Mandible shape in hybrid mice

Hybridisation between closely related species is frequently seen as retarding evolutionary divergence and can also promote it by creating novel phenotypes due to new genetic combinations and developmental interactions. We therefore investigated how hybridisation affects the shape of the mouse mandible, a well-known feature in evo–devo studies. Parental groups corresponded to two strains of the European mouse sub-species Mus musculus domesticus and Mus musculus musculus. Parents and hybrids were bred in controlled conditions. The mandibles of F₁ hybrids are mostly intermediate between parental phenotypes as expected for a complex multigenic character. Nevertheless, a transgressive effect as well as an increased phenotypic variance characterise the hybrids. This suggests that hybridisation between the two subspecies could lead to a higher phenotypic variance due to complex interactions among the parental genomes including non-additive genetic effects. The major direction of variance is conserved, however, among hybrids and parent groups. Hybridisation may thus play a role in the production of original transgressive phenotypes occurring following pre-existing patterns of variance.     

Evaluation of Methods for Delineating Riparian Zones in a Semi‐Arid Montane Watershed

Riparian zones in semi‐arid, mountainous regions provide a disproportionate amount of the available wildlife habitat and ecosystem services. Despite their importance, there is little guidance on the best way to map riparian zones for broad spatial extents (e.g., large watersheds) when detailed maps from field data or high‐resolution imagery and terrain data are not available. Using well‐established accuracy metrics (e.g., kappa, precision, computational complexity), we evaluated eight methods commonly used to map riparian zones. Focusing on a semi‐arid, mountainous watershed, we found that the most accurate and robust method for mapping riparian zones combines data on upstream drainage area and valley topography. That method performed best regardless of stream order, and was most effective when implemented with fine resolution topographic and stream line data. Other commonly used methods to model riparian zones, such as those based on fixed‐width buffers, yielded inaccurate results. We recommend that until very‐high resolution (<1 m) elevation data are available at broad extents, models of riparian zones for semi‐arid mountainous regions should incorporate drainage area, valley topography, and quantify uncertainty.     

Exploring Persistence in Streamflow Forecasting

In this study, the authors explore three persistence approaches in streamflow forecasting motivated by the need for forecasting model skill evaluation. The authors use streamflow observations with 15 min resolution from the year 2008 to 2017 at 140 United States Geological Survey streamflow gauges monitoring the streams and rivers over the State of Iowa. The spatial scale of the basins ranges from about 7 to 37,000 km². The study explores three approaches: simple persistence, gradient persistence, and anomaly persistence. The study shows that persistence forecasts skill has strong dependence on basin scales and weaker but non‐negligible dependence on geometric properties of the river network for a given basin. Among the three approaches explored, anomaly persistence shows highest skill especially for small basins, under about 500 km². The anomaly persistence can serve as a benchmark for model evaluations considering the effect of basin scales and geometric properties of river network of the basin. This study further reiterates that persistence forecasts are hard‐to‐beat methods for larger basin scales at short to medium forecast range.     

社会资本对中国环境治理绩效影响的实证分析

市场交易和政府命令一直被作为环境治理的两种有效方式,而交易成本的高昂和市场失灵的客观存在促使人们寻找除这两种方式外的其他方式.社会资本作为一个对于促进经济增长、管理自然资源与保护环境的关键变量得到学者的广泛关注.本文在对社会资本的概念、维度的梳理基础上,通过结构方程模型的实证研究,分析社会资本、社会分歧和社会能力在环境治理中的机理与影响,以期对我国开展社会资本与环境治理机制研究提供政策支持和理论借鉴.结果表明:组织层面的社会资本和社会能力与环境治理绩效呈显著的正相关,社会分歧与环境治理绩效呈显著的负相关,而个体层面的社会资本并未对环境治理绩效产生较大影响.通过交互效应分析得到社会分歧和社会能力在社会资本对环境绩效的影响过程中起到调节作用.即随着社会分歧的扩大(缩小),社会资本对环境治理绩效的影响将减弱(增强);随着社会能力的增强(减弱),社会资本对环境治理绩效的影响将增强(减弱).     

土地市场发展对土地集约利用的影响

该文在分析土地市场发展与土地集约利用关系的基础上,构建计量模型,运用我国31省(市、区)2001 - 2008年的面板数据,估算土地市场发育对土地集约利用的作用方向和程度.分析结果表明,总体上全国土地市场发展对土地集约利用有着显著的正向促进作用,在2001-2008年间,我国土地市场化水平每提高1个百分点,土地集约利用水平就能提升1.276 5亿元/Km2.进一步地将我国31省(市、区)划分为工业化初期、中期、成熟期和后期4个阶段,不同发展阶段的省(市、区)土地市场化对土地集约利用水平的作用程度和作用方向有着较大差别.工业化初期阶段省(市、区)的土地市场发展对土地集约利用的弹性系数最高;工业化中期、成熟期阶段的省(市、区),土地市场发展对土地集约利用的促进作用显著,应进一步强化土地资源的市场化配置;工业化后期的北京、上海、天津土地市场化对土地集约利用的弹性系数小于零,说明体现土地资源、资产属性的土地市场发展到一定程度后,应更加重视土地对经济发展的宏观调控属性.     

北京市不同主干道绿地群落对大气PM2.5浓度消减作用的影响

为研究城市道路两侧不同绿化带宽度及不同植物群落配置模式对消减大气中PM2.5浓度的作用,选择北京市四环主干道旁3种典型植物群落配置类型作为试验监测点,对0 m、6 m、16 m、26 m、36 m不同绿带宽度下PM2.5浓度分布与变化进行监测,并对其消减能力进行计算,分析PM2.5浓度变化与道路车流量、绿化带宽度及植物群落配置模式之间的关系。结果表明：（1）PM2.5浓度的日变化与车流量的日变化特征一致,道路绿地空气中PM2.5浓度的日变化呈现双峰单谷型特征,即早晚高、白天低,PM2.5浓度在8：00-10：00的交通早高峰期间增加,而后开始下降,到12：00-14：00左右达到最低值,之后呈持续上升状态,直至晚高峰19：00浓度达一天中的最大值。（2）不同植物群落配置模式对大气中PM2.5浓度的消减作用不同,群落内郁闭度高的多复层结构绿地对PM2.5消减作用优于郁闭度低的单层配置绿地模式;（3）分别对3类空气质量条件下,道路绿地对PM2.5消减作用进行评价。无污染或轻度污染（PM2.5〈100μg·m-3）环境下,绿地对PM2.5消减作用明显,26 m及36 m的绿带处消减作用最强,最高可达12.22%;中度污染（101μg·m-3201μg·m-3）天气条件下3种绿地对PM2.5的消减作用均不明显。     

改性纳米铁原位反应带修复范围影响因素研究

为了解蔗糖改性纳米铁原位反应带在地下含水层中的形成规律,在二维模拟装置中创建原位反应带,研究了石英砂介质颗粒大小?地下水流速?浆液注入浓度?注入量及注入方式对反应带修复范围的影响.结果表明:反应带宽度随介质粒径及地下水流速的增加而增大,粗砂中反应带宽度约为细砂的3倍;当地下水流速由0.1m/d增加到1.0m/d时,反应带宽度分别增加了14.9%和106.4%.浆液分次注入的方式可使反应带初始宽度增加19.8%;较小的浆液浓度有利于反应带在水流方向和含水层垂向修复范围的扩展.     

Use of Standardized Visual Assessments of Riparian and Stream Condition to Manage Riparian Bird Habitat in Eastern Oregon

The importance of riparian vegetation to support stream function and provide riparian bird habitat in semiarid landscapes suggests that standardized assessment tools that include vegetation criteria to evaluate stream health could also be used to assess habitat conditions for riparian-dependent birds. We first evaluated the ability of two visual assessments of woody vegetation in the riparian zone (corridor width and height) to describe variation in the obligate riparian bird ensemble along 19 streams in eastern Oregon. Overall species richness and the abundances of three species all correlated significantly with both, but width was more important than height. We then examined the utility of the riparian zone criteria in three standardized and commonly used rapid visual riparian assessment protocols—the USDI BLM Proper Functioning Condition (PFC) assessment, the USDA NRCS Stream Visual Assessment Protocol (SVAP), and the U.S. EPA Habitat Assessment Field Data Sheet (HAFDS)—to assess potential riparian bird habitat. Based on the degree of correlation of bird species richness with assessment ratings, we found that PFC does not assess obligate riparian bird habitat condition, SVAP provides a coarse estimate, and HAFDS provides the best assessment. We recommend quantitative measures of woody vegetation for all assessments and that all protocols incorporate woody vegetation height. Given that rapid assessments may be the only source of information for thousands of kilometers of streams in the western United States, incorporating simple vegetation measurements is a critical step in evaluating the status of riparian bird habitat and provides a tool for tracking changes in vegetation condition resulting from management decisions.     

一个解析的面源浓度计算公式

利用级数展开的方法得到一个实用的解析面源公式,它不仅包括了显式源高项,还能计算面源烟羽横风向非轴线浓度,其精度远远高于其它有关模式。此外,利用该公式,研究了面源烟羽的半宽度,并证明,难以用一个固定的后退点源来描述整个面源烟羽,提出可用一移动点源来代替。     

部分城市空气中颗粒物的元素组成比较

通过对数浓度图和分歧系数对中国广义、武汉、兰州和重庆4座城市空气中粗细颗粒物的42种元素组成进行了比较。结果表明，与人类活动有关的污染元素主要富集在细颗粒物中，而粗颗粒物中元素相对于细颗粒物来说更多的来自于土壤；同一座城市内城区同郊区相比，元素污染更严重，城郊之间细颗粒物中元素在短距离和有利地形下传输作用十分明显。同时还比较了城市之间的元素污染程度。结果表明，兰州城区相对于其它采校点位颗粒物中元素污染较为