Early Secondary Succession in Bottomland Hardwood Forests of Southeastern Virginia

Addressing the need for reference sites that permit wetland managers to evaluate the relative success of wetland restoration efforts, this project examines the early successional properties of a chronosequence of 17 forested wetlands that have been clear-cut and allowed to naturally revegetate. Ordinations performed on the data using CANOCO software indicated three general types of communities—one dominated by bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) and water tupelo (Nyssa aquatica), one dominated by black willow (Salix nigra), and one with a species composition similar to that of a mature stand of bottomland hardwoods. These divisions were correlated with the percentage of stems originating as coppice on stumps leftover from the clear-cut. In particular, the bottomland hardwood stands were regenerating predominantly as coppice, while the cypress/tupelo and black willow stands were regenerating primarily as seedlings. As indicated by the earlier development of overstory basal area, coppice sites were also regenerating much faster. The hydrology of a site also exhibited a strong impact on the rate of regeneration, with the semipermanently to permanently flooded portions of sites often exhibiting little or no regeneration. The results indicate that, because of the overwhelming reliance on coppice sprouts as the main source of stems and the concomitant enhanced rates of regeneration, certain vegetative parameters of clear-cut bottomland hardwood stands would not be effective benchmarks by which to judge the relative success of creation and restoration efforts.     

Tree Ontogeny and Its Reflection in the Structure and Dynamics of Plant and Soil Covers

Based on the results of our own long-term experiments and the analysis of published data, the process of individual development (ontogeny) of trees and the parameters of ontogenetic stages are described. Changes in the environment-forming (edificatory) role of a tree in the course of ontogeny and upon its completion are characterized. The performance of this role leads to the formation of the following components of biogeocenosis heterogeneity: phytogenic fields of trees, gaps in the tree canopy, and windfall–soil complexes. The data concerning the interrelation of structural transformations of the plant and soil covers in the course of forest vegetation and soil formation on the primary substrate are reviewed.     

Effects of Impervious Cover at Multiple Spatial Scales on Coastal Watershed Streams1

Abstract: The spatial scale and location of land whose development has the strongest influence on aquatic ecosystems must be known to support land use decisions that protect water resources in urbanizing watersheds. We explored impacts of urbanization on streams in the West River watershed, New Haven, Connecticut, to identify the spatial scale of watershed imperviousness that was most strongly related to water chemistry, macroinvertebrates, and physical habitat. A multiparameter water quality index was used to characterize regional urban nonpoint source pollution levels. We identified a critical level of 5% impervious cover, above which stream health declined. Conditions declined with increasing imperviousness and leveled off in a constant state of impairment at 10%. Instream variables were most correlated (0.77 ≤ |r| ≤ 0.92, p < 0.0125) to total impervious area (TIA) in the 100‐m buffer of local contributing areas (～5‐km² drainage area immediately upstream of each study site). Water and habitat quality had a relatively consistent strong relationship with TIA across each of the spatial scales of investigation, whereas macroinvertebrate metrics produced noticeably weaker relationships at the larger scales. Our findings illustrate the need for multiscale watershed management of aquatic ecosystems in small streams flowing through the spatial hierarchies that comprise watersheds with forest‐urban land use gradients.     

长江上游植被覆盖的时空分异季节变化及其驱动因子研究

以GIMMS/NDVl为基础,结合气候与人类活动数据,研究了1982～2003年间长江上游植被覆盖季节变化的空间分布.结果表明,近22年来,长江上游春季、夏季植被覆盖呈增加趋势,以春季最显著;秋季、冬季植被覆盖呈降低趋势,以秋季降低最显著.春季、夏季降雨与气温的同步增加,致使植被覆盖增加;秋季降雨减少,以及气温的增加导致植被覆盖降低;另外,作物播种面积的增加是春季、夏季植被覆盖增加,秋季、冬季植被覆盖减少的重要原因.春季→夏季→秋季→冬季NDVI增加的区域在窄问上大致呈现低纬度向高纬度转移的趋势.春季、夏季所有植被类型的NDVI均有增加趋势;而秋季所有植被类型的NDVI均降低;冬季植被除针叶林的NDVI略有增长外,其余植被类型的NDVI均降低.     

民勤近地面沙尘暴气溶胶浓度变化特征初探

借助近地面沙尘暴监测系统对民勤沙尘源区不同沙尘天气的气溶胶浓度进行了监测,初步分析了民勤近地面沙尘暴气溶胶浓度的变化特征.结果表明:沙尘暴气溶胶浓度春季最高,为14.61 mg·m-3;夏季逐渐降低,为12.49 mg·m-3;秋季无沙尘暴出现,气溶胶浓度最小;冬季趋于回升,可达9.82 mg·m-3,沙尘暴气溶胶浓度季节变化与沙尘暴发生频率相一致.不同沙尘天气条件下沙尘气溶胶浓度表现为强沙尘暴最大,为18.80 mg·m-3;中沙尘暴次之,为13.56 mg·m-3;扬沙浮沉天气较小,只有3.07 mg·m一.随着沙漠向绿洲的过渡,沙尘暴气溶胶浓度明显降低,沙漠、绿洲边缘、绿洲3个下垫面条件下沙尘暴气溶胶浓度依次为21.07 mg·m-3、12.09 mg·m-3、6.49 mg·m-3.沙尘暴气溶胶浓度随观测高度变化遵循幂函数规律,浓度梯度变幅表现为沙尘暴高发季节大于低峰季节,沙尘暴天气大于扬沙浮尘天气,沙漠下垫面大于绿洲下垫面;不同下垫面条件下沙尘暴气溶胶浓度在41 m高度处趋于一致,表明沙尘源区的沙尘浓度在约40 m范围内受地面影响较为显著.     

中国区域地表和大气人为影响敏感区域分布

通过1981-2000年NOAA-AVHRR 8km*8km卫星数据,从季节和年尺度分析了人为活动对地表植被覆盖具有显著影响区域分布.在季节尺度上,人为的多季农业耕作活动,造成部分地区植被覆盖出现季节不连续性,在植被轮作季节地表物理减性和几何特征发生明显变化;在年尺度上,人类活动对区域气候的影响主要体现在造成区域地表和...     

太湖流域重污染区LUCC及驱动因素分析

通过对太湖流域重污染区1999年和2007年的2期遥感影像数据解译结果的分析,获取了太湖流域重污染区主要土地利用类型的信息,分析了8年来研究区内土地利用与覆被变化趋势,并对区域内土地利用/覆被变化的驱动因子进行了探讨。结果表明,从1999～2007年间,太湖流域重污染区内耕地面积减少,而林地、建设用地、园地、水域总体呈增加的趋势,其中减少的耕地主要转化为建设用地。在区域结构中,影响土地利用结构变化的驱动力因素主要是经济的发展、城市化进程推进、人口增长以及政策因素这4个方面,而研究区内经济的快速发展和人口的增长成为土地利用/覆被变化的关键因素。     

Nonstationarity: Flood Magnification and Recurrence Reduction Factors in the United States1

Vogel, Richard M., Chad Yaindl, and Meghan Walter, 2011. Nonstationarity: Flood Magnification and Recurrence Reduction Factors in the United States. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 47(3):464‐474. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2011.00541.x Abstract: It may no longer be reasonable to model streamflow as a stationary process, yet nearly all existing water resource planning methods assume that historical streamflows will remain unchanged in the future. In the few instances when trends in extreme events have been considered, most recent work has focused on the influence of climate change, alone. This study takes a different approach by exploring trends in floods in watersheds which are subject to a very broad range of anthropogenic influences, not limited to climate change. A simple statistical model is developed which can both mimic observed flood trends as well as the frequency of floods in a nonstationary world. This model is used to explore a range of flood planning issues in a nonstationary world. A decadal flood magnification factor is defined as the ratio of the T‐year flood in a decade to the T‐year flood today. Using historical flood data across the United States we obtain flood magnification factors in excess of 2‐5 for many regions of the United States, particularly those regions with higher population densities. Similarly, we compute recurrence reduction factors which indicate that what is now considered the 100‐year flood, may become much more common in many watersheds. Nonstationarity in floods can result from a variety of anthropogenic processes including changes in land use, climate, and water use, with likely interactions among those processes making it very difficult to attribute trends to a particular cause.     

Landscape--wildfire interactions in southern Europe: implications for landscape management

Every year approximately half a million hectares of land are burned by wildfires in southern Europe, causing large ecological and socio-economic impacts. Climate and land use changes in the last decades have increased fire risk and danger. In this paper we review the available scientific knowledge on the relationships between landscape and wildfires in the Mediterranean region, with a focus on its application for defining landscape management guidelines and policies that could be adopted in order to promote landscapes with lower fire hazard. The main findings are that (1) socio-economic drivers have favoured land cover changes contributing to increasing fire hazard in the last decades, (2) large wildfires are becoming more frequent, (3) increased fire frequency is promoting homogeneous landscapes covered by fire-prone shrublands; (4) landscape planning to reduce fuel loads may be successful only if fire weather conditions are not extreme. The challenges to address these problems and the policy and landscape management responses that should be adopted are discussed, along with major knowledge gaps.