UPLAND SOIL EROSION SIMULATION FOR AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS1

ABSTRACT: A soil erosion simulation model that considered the physical conditions of agricultural watersheds and that interfaced with the modified USDAHL-74 watershed hydrology model was developed. The erosion model simulates the detachment and transport of soil particles caused by raindrop impact and overland flow from rill and interrill areas. The model considers temporal and spatial variation of plant residue, crop canopy cover, snow cover, and the moisture content of surface soil as modifying factors of the erosive forces of raindrop impact and overland flow. The hydrology model simulates overland flow and some of the physical parameters that are used in the erosion model. The simulation is executed in the time interval determined by the rainfall rate or snowmelt rate. The erosion model compares the transport capacity of the overland flow and the sediment loaded in the overland flow to determine the fate account for the free soil particles that have already been detached and are readily available to be transported by the overland flow. The model was tested with data from two small agricultural watersheds in the Palouse region of the Pacific Northwest dryland. The model was calibrated by trial-and-error to determine the coefficients of the model.     

Taxing mineral resource projects : Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines

Within the context of a case study of three Asia/Pacific countries' mineral taxation regimes, this article examines the impact of individual fiscal instrucments, and the total fiscal package, on investor risk perceptions, investor returns and government receipts. It shows that under conditions of uncertainty and risk aversion on the part of investors, significant gains in expected government revenues can be achieved without seriously affecting the investors' ex-ante assessments of projects by a judicious selection and mix of fiscal instruments.     

南半球气候变暖对西北太平洋热带气旋的影响

在分析南半球地面气温序列和西北太平洋热带气旋序列的基础上，讨论了南半球气候变暖对西北太平洋上热带气旋的影响和可能的机制。结果表明，随着南半球气候变暖，西北太平洋上热带气旋的频数减少，强度减弱；同时，随着南半球气候变暖，西北太平洋上强台风的频数将减少，最大中心风速将减弱。一种可能的机制是由于从南半球侵入西北太平洋的冷空气随着南半球气候的变暖而减弱。     

北太平洋地区沙尘沉降与海洋生物兴衰的关系

通过对2001年4月中亚强沙尘暴过程在中国、韩国、日本和北美大陆地面PM10观测结果进行统计分析,推算出了北太平洋PAPA地区的沙尘沉降通量,结合同期PAPA地区的海洋表层有机碳和叶绿素观测结果,探讨了北太平洋沙尘与海洋生物兴衰的关系.结果表明,本次强沙尘暴过程可以给PAPA地区带去大约3.1～5.8μg/m³的风成Fe元素,它激发了海洋生物泵,引起海洋浮游植物的快速繁盛.     

西南地区夏季极端降水的水汽来源分析

西南地区地形复杂,极端降水极易形成山洪并引发地质灾害,1998年夏季西南降水达709.3 mm,超出平均降水约23.9%。经使用水汽追踪模型WAM2layers和ERA-Interim再分析资料等大数据追踪西南降水水汽来源,发现西南夏季降水主要有四个源区,分别是西南季风区、西风带区、本地和东南季风区,1998年夏季分别贡献了330.1 mm、110.0 mm、104.8 mm和65.6 mm水汽,约占所追踪降水的52.2%、17.4%、16.6%和10.4%。西南季风区作为最大源区,贡献了超过一半的降水水汽。增加的降水其水汽主要来自西南季风区、西风带区和本地,比平均分别多贡献80.1 mm、29.3 mm和27.1 mm,合占所增加降水的99.9%;其中又以西南季风区贡献占主导。进一步发现,1998年夏季太平洋副高向西南延伸,并在北孟加拉湾和我国南海形成两个高压中心异常,导致西南季风向我国西南地区的水汽输送异常强劲,从而造成西南地区降水异常增多。     

Population dynamics of splitnose rockfish (Sebastes diploproa) in the Northeast Pacific Ocean

We developed an age-structured population model of splitnose rockfish, Sebastes diploproa, in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. Splitnose rockfish is a bycatch species that co-occurs with several commercially important species that are currently declared overfished. Bycatch species are typically not the focus of stock assessment efforts because of their limited economic importance, but they may suffer the same population declines as species with which they co-occur. To examine the dynamics of splitnose rockfish for the first time, we analyzed data from three groundfish fisheries and four research surveys conducted in the Northeast Pacific Ocean. To develop a model, we used Stock Synthesis, a statistical framework for the construction of a population dynamics models utilizing both fishery-dependent and fishery-independent data. In the model, we reconstructed the total catch of the species back to 1900, estimated the dynamics of the stock spawning output and recruitment and evaluated biomass depletion relative to the stock's unfished state, as well as sources of uncertainty in model outputs. The results indicate that the splitnose rockfish is currently not overfished even though it has experienced several periods of abrupt decline in its biomass. Revisiting age data from earlier years, monitoring fishery discard, and investigating the spatial dynamics of splitnose rockfish is important to further improve the understanding of this species’ population dynamics, and decrease uncertainty in model results.     

Multi-level governance for large marine commons: Politics and polycentricity in Palau's protected area network

This paper brings together institutional theories of polycentricity and critical human geography theory on scalar politics to advance understanding of the form and function of nested, polycentric regimes for the governance of large-scale common pool resources. We focus on institutional changes associated with a national marine protected area network in Palau through which national government and NGOs gain influence in local decision-making processes. Influence is gained through an attempt to scale up common-pool resource governance to an ecologically-relevant spatial scale in an effort to protect coral reef resilience and biodiversity across Palau. An institutional approach informed by scalar politics brings into focus potential tradeoffs between organizing governance reform around ecologically versus institutionally relevant scales. Our analysis suggests that prioritization of ecologically-relevant scales in institutional reform resulted in more nested but less polycentric institutional arrangements governing the network. We conclude that less distributed decision-making in the overall nested governance system could threaten the sustainability and resilience of coral reefs in the long-term by constraining institutional innovation and diversity. Results demonstrate the potential for interdisciplinary dialog to advance the research frontier on multi-level governance for large common pool resources.     

Atmospheric mercury over the marine boundary layer observed during the third China Arctic Research Expedition

TGM measurements on board ships have proved to provide valuable complementary information to measurements by a ground based monitoring network. During the third China Arctic Research Expedition (from July 11 to September 24, 2008), TGM concentrations over the marine boundary layer along the cruise path were in-situ measured using an automatic mercury vapor analyzer. Here we firstly reported the results in Japan Sea, North Western Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, where there are rare reports. The value ranged between 0.30 and 6.02 ng/m³ with an average of (1.52 ± 0.68) ng/m³, being slightly lower than the background value of Northern Hemisphere (1.7 ng/m³). Notably TGM showed considerably spatial and temporal variation. Geographically, the average value of TGM in Bering Sea was higher than those observed in Japan Sea and North Western Pacific Ocean. In the north of Japan Sea TGM levels were found to be lower than 0.5 ng/m³ during forward cruise and displayed obviously diurnal cycle, indicating potential oxidation of gaseous mercury in the atmosphere. The pronounced episode was recorded as well. Enhanced levels of TGM were observed in the coastal regions of southern Japan Sea during backward cruise due primarily to air masses transported from the adjacent mainland reflecting the contribution from anthropogenic sources. When ship returned back and passed through Kamchatka Peninsula TGM increased by the potential contamination from volcano emissions.     

基于LM-BP神经网络的Argo数据西北太平洋海水温度模型

以2007年西北太平洋海域Argo海表面温度、经纬度、深度为输入参数,利用LM-BP神经网络,构建了西北太平洋海水温度模型。将均方根差以及Pearson相关性系数作为检验指标,利用2008年和2009年的Argo数据对模型进行了检验。检验结果为:2008年均方根误差为0.714 0℃,Pearson相关性系数为0.996 8;2009年均方根误差为0.761 5℃,Pearson相关性系数为0.9965。表明所建立的基于LM-BP神经网络的Argo数据西北太平洋海水温度模型是可行的。     

北太平洋海洋生态系统的动力——以胶州湾为例

通过剖析浮游植物生长特征和其集群结构与Si的重要性、Si的输入过程和生物地球化学过程以及Si限制浮游植物时间,揭示了在北太平洋的近岸水域,从秋天的雨季结束(11月)到春天的雨季开始(5月)之前,Si都限制浮游植物的生长,在北太平洋的远离近岸水域,浮游植物生长一直都受到Si的限制;探讨北太平洋风场变化的基本特点和规律与中国的沙尘暴发生、频率和强度,首次提出了北太平洋水域Si的提供系统,并且用框图模型说明了提供系统在运行过程中的每个流程。当北太平洋缺少Si时,该系统就向其水体输入大量的Si,来维持了北太平洋海洋生态系统的持续发展;为了补充输送到海洋的Si量减少,该系统提高了运行能力,造成内陆干旱、沙化面积扩大、沙尘暴强度增大。研究结果表明,在北太平洋水域,北太平洋的季风与北太平洋边缘的雨季在时间上密切相嵌,顺利完成近岸洪水和河流的输送与大气的输送之间的相互转换,一直保持向大海的水体输入大量的Si。而且,沙尘暴与北太平洋Si的缺乏在时间上紧密配合,其强度大小与Si缺乏的严重程度相一致。因此,人类在制定应对自然灾害的政策和战略时,要从人类的角度和地球的角度来共同考虑,有利于人类的健康生存,更应该有利于地球生态系统的持续发展。