Diving associated coral breakage in Hong Kong: Differential susceptibility to damage

We conducted the first quantitative assessment of coral breakage along a gradient of diving activities in Hong Kong, the most densely populated city in southern China. A survey of six 1 × 25 m transects at seven sites revealed a total of 81 broken corals, among which 44% were branching, 44% plate-like and 12% massive. There were 3–19 broken colonies per site. At most study sites, the percentage of broken corals exceeded the recommended no-action threshold of 4%, suggesting that management intervention is justified. There was a significant positive correlation between the number of broken coral colonies and the number of divers visiting the site. The branching Acropora and the plate-like Montipora suffered from much higher frequency of damage than their relative abundance, raising the concern that the cumulative impact of such differential susceptibility to breakage may affect coral community composition.     

厦门海域鱼类瘤槽科平槽属绦虫一新种

本文报道厦门海域软骨鱼灰星鲨（Mustelus griseus）感染的四叶目瘤槽科绦虫新种——厦门平槽绦虫Platybothrium xiamenensis sp.nov.，对新种形态特征进行了详细描述并与近似种作了比较.     

Radio‐tracking gravel particles in a large braided river in New Zealand: a field test of the stochastic theory of bed load transport proposed by Einstein

Hans A. Einstein initiated a probabilistic approach to modelling sediment transport in rivers. His formulae were based on theory and were stimulated by laboratory investigations. The theory assumes that bed load movement occurs in individual steps of rolling, sliding or saltation and rest periods. So far very few attempts have been made to measure stochastic elements in nature. For the first time this paper presents results of radio‐tracing the travel path of individual particles in a large braided gravel bed river: the Waimakariri River of New Zealand. As proposed by Einstein, it was found that rest periods can be modelled by an exponential distribution, but particle step lengths are better represented by a gamma distribution. Einstein assumed an average travel distance of 100 grain‐diameters for any bed load particle between consecutive points of deposition, but larger values of 6·7 m or 150 grain‐diameters and 6·1 m or 120 grain‐diameters were measured for two test particle sizes. Together with other available large scale field data, a dependence of the mean step length on particle diameter relative to the D₅₀ of the bed surface was found. During small floods the time used for movement represents only 2·7% of the total time from erosion to deposition. The increase in percentage of time being used for transport means that it then has to be regarded in stochastic transport models. Tracing the flow path of bed load particles between erosion and deposition sites is a step towards explaining the interactions between sediment transport and river morphology. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estuarine retention of larvae of the crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii

Larvae of estuarine organisms continually face possible export from the parent estuary. Retention of larvae of the estuarine crab Rhithropanopeus harrisii was investigated in the upper Newport River estuary, North Carolina. All of the developmental stages occurred in the same area of the estuary with similar horizontal distributions, and the concentrations of intermediate and late stages were not greatly reduced from those of the first larval stage. This was strong evidence for the continuous retention of larvae in the upper estuary.To determine mechanisms by which retention might be effected, field studies of the vertical distributions and migrations of these larvae were made. The four zoeal stages had similar but complex vertical migration patterns, which varied from study to study. These migrations centered on the depth of no net flow, reducing longitudinal transport during development. Cross-spectral analysis of the larval migrations and the environmental cycles of light, salinity and current speed revealed that each of these external cycles affected larval depth. Megalopae of R. harrisii also migrated vertically, but they were present in much lower concentrations than the zoeal stages, an indication of a change to benthic existence in this final larval form.     

Bedform morphology of salmon spawning areas in a large gravel-bed river

While the importance of river channel morphology to salmon spawning habitat is increasingly recognized, quantitative measures of the relationships between channel morphology and habitat use are lacking. Such quantitative measures are necessary as management and regulatory agencies within the Pacific Northwest region of the USA, and elsewhere, seek to quantify potential spawning habitat and develop recovery goals for declining salmon populations. The objective of this study was to determine if fall Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) spawning areas in the Snake River, Idaho, USA, were correlated with specific bedform types at the pool–riffle scale. A bedform differencing technique was used to objectively quantify the longitudinal riverbed profile into four distinct pool–riffle units that were independent of discharge. The vertical location of thalweg points within these units was quantified with a riffle proximity index. Chinook salmon spawning areas were mapped and correlated with the pool–riffle units through the use of cross-tabulation tables. The results indicate that 84% of fall Chinook salmon spawning areas were correlated with riffles (χ² = 57.5, df = 3, p < 0.001), with 53% of those areas located on the upstream side of riffle crests. The majority of Snake River fall Chinook salmon spawning occurred at elevations greater than 80% of the difference in elevation between the nearest riffle crest and pool bottom. The analyses of bedform morphology will assist regional fish managers in quantifying existing and potential fall Chinook salmon spawning habitat, and will provide a quantitative framework for evaluating general ecological implications of channel morphology in large gravel-bed rivers.     

中龄和老龄杉木人工林细根序级形态和呼吸特征

以福建省南平市王台镇溪后村安曹下19年生和91年生杉木人工林为研究对象,对其1~5级细根的形态及呼吸特征进行了比较研究。结果表明:2个林分细根直径、根长、组织密度随序级升高逐渐增大,比根长及比根呼吸随序级升高则减小;2个林分细根仅在4级根之间和5级根之间的直径以及5级根之间的比根呼吸具有显著差异(P0.05)。方差分析表明林龄仅对细根直径有极显著影响(P0.01),对根长、比根长、组织密度及比根呼吸的影响均不显著;林龄和序级的交互作用对细根直径,比根长及比根呼吸有显著影响(P0.05,P0.01),对根长和组织密度的影响不显著;序级对两个林分细根直径、根长、比根长、组织密度及比根呼吸的影响均达到极显著水平(P0.01)。回归分析表明2个林分细根直径、根长、比根长、组织密度及比根呼吸与序级之间具有三次函数,指数函数,或者幂函数关系。     

Budapest's built environment in transition

The construction of major new buildings has been noticed in Budapest since the mid 1980s. New hotels, office blocks, housing projects and most recently shopping centres have become a prominent feature of the landscape in several districts of the city. The paper first outlines a conceptualisation of the `Transition' in terms of eastern Europe as a whole identifying internationalisation, Europeanisation and national government policies as key strands in a specific case of a process of change interpreted as the interaction of antecedent conditions and current processes. It then addresses the question of conceptualising the built environment in terms of the `Transition' and three `schools of thought' in geography stressing the urban morphogenesis approach. It thus poses the question of how radical a change has `occurred on the ground' since 1989–1990. Consequently the paper examines the transition in the built environment of Budapest under three principal headings: (a) the antecedent conditions of the built environment of Budapest by spatial structure, (b) the relationship between new buildings and current processes, (c) comparing models of the spatial structure of Budapest as a socialist city and as a post-socialist-(industrial) city or post-industrial (capitalist) city. It concludes that although the processes shaping the city's built environment have changed quite radically since 1990 the physical fabric of the city and its antecedent usage have strongly influenced the spatial impact of the current processes. Budapest is a post-socialist industrial city with capitalist forms fitted into it. The city is passing from socialist to capitalist processes in a way that suggests that morphological analysis has clear potential in theorising the relationship between the global and the local. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Regional Variability in Occurrence and Distribution of Polymetallic Nodules in the Central Indian Basin

Regional scale morphological studies on different-sized polymetallic nodules from the Central Indian Basin show that only 2–5 cm sized nodules have highest occurrence per station (92–94% along latitudes; 88–94% along longitudes). A nodule size shows an inverse relationship with the nodule distribution, grade, and abundance. Interestingly, only 3–4 and 4–5 cm sized nodules have highest grade, abundance, and distribution percentages along longitudes in P₁, first generation mine site and relinquished area, which further implies that the nodule mining along the longitude would be beneficial. Different-sized nodule groups suggest their formation under variable environmental conditions that existed in the Central Indian Basin. The coexistence of different-sized nodules suggests different environmental conditions existed in the Central Indian Basin.     

扇贝外套腔内的共栖生纤毛虫 Ⅰ.蠕状康纤虫(Cohnilembus verminus)的形态学研究

研究扇贝外套腔内栖生的纤毛虫一蠕状康纤虫Cohnilembusverminus（Muller，1786）的形态、核器及纤毛图式。结果显示其口器结构为；M1呈单列结构，约占体长的1／2，M2由4组毛基粒构成，PM起自M2末端，Sc约由5个毛基粒构成。此外，还列表比较了不同作者报导的C．verminus种群及其它6种已知的康纤虫的主要性状特征。     

Fossil nothofagaceous leaves from the Eocene of western Antarctica and their bearing on the origin, dispersal and systematics of Nothofagus

Fossil leaves resembling Nothofagaceae have been investigated from the Eocene of western Antarctica and a new form genus Nothofagofolia is proposed for these kinds of fossils. Some new specimens belonging to this form genus are described. They were collected from the Fossil Hill locality of Fildes Peninsula, King George Island, South Shetland Islands, western Antarctica. Two new species, two new combinations and an unnamed species are reported. A number of published Nothofagus leaf fossils from the same locality are discussed and revised. As a result of these studies of Nothofagus leaf morphology, we conclude that (1) Nothofagus probably originated in high latitudes of the Southern Hemisphere during the middle-late Late Cretaceous and diversified, dispersed gradually to the lower latitudes of the same hemisphere; (2) leaf morphological characters are significant for the systematics of the family Nothofagaceae, especially at the intrageneric level; and (3) extant species of Nothofagus known from southern temperate areas have more primitive leaf morphological characters and lower leaf ranks than those from tropical mountains as well as those of the Fagaceae and Betulaceae. Supported by the Foundation of State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology & Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaoentology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Grant No. 013106), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 30670159) and the Fund of Innovation Program by Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences