Sustainability evaluation of different systems for sea cucumber (Apostichopus japonicus) farming based on emergy theory

Emergy analysis is effective for analyzing ecological economic systems. However, the accuracy of the approach is af-fected by the diversity of economic level, meteorological and hydrological parameters...     

The PISA grammar decodes diverse human–environment approaches

Human–environment interactions are studied by several groups of scholars who have elaborated different approaches to describe, analyze, and explain these interactions, and eventually propose paths for management. The SETER project (Socio-Ecological Theories and Empirical Research) analyzed and compared how “flag-holders” of distinct school of thought in human–environment scholarship approached a number of empirical problems of environmental management. This paper presents the findings from this experiment by concentrating on how representatives of four schools of thought approached one of these case studies: the plant health crisis in greenhouse tomato production in south of France. Our analysis suggests that these approaches share a common conceptual vocabulary composed of four explanatory elements of change (Power, Incentives, System and Adaptation-PISA). We argue that what distinguishes these schools from one another is the syntax—the “rules” by which researchers in each of the sub-disciplines tend to organize the components of this shared conceptual vocabulary. In other words, the schools under scrutiny are differentiated not so much by what they speak of, but rather in what order, or hierarchy, do they tend to rank the importance and/or the sequence of each of these concepts in human–environment explanations. The results of our experiment support the view that communication and cooperation across the diverse human–environment traditions is possible and productive. At the same time, however, we argue that it is the distinctiveness of the claims yielded by these different schools of thought that augment our collective understanding of complex socio-ecological problems. Attempts to integrate these perspectives in one unitary approach would undermine the intellectual wealth necessary to meet the challenges of the Anthropocene.     

Error analysis of proper motions in decination obtained for 807 Hipparcos stars from PZT observations over many decades

After publication of the Hipparcos catalogue (in 1997), a few new astrometric catalogues have appeared (TYCHO‐2, ARIHIP, etc.), as a good combination of the Hipparcos satellite and ground‐based data, to get more accurate coordinates and proper motions of stars than the Hipparcos catalogue ones. There are also investigations on improving the Hipparcos coordinates and proper motions by using the astrometric observations of latitude and universal time variations (via observed stars referred to Hipparcos catalogue), together with Hipparcos data, carried out during the last few years. These kind of ground‐based data were collected at the end of the last century by J. Vondrák. There are about 4.4 million optical observations made worldwide at 33 observatories and with 47 instruments during 1899.7–1992.0; our Belgrade visual zenith telescope data (for the period 1949.0‐1986.0) were included. First of all, these data were used to determine the Earth Orientation Parameters – EOP, but they are also useful for the opposite task – to check the accuracy of coordinates and proper motions of Hipparcos stars which were observed from the ground over many decades. Here, we use the latitude part of ten Photographic Zenith Tubes – PZT data (more than 0.9 million observations made at 6 observatories during the time interval 1915.8–1992.0), and combine them with the Hipparcos catalogue ones, with suitable weights, in order to check the proper motions in declination for 807 common PZT/Hipparcos stars (and to construct the PZT catalogue of μ_δ for 807 stars). Our standard errors in proper motions in declination of these stars are less than or equal to the Hipparcos ones for 423 stars. The mean value of standard errors of 313 stars observed over more than 20 years by PZT is 0.40 mas/yr. This is 53% of 0.75 mas/yr (the suitable value from the Hipparcos catalogue). We used the Least Squares Method – LSM with the linear model. Our results are in good agreement with the Earth Orientation Catalogue – EOC‐2 and the new Hipparcos ones. The main steps of the method and the investigations of systematic errors in determined proper motions (the proper motion differences with respect to the Hipparcos values, the EOC‐2 ones and the new Hipparcos ones, as a function of α, δ, and magnitude) are presented here. A comparison of the four catalogues by pairs shows that there is no significant relationship between the differences of their μ_δ values and magnitudes and color indices of the common 807 stars. All catalogues have relatively small random and systematic errors which are close to each other. However, the comparison shows that our formal errors are too small. They are underestimated by a factor of nearly 1.7 (for EOC‐2, it is 2.0) if we take the new Hipparcos (or Hipparcos) data as reference (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Pulsations and planets: The asteroseismology‐extrasolar‐planet connection

The disciplines of asteroseismology and extrasolar planet science overlap methodically in the branch of high‐precision photometric time series observations. Light curves are, amongst others, useful to measure intrinsic stellar variability due to oscillations, as well as to discover and characterize those extrasolar planets that transit in front of their host stars, periodically causing shallow dips in the observed brightness. Both fields ultimately derive fundamental parameters of stellar and planetary objects, allowing to study for example the physics of various classes of pulsating stars, or the variety of planetary systems, in the overall context of stellar and planetary system formation and evolution. Both methods typically also require extensive spectroscopic follow‐up to fully explore the dynamic characteristics of the processes under investigation. In particularly interesting cases, a combination of observed pulsations and signatures of a planet allows to characterize a system's components to a very high degree of completeness by combining complementary information. The planning of the relevant space missions has consequently converged with respect to science cases, where at the outset there was primarily a coincidence in instrumentation and techniques. Whether space‐ or ground‐based, a specific type of stellar pulsations can themselves be used in an innovative way to search for extrasolar planets. Results from this additional method at the interface of stellar pulsation studies and exoplanet hunts in a beyond‐mainstream area are presented (© 2010 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

High-contrast coronagraph for ground-based imaging of Jupiter-like planets

We propose a high-contrast coronagraph for direct imaging of young Jupiter-like planets orbiting nearby bright stars. The coronagraph employs a steptransmission filter in which the intensity is apodized with a finite number of steps with identical transmission in each step. It should be installed on a large ground-based telescope equipped with a state-of-the-art adaptive optics system. In this case, contrast ratios around 10-6 should be accessible within 0.1 arcsec of the central star. In recent progress, a...     

The Hill stability of inclined small mass binary systems in three-body systems with special application to triple star systems, extrasolar planetary systems and Binary Kuiper Belt systems

The dynamical stability of a bound triple system composed of a small binary or minor planetary system moving on a orbit inclined to a central third body is discussed in terms of Hill stability for the full three-body problem. The situation arises in the determination of stability of triple star systems against disruption and component exchange and the determination of stability of extrasolar planetary systems and minor planetary systems against disruption, component exchange or capture. The Hill stability criterion is applied to triple star systems and extrasolar planetary systems, the Sun-Earth-Moon system and Kuiper Belt binary systems to determine the critical distances for stable orbits. It is found that increasing the inclination of the third body decreases the Hill regions of stability. Increasing the eccentricity of the binary also produces similar effects.These type of changes make exchange or disruption of the component masses more likely. Increasing the eccentricity of the binary orbit relative to the third body substantially decreases stability regions as the eccentricity reaches higher values. The Kuiper Belt binaries were found to be stable if they move on circular orbits. Taking into account the eccentricity, it is less clear that all the systems are stable.     

Paradigms for planktonic assemblages: 50 years of contributions from the Leigh Marine Laboratory,Northland, New Zealand

Abstract

Plankton includes the primary producers and consumers that are critical for healthy ecosystem function in the marine realm. My objective was to identify the major contributions of the Leigh Marine Laboratory to our broader understanding of planktonic assemblages. Significant contributions were made prior to 1990 on the ecology of larval fishes. From the 1990s the focus changed to the sensory biology of larval invertebrates and fishes, with a strong emphasis given to the role of reef sound in attracting potential settlers. Both early and post 1980s research has been highly influential in a paradigm shift away from passively drifting larvae that have little control over their fate. Important contributions have also been made on the dynamics of nutrient–phytoplankton interactions, larval development and aquaculture. Opportunities abound for future research on the dynamics of planktonic assemblages in shelf waters and in changing seas.     

A dual site study of the rainwater chemistry within the Western Pacific region

The two-year (1999–2000) rainwater chemistry at two monitoring sites in nearby coastal areas [Taiwan (TW) and Hong Kong (HK)] within the Western Pacific region has been studied. The volume weighted average pH values for the entire sampling period in TW and HK were 4.6 and 4.2, respectively. Sea salt Na⁺ and Cl⁻ were the most abundant species in the TW samples but and H⁺ were the most abundant in the HK samples. The sea salt and concentrations at TW were higher than those at HK both in the cold and warm seasons. Chloride depletion was minimal in the rainwater samples at both sites. Non seasalt- was associated with . Under the influence of the East Asian Winter Monsoon, the back-trajectory studies revealed that elevated anthropogenic species concentrations were associated with trajectories (1) very near to the continental boundary layer of Mainland China; or (2) along the coastline of Eastern China where large cities/industrial areas are located or (3) passing through the region of stagnant air over Northern/Eastern China. The lowest anthropogenic and crustal species concentrations measured in HK are associated with the summer monsoon and are attributed not only to the clean marine air masses but also to the relatively low SO₂, NO _x and NH₃ emissions from the South/ South East Asian countries, as well as infrequent biomass burning activities and wet scavenging at sources during the summer months. Approaching tropical cyclones led to the lowest pH values (4.2 in TW and 3.8 in HK) amongst the other weather categories. The findings here have been compared with other studies within East Asia and elsewhere.     

Breaking down fences: Recoupling social-ecological systems for biodiversity conservation in Namibia

Herero communities in northern Namibia recently formed the Ehi-rovipuka Conservancy under a national Community-Based Natural Resource Management Programme (CBNRM) that has received international acclaim for wildlife conservation and poverty alleviation. Nearly a century ago ancestors of the Herero were ousted from Etosha National Park, contiguous to the Ehi-rovipuka Conservancy. The communities have been denied access ever since. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were employed to elucidate relationships of the Herero and their communal conservancy with the Etosha National Park. Memory mapping and villager interviews revealed a profound sense of lost traditional territory inside Etosha and a strong desire to return to the Park, not to harvest wildlife but to restore cultural practices and reap certain benefits from the Park. We term the separation of the communities from their traditional territory as a ‘decoupling’ of people from their local environment. We further suggest that the potential benefits that villagers identify from the Park represent mechanisms for ‘recoupling’ local social-ecological systems, requiring the literal and figurative breakdown of the Park fence. We describe a model to illustrate decoupling and recoupling mechanisms, and argue that recoupled social-ecological systems are necessary for long-term conservation of biodiversity. We further suggest a collaborative landscape model for biodiversity conservation featuring institutional linkages and integration between community-conserved areas, integrated conservation corridors for connectivity, and dynamic, mobile reserves collaboratively integrated with national parks management. This model may have applicability in Namibia and similar regions elsewhere with low population densities, high species endemism and prevailing or emerging threats to biodiversity.     

直升机TEM系统发展研究现状及应用前景

文章回顾了直升机TEM技术的发展历史,阐述了发展直升机TEM系统的必然性;根据国外直升机TEM系统的研制和应用现状,对直升机TEM技术的系统特点进行了论述;在综合分析的基础上,指出了我国应该发展的直升机TEM系统类型,以及在我国地质勘查中的应用前景。