The role of rooted emergent vegetation on periodically thermal-driven flow over a sloping bottom

Thermal-driven flow is generated due to topographic or vegetation-shading effects. Asymptotic solutions by assuming a small bottom slope are derived to discuss effects of rooted emergent vegetation and interactions between emergent vegetation and sloping topography on thermal-driven flow during diurnal heating and cooling cycles. The results show that the zero-order horizontal velocity is significantly reduced by vegetative drag, and the time lag between the change of horizontal velocity and the reversal of pressure gradient is also shortened. The solutions reveal that the viscous effect is dominant in very shallow water, and the drag force becomes important as the water depth increases. The inertial term is only important at the very beginning stage of flow initiation. Different vegetation distributions can significantly change the temperature fields that then affect patterns of thermal-driven circulation and exchange flowrates. For the case of tall vegetation growth in shallow water, and when the deep water side is open, the effects of vegetation shading may interfere with the topographic effects and dramatically alter the flow patterns. The blockage of solar radiation due to vegetation shading can determine the patterns and magnitude of thermal-driven flow. By means of the derived asymptotic horizontal velocity, exchange flow rates can be estimated, which are in good agreement with previous studies. The limitation and valid ranges of asymptotic solutions are finally discussed.     

Effects of emergent and submerged rigid vegetation configurations on gravity current dynamics

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - The propagation and hydrodynamic processes of lock-exchange gravity current through vegetation regions were investigated experimentally. Experimental results show...     

Experimental analysis of flow and turbulence in the wake of neighboring emergent vegetation patches with different densities

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Patches of vegetation in natural water bodies grow close to each other and may affect each other’s wake pattern with significant implications on nutrient...     

Influence of Tibetan Plateau on vegetation distributions in East Asia: a modeling perspective

Understanding the current distribution of vegetation and its interaction with climate regularity and surface irregularity is important for predicting its future change. In comparison with other regions of the world, the vegetation distribution in East Asia is unique, such as the location of desert belt, subtropical evergreen forests and deciduous broadleaved forest; but the underlying causes are still not clear. While some researchers have proposed on the effect of monsoons as causal mechanisms, others have suggested that the direct cause might be the rising of the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the relative importance of these two mechanisms remains unknown, and cannot be directly tested at large spatial and temporal scales. Here we construct the possible vegetation distribution in this area (15°N–60°N, 60°E–150°E) with assumption that there were no TP (e.g., its elevation were 1000 m and roughly equal to its surroundings), using a General Circulation Model and the Holdridge Life Zones System. Our simulations demonstrated that TP affected the vegetation distribution and patterns in East Asia significantly. Without TP the area of warm temperate forest and subtropical forest would increase, but desert area would decrease. The effects of TP should be considered when studying vegetation dynamics in East Asia under climate change. The results are also useful for explaining the plant biogeography in this region.     

The generation of internal waves by tidal flow over continental shelf/slope topography

Experiments were performed to investigate the generation of internal waves induced by a barotropic tidal flow over continental shelf/slope topography in a two-layer stratified fluid. The interaction of the barotropic tide with the continental slope resulted in the formation of both linear and nonlinear waveforms, ranging from a linear wave of depression to a highly nonlinear internal bolus. The type of wave response was strongly dependent on the tidal forcing intensity and the position of the density interface relative to the shelf depth. Based on the values of the internal Froude number and the layer depth ratio, we delineate four distinct generation regimes, each with a distinct wave response.     

坡面尺度上地貌对α生物多样性的影响

为了解地貌在坡面尺度上对α生物多样性的影响,采用主观采样法在陕北吴起县合家沟流域不同地貌部位进行了样地调查.利用SPSS16.0统计软件先后对各地貌部位物种组成及各物种的重要值、地形因子要素间、地形因子和群落α多样性之间分别做了聚类分析、相关分析和多元回归分析.结果表明:(1)地貌部位相似的群落聚类在一起,说明地形因子是影响物种组成、群落结构、生态系统等的重要因素.(2)海拔和坡位,坡向和坡度,地形指数和海拔、坡位、坡形之间的Pearson 相关系数均大于0.8,双尾显著性检验概率小于0.05.(3)影响α生物多样性指标香农-维纳指数的地形因子按重要性从大到小依次是:坡位、坡向、海拔、坡形、坡度、地形指数,进一步分析得出在黄土高原丘陵沟壑区,沟沿线、光照、土壤水分和养分在影响α生物多样性指标上依次递减.(4)通过多元线形回归检验,得出坡位、坡向、坡形、海拔这四个地形因子与群落α生物多样性关系密切,建立的回归模型显著性检验可信度大,与样本数据的拟合度高.各地形因子数据归一处理后的回归方程为:香农-维纳指数=2.417-0.581×坡形-1.333×坡位+1.449×海拔+0.631×坡向.地形地貌特征在黄土丘陵区表现明显,研究它对生物多样性的影响可为该区植被恢复提供参考,但由于调查样地尺度较小,在应用推广上尚待进一步研究.     

Estimation of the longitudinal dispersion coefficient using a two-zone model in a channel partially covered with artificial emergent vegetation

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Understanding scalar transport in solvents is important in chemical engineering, pollution control, and water remediation, where the longitudinal dispersion...     

Effects of species diversity on community biomass production change over the course of succession

Over the past decade an increasing number of studies have experimentally manipulated the number of species in a community and examined how this alters the aggregate production of species biomass. Many of these studies have shown that the effects of richness on biomass change through time, but we have limited understanding of the mechanisms that produce these dynamic trends. Here we report the results of an experiment in which we manipulated the richness of freshwater algae in laboratory microcosms. We used two experimental designs (additive and substitutive) that make different assumptions about how patches are initially colonized, and then tracked the development of community biomass from the point of initial colonization through a period of 6-12 generations of the focal species. We found that the effect of initial species richness on biomass production qualitatively shifted twice over the course of the experiment. The first shift occurred as species transitioned from density-independent to dependent phases of population growth. At this time, intraspecific competition caused monocultures to approach their respective carrying capacities more slowly than polycultures. As a consequence, species tended to over-yield for a brief time, generating a positive, but transient effect of diversity on community biomass. The second shift occurred as communities approached carrying capacity. At this time, strong interspecific interactions caused biomass to be dominated by the competitively superior species in polycultures. As this species had the lowest carrying capacity, a negative effect of diversity on biomass resulted in late succession. Although these two shifts produced dynamics that appeared complex, we show that the patterns can be fit to a simple Lotka-Volterra model of competition. Our results suggest that the effects of algal diversity on primary production change in a predictable sequence through successional time.     

Effects of alfalfa coverage on runoff, erosion and hydraulic characteristics of overland flow on loess slope plots

An evaluation of the interactions between vegetation, overland and soil erosion can provide valuable insight for the conservation of soil and water. An experiment was conducted to study water infiltration, runoff generation process, rate of sediment erosion, and hydrodynamic characteristics of overland flow from a sloping hillside with different draw-off discharges from alfalfa and control plots with 20° slope. The effect of alfalfa on runoff and sediment transport reduction was quantitatively analyzed. Alfalfa was discussed for its ability to reduce the overland flow scouring force or change the runoff movement. Compared to the bare-soil plots, alfalfa plots generated a 1.77 times increase in infiltration rate. Furthermore, the down-slope water infiltration rate for the bare soil plots was higher than in the up-slope, while the opposite was found in the alfalfa plots. In addition, alfalfa had a significant effect on runoff and sediment yield. In comparison to the control, the runoff coefficient and sediment transportation rate decreased by 28.3% and 78.4% in the grass slope, respectively. The runoff generated from the alfalfa and bare-soil plots had similar trends with an initial increase and subsequent leveling to a steady-state rate. The transport of sediment reduced with time as a consequence of the depletion of loose surface materials. The maximum sediment concentration was recorded within the first few minutes of each event. The alfalfa plots had subcritical flow while the bare-soil plots had supercritical flow, which indicate that the capability of the alfalfa slope for resisting soil erosion and sediment movement was greater than for bare soil plots. Moreover, the flow resistance coefficient and roughness coefficient for the alfalfa plots were both higher than for the bare-soil plots, which indicate that overland flow in alfalfa plots had retarded and was blocked, and the flow energy along the runoff path had gradually dissipated. Finally, the ability to erode and transport sediment had decreased.     

Shear layer over floodplain vegetation with a view on bending and streamlining effects

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Shrubby and woody vegetation growing on floodplains profoundly influences hydrodynamic and transport processes in riverine systems. Existing hydrodynamic research is...     

Effects of macrophyte functional group richness on emergent freshwater wetland functions

Most plant diversity-function studies have been conducted in terrestrial ecosystems and have focused on plant productivity and nutrient uptake/retention, with a notable lack of attention paid to belowground processes (e.g., root dynamics, decomposition, trace gas fluxes). Here we present results from a mesocosm experiment in which we assessed how the richness of emergent macrophyte functional groups influences aboveground and belowground plant growth and microbial-mediated functions related to carbon and nitrogen cycling, with an emphasis on methane (CH4) efflux and potential denitrification rates. We found that an increase in the richness of wetland plant functional groups enhanced belowground plant biomass, altered rooting patterns, and decreased methane efflux, while having no effect on aboveground plant production or denitrification potential. We hypothesize that the greater root production and increased rooting depth in the highest diversity treatments enhanced CH4 oxidation to a relatively greater degree than methane production, leading to an overall decrease in CH4 efflux across our plant functional group richness gradient.     

Characteristics of flow structure of free-surface flow in a partly obstructed open channel with vegetation patch

Free-surface flows over patchy vegetation are common in aquatic environments. In this study, the hydrodynamics of free-surface flow in a rectangular channel with a bed of rigid vegetation-like cylinders occupying half of the channel bed was investigated and interpreted by means of laboratory experiments and numerical simulations. The channel configurations have low width-to-depth aspect ratio (1.235 and 2.153). Experimental results show that the adjustment length for the flow to be fully developed through the vegetation patch in the present study is shorter than observed for large-aspect-ratio channels in other studies. Outside the lateral edge of the vegetation patch, negative velocity gradient (\(\partial \overline{u}/\partial z < 0\)) and a local velocity maximum are observed in the vertical profile of the longitudinal velocity in the near-bed region, corresponding to the negative Reynolds stress (\(- \overline{{u^{\prime}w^{\prime}}} < 0\)) at the same location. Assuming coherent vortices to be the dominant factor influencing the mean flow field, an improved Spalart–Allmaras turbulence model is developed. The model improvement is based on an enhanced turbulence length scale accounting for coherent vortices due to the effect of the porous vegetation canopy and channel bed. This particular flow characteristic is more profound in the case of high vegetation density due to the stronger momentum exchange of horizontal coherent vortices. Numerical simulations confirmed the local maximum velocity and negative gradient in the velocity profile due to the presence of vegetation and bed friction. This in turn supports the physical interpretation of the flow processes in the partly obstructed channel with vegetation patch. In addition, the vertical profile of the longitudinal velocity can also be explained by the vertical behavior of the horizontal coherent vortices based on a theoretical argument.     

密云水库流域植被覆盖度变化对输沙量的影响

封闭流域中,泥沙的产生是多种因素相互作用,相互制约的结果,而在这些众多的环境影响因素中,植被是土壤侵蚀中最重要的环境控制因子,目前,植被覆盖度变化对输沙量的影响一直是区域生态环境研究中比较热门的话题。文章使用遥感(Remote Sensing(RS))、地理信息系统(Geographic Information System(GIS))与统计分析相结合的方法评价了密云水库流域内2个子流域出口处2002年至2005年植被覆盖度变化对输沙量的影响。密云水库流域多为山地,其降雨具有明显的季节性。本文的主要目的在于分析2002年至2005年植被覆盖度变化对流域输沙量的影响,并分析了植被覆盖度变化对气候改变及人类活动的综合影响,结果表明:在密云水库流域内,输沙量是降雨情况和人为因素引起的地表植被覆盖度变化情况的综合反映,人口增长、经济发展和城市化是密云水库流域内引起土地利用变化和地表植被覆盖度变化的主要驱动力。并且,输沙量可以被看作是一个很好的指标来定量分离出生物生理和人为的影响,并从中能够找出在流域生态系统中获得显著结果关键的临界点。研究结果对制定流域的合理开发和管理计划将有所帮助。     

密云水库流域植被覆盖度变化对输沙量的影响

封闭流域中,泥沙的产生是多种因素相互作用,相互制约的结果,而在这些众多的环境影响因素中,植被是土壤侵蚀中最重要的环境控制因子,目前,植被覆盖度变化对输沙量的影响一直是区域生态环境研究中比较热门的话题。文章使用遥感（Remote Sensing（RS））、地理信息系统（Geographic In formmionSystem（GIS））与统计分析相结合的方法评价了密云水库流域内2个子流域出口处2002年至2005年植被覆盖度变化对输沙量的影响。密云水库流域多为山地,其降雨具有明显的季节性。本文的主要目的在于分析2002年至2005年植被覆盖度变化对流域输沙量的影响,并分析了植被覆盖度变化对气候改变及人类活动的综合影响,结果表明：在密云水库流域内,输沙量是降雨情况和人为因素引起的地表植被覆盖度变化情况的综合反映,人口增长、经济发展和城市化是密云水库流域内引起土地利用变化和地表植被覆盖度变化的主要驱动力。并且,输沙量可以被看作是一个很好的指标来定量分离出生物生理和人为的影响,并从中能够找出在流域生态系统中获得显著结果关键的临界点。研究结果对制定流域的合理开发和管理计划将有所帮助。     

森林植被对降水水化学的影响

综述了森林植被各个层次对降水水化学影响的主要研究成果,并指出了目前该方面研究存在的问题及今后需要努力的方向。大量集中在乔木层的研究表明,与林外雨比较,穿透雨、树干茎流中多数元素的浓度均呈增加的趋势,浓度大小的总趋势为树干茎流>穿透雨>林外降雨,K、Mg、Mn等表现突出,浓度可增加10倍以上;影响元素浓度变化因素包括降水特征、林分类型、大气状况等;具体到某一种元素,不同区域、不同林型间研究结果差异很大,很难得出一致的结论。对灌草层和枯落物层吸附淋溶作用研究较少,也就不能正确评价森林植被对降水水化学的综合效应。因此,在空间尺度上,要加强不同区域森林植被各个层次的研究;在时间尺度上,短时间的观测缺乏代表性,长期定位观测更具科学性。此外,目前的研究,尤其是国内的研究,只是对现象的揭示,缺乏过程及机理的深入研究,限制了我们对森林植被的内在运行机制和客观规律的正确认识。     

浮叶植物重建对富营养化湖泊氮磷营养水平的影响

利用太湖五里湖污染底泥，在不破坏表层沉积物形态和结构的情况下，利用大口径的采样器采集沉积物柱状样，研究浮叶植物荇菜（Limnanthemun nymphoides）在此底泥上适应性生长情况及其对水体以及沉积物中氮磷的影响。结果表明，在培养实验过程中，荇菜生长使上覆水体中的氮、磷营养水平逐渐降低，藻类的生长明显受到克制，水体透明度增加，水质逐渐改善。通过植物根系对沉积物和问隙水中营养盐的直接吸收，使表层（0～5cm）沉积物与问隙水中氮磷营养盐的水平在实验结束后有明皿下降，对于控制沉积物内源营养盐释放有重要的作用。因此，恢复以水生植物为丰的水生生态系统足重建富营养湖泊生态系统和控制湖泊内源负荷的重要措施。     

Effect of pollutant decay on steady-state concentration distributions in variable depth flow

Pollutants discharged together in a variable-depth flow can separate laterally if the decay mechanisms differ e.g. evaporation is more effective in shallow water, but floc breakup is more effective in deeper faster flow. Ray tracing of concentration information away from a point source (similar to mathematical optics) is used to quantify the effects of decay. The concentration reduction rate along a ray increases with decay rate divided by flow speed and with angle between the flow and information directions. Pollutant concentrations tend to fractionate towards regions of smaller decay rate divided by flow speed.     

Effect of rotational ambient,discharge and inflow density on the formation and evolution of a density-driven current over a steep slope

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - This numerical study investigates the evolution of constant-flux high density fluid introduced vertically to a rotational low-density ambient through a circular...     

Hierarchical analysis of vegetation dynamics over 71 years: soil-rainfall interactions in a Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem

Proliferation of woody plants in grasslands and savannas is a persistent problem globally. This widely observed shift from grass to shrub dominance in rangelands worldwide has been heterogeneous in space and time largely due to cross-scale interactions among soils, climate, and land-use history. Our objective was to use a hierarchical framework to evaluate the relationship between spatial patterns in soil properties and long-term shrub dynamics in the northern Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico, USA. To meet this objective, shrub patch dynamics from 1937 to 2008 were characterized at patch and landscape scales using historical imagery and a recent digital soils map. Effects of annual precipitation on patch dynamics on two soils revealed strong correlations between shrub growth on deep sandy soils and above-average rainfall years (r = 0.671, P = 0.034) and shrub colonization and below-average rainfall years on shallow sandy soils (r = 0.705, P = 0.023). Patch-level analysis of demographic patterns revealed significant differences between shrub patches on deep and shallow sandy soils during periods of above- and below-average rainfall. Both deep and shallow sandy soils exhibited low shrub cover in 1937 (1.0% +/- 2.3% and 0.3% +/- 1.3%, respectively [mean +/- SD]) and were characterized by colonization or appearance of new patches until 1960. However, different demographic responses to the cessation of severe drought on the two soils and increased frequency of wet years after 1960 have resulted in very different endpoints. In 2008 a shrubland occupied the deep sandy soils with cover at 19.8% +/- 9.1%, while a shrub-dominated grassland occurred on the shallow sandy soils with cover at 9.3% +/- 7.2%. Present-day shrub vegetation constitutes a shifting mosaic marked by the coexistence of patches at different stages of development. Management implications of this long-term multi-scale assessment of vegetation dynamics support the notion that soil properties may constrain grassland remediation. Such efforts on sandy soils should be focused on sites characterized by near-surface water-holding capacity, as those lacking available water-holding capacity in the shallow root zone pose challenges to grass recovery and survival.