PRECIPITATION DISTRIBUTION IN COASTAL BRITISH COLUMBIA1

ABSTRACT: The spatial distribution and the temporal and spatial variation of the annual, seasonal, and monthly precipitation in two mountainous watersheds in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, have been analyzed using a detailed database for 1971–1990 in the Capilano and Seymour watersheds. The analysis showed that the precipitation increases up to the mid-position of the watersheds, and then either levels off or decreases. Precipitation on mountain slopes and in the valley at the same distance from the beginning of the slope is similar, and the barrier height is identified as the dominant parameter which influences the precipitation distribution. The temporal variation of the precipitation is the smallest at the mid-position of the watersheds. This variability is the least in the fall and winter and largest in the summer. Correlation between the precipitation accumulations at various stations is large, ranging from 0.80 for the wet period of October-March to 0.65 for the dry period of April-September for distances less than 32 km. Comparison with other studies and the analyses of precipitation and runoff data from coastal British Columbia showed that the results of this study are perhaps general and thus transferable to similar areas in the coastal Pacific Northwest.     

STREAMFLOW MEASUREMENT USING SALT DILUTION IN TUNDRA STREAMS,NORTHWEST TERRITORIES,CANADA1

ABSTRACT: With the recent increased exploration and mining activity in the Northwest Territories, there has been growing interest in streamflows. However, streamflow monitoring in Canada's north is limited, especially in the central Northwest Territories where the exploration activity is concentrated. To complicate matters, the standard approach of measuring discharge with current meters or weirs is often inadequate or prohibitively expensive, as many streams in the region are shallow, braided and rocky. In response, alternative techniques such as salt dilution can be used. A salt tracer's competence in turbulent and rocky channels makes it ideal for discharge measurements in these situations. This paper summarizes the work performed by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and Canamera Geological Ltd. staff in determining the stream discharge of a lake outlet using a potassium chloride (KC1) tracer. A variety of streamflow measurement methods were performed and compared to determine the viability and rigor of the dilution method. Results suggest the dilution method compares favorably to other measurement techniques both in accuracy and operational ease.     

Simplification of Pine Forests Due to Utilization by Tibetan Villages in Southwest China

In China, many rural communities depend upon forests to provide wood, fuel, fertilizer, animal bedding, and valuable non-timber forest products (NTFP). However, the degree to which forest resource extraction is compatible with new conservation aims is unclear because there is little information on the specific ecological effects of traditional forest collecting practices. Therefore, we compared the structure and floristics of Pinus densata forests exposed to three levels of resource extraction by Tibetan villages in northwest Yunnan: (1) a forest site protected from wood and timber removal, (2) moderately utilized forest sites exposed to traditional collecting practices, and (3) patches of highly utilized forest from which timber extraction is high in response to recent development pressures. The results show that understorey and cryptogamic species are reduced in all the utilized forest sites by comparison with the protected forest. However, the moderately utilized pine forests still provide good NTFP habitats by maintaining relatively high canopy covers, litter covers, and understorey structural complexity; this suggests that traditional forest resource use, while simplifying the forest, does not pose an increasing threat to pine forest integrity. By comparison, the highly utilized forests are transformed into open, herb-rich environments in which canopy covers and understorey complexity are depleted, and NTFP habitats are degraded. In the future it may be practical to enhance biodiversity by proscribing forest resource collection, but the immediate priority is to monitor the sustainability of forest utilization using indicators such as understorey development, litter cover, and cryptogamic richness.     

山区生态旅游开发初步研究——以粤西北旅游区为例

山区旅游资源丰富,生态系统复杂但旅游承载力弱,因此山区旅游开发具有区别于其它地区的特殊的发展模式,也使研究山区生态旅游的开发具有特别重要的现实意义。从生态旅游的概念、内涵以及山区生态旅游开发的主要模式分析出发,讨论了粤西北山区生态旅游发展的现状和问题,并以粤西北旅游区的核心区怀集县为重点,探讨了经济基础较薄弱的粤西北山区发展生态旅游的对策,给出了在开发与管理方面的具体建议。     

Fragmentation effects on an endangered species across a gradient from the interior to edge of its range

Understanding how habitat fragmentation affects individual species is complicated by challenges associated with quantifying species-specific habitat and spatial variability in fragmentation effects within a species’ range. We aggregated a 29-year breeding survey data set for the endangered marbled murrelet (Brachyramphus marmoratus) from >42,000 forest sites throughout the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and northern California) of the United States. We built a species distribution model (SDM) in which occupied sites were linked with Landsat imagery to quantify murrelet-specific habitat and then used occupancy models to test the hypotheses that fragmentation negatively affects murrelet breeding distribution and that these effects are amplified with distance from the marine foraging habitat toward the edge of the species’ nesting range. Murrelet habitat declined in the Pacific Northwest by 20% since 1988, whereas the proportion of habitat comprising edges increased by 17%, indicating increased fragmentation. Furthermore, fragmentation of murrelet habitat at landscape scales (within 2 km of survey stations) negatively affected occupancy of potential breeding sites, and these effects were amplified near the range edge. On the coast, the odds of occupancy decreased by 37% (95% confidence interval [CI] –54 to 12) for each 10% increase in edge habitat (i.e., fragmentation), but at the range edge (88 km inland) these odds decreased by 99% (95% CI 98 to 99). Conversely, odds of murrelet occupancy increased by 31% (95% CI 14 to 52) for each 10% increase in local edge habitat (within 100 m of survey stations). Avoidance of fragmentation at broad scales but use of locally fragmented habitat with reduced quality may help explain the lack of murrelet population recovery. Further, our results emphasize that fragmentation effects can be nuanced, scale dependent, and geographically variable. Awareness of these nuances is critical for developing landscape-level conservation strategies for species experiencing broad-scale habitat loss and fragmentation.     

川西北壤塘地区西康群深海浊积砂岩沉积地球化学特征

对川西北壤塘西康群浊积砂岩的常量元素、稀土元素及微量元素的综合研究表明 ,其地球化学特征与大陆岛弧和活动大陆边缘沉积物相同。综合其它地质资料可以认为 ,本区浊积岩的物源区为康滇古陆。     

气候变化下西北地区农田水分平衡的模拟与分析

在全球变暖的背景下,系统分析气候变化及其对农田水分平衡的影响,对西北地区,乃至全国的生态环境和社会经济可持续发展具有重要的现实意义。论文从水分平衡的角度出发,以县域为基本单元,在10a尺度下,通过构建农田水分平衡模型,全面刻画了气候变化下近40年来西北地区天然状态下农田水分平衡的基本特征及演变态势。结果表明:水分亏缺是西北地区天然状态下农田水分平衡的主要特征,全区亏水量呈现由东南向西北、由高山向盆地递增的空间分布格局;40年来,西北地区农田水分平衡呈现西降东升的态势,新疆大部及河西走廊西部的部分县市,农田亏水量显著降低;西北中部及东部地区大部分县市,40年间农田亏水量呈"W"状波动,近10年亏水最为严重;河西走廊以及新疆大部分县域农田水分平衡年际间变幅较小,中东部地区变幅较大;西北地区降水与农田水分平衡呈显著的正相关,最高温度、最低温度与农田水分平衡的相关性不明显,蒸散量与农田水分平衡呈显著的负相关。     

西北高寒地区公路建设对生态环境的影响

以青海地区的公路建设为例，阐述在西北高寒地区公路建设对生念环境的影响。公路建设对生态环境的影响主要体现在三个方面：(1)对土地利用方式的影响；(2)对公路沿线植被的影响；(3)对野生动物的影响。由于高寒地区降雨量少，蒸发量大，生态系统非常脆弱，一旦遭受破坏难以及时恢复，因此在公路建设时必须考虑这些特殊环境，以植被恢复为重点，减轻或消除公路建设带来的不利影响。     

西北干旱区水资源开发利用潜力分析

通过对西北干旱区农业、工业和城镇生活节水途径的分析,定量计算了2020水平年的节水潜力;根据工业和城镇用水情况,定量描述了远景污水处理回用水量;以水资源可利用量作为潜在能力,从水利工程对水资源实际调控角度,进行地表水和地下水可供水量预测,给出了定量分析结果。认识到:要在整体上维持西北干旱区生态环境现状并使局部区域有所改善,南水北调西线工程远景向黄河中上游补水,并通过换水支持河西走廊的经济发展和生态建设是必要的。     

鲁西北农业地域生产系统分析

本文在对地处黄淮海平原的鲁西北地区实地调查的基础上,应用因子分析研究该区农业生产系统结构功能、要素相关等问题,并利用主分量空间聚类划分地域系统类型。