Chemical composition of rivers and streams in the forest and savanna zones of Nigeria

The aim of this study is to investigate the differences in the chemical conditions of lotic waterbodies in the two major ecosystems in Nigeria, the forest and savanna zones. The forest waters were slightly acidic (mean±SD pH = 6.72±0.58) while the savanna waters were slightly alkaline (pH = 7.11±0.33). The cationic order of dominance in the forest waters was Na⁺ > Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ > K⁺ in contrast to Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺ > Na⁺ > K⁺ in savanna waters. The forest waters were chlorided (typical of coastal and/or marine waters) whereas the savanna waters were carbonated in nature, typical of the worldwide freshwater. Organic carbon was significantly higher in forest waters than in the savanna waters (p < 0.05) while nutrient compounds were significantly higher in savanna waters than in forest waters. The seasonal variation of the chemical parameters was generally more evident in savanna than in forest waters. The differences in water quality between the two major vegetation zones reflect the differences in the biogeochemical processes and nutrient cycling that characterise forest and savanna ecosystems.     

Mapping the economic costs and benefits of Coral Triangle Initiative (CTI) and Mangrove Rehabilitation Projects (MRP) in Solomon Islands: a study of two MPAs and one MRP

This paper reports a study of costs and benefits of Coral Triangle Initiatives (CTI) and Mangrove Rehabilitation Projects (MRP) in the Solomon Islands. It was observed that the communities have different attitudes and perceptions toward climate change challenges. The different scales and magnitudes of climate change impacts that are perceived at these sites, and the different subsistence realities make them have varied responses and points of view regarding such impacts. For instance, respondents from Oibola experienced the most adverse impacts from climatic change events compared to those living in the Naro and Sairaghi sites. Introduction of CTI and MRP has driven the villagers to travel out far from their traditional fishing grounds to catch enough fish to sell and support their families. This implies higher fishing costs and time for commute. From a social perspective, this weakens the communal bond in the community. In spite of these trade-offs, the respondents expressed satisfaction with the level of benefits received from the projects, which included the rehabilitation of the ecosystems and breeding grounds for fish and habitats around the area. We mapped the costs and benefits of these projects to the villagers, and although no amounts or figures were disclosed, the benefits are compared against corresponding costs. One key factor for the success of the initiatives was the cooperation and involvement of recipient villagers, and even including the management MPAs.     

Mapping cultural vulnerability in volcanic regions: The practical application of social volcanology at Mt Merapi,Indonesia

Protecting at-risk communities from geological hazards requires both knowledge of the physical hazard and an understanding of the community at risk. Interdisciplinary disaster research therefore explores the interface between hazards and society in order to improve disaster risk reduction strategies. At this interface there exist disaster sub-cultures that are produced through hazard experience and can be developed as a coping mechanism for the at-risk communities. Therefore, disaster sub-cultures could contribute to either social resilience or vulnerability. The fluid nature of the term culture and the difficulty in quantifying these important human traits mean that the local sub-cultures are complex and often not included within conventional risk management tools such as risk maps. However, this paper demonstrates how a disaster sub-culture found at Mt Merapi volcano, Indonesia, can be examined using interdisciplinary methods. The distinctive Mt Merapi sub-culture influences local community actions during the frequent eruptions. The findings from ethnographic studies completed on Mt Merapi in 2007 and 2009 have been translated and mapped in order to be incorporated within a holistic risk assessment. The key findings, methods of translation and maps are presented here, and demonstrate the potential for interdisciplinary research applications in disaster risk reduction.     

基于MODIS-OLI遥感数据融合技术的农田生产力估算

大范围、高精度的农田生产力遥感监测依赖于高时空分辨率的遥感数据,单纯依靠由单一类型传感器数据获取的高时相或者高空间分辨率的遥感数据都不能满足清晰掌握田块尺度上作物生长动态的需求。全球免费提供的空间分辨率250~1 000 m的MODIS数据和空间分辨率30 m的Landsat数据是植被动态监测普遍应用的数据源,针对应用MODIS数据估算的农田生产力空间分辨率较低而Landsat卫星重访周期长的局限性,研究基于空间分辨率30 m的Landsat 8 OLI数据与空间分辨率500 m的MODIS数据,应用时空数据融合技术,融合OLI数据的高清晰空间表达能力与时间间隔8 d的MODIS数据的植被生长时间序列过程的监测能力,获得空间分辨率30 m、时间步长8 d的时间序列数据,利用VPM （Vegetation Photosynthesis Model）模型以宁夏永宁县部分地区为试验区估算该区域的NPP。研究结果表明,融合后所得30 m分辨率的NPP具有良好的空间细节信息,提高了MODIS数据中混合像元上的估算精度,并保留了MODIS数据原始的时间过程信息,以30 m的空间分辨率刻画出作物的生长动态;较单独应用MODIS数据,使用融合数据估算的NPP可更有效检测出高标准农田建设对农田生产力的提升。     

黄河三角洲土壤古菌群落结构对盐生植被演替的响应

采用高通量测序技术,探究黄河三角洲光板地和4种典型盐生植被类型（翅碱蓬、獐茅、白茅和罗布麻）下土壤古菌群落组成和数量分布特征,揭示其对盐生植被演替的响应.结果表明,植被覆盖有利于降低土壤盐化程度、增加土壤营养物质含量,土壤速效磷随盐生植被在光板地-重盐土壤（翅碱蓬、獐茅）-轻盐土壤（白茅、罗布麻）中的正向演替有不断升高的趋势.5种覆被类型下土壤古菌在种群组成上差异明显,无植被覆盖的光板地具有最高的古菌群落多样性和丰富度,广古菌门为优势菌群.土壤古菌群落结构与盐生植被演替顺序不具有严格的一致性：当植被处于相同演替阶段时,土壤古菌群落结构不具明显的相似性;在不同演替阶段时,土壤古菌群落结构也未均表现出更大的差异性.随着盐生植被正向演替,土壤温度、电导率（含盐量）对土壤古菌群落结构多样性起促进作用,土壤全氮、碱解氮、有机质起抑制作用.     

闽江口不同沼泽植被带土壤甲烷产生潜力的温度敏感性

2012年2月采集闽江河口鳝鱼滩短叶茳芏(Cyperus malaccensis),芦苇(Phragmites australis)和互花米草(Scirpus alterniflora) 3个典型潮汐沼泽植被带0~30cm(间隔5cm)土壤样品,在不同温度(10,20和30℃)进行15d室内厌氧培养实验,探讨河口区不同沼泽植被带土壤甲烷产生潜力及其温度敏感性(Q10值)的特征.结果表明,指数模型较好地拟合不同沼泽植被带土壤甲烷产生与温度的相关关系;温度由10℃升至20℃时,3个沼泽植被带土壤甲烷产生潜力Q10值的均值分别为5.04,14.92和14.81,最大值均在培养期间的第13~15d分别出现于10~15cm,15~20cm和20~25cm三个土层;温度由20℃升至30℃时,3个沼泽植被带土壤甲烷产生潜力Q10值的均值分别为3.56,4.99和3.43,最大值分别在培养期间的第4~6d,第4~6d和第7~9d出现于0~5cm,0~5cm和15~20cm三个土层;植被类型和土壤深度对甲烷产生潜力及Q10值均具有显著的影响(P<0.05).     

Mercury source zone identification using soil vapor sampling and analysis

Development and demonstration of reliable measurement techniques that can detect and help quantify the nature and extent of elemental mercury (Hg(0)) in the subsurface are needed to reduce uncertainties in the decision-making process and increase the effectiveness of remedial actions. We conducted field tests at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA, to determine if sampling and analysis of Hg(0) vapors in the shallow subsurface (<0.3 m depth) can be used to as an indicator of the location and extent of Hg(0) releases in the subsurface. We constructed a rigid polyvinyl chloride push probe assembly, which was driven into the ground. Soil gas samples were collected through a sealed inner tube of the assembly and were analyzed immediately in the field with a Lumex and/or Jerome Hg(0) analyzer. Time-series sampling showed that Hg vapor concentrations were fairly stable over time, suggesting that the vapor phase Hg(0) was not being depleted and that sampling results were not sensitive to the soil gas purge volume. Hg(0) vapor data collected at over 200 push probe locations at 3 different release sites correlated very well to areas of known Hg(0) contamination. Vertical profiling of Hg(0) vapor concentrations conducted at two locations provided information on the vertical distribution of Hg(0) contamination in the subsurface. We conclude from our studies that soil gas sampling and analysis can be conducted rapidly and inexpensively at large scales to help identify areas contaminated with Hg(0).     

Using a fisheries ecosystem model with a water quality model to explore trophic and habitat impacts on a fisheries stock: A case study of the blue crab population in the Chesapeake Bay

Recent calls for the development of ecosystem-based fisheries management compel the development of resource management tools and linkages between existing fisheries management tools and other resource tools to enable assessment and management of multiple impacts on fisheries resources. In this paper, we describe the use of the Chesapeake Bay Fisheries Ecosystem Model (CBFEM), developed using the Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) software, and the Chesapeake Bay Water Quality Model (WQM) to demonstrate how linkages between available modeling tools can be used to inform ecosystem-based natural resource management. The CBFEM was developed to provide strategic ecosystem information in support of fisheries management. The WQM was developed to assess impacts on water quality. The CBFEM was indirectly coupled with the WQM to assess the effects of water quality and submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) on blue crabs. The output from two WQM scenarios (1985-1994), a baseline scenario representing actual nutrient inputs and another with reduced inputs based on a tributary management strategy, was incorporated into the CBFEM. The results suggested that blue crab biomass could be enhanced under management strategies (reduced nutrient input) when the effective search rate of blue crab young-of-the-year's (YOY's) predators or the vulnerability of blue crab YOY to its predators was adjusted by SAV. Such model linkages are important for incorporating physical and biological components of ecosystems in order to explore ecosystem-based fisheries management options.     

Knowing fire incidence through fuel phenology: A remotely sensed approach

Fire is a basic ecological factor that contributes to determine vegetation diversity and dynamics in time and space. Fuel characteristics play an essential role in fire ignition and propagation; at the landscape scale fuel availability and flammability are closely related to the vegetation phenology that directly affects wildfire pattern in time and space. In this view, the annual normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) profiles derived from high temporal resolution satellites, like SPOT Vegetation, represent an effective tool for monitoring the coarse-scale vegetation seasonal timing. The objective of this study thus consists in quantifying the explanatory power of multitemporal NDVI profiles on the fire regime characteristics of the potential natural vegetation (PNV) types of Sardinia (Italy) over a 5-year period (2000-2004). The results obtained show a good association between the NDVI temporal dynamics of the PNV of Sardinia and the corresponding fire regime characteristics, emphasizing the role of the bioclimatic timing of the vegetation in controlling the coarse-scale wildfire spatio-temporal distribution of Sardinia. By providing a sound phytogeographical framework for describing different wildfire regimes, PNV maps can thus be considered helpful cartographic documents for fire management strategies at the landscape scale.     

Vegetation Response to Early Holocene Warming as an Analog for Current and Future Changes

Abstract: Temperatures in southwestern North America are projected to increase 3.5–4 °C over the next 60–90 years. This will precipitate ecological shifts as the ranges of species change in response to new climates. During this shift, rapid‐colonizing species should increase, whereas slow‐colonizing species will at first decrease, but eventually become reestablished in their new range. This successional process has been estimated to require from 100 to over 300 years in small areas, under a stable climate, with a nearby seed source. How much longer will it require on a continental scale, under a changing climate, without a nearby seed source? I considered this question through an examination of the response of fossil plant assemblages from the Grand Canyon, Arizona, to the most recent rapid warming of similar magnitude that occurred at the start of the Holocene, 11,700 years ago. At that time, temperatures in southwestern North America increased about 4 °C over less than a century. Grand Canyon plant species responded at different rates to this warming climate. Early‐successional species rapidly increased, whereas late‐successional species decreased. This shift persisted throughout the next 2700 years. I found two earlier, less‐extreme species shifts following rapid warming events around 14,700 and 16,800 years ago. Late‐successional species predominated only after 4000 years or more of relatively stable temperature. These results suggest the potential magnitude, duration, and nature of future ecological changes and have implications for conservation plans, especially those incorporating equilibrium assumptions or reconstituting past conditions. When these concepts are extended to include the most rapid early‐successional colonizers, they imply that the recent increases in invasive exotics may be only the most noticeable part of a new resurgence of early‐successional vegetation. Additionally, my results challenge the reliability of models of future vegetation and carbon balance that project conditions on the basis of assumptions of equilibrium within only a century.