Impacts of maintenance channel dredging in a northern Adriatic coastal lagoon. II: Effects on macrobenthic assemblages in channels and ponds

Coastal lagoons are ephemeral habitats whose conservation requires human intervention, such as maintenance dredging of inner channels. Dredging can reduce the abundance of benthic species due to the removal of individuals with the sediment, modify sediment properties, and resuspend fine sediment, nutrients and pollutants, which can lead to eutrophication, hypoxic events and increasing toxicity. Both direct effects in the dredged channel and possible indirect effects in surrounding shallow areas could be expected. This study assesses the effects of the channel maintenance dredging, performed between October 2004 and August 2005, on the invertebrate assemblages both in channels and adjacent ponds in the northern Adriatic coastal lagoon of Pialassa Baiona. The lagoon is affected by eutrophication, chemical and thermal pollution from wastewater treatment and power plants. Three impacted sites were located in the dredged channel and three in the adjacent interconnected shallow water ponds, while three non-impacted sites were located in a channel and in a pond far from the dredged area. Replicate samples were collected from each site one time before and one time after the dredging operations. Despite the extent of the intervention, effects of the dredging on macrobenthic assemblages were detected only within the dredged channel, while in the surrounding ponds no clear and unequivocal effects were found. In particular the dredging could have promoted the increase of the abundance of the polychaete Streblospio shrubsolii in the southern and central parts of the dredged channel and the increase in abundance of the amphipod Corophium insidiosum in the northern side, compared to the controls. Instead, species diversity was reduced in the central and northern parts of the dredged channel. These effects on the macrobenthic invertebrate assemblages could be related to the observed changes of sediment characteristics, contamination and toxicity. Overall, direct effects on benthic assemblages in the dredged channels were more detectable than the possible secondary effects in the surrounding shallow ponds, where the higher spatial heterogeneity can mask any relevant effects.     

Extension of a qualitative model on nutrient cycling and transformation to include microtidal estuaries on wave-dominated coasts: Southern hemisphere perspective

Estuaries are dynamic transition zones acting as filters and transformers of nutrients passing from catchments to the sea. We propose an extension to an existing southern hemisphere model on nutrient dynamics in estuaries to include the relatively constricted, microtidal estuaries located along wave-dominated coasts in the region, specifically focusing on the limiting macronutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) and on key processes, including physical (e.g. flushing, mixing and sedimentation), geochemical (e.g. flocculation), biochemical (e.g. remineralisation) and biological (e.g. primary production) processes. A simplified model of the physical states (primarily controlled by hydrological characteristics) is used as the basis for the qualitative model, where these are defined in terms of characteristic salinity-induced stratification of the water column, flushing time and the mouth condition. Four physical states are identified: a freshwater-dominated state, freshwater pulsed/recovery state, marine-dominated state and the closed mouth state. The states and their physical characteristics largely resemble that of the earlier model, except that the extended model reflects the dynamics of restricted inlets and introduces the closed mouth state. This model specifically explores the variation within southern African estuarine systems to better inform research and management programmes on the appropriate trophic, temporal and spatial scales at which uncertainties in ecosystem functioning need resolving. It can also be applied to other regions in the southern hemisphere, and even the northern hemisphere, with similar hydrological and estuarine geomorphological characteristics (e.g. the Mediterranean coast, the west coasts of North and South America, and the south-west and south-eastern coasts of Australia).     

南海南部断裂的分形研究

分形几何作为定量描述自然界中复杂非线性现象的强有力工具,将其应用于南海南部断裂体系的研究中,通过数盒子法计算了断裂分布的分维值。研究结果表明这种方法是可行的,断裂分布的分维值能有效地描述断裂的空间分布特征。南海南部断裂体系在标度区间25～250km内具有很好的统计自相似性,全部断裂的分维值为1．6601,北东向断裂的为1．3875,北西向断裂的为1．2693。根据断裂分维等值线,沿西南海盆扩张轴,两侧断裂呈对称展布;北东向的与北西向的在空间上有一定的互补性,这反映了两组断裂在发育过程中的相互制约性。结合南海的构造演化及南海南部油气盆地的分布,初步探讨了断裂分形特征与南海的构造演化及断裂分形特征与油气盆地分布之间的关系。     

苏南地区近20年城市用地扩展的特点与问题

城市用地规模扩大和结构演变是城市化过程在空间地域上所反映的重要特征。随着城市人口快速增长、经济建设和各项事业的不断发展,城市用地规模迅速扩大,城乡用地矛盾也日趋突出,尤其是本来人多地少的苏南地区更是如此。本文试图通过近20年苏州、无锡和常州三市用地扩展和结构演变特点、问题和发展趋势分析,探讨城市建设用地扩展的宏观调控对策,为城乡土地规划和管理提供决策参考。     

基于PPT战略的广东省乐昌市生态旅游扶贫模式探讨

以贫困人口受益为出发点,基于有利于贫困人口发展的旅游(Pro-Poor Tourism,PPT)战略,以广东省乐昌市为例,开展适用于中国南方林区生态旅游扶贫开发的发展模式和旅游扶贫产业的发展路径研究.结果表明:1)政府部门、旅游企业、乡村社区和非营利社会组织都应在提升贫困人口参与度、减轻贫困和生态保护方面承担责任,具体...     

ETHNIC NEIGHBORHOODS AND URBAN REVITALIZATION: CAN EUROPE USE THE AMERICAN MODEL?

ABSTRACT. Ethnic neighborhoods have long been used to facilitate urban revitalization in older, inner‐city neighborhoods in American cities, but this strategy is much less common in European cities. This is especially surprising because immigrants make up a significant percentage of the population in a large number of those cities. This article explores the role that a largely invented Little Italy has played in revitalizing a section of downtown San Diego in contrast to the difficulty of creating such districts in European cities. The question posed here is, Will this contrast in approaches and outcomes remain indefinitely, or will the use of ethnically themed revitalization strategies become more alike as globalization and the expansion of the European Union serve to lessen historic ethnic tensions and increase the number of distinctive immigrant districts in Europe?     

曲周地区早、中全新世古年径流深状况的推估

利用中国北方 30个小汇水流域的现代资料数据建立了年平均温度和年降水-年平均径流深关系式 ;利用先前测得的河北平原南部曲周地区的河间洼地沉积物的磁化率和碳酸盐氧同位素组分以及其他研究者建立的磁化率与气候变量之间的关系式和氧同位素组分与气候变量之间的关系式 ,推估了曲周地区早、中全新世的古年温度状况和古年降水状况 ;以推估的古年温度和古年降水以及建立的年平均温度和年降水-年平均径流深关系式 ,推估了曲周地区早、中全新世的古年径流深状况。     

Tectonic and climatic controls on historical landscape modifications: The avulsion of the lower Cecina River (Tuscany, central Italy)

Integration of geomorphology, stratigraphy, sedimentology and morphotectonics in the analysis of the lower Cecina River reach, coastal Tuscany, reveals an undocumented historical channel avulsion. Geomorphological evidence and radiocarbon dating support that, from the Last Glacial Maximum until the end of the 16th century, the Cecina River flowed north of the present course and formed a well-developed cuspate delta. Two concurrent factors, active tectonics as a preparing factor and discharge regime as an activation factor, are thus inferred to have favored the avulsion of Cecina River. Fragmentary archaeological and historical records indicate that the late Holocene Cecina River plain was virtually unpopulated until the latest 16th century. This seems the main reason why high-magnitude hydrological events and prominent river channel avulsions were not reported in historical chronicles. From this perspective, geomorphological data may provide important knowledge and understanding of recent dynamics of environmental change when historical record is lacking or missing.     

A new interpretation of terraces in the Taranto Gulf: the role of extensional faulting

The Taranto Gulf of southern Italy provides an excellent case where it is possible to document the importance of normal faults in displacing terraced deposits. The study area is located at the front of the southern Apennines, that is a fold-and-thrust belt developed following the closure of the Mesozoic Tethys Ocean, and the deformation of the Adriatic passive margin during Tertiary and Quaternary times. The outer, eastern parts of the belt were structured in Quaternary, i.e. up to Middle Pleistocene times.The front of the chain is partially sealed by Pliocene–Pleistocene foredeep deposits, which represent the infill of the Bradanic Trough. The upper portion of the middle Pleistocene succession consists of marine sands and conglomerates that in the previous literature have been arranged in several orders of terraces. Analysis of aerial photographs and geomorphological mapping has shown the occurrence of prominent geomorphic lineaments, which appear to control the local drainage pattern. Some of these structures coincide with the map trace of normal faults that produce vertical offsets of the marine terrace surfaces in the order of ca. 10 m each. Many of the fault escarpments reduce their elevation and terminate laterally. In other cases fault escarpments are laterally continuous and can be traced for up to 3–4 km. Scarp height is between 2 and 10 m. Their mean trend ranges from NNE–SSW to ENE–WSW and defines an arcuate pattern that mimics the present coastline.An accurate geomorphological, sedimentological and stratigraphic analysis has been carried out in a selected area of the Bradanic Trough (Pisticci transect) to investigate in detail the relationships between normal faults and the development of the terraces. This analysis allowed us to recognise five facies associations related to the upper and lower beachface and to the neritic clays which represent the substratum of the terraces. More importantly, we observed that all the terraced deposits in the Pisticci transect could be referred to a single sedimentary body displaced by faults. The terraced deposits are related to an event of beach progradation, of Middle Pleistocene age, which has been documented in other areas of the Italian peninsula. These results outline an intimate relationship between the arcuate trend of the recognised fault set and the present coastline pattern. The development of the normal faults can be related to large-scale gravitational processes developed after the general tilting towards the SE of the Bradanic Trough.     

Amplifying (or Reversing) the Territorial Disparities in Land Vulnerability to Soil Degradation: The Case of Italy

This article analyzes the territorial disparities in the level of land vulnerability (TDLV) to soil degradation caused by five processes (soil erosion, salinization, sealing, contamination, and compaction) as well as by climate variations in Italy in 1990 and 2000. The analysis reveals, for each soil degradation process, a typical spatial distribution across Italy. Three processes (soil salinization, compaction, and sealing) contribute significantly to the increase in land vulnerability, which is mainly concentrated in risky areas. The observed disparities highlight a growing environmental divide between northern Italy (an economically developed region, not at risk of desertification) and southern Italy and the two main islands (dry, disadvantaged regions at risk of desertification). The knowledge of such a territorial divide and of the underlying soil degradation processes is regarded as important for environmental policies at the country and regional scales aimed at sustaining the economic and socioenvironmental cohesion between areas that are either vulnerable or nonvulnerable to soil degradation. The proposed approach should be seen as part of a decision-making tool informing policies and supporting the design of management solutions, hopefully reversing disparities in land vulnerability to soil degradation.