Skin lesions on common bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from three sites in the Northwest Atlantic, USA

Skin disease occurs frequently in many cetacean species across the globe; methods to categorize lesions have relied on photo-identification (photo-id), stranding, and bycatch data. The current study used photo-id data from four sampling months during 2009 to estimate skin lesion prevalence and type occurring on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) from three sites along the southeast United States coast [Sarasota Bay, FL (SSB); near Brunswick and Sapelo Island, GA (BSG); and near Charleston, SC (CHS)]. The prevalence of lesions was highest among BSG dolphins (P=0.587) and lowest in SSB (P=0.380), and the overall prevalence was significantly different among all sites (p<0.0167). Logistic regression modeling revealed a significant reduction in the odds of lesion occurrence for increasing water temperatures (OR=0.92; 95%CI:0.906-0.938) and a significantly increased odds of lesion occurrence for BSG dolphins (OR=1.39; 95%CI:1.203-1.614). Approximately one-third of the lesioned dolphins from each site presented with multiple types, and population differences in lesion type occurrence were observed (p<0.05). Lesions on stranded dolphins were sampled to determine the etiology of different lesion types, which included three visually distinct samples positive for herpesvirus. Although generally considered non-fatal, skin disease may be indicative of animal health or exposure to anthropogenic or environmental threats, and photo-id data provide an efficient and cost-effective approach to document the occurrence of skin lesions in free-ranging populations.

Abundance of cetaceans in the oceanic northern Gulf of Mexico from 2003 and 2004 ship surveys

The Gulf of Mexico (GMx) is a subtropical marginal sea of the western North Atlantic Ocean with a diverse cetacean community. Ship-based, line-transect abundance surveys were conducted in oceanic waters (>200 m deep) of the northern GMx within U.S. waters (380,432 square km) during summer 2003 and spring 2004. Data from these surveys were pooled and minimum abundance estimates were based on 10,933 km of effort and 433 sightings of at least 17 species.The most commonly sighted species (number of groups) were pantropical spotted dolphin, Stenella attenuata (115); sperm whale, Physeter macrocephalus (85); dwarf/pygmy sperm whale, Kogia sima/breviceps (27); Risso’s dolphin, Grampus griseus (26); and bottlenose dolphin, Tursiops truncatus (26). The most abundant species (number of individuals; coefficient of variation) were S. attenuata (34,067; 0.18); Clymene dolphin, S. clymene (6,575; 0.36); T. truncatus (3,708; 0.42); and striped dolphin, S. coeruleoalba (3,325; 0.48). The only large whales sighted were P. macrocephalus (1,665; 0.20) and Bryde’s whale, Balaenoptera edeni (15; 1.98). Abundances for other species or genera ranged from 57 to 2,283 animals. Cetaceanswere sighted throughout the oceanic northern GMx, and whereas many species were widely distributed, some had more regional distributions. Compared to abundance estimates for this area based on 1996-2001 surveys, the estimate for S. attenuata was significantly smaller (P <0.05) and that for the spinner dolphin, S. longirostris, appeared much smaller. Also, P. macrocephalus estimates were based on less negatively biased estimates of group-size using 90-minute counts during 2003 and 2004.

A nearsurface, daytime occurrence of two mesopelagic fish species (Stenobrachius leucopsarus and Leuroglossus schmidti) in a glacial fjord

The northern lampfish (Stenobrachius leucopsarus, family Myctophidae) and northern smoothtongue (Leuroglossus schmidti, family Bathylagidae) are mesopelagic fishes, defined by their vertical distribution in the mesopelagic zone (200–1000 m) during daylight hours. Northern lampfish range from the Bering Sea to southern California (Shimada, 1948), where their abundance is highest along the continental slope and decreases over the continental shelf. They are the most abundant species in the mesopelagic zone of the Bering Sea (Pearcy et al., 1977; Sobolevsky et al., 1996), the Gulf of Alaska (Purcell, 1996), and the eastern North Pacific Ocean off Oregon (Pearcy, 1964; Pearcy et al., 1977). Northern smoothtongue also concentrate in areas bordering the continental slope and are widely distributed from southern British Columbia to the Bering Sea (Peden, 1981) and are very abundant in the Okhotsk Sea (Sobolevsky et al., 1996).

Can a climate record be extracted from giant sequoia tree rings?

Extreme low growth events in giant sequoia ring-width index series coincide with severe droughts in the San Joaquin drainage, on whose eastern flank the sequoia groves stand. Comparison with a network of 102 largely moisture-sensitive tree-ring chronologies from western North America suggests that this relationship has been stable for at least 380 years. The twentieth century is not unusual in the frequency of these events. We expect the growth record will soon be replicated for over 2000 years at two locations.

兴山龙门河地区的植物群落与物种多样性研究

龙门河地区地处湖北省的西部，神农架的南坡，处于中亚热带向北亚热带过渡的地带。对其植物与植物群落的研究得到如下结果： 龙门河地区共有维管植物160科724属1737种，其中种了植物140科692属共1686种。其植物区系有显著的温带性，温带分布属共380属，占总属数的54.9%，这可能和该地区的地理位置，海拔及人为活动的影响有关，该地区的植物区系还具有古老性，特有属丰富特点，且有较多的珍稀濒危植物分布。 龙门河地区的植被共划分三个自然植被型共16个群系。在高海拔地区保存有较原始的落叶阔叶林，低海拔地区多为人为破坏后的次生类型。这些植被类型随环境条件的变化呈现较有规律的分布，依照其垂直分布的情况，可以将该地区植被划为三个带，即常绿阔叶林带低于海拔900(-1300)m;常绿落叶阔叶混交林位于海拔900(-1300)-600m之间;落叶阔叶林带在海拔1600(-1300)-2200m之间，无针叶林带在龙门河地区分布。应用TWINSPAN和DCA程序对各调查样地进行数量分类和排序结果说明，植物群落的分布与环境因子明显相关，但排序轴不能用海拔等单个的因子来解释。对各群落乔木层的Gleason丰富度指数，Shannon-Wiener指数及Pielou均匀度指数对比后发现，各种指数在不同的群落之间及不同海拔高度上没有明显的规律，这可能是由于人类活动混淆了群落成分及结构的结果。 锐齿槲栎林是神农架地区一种重要的落叶阔叶林，其分布广泛，保存较好。通过对锐齿槲栎种群大小结构的研究发现，中等大小的锐齿槲栎个体数量较多，幼苗与幼树的数量在不同样地间变化很大，其大小结构分布图中多有一定程度的缺失。锐齿槲栎种群多呈现聚集分布，不同的尺度下其聚集程序不同。在大多数尺度下，幼苗幼树的聚集程度比相同尺度下成体的聚集程序高。幼苗更新是锐齿槲栎更新的一种主要形式，其幼苗的出现与林窗的形成有密切的关系。在锐齿槲栎幼苗成长为幼树的过程中，同于种内与种间竞争的影响。导致了许多幼树的死亡。正是由于林窗形成等干扰因素的影响才使锐齿槲栎幼树得以进入群落上层。

黄土高原植被恢复与新产业带形成的生态学基础研究

从生态地理背景论草地畜牧业产业在黄土高原农业可持续发展中的战略地位 黄土高原要实现生态与生产双赢的目标，契机是退耕还林还草，突破口是建立能兼顾生态生产协调发展的主导产业。从地形地貌、水热分布及自然植被特征的角度分析，黄土高原实施以农为主或农林牧综合发展的方略，均有悖于黄土高原生态地理背景。而草地畜牧业产业的生产要素及其过程在较大程度上吻合了黄土高原的生态地理背景，具有生态的适应性和生产的有效性，应作为黄土高原优化的生态生产范式建制中的主导产业。未来黄土高原产业的发展格局应该是以草地畜牧业为主导，农业和林业作为补充和完善的产业发展体系。此外，未来黄土高原草地畜牧业家畜养殖应以舍饲为主。 黄土高原自然植被演替过程中的物种特征与土壤养分动态研究 在3—149年的时间尺度上，对黄土高原自然植被次生演替过程中物种特征和土壤养分动态进行了研究。结果表明：1）随着演替时间尺度的延伸，土壤全C、全N含量呈增加趋势，而土壤全K、全Na和土壤pH值呈下降趋势，土壤全P变化趋势不明显;此外，表层( 0~10 cm)土壤Ca0含量呈下降趋势，深层( 20-30 cm，40-50 cm)则呈增加趋势。演替过程对土壤养分动态影响的程度随着取样深度的增加而减弱;2）植物群落物种丰富度在演替的中间阶段最高，后者对应于中等土壤养分水平;3）在演替的早期阶段，植物群落优势种往往具有稳定的土壤种子库，CR-生活史对策和S．繁殖对策，在贫瘠的土壤上具有较强的竞争能力;而具有较强的水平扩展能力和克隆繁殖能力，C-生活史对策、对土壤C，N具有较强竞争能力的多年生植物在演替中后期占据群落的优势地位。此外，在所涉及的物种生物学特征中，多年生生活史，C-、CR-、SC-、SR-、S．对策，以及R-、W-、Bs-、VBs-和V-繁殖对策等在非优势物种中有较高的出现频率。4）C-、 SC-对策，克隆能力，多年生生活史，水平扩展能力，种子的动物传播方式，秋季开花，荚果、坚果等特征的比例在一定程度上与土壤全C，全N和全K含量正相关; 而S一、SR-、R-、CR-对策，一、二年生生活史，种子繁殖，S．繁殖对策，以及胞果、蒴果等特征的比例与土壤全Na，Ca0含量和土壤pH正相关。在演替过程中出现的物种均属草本植物生活型，因此，草原可能是黄土高原上受制于大尺度环境条件（显域生境）下的优势植被类型（特别是降雨量不超过550 mm的地区）。 黄土高原植被恢复过程中几种优势植物叶片碳稳定性同位素和氮含量的动态特征 探讨了黄土高原植被恢复过程中六种优势植物叶片碳稳定性同位素(6 13C)和氮含量的季节动态、种间差异及其与植被恢复过程的关系。六种优势植物分别是猪毛蒿( Artemisia scoparia)，出现在演替的先锋阶段：达乌里胡枝子( Lespedeza davurica)，出现在演替的第二阶段;长芒草(Stipabungeana)、万年蒿(Artemisia gmelinii)和茭蒿(Artemisia giraldii)，出现在演替的第三阶段; 白羊草( Bothriochloa ischaemun)出现在演替的顶级阶段。六种优势植物叶片碳稳定性同位素比率分别是-26.89±0.66‰，-26.24±0.48‰, -26.21±0.49‰, -26.86±1.09‰, -27.61±0.39‰和-15 .81±1. 79‰;氮含量分别是2.36±0.63%，2.38±0.29%，2.0±0.29%，2.0±0.25%，1.50±0.37% 和1.24±0.19%。白羊草、长芒草、茭蒿和达乌里胡枝子叶片氮含量季节变化与土壤水分呈正相关．猪毛蒿和铁杆蒿叶片氮含量季节变化与土壤水分呈负相关。白羊草叶片δ 13C与土壤水分呈正相关，而其他5个优势种叶片δ 13C与土壤水分呈负相关。不同演替阶段优势种的δ 13C值和氮含量特征表明：处于演替顶级阶段的优势种具有最高的水分利用效率，净光合产量较低，但光合作用动态对土壤水分的季节波动表现出较强的可塑性;相反，处于先锋阶段的优势种水分利用效率较低，叶片净光合产量较高，光合作用对土壤水分波动的可塑性较低。本文的主要结论是：黄土高原植被恢复过程中处于不同演替阶段的优势种无论是在叶片δ 13C，氮含量均存在差异。优势种叶片δ 13C和氮含量季节动态反映了不同物种在环境（主要指土壤水分）波动条件下的生理生态对策。具有最高的水分利用效率（而非最高光和能力）和最高光合可塑性的物种将成为黄土高原自然植被顶级植物群落中的最终统治者。 黄土高原草地畜牧业产业形成与发展的牧草生产力基础 遵循生产-生态兼顾的原则，在黄土高原197个区县土地利用方式重新规划的基础上，对支撑黄土高原畜牧业产业形成与发展的牧草生产潜力进行了分析预测。结果表明：规划的牧、林、农、果用地占生产用地的比例分别是草地44%、林地22%、基本农田20%、果园14%; 197个县区预测的总牧草生产潜力达1，0488，1028t.y-l，可载畜1，0488，1028个羊单位．y-1。按1999年不变价格计算，黄土高原预测的畜牧业总产值将达到524，4051万元．y-1，是1999年畜牧业总产值的5.3倍，超过1999年黄土高原农业总产值14 %。农业人口人均预测畜牧业产值大于1000元的区县占59%;小于1000元的区县占41%。此外，黄土高原预测的农业总产值将达到1147.2234亿元RMB.yr-1。畜牧业、果业、林业和基本农田产值占农业总产值的比例分别是46%、27%、14%和13%。随着畜牧业产业链的逐步建立与完善，产业发展布局的日趋合理，黄土高原畜牧业生产总值将有较大幅度的提高。黄土高原草地畜牧业蕴藏着巨大的发展潜力，有望成为黄土高原优化的生产．生态范式建制中的主导产业。

158-μJ pulses from a single-transverse-mode, large-mode-area erbium-doped fiber amplifier

We report the amplification of 10-100-pJ semiconductor diode pulses to an energy of 158 μJ and peak powers >100 kW in a multistage fiber amplifier chain based on a single-mode, large-mode-area erbium-doped amplifier design. To our knowledge these results represent the highest single-mode pulse energy extracted from any doped-fiber system. © 1997 Optical Society of America.

Report on the 1993 IFAC World Congress standards and guidelines session

This brief note reviews five papers which were presented at the 1993 IFAC World Congress, on the theme 'standards and guidelines for computer-aided control engineering (CACE)'. This session was organized as part of the CACE Software Standardization Initiative, a combined effort of the IFAC and IEEE Control System Society committees on standards. The motivation of this report is to note the substantial progress that was made in this initiative, and to provide the basis for further discussion and work. The papers under review were concerned with integrated design environments, the use of the EXPRESS language for defining standard data structures, database management, user interfaces, and the modeling and simulation of hybrid systems.

The fishing centres of Lake Niassa (Mozambique): results of a frame survey made in June 1983

Results of the first frame survey of the fishing centres on the Mozambican coast of Lake Niassa, held in June 1983, are presented. A total of 41 fishing centres were detected in the area and visited. Through direct enquiries in each centre, an estimated number of 3,380 fishermen and 1,230 fishing boats (of which 25 motorized) was established. The results also provided information on the types and quantities of fishing gear used. A first estimation of the approximate total annual catch in the area gave a figure in the order of 9,100 tons., of which approximately equals 90% is landed during the rainy season. The survey is a part of a research programme on the fishing resources of Lake Niassa and of a project for the collection and organization of fisheries statistics from the artisanal fisheries of the Mozambican side of Lake Niassa.