Atlas of the shallow-water benthic habitats of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands

Digital maps of the shallow (<~30m deep) coral reef ecosystems of Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands, were created through visual interpretation of remote sensing imagery acquired between 2004 and 2006. Reef ecosystem features were digitized directly into a Geographic Information System. Benthic features were categorized according to a classification scheme with attributes including zone (location such as lagoon or forereef, etc.), structure (bottom type such as sand or patch reef, etc.) and percent hard bottom. This atlas consists of 27 detailed maps displaying reef zone and structure of coral ecosystems around Majuro. Adjacent maps in the atlas overlap slightly to ensure complete coverage. Maps and associated products can be used to support science and management activities on Majuro reef ecosystems including inventory, monitoring, conservation, and sustainable development applications. Maps are not to be used for navigation.

Bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) strandings in South Carolina, 1992-1996

From 1992 to 1996, 153 bottlenose dolphin stranded in South Carolina, accounting for 73% of all marine mammal strandings during this period. The objectives of our study were to evaluate data from these strandings to deter-mine 1) annual trends in strandings, 2) seasonal and spatial distribution trends, 3) life history parameters such as sex ratio and age classes, 3) seasonal trends in reproduction, and 4) the extent to which humans have played a role in causing these strandings (human inter-actions). The results showed that 49% of the bottlenose dolphin strandings occurred between April and July; the greatest number of strandings occurred in July (n=22). There was a significant seasonal increase in the distribution of bottlenose dolphin strandings in the northern portion of the state from November to March. Bottlenose dolphin neonates stranded in every month of the year, except March and October, and represented 19.6% of the total number of strandings with known length (n=138). Fifty-five percent (n=15) of bottlenose dolphin neonatal strandings occurred between May and July. Bottlenose dolphins determined to have died as the result of human interaction accounted for 23.1% of the total number of bottlenose dolphin strandings (excluding those for which a determination could not be made).Incidents of bottlenose dolphin entanglements in nets accounted for 16 of these cases.

Snow accumulation time series and their climatic interpretation

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Several snow accumulation time series derived from ice cores and extending over 3 to 5 centuries are examined for spatial and temporal climatic information. ... A significant observation is the widespread depression of net snow accumulation during the latter part of the "Little Ice Age". This initially suggests sea surface temperatures were significantly depressed during the same period. However, prior to this, the available core records indicate generally higher than average precipitation rates. This also implies that influences such as shifted storm tracks or a dustier atmosphere may have been involved. Without additional spatial data coverage, these observations should properly be studied using a coupled (global) ocean/atmosphere GCM.

River salinity variations in response to discharge: examples from the western United States during the early 1900s

Major controls on river salinity (total dissolved solids) in the western United States are climate, geology, and human activity. Climate, in general, influences soil-river salinity via salt-balance variations. When climate becomes wetter, river discharge increases and soil-river salinity decreases; when climate becomes drier river discharge decreases and soil-river salinity increases. This study characterizes the river salinity response to discharge using statistical-dynamic methods. An exploratory analysis of river salinity, using early 1900s water quality surveys in the western United States, shows much river salinity variability is in response to storm and annual discharge. Presumably this is because river discharge is largely supported by surface flow.

内蒙古毛乌素沙地不同生境油蒿(Artemisia ordosica Krasch.)灌丛地碳动态研究

油蒿(Artemisia ordosica Krasch.)是内蒙古鄂尔多斯高原特有的半灌木，构成该地区沙地优势植被类型。主要分布在固定、半固定沙丘，同时在流动沙丘也有少量分布。它在当地经济价值、防风固沙环保方面均处于无以取代的地位。在毛乌素沙地沙漠化日益扩大的严峻态势下,研究其群落地上、地下过程对生境变化的响应不仅对维持干旱、半干旱区生态系统稳定的管理措施上有所帮助，而且也有助于了解全球变化背景下物种对环境条件的长期变化适应策略。 为此，本项研究以毛乌素沙地为研究区域，利用异速生长关系确立不同生境油蒿生物量最佳回归方程，并调查、比较了毛乌素沙地固定沙丘、半固定沙丘和流动沙丘三个生境油蒿灌丛地的生物量、土壤和植被的碳储量、生产力和细根周转、土壤微生物生物量碳、氮和土壤呼吸。具体结果如下： 1. 建立并比较了油蒿枝、株两个水平上各部分（不含细根）生物量异速生长关系式，其中枝形态指标（枝直径BD、枝长BL、叶枝长LBL）与油蒿叶、枝、果各部分生物量的异速关系最好;株水平上冠层面积CA与其叶、枝干、果、粗根各部分生物量的回归效果较好。不同生境生物量与其生长变量的异速生长关系存在差异。2004年调查的油蒿灌丛生物量从固定沙丘、半固定沙丘到流动沙丘分别是354.8，178.3和30.4 g m-2;各部分（叶、枝干、果、粗根、不同径级细根的)生物量都呈递减趋势。地下根与总生物量比值排序为固定>半固定>流动沙丘。不同生境细根生物量垂直分布存在差异，在固定沙丘根可至100 cm，半固定沙丘达90 cm，而在流动沙丘仅为60 cm，这些结果有助于使了解不同生境中的相同物种如何通过自身形态及其生物量调整来适应生境的差异。 2. 不同生境油蒿灌丛地植被碳储量和土壤碳储量在P < 0.05水平上差异显著，其中固定沙丘植被碳储量和土壤碳储量分别为224.04和7521 g C m-2，半固定沙丘是119.27和3029 g C m-2，流动沙丘是16.83和2300 g C m-2。可见沙区土壤有机碳远大于植被碳量。 3. 利用最大值减最小值方法、标准取样法和内生长土芯法研究了不同生境油蒿灌丛地的地上、粗根生产力和地下细根生产力。发现各生境生产力、细根周转都随着植被盖度增加而增加，地下根生产力与总生产力之比随着植被盖度增加而减少;不同生境油蒿灌丛地生产力在P < 0.05水平上存在显著差异，2005年总生产力范围在18.23-293.82 g m-2 yr-1之间;细根总周转率在0.16-0.54 yr-1之间。 4. 利用异速生产关系确立不同生境不同水平上油蒿叶面积的最佳回归关系式并对不同生境的比叶面积（SLA）进行了比较，其中枝水平上各生境叶面积与枝直径、枝叶长、枝长相关关系在P < 0.001水平上显著;株水平上各生境叶面积与株高、冠层面积相关关系在P < 0.001水平显著;从固定沙丘、半固定沙丘到流动沙丘SLA由大变小，这可能与生境养分差异有关。 5. 不同生境油蒿灌丛地土壤微生物碳、氮和土壤呼吸范围分别在117.99-153.99 mg kg-1、1.49-3.31mg kg-1和0.54-1.96 μmol m-2 s-1之间，它们从固定沙丘、半固定沙丘到流动沙丘依次下降。

库布齐沙漠油蒿群落水量平衡研究

鄂尔多斯高原位于中国北方敏感的生态过渡带，水分往往是制约该区域内植物生存、生长和生态系统结构与功能的最主要的限制因子。境内分布大面积的沙地，沙地天然植被以油蒿（Artemisia ordosica）灌丛为主，是重要的沙地牧场。油蒿在新固定沙地上和半流动沙地上长势良好，随着沙地的固定、地表土壤结皮的形成，生长变差，呈现出衰败的迹象。这种现象被认为是由于沙地土壤水分状况改变而驱动的自发演替。沙地土壤水分状况通常与降水量直接相关，降水格局影响植物根系层土壤水分的补充，植被、土壤结构及地表结皮、微地形等其它生物和非生物因素也会引起土壤水分在时间和空间上的再分配。降水只有克服植被和土壤表层的截留与直接蒸发，并下渗到根系层土壤中，才能有效地补充为土壤水分，进而为植物利用。因此，小雨量的降雨往往对土壤水分的补充，特别是对油蒿根系层土壤水分的补充效果有限。在该地区特定自然条件下，单次降雨雨量多大才能有效地补充沙地油蒿群落的土壤水分？在特定降雨格局下，一年内补充到土壤中且能被植物生长利用的有效降雨量究竟是多少？这些都直接影响土壤水分状况和群落的稳定以及长期演替。 为了解决以上两个问题，借助涡度相关技术对鄂尔多斯高原库布齐沙漠油蒿群落的蒸散过程及土壤水分状况进行观测，配合以地面植物群落、土壤物理特性调查，综合考虑生态系统水文平衡的各个环节，对沙地土壤水分状况以及降雨格局对土壤水分的补充进行了研究。 结果表明，2006年全年降水总量为229.4 mm，年蒸散量281.4 mm，降雨、蒸散主要集中在5～10月。5～10月间，降雨29次，总降雨量223.2 mm，各次降雨量、降雨历时、降雨强度变异较大。5.0 mm以下降雨16次，累计降雨量14.0 mm，5.0 mm以上降雨对总降雨量贡献大。雨后被植被和地表截留直接蒸发的水分和的有效降雨受降雨特性及其他气象条件共同影响，通常5.0 mm以上降雨能有效补充到油蒿根系层土壤，有效降雨量累计153.9 mm，降雨效率约68.9%。