Modelling the chemical weathering fluxes at the watershed scale in the Tropics (Mule Hole, South India): Relative contribution of the smectite/kaolinite assemblage versus primary minerals

We investigate the chemical weathering processes and fluxes in a small experimental watershed (SEW) through a modelling approach. The study site is the Mule Hole SEW developed on a gneissic basement located in the climatic gradient of the Western Ghats, South India. The model couples a lumped hydrological model simulating the water budget at the watershed scale to the WITCH model estimating the dissolution/precipitation rates of minerals using laboratory kinetic laws. Forcing functions and parameters of the simulation are defined by the field data. The coupled model is calibrated with stream and groundwater compositions through the testing of a large range of smectite solubility and abundance in the soil horizons. We found that, despite the low abundance of smectite in the dominant soil type of the watershed (4 vol.%), their net dissolution provides 75% of the export of dissolved silica, while primary silicate mineral dissolution releases only 15% of this flux. Overall, smectites (modelled as montmorillonites) are not stable under the present day climatic conditions. Furthermore, the dissolution of trace carbonates in the saprolitic horizon provides 50% of the calcium export at the watershed scale. Modelling results show the contrasted behavior of the two main soil types of the watershed: red soils (88% of the surface) are provider of calcium, while black soils (smectite-rich and characterized by a lower drainage) consumes calcium through overall carbonate precipitation. Our model results stress the key role played by minor/accessory minerals and by the thermodynamic properties of smectite minerals, and by the drainage of the weathering profiles on the weathering budget of a tropical watershed. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Microhabitat selection in an assemblage of crickets (Orthoptera: Ensifera) of a tropical evergreen forest in Southern India

1. Habitat selection is a universal aspect of animal ecology that has important fitness consequences and may drive patterns of spatial organisation in ecological communities. 2. Measurements of habitat selection have mostly been carried out on single species and at the landscape level. Quantitative studies examining microhabitat selection at the community level are scarce, especially in insects. 3. In this study, microhabitat selection in a natural assemblage of cricket species was examined for the first time using resource selection functions (RSF), an approach more commonly applied in studies of macrohabitat selection. 4. The availability and differential use of six microhabitats by 13 species of crickets inhabiting a tropical evergreen forest in southern India was examined. The six available microhabitats included leaf litter-covered ground, tree trunks, dead logs, brambles, understorey and canopy foliage. The area offered by the six microhabitats was estimated using standard methods of forest structure measurement. Of the six microhabitats, the understorey and canopy accounted for approximately 70% of the total available area. 5. The use of different microhabitats by the 13 species was investigated using acoustic sampling of crickets to locate calling individuals. Using RSF, it was found that of 13 cricket species examined, 10 showed 100% selection for a specific microhabitat. Of these, two species showed fairly high selection for brambles and dead logs, which were rare microhabitats, highlighting the importance of preserving all components of forest structure.

Does acoustic adaptation drive vertical stratification? A test in a tropical cricket assemblage

In species-rich assemblages, differential utilization of vertical space can be driven by resource availability. For animals that communicate acoustically over long distances under habitat-induced constraints, access to an effective transmission channel is a valuable resource. The acoustic adaptation hypothesis suggests that habitat acoustics imposes a selective pressure that drives the evolution of both signal structure and choice of calling sites by signalers. This predicts that species-specific signals transmit best in native habitats. In this study, we have tested the hypothesis that vertical stratification of calling heights of acoustically communicating species is driven by acoustic adaptation. This was tested in an assemblage of 12 coexisting species of crickets and katydids in a tropical wet evergreen forest. We carried out transmission experiments using natural calls at different heights from the forest floor to the canopy. We measured signal degradation using 3 different measures: total attenuation, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and envelope distortion. Different sets of species supported the hypothesis depending on which attribute of signal degradation was examined. The hypothesis was upheld by 5 species for attenuation and by 3 species each for SNR and envelope distortion. Only 1 species of 12 provided support for the hypothesis by all 3 measures of signal degradation. The results thus provided no overall support for acoustic adaptation as a driver of vertical stratification of coexisting cricket and katydid species.

Densification kinetics, phase assemblage and hardness of spark plasma sintered Cu-10 wt% TiB2 and Cu-10 wt% TiB2-10 wt% Pb composites

The present work demonstrates the synthesis of Cu-10 wt% TiB2 composites with a theoretical density of more than 90% by tailoring the spark plasma sintering (SPS) conditions in the temperature range of 400-700 degrees C. Interestingly, 10 wt% Pb addition to Cu-10 wt% TiB2 lowers the sinter density and the difference in the densification behavior of the investigated compositions was discussed in reference to the current profile recorded during a SPS cycle. The sintering kinetics and phase assemblage were also discussed in reference to surface melting of the constituents prior to bulk melting temperature, temperature dependent wettability of Pb on Cu, diffusion kinetics of Cu as well as the formation of various oxides. An important result is that a high hardness of around 2 GPa and relative density close to 92% qtheoretical was achieved for the Cu-10 wt% TiB2-10 wt% Pb composite, and such a combination has never been achieved before using any conventional processing route.