Feeding Ecology of three Populations of Blennius incognitus BATH 1968 (Pisces: Teleostei: Blenniidae) during the Reproduptive Period and under Human Influence

Abstract. Samples of Blennius incognitus from three differently polluted locations on the Istrian west coast (Adriatic Sea, Yugoslavia) were collected in early July during the spawning season. The gut content was analyzed employing the occurrence and point (relative volumetric) method. This fish grazes the surface of the rocky substratum. Inhabiting small benthic animals are ingested together with algae and detritus. The diet depends on the composition and condition of the covering phytal and its inhabiting fauna. A decrease of available animal food seems to intensify grazing on the substrate. A sexual dimorphism in the feeding habit during the reproductive period exists. Females feed more on animals; males feed more on substrate and in cases also on eggs of their own species.     

用自然思维解析病毒及其与海洋的关系

新型冠状病毒（Coronavirus）肆虐，造成全球恐慌，迄今已有上千万人感染、数十万人失去了生命。一场突如其来的疫情，几乎成为全球范围内划时代的重大事件，甚至会改写人类发展的历史，这充分说明人类对病毒的认识还很肤浅，还缺少应对病毒的科学储备和有效举措。病毒源于海洋、存于自然，几乎是无处不在、无时不在。病毒一方面对人类健康造成巨大威胁，另一方面又是自然界、甚至人体内不可或缺的特殊微生态系统。病毒是生命起源的界限、是基因传递的使者、是生态环境的桥梁、是细菌的天然杀手。人类抗击病毒首先是彻底"防控"，其次是有效"疫苗"，最终靠提高免疫力。而海洋盐卤可能是从"元素平衡"的机理出发、从根本上提升人体免疫功能的关键。     

Separating climate change and human contributions to variations in streamflow and its components using eight time‐trend methods

Separating impacts of human activities and climate change on hydrology is essential for watershed and ecosystem management. Many previous studies have focused on the impacts on total streamflow, however, with little attentions paid to its components (i.e., baseflow and surface run‐off). This study distinguished the contributions of climate change and human activities to the variations in streamflow, baseflow, and surface run‐off in the upstream area of the Heihe River Basin, a typical inland river basin in northwest China, by using eight different forms of time‐trend methods. The isolated contributions to streamflow variation were also compared with those obtained by two Budyko‐based approaches. Our results showed that the time‐trend methods consistently estimated positive contributions of climate variability and human activities to the increases in streamflow and its components but with obviously varying magnitudes. With regard to streamflow, the time‐trend method double‐mass‐curve–Wei, with a physical basis, produced a reasonable smaller contribution of human activities than climate changes, inconsistent with the Budyko‐based approaches. However, all the other time‐trend methods led to contrary results. The contributions to baseflow variation diverged more significantly than those to streamflow and surface run‐off, ranging from 24% to 92% for human activities and from 8% to 76% for climate variability. In terms of surface run‐off, most of the time‐trend approaches produced smaller contributions of human activities (ranging from 21% to 49%) than climate change. The uncertainties associated with the various time‐trend approaches and the baseflow separation algorithm were revealed and discussed, along with some recommendations for future work.     

A multiproxy record of late Holocene natural and anthropogenic environmental change from the Sphagnum peat bog Dürres Maar,Germany: implications for quantitative climate reconstructions based on pollen

Pollen data are well established for quantitative climate reconstructions over long timescales, including the Holocene and older interglacials. However, anthropogenically induced environmental change in central Europe was strong during the last 4 ka, challenging quantitative reconstructions of this time period. Here we present quantitative climate reconstructions based on pollen analyses and evaluate them with the peat humification record and the stable carbon isotopes of Sphagnum plant material (δ¹³C_cellulose). All analyses were carried out on the same 7.5 m long, largely ombrotrophic peat bog section from Dürres Maar. Three different methods were used for the quantitative climate reconstructions on the basis of the pollen data: (1) a probabilistic indicator taxa approach (the ‘pdf method’); (2) a modern analogue technique based on pollen taxa from modern surface samples (cMAT); and (3) a modern analogue technique expanded by plant functional types (pMAT). At Dürres Maar the peat humification is only affected by peat cutting during the Roman period and the Middle Ages. The stable carbon isotopes are seemingly unaffected by human impact. Thus both proxies provide independent data to evaluate the reconstructions on the basis of pollen data. The quantitative climate reconstructions on the basis of the individual methods are in general relatively similar. Nevertheless, distinct differences between the individual approaches are also apparent, which could be attributed to taxa that reflect human impact on a local to regional scale. While the pdf method appears to be relatively robust to all observed anthropogenically induced vegetation changes, it potentially underestimates climate variability. This method is therefore expected to be independent of local site characteristics and to provide robust quantitative estimates of climatic trends rather than of climatic variability of small amplitude. This is of value for palaeoclimate reconstructions of older interglacials, for which neither multiple sites nor independent climate proxies are available for comparison. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

鱼汁、海泥抽出液和人尿对小环藻生长的影响

在室内条件下,通过单因子实验和正交实验的方法,研究了鱼汁、海泥抽出液和人尿对小环藻(Cyclotella sp.)种群生长的影响。结果表明,350 mL的培养体积下,当鱼汁添加量为2~3 mL时,小环藻生长效果最好,相对生长率(K)较对照组升高了33.3%,平均倍增时间(G)降低了34.9%,但随着浓度升高,藻细胞开始出现死亡。海泥抽出液添加量为20 mL时,K值最大,较对照组增加35.6%,G值下降了25.15%。人尿添加量为10 mL时,K值最大,较对照组增加17.9%,G值下降了15.77%。统计分析表明,鱼汁、海泥抽出液和人尿对小环藻实验种群的生长均有极显著影响。海泥抽出液对小环藻影响大,其次是鱼汁和人尿。正交实验表明,在鱼汁、海泥抽出液和人尿的添加量分别为2.5、15.0和1.0 mL的组合实验组,小环藻的生长效果最好。     

Climate variability, vegetation productivity and people at risk

Human domination of ecosystems has been pervasive over the last century, with nearly half of Earth's surface transformed by human actions. It is widely accepted that humans appropriate up to 50% of global net primary production (NPP), the energy base of all the trophic levels on the land surface. Yet, despite the important role of vegetation productivity for defining Earth habitability, the covariation of NPP and human population distribution has not been analyzed in depth. We used recently available satellite-based NPP estimates, along with gridded population at 0.5° resolution, first, to identify the global distribution of human population with reference to average NPP and to the various climatic constraints (temperature, water and cloud cover) that limit NPP, second, to analyze recent trends in global NPP in relation to population trends, and third, to identify populations that are vulnerable to changes in NPP due to interannual variability in climate. Our results indicate that over half of the global human population is presently living in areas with above the average NPP of 490 g C m⁻² year⁻¹. By 1998, nearly 56% of global population lived in regions where water availability strongly influences NPP. Per capita NPP declined over much of Africa between 1982 and 1998, in spite of the estimated increases in NPP over the same period. On average, NPP over 40% of the total vegetated land surface has shown significant correlations with ENSO-induced climate variability affecting over 2.8 billion people.