The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine: Multi-decadal whole-watershed experimental acidification

The Bear Brook Watershed in Maine (BBWM) is a long-term research site established to study the response of forest ecosystem function to environmental disturbances of chronic acidic deposition and ecosystem nitrogen enrichment. Starting in 1989, the West Bear (treated) watershed received bimonthly applications of ammonium sulfate [(NH₄)₂SO₄] fertilizer from above the canopy, whereas East Bear (reference) received ambient deposition. The treatments were stopped in 2016, marking the beginning of the recovery phase. Research at the site has focused on soils, streams, and vegetation. Here, we describe data collected over three decades at the BBWM—input and stream output nutrient fluxes, quantitative soil pits and soil chemistry, and soil temperature and moisture.     

High-frequency monitoring of hydrological and biogeochemical fluxes in forested catchments of southern Chile

The variability of rainfall-dependent streamflow at catchment scale modulates many ecosystem processes in wet temperate forests. Runoff in small mountain catchments is characterized by a quick response to rainfall pulses which affects biogeochemical fluxes to all downstream systems. In wet-temperate climates, water erosion is the most important natural factor driving downstream soil and nutrient losses from upland ecosystems. Most hydrochemical studies have focused on water flux measurements at hourly scales, along with weekly or monthly samples for water chemistry. Here, we assessed how water and element flows from broad-leaved, evergreen forested catchments in southwestern South America, are influenced by different successional stages, quantifying runoff, sediment transport and nutrient fluxes during hourly rainfall events of different intensities. Hydrograph comparisons among different successional stages indicated that forested catchments differed in their responses to high intensity rainfall, with greater runoff in areas covered by secondary forests (SF), compared to old-growth forest cover (OG) and dense scrub vegetation (CH). Further, throughfall water was greatly nutrient enriched for all forest types. Suspended sediment loads varied between successional stages. SF catchments exported 455 kg of sediments per ha, followed by OG with 91 kg/ha and CH with 14 kg/ha, corresponding to 11 rainfall events measured from December 2013 to April 2014. Total nitrogen (TN) and phosphorus (TP) concentrations in stream water also varied with rainfall intensity. In seven rainfall events sampled during the study period, CH catchments exported less nutrients (46 kg/ha TN and 7 kg/ha TP) than SF catchments (718 kg/ha TN and 107 kg/ha TP), while OG catchments exported intermediate sediment loads (201 kg/ha TN and 23 kg/ha TP). Further, we found significant effects of successional stage attributes (vegetation structure and soil physical properties) and catchment morphometry on runoff and sediment concentrations, and greater nutrients retention in OG and CH catchments. We conclude that in these southern hemisphere, broad-leaved evergreen temperate forests, hydrological processes are driven by multiple interacting phenomena, including climate, vegetation, soils, topography, and disturbance history.     

Sedimentary evolution of a Late Pleistocene temperate red algal reef (Coralligène) on Rhodes,Greece: correlation with global sea‐level fluctuations

Autochthonous red algal structures known as coralligène de plateau occur in the modern warm‐temperate Mediterranean Sea at water depths from 20 to 120 m, but fossil counterparts are not so well‐known. This study describes, from an uplifted coastal section at Plimiri on the island of Rhodes, a 450 m long by 10 m thick Late Pleistocene red algal reef (Coralligène Facies), interpreted as being a coralligène de plateau, and its associated deposits. The Coralligène Facies, constructed mainly by Lithophyllum and Titanoderma, sits unconformably upon the Plio‐Pleistocene Rhodes Formation and is overlain by a Maerl Facies (2 m), a Mixed Siliciclastic‐Carbonate Facies (0·2 m) and an Aeolian Sand Facies (2·5 m). The three calcareous facies, of Heterozoan character, are correlated with established members in the Lindos Acropolis Formation in the north of the island, while the aeolian facies is assigned to the new Plimiri Aeolianite Formation. The palaeoenvironmental and genetic‐stratigraphic interpretations of these mixed siliciclastic‐carbonate temperate water deposits involved consideration of certain characteristics associated with siliciclastic shelf and tropical carbonate shelf models, such as vertical grain‐size trends and the stratigraphic position of zooxanthellate coral growths. Integration of these results with electron spin resonance dates of bivalve shells indicates that the Coralligène Facies was deposited during Marine Isotope Stage 6 to 5e transgressive event (ca 135 to 120 ka), in water depths of 20 to 50 m, and the overlying Maerl Facies was deposited during regression from Marine Isotope Stage 5e to 5d (ca 120 to 110 ka), at water depths of 25 to 40 m. The capping Aeolian Sand Facies, involving dual terrestrial subunits, is interpreted as having formed during each of the glacial intervals Marine Isotope Stages 4 (71 to 59 ka) and 2 (24 to 12 ka), with soil formation during the subsequent interglacial periods of Marine Isotope Stages 3 and 1, respectively. Accumulation rates of about 0·7 mm year^?1 are estimated for the Coralligène Facies and minimum accumulation rates of 0·2 mm year^?1 are estimated for the Maerl Facies. The existence of older red algal reefs in the Plimiri region during at least Marine Isotope Stages 7 (245 to 186 ka) and 9 (339 to 303 ka) is inferred from the occurrence of reworked coralligène‐type lithoclasts in the basal part of the section and from the electron spin resonance ages of transported bivalve shells.     

Participation in payments for ecosystem services: Case studies from the Lacandon rainforest, Mexico

Understanding people’s willingness to participate in projects and programmes of payments for ecosystem services (PES) has not been a key analytical concern of the scholarly literature around this new field of environmental policy and practice. This paper analyses participation in four communities benefiting from payments for biodiversity and carbon fixation in Mexico, and contrasts the results for each case with neighbouring communities that do not receive payments. We take a holistic approach that accounts for procedural rules, actors’ interactions, institutions and values, and individuals’ characteristics. We show that the nature of PES rules and the effectiveness of communication with government officers and NGOs influence resource managers’ ability and willingness to participate. We highlight community size, resource managers’ ability to diversify livelihood activities and local perspectives on the conservation of common forests, particularly sacred values and intergenerational concerns on forest conservation, as critical participation drivers. This analysis provides insights on why and how these new institutions may be attractive for some resource managers and permits to draw some recommendations for the future design of PES projects and programmes.     

Horizontal spatial and temporal distribution patterns of nearshore larval fish assemblages at a temperate rocky shore

There have been no previous studies of the composition of nearshore larval fish assemblages along the coast of Portugal. We aimed to describe the composition and horizontal distribution patterns of larval fish assemblages and their temporal dynamics near a rocky reef at depths shallower than 13 m (inshore) and at two miles (3.70 km) from shore (offshore), as well as along transects perpendicular to the shoreline, from the reef to 10 miles offshore (18.52 km). Samples were taken using 5 min sub-surface trawls at the rocky shore of the Arrábida Marine Park (W Portugal). A total of 1021 larvae were collected, belonging to 61 taxa inshore and to 29 taxa offshore. Along transects, 626 larvae of 52 taxa were collected. Most larvae belonged to coastal species associated with rocky reefs. Total larval abundance and diversity were higher from May to July, which is consistent with the spawning activity of adults. Diversity and total larval abundance decreased significantly with increasing distance from shore, both in the inshore/offshore comparison and in the transects, where this decrease was evident at a very small spatial scale (within the first mile from the reef). Species assemblages differed in the pattern of distribution, with most species clearly associated to the extreme nearshore. The distribution patterns obtained were independent of the spawning mode of species. Results are discussed in the light of the possible physical mechanisms that can potentially act at the Arrábida Marine Park to facilitate larvae retention and the role of larval behaviour.     

OUTBURST FLOODS FROM GLACIER-DAMMED LAKES: THE EFFECT OF MODE OF LAKE DRAINAGE ON FLOOD MAGNITUDE

Published accounts of outburst floods from glacier-dammed lakes show that a significant number of such floods are associated not with drainage through a tunnel incised into the basal ice—the process generally assumed—but rather with ice-marginal drainage, mechanical failure of part of the ice dam, or both. Non-tunnel floods are strongly correlated with formation of an ice dam by a glacier advancing from a tributary drainage into either a main river valley or a pre-existing body of water (lake or fiord). For a given lake volume, non-tunnel floods tend to have significantly higher peak discharges than tunnel-drainage floods. Statistical analysis of data for floods associated with subglacial tunnels yields the following empirical relation between lake volume V and peak discharge Q_p : Q_p = 46V^0.66 (r² = 0.70), when Q_p is expressed in metres per second and V in millions of cubic metres. This updates the so-called Clague–Mathews relation. For non-tunnel floods, the analogous relation is Q_p = 1100V^0.44 (r² = 0.58). The latter relation is close to one found by Costa (1988) for failure of constructed earthen dams. This closeness is probably not coincidental but rather reflects similarities in modes of dam failure and lake drainage. We develop a simple physical model of the breach-widening process for non-tunnel floods, assuming that (1) the rate of breach widening is controlled by melting of the ice, (2) outflow from the lake is regulated by the hydraulic condition of critical flow where water enters the breach, and (3) the effect of lake temperature may be dealt with as done by Clarke (1982). Calculations based on the model simulate quite well outbursts from Lake George, Alaska. Dimensional analysis leads to two approximations of the form Q_p ∝ V^qf(h_i, θ₀), where q = 0.5 to 0.6, h_i is initial lake depth, θ₀ is lake temperature, and the form of f (h_i, θ₀) depends on the relative importance of viscous dissipation and the lake's thermal energy in determining the rate of breach opening. These expressions, along with the regression relations, should prove useful for assessing the probable magnitude of breach-type outburst floods.     

基于地理探测器的中国亚热带北界探讨

暖温带与亚热带的分界线,是自然区划中一条重要的自然界线,它的划分问题曾引起诸多学科学者的争论。由于早期综合自然区划研究多以定性、专家集成方法为主,同时区划目的、使用指标等多有不同,导致不同学者所划分的自然区多存在一定的差异。本文基于空间分异性思想,使用地理探测器定量探测气候指标对中国亚热带北界的影响,选择其中q值较大的指标如日均温≥0℃天数、最冷月1月均温、年降水和湿润指数等作为主导因子并参考植被、土壤数据探讨亚热带北界界线的位置。结果表明：① 地理探测器法可以快速、准确地筛选自然区划的主要气候指标,并确定分界线的准确位置,提高了自然区划研究的技术水平和区划界线的客观性。② 使用地理探测器划分的新界线在研究区西部位于秦岭南坡1000~1600 m的位置,与以往界线相比略偏南;在研究区东部河南东部、安徽北部比以往界线略偏北。在保持自然要素完整性的同时,新界线具有更大的q值,表明新界线可以很好的反映暖温带与北亚热带2个区划带之间的差异,划分结果具有合理性。     

Intraspecific cleaning by juvenile Cape white seabream Diplodus capensis (Sparidae) off eastern South Africa

Juveniles of the Cape white seabream Diplodus capensis were observed cleaning adult conspecifics in a large tidepool off Sodwana Bay, South Africa. Although nine other tropical fish species were present and interacted with a nearby pair of Labroides cleaner wrasses, only adults of D. capensis posed for and were cleaned by the D. capensis juveniles. Such cleaning interactions have not been reported previously for this species or among marine fishes off South Africa, and thus add to the growing list of facultative cleaners globally.     

Changes in post world war ii distribution and status of monsoon rainforests in the Darwin area

Monsoon rainforests in the Darwin area occur as isolated patches ranging in size from 2 to 112 ha. Aerial photographic records over a 45 year period indicate a 60 per cent reduction in the cover of pre‐1945 rainforest. Urban development, cyclone damage, weed invasion and wildfire were identified as the major causes of this contraction. Urban development contributed 40 per cent of the total rainforest loss during this period. Rainforests occurring on dry substrates have been most affected by urban development. Cyclonic storm damage and indirect human affects such as weed invasion and anthropogenic fires continue to disturb the remaining rainforest patches. Although the largest expanses of rainforest presently occur within parks and reserves, providing adequate protection from further urban encroachment, smaller remnants occurring on vacant crown land are vulnerable to changes in land use. As well as the introduction of appropriate legislation, the control of fire and weeds should be given the highest priority by land managers to ensure the stability and long‐term maintenance of this remnant vegetation.     

Fire and cyclone damage to woody vegetation on the north coast of the Northern Territory,Australia

Tree stem (>2 m tall) mortality was assessed following a late dry‐season wildfire across a seasonally flooded elevation gradient at Workshop Jungle, near Darwin, in the Northern Territory of Australia. For all species combined, dead stems had significantly smaller diameter at breast height (dbh) than living stems. Assessment of tree‐stem damage following a tropical cyclone at Cobourg Peninsula, NT, revealed that damaged stems had significantly greater dbh than undamaged stems for all tree species sampled across a boundary between monsoon rainforest and savanna. A greater proportion of stems were damaged by the cyclone than by the fire (28 per cent as against 18 per cent), although there were considerable between‐community differences in the proportion of damaged stems at the two sites. The fire caused little impact (<10 per cent) on total basal area of three different forest communities on the elevation gradient at Workshop Jungle. The cyclone was found to cause >50 per cent damage to total basal area of three different communities on Cobourg Peninsula. It is suggested that the combination of a cyclone followed by an intense fire in storm debris could potentially destroy a monsoon rainforest through its impact on all tree‐size classes. This may explain why some monsoon rainforests rapidly contracted following Cyclone Tracy that destroyed the city of Darwin on Christmas Day, 1974.