Coral assemblages and reef growth in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (Western Pacific Ocean)

Reef development varies considerably around the high, raised‐limestone islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). Here we examine the modern assemblages at 30 sites for coral composition, colony density, colony size, and fidelity. We defined four reef types and hypothesize the presence of environmentally driven ecological stasis, whereby the environment continuously selects for coral species membership, defines colony sizes, and over time creates the noted reef types. Our results show that constructional spur‐and‐groove reefs supported significantly larger coral‐colony sizes and higher coral species richness compared with high‐relief interstitial framework, low‐relief incipient, and non‐constructional coral assemblages. Non‐constructional reefs supported much smaller coral colony sizes, despite similar population densities, and were consistently found in association with high wave exposure. The distinct coral assemblages found on interstitial framework and low‐relief incipient reefs were not affiliated with any wave exposure regime, but were located adjacent to large watersheds and on islands with unique geological history. These assemblages were nested within the spur‐and‐groove species pool. Overall, modern coral cover was well predicted by bathymetric slope and watershed size, while species richness was additively influenced by two proxies of pollution, suggesting the latter is better suited for establishing management targets. In contrast with previous studies that suggested modern assemblages were biologically controlled in the CNMI, we show reef assemblages and reef development are highly influenced by long‐term environmental forcing.     

黄海西北近岸沉积物中细菌群落空间分布特征

采用16S rDNA文库和变性梯度凝胶电泳(DGGE)技术,对黄海西北部3个近岸站位沉积物中细菌群落多样性及空间分布特征进行了调查和解析。对表层沉积物16S rDNA序列统计表明,各站位细菌群落多样性很高,γ-和δ-变形菌纲分别占克隆序列总数的20%~32%,是沉积物中的绝对优势类群。DGGE图谱分析表明,同一站位中不同深度的细菌群落结构相似性较高,而不同站位间群落结构相差较远。研究表明在黄海西北近岸沉积物中细菌群落多样性较高,优势类群明显,在较小尺度范围内群落结构的垂直变化不明显。     

Diel and seasonal variability in the fish community structure of a mud‐bottom estuarine habitat in the Gulf of Mexico

We hypothesized that temporal variation in fish species composition and community structure in a low complexity habitat in the Pueblo Viejo Lagoon, Mexico, is influenced by diel light/dark cycles and tidal stage, and by seasonal changes in salinity and temperature. We collected a total of 17,661 individuals during 2‐h interval sampling over six bi‐monthly 24‐h sampling cycles representing 53 species, of which 11 (～20%) were previously unknown in the system. Diel variation indicated that significantly higher numbers of individuals and species were caught at night, whereas diversity and evenness were higher during the day. Species richness was significantly higher in July and January, whereas diversity and evenness peaked around May; both were correlated with temperature. Diel variation in species composition was influenced primarily by the light/dark cycle. Cluster analyses of each diel cycle separated fish assemblages from midday samples from those of nocturnal samples, separated by an extended wide transition period as fish moved at dawn and during the late afternoon/dusk. Significant shifts (as determined by MANOVA) in assemblage structure occurred between months. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that temperature and day/night effects were the most important environmental variables structuring the fish community. This constrained ordination also defined species with specific habitat preferences as follows: (i) diurnal, warm temperature species (mainly planktivores) (Brevoortia gunteri, Cetengraulis edentulus, Diapterus auratus, and Membras martinica); (ii) nocturnal, warm temperature species (mainly predators) (Citharichthys spilopterus, Cathorops melanopus, and Bairdiella spp.); and (iii) low temperature, diurnal species (Brevoortia patronus and Mugil curema) or those with twilight and nocturnal distributions (Anchoa mitchilli, the most numerically abundant species). Our results indicate that diel and seasonal changes in fish community structure were mainly related to day/night cycles and temperature regimes.     

Community structure of infaunal macrobenthos around vestimentiferan thickets at the San Clemente cold seep,NE Pacific

The San Clemente cold seep lies within 100–200 km of other reducing habitats in the NE Pacific, offering an opportunity to compare diversity and species overlap among reducing habitats (i.e. whale‐, kelp‐, and wood‐falls) at similar depths within a single region. Video observations from the research submersible Alvin at the San Clemente seep (1800 m depth) indicated clumps (‘thickets’) of vestimentiferans distributed as meter‐scale patches interspersed with vesicomyid clam beds and black sediments. Sediment‐core samples were collected at distances of 0 to 80–200 m along randomly oriented transects radiating outward from vestimentiferan thickets to evaluate changes in macrofaunal community structure from thickets into the background community. Macrofaunal abundance was elevated at distances of 0–1 m compared to 80–200 m (i.e. the ‘background’ community). The tube‐building frenulate worms Siboglinum spp., along with peracarid crustaceans, dominated sediments within 1 m of vestimentiferan thickets. Species diversity was depressed within 1 m of thickets but with high rates of species accumulation, suggesting that seep sites greatly increase sediment heterogeneity and facilitate colonization by non‐background macrofaunal species. Stable isotope data indicate chemosynthetic nutrition for some dominant macrofaunal species within 1 m of tubeworm thickets. The macrofaunal community near vestimentiferan thickets in San Clemente seep contains intermediate levels of species richness and diversity compared to other deep‐sea seep areas in the northeast Pacific. There was low species overlap between the San Clemente seep macrofauna and communities in reducing habitats near wood‐, whale‐, and kelp‐falls at similar depths within the region, suggesting that seeps harbor a distinct infaunal community.     

局域椭圆偏振光束强聚焦性质的研究

数值计算了局域椭圆偏振光束强聚焦时在焦平面上的横向场强分布、纵向场强分布、横向能流以及纵向角动量分布.结果显示在焦平面上光束总的纵向角动量为零,但在不同象限光束具有不同方向的纵向角动量.当相位延迟角度在0到π之间变化时横向场强分布基本不变,但纵向场强分布有很明显的变化.液晶相位延迟器由外部电压控制,使其相位延迟角度能在0到π之间可以连续取值.因而液晶相位延迟器的外接电压可以实现对焦平面上的纵向场强以及纵向角动量的实时调控.     

彩色全息显示中液晶空间光调制器位相调制偏差的矫正方法

采用三基色激光照明并结合时分复用或空间复用技术,可实现基于液晶空间光调制器(LC-SLM)的彩色全息显示. 但由于在不同激光波长入射条件下LC-SLM的位相调制特性曲线不同,难以同时满足多波长入射条件下2π线性位相调制的要求,致使彩色全息再现结果受到共轭像和零级斑的干扰. 针对该问题,本文通过实验测试获得LC-SLM在不同波长入射时的位相调制特性曲线,并分析了RGB激光器各分量的位相调制特性曲线非线性偏差和调制幅度偏差对多阶位相型傅里叶变换相息图再现效果的影响. 根据"查表法"建立了各波长入射条件下满足2     

激发态质子转移分子2-(2'-羟基苯基)苯并噻唑溶液的全光开关效应

研究了激发态质子转移(ESPT)分子2-(2'-羟基苯基)苯并噻唑(HBT)在不同极性溶剂中的光开关行为,探讨了溶剂极性对HBT分子光开光效应的影响.揭示了光开关脉冲信号的形成原因,建立了基于光诱导HBT分子激发态非线性折射效应的皮秒全光开关的理论模型.根据对时间响应函数的理论计算和实验结果分析,确定了光开关脉冲信号下降前沿和上升后沿的形成机理以及影响因素,并提出了增强光开关信号下降前沿的关断深度,提升上升后沿的恢复速度的有效途径和方法.本文工作为制成皮秒量级关断,微秒甚至纳秒量级重新打开的快速全光开关器     

The relationship between soft-bottom macrobenthic communities and environmental variables off Ningjin, eastern Shandong Peninsula

Macrobenthic infauna and associated environmental factors influencing the benthic community in the eastern coastal region of Shandong Peninsula were analyzed in four seasonal surveys from January 2007 to October 2007 (30 stations in winter, 20 stations in other three seasons), in order to understand the community structure and the factors unfluencing the benthic distribution. PRIMER 6.0 and SPSS 15.0 software packages were adopted to analyze the environmental and macrobenthic data. The results show that there were 260 macrobenthic species in total collected from the research region. The composition of species is:Polychaeta (94 species), Crustacea (75), Mollusca (56) and Echinoderm (12), among which, only 23 species were common species in the cruises of every season. The dominant species varied from season to season; however, the polychaete species Paralacydonia paradoxa Fauvel and Echinoderm species Amphioplus japonicus (Matsumoto) were always present year-round. The abundance and biomass of the macrobenthos in the research region were variable from season to season. The results of CLUSTER and MDS analysis show that the similarities of macrobenthic structures between the stations were low; most of the similarities were at about 30% of similarity value, only two stations were up to 70%. In accordance with the similarity values of the macrobenthic structures, we divided the 20 stations into five groups by arbitrary similarity level of 30%. The ABC curve indicates that the marcofauna communities in the research region had not been disturbed massively, except two stations, SB1 and SB3. Ecologically, benthos were controlled by a combination of factors such as salinity, phytoplankton, zooplankton, SiO₃-Si and temperature, and no single factor could be considered as an ecological master factor.     

Cadmium release caused by the die-back of the saltmarsh cord grass Spartina anglica in Poole Harbour (UK)

As in many other areas, the perennial cord grass Spartina anglica C.E. Hubbard has been extremely successful at colonising the English and Irish south coasts, but it is dying back for reasons that are not completely understood. The present study considers the relationship between die-back and metal concentrations in estuarine sediment. No obvious impact of the metal contamination on the S. anglica growth/die-back could be detected in the study zone, Poole Harbour, although the die-back did seem to have substantially influenced the metal concentrations in the sediments of the estuary. Based on core profiles, the remaining patches of S. anglica still retain elevated concentrations and the overall cadmium concentrations in the sediments have risen since 1925. However, considerable quantities of the cadmium stored in the sediment by S. anglica appear to have been washed out rapidly in the die-back zones. Should serious erosion of the saltmarsh occur, triggered for example by sea-level rise, then sudden and high levels of cadmium release may cause harmful effects to marine biota.     

Inorganic arsenic speciation in the waters of the Penzé estuary (NW France): Seasonal variations and fluxes to the coastal area

Over this one-year study, the variations of inorganic As species were examined monthly along the salinity gradient of the Penzé estuary (NW France) in relation with different biogeochemical parameters. In most cases, dissolved As exhibited a non-conservative behaviour which resulted from the competition between two major processes. In the upstream section of the estuary, a strong input of both total inorganic As and As(III) occurred. Then, the removal of the same species, under precipitation of iron oxides/oxyhydroxides, was observed in the low-salinity range (S < 10). Using our experimental data, the fluxes of the various As species were estimated for the first time in estuarine waters. Inputs from the river were mainly constituted of particulate As (∼70%). Conversely, dissolved species were predominant in the net fluxes (∼65%) and As(III) accounted for ∼15% of the dissolved net flux.