Heterogeneity of Thermal Extremes: Driven by Disturbance or Inherent in the Landscape

Ecologists are beginning to recognize the effect of heterogeneity on structure and function in arid and semiarid ecosystems. Additionally, the influences of temperature on ecosystems are widely documented, but landscape temperature patterns and relationships with vegetation are rarely reported in ecological studies. To better understand the importance of temperature patterns to the conservation and restoration of native ecosystems, we designed an experiment to investigate relationships among soil surface temperature, landscape heterogeneity, and grazing intensity. Grazing intensity did influence the vegetation structure and composition. Heavy treatments had the greatest bare ground and the least vertical structure. Ungrazed treatments had the most litter and live grass cover. However, average temperatures among the three grazing treatments were not different and ranged less than 2°C during midday summer periods. The temperature difference between riparian and upland landscapes within grazing treatments was 21°C. Landscape position (riparian vs. upland) did have a significant influence on soil surface temperature and produced a variation in temperature 11 times greater than grazing intensities. Thermal heterogeneity did not differ among grazing treatments. Lower soil surface temperatures (associated with riparian areas) may provide a critical thermal refuge for many animals in arid and semiarid ecosystems on hot summer days, when air temperatures can exceed 37°C. Riparian zones, specifically riparian vegetation, are an important component in ecosystem management.     

全球气候变化下的中国粮食安全问题研究

粮食是人类生存的基础,保障粮食安全是“2030年可持续发展议程”的重要目标之一。论文基于粮食系统视角,从全球气候变化对粮食系统的作用、保障粮食安全对全球气候变化的影响,以及应对全球气候变化的粮食安全适应性策略出发,揭示粮食安全与全球气候变化的相互作用,系统梳理全球气候变化下的中国粮食安全问题。研究结果表明：1）全球气候变化导致粮食系统不确定性增加,且对中国粮食生产的影响加剧;2）粮食需求是全球气候变化的主要驱动力,粮食生产要素的重新配置加剧了全球气候变化;3）多尺度有机结合应对全球气候变化保障粮食安全需在微观上“藏粮于技”实现提质增效,在中观上“藏粮于地”注重生态建设,在宏观上坚持市场为主导完善粮食政策体系。全球气候变化背景下,保障粮食安全研究呈现从单一学科、单一维度、单一手段向依靠多学科开展多尺度、多要素、系统综合集成研究保障粮食安全转变,从高碳粮食系统向低碳高效粮食系统转变的趋势。     

Moving beyond “mitigation and adaptation”: examining climate change responses in New Zealand

Despite the apparent failure of international negotiations and renewed criticism of the accuracy of climate science, responses to climate change continue in households, cities, fields, and meeting rooms. Notions of “doing something about”, or “taking action on” or “mitigating and adapting” to climate change inform practices of carbon trading, restoring native forests, constructing wind turbines, insulating houses, using energy efficient light bulbs, and lobbying politicians for more or less of these actions. These expressions of agency in relation to climate change provide the focus of our enquiry. We found that relationships or social networks linked through local government are building capabilities to respond to climate change. However, the framework of “mitigation–adaptation” will need to be supplemented by a more diverse suite of mental models for making sense of climate change. Use of appropriate languages, cultural reference points, and metaphors embedded in diverse histories of climates and change will assist actors in their networked climate change responses.     

Reconstructed Streamflows for the Headwaters of the Wind River,Wyoming, United States1

Abstract: Tree rings offer a means to extend observational records of streamflow by hundreds of years, but dendrohydrological techniques are not regularly applied to small tributary and headwaters gages. Here we explore the potential for extending three such gage records on small streams in the Wind River drainage of central Wyoming, United States. Using core samples taken from Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), piñon pine (Pinus edulis), and limber pine (Pinus flexilis) at 38 sites, we were able to reconstruct streamflows for the headwaters of the Wind River back to 1672 AD or earlier. The streamflow reconstructions for Bull Lake Creek above Bull Lake; the Little Popo Agie River near Lander, Wyoming; and Wind River near Dubois, Wyoming explained between 40% and 64% of the observed variance, and these extended records performed well in a variety of statistical verification tests. The full reconstructions show pronounced inter‐annual variability in streamflow, and these proxy records also point to the prevalence of severe, sustained droughts in this region. These reconstructions indicate that the 20th Century was relatively wet compared to previous centuries, and actual gage records may capture only a limited subset of potential natural variability in this area. Further analyses reveal how tree‐ring based reconstructions for small tributary and headwaters gages can be strongly influenced by the length and quality of calibration records, but this work also demonstrates how the use of a spatially extensive network of tree‐ring sites can improve the quality of these types of reconstructions.     

A COMPUTER SIMULATION PROGRAM FOR OPTIMIZING CONJUNCTIVE OPERATION OF DESALTING PLANTS1

ABSTRACT .Desalting plants can provide a means of firming up erratic natural supplies when properly operated in conjunction with existing water supply reservoir systems. Since the natural inflow is variable, the choice of when to run the desalting plant is difficult. If the plant is turned on too late, a shortage may result; or if the plant runs too long, costly water may be wasted. A computer program is described that can help water planners find an optimal operating rule, i.e., a policy that tells when to turn the plant on and off to meet a given demand. Criteria for defining the firm water yield of the system (with and without desalting) are first defined. The logic of the program is then described. The program, written in FORTRAN IV, successively simulates operation of the given size reservoir-desalting plant system under control of various operating rules and selects the optimal rule as the one which produces the required firm water yield at the least unit cost. The optimal plant size and the staging of construction can also be studied by making a series of computations. Applications of the Operating Rule Program to water systems in California, Utah and New York are described. The studies show that, compared with base load operation, substantial savings are possible if optimum intermittent conjunctive operation of the desalting plant is followed.     

美国稳定全球气候政策的方案选择

本文介绍了美国稳定全球气候政策方案选择研究项目的概况,分析了快速变化的世界和慢速变化的世界远景。