Reduced seabird night strikes and mortality in the Tristan rock lobster fishery

The main impact of the fishery for Tristan rock lobster Jasus tristani on seabirds at the Tristan archipelago and Gough Island is through night strikes, when petrels collide with a ship after being disorientated by its lights. Tristan fishery observers have kept records of night strikes on the MV Edinburgh since the 2010/2011 fishing season. Over the last three years, 723 seabirds from nine species were recorded coming aboard the fishing vessel, with at least 39 (5.4%) birds dying as a result. Birds killed were broad-billed prions Pachyptila vittata (41%), common diving petrels Pelecanoides urinatrix (23%), and storm petrels (Pelagodroma marina and Fregetta grallaria/tropica 36%). All these species are listed as Least Concern globally, and the numbers killed per year are <0.1% of the island populations. The captain and crew of the Edinburgh are aware of the problem posed by deck lights at night, and attempt to keep external lighting to a minimum. As a result, the numbers of birds coming aboard vessels in this fishery have decreased from an average of 130 birds per night in 1989 to less than two birds per night in 2010–2013. Currently, most incidents occur during exceptional events when circumstances require deck lights to be lit at night. Consideration should be given to banning fishing operations at night, at least on misty nights.     

MapGIS在土地勘测定界测量中的应用

结合实际工作经验,对土地勘测定界测量中,MapGIS软件在土地分类及面积统计的应用方法进行探讨。     

地统计学在测量中的应用与研究

地统计学是数学地质理论中的新兴边缘学科,它研究的是区域物理现象的空间变异性。地统计学的方法应用到测量中,是一种新的方法,可以用它的理论、方法和模拟技术去研究地理空间信息的分布特征、分布规律,模拟它们的离散性和波动性,很好为决策服务。该文系统地介绍地统计学的基本理论、方法及对地统计学应用到测量当中进行了研究,并证实了地统计学应用到测量中的可行性。     

对流风暴内中气旋特征与强烈天气

利用江苏盐城CINRAD-SA新一代天气雷达2005-2008年的资料分析盐城及周边地区对流风暴内中气旋和各种强对流天气的关系。对SA雷达中气旋探测算法识别的中气旋特征进行统计分析,发现带有中气旋的高顶高底的对流风暴易产生大冰雹;低底和带有较小直径的中气旋的对流风暴有利于龙卷的产生;后侧人流急流进入风暴有时会导致中气旋切变剧增、中气旋的底和顶降低而产生雷雨大风;低底和含有较低旋转速度的前侧中气旋容易导致短时暴雨。含有中气旋的对流风暴通常产生在对流有效位能较高和垂直风切变较大的环境条件下。     

Geotechnical modeling at the city scale using statistical and geostatistical tools: The Pessac case (France)

In the context of the RIVIERA project, the building of a 3D geotechnical model at the city scale (Pessac, France) has been undertaken, from several hundreds of boreholes and geotechnical tests. It is first shown how the combination of the lithological information and of geotechnical results can improve thanks to Bayesian statistics the knowledge of mechanical characteristics in the various alluvial terraces which can be encountered in this area. Secondly the upper and lower limits of the 3D model at the city scale are computed by improving an initial digital elevation model for the upper limit and by kriging under inequality constraints for the lower limit. These limits border Quaternary formations which are of interest for geotechnical applications. In a third stage, it is focused on the spatial modelling of the pressuremeter modulus. The sequential indicator simulation method enables to obtain the spatial probability of occurrence of a given pressiometer modulus class. Coupled with other information, the analysis of these statistical and geostatistical models makes possible to develop decision support tools such as to localise, for instance, areas more prone to the clay shrinkage–swelling hazard.     

High-resolution chronology for the Mesoamerican urban center of Teotihuacan derived from Bayesian statistics of radiocarbon and archaeological data

A high-resolution ¹⁴C chronology for the Teopancazco archaeological site in the Teotihuacan urban center of Mesoamerica was generated by Bayesian analysis of 33 radiocarbon dates and detailed archaeological information related to occupation stratigraphy, pottery and archaeomagnetic dates. The calibrated intervals obtained using the Bayesian model are up to ca. 70% shorter than those obtained with individual calibrations. For some samples, this is a consequence of plateaus in the part of the calibration curve covered by the sample dates (2500 to 1450 ¹⁴C yr BP). Effects of outliers are explored by comparing the results from a Bayesian model that incorporates radiocarbon data for two outlier samples with the same model excluding them. The effect of outliers was more significant than expected. Inclusion of radiocarbon dates from two altered contexts, 500 ¹⁴C yr earlier than those for the first occupational phase, results in ages calculated by the model earlier than the archaeological records. The Bayesian chronology excluding these outliers separates the first two Teopancazco occupational phases and suggests that ending of the Xolalpan phase was around cal AD 550, 100 yr earlier than previously estimated and in accordance with previously reported archaeomagnetic dates from lime plasters for the same site.     

Reflection on the first five years of South Africa’s Acoustic Tracking Array Platform (ATAP): status,challenges and opportunities

The Acoustic Tracking Array Platform (ATAP) is a marine science programme that monitors the movements and migrations of inshore marine animals along the South African coastline. Acoustically tagged animals are monitored by an expanded network of approximately 100 automated data-logging acoustic receivers moored at strategic node sites, from Cape Point in the west to the South Africa–Mozambique border in the east. During five years since its inception, in 2011, the ATAP has achieved outstanding progress in terms of the numbers of animals and the variety of species tagged. To date, the ATAP has yielded over 2.6 million detections from more than 700 acoustically tagged animals, representing 27 different species from 20 families, including the African penguin Spheniscus demersus, fishery-at-risk species (e.g. dusky kob Argyrosomus japonicus) and iconic elasmobranchs (e.g. white shark Carcharodon carcharias). Following a period of considerable equipment loss in 2014, refinement of the receiver network was required and the deeper receivers at each site were decommissioned without influencing the integrity of the nationwide array. The platform, managed by the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, ultimately represents a low-cost method of collecting long-term data that currently benefits approximately 25 researchers from 14 organisations. Case studies are presented to expose the opportunities provided by the ATAP, which will undoubtedly yield new discoveries and provide a greater understanding of the movement patterns and migrations of a wide variety of inshore marine and estuary-associated species.     

Fishery benefits from exploiting spawning aggregations not solely dependent on enhanced fish density

The vulnerability of spawning aggregations to exploitation varies among fisheries as a result of differences in the population-density changes associated with this behaviour. However, vulnerability to fishing is also influenced by technology, environmental factors, and fish and fisher behaviours. Focusing on a fishery for the rabbitfish Siganus sutor at Praslin Island, Seychelles, we examined how catch rate varied across spawning and non-spawning habitats in relation to in situ population-density changes and other factors known to influence catchability. Catch rates in spawning habitat were disproportionate to density changes, being only fourfold greater than catch rates in non-spawning habitat, despite the fact that spawning-aggregation formation involved nine- to thirteen-fold increases in population density. Catch rates in spawning habitat were also highly variable across the spawning season (0–23.4 fish trap-hour^?1). Current strength was of similar importance to density as a catch-rate predictor, with the highest catch rates in spawning habitats confined to months with the strongest currents. Therefore, in addition to density-dependent catchability, other factors that influence catch rates must be examined to avoid overestimation of the vulnerability of populations to aggregation fishing. The dynamics of catchability at spawning sites can limit the ability of fishers to predict and maximise returns based on increases in fish density.     

中国近海大黄鱼和日本带鱼群体数量变动及其资源保护措施探讨

作者根据长期调查研究,分析了大黄鱼(Larimichthys crocea)和日本带鱼(Trichiurus japonicus)群体数量变动的因果关系,并提出了加强我国海洋渔业资源科学监管的建议:(1)正确划分大黄鱼和带鱼地理种群及其产卵群体,为资源繁殖保护提供参考依据;(2)修订若干《渔业法》条款,重新审定《官井洋大黄鱼繁殖保护区管理规定》;(3)充分合理开发利用闽东渔场近海岛屿周边海域,并且采用抗风浪升降式圆柱形深水养殖网箱养殖大黄鱼;建立内湾性官井洋大黄鱼海洋牧场渔业基地,并新建中国著名舟山渔场大黄鱼繁殖保护区;(4)继续加强大黄鱼原种场建设,大力开展大黄鱼良种选育研究,每年提供大批量野生大黄鱼人工培育的原种子一代幼鱼进行增殖放流;(5)巩固和扩大伏季休渔效果,全年禁止违法而严重损害带鱼幼鱼资源的各种张网作业;(6)以法治渔,加快制定符合于我国实情的海洋渔业科学监管的有效措施.     

The clustering properties of Luminous Red Galaxies

By cluster analysis, we study the clustering properties of Luminous Red Galaxies (LRGs) and compare them with those of Main galaxies. We find that the clustering properties of Luminous Red Galaxies is different from those of Main galaxies, and that LRGs cluster mainly in form of close double and multiple galaxies, galaxy groups. (© 2008 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)