Comparisons between the reproductive biology of black bream Acanthopagrus butcheri (Teleostei: Sparidae) in four estuaries with widely differing characteristics

The reproductive biology of Acanthopagrus butcheri has been studied in the permanently open Swan River and intermittently open Moore River estuaries on the lower west coast of Australia (31--32 °S) and in the permanently open Nornalup Walpole and normally closed Wellstead estuaries on the southern coast of Western Australia (34--35 °S). Trends exhibited by gonadosomatic indices, gonadal maturity stages and the sizes and developmental stages of the oocytes demonstrate that A. butcher typically spawns in spring and early summer. However, spawning occurred in salinities ranging from as low as 3.5-8 g L^–1 in the Moore River Estuary to as high as 41-45 g L^–1 in the Wellstead Estuary. Furthermore, water temperatures during spawning were greater in the two northern estuaries (19.7--28.5 °C) than in the two southern and cooler estuaries (17.5--23.4 °C). Histological studies strongly indicate that A. butcheri spawn more than once in a breeding season and demonstrate that the development of its oocytes exhibits group synchrony sensu de Vlaming (1983). The ages and total lengths at which, on average, female and male A. butcheri both first attain maturity in the Swan River Estuary were ca 2 years and ca 215 mm. However, the age at which individual fish in that system reach maturity was influenced by body size. This suggests that the attainment of first maturity at an older age but smaller length in the Moore River and Nornalup Walpole estuaries than is the case in the Swan River Estuary is a consequence of the slower growth rates of A. butcheri in those estuaries. The combination of the young age (ca 2 years) but small length (ca 145 mm) at which maturity is first attained in the Wellstead Estuary could have resulted from selection pressures brought about by high mortality rates and/or heavy fishing pressure in this estuary. The mean fecundity of A. butcheri, based on the combined number of yolk vesicle and yolk granule oocytes found in ovaries just prior to the onset of spawning, was 1580 × 10³. The significance of the sizes at first maturity, minimum legal length for capture, mesh selectivity data and closure of certain regions of estuaries to fishing for the management of the recreational and commercial fishery for A. butcheri is discussed.     

基于WRF和统计方法的气温空间尺度分析

WRF模式作为一个中尺度气候模式,其分辨率从几米到几千公里,其自身的双向嵌套特征也为进行动力尺度下推提供了有力条件。本文利用WRF模式和传统的统计方法对研究区的气温进行尺度下推。首先,通过动力下推得到不同分辨率下的气温空间分布,并选取15个气象站点进行点对点验证,为了更明显观察不同尺度间的差异,对不同尺度的输出与ANUSPLIN插值结果进行比对,结果显示动力尺度下推中,分辨率越高模拟效果越好。其次,我们采用传统的统计下推方法,从27km下推到3km分辨率,并与WRF和ANUSPLIN插值在该尺度的结果进行对比分析,结果显示统计下推结果的趋势与动力下推的插值结果是一致的,但具有明显的马赛克效果,通过分析认为,这与统计方法的尺度下推只考虑高程信息的变化对气温的影响,而未考虑其他因素有关,如若在下推时加入更多的变量,如对温度有较大影响的坡度、坡向、土地覆被类型等因素,综合分析不同尺度之间的关系,会使下推结果有所改善。     

Surface temperature differences between minerals in crystalline rocks: Implications for granular disaggregation of granites through thermal fatigue

Thermal expansion differences between minerals within rocks under insolation have previously been assumed to drive breakdown by means of granular disaggregation. However, there have been no definitive demonstrations of the efficacy of this weathering mechanism. Different surface temperatures between minerals should magnify thermal expansion differences, and thus subject adjacent minerals to repeated stresses that might cause breakdown through fatigue failure. This work confirms the existence of surface temperature differences between minerals in granitic rocks under simulated short-term temperature fluctuations so as to discriminate their potential for initiating granular disaggregation. The influence of colour, as a surrogate for albedo, and crystal size, as a function of thermal mass are specifically identified because of their ease of quantification. Four rock types with a range of these properties were examined, and subjected to repeated short-term temperature cycles by radiative heating and cooling under laboratory conditions. Results show that while albedo is the main control for overall and individual maximum temperatures, crystal size is the main factor controlling higher temperature differences between minerals. Thus, stones with large differences of mineral sizes can undergo magnified stresses due to thermal expansion differences.     

Why is Shirase Glacier turning its flow direction eastward?

We applied an image correlation method to Japanese Earth Resources Satellite-1 (JERS-1) synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data obtained from 1996 to 1998 to examine flow velocity within Shirase Glacier, Antarctica. From the grounding line to the downstream region of the glacier, the obtained ice-flow velocity was systematically higher on the western streamline than the eastern. The differences between the two streamlines were 0.31 km/a in 1996 and 0.37 km/a in 1998, significantly larger than the error estimate of 0.03 km/a. The direction of ice flow was about 312° at the grounding line and changed to 327° at 10 km, 346° at 20 km and 2° at 30 km downstream from the grounding line. The total accumulated deflection is 50° to the east. Under the assumption of the conservation of ice mass across the glacier, the observed eastward change in flow direction can be explained by an asymmetric deepening of bedrock topography, that is, across the 8 km width of the glacier, the eastern side is 50 m (10%) deeper than the western side. This eastward turning of flow direction appears to be accelerated by tributary inlets, that flow to the north and northeast at 60–75% of the velocity of inlets on the western streamline.     

喀斯特地区地表温度空间降尺度方法初探

喀斯特地区地形起伏大,常规的降尺度方法及所选择的因子对其不适用。该文根据喀斯特地区的特点,选取反射率、遥感指数及高程因子为尺度因子,通过随机森林模型建立MODIS第31、32波段辐射亮度数据和尺度因子之间的非线性关系,构建适合喀斯特地区的随机森林(Karst Random Forest,KRF)模型,成功将空间分辨率为1 km的热红外辐射亮度降至100 m,最后利用劈窗算法反演得到空间分辨率为100 m的地表温度。将KRF方法与仅考虑常规因子的多因子随机森林回归模型(MTVRF)和热锐化算法(TsHARP)对比,结果表明:1)在不同高差的喀斯特地区,KRF方法可较大程度提高地表温度降尺度精度,均方根误差(RMSE)在遵义市西北部和贵阳市以南地区分别为2.46 K和1.45 K,较MTVRF模型分别降低了0.1419 K和0.2928 K,较TsHARP算法分别降低了0.6204 K和0.6953 K,且在地形起伏度较低的喀斯特山区城市(贵阳市以南)表现更好;2)在喀斯特地区不同地类上,KRF方法效果也较好,其中植被区域最优,RMSE为1.41 K,破碎的裸土区域RMSE为1.84 K。研究显示,考虑特殊尺度因子的KRF方法可提高喀斯特地区地表温度的降尺度精度,为该地区以地表温度为基础的研究提供更精细可靠的地表温度产品。     

The Spatial Pattern of Complementary and Alternative Medical Offices Across Ontario and Within Intermediate-Sized Metropolitan Areas

Complementary and alternative medical approaches such as chiropractic, massage, acupuncture, holistic, and naturopathic therapies act as complements to, and in some cases replacements for, conventional medical techniques. The growing acceptance of the benefits of "traditional" medicine in the Canadian province of Ontario continues to provide complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) practitioners with business opportunities, but to date little attention has been directed toward the spatial patterns exhibited by these operations. A province-wide database of 4,599 records, containing addresses and selected characteristics (e.g., sales, employment) of CAM offices, is utilized to describe the geographic pattern across Ontario. An additional database allows for the assessment of four intermediate-sized census metropolitan areas (CMAs) in Ontario (Kingston, Guelph, Thunder Bay, and Greater Sudbury), and it is determined (using a general nearest neighbor analysis and a nearest neighbor hierarchical clustering procedure) that CAM offices are significantly clustered in specific portions of each CMA. The results from a survey administered to CAM practitioners suggests that the benefits of urbanization economies are biasing location decisions within these CMAs, and that localization economies advantages appear to be influencing complementary and alternative healthcare specialists to share offices.     

Optimum temperature for the growth performance of juvenile orange-spotted grouper （Epinephelus coioides H.）

Effects of water temperature （17, 21, 25, 30 and 35℃） and body size （14.75-281.41 g initial body weight） on food consumption, growth, feed conversion, and dry matter content in orange-spotted grouper fed to satiation were investigated. The combined effect of temperature （T, ℃） and body weight （W, g） on maximum food consumption （Cmax, g/day） was described as： InCmax=-7.411＋0.828 InW＋0.317T4）.004 7T2, and the optimum feeding temperature was 33.9℃. The combined effect of temperature and body weight on growth （G） was described as： lnG=-4.461-0.2081nW＋0.394T-0.006 3T^2. The optimum growth temperature was 31.4℃, whereas overall growth rates were high at 25, 30 and 35 ℃. Feed conversion efficiencies （FCE, %）, increasing first and then decreasing with increasing temperature, averaged from 1.8 to 2.1 in terms of dry weight of food fish. The optimum temperature for FCE tended to be lower than that for growth or feeding. Dry matter content increased with both increasing water temperature （17, 25, 30 and 35℃） and body weight, and the combined effect of temperature and body weight on dry matter content （DM, %） was described as： lnDM =3.232＋0.01 4 lnW-0.004 4T＋0.001 2TInW.     

Development of a diatom-based specific conductivity model for the glacio-isostatic lakes of Truelove Lowland: implications for paleoconductivity and paleoenvironmental reconstructions in Devon Island lakes, N.W.T., Canada

Diatoms are identified and enumerated from the surface sediments of 100 lakes of Truelove Lowland, Devon Island, N.W.T., Canada. These lakes range from large oligotrophic lakes, to small tundra ponds, to coastal marine lagoons which are diverse in terms of ionic concentration and composition. The relationship between diatoms and 15 limnological variables is examined using Canonical Correspondence Analysis (CCA). Specific conductivity is identified as the most important variable influencing the distribution of diatoms in the Truelove lakes. A Weighted Averaging (WA) calibration model is developed to predict diatom-inferred specific conductivity. The reliability of the model is tested by evaluating the correlation between observed and diatom-inferred values and determining the error of prediction by bootstrapping. The applicability of the predictive conductivity equation is demonstrated by reconstructing the paleoconductivity history of Fish Lake.     

基于GWR模型的道路网络对森林碳密度干扰的地理变异

以闽江上游地区为例,在分析三明市2007—2016年森林碳密度时空动态的基础上,采用常规的以及改进后的道路网络测度指标,应用缓冲区分析方法和地理加权回归（Geographically Weighted Regression,GWR）模型,从线上和面上分别探讨道路网络对森林碳密度干扰的地理变异规律。结果表明：① 碳密度受到道路网络的较大影响,路网影响域内外碳密度的大小排序为：路网影响域内＜整个研究区＜路网影响域外;多条道路影响域重叠区的碳密度(26.330 Mg/hm²)明显低于单条道路影响域的碳密度(37.406 Mg/hm²);不同等级道路影响域的碳密度由大到小依次为县道＞高速＞省道＞其它道路＞国道＞乡道。道路网络对2007—2016年碳密度的降低也有明显影响。② GWR模型的分析结果表明,路网对碳密度的影响程度随着样点的变化而变化,具有“空间非平稳性”。碳密度随着路网密度的增加而降低,而随着离道路距离的增加而增加。③ 研究区西北部和中部,GWR的回归系数及相关系数均较大,表明这2个区域道路对碳密度影响大且解释力皆较强。