Hydrological management strategies for the control of algal blooms in regulated lowland rivers

Reservoirs of lowland floodplain rivers with eutrophic backgrounds cause variations in the hydrological and hydraulic conditions of estuaries and low-dam reservoir areas, which can promote planktonic algae to proliferate and algal bloom outbreaks. Understanding the ecological effects of variations in hydrological and hydraulic processes in lowland rivers is important for algal bloom control. In this study, the middle and lower reaches of the Han River, China, a typical regulated lowland river with a eutrophic background, are selected. Based on the effect of hydrological and hydraulic variability on algal blooms, a hydrological management strategy for river algal bloom control is proposed. The results showed that (a) differences in river morphology and background nutrient levels cause significant differences in the critical threshold flow velocities for algal bloom outbreaks between natural river and low-dam reservoir sections; there is no uniform threshold flow velocity for algal bloom control. (b) There are significant differences in the river hydrological/hydraulic conditions between years with and without algal blooms. The average river flow, water level and velocity in years with algal blooms are significantly lower than those in years without algal blooms. (c) For different river sections where algal blooms occur and to meet the threshold flow velocities, the joint operation of cascade reservoirs and diversion projects is an effective method to prevent and control algal blooms in regulated lowland rivers. This study is expected to deepen our understanding of the ecological significance of special hydrological processes and guide algal bloom management in regulated lowland rivers.     

东平湖畔涝洼荒地渔农牧综合开发利用措施的探讨

东平湖畔涝洼地年仅亩产细苇400—500kg,价值10—20元。采用渔农牧综合开发利用的措施,亩产鱼、粮、猪1000kg。其措施为: 1.改涝洼荒地为台田、鱼池。2.台田种粮食。3.鱼池采用光合细菌微生物技术并产体养殖,多种鱼及蚌、珍珠等。4.产品循环利用。粮食作物的副产品做猪饲料;猪粪做鱼饲料肥料;鱼粪回田做作物的肥料。     

放牧对浑善达克沙地丘间低地植被群落及土壤的影响

为探究放牧对丘间低地植被群落及土壤的影响,分析了浑善达克沙地丘间低地在重度和轻度放牧下植被的地上生物量、物种重要值、物种丰富度、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Pielou均匀度指数、Simpson生态优势度指数及0~10 cm土壤中黏粒、粉粒、砂粒、有机碳和全氮含量。结果表明：（1）植被地上生物量、土壤黏粒、粉粒、砂粒、土壤有机碳和全氮含量在不同放牧程度下存在极显著差异（P<0.01）,物种丰富度、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数在不同放牧程度下差异不显著（P>0.05）,Simpson生态优势度指数在不同放牧程度下差异显著（P<0.05）。（2）放牧区植被以禾本科为主,禾本科植被地上生物量占整个植被群落的54.88%~57.76%;重度放牧区植被地上生物量为63.59 g·m^-2,比轻度放牧区低26.61%。（3）羊草（Leymus chinensis）和狗尾草（Setaria viridis）是放牧区的优势种,其重要值依次为14.16%（重度放牧区）和19.10%（轻度放牧区）、13.40%（重度放牧区）和15.42%（轻度放牧区）,重度放牧下雾滨藜（Bassia dasyphylla）、克氏针茅（Stipa krylovii）和猪毛蒿（Artemisia scoparia）的重要值较显著高于轻度放牧区,而羊草则低于轻度放牧区。（4）重度放牧加剧了土壤沙漠化,使砂粒含量增加,草地生产力下降,土壤有机碳和全氮含量降低。     

腾格里沙漠东南缘白刺灌丛地土壤性状的特征

腾格里沙漠东南缘白刺灌丛地土壤颗粒组成中仍以细沙粒(0.25～0.05 mm)含量占主要成分(80%～99%),除固定沙堆土0～5 cm土壤粉沙粒含量高于堆间低地外,沙堆土不同深度粉沙粒含量(0.05～0.002 mm)均低于堆间低地;沙堆不同部位的土壤含水量有一致的变化趋势且差异不大,沙堆0～60 cm土层含水量低于堆间低地,60 cm以下的土壤含水量不仅高于0～60 cm,并且高于堆间低地。发育于草甸盐土上的堆间低地20 cm以下水分含量变化基本保持在较高的水平,发育于盐化半固定风沙土上的堆间低地水分含量在20 cm以下呈急剧降低趋势。白刺沙堆上土壤剖面土壤水分含量的这种变化和堆间低地20 cm处较高的含水层,将会为灌丛植物在年内气候干旱期的生命维持提供着重要水源保证。土壤容重白刺沙堆大于堆间低地,土壤剖面堆间低地的容重基本无变异,而沙堆上因为植物发育土壤容重有不同程度的差异。表征土壤肥力和保肥能力的阳离子代换量均是堆间低地大于沙堆上。堆间低地和沙堆上土壤全氮、有机质、电导率含量和pH值差异因白刺沙堆发育的生境不同而不同,处于半固定沙地生境的白刺沙堆并未形成灌丛的"沃岛效应",处于固定沙地生境的白刺沙堆有弱"沃岛效应"。因此,白刺沙堆地表物质的固定是该植物种生长的生境产生"沃岛效应"的前提。     

Effects of Lateral Variation in Vegetation and Basin ‘Dome’ Shape on Tropical Lowland Peat Stabilisation in the Kota Samarahan-Asajaya Area, West Sarawak, Malaysia

Field surveys indicate lateral variation in peat humification levels （von Post） in dominantly occurring fibric,fibric to hemic,sapric and hemie to sapric peats across a gradient from the margin towards the centre of tropical lowland peat domes.Cement-peat stabilisation can be enhanced by adding mineral soil fillers （silt,clays and fine sands） obtained from Quaternary floodplain deposits and residual soil （weathered schist）.The unconfined compressive strength （UCS） of the stabilised cement-mineral soil fifler-peat mix increases with the increased addition of selected mineral soil filler.Lateral variation in the stabilised peat strength （UCS） in the top 0 to 0.5 m layer was found from the margin towards the centre of the tropical lowland peat dome.The variations in the UCS of stabilised tropical lowland peats along a gradient from the periphery towards the centre of the peat dome are most likely caused by a combination of factors due to variations in the mineral soil or ash content of the peat and horizontal zonation or lateral variation in the dominant species of the plant assemblages （due to successive vegetation zonation of the peat swamp forest from the periphery towards the centre of the tropical lowland peat dome）.     

A multi‐storage groundwater concept for the SWAT model to emphasize nonlinear groundwater dynamics in lowland catchments

Hydrological models are useful tools to analyze present and future conditions of water quantity and quality. The integrated modelling of water and nutrients needs an adequate representation of the different discharge components. In common with many lowlands, groundwater contribution to the discharge in the North German lowlands is a key factor for a reasonable representation of the water balance, especially in low flow periods. Several studies revealed that the widely used Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model performs poorly for low flow periods. This paper deals with the extension of the groundwater module of the SWAT model to enhance low flow representation. The current two‐storage concept of SWAT was further developed to a three‐storage concept. This was realized due to modification of the groundwater module by splitting the active groundwater storage into a fast and a slow contributing aquifer. The results of this study show that the groundwater module with three storages leads to a good prediction of the overall discharge especially for the recession limbs and the low flow periods. The improved performance is reflected in the signature measures for the mid‐segment (percent bias ?2.4% vs ?15.9%) and the low segment (percent bias 14.8% vs 46.8%) of the flow duration curve. The three‐storage groundwater module is more process oriented than the original version due to the introduction of a fast and a slow groundwater flow component. The three‐storage version includes a modular approach, because groundwater storages can be activated or deactivated independently for subbasin and hydrological response unit level. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Land‐use impacts and water quality targets in the intensive dairying catchment of the Toenepi Stream,New Zealand

Water quality monitoring in Toenepi Stream, New Zealand, started in 1995 in a study of dairy farming influences on lowland stream quality and has continued since then with brief interruptions. Surveys have provided information about changes in farm and soil management practices as they relate to environmental sustainability. Although average water quality in Toenepi Stream has changed little during 1995–2004, there have been some notable improvements. Water clarity measured by black disc has improved from 0.6m to 1.5m, and median ammonia‐N and nitrate‐N concentrations have declined by 70% and 57%, respectively. The frequency and magnitude of extreme concentrations have declined—most notably for nitrogen (N) forms, which also had decreased mean values. Specific yields for suspended solids (SS) and phosphorus (P) forms in 2002–04 were 47–67% of 1995–97 values, mainly because of lower water yields. Reduced specific yields for N forms in 2002–04 (34–37% of 1995–97 yields) were also attributable to lower mean concentrations in stream water. Faecal bacteria concentrations have not abated and are on average 2–3 times recommended guideline values for contact recreation. Fewer dairy farms and an increased proportion irrigating dairyshed effluent to land, rather than discharging it to the stream via two‐pond systems, were likely causes of improvement in water quality. Water quality targets were developed for Toenepi Stream to achieve contact recreation criteria for the Piako River (downstream) and for intrinsic habitat values for Toenepi Stream. A range of mitigation measures has been formulated to meet these targets, but substantial uptake of sustainable farming practices is needed to improve water quality in Toenepi Stream.     

AMS~(14)C测年揭示的渤海湾沿海低地第Ⅱ海相层年龄(Ⅱ)

在初步获得渤海湾海河南部沿海低地第Ⅱ海相层年龄大于43.5ka BP的基础上,在沧州北部和海河北部的沿海低地又利用6个新的机械钻孔岩心,建立了2条垂直于现代岸线的长剖面。根据沉积物岩性和有孔虫查明了第Ⅱ海侵层在剖面中的空间分布,并获得一组新的AMS~(14)C年龄数据。结果显示,在第Ⅱ海相层中新获得的9个AMS~(14)C年龄同样均大于43.5ka BP。至此,渤海湾3条垂直现代岸线剖面10个钻孔的第Ⅱ海相层的21个AMS~(14)C年龄均大于43.5ka BP,进一步证实了普遍发育于渤海湾沿海低地的第Ⅱ海相层形成于MIS 3阶段早期或MIS 5阶段,而不是前人认为的23~39ka BP。     

Water quality in New Zealand rivers: current state and trends

River water quality, particularly in lowland catchments, is a matter of concern to the New Zealand public. We assessed river water quality and biological state and trends using data from more than 900 monitoring sites. Parallel state and trend analyses were carried out using all sites and a subset of lowland river sites. Median water-quality state in urban and pastoral land-cover classes was poorer than in exotic forest and natural land-cover classes, and lowland sites in the urban and pastoral classes had the poorest water quality. Nutrient and Escherichia coli concentrations increased and visual clarity and Macroinvertebrate Community Index scores decreased as proportions of catchments in high-intensity agricultural and urban land cover increased. Ten-year trends (2004–2013) indicated recent improvements in ammoniacal nitrogen, dissolved reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus in the pastoral and urban classes, possibly reflecting improved land management. In contrast, trends in nitrate-nitrogen in the exotic forest and cool-dry/pastoral classes indicated worsening conditions.     

Predictability of stemflow in a species‐rich tropical forest

Numerous studies investigated the influence of abiotic (meteorological conditions) and biotic factors (tree characteristics) on stemflow generation. Although these studies identified the variables that influence stemflow volumes in simply structured forests, the combination of tree characteristics that allows a robust prediction of stemflow volumes in species‐rich forests is not well known. Many hydrological applications, however, require at least a rough estimate of stemflow volumes based on the characteristics of a forest stand. The need for robust predictions of stemflow motivated us to investigate the relationships between tree characteristics and stemflow volumes in a species‐rich tropical forest located in central Panama. Based on a sampling setup consisting of ten rainfall collectors, 300 throughfall samplers and 60 stemflow collectors and cumulated data comprising 26 rain events, we derive three main findings. Firstly, stemflow represents a minor hydrological component in the studied 1‐ha forest patch (1.0% of cumulated rainfall). Secondly, in the studied species‐rich forest, single tree characteristics are only weakly related to stemflow volumes. The influence of multiple tree parameters (e.g. crown diameter, presence of large epiphytes and inclination of branches) and the dependencies among these parameters require a multivariate approach to understand the generation of stemflow. Thirdly, predicting stemflow in species‐rich forests based on tree parameters is a difficult task. Although our best model can capture the variation in stemflow to some degree, a critical validation reveals that the model cannot provide robust predictions of stemflow. A reanalysis of data from previous studies in species‐rich forests corroborates this finding. Based on these results and considering that for most hydrological applications, stemflow is only one parameter among others to estimate, we advocate using the base model, i.e. the mean of the stemflow data, to quantify stemflow volumes for a given study area. Studies in species‐rich forests that wish to obtain predictions of stemflow based on tree parameters probably need to conduct a much more extensive sampling than currently implemented by most studies. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.