Sources of age determination errors for sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria)

This study was undertaken to resolve problems in age determination of sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria). Aging of this species has been hampered by poor agreement (averaging less than 45%) among age readers and by differences in assigned ages of as much as 15 years. Otoliths from fish that had been injected with oxytetracycline (OTC) and that had been at liberty for known durations were used to determine why age determinations were so difficult and to help determine the correct aging procedure. All fish were sampled from Oregon southwards, which represents the southern part of their range. The otoliths were examined with the aid of image processing. Some fish showed little or no growth on the otolith after eight months at liberty, whereas otoliths from other fish grew substantially. Some fish lay down two prominent hyaline zones within a single year, one in the summer and one in the winter. We classified the otoliths by morphological type and found that certain types are more likely to lay down multiple hyaline zones and other types are likely to lay down little or no zones. This finding suggests that some improvement could be achieved by detailed knowledge of the growth characteristics of the different types. This study suggests that it may not be possible to obtain reliable ages from sablefish otoliths. At the very least, more studies will be required to under-stand the growth of sablefish otoliths.

Physical, chemical, and biological characterization of water year types in the San Francisco Bay estuary [abstract]

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Twenty-three years of physical, chemical, and biological data were used to characterize conditions associated with wet, normal, dry, and critical water year types in the upper San Francisco Bay estuary.

京北农牧交错区植物功能型研究

植物功能型的研究是全球变化研究当中最重要的创新之一，作为新的研究手段，已经被广泛用来研究全球变化的影响。而关于不同植物功能型对全球变化的生理生态反应、植物功能型对全球变化的适应机制及植物功能型演变在全球变化中的作用等方面的研究报道却很少，相关方面的研究尚处于起步阶段，而这些恰恰是植物功能型研究的基本点和最终目的，尤其对于全球变化预测模型的研究具有深远的意义。因此深入开展区域环境或全球变化下植物功能型的变化和适应机制研究能为最大程度地获得全球变化对未来影响提供重要信息。 　　本研究中我们对京北农牧交错区的植物功能型（光合功能型和形态功能型）进行了研究。利用稳定性同位素判定法对锡林郭勒草原四种不同草地类型植物功能型进行了分析研究，在调查的125种维管植物中有4种C4植物，其中禾本科和藜科各有2种，C4植物约占该地区调查植物总数的3%，C3 植物为94%、CAM植物为3%。研究中发现利用稳定性同位素技术判定CAM类型存在一定的局限性，需要采用辅助实验进行补充。研究结果还表明自东向西，在草甸草原－典型草原－荒漠草原这一系列草原类型中随着降雨量的逐渐降低，植物种类组成逐渐降低，但C4/C3的比例却有升高的趋势，说明植物光合类型的组成与水分梯度相关。在相同的环境梯度下，多年生高禾草和多年生杂类草呈现显著减少的趋势;而一年生杂类草，多年生矮禾草、灌木和鳞茎类植物呈现显著增加的趋势。这些结果为我们预测该地区植物功能型对全球变化影响的响应提供了依据。 　　在北京北部农牧交错区对不同生境类型的植物功能型进行了研究，该区域有C4植物68种。具有C4 植物的科相对集中，主要分布在禾本科（29属43种）、莎草科（4属16种）和藜科（3属5种）。菊科、豆科和蔷薇科这3大科中没有发现C4 植物。C4植物约占该地区调查植物总数的9%，C3 植物为89%、CAM植物为2%。多年生高禾草和多年生杂类草的比例无论从生长条件良好的草地到沙地，还是从草地到弃耕干扰地都呈现显著下降的趋势，而一年生杂类草和一年生禾草的变化却呈相反的变化趋势。C4植物中一年生植物占的比例最大，而且各个生境中C4植物在一年生植物的比例均超过30%，这说明该地区各个生境植被都已有相当程度的退化。上述结果证明植物功能型能在不同生境尺度上反映土地利用的变化。 　　对典型农牧交错区（多伦县）植物功能型研究表明，在该地区调查的11个群落中有4种C4植物（2科3属），其中禾本科3种、藜科1种。 C4 植物约占该地区调查植物总数的4.5%，C3 植物为95%，CAM植物为0.5%。研究结果表明随着土壤水分含量的降低，C4 功能型以及一年生杂草、一年生禾草、多年生矮禾草对群落水分利用的贡献呈现出显著增加的趋势，而多年生杂类草和多年生高禾草则呈现相反的变化趋势。不同植物功能型的水分利用效率是一个相对稳定的指标，可能成为我们进行更大尺度水分变化分析的有力工具。多年生杂类草和多年生高禾草对维持该地区生态系统生产力以及稳定性具有至关重要的作用，随土壤水分的下降，二者的地位和作用均呈现下降趋势，因此可能导致该地区草地生态系统生产力和稳定性的持续下降。在植物功能型鉴定的基础上，分析了多样性与土壤水分和生产力关系，研究发现植物功能型多样性与土壤水分和生产力相关性更为显著。 　　对3个研究地点植物功能型的比较研究发现，就植物光合功能型而言，随降水量减少和温度降低，单子叶C4光合功能型比例呈现显著下降趋势，而双子叶C4光合功能型却呈现显著增加的趋势;植物形态功能型在区域尺度上没有而呈现出明显的变化趋势。研究表明植物光合功能型对于大尺度下环境因子的变化具有敏感的响应，而植物形态功能型可能更适合在中小尺度下研究环境的异质性以及土地利用方式的变化。 　　

Report on two types of leptocephalus-eel from Vellar Estuary (Bay of Bengal)

Two types of leptocephalus-eel, identified as ophichthyid larva and Muraenesox cinereus, collected from the Vellar estuary, India, are described. M. cinereus larvae are common in the estuary during November-January whereas ophichthyid larvae are very rare, collected on one occasion (January) only.

Effects of different types of drying on the nutritive value of proteins in the fishmeals

A comparative study on the effect of different types of drying on the nutritive value of the proteins in the different fishmeals of known history was made. From the observations, it is clear that the mode of drying has got little or no effect on the nutritive value of the meal as revealed by the chemical indices of available lysine and pepsin digestibility, provided enough precautions were taken to avoid scorching during drying process. Sun dried meals are in no way inferior to the meals prepared by hot-air, steam or vacuum drying.