Endangered Cacti in the Chihuahuan Desert: I. Distribution Patterns

We mapped the geographical distributions of 93 endangered species of cacti from the Chihuahuan Desert Region. We divided the region into grids of 30 minutes latitude by 30 minutes longitude and calculated species frequencies for each grid. The grids with the highest species richness values are aggregated in areas of moderate elevation, particularly towards the southeastern and, to a lesser extent, the eastern margins of the Chihuahuan Desert Region, in northern San Luis Potosí and the southern portions of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas. This vast area constitutes the most important nucleus of cactus species concentration in the continent. Species richness decreases toward the western segment of the Chihuahuan Desert Region and from the Cuatro Ciénegas region to the north and northwest. Another important area is the Queretaroan-Hidalgoan Arid Zone, where several grids containing an important assemblage of endangered species occur. Climatic factors, such as minimum temperatures and mean annual precipitation, explain the current distribution patterns of these plants, and the recent Pleistocene climatic episodes appear to have played a determinant role in the existence of areas of high species concentration and in the proliferation of narrow endemics. Special actions are urgently needed to conserve the endangered Cactaceae of this region. We propose that a carefully selected network of small areas would be an appropriate approach for the conservation of these plants. But species richness cannot be taken as the sole criterion in the determination of protected areas. Additional criteria, such as degree of endemicity, degree of threat to species and areas, habitat diversity, and biogeographic congruence with other plant and animal groups, should be analyzed before these areas are selected. Propagation in botanical gardens using scientific criteria and commercial propagation would be additional methods of conservation.     

Endangered Cacti in the Chihuahuan Desert: II. Biogeography and Conservation

The distributions of the majority of the endangered cacti in the Chihuahuan Desert Region are concentrated in the southeastern and eastern segments of the area, where the predominance of narrow endemism is a remarkable phytogeographic phenomenon. We used three criteria—species richness, conservation value, and complementarity—to evaluate 37 cactus-rich area units in the Chihuahuan Desert. The evaluation of these three quantitative parameters together allowed us to determine that seven of these areas (Huizache, Tolimán, Ciudad Victoria, Metztitlán, Cuatro Ciénegas, Jaumave, and Xichú) should be considered conservation priorities because they hold the most significant assemblage of endangered species, in terms of their numbers and their rarity. Conservation actions in these seven areas would protect 52 (55.9%) of the 93 endangered species studied here, most of which have extremely narrow distributions. Geographically, these critical areas are located in the Queretaroan-Hidalgoan arid zone (in the States of Querétaro, Hidalgo, and Guanajuato), in the Jaumave Valley (Tamaulipas), and in two disjunct areas (San Luis Potosí and Coahuila) in the interior of the Chihuahuan Desert.     

Response of Avian Communities to Historic Habitat Change in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert

Abstract: Throughout much of the northern Chihuahuan Desert, the grasslands that were widespread at the time of European settlement have been replaced by desert shrublands. Little is known about the effects of this change on avian communities. We analyzed historic U.S. Government Land Office records to assess large-scale changes in vegetation cover from the 1880s to the present day. We studied vegetation and avian communities in one grassland habitat type and four desert shrubland habitat types to examine (1) how breeding-bird communities may have changed in response to habitat conversion from grassland to desert shrubland and (2) whether breeding-bird communities differ among the four desert shrubland habitat types that compose Chihuahuan Desert scrub in this region. To estimate the characteristics of 1880s black grama (    Bouteloua eriopoda ) grassland, we focused on plots located within extensive patches of present-day black grama and compared the avian communities found there with those in desert shrubland. Species richness was higher in desert shrubland than grassland. Among the desert shrubland habitat types, species richness was consistently highest in mesquite. Avian abundance patterns differed among the four desert shrubland habitat types. At least 30% of the avian community in each habitat pair was distinct. Conversion of grassland to shrubland in south-central New Mexico has likely been accompanied by a major turnover in the avian community. Remaining tracts of black grama provide habitat for species that may be uniquely adapted to the northern Chihuahuan Desert and should be protected.     

Wind Characteristics of Mesquite Streets in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert, New Mexico, USA

Past research has shown that the most important areas for active sand movement in the northern part of the Chihuahuan Desert are mesquite-dominated desert ecosystems possessing sandy soil texture. The most active sand movement in the mesquite-dominated ecosystems has been shown to take place on elongated bare soil patches referred to as “streets”. Aerodynamic properties of mesquite streets eroded by wind should be included in explaining how mesquite streets are more emissive sand sources than surrounding desert land. To understand the effects of wind properties, we measured them at two flat mesquite sites having highly similar soil textures but very different configurations of mesquite. The differences in wind properties at the two sites were caused by differences of size, orientation, and porosity of the mesquite, along with the presence of mesquite coppice dunes (sand dunes stabilized by mesquites growing in the dune and on its surface) found only at one of the two sites. Wind direction, u_* (friction velocity), z₀ (aerodynamic roughness height) and D (zero plane displacement height) were estimated for 15-m tower and 3-m mast data. These aerodynamic data allowed us to distinguish five categories with differing potentials for sediment transport. Sediment transport for the five categories varied from unrestricted, free transport to virtually no transport caused by vegetation protection from wind forces. In addition, “steering” of winds below the level of the tops of mesquite bushes and coppice dunes allowed longer parallel wind durations and increased wind erosion for streets that aligned roughly SW–NE. U.S. Government right to retain a non-exclusive royalty-free licence in and to any copyright is acknowledged.     

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.     

Chihuahuan Desert kangaroo rats: nonlinear effects of population dynamics, competition, and rainfall

Using long-term data on two kangaroo rats in the Chihuahuan Desert of North America, we fitted logistic models including the exogenous effects of seasonal rainfall patterns. Our aim was to test the effects of intraspecific interactions and seasonal rainfall in explaining and predicting the numerical fluctuations of these two kangaroo rats. We found that logistic models fit both data sets quite well; Dipodomys merriami showed lower maximum per capita growth rates than Dipodomys ordii, and in both cases logistic models were nonlinear. Summer rainfall appears to be the most important exogenous effect for both rodent populations; models including this variable were able to predict independent data better than models including winter rainfall. D. merriami was also negatively affected by another kangaroo rat (Dipodomys spectabilis), consistent with previous experimental evidence. We hypothesized that summer rainfall influences the carrying capacity of the environment by affecting seed availability and the intensity of intraspecific competition.     

Application of Remote Sensing in Detection of Ocean Oil Pollution

It is well known that the increase of surface tension due to the presence of oil slicks causes the surface wave motion is depressed or even disappeared, thus making the surface electromagnetically smoother. Therefore, the radar backscattered energy is correspondingly decreased. These damping effects is now well understood and such effects enables the oil slicks to be discernible from the radar image. in this paper, we are concerned with the digital technique that effectively delineates the oil slicks pattern from the SAR image. the detected pattern allows us to estimate the coverage of oil spillage. the technique is based on the fact that the oil slicks make a gray value surface in the image which is a concave area with a certain size. in order to identify correctly these oil slicks and suppress the speckle noise and other natural phenomena, an image pyramid with multi-resolution layers is generated sequentially from the original image. Then a top-down approach, which applies both first and second order derivative operators, the Difference of Gaussian (DoG) and the Laplace of Gaussian (LoG), to the image pyramid, is used to detect oil patches. Two ERS-1 SAR images acquired on August 5, 1994 and September 5, 1994, around Taiwan, were used for testing. Results indicate that the proposed method depresses the speckle noise and other sea noise signals, and enhances the oil slicks pattern clearly. the robustness to the empirical parameters introduced in this scheme was also demonstrated.     

Application of Remote Sensing in Detection of Ocean Oil Pollution

It is well known that the increase of surface tension due to the presence of oil slicks causes the surface wave motion is depressed or even disappeared, thus making the surface electromagnetically smoother. Therefore, the radar backscattered energy is correspondingly decreased. These damping effects is now well understood and such effects enables the oil slicks to be discernible from the radar image. in this paper, we are concerned with the digital technique that effectively delineates the oil slicks pattern from the SAR image. the detected pattern allows us to estimate the coverage of oil spillage. the technique is based on the fact that the oil slicks make a gray value surface in the image which is a concave area with a certain size. in order to identify correctly these oil slicks and suppress the speckle noise and other natural phenomena, an image pyramid with multi-resolution layers is generated sequentially from the original image. Then a top-down approach, which applies both first and second order derivative operators, the Difference of Gaussian (DoG) and the Laplace of Gaussian (LoG), to the image pyramid, is used to detect oil patches. Two ERS-1 SAR images acquired on August 5, 1994 and September 5, 1994, around Taiwan, were used for testing. Results indicate that the proposed method depresses the speckle noise and other sea noise signals, and enhances the oil slicks pattern clearly. the robustness to the empirical parameters introduced in this scheme was also demonstrated.     

三峡库区土地覆被动态变化遥感分析

利用 1 995年和 2 0 0 0年TM卫星影像资料 ,对三峡库区 5年内的土地覆被动态变化进行了分析。结果表明 ,该时期库区土地覆被的变化主要表现为林地向草地和耕地转化 ,以及耕地向建设用地转化 ;其次是林地向建设用地转化 ,有林地向灌丛转化 ,以及草地向林地转化。土地覆被的这种变化说明 ,三峡库区近几年来生态环境在总体上呈现继续恶化的趋势 ,仅局部地区有所好转。     

Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing to Marine Pollution Studies

There are two approaches in the application of satellite sensors to marine pollution studies. Satellite sensors are used to observe and characterize ocean pollutants such as industrial wastes and oil. in addition, satellite observations provide information useful in illuminating processes such as eutrophi-cation or air-sea exchange of CO₂, that are important in determining the distribution and fate of pollutants.

Satellite technology is an important tool in monitoring and studying ocean pollution. Visible sensors have been used to observe and characterize sewage sludge and industrial wastes dumped at sea. Oil slicks have been observed with Landsat, AVHRR and SAR imagery. Besides directly detecting pollutants, satellite sensors are useful for analyzing ocean processes that are influential in the fate of pollutants. These processes include eutrophication of coastal waters and the distribution of suspended matter. the fate of excess CO₂ can be addressed using scatterometer-derived estimates of wind speeds to determine the CO₂ exchange coefficient at the sea surface on a global scale.     

Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing to Marine Pollution Studies

There are two approaches in the application of satellite sensors to marine pollution studies. Satellite sensors are used to observe and characterize ocean pollutants such as industrial wastes and oil. in addition, satellite observations provide information useful in illuminating processes such as eutrophi-cation or air-sea exchange of CO₂, that are important in determining the distribution and fate of pollutants.

Satellite technology is an important tool in monitoring and studying ocean pollution. Visible sensors have been used to observe and characterize sewage sludge and industrial wastes dumped at sea. Oil slicks have been observed with Landsat, AVHRR and SAR imagery. Besides directly detecting pollutants, satellite sensors are useful for analyzing ocean processes that are influential in the fate of pollutants. These processes include eutrophication of coastal waters and the distribution of suspended matter. the fate of excess CO₂ can be addressed using scatterometer-derived estimates of wind speeds to determine the CO₂ exchange coefficient at the sea surface on a global scale.     

SPOT遥感数据在崇明东滩景观分类研究中的应用

以崇明东滩这一河口潮滩湿地为研究对象,利用ERDASIMAGINE图像处理软件,结合地面景观类型调查,对其1988年和2002年的SPOT遥感数据进行监督分类;对监督分类结果进行人机交互目视解译纠正,得到精度较高的崇明岛东部海岸带的景观图,并可此基础上进一步进行各种景观特征的定量分析和景观变化研究。最后讨论了不同研究目的对景观分类精度的要求,以及所采用信息源的分辨率能够划分至最细的景观要素类型。     

江苏海岸盐沼植被演替的遥感图像分析

通过对江苏海岸盐沼陆地卫星影像资料的分析和必要的野外调查 ,研究了海岸人工栽植的先锋植被———互花米草历年的面积变化 ,揭示了盐沼植被从先锋植物群落到可垦指示植物群落的演替规律 ,以便全面掌握江苏海岸盐沼的形成过程 ,有利于合理开发利用并保护海岸盐沼环境     

Using Remote Sensing to Reassess the Mass Mortality of Diadema antillarum 1983–1984

Abstract: The 1983–1984 mass mortality of the sea urchin Diadema antillarum remains one of the most severe die-offs ever recorded in the Caribbean. Before 1983, the herbivore D. antillarum was pervasive on coral reefs in the region. Nine months after first detection of the mass mortality, 95% of the urchins had perished, and algal cover of coral increased between 100% and 250%. A water-borne pathogen was hypothesized as the causative agent, but it was never isolated. To date, surface current patterns have been used exclusively to explain both the cause and the distribution patterns of the mortality event. Using archived satellite images, we re-examined the water-borne pathogen hypothesis and investigated whether other mechanisms could also account for the dissemination pattern in some areas. In addition, archived satellite images were utilized to detect changes in coral reef reflectance. For infections in the Gulf of Mexico and Bermuda, satellite images confirm that surface currents are likely responsible for the distribution of the pathogen. For infections in the eastern Caribbean (Curacao, U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados), however, another mechanism, possibly ballast water exchange, must be considered because the surface current and infection patterns do not coincide. Changes in coral reflectance were detectable from Landsat thermatic mapping data before and after the mass mortality and correspond to the change in algal cover. Results from our study demonstrate the potential of satellite images for use in determining connectivity between regions of the Caribbean and in detecting changes in coral reef cover.