南亚热带两座不同水文动态的水库浮游植物的功能类群演替比较

南屏、竹仙洞水库是珠海市拱北水厂的水源地,也是对澳门供水的主要水库。于2010年4月-2011年3月对这两座水库逐月采样,依据Padisák等（2009）功能类群方法对水样中浮游植物进行分类,不同的功能类群以不同的字母或字母与数字组合来命名。并结合水库的水文、水质及浮游植物生境特征,分析优势功能类群的演替动态及其主要环境影响因子。结果表明：南屏水库浮游植物功能类群演替具有明显的时间异质性。泽丝藻（Limnothrix sp.）、假鱼腥藻（Pseudanabaena sp.）等丝状蓝藻代表的S1功能类群与薄甲藻（Glenodinium sp.）代表的Y功能类群在6、7月份相对稳定水体中共同占优势,是南屏水库丰水期浮游植物演替的一个重要特征;而枯水期则主要以小环藻（Cyclotella sp.）、针杆藻（Synedra sp.）、颗粒直链藻（Aulacoseira granulata）等适应混合水体的C＋D＋P功能类群为优势群落。竹仙洞水库中几乎全年以C＋D＋P功能类群占优势,推测是因为竹仙洞水库水力滞留时间较短,利于耐冲刷的功能类群的生长。通过PCA（主成分分析）和RDA（冗余分析）探讨浮游植物功能类群演替与环境因子之间的关系,结果显示水力滞留时间、降雨量和正磷是影响南屏水库浮游植物功能类群演替的重要因子,而竹仙洞水库则是水力滞留时间和降雨量。两座水库的水力滞留时间差异明显,从而造成两座水库浮游植物功能类群组成及演替趋势的不同。     

南亚热带高产渔业水库——显岗水库敞水区浮游植物群落结构的季节变化特征

显岗水库是当地重要的饮用水水源.于2008年对南亚热带高产渔业水库——显岗水库的水文、水质和浮游植物的调查,分析了该水库敞水区浮游植物群落的结构与变化特征及其影响因子.显岗水库敞水区的总氮和总磷浓度较高,平均浓度分别为0.83mgL-1和0.046mgL-1;叶绿素a浓度的变化范围为11.02～59.34μgL-1.共检出浮游植物129种(属),隶属7门,其中绿藻占优势,共78种,其次为蓝藻和硅藻,分别为25种和16种;丰水期的浮游植物种类数量较枯水期的高.浮游植物丰度和生物量变化范围分别为0.16×108～7.49×108cellsL-1和0.63～5.09mgL-1,分别在5月、2月出现极大值,10月均具有极小值;丰水期的丰度较枯水期的高,生物量则相反.浮游植物丰度主要由蓝藻贡献,生物量则主要由硅藻贡献.拟柱孢藻Cylindrospermopsis sp.、假鱼腥藻Pseudoanabeana sp.、湖丝藻Limnthriox sp.、微小隐球藻Aphanocapsa delicatissima、针晶蓝纤维藻Dactylococcopsis rhaphidioides是主要的丰度优势种,在全年具有绝对的数量优势.小环藻Cyclotella meneghiniana、肘状针杆藻Synedna ulna、颗粒直链藻Melosira granulata、根管藻Rhizosolenia longiseta、曲壳藻Achnanthes exigua、微小隐球藻、假鱼腥藻、针晶蓝纤维藻是主要或常见的生物量优势种.根据统计分析,总磷、透明度、入库流量和降雨量是影响显岗水库敞水区浮游植物变化的主要非生物环境因子.图2表3参26     

基于浮游植物群落的纵向连通性初步研究

目前鲜有从生物群落角度定量分析连通性。作者以建有多级节制闸的沙颍河干流为对象,研究河流纵向连通性对沙颍河干流浮游植物群落的影响,并尝试基于梯度分析方法从浮游植物群落角度定量评估河流连通性。调查结果显示,沙颍河干流浮游植物339种,分为8个门类,以硅藻门浮游植物种类(170种)最多,其次是绿藻门(93种)和蓝藻门(37种)。从季节来看,夏秋季浮游植物种类显著多于春季;从浮游植物密度和生物量来看,春秋季以隐藻门浮游植物为主,而在夏季蓝藻门浮游植物密度最高。优势度排前10的种类蓝藻门有4种,隐藻门3种,硅藻门2种,绿藻门1种。通过比较不同季节浮游植物群落组成可知,闸坝阻隔对浮游植物群落结构具有较大影响,群落结构组成从常见的以硅藻为主的河流群落特征转变为以蓝藻、隐藻为主的湖泊群落特征。根据DCA(Detrended Correspondence Analysis)第1轴长,均采用PCA(Principal Component Analysis)排序法对不同季节浮游植物密度和生物量进行分析,并绘制排序图,结果表明,不同河段浮游植物群落特征可在排序图中区分开来,表明不同河段之间的浮游植物群落结构存在差异;不同河段之间浮游植物群落特征在排序图中的相对位置及河段的实际相对位置,可以在群落空间中明确表征河流连通性的潜在生态梯度。从水生生物群落角度定量表征连通度的大小,将有助于建立基于生物群落计算河流纵向连通程度的方法。     

两座高原水库蓝藻群落结构与微囊藻毒素的分布对比研究

为了了解贵州高原水库蓝藻群落组成特征和微囊藻毒素分布,于2009年10月对贵州高原2座水库——万峰湖和百花湖采样调查。结果表明:万峰湖以蓝藻为主要优势藻,蓝藻中的拟柱孢藻(Cylindrospermopsis sp.)占绝对优势,浮游植物丰度在13.05×104～55.80×104 cells.L-1之间,蓝藻的丰度值占到了总量的82.55%,6个采样点中有3个(大坝、野鸭滩和革布)检出了微囊藻毒素MC-RR,且有1个点(革布)质量浓度超标,另外3个点(坝艾、坝达章和九里堡)未检出;百花湖以蓝藻、绿藻和硅藻共同构成优势藻,蓝藻中的假鱼腥藻(Pseudanabaena limnetica)是主要优势藻,浮游植物丰度在6.16×104～65.00×104 cells.L-1之间,蓝藻的丰度值在总体中所占比例为33.25%,3个采样点(大坝、岩脚寨和码头)均未检出微囊藻毒素。形成2个高原水库蓝藻群落结构和微囊藻毒素分布差异的原因可能是:2个水库中氮、磷营养盐水平不同引起浮游植物群落组成不同,进而导致了微囊藻毒素的分布出现差异。     

短期酸化对新安江流域屯溪段水体浮游植物群落结构及多样性的影响

为了探讨酸雨引起的水体酸化对新安江流域屯溪段浮游植物群落结构、丰度以及多样性的影响,对该流域3个采样站点以及流域附近一小型人工湖泊内浮游植物(同源性不同)进行调查并模拟酸胁迫(p H值4.50、5.65)处理。经酸化处理24 h后,各采样站点浮游植物与未经模拟酸雨处理的对照组相比种类及丰度呈降低趋势;较低p H值下(4.50)金藻门、黄藻门种类消失,优势种类硅藻门和绿藻门浮游植物受到的影响较大,种属数降低范围为0%~75%和27.3%~79.2%,蓝藻门受影响较小,裸藻门、甲藻门种属数未受影响;整体上各站点辛普森多样性指数、香农-维纳指数经酸化处理后均呈降低趋势。水体酸化对浮游植物种类与丰度的抑制效应在高NH3-N和总磷水平下较小。研究结果表明,不同门类浮游植物对酸胁迫的敏感性有较大差异,群落组成不同的水体,短期酸化处理都会显著改变浮游植物群落结构、降低浮游植物丰度以及多样性。作为长期受酸雨胁迫较为严重的地区,酸雨引起的水体酸化将可能成为影响新安江流域浮游植物群落结构的重要因子。     

骆马湖夏季浮游植物群落结构变化及其驱动因子分析

于2017年夏季对骆马湖浮游植物群落进行调查,探讨骆马湖浮游植物群落结构变化与环境因子的关系,以期为骆马湖生态保护提供科学依据。此次调查鉴定出浮游植物6门32属,其中,绿藻门属数最多,其后依次为蓝藻门和硅藻门,优势属主要为浮游蓝丝藻、微囊藻和小球藻。全湖浮游植物细胞丰度在2.63×10~5～2.85×10~7 cells·L~(-1)之间,生物量在0.092～4.522 mg·L~(-1)之间。全湖浮游植物Shannon-Wiener指数在0.60～2.60之间,平均值为1.75,且9月浮游植物Shannon-Wiener指数显著高于8月(P0.05),但不同点位之间多样性指数的差异未达显著水平(P0.05)。与往期骆马湖调查结果相比,此次调查得到的全湖多样性指数差异不大,细胞丰度明显增加,优势属多集中在蓝藻门和绿藻门,尤其是浮游蓝丝藻明显增多。从近几年的优势属种类、藻类细胞密度变化来看,骆马湖富营养化程度依然在加剧。RDA分析结果表明,水温、溶解氧浓度和氮磷比的共同作用解释了骆马湖夏季浮游植物群落结构变化的28.16%。其中,骆马湖浮游植物群落结构的变化受采砂、围网养殖及夏季人类活动影响较大。因此,减少人为活动干扰对于保护骆马湖水质和南水北调工程水质势在必行。     

典型喀斯特高原水库浮游植物与环境因子的关系

浮游植物的生长往往受多种环境因素共同作用,独特的地理特征也是影响其密度与群落结构变化的要素之一。为探索喀斯特高原水库浮游植物与环境因子的耦合关系,以贵州省典型喀斯特高原水库——阿哈水库为例,于2019年春(4月)、夏(7月)、秋季(10月)对水库各支流及库中心区域进行采样调查,探究了喀斯特水库基础水环境指标的量级、浮游植物群落组成、优势种变化及其密度的时空分布,进一步揭示浮游植物与环境因子的耦合关系,为喀斯特高原水库浮游植物研究以及水资源保护提供一定的科学依据。结果显示,阿哈水库浮游植物密度在3.95×10⁴-525.35×10⁴cells·L^?1,之间,以蓝藻、硅藻、绿藻、隐藻居多,伪鱼腥藻(Pseudoanabaena sp.)、水华束丝藻(Aphanizomenon flos-aquae)为主要优势种。单因素方差分析(One-way ANOVA)结果表明,浮游植物密度的季节性差异显著(P<0.01),呈夏季>春季>秋季的趋势。由一元线性回归分析可知,在春季,浮游植物密度与溶解氧、pH、钙离子浓度呈极显著线性相关(P<0.01),与透明度、氮磷比具有显著相关关系(P<0.05);然而,浮游植物密度仅与夏季的透明度关系显著(P<0.05),与秋季的所有环境因子均无显著相关关系(P>0.05)。由冗余分析(RDA)可知,影响春季浮游植物群落结构的主要环境因子为pH、钙离子浓度和总磷,夏季为透明度、总磷和氮磷比。秋季浮游植物群落结构可能受低温影响较大。     

基于CoCA分析的长江干流浮游动植物群落交互影响研究

国内有关浮游动植物群落之间关系的研究目前鲜有报道。为研究研究浮游植物与浮游动物之间的交互影响作用,以天鹅洲保护区长江干流河段为研究区域,分别于2014年10月(秋季)、2015年1月(冬季)、2015年5月(春季)和2015年7月(夏季)开展了浮游植物和浮游动物监测,采用种群更替率和DCA(Detrended Correspondence Analysis)分析了浮游植物和浮游动物群落四季变化特征,并进一步采用CoCA(Co-CorrespondenceAnalysis)揭示浮游植物与浮游动物群落之间的关联格局。结果显示,4次调查共检出浮游植物104种,其中硅藻58种,甲藻4种,金藻3种,蓝藻11种,裸藻2种,绿藻23种,隐藻3种;4次调查的浮游植物种类均以硅藻门浮游植物为主,其次是绿藻门与蓝藻门。浮游动物共检出88种,其中原生动物31种,轮虫27种,浮游甲壳动物30种。原生动物夏季种类数最高,为18种。轮虫则以春季与冬季种类数最高,同为16种。浮游甲壳动物则以春季种类数最高,为20种,桡足类种类多于枝角类。种群更替率结果显示,浮游植物和浮游动物种类随季节演替的变化均较明显,所有类群种群更替率均达到50%以上,尤其是轮虫在夏—秋间的演替率达到了78%。DCA分析进一步表明,浮游植物群落四季演替明显,但浮游动物四季变化差异不大。CoCA分析则显示,浮游植物群落与浮游动物群落之间交互影响显著,其中硅藻门浮游植物和浮游甲壳动物在冬季的相互影响最为突出。     

惠州西湖生态修复对浮游植物的影响

2007年广东惠州西湖子湖-南湖采用水生植被构建和修复等措施改变湖泊水质。通过2010年2月至11月对南湖和未修复的平湖的浮游植物群落的调查比较,研究湖泊生态系统修复对浮游植物群落结构的影响。结果表明：（1）南湖的浮游植物多样性指数高于平湖,两者峰值分别为1.93（nit）,0.88（nit）,分别在8月和2月,两湖均呈现2、8月高峰,5、11月低谷的变化特征。（2）南湖的浮游植物群落呈隐藻-绿藻（四尾栅藻Scenedesmus quadricuda）-甲藻（多甲藻Peridinium sp.）变化模式,平湖则全年以蓝藻门占绝对优势,优势种为银灰平列藻（Merismipedia sp.）和湖丝藻（Limnolothix sp.）。（3）南湖浮游植物的生物量和细胞丰度的平均值均远低于平湖。由此可知,重建水生植被为主的生态修复手段是抑制浮游植物发展和改善湖泊水环境的有效途径。     

粤北三座典型中型水库富营养化与浮游植物群落特征

于2010年丰水期（8月）和枯水期（12月）采集粤北地区3座中型水库（沐溪、苍村和赤石迳水库）的水和浮游植物,分析植物群落与水质,以考察季节性温度差异与鱼类养殖对水库水质和浮游植物群落结构的影响。结果表明,3座水库分别属富营养、中营养和中营养水平,营养盐质量浓度丰水期高于枯水期。共鉴定浮游植物7门56种（属）,群落组成以蓝藻、绿藻和硅藻为主。沐溪水库丰枯两季均以蓝藻为优势类群,其浮游植物丰度和生物量明显高于其余两座水库（p〈0.01）;苍村和赤石迳水库丰水期优势门类均为蓝藻,枯水期均为硅藻。3座水库浮游植物丰度均表现为丰水期高于枯水期,生物量则枯水期高于丰水期,但均无显著性差异（p〉0.05）。RDA（冗余分析）结果表明,透明度、总氮和悬浮物是影响浮游植物群落结构的主要因素;其中,沐溪水库的营养盐和悬浮物与浮游植物群落正相关,苍村和赤石迳水库浮游植物群落则与水深和透明度正相关;温度对浮游植物群落的影响主要体现在种类组成的季节差异上。营养盐和优势种类的季节差异造成了浮游植物丰度和生物量在丰水期和枯水期的不一致。聚类分析将不同季节的3座水库分为2个类区,非养鱼水库苍村和赤石迳水库为第一类区,养鱼的沐溪水库为第二类区。沐溪水库库区内发展鱼类养殖业为浮游植物提供了高质量浓度营养盐（尤其是总磷）,即使在温度较低的冬季仍支持蓝藻种类的优势性。     

Identification of a sex pheromone from a rotifer

The first isolation and characterization of a sex pheromone from a zooplankter is reported. A 29 kdalton glycoprotein on the surface of females of the marine rotifer Brachionus plicatilis acts as a contact-mating pheromone. This glycoprotein (gp29) is glycosylated with oligosaccharides containing Nacetylglucosamine, mannose, and fucose residues, and these oligosaccharides are necessary for male recognition of females. Males detect this signal by contact chemoreception with receptors located in their corona. Binding of purified glycoprotein to male receptors reduces mating attempts by 93%. An antibody to the glycoprotein binds to females, reducing male mating attempts by 86%. When purified gp29 is bound to sepharose beads, it is sufficient to elicit male mating behavior. This glycoprotein is likely to play a key role in the evolution and maintenance of reproductive isolation in rotifers.     

Selecting a binary Markov model for a precipitation process

This paper uses rth-order categorical Markov chains to model the probability of precipitation. Several stationary and non-stationary high-order Markov models are proposed and compared using BIC. The number of parameters increases exponentially by adding the Markov order. Several classes of high-order Markov models are proposed which their increase of number of parameters are modest. For example models that use the number of precipitation days in a period prior to date, temperature of the previous day and sines/cosines periodic functions (to model the seasonality) are considered. The theory of partial likelihood is used to estimate the parameters. Parsimonious non-stationary first order Markov models with few seasonal terms are found optimal using BIC and temperature does not turn out to be a useful covariate. However BIC seems to underestimate the number of seasonal terms. We have also compared the results with AIC in some cases which tends to pick parsimonious models with more seasonal terms and higher order. We also show that ignoring seasonal terms result in picking higher order Markov chains. Finally we apply the methods to build confidence intervals for the probability of periods with no precipitation or low number of precipitation days in Calgary using historical data from 1980 to 2000.     

Larvae of a colonial ascidian use a non-contact mode of substratum selection on a coral reef

The rate at which larvae successfully recruit into communities of marine benthic invertebrates is partially dependent upon how well larvae avoid benthic predators and settle on appropriate substrata. Therefore, to be able to predict recruitment success, information is needed on how larvae search for settlement sites, whether larvae preferentially settle on certain substrata, and the extent to which there are adequate cues for larvae to find these substrata. This article describes how larvae of the colonial ascidian Diplosoma similis find settlement sites on a coral reef. Direct field observations of larval settlement were made on a fringing reef in Kaneohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii, between September 1985 and April 1986. A comparison of the substrata that larvae contacted prior to settlement relative to the percentage cover of these substrata on the study reef suggests that larvae are using a non-contact mode of substratum identification to locate suitable settlement sites. This mode of substratum identification allowed 74% of larvae to evade predation by benthic organisms who would otherwise have eaten larvae if they had been contacted. Of those larvae that evaded predation, 88% subsequently settled on the same two substrata upon which most adults are found (dead coral or the green alga Dictyosphaeria cavernosa). This pattern of settlement was probably a result of active selection, since the two substrata cover only 14.4% of the reef's surface and currents had little effect on the direction in which larvae swam. An important contributing factor to the high success rate of larval settlement on suitable substrata was the lack of any temporal decay in substratum preference. It is concluded that for Diplosoma similis larval supply is a sufficient predictor of larval settlement rate. However, for marine invertebrates whose larvae are passively dispersed and exhibit a greater temporal decay in substratum preference, larval settlement should generally have a greater dependency on spatial variation in the abundance of benthic predators and suitable substrata.     

Mate choice tactics and swarm size: a model and a test in a dance fly

In the dance flyEmpis borealis (L.) (Diptera: Empididae) females gather to swarm and males visit swarms for mating. A model was constructed, based on previously published data, simulating how males may choose among females of different sizes in swarms of different sizes. The focal question was, what influences the number of individuals in the swarm in this and possibly other swarming insects? The relationships between original swarm size and both the number of males arriving per minute and the proportion of males mating are both logarithmic. The model predicted that if these relationships were linear, or if males were able to judge absolute female size, the mean swarm size should increase and be at least four times as large as those found in the field. The only type of male mate choice strategy that gave rise to very large swarms (>25) was size-related choice (if males are able to assess the size of a female in relation to the entire population and not merely to the swarm). Furthermore, no swarming behaviour would occur if males mate independently of swarm size. Thus, the numbers of females attending a given swarm site are influenced by male arrival pattern, male preference for larger swarms, the inability of males to judge the absolute body size of females, and female polyandry. Males searching for mates seem to prefer larger swarms than females searching for a swarm to join, but the mean swarm size is primarily set by the swarm size preference of females. Optimal swarm size predicted from the model was 4.68±0.53 females. In order to test model predictions, 69 natural swarm sites were studied during one season. The mean swarm size was 4.85±4.54 females (median 4.03), and about 90% of swarms consisted of 11 females or fewer. Predicted and observed swarm size did not differ significantly.     

Measurement of Odor-Plume Structure in a Wind Tunnel Using a Photoionization Detector and a Tracer Gas

The patterns of stimulus available to moths flying along pheromone plumes in a 3-m-long wind tunnel were characterized using a high frequency photoionization detector in conjunction with an inert tracer gas. Four contrasting flow regimes and source conditions were produced: odor released in pulses from a vertical and horizontal array of four sources, odor released continuously from a point source, and odor released continuously from a point source into an oscillatory wake. Although the four flow regimes produced plumes of intermittent and fluctuating concentration, there were considerable differences in the structure of the signal presented to the sensor. Pulses of tracer gas released at 10 Hz retained most of their longitudinal and lateral separation. The plume growing in the disturbed flow (`oscillatory'), was broader in its lateral extent than the plume growing in an undisturbed flow (`continuous'), and the concentrations in the former were lower at each downstream position. The signal recorded in the disturbed flow had higher intermittency, but the ratio between the peak concentration and the signal mean was lower than in the continuous plume. Time scales were typically longer in the tunnel than in a field setting, but length scales and the main features of intermittency and fluctuation were similar. Moths flying along plumes of pheromone in this and similar wind tunnels typically slow their velocity and narrow the lateral excursions of their flight track as they approach a pheromone source. Which features of the plumes measured in this study account for these behavioral reactions remains to be determined.     

DNA fingerprints of a gorgonian coral: a method for detecting clonal structure in a vegetative species

Clonal reproduction, a common life history strategy among sessile marine invertebrates, can lead to high local abundances of one to a few genotypes in a population. Analysis of the clonal structure of such populations can provide insight into the ecological and evolutionary history of the population, but requires markers that can identify individual genets. Forensic and demographic studies have demonstrated that DNA fingerprinting can provide markers that are unique for an individual genotype. We have generated DNA fingerprints for over 70 colonies of the clonal gorgonian, Plexaura A (Plexaura sp. A) collected from June 1990 through July 1991 in the San Blas Islands, Panama. DNA fingerprints within a singic individual were identical and fingerprinting resolved multiple genotypes within and among reefs. On one reef in the San Blas Islands, Panama, 59% of the colonies sampled were of one genotype and this genotype was not found on any other sampled reefs. A previous study using tissue grafts identified 13 putative clones on these reefs, while DNA fingerprints of the same colonies differentiated 17 genotypes. The present study demonstrates the utility of DNA fingerprinting for distinguishing clones and for identifying clonal structure of marine invertebrate populations.     

Cohabitation of a coral reef sponge and a colonial scyphozoan

A sensitive experimental protocol using cloned corals (hereafter microcolonies) of the branching scleractinian coral Stylophora pistillata and ⁴⁵Ca has been developed to enable reproducible measurements of physiological and biochemical mechanisms involved in calcium transport and compartmentalization during coral calcification. Cloned S. pistillata microcolonies were propagated in the laboratory from small fragments of parent colonies collected in 1990 in the Gulf of Aqaba, Jordan. Cloned microcolonies have several intrinsic properties that help to reduce unwanted biological variability: (1) same genotype; (2) similar sizes and shapes; and (3) absence of macroscopic boring organisms. Errors specifically associated with long-standing problems to do with isotopic exchange were further reduced by producing microcolonies with no skeletal surfaces exposed to the radioisotope-labelled incubation medium. The value of the technique resides principally in its superior ability to elucidate transportation pathways and processes and not in its ability to quantitatively estimate calcium deposition by corals in nature. We describe here a rapidly exchangeable calcium pool in which up to 90% of the radioactive label taken up during incubations is located. This pool (72.9±1.4 nmol Ca mg^-1 protein) is presumably located within the coelenteric cavity as suggested by the following: (1) it has 4-min half-time saturation kinetics; (2) the accumulation of calcium is linearly correlated with the calcium concentration of sea-water; and (3) its insensitivity to metabolic and ion transport inhibitors indicate that membranes do not isolate this compartment. Washout of this large extracellular pool greatly improved estimates of calcium deposition as evidenced by 10 to 40% reduction in coefficients of variation when compared with previous ⁴⁵Ca²⁺ methods described in the literature. Comparisons of calcification measurements simultaneously carried out using the alkalinity anomaly technique and the ⁴⁵Ca protocol described here show that the correlation coefficient of both techniques is close to 1. Unlike previous reports, our ⁴⁵Ca²⁺-derived measurements are slightly lower than those computed from the alkalinity depletion technique.     

Development of a rotorcraft dust-emission parameterization using a CFD model

Flights of rotorcraft over the desert floor can result in significant entrainment of particulate matter into the atmospheric boundary layer. Continuous or widespread operation can lead to local and regional impacts on visibility and air quality. To account for this pollutant source in air quality models, a parameterization scheme is needed that addresses the complex vertical distribution of dust ejected from the rotorcraft wake into the atmospheric surface layer. A method to parameterize the wind and turbulence fields and shear stress at the ground is proposed here utilizing computational fluid dynamics and a parameterized rotor model. Measurements taken from a full scale experiment of rotorcraft flight near the surface are compared to the simulation results in a qualitative manner. The simulation is shown to adequately predict the forward detachment length of the induced ground jet compared to the measured detachment lengths. However, the simulated ground vortex widths and vorticity deviate substantially from the measured values under a range of flight speeds. Results show that the method may be applicable for air quality modeling assuming slow airspeeds of the rotorcraft, with advance ratios of 0.005–0.02.