Simulation of site-scale water fluxes in desert and natural oasis ecosystems of the arid region in Northwest China

The study of water fluxes is important to better understand hydrological cycles in arid regions. Data-driven machine learning models have been recently applied to water flux simulation. Previous studies have built site-scale simulation models of water fluxes for individual sites separately, requiring a large amount of data from each site and significant computation time. For arid areas, there is no consensus as to the optimal model and variable selection method to simulate water fluxes. Using data from seven flux observation sites in the arid region of Northwest China, this study compared the performance of random forest (RF), support vector machine (SVM), back propagation neural network (BPNN), and multiple linear regression (MLR) models in simulating water fluxes. Additionally, the study investigated inter-annual and seasonal variation in water fluxes and the dominant drivers of this variation at different sites. A universal simulation model for water flux was built using the RF approach and key variables as determined by MLR, incorporating data from all sites. Model performance of the SVM algorithm (R² = 0.25–0.90) was slightly worse than that of the RF algorithm (R² = 0.41–0.91); the BPNN algorithm performed poorly in most cases (R² = 0.15–0.88). Similarly, the MLR results were limited and unreliable (R² = 0.00–0.66). Using the universal RF model, annual water fluxes were found to be much higher than the precipitation received at each site, and natural oases showed higher fluxes than desert ecosystems. Water fluxes were highest during the growing season (May–September) and lowest during the non-growing season (October–April). Furthermore, the dominant drivers of water flux variation were various among different sites, but the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), soil moisture and soil temperature were important at most sites. This study provides useful insights for simulating water fluxes in desert and oasis ecosystems, understanding patterns of variation and the underlying mechanisms. Besides, these results can make a contribution as the decision-making basis to the water management in desert and oasis ecosystems.     

Thrombolite fabrics and origins: Influences of diverse microbial and metazoan processes on Cambrian thrombolite variability in the Great Basin,California and Nevada

Thrombolites are a common component of carbonate buildups throughout the Phanerozoic. Although they are usually described as microbialites with an internally clotted texture, a wide range of thrombolite textures have been observed and attributed to diverse processes, leading to difficulty interpreting thrombolites as a group. Interpreting thrombolitic textures in terms of ancient ecosystems requires understanding of diverse processes, specifically those due to microbial growth and metazoan activity. Many of these processes are reflected in thrombolites in the Cambrian Carrara, Bonanza King, Highland Peak and Nopah formations, Great Basin, California, USA; they comprise eight thrombolite classes based on variable arrangements and combinations of depositional and diagenetic components. Four thrombolite classes (hemispherical microdigitate, bushy, coalescent columnar and massive fenestrated) contain distinct mesoscale microbial growth structures that can be distinguished from surrounding detrital sediments and diagenetic features. By contrast, mottled thrombolites have mesostructures that dominantly reflect post‐depositional processes, including bioturbation. Mottled thrombolites are not bioturbated stromatolites, but rather formed from disruption of an originally clotted growth structure. Three thrombolite classes (arborescent digitate, amoeboid and massive) contain more cryptic textures. All eight of the thrombolite classes in this study formed in similar Cambrian depositional environments (marine passive margin). Overall, this suite of thrombolites demonstrates that thrombolites are diverse, in both internal fabrics and origin, and that clotted and patchy microbialite fabrics form from a range of processes. The diversity of textures and their origins demonstrate that thrombolites should not be used to interpret a particular ecological, evolutionary or environmental shift without first identifying the microbial growth structure and distinguishing it from other depositional, post‐depositional and diagenetic components. Furthermore, thrombolites are fundamentally different from stromatolites and dendrolites in which the laminae and dendroids reflect a primary growth structure, because clotted textures in thrombolites do not always reflect a primary microbial growth structure.     

地球观测数据共享的发展和趋势

地球观测数据共享是地球科学和相关学科科研活动中非常重要的基础性工作,是对地观测信息生命周期中的重要环节。受到由资源提供者、资源消费者和资源加工者组成的社会生态系统发展变化的影响,共享模式经历了无共享、项目共享、部门共享、社会共享等渐进的4个发展阶段,并呈现出区域差异和阶段差异。地球观测数据共享的概念体系包含数据开放、数据共享、数据互联等不同层次的问题,并受到信息技术等使能技术的驱动。其中开放性代表数据在网络中可被访问的状态,共享性是对于数据重复使用的授权和模式,互联性则是强调可共享数据资源在科学含义上的相互理解。而地球观测数据共享的技术体系则包含数据开放技术、数据共享技术和数据出版与引用技术。目前地球观测领域的数据共享正在经历巨大的文化、政策、技术和应用变革,下一代的地球观测数据设施集中体现了数据的共享和协作,并将呈现国际化、多学科化、标准化、设施化、大数据化和公众社会化等新的技术特征,将对相关科学活动产生重大影响。     

Coevolution between Terrestrial Ecosystem and Earth Environment

Coevolution between terrestrial ecosystem and Earth environment is a hot research topic in both biology and geology. Last progresses in these field are reported from following research subjects: evolution of jawed vertebrates(gnathostomata) from Silurian; occurrence of earliest forests from Devonian of Xinjiang; biodiversity of insects in amber from Cretaceous of Myanmar; Evolution of primates and geochemistry studies from Eocene/Oligocene; studies of Longdan fauna from Lingxia basin, Gansu Province of earlier Pleistocene and endemic cloven-breast fishes from Pliocene Tibet; the correlations thick-boned fish,Hsianwenia wui, and the aridification of the Qaidam Basin; monsoon climate and its impact on biodiversity; study on the flora from Mankang, Tibet of Miocene and its palaeoclimate; depositional environment and its impact on the preservation of fossils; contraction of high resolution Stratigraphic series by using data of paleomagnetism and mammal fossils.     

动力学模型预测深海鲣鱼(Katsuwonus pelamis)调理食品常温下的货架期

为了预测鲣鱼(Katsuwonus pelamis)调理食品的货架期,将鲣鱼调理食品贮藏在25°C、30°C、35°C温度条件下,通过测定在贮藏期间菌落总数、挥发性盐基氮、过氧化值三个指标的变化,分别对这三个指标与贮藏时间、温度建立一级动力学模型,来预测鲣鱼调理食品的货架期。经计算得出,菌落总数预测模型中的活化能(Ea)及指前因子(k0)分别为30.96 k J/mol和2.06×103,挥发性盐基氮预测模型中的的活化能及指前因子分别为24.35 k J/mol和75.1,过氧化值预测模型中的活化能及指前因子分别为48.75 k J/mol和2.92×106。在32°C和37°C条件下验证动力学模型,结果表明相对误差分别为–5.52%和–6.45%,准确性较好。进一步推算得出,在18°C和23°C常温下贮藏鲣鱼调理食品,产品的货架期为209d和172d。     

围填海对海洋水动力与生态环境的影响

近10年来,中国海岸带围填海活动呈现出规模大、速度快的发展态势。围填海能带来显著的经济效益,但对海洋环境与生态的负面影响也不可忽视。针对围填海对海洋环境和生态的影响及作用机制,分别从水动力和生态系统两个方面进行了概述。围填海改变了海洋的自然几何属性(原始岸线、地形地貌、海湾面积),引起水动力环境的变化(潮汐系统和海湾水交换能力),进而影响了海湾的环境容量;围填海破坏了生物栖息地、导致生物多样性的丧失,影响到生态系统结构与功能的稳定性;水动力与生物多样性的变化可显著影响到生物地球化学过程,加速富营养化进程,恶化水质,增加生态灾害风险。目前,围填海后的生态修复策略主要有增加生物量、建设自然保护区、退陆还海3种方式;而生态补偿策略则多基于“生态系统服务功能与生境面积的大小为线性关系”,通过对其经济价值的量化后进行生态补偿与实施相关政策。国际上,生态系统服务功能的量化参数逐步纳入实际管理,并在线性关系研究的基础上,逐步纳入一些非线性的理念,使生态补偿机制更为合理化;而我国对于围填海生态效应的定量化研究及科学理论在管理政策中的实际应用仍亟待提高。整体而言,全面、准确地评估围填海对海洋环境与生态的影响离不开自然科学与社会科学的交叉与融合。     

Cutting of Phragmites australis as a lake restoration technique: Productivity calculation and nutrient removal in Wuliangsuhai Lake, northern China

Reed is one of the most frequent and dominant species in wetlands all over the world, with common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) as the most widely distributed species. In many wetlands, P. australis plays a highly ambivalent role. On the one hand, in many wetlands it purifies wastewater, provides habitat for numerous species, and is a potentially valuable raw material, while on the other hand it is an invasive species which expands aggressively, prevents fishing, blocks ditches and waterways, and builds monospecies stands. This paper uses the eutrophic reed-swamp of Wuliangsuhai Lake in Inner Mongolia, northern China, as a case to present the multiple benefits of regular reed cutting. The reed area and aboveground biomass production are calculated based on field data. Combined with data about water and reed nutrient content, the impact of reed cutting on the lake nutrient budget (N and P) is investigated. Currently, at this lake around 100,000 tons of reed are harvested in winter annually, removing 16% and 8% of the total nitrogen and phosphorus influx, respectively. Harvesting all available winter reed could increase the nutrient removal rates to 48% and 24%, respectively. We also consider the effects of summer harvesting, in which reed biomass removal could overcompensate for the nutrient influx but could potentially reduce reed regrowth.     

Very high CO2 exchange fluxes at the peak of the rainy season in a West African grazed semi-arid savanna ecosystem

Africa is a sink of carbon, but there are large gaps in our knowledge regarding the CO₂ exchange fluxes for many African ecosystems. Here, we analyse multi-annual eddy covariance data of CO₂ exchange fluxes for a grazed Sahelian semi-arid savanna ecosystem in Senegal, West Africa. The aim of the study is to investigate the high CO₂ exchange fluxes measured at the peak of the rainy season at the Dahra field site: gross primary productivity and ecosystem respiration peaked at values up to ?48 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1 and 20 μmol CO₂ m^?2 s^?1, respectively. Possible explanations for such high fluxes include a combination of moderately dense herbaceous C4 ground vegetation, high soil nutrient availability and a grazing pressure increasing the fluxes. Even though the peak net CO₂ uptake was high, the annual budget of ?229 ± 7 ± 49 g C m^?2 y^?1 (±random errors ± systematic errors) is comparable to that of other semi-arid savanna sites due the short length of the rainy season. An inter-comparison between the open-path and a closed-path infrared sensor indicated no systematic errors related to the instrumentation. An uncertainty analysis of long-term NEE budgets indicated that corrections for air density fluctuations were the largest error source (11.3% out of 24.3% uncertainty). Soil organic carbon data indicated a substantial increase in the soil organic carbon pool for the uppermost .20 m. These findings have large implications for the perception of the carbon sink/source of Sahelian ecosystems and its response to climate change.     

典型断陷盆地流域生态系统服务价值时空差异研究

以典型断陷盆地——小江流域为研究对象,以1982年的TM影像、2003年的Landsat ETM+影像和2016年的Landsat OLI影像为数据源,结合云南省测绘局所提供的150 000的土地利用状况图,采用 Costanza 公式对生态系统服务价值进行评估,精细刻画出云南小江流域“盆—山”共存的地质分异结构下生态系统服务价值的时空变化特征。结果表明:（1）小江流域以农田生态系统为主,研究期内生态系统格局总体稳定,耕地、建设用地、林地和园地都有不同程度的增加,而未利用地面积减少,水域面积基本不变;（2）1982-2016年,研究区生态系统服务总价值呈上升趋势,1982、2003和2016年生态系统服务总价值分别为90.11×108元、105.65×108元和136.81×108元,耕地、林地、园地和水域的生态系统服务价值整体上升,而未利用地的生态系统服务价值减少;（3）整体上,小江流域南部和东部生态系统服务价值增加明显,而中部和西部地区生态系统服务价值呈阶段性变化或持续下降趋势,小江岩溶河谷区的生态系统服务价值最高,而沉积平坝区的生态系统服务价值密度最低,且为唯一一个衰退型生态系统服务功能区;（4）研究期内小江流域各项生态系统服务价值均呈上升趋势,调节服务居主导地位,且以气候调节服务价值最高。小江流域生态系统服务价值缺乏弹性,水域生态系统面积变化对研究区生态系统价值的变化具有放大作用。实施封山育林、退耕还林、小流域治理工程等石漠化综合治理工程可增加生态系统服务价值。