Homopteran chemical signatures reduce aggression of tending ants

Summary. Because generalist ants are aggressive towards foreign insects, the recognition of homopterans by tending ants is critical in ant/homopteran trophobiosis. Herein we report experimental evidence indicating that Argentine ant, Linepithema humile (Mayr) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) learn to associate the production of honeydew with the chemical characteristics of homopteran cuticle, suppressing ant aggression and allowing the ants to tend homopterans. Although chemically-mediated associative learning is well understood in honeybee foraging, to our knowledge, it has not been reported before in ant/homopteran trophobiosis.     

转炉除尘循环水系统结垢与腐蚀浅析

本文通过分析典型转炉除尘系统水质变化规律,调查污垢、悬浮物成份及特点,研究了系统产生腐蚀和结垢的原因,并从技术和管理上提出了解决此问题的有效方法.     

Response of CH4 emission of paddy fields to land management practices at a microcosmic cultivation scale in China

The terrestrial ecosystem may be either a source or a sink of CH4 in rice paddies, depending, to a great extent, on the change of ecosystem types and land use patterns. CH4 emission fluxes from paddy fields under 4 cultivation patterns (conventional plain culture of rice(T1), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice(T2), no-tillage and ridge culture of rice and wheat (T3), and rice-wheat rotation(T4)) were measured with the closed chamber technique in 1996 and 1998 in Chongqing, China. The results showed that differences existed in CH4 emission from paddy fields under these land management practices. In 1996 and 1998, CH4 emission was 71.48% and 78.82% (T2), 65.93% and 57.18% (T3), and 61.53% and 34.22% (T4) of that in T1 during the rice growing season. During the non-rice growing season, CH4 emission from rice fields was 76.23% in T2 and 38.69% in T]. The accumulated annual CH, emission in T2, T3 and T4 in 1996 decreased by 33.53%, 63.30% and 65.?3%, respectively, as compared with that in TI. In 1998. the accumulated annual CH4 emission in T], T2, T3 and T4 was 116.96g/m^2, 68.44g/m^2, 19.70g/ms and 11.80g/m^2, respectively. Changes in soil physical and chemical properties, in thermal and moisture conditions in the soil and in rice plant growth induced by different land use patterns were the dominant causes for the difference in CH4 emission observed. The relative contribution of various influencing factors to CH, emission from paddy fields differed significantly under different land use patterns. However, the general trend was that chlorophyll content in rice leaves, air temperature and temperature at the 5 cm soil layer play a major role in CH4 emission from paddy fields and the effects of illumination, relative humidity and water layer depth in the paddy field and CH4 concentration in the crop canopy were relatively non-significant. Such conservative land use patterns as no-tillage and ridge culture of rice with or without rotation with wheat are thought to be beneficial to reducing CH4 emission from paddy fields and are, therefore, recommended as a significant solution to the problems of global(climatic) change.     

INTEGRATION OF A BASIN-SCALE WATER QUALITY MODEL WITH GIS1

ABSTRACT: Geographic Information Systems (GIS) have been successfully integrated with distributed parameter, single-event, water quality models such as AGNPS (AGricultural NonPoint Source) and ANSWERS (Areal Nonpoint Source Watershed Environmental Response Simulation). These linkages proved to be an effective way to collect, manipulate, visualize, and analyze the input and output date of water quality models. However, for continuous-time, basin large-scale water quality models, collecting and manipulating the input data are more time-consuming and cumbersome due to the method of disaggregation (subdivisions are based on topographic boundaries). SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool), a basin-scale water quality model, was integrated with a GIS to extract input data for modeling a basin. This paper discusses the detailed development of the integration of the SWAT water quality model with GRASS (Geographic Resources Analysis Support System) GIS, along with an application and advantages. The integrated system was applied to simulated a 114 sq. km upper portion of the Seco Creek Basin by subdividing it into 37 subbasins. The average monthly predicted streamflw is in agreement with measured monthly streamflw values.     

论城市建设“规模效益”与合理控制城市规模

城市“规模效益”对发展社会生产力的作用是不可忽视的,但是如果城市规模太大,人口过于集中,又会造成一系列的环境和社会问题。如何把城市规模控制在合理、适当的范围?本文从我国的国情出发,就自然资源、环境容量和环境质量、经济效益三个方面,对这一问题进行论述。     

Sensitivity of atmospheric dispersion simulations by HYSPLIT to the meteorological predictions from a meso-scale model

Mesoscale transport and dispersion of air pollutants from a few major point sources in the Mississippi Gulf coastal region is calculated using a coupled modeling system consisting of the atmospheric dynamical model WRF and the lagrangian particle model HYSPLIT. The sensitivity of the dispersion model results to the meteorological fields is studied by conducting an ensemble of simulations using the WRF model for the same dispersion case. Several parameterization schemes for the physical processes of boundary layer turbulence and land surface temperature/moisture prediction in WRF are used in various combinations to produce different meteorological members which are then used for dispersion simulation. The uncertainty in the simulated concentration probabilities to the meteorological model configurations and the ensemble mean are presented. The parameters used for determining the uncertainties include the wind fields, temperature, area of concentration and the levels of concentration. The results indicate that dispersion model results are influenced by the choices made in respect of the planetary boundary layer and land surface schemes in the mesoscale model to produce the meteorological forecast thereby leading to certain amount of uncertainty in the resultant concentrations. Results show that the specific choices made about the atmospheric model configuration can significantly after the simulated concentrations.     

Spatial Calibration and Temporal Validation of Flow for Regional Scale Hydrologic Modeling1

Abstract: Physically based regional scale hydrologic modeling is gaining importance for planning and management of water resources. Calibration and validation of such regional scale model is necessary before applying it for scenario assessment. However, in most regional scale hydrologic modeling, flow validation is performed at the river basin outlet without accounting for spatial variations in hydrological parameters within the subunits. In this study, we calibrated the model to capture the spatial variations in runoff at subwatershed level to assure local water balance, and validated the streamflow at key gaging stations along the river to assure temporal variability. Ohio and Arkansas‐White‐Red River Basins of the United States were modeled using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the period from 1961 to 1990. R² values of average annual runoff at subwatersheds were 0.78 and 0.99 for the Ohio and Arkansas Basins. Observed and simulated annual and monthly streamflow from 1961 to 1990 is used for temporal validation at the gages. R² values estimated were greater than 0.6. In summary, spatially distributed calibration at subwatersheds and temporal validation at the stream gages accounted for the spatial and temporal hydrological patterns reasonably well in the two river basins. This study highlights the importance of spatially distributed calibration and validation in large river basins.     

Assessing coastal vulnerability to climate change: comparing segmentation at global and regional scales

Recent concerns about potential climate-change effects on coastal systems require the application of vulnerability assessment tools in order to define suitable adaptation strategies and improve coastal zone management effectiveness. In fact, while various research efforts were devoted to evaluate coastal vulnerability to climate change on a national to global level, fewer applications were carried out so far to develop more comprehensive and site-specific vulnerability assessments suitable to plan possible adaptation measures at the regional scale. In this respect, specific indicators are needed to address climate-change-related issues for coastal zones and to identify vulnerable areas at the regional level. Two sets of coastal vulnerability indicators were selected, one for regional and one for global studies, respectively, concerning the same features of coastal systems, including topography and slope, geomorphological characteristics, presence and distribution of wetlands and vegetation cover, density of coastal population and number of coastal inhabitants. The proposed set of indicators for the regional scale was chosen taking into account the availability of environmental and territorial data for the whole coastal area of the Veneto region and was based on site-specific datasets characterized by a spatial resolution appropriate for a regional analysis. Moreover, a GIS-based segmentation procedure was applied to divide the coastline into linear segments, homogeneous in terms of vulnerability to climate change and sea-level rise at the regional scale. This approach allowed to divide the Veneto shoreline into 140 segments with an average length of about 1 km, while the global scale approach identified four coastal segments with an average length of about 66 km. The performed comparison indicated how the more detailed approach adopted at the regional scale is essential to understand and manage the complexities of the specific study area. In fact, the 25-m DEM employed at the regional scale provided a more accurate differentiation of the coastal area's elevation and thus of coastal susceptibility to the inundation risks, compared to the 1-km DEM used at the global level. Moreover, at the regional level the use of a 1:20,000 geomorphological map allowed to differentiate the unique landform class detected at the global level (e.g., fluvial plain) in a variety of more detailed coastal typologies (e.g., open coast eroding sandy shores backed by bedrock) characterized by a different sensitivity to climate change and sea-level rise. Accordingly, the information provided by regional indicators can support decision-makers in improving the management of coastal resources by considering the potential impacts of climate change and in the definition of appropriate actions to reduce inundation risks, to avoid the potential loss of valuable wetlands and vegetation and to plan the nourishment of sandy beaches subject to erosion processes.     

自然资源禀赋与城市化水平关系的多尺度考察

通过对单体区域在时间序列上的分析和对多个区域面板数据集综合水平的横向比较，本文在多个尺度上验证了自然资源禀赋在区域城市化过程的“资源诅咒”假说，并且通过在省际层面上建立经济计量模型进行理论检验，也得出“资源诅咒”效应在一定程度上的确存在的结论。文章还分析了城市化过程中自然资源产生限制作用的作用机理。认为这种效应是多种要素综合作用的结果，并提出了相应的政策建议。这项研究在理论上丰富了城市化动力机制和“资源诅咒”假说的研究，在实践上也具有一定的现实意义。