This assumption is shown to be questionable given the possible future rates of RSLR, magnitude of shoreline retreat and the lack of coastal sediment to maintain the protective morphologies to low‐energy coastal habitats. Of these issues, sediment deficiency is regarded as one of the major problem for future habitat development. Examples of contemporary behaviour of UK coasts show evidence of coastal sediment starvation resulting from relatively stable RSLR, anthropogenic sealing of coastal sources, and intercepted coastal sediment pathways, which together force segmentation of coastal systems. From these examples key principles are deduced which may prejudice the existence of future habitats: accelerated future sediment demand due to RSLR may not be met by supply and, if short‐ to medium‐term hold‐the‐line policies predominate, long‐term strategies for managed realignment and habitat enhancement may prove impossible goals. Methods of contemporary sediment husbandry may help sustain some habitats in place but otherwise, instead of integrated coastal organization, managers may need to consider coastal breakdown, segmentation and habitat reduction as the basis of 21st century coastal evolution and planning. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Stochastic analysis of estuarine hydraulics

A new methodology is presented for the solution of the stochastic hydraulic equations characterizing steady, one-dimensional estuarine flow. The methodology is predicated on quasi-linearization, perturbation methods, and the finite difference approximation of the stochastic differential operators. Assuming Manning's roughness coefficient is the principal source of uncertainty in the model, stochastic equations are presented for the water depths and flow rates in the estuarine system. Moment equations are developed for the mean and variance of the water depths. The moment equations are compared with the results of Monte Carlo simulation experiments. The results confirm that for any spatial location in the estuary that (1) as the uncertainty in the channel roughness increases, the uncertainty in mean depth increases, and (2) the predicted mean depth will decrease with increasing uncertainty in Manning'sn. The quasi-analytical approach requires significantly less computer time than Monte Carlo simulations and provides explicit     

Life history, habitat utilisation, and biomass of introduced Mysis relicta

Life history, habitat utilisation, and biomass of benthic and pelagic opossum shrimp (Mysis relicta) were studied in the oligotrophic Lake Jonsvatn, central Norway. Sampling in the pelagic zone was done by means of a closing zooplankton net; in the benthic zone by means of a benthic beam trawl.

M. relicta had a mixed one or two year life cycle. In the autumn, the proportion of mature females and males were larger in the pelagic than in the benthic habitat. Copulation took place in late autumn, and the first females with eggs occurred in November. In February, the first juvenile M. relicta were released in the benthic habitat. In May and July, however, juveniles were found in large numbers in all parts of the lake. The length distribution of M. relicta indicates that juveniles partly segregate between benthic and pelagic habitats.

Both juvenile and adult M. relicta performed vertical diel migrations in the pelagic habitat. In the benthic habitat, diel vertical migrations along the bottom were not as pronounced as vertical migrations in the pelagic habitat. In the benthic habitat, major migrations were performed only by adults in the autumn. Our results indicate that the light intensity in the green part of the spectrum gives the proximate cue for regulation of vertical distribution of M. relicta.

The mean total biomass varied between 288 and 1576 kg dry weight, corresponding to 23.2–127.1 mg dry weight m⁻² surface area. M. relicta had smallest biomass during late spring/early summer and largest biomass during autumn and early winter. Estimated pelagic biomasses were largest in February, August, October and November, while benthic biomasses were largest in May and July. Estimated biomass of pelagic M. relicta during autumn was approximately 1/10 of the estimated biomass of zooplankton in this lake.     

蒙古国植被自然恢复潜力

植被自然恢复能力评估是生态恢复实践的重要内容。基于蒙古国的MODIS EVI植被指数产品、气象数据及土壤数据,依据相似生境原则,构建了植被恢复潜力计算模式,计算得到蒙古国植被恢复潜力值（VRP,可代表在自然条件下区域植被能够恢复到的最佳状况）及植被恢复潜力指数（VRPI,代表植被生长现状与最大潜力之间的差距）,并用蒙古国纵贯铁路沿线长期围封区的采样分析数据进行了验证。结果表明：（1）蒙古国整体上具有较高的植被恢复潜力,植被自然恢复潜力值0.6—0.9;（2）受降水、气温、土壤等自然要素组配的空间分异影响,蒙古国植被自然恢复潜力具有较大的空间差异性,其中北部及东部地区为VRP高值区和VRPI低值区,植被轻度退化,且较容易恢复;南部及西部地区为VRP中低值区和VRPI高值区,植被退化程度较重,恢复难度相对较大。     

磨刀门河口近期演变及其排洪效应

通过分析珠江磨刀门分流河口水动力结构及拦门沙的走向变化,解析磨刀门河口近期演变,并从河口的结构和功能的角度,分析磨刀门河口的排洪功能和行为。结论认为:(1)磨刀门河口正由径流优势型向河流—波浪型转变,波浪成为改造和修饰口门地形的重要动力;(2)磨刀门河口的动力、地貌变化,使得河口对淡水的防御性增强而渗透性减弱,其排洪潜力有限;(3)强径流河口发育支汊是河口延伸中的基本规律,在今后磨刀门的治理开发过程(尤其是排洪)中应注意支汊的保护利用。     

On the stability relationships between tidal asymmetry and morphologies of tidal basins and estuaries

Simple stability relationships are practically useful to provide a rapid assessment of coastal and estuarine landforms in response to human interventions and long‐term climate change. In this contribution, we review a variety of simple stability relationships which are based on the analysis of tidal asymmetry (TA). Most of the existing TA‐based stability relationships are derived using the one‐dimensional tidal flow equations assuming a certain regular shape of the tidal channel cross‐sections. To facilitate analytical solutions, specific assumptions inevitably need to be made, for example by linearizing the friction term and dropping some negligible terms in the tidal flow equations. We find that three major types of TA‐based stability relationships have been proposed between three non‐dimensional channel geometric ratios (represented by the ratio of channel widths, ratio of wet surface areas and ratio of storage volumes) and the tide‐related parameter a/h (i.e. the ratio between tidal amplitude and mean water depth). Based on established geometric relations, we use these non‐dimensional ratios to restate the existing relationships so that they are directly comparable. Available datasets are further extended to examine the utility of these TA‐based relationships. Although a certain agreement is shown for these relationships, we also observe a large scatter of data points which are collected in different types of landscape, hydrodynamic and sedimentological settings over the world. We discuss in detail the potential reasons for this large scatter and subsequently elaborate on the limited applicability of the various TA‐based stability relationships for practical use. We highlight the need to delve further into what constitutes equilibrium and what is needed to develop more robust measures to determine the morphological state of these systems. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.