A particle-tracking method for simulating the dispersion of non-conservative radionuclides in coastal waters.

A particle-tracking method has been used to simulate the dispersion of non-conservative radionuclides in the sea. Three dimensional turbulent diffusion and the interactions between water, suspended matter and bottom sediments are simulated using a stochastic method. Kinetic transfer coefficients, as in finite difference models, are used to describe the transfers between the liquid and solid phases. Deposition of suspended matter and erosion of sediment are also included in the model. The method has been applied to simulate the dispersion of 137Cs and (239,240)Pu in the English Channel and the results have been compared with those of a finite difference model. The results from both techniques are, in general, in good agreement.     

新疆雪豹种群密度监测方法探讨

2004-2010年间,前后累计270多天,新疆雪豹研究小组在新疆北塔山、阿尔泰山、昆仑山、天山东部和托木尔峰地区20多个地点(山谷),对雪豹(Uncia uncia)的痕迹进行了全面调查,共计完成150多条样线,总长度接近190 km,痕迹数平均为1～3个·km-1.记录到的痕迹有粪团、嗅痕(气味标记)、足迹链、刨痕(刨坑)、爪痕、卧迹、毛发、尿迹、血迹、剩余食物(动物尸体)和吼声等.通过痕迹学的分析,初步掌握雪豹的领域范围、分布规律和相对密度.之后开展了红外相机拍摄、雪豹食物资源普查、市场毛皮调查、贸易通道调查、杀戮案件搜集、民间问卷调查、非政府组织(NGO)社区服务与牧业冲突调研等工作.同期布设红外相机36台,约2094个照相日,计50 256 h,回收胶卷71个,回收清晰雪豹照片32张,平均拍摄率或"捕获率"(capture rate)达1.53%.确定在托木尔峰250 km2范围内有5～8只雪豹活动,密度为2.0～3.2只·(100 km2)-1.在比较分析各种监测结果的基础上,讨论了新疆雪豹种群密度不同监测方法的优点与局限性.     

Physical modeling of the feedbacks between a patch of flexible Reed Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea), wake hydraulics,and downstream deposition

Environmental Fluid Mechanics - Reed Canarygrass (RCG) is an aggressive invader in aquatic ecosystems that swiftly modifies the environment, resulting in biodiversity loss and reduced flood...     

Multivariate trade-offs, succession, and phenological differentiation in a guild of colonial invertebrates

For competing species limited by one or few resources, diversity is thought to be maintained by trade-offs that allow niche differentiation without resource partitioning. However, few studies have quantified multiple key traits for each species in a guild and shown that trade-offs among these traits apply across the guild. Here we document strong bivariate and multivariate relationships among growth rate, fecundity, longevity, and overgrowth ability for six co-occurring colonial invertebrates. We find that all four of these traits are constrained to a single "fast-slow" niche axis that mechanistically relates life history variation to a colonization-competition trade-off. The location of species on this axis strongly predicts the timing of their peak abundance during succession. We also find that species closer to each other on the fast-slow axis are more likely to differ in reproductive phenology, suggesting a secondary dimension of niche differentiation for otherwise similar species.     

Differences in relative abundance and size structure of the sea stars Pisaster ochraceus and Evasterias troschelii among habitat types in Puget Sound, Washington, USA

We surveyed patterns in the relative abundance and size structure of the sea stars Pisaster ochraceus and Evasterias troschelii in five habitat types of varying structural complexity and prey availability (sand/cobble, boulder, and rocky intertidal; pilings; and floating docks) in Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, Washington. For both species, small sea stars were most abundant in the most structurally complex habitat type (boulder), where they occurred almost exclusively under boulders during low tide. Larger individuals became more abundant as structural complexity decreased, occurring more frequently in open habitat types (rocky shores, pilings, and docks) known to have greater abundances of prey resources. Gull foraging observations and experiments demonstrated that exposed small sea stars of both species were highly vulnerable to predation, suggesting that small sea stars require structural complexity (crevice microhabitat) as a predation refuge. Large sea stars, once attaining a size refuge from predation, appear to migrate to more exposed habitat types with more abundant food resources. These results suggest parallel ontogenetic habitat shifts in two co-occurring consumer species related to a shared predation risk at early life stages and demonstrate how the relative importance of top-down and bottom-up processes may differ with ontogeny.     

Flood-risk mapping for storm surge and tsunami at Cocos Bay (Manzanilla), Trinidad

Cocos Bay is a barrier beach under threat of marine erosion from the high energy environment of the Atlantic Ocean. This barrier beach borders the Ramsar listed Nariva Swamp, and helps maintain its delicate wetland ecosystem, however, ongoing coastal erosion at this beach threatens the longevity of this freshwater wetland. Due to the geographical location of Cocos Bay being exposed to Atlantic generated storm events and the low relief of the study area, there is a potential threat of storm surges breaching the barrier beach. Owing to the geological setting of the region (located in an active seismic province with earthquakes, volcanicity and landslides), there also exists the threat of tsunamis. This paper is a GIS simulation of the area extent of inundation and the affected infrastructure from such events. It utilizes a DEM and land-use to quantifying inundation areas, and the extent of vulnerability of various elements. The low relief of the barrier beach renders the area extremely vulnerable from events that trigger sea level increases. Simulations revealed that as little as a 1 m storm surge has the potential to disrupt the Nariva Swamp and threaten coastal infrastructure while higher storm surges and tsunamis have the potential to decimate the entire area. The flood-risk model generated indicates a very high vulnerability to storm surges, along the entire length of the coastline. These results have implications for future development and sustainable management of this ecologically sensitive area.     

Predicting species distributions from samples collected along roadsides

Predictive models of species distributions are typically developed with data collected along roads. Roadside sampling may provide a biased (nonrandom) sample; however, it is currently unknown whether roadside sampling limits the accuracy of predictions generated by species distribution models. We tested whether roadside sampling affects the accuracy of predictions generated by species distribution models by using a prospective sampling strategy designed specifically to address this issue. We built models from roadside data and validated model predictions at paired locations on unpaved roads and 200 m away from roads (off road), spatially and temporally independent from the data used for model building. We predicted species distributions of 15 bird species on the basis of point-count data from a landbird monitoring program in Montana and Idaho (U.S.A.). We used hierarchical occupancy models to account for imperfect detection. We expected predictions of species distributions derived from roadside-sampling data would be less accurate when validated with data from off-road sampling than when it was validated with data from roadside sampling and that model accuracy would be differentially affected by whether species were generalists, associated with edges, or associated with interior forest. Model performance measures (kappa, area under the curve of a receiver operating characteristic plot, and true skill statistic) did not differ between model predictions of roadside and off-road distributions of species. Furthermore, performance measures did not differ among edge, generalist, and interior species, despite a difference in vegetation structure along roadsides and off road and that 2 of the 15 species were more likely to occur along roadsides. If the range of environmental gradients is surveyed in roadside-sampling efforts, our results suggest that surveys along unpaved roads can be a valuable, unbiased source of information for species distribution models.