Revisiting Sustainable Development of Dry Valleys in Hengduan Mountains Region

Dry valleys are a striking geographic landscape in Hengduan Mountains Region and are characterized by low rainfall, desert type of vegetation and fragile environment. Past efforts and resources have been concentrated mainly on rehabilitation of degraded ecosystem and fragile environment, particularly reforestation, while socio-economic development has been largely overlooked. Despite successes in pocket areas, the overall trend of unsustainability and environmental deterioration are continuing. It is important to understand that uplift of the Tibetan Plateau is the root cause of development of dry valleys, and development and formation of dry valleys is a natural process. Human intervention has played a secondary role in development of dry valleys and degradation of dry valleys though human intervention in many cases has speeded up environmental degradation of the dry valleys. It is important to understand that dry valleys are climatic enclaves and an integrated approach that combines rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and socio-economic development should be adopted if the overall goal of sustainable development of dry valleys is to be achieved. Promotion of niche-based cash crops, rural energy including hydropower, solar energy, biogas and fuelwood plantation is recommended as the priority activities.     

Identification of physical processes inherent in artificial neural network rainfall runoff models

The emergence of artificial neural network (ANN) technology has provided many promising results in the field of hydrology and water resources simulation. However, one of the major criticisms of ANN hydrologic models is that they do not consider/explain the underlying physical processes in a watershed, resulting in them being labelled as black‐box models. This paper discusses a research study conducted in order to examine whether or not the physical processes in a watershed are inherent in a trained ANN rainfall‐runoff model. The investigation is based on analysing definite statistical measures of strength of relationship between the disintegrated hidden neuron responses of an ANN model and its input variables, as well as various deterministic components of a conceptual rainfall‐runoff model. The approach is illustrated by presenting a case study for the Kentucky River watershed. The results suggest that the distributed structure of the ANN is able to capture certain physical behaviour of the rainfall‐runoff process. The results demonstrate that the hidden neurons in the ANN rainfall‐runoff model approximate various components of the hydrologic system, such as infiltration, base flow, and delayed and quick surface flow, etc., and represent the rising limb and different portions of the falling limb of a flow hydrograph. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Silicon limitation on primary production and its destiny in Jiaozhou Bay, China——Ⅳ：Study on cross-bay transect from estuary to ocean

The authors analyzed the data collected in the Ecological Station Jiaozhou Bay from May 1991 to November 1994, including 12 seasonal investigations, to determine the characteristics, dynamic cycles and variation trends of the silicate in the bay. The results indicated that the rivers around Jiaozhou Bay provided abundant supply of silicate to the bay. The silicate concentration there depended on river flow variation. The horizontal variation of silicate concentration on the transect showed that the silicate concentration decreased with distance from shorelines. The vertical variation of it showed that silicate sank and deposited on the sea bottom by phytoplankton uptake and death, and zooplankton excretion. In this way, silicon would endlessly be transferred from terrestrial sources to the sea bottom. The silicon took up by phytoplankton and by other biogeochemical processes led to insufficient silicon supply for phytoplankton growth. In this paper, a 2D dynamic model of river flow versus silicate concentration was established by which silicate concentrations of 0.028–0.062 μmol/L in seawater was yielded by inputting certain seasonal unit river flows (m³/s), or in other words, the silicate supply rate; and when the unit river flow was set to zero, meaning no river input, the silicate concentrations were between 0.05–0.69 μmol/L in the bay. In terms of the silicate supply rate, Jiaozhou Bay was divided into three parts. The division shows a given river flow could generate several different silicon levels in corresponding regions, so as to the silicon-limitation levels to the phytoplankton in these regions. Another dynamic model of river flow versus primary production was set up by which the phytoplankton primary production of 5.21–15.55 (mgC/m²·d)/(m³/s) were obtained in our case at unit river flow values via silicate concentration or primary production conversion rate. Similarly, the values of primary production of 121.98–195.33 (mgC/m²·d) were achieved at zero unit river flow condition. A primary production conversion rate reflects the sensitivity to silicon depletion so as to different phytoplankton primary production and silicon requirements by different phytoplankton assemblages in different marine areas. In addition, the authors differentiated two equations (Eqs. 1 and 2) in the models to obtain the river flow variation that determines the silicate concentration variation, and in turn, the variation of primary production. These results proved further that nutrient silicon is a limiting factor for phytoplankton growth. This study was funded by NSFC (No. 40036010), and the Director's Fund of the Beihai Sea Monitoring Center, the State Oceanic Administration.     

区域GPS网实时计算可降水量的若干问题

目前地基GPS气象学测得的可降水量 (PWV )精度好于 2mm ,但在利用区域GPS网实时计算每个测站上空的PWV时 ,要涉及到很多常规GPS资料处理时所忽略的问题 ,如需考虑数据处理软件和计算方式的选择、站坐标的确定和约束、轨道的使用方法、网外辅助站最佳数量的确定、海潮对实时计算PWV的影响以及实时应用于气象服务时的端部效应等问题。利用上海GPS综合应用网获取的 2 0 0 2年 6、7月份长江三角洲地区入梅前后的数据 ,分析了利用区域性的GPS网实时计算高精度的PWV时要解决的各种问题 ,探讨了其数据处理方案     

Deep Processes of Basin Evolution:A Case Study of the Southern Songliao Basin and Adjacent Area,NE China in Mesozoic-Cenozoic

1IntroductionOne of the key factors related to basin geody-namics is deep process controlling formation and evolution of sedimentary basin. Depth and tempera-ture of asthenosphere,existence of mantle plume,occurrence of mantle melting,and amounts of melts under depressurization during thinning of lithosphere are controlling factors influenced formation and characteristics of extensional basin directly (Li,1994). Rifting is probably governed by frictional forces exerted on the base of litho…     

用层次分析法决策地下水库回灌方案的排序问题

本文引用了一种新的系统分析方法(层次分析法)对地下水库人工回灌的复杂系统进行了择优排序研究,取得了满意的结果。实践证明,层次分析法对于地下水库人工回灌方案的择优是一种简捷实用的决策方法。     

Microbial release of potassium from K-bearing minerals by thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus

A strain of thermophilic fungus Aspergillus fumigatus was cultured with K-bearing minerals to determine if microbe-mineral interactions enhance the release of mineralic potassium. Experiments were carried out in two settings, one with the mineral grains and the fungal cells in direct contact, and the other employing a membrane (pore size 0.22 μm) to separate the two. Measurements over a period of 30 days showed that, irrespective of the experimental setup, the concentration of free K in the culture was drastically higher than those in any of the control experiments where no living organism was present. Moreover, the occurrence of mineral-cell physical contact enhanced potassium release by an additional factor of 3 to 4 in comparison to the separation experiments. For contact experiments, Electron Probe Microanalysis revealed the formation of mycelium-mineral aggregates, and Atomic Force Microscopy imaging further indicated the possible ingestion of mineral particles by the fungus cells. Contrasting to what was observed and expected in control experiments, the potassium solubilization rate showed a positive dependence upon pH when fungi and minerals were mixed directly, and exhibited no correlations with solution acidity if cell-rock contact was restrained. These results appear to suggest that A. fumigatus promoted potassium release by means of at least three likely routes, one through the complexation of soluble organic ligands, another appealing to the immobile biopolymers such as the insoluble components of secretion, and the third related to the mechanical forces in association with the direct physical contact between cells and mineral particles.     

Variations in the Rate of Anaerobic Succinate Accumulation within the Central and Marginal Regions of an Euryoxic Bivalve Mantle

Abstract. Anaerobic metabolism in the central and marginal portions of the mantle of Mercenaria mercenaria was compared. Anaerobic succinate accumulation was more rapid in the central region. This difference may be due to higher phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity in the central region. Thus, the central region is more specialized for anaerobic metabolism and the marginal region more for net shell growth. The original rate of succinate accumulation in the mantle is similar in isolated mantles and intact clams, suggesting that mantle succinate production does not require translocation of precursors from other tissues. However, in intact clams, the rate of succinate accumulation in the central region of the mantle slows after four hours. The reduced rate is probably caused by reducing the metabolic rate. Succinate accumulation and shell dissolution are slower in freshly collected clams than in clams that had been stored anaerobically. The difference may be due to induction of PEPCK synthesis during storage. Shell derived calcium did not accumulate in the mantle and, therefore did not alter the intracellular calcium concentration in the mantle.     

Small-scale fisheries reform: Expectations,hopes and dreams of “a better life for all”

This article follows the transformation process in the fishing industry with specific reference to the emergence of a limited commercial sector. In the policy domain, this sector was accommodated through a “one size fits all approach” to access rights, requiring it to compete with the large-scale commercial sector for the same resources. The strategies and actions of successful and unsuccessful applicants in four fishing communities in South Africa are examined. The paper identifies the key challenges facing the limited commercial sector as being the lack of skills to complete the application process, start up capital or credit, organisation and financial and business acumen. It highlights the disjuncture between the Marine Living Resources Act's stated aims of sustainability, equity and stability and the realities of implementation at a grassroots level.     

臭氧化消毒技术在海水消毒中的应用

本文从理论出发，通过大量的小型模拟实验，确立了海水流量、臭氧投加量、消毒时间三者的关系，从而制定了利用臭氧进行海水消毒净化工程的工艺流程。又经过实际工程的验证，其工艺流程是可行的，结果优于设计要求，从而创立了国内第一家利用臭氧进行海水消毒净化的优质工程，为沿海城镇以海水替代淡水提供了一个新的途径。