STREAM CHANNEL ADJUSTMENTS FOLLOWING ELIMINATION OF CAVFLE GRAZING1

ABSTRACT: Cattle grazing practices in the western United States have contributed to widespread riparian degradation resulting in unstable channel morphologies and the loss of fish habitat. Because of prolonged disturbance, numerous riparian areas on both public and private lands have been fenced to exclude cattle in order to promote vegetation establishment and riparian improvement. We selected four gravel-bedded, steep alluvial streams in eastern Oregon with cattle exclosures greater than 14 years old for an analysis of geomorphic adjustments following the removal of cattle grazing. We compare channels inside exclosures and in adjacent grazed reaches to identify the salient stream channel properties that respond to the removal of riparian stresses and to document the magnitude of these changes. Results indicate that significant changes occur, with reductions in bankfull dimensions and increases in pool area being the most common and identifiable changes. At all four sites, bankfull widths are narrower by 10 to 20 percent, and the percentage of channel area occupied by pools is higher in the exclosure by 8 to 15 percent. The increase in pool area is primarily offset by a reduction in the percent glide area. Not all of the channel properties demonstrate adjustment, indicating that perhaps 14 years is an insufficient duration for these variables to adjust.     

Impacts of Rotational Grazing and Riparian Buffers on Physicochemical and Biological Characteristicsof Southeastern Minnesota, USA, Streams

We assessed the relationship between riparian management and stream quality along five southeastern Minnesota streams in 1995 and 1996. Specifically, we examined the effect of rotationally and continuously grazed pastures and different types of riparian buffer strips on water chemistry, physical habitat, benthic macroinvertebrates, and fish as indicators of stream quality. We collected data at 17 sites under different combinations of grazing and riparian management, using a longitudinal design on three streams and a paired watershed design on two others. Continuous and rotational grazing were compared along one longitudinal study stream and at the paired watershed. Riparian buffer management, fenced trees (wood buffer), fenced grass, and unfenced rotationally grazed areas were the focus along the two remaining longitudinal streams. Principal components analysis (PCA) of water chemistry, physical habitat, and biotic data indicated a local management effect. The ordinations separated continuous grazing from sites with rotational grazing and sites with wood buffers from those with grass buffers or rotationally grazed areas. Fecal coliform and turbidity were consistently higher at continuously grazed than rotationally grazed sites. Percent fines in the streambed were significantly higher at sites with wood buffers than grass and rotationally grazed areas, and canopy cover was similar at sites with wood and grass buffers. Benthic macroinvertebrate metrics were significant but were not consistent across grazing and riparian buffer management types. Fish density and abundance were related to riparian buffer type, rather than grazing practices. Our study has potentially important implications for stream restoration programs in the midwestern United States. Our comparisons suggest further consideration and study of a combination of grass and wood riparian buffer strips as midwestern stream management options, rather than universally installing wood buffers in every instance. RID=" ID=" The Unit is jointly sponsored by the US Geological Survey, Biological Resources Division; the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources; the University of Minnesota; and the Wildlife Management Institute.     

Terrestrial perturbation experiments for environmental assessment

The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) was initially interpreted as requiring full disclosure of the environmental impact of a federal action. Because of the limitations of time, money, and manpower, the requirement that all impacts be considered has led to superficial analysis of many important impacts. Data collection has largely been limited to the enumeration of species because this information can be applied to the analysis of any problem. The President's Council on Environment Quality (CEQ) has provided a solution to this problem by reinterpreting NEPA as requiring analysis of those impacts that have significant bearing on decision making. Because assessment resources can now be concentrated on a few critical issues, it should be possible to perform field perturbation experiments to provide direct evidence of the effects of a specific mixture of pollutants or physical disturbances on the specific receiving ecosystem. Techniques are described for field simulation of gaseous and particulate air pollution, polluted rain, soil pollutants, disturbance of the soil, and disturbance of wildlife. These techniques are discussed in terms of their realism, cost, and the restrictions that they place on the measurement of ecological parameters. Development and use of these field perturbation techniques should greatly improve the accuracy of predictive assessments and further our understanding of ecosystem processes.Research sponsored by the Office of Health and Environmental Research, U.S. Department of Energy, under contract W-7405-eng-26 with Union Carbide Corporation.Publication No. 1816, Environmental Sciences Division, ORNL.     

多重扰动对湖泊内源磷迁移转化的影响

为了阐明多重扰动因素对内源磷迁移转化的影响,以太湖梅梁湾沉积物为研究对象,借助Rhizon间隙水采样技术、Unisense微电极系统等技术,研究了扰动下泥水两相间溶解氧、不同形态磷、铁离子等变化规律.结果表明,与对照实验相比,河蚬的出现致使沉积物内部溶解氧含量降低.扰动致使间隙水中DIP的峰值区域由3~4 cm迁移至4~5 cm,暗示了摇蚊幼虫和河蚬的引入使得DIP再生的"活跃区域"更深入泥层.并且,河蚬和藻类的出现进一步降低了间隙水中DIP的含量,其主要来源于NH_4Cl-P的释放,去向为上覆水和形成Fe/Al-P.随着扰动因素的增加,NH_4Cl-P转化为Fe/Al-P的比重也逐渐增加(由44%增至59%).     

人为扰动背景下城市边缘溪流底质硝化-反硝化潜力分析

2016年5月至2017年1月,在合肥城区东北部边缘某一溪流的自然状态段(情形1)、点源排污段(情形2)和水土流失段(情形3)设置6个采样点位,逐月采集水样和表层底质样,解析不同情形下溪流底质硝化-反硝化潜力及其变化特征,并进行差异性和影响因素分析.结果表明:(1)溪流底质硝化活性均值为0.381%,并以情形2底质硝化活性最高,情形1的夏季硝化活性相对最强、冬季最弱,情形2、3硝化活性高低排序为:春季夏季秋季冬季;(2)溪流底质硝化速率均值为0.364mg·(kg·d)~(-1),其中以情形2底质硝化速率最高,情形2、3的各采样点春季硝化速率显著最高,其它季节相差不大,情形1的各季节变化不很明显;(3)溪流底质反硝化活性为37.25%,反硝化速率为57.68 mg·(kg·d)~(-1),其中情形2底质反硝化活性和反硝化速率都高于相同季节的其他情形,情形1、2的反硝化活性和反硝化速率高低排序均为:夏季春季秋季冬季,情形3的反硝化活性和反硝化速率排序均为:春季夏季秋季冬季;(4)差异性分析表明,情形1、2在硝化速率方面存在极显著差异性,情形1、3在反硝化活性、反硝化速率方面存在极显著差异性,而情形2、3在硝化速率、反硝化活性和反硝化速率方面均呈现极显著差异性;(5)偏最小二乘回归分析表明,3种情形在硝化活性和硝化速率方面重要贡献因素差异较大.     

地面抽采煤层气环境影响和管理对策探讨

随着我国一系列鼓励煤层气开发政策、规划的实施,区域煤层气规模化和商业化开发将逐步展开.煤层气开发环境问题与常规天然气相比有其特殊性,主要表现为井网密度大、疏水降压排采和加压集输引发的特殊环境问题.井网密度大则对地表生态环境的影响大;煤层排水是煤层气开发区别于常规油气资源开发最主要的环境问题;加压集输和井网密度大增加动力设备,影响声环境质量和生态环境质量等.针对煤层气开发环境问题的特殊性,提出煤层气开发应以水平井为主减少地表扰动.不同水文地质条件煤层排水水质不同,我国为缺水国家,煤层排水如果为淡水,应考虑综合利用;如果为高矿化度水应考虑适当处理回注地下.     

Effects of overlying water aeration on phosphorus fractions and alkaline phosphatase activity in surface sediment

Microbial activity may influence phosphorus (P) deposit and release at the water sediment interface. The properties of DO (dissolved oxygen), pH, P fractions (TP, Ca-P, Fe-P, OP, IP), and APA (alkaline phosphatase activity) at the water sediment interface were measured to investigate microbial activity variations in surface sediment under conditions of two-month intermittent aeration in overlying water. Results showed that DO and TP of overlying water increased rapidly in the first week and then decreased gradually after 15 day of intermittent aeration. Microorganism metabolism in surface sediment increased pH and decreased DO and TP in the overlying water. After two-month intermittent aeration, APA and OP from surface sediment (0–2 cm) were both significantly higher than those from bottom sediment (6–8 cm) (p < 0.05), and surface sediment Fe-P was transferred to OP during the course of microorganism reproduction on the surface sediment. These results suggest that microbial activity and microorganism biomass from the surface sediment were higher than those from bottom sediment after two-month intermittent aeration in the overlying water.     

紫花含笑适宜生境的保护空缺与人类干扰分析

以紫花含笑地理分布点数据为基础,结合地形和气候数据,使用最大熵（MaxEnt）模型,对紫花含笑的生境适宜度进行了评估,并基于阈值法,将紫花含笑生境分为适宜区和最适宜区,分析了紫花含笑生境适宜区和最适宜区在我国的地理分布、保护现状以及人类干扰状况,结果表明：年均降雨量对紫花含笑的分布影响最为重要,地形因子和温度因子对紫花含笑的分布影响相对较小;紫花含笑的生境最适宜区面积为13.7万km²,适宜区为27.0万km²,分布在22°~30°N,107°~120°E之间.广东、福建、广西、江西和湖南等5个省是紫花含笑生境最适宜分布区面积最广的地区;位于国家级自然保护区内的生境最适宜区和适宜区面积约占总面积的1.9%,大部分适宜生境未得到有效保护;紫花含笑生境适宜区和最适宜区内,林地是最大的土地利用类型,但是各项人类活动也占有相当大的比例.     

Characterizing Geomorphic Change from Anthropogenic Disturbances to Inform Restoration in the Upper Cache River,Illinois

Over the past century, channelization, agricultural tiling, and land use changes have resulted in significant stream channel degradation of the Cache River in southern Illinois. With the increasing interest in restoration of the watershed's bottomland forests and swamps, we sought to characterize geomorphic change over the past 110 years to inform restoration and management. A previously surveyed stretch of river was resurveyed in the fall of 2011, following a record flood in the spring of that year. Results suggest that the slope of the channel in this section of the river has increased 345% between 1903 and 1972 (p < 0.01), but has not changed significantly since (p = 0.12). Within that same time period, bank heights increased between 1 and 7 m and bed elevation decreased between 1 and 5 m. Changes in resurveyed cross sections appear to be primarily due to recent flood scour. It appears as though early 20th Century stream channel modifications had immediate effects on the geomorphology of the channel; however, channel geometry is now at or near equilibrium. This case study of the Cache River watershed demonstrates how and why successful restoration will require integration of geomorphic processes of the system.     

Using interview surveys and multispecies occupancy models to inform vertebrate conservation

Species distribution data are an essential biodiversity variable requiring robust monitoring to inform wildlife conservation. Yet, such data remain inherently sparse because of the logistical challenges of monitoring biodiversity across broad geographic extents. Surveys of people knowledgeable about the occurrence of wildlife provide an opportunity to evaluate species distributions and the ecology of wildlife communities across large spatial scales. We analyzed detection histories of 30 vertebrate species across the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot in India, obtained from a large-scale interview survey of 2318 people who live and work in the forests of this region. We developed a multispecies occupancy model that simultaneously corrected for false-negative (non-detection) and false-positive (misidentification) errors that interview surveys can be prone to. Using this model, we integrated data across species in composite analyses of the responses of functional species groups (based on disturbance tolerance, diet, and body mass traits) to spatial variation in environmental variables, protection, and anthropogenic pressures. We observed a positive association between forest cover and the occurrence of species with low tolerance of human disturbance. Protected areas were associated with higher occurrence for species across different functional groups compared with unprotected lands. We also observed the occurrence of species with low disturbance tolerance, herbivores, and large-bodied species was negatively associated with developmental pressures, such as human settlements, energy production and mining, and demographic pressures, such as biological resource extraction. For the conservation of threatened vertebrates, our work underscores the importance of maintaining forest cover and reducing deforestation within and outside protected areas, respectively. In addition, mitigating a suite of pervasive human pressures is also crucial for wildlife conservation in one of the world's most densely populated biodiversity hotspots.