Changes in Size of Deforested Patches in the Brazilian Amazon

Abstract: Different deforestation agents, such as small farmers and large agricultural businesses, create different spatial patterns of deforestation. We analyzed the proportion of deforestation associated with different‐sized clearings in the Brazilian Amazon from 2002 through 2009. We used annual deforestation maps to determine total area deforested and the size distribution of deforested patches per year. The size distribution of deforested areas changed over time in a consistent, directional manner. Large clearings (>1000 ha) comprised progressively smaller amounts of total annual deforestation. The number of smaller clearings (6.25–50.00 ha) remained unchanged over time. Small clearings accounted for 73% of all deforestation in 2009, up from 30% in 2002, whereas the proportion of deforestation attributable to large clearings decreased from 13% to 3% between 2002 and 2009. Large clearings were concentrated in Mato Grosso, but also occurred in eastern Pará and in Rondônia. In 2002 large clearings accounted for 17%, 15%, and 10% of all deforestation in Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia, respectively. Even in these states, where there is a highly developed agricultural business dominated by soybean production and cattle ranching, the proportional contribution of large clearings to total deforestation declined. By 2009 large clearings accounted for 2.5%, 3.5%, and 1% of all deforestation in Mato Grosso, Pará, and Rondônia, respectively. These changes in deforestation patch size are coincident with the implementation of new conservation policies by the Brazilian government, which suggests that these policies are not effectively reducing the number of small clearings in primary forest, whether these are caused by large landholders or smallholders, but have been more effective at reducing the frequency of larger clearings.     

Prenatal diagnosis of Crigler–Najjar syndrome type I by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP)

Crigler–Najjar syndrome type I (CN-I) is a rare and severe inherited disorder of bilirubin metabolism, caused by the total deficiency of bilirubin-UDP-glucuronosyltransferase (UGT) activity. Enzymatic diagnosis cannot be performed in chorionic villi or amniocytes as UGT is not active in these tissues. The cloning of the UGT1 gene and the identification of disease-causing mutations have led to the possibility of performing DNA-based diagnosis. Here we report DNA-based prenatal diagnosis of CN-I in two Tunisian families in whom CN-I patients were diagnosed. As we had previously shown that CN-I was, in Tunisia, associated with homozygosity for the Q357R mutation within the UGT1 gene, we were able to detect this mutation in both families and to show that it was easily recognized by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) analysis. In both cases, SSCP analysis of fetal DNA showed that the fetus was heterozygous for the Q357R mutation. In one family, the pregnancy was carried to term and a healthy baby was born, whereas, in the other family, the pregnancy is still continuing. Thus the prenatal diagnosis of CN-I is possible, provided disease-causing mutations have been identified. SSCP analysis of DNA prepared either from amniocytes or from chorionic villi is a simple, reliable and fast method for prenatal diagnosis. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Biomass Burning in the Amazon-Fertilizer for the Mountaineous Rain Forest in Ecuador (7 pp)

Background Biomass burning is a source of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen compounds which, along with their photochemically generated reaction products, can be transported over very long distances, even traversing oceans. Chemical analyses of rain and fogwater samples collected in the mountaineous rain forest of south Ecuador show frequent episodes of high sulfate and nitrate concentration, from which annual deposition rates are derived comparable to those found in polluted central Europe. As significant anthropogenic sources are lacking at the research site it is suspected that biomass burning upwind in the Amazon basin is the major source of the enhanced sulfate and nitrate imput. Methods Regular rain and fogwater sampling along an altitude profile between 1800 and 3185 m has been carried out in the Podocarpus National Park close to the Rio SanFrancisco (3°58'S, 79°5'W) in southern Ecuador. pH values, electrical conductivity and chemical ion composition were measured at the TUM-WZW using standard methods. Results and Discussion Results reported cover over one year from March 2002 until May 2003. Annual deposition rates of sulfate were calculated ranging between 4 and 13 kg S/ha year, almost as high as in polluted central Europe. Nitrogen deposition via ammonia (1.5–4.4 kg N/ha year) and nitrate (0.5–0.8 kg N/ha year) was found to be lower but still much higher than to be expected in such pristine natural forest environment. By means of back trajectory analyses it can be shown that most of the enhanced sulfur and nitrogen deposition is most likely due to forest fires far upwind of the Ecuadorian sampling site, showing a seasonal variation, with sources predominantly found in the East/NorthEast during January–March (Colombia, Venezuela, Northern Brazil) and East/SouthEast during July–September (Peru, Brazil). Conclusion Our results show that biomass burning in the Amazon basin is the predominant source of sulfur and nitrogen compounds that fertilize the mountaineous rain forest in south Ecuador. Recommendation and Outlook The mountaineous rain forest in south Ecuador has developed on poor and acid soils, with low nutrient availability. The additional fertilization resulting from anthropogenic biomass burning constitutes a significant disturbance of this ecosystem, its functioning and biodiversity. Thus it is planned to employ isotope analyses for quantifying the pathways of nitrate and sulfate deposition in these natural forests.     

热带海洋环境下舰艇携行弹药的环境效应分析

分析了我国东海、南海和印度洋亚丁湾海域的气候环境特征,在此基础上,结合弹药在舰艇上的存放/使用位置分析,得出了环境因素对不同位置舰艇携行弹药的影响程度。鉴于环境因素对弹药的环境影响效应是综合性的,以弹药防护包装、弹体、装药、引信等分系统为对象,分别开展了环境效应分析,综述了其在热带海洋环境下的环境效应。建议加强舰艇携行弹药局部环境监测、损伤效应与机理研究,并建立数据库,为我军舰艇携行弹药环境适应性设计与验证、环境控制措施和维护保养措施制定提供数据基础,支撑我国海军不断走向深蓝。     

A modified toxicity testing method using tropical marine microalgae

Toxicity testing of four heavy metals(Cd, Cu, Mn and As) using four species of tropicalmarine phytoplankton, Chaetoceros calcitrans, Isochrysis galbana, Tetraselmis tetrahele and Tetraselmis sp., was carried out in multiwellplates with test volumes of 2 mL and the resultscompared to those of standard, large volume,shake-flasks. IC₅₀ values (concentrations of metalsestimated to inhibit 50% growth relative to thecontrol) were determined after 96 hours based onautomated O.D. readings measured in Elisa microplatesby a Multiskan spectrophotometer. Good agreement wasachieved between O.D. readings and cell countsindicating that this new method is a simple,economical, practical and rapid technique for toxicitytesting, and provides good reproducibility of IC₅₀ values. Results of the toxicity testsindicate that Cu was the most toxic metal (averageIC₅₀ values ranging from 0.04 to 0.37 mg L^-1), followed by Cd (0.06–5.7 mg L^-1), Mn (7.2–21.4 mg L^-1) and As (33.9–319.3 mg L^-1).Test species had different degrees of sensitivity tothe metals tested, with I.galbana and C. calcitrans the mostsensitive to Cu, Cd and Mn. Based on these findingsit is recommended that the existing Malaysian InterimStandards for Marine Water Quality for Cd and Cu be reviewed.     

Incentive mechanisms to enforce sustainable forest exploitation

Using a two-player differential game approach, this paper deals with the issue of tropical deforestation. The assumption is that developing forestry countries (called the South) do not, or cannot, necessarily have the same utility for forest conservation than the developed countries (called the North). Given the global nature of the problem, we assume that it may be wise that the North offers financial support to the South to help in achieving a sustainable forest policy. We derive sustainable and short-run deforestation policies and provide a transfer mechanism which insures that the South will indeed implement the sustainable one.     

Modified Whittaker plots as an assessment and monitoring tool for vegetation in a lowland tropical rainforest

Resource exploitation in lowland tropical forests is increasingand causing loss of biodiversity. Effective evaluation and management of the impacts of development on tropical forests requires appropriate assessment and monitoring tools. We proposethe use of 0.1-ha multi-scale, modified Whittaker plots (MWPs) to assess and monitor vegetation in lowland tropical rainforests.We established MWPs at 4 sites to: (1) describe and comparecomposition and structure of the sites using MWPs, (2) compare these results to those of 1-ha permanent vegetation plots (BDPs),and (3) evaluate the ability of MWPs to detect changes in populations (statistical power). We recorded more than 400 species at each site. Species composition among the sites was distinctive, while mean abundance and basal area was similar. Comparisons between MWPs and BDPs show that they record similarspecies composition and abundance and that both perform equallywell at detecting rare species. However, MWPs tend to record morespecies, and power analysis studies show that MWPs were more effective at detecting changes in the mean number of species of trees 10 cm in diameter at breast height (dbh) and in herbaceous plants. Ten MWPs were sufficient to detect a change of 11% in the mean number of herb species, and they were able to detect a 14% change in the mean number of species of trees 10 cm dbh. The value of MWPs for assessment and monitoringis discussed, along with recommendations for improving the sampling design to increase power.     

珠江三角洲地区热带气旋逐时雨量分布特征

利用广东省自动观测站、常规地面站的逐时降水量资料,对1999-2002年登陆珠江三角洲地区的热带气旋进行了动态合成等分析.结果表明,登陆前后广东的逐时雨量和热带气旋本身的逐时雨量都发生了变化;热带气旋降水具有明显的不对称性,降水量级越强,分布不对称性越明显;随着降水量级的减弱,最大出现概率圈有外移的趋势;极强和强等级时雨量的落区与热带气旋移动方向有关.     

钢在热带海洋大气中的腐蚀

研究低碳钢和中碳钢在新加坡陆地与海上浮筏的大气腐蚀，浮筏上低碳钢的腐蚀比在陆地上快，含碳量高的钢腐蚀慢，此文试图将温度，湿度，润湿时间，降雨量，太阳辐射与干喷砂低碳钢在陆地试验点的腐蚀率联系起来，提出了冬季暴露几个月的样品失重的腐蚀深度表达式0．1078＋0．000596xum，扫描电镜检查显示在陆地曝露的样品氧化膜呈斑状，而浮筏上的样品有连续的氧化膜且氧化膜上裂纹也是连续的，能谱分析表明，浮筏上样品的氧化膜含有大量的氯化物和原子吸附，研究认为氧化膜是由FeOOH构成的，在陆地暴露2年的试样腐蚀率为0．016mm/year，浮筏上海洋大气曝露0．6年的腐蚀率为0．659mm/year。     

热带森林火灾产生的特点分析

在分析我国热带气候特征，植物种类，植物燃料特性和对几种典型热带林木枝，叶进行热解实验的基础,计算了南粤地区热带森林火险区划等级和林火蔓延速度，并讨论了热带森林火灾产生的特点。