The Role of Translocation in Recovery of Woodland Caribou Populations

Abstract: Maintenance of viable populations of many endangered species will require conservation action in perpetuity. Efforts to conserve these species are more likely to be successful if their reliance on conservation actions is assessed at the population level. Woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) were extirpated recently from Banff National Park, Canada, and translocations of caribou to Banff and neighboring Jasper National Park are being considered. We used population viability analysis to assess the relative need for and benefits from translocation of individuals among caribou populations. We measured stochastic growth rates and the probability of quasi extinction of four populations of woodland caribou with and without translocation. We used two vital rates in our analysis: mean adult female survival and mean number of calves per breeding‐age female as estimates of mean fecundity. We isolated process variance for each vital rate. Our results suggested the Tonquin caribou population in Jasper is likely to remain viable without translocation, but that translocation is probably insufficient to prevent eventual extirpation of the two other populations in Jasper. Simulated reintroductions of caribou into Banff resulted in a 53–98% probability of >8 females remaining after 20 years, which suggests translocation may be an effective recovery tool for some caribou populations.     

Impacts of Upstream Building Width and Upwind Building Arrangements on Airflow and Pollutant Dispersion in a Street Canyon

A two-dimensional numerical model for evaluating the wind flow and pollutant dispersion within a street canyon was first developed using the FLUENT code, which was then validated against a wind tunnel experiment. Then, the effects of the upstream building width and upwind building arrangement on the airflow and pollutant dispersion inside an isolated street canyon were investigated numerically. The numerical results revealed that: (1) the in-canyon vortex center shifts downwards as the upstream building width increases; (2) the recirculation zone covers the entire upstream building roof for the cases when W/H = 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 2.0 (W is the upstream building width and H is the building height), whereas the flow reattaches the upstream building roof for the cases when W/H = 2.5 and 3.0; (3) when the upstream building width is shorter than the critical width W_C (= 2H), an increase in the upstream building width leads to an increase in the pollution level on the leeward wall of the canyon and a decrease in the roof-level concentrations at the upstream building; (4) when the upstream building width is longer than the critical width, the roof-level concentrations at the upstream building are negligibly small and the pollution level on the leeward wall of the canyon is almost unaffected by a further increase in the upstream building width; (5) when the buildings are placed upwind of the canyon, the flow attaches the upstream building roof and, therefore, almost none of the pollutants are distributed on the upstream building roof; and (6) the pollution levels inside the canyon and on the downstream building roof increase significantly with the number of upwind buildings.     

地磁绝对测量对中等地震的反应

介绍了1993年获得的两个中等地震震例的情况,并以此验证据以往震例总结出的预报公式。验证的结果与实际符合较好。另外,文中指出了该手段的主要优点及克服其缺点的可能途径,即有些台站可采用地磁等变线差值法处理。     

STABILITY AND REACH LENGTH IN WATER SURFACE PROFILE DETERMINATION1

ABSTRACT: Extension of basic step methods of backwater computation to reaches of finite length is examined. Accuracies of commonly accepted hydraulic loss equations under particular water surface profile conditions are compared. Simulation of energy lines within a reach by parabolic curves is found to minimize error provided orientation of the axis of the parabola is selected in accordance with prevailing hydraulic conditions. Theoretical basis for an index reach length beyond which single-step computation from end to end of the reach must be in error is developed. Reduction of this reach length by suitable factors tailored to hydraulic conditions yields a mathematically defined allowable reach length for backwater computation. When reach length does not exceed this allowable reach length, no significant error may be detected. Automatic insertion of synthetic cross sections interpolated between surveyed cross sections when these are inadvertently spaced too far apart enables computation to proceed. This device is error-free for prismatic channls but may introduce error for irregular natural channels. Preliminary trials indicate that results so obtained may be accepted provided the fall in the original reach does not exceed from one to two feet. When this is exceeded, additional cross sections should be surveyed.     

Trisomy 15 mosaicism owing to familial reciprocal translocation t(1;15): implication for prenatal diagnosis

We describe a 4-year-old female child with severe global mental retardation, myoclonic epilepsy, proximal hypotonia and dysmorphisms, whose prenatal diagnosis following amniocentesis revealed a constitutional female karyotype carrying a t(1;15)(q10;p11) familial reciprocal translocation. Post-natal high-resolution karyotype, Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) screening for subtelomeric rearrangements, VNTR search for UPD15 in the blood and fibroblast, and WCP1 and 15 in the mother, failed to provide an explanation for the complex clinical phenotype of the proband. Since the pachytene configuration of the translocated chromosomes defines a high probability of 3:1 segregation, an extensive workup was undertaken to look for a possibly cryptic mosaicism. Four percent of the cells with trisomy 15 was found in the peripheral blood lymphocytes examined by classical cytogenetic technique and interphase FISH analysis. The clinical features associated with cryptic trisomy 15 mosaicism and the problems concerning prenatal diagnosis and genetic counselling for carriers of translocations at high risk of 3:1 segregation are discussed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impacts of interannual climate variability on past and future forest composition

Numerous analyses of the possible impacts of future climatic changes on tree species composition have been published for both lowland and high-elevation forests. Most of these studies were based on the application of forest "gap" models, and the vast majority of them considered only changes in the average of climatic parameters over time. In this study, we use a unique data set on reconstructed past climatic variations to analyse forest dynamics simulated by the forest gap model ForClim. This analysis forms the basis for a systematic exploration of the ecological effects of changing means vs. changing variability of climate on central European forests. A reconstruction of historical climate covering the last 470 years in the Swiss lowlands (ClimIndex) is extrapolated to a transect across the alpine (cold) treeline and used to simulate the influence of climate variations on the time scale of decades on forest biomass and tree species composition at both sites. While the simulation at the low-elevation site shows little sensitivity to climate variations, the results from upper subalpine forests suggest that two major dieback events would have occurred at elevations above the current but below the climatic tree line, induced by clusters of exceptionally cold summers. The results are in agreement with available dendrochronological data and with documentary evidence on massive negative impacts on flora and fauna at high elevations during these periods. We conclude that ForClim is capable of capturing the effects on tree population dynamics of climate variability at these sites as reconstructed from the ClimIndex record. A factorial design is used to address the sensitivity of ForClim to changes of the long-term averages vs. changes of the variability of monthly temperature and precipitation data. To this end, the simulated tree species composition of near-natural forests is examined along a climate gradient in Europe. The results indicate that there are three types of forest response: (1) little sensitivity to both kinds of change, (2) strong sensitivity to changes in the means, but little sensitivity to changing variability, and (3) strong sensitivity to changing variability at least in parts of the examined climate space. Half of the cases investigated fall under the third category, suggesting that emphasis should be placed on also assessing the sensitivity of ecosystems to future changes in climate variability rather than on changes of average values alone. Electronic Publication     

不同塔型交流输电线路的电磁环境分析

选择500 kV同杆双回紧凑型线路、500 kV同杆双回常规线路、500 kV单回紧凑型线路、500 kV单回常规线路、220 kV同杆双回线路和220 kV/110 kV同杆4回线路进行不同塔型交流线路的电磁环境测量.通过测试和计算分析,给出了被测试线路的电磁环境水平.     

输电线路建设项目水土保持方案编制的几点认识

针对输电建设项目的特点,阐述了输电线路与一般线形建设项目水土保持方案的不同之处,提出了输电线路水土保持方案编制的程序、内容及方法.     

500 kV紧凑型输电线路走廊与电磁环境

通过介绍500 kV郓城～泰山紧凑型送电线路的设计,围绕输电线路走廊问题,对紧凑型线路和常规线路进行了比较,重点分析了紧凑型输电线路在提高输电能力的同时所具备的节约走廊占地和减轻电磁环境影响的技术特点.从环境保护角度来看,500 kV紧凑型输电线路是一项值得推广的技术.     

山东省的干旱化特征分析

利用山东省近50多年的农业旱灾灾情资料和降水资料，分析了干旱灾情和致灾因子的变化特征。结果指出：20世纪70年代后期以来，6—9月份西太平洋副高脊线位置偏南，山东省的汛期降水量有明显的减少趋势，导致干旱灾害的受灾面积明显增大。进入90年代以后，与1961—1976年相比，干燥度指数普遍增大，半岛东部及黄河以北地区干燥程度增大得最为明显，半岛东部、鲁东南及鲁南的大部分地区由湿润区演变成了半湿润区，而黄河以北绝大部分地区及鲁中北部、半岛西北部的局部地区则由半湿润区演变成了半干旱地区。造成干燥度变化的主要原因是降水量的变化，其次是积温的变化。