Benthic habitats of Buck Island Reef National Monument

NOAA’s Center for Coastal Monitoring and Assessment’s Biogeography Branch has mapped and characterized large portions of the coral reef ecosystems inside the U.S. coastal and territorial waters, including the U.S. Caribbean. The complementary protocols used in these efforts have enabled scientists and managers to quantitatively compare different marine ecosystems in tropical U.S. waters. The Biogeography Branch used these same general protocols to generate three seamless habitat maps of the Bank/Shelf (i.e., from 0 ≤50 meters) and the Bank/Shelf Escarpment (i.e., from 50 ≤1,000 meters and from 1,000 ≤ 1,830 meters) inside Buck Island Reef National Monument (BIRNM). While this mapping effort marks the fourth time that the shallow-water habitats of BIRNM have been mapped, it is the first time habitats deeper than 30 meters (m) have been characterized. Consequently, this habitat map provides information on the distribution of mesophotic and deep-water coral reef ecosystems and serves as a spatial baseline for monitoring change in the Monument. A benthic habitat map was developed for approximately 74.3 square kilometers or 98% of the BIRNM using a combination of semi-automated and manual classification methods. The remaining 2% was not mapped due to lack of imagery in the western part of the Monument at depths ranging from 1,000 to 1,400 meters. Habitats were interpreted from orthophotographs, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) imagery and four different types of MBES (Multibeam Echosounder) imagery. Three minimum mapping units (MMUs) (100, 1,000 and 5,000 square meters) were used because of the wide range of depths present in the Monument. The majority of the area that was characterized was deeper than 30 m on the Bank/Shelf Escarpment. This escarpment area was dominated by uncolonized sand which transitioned to mud as depth increased. Bedrock was exposed in some areas of the escarpment, where steep slopes prevented sediment deposition. Mesophotic corals were seen in the underwater video, but were too sparsely distributed to be reliably mapped from the source imagery. Habitats on the Bank/Shelf were much more variable than those seen on the Bank/Shelf Escarpment. The majority of this shelf area was comprised of coral reef and hardbottom habitat dominated by various forms of turf, fleshy, coralline or filamentous algae. Even though algae was the dominant biological cover type, nearly a quarter (24.3%) of the Monument’s Bank/Shelf benthos hosted a cover of 10%-<50% live coral. In total, 198 unique combinations of habitat classes describing the geography, geology and biology of the sea-floor were identified from the three types of imagery listed above. No thematic accuracy assessment was conducted for areas deeper than about 50 meters, most of which was located in the Bank/Shelf Escarpment. The thematic accuracy of classes in waters shallower than approximately 50 meters ranged from 81.4% to 94.4%. These thematic accuracies are similar to those reported for other NOAA benthic habitat mapping efforts in St. John (>80%), the Main Eight Hawaiian Islands (>84.0%) and the Republic of Palau (>80.0%). These digital maps products can be used with confidence by scientists and resource managers for a multitude of different applications, including structuring monitoring programs, supporting management decisions, and establishing and managing marine conservation areas. The final deliverables for this project, including the benthic habitat maps, source imagery and in situ field data, are available to the public on a NOAA Biogeography Branch website (http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/ecosystems/coralreef/stcroix.aspx) and through an interactive, web-based map application (http://ccma.nos.noaa.gov/explorer/biomapper/biomapper.html?id=BUIS). This report documents the process and methods used to create the shallow to deep-water benthic habitat maps for BIRNM. Chapter 1 provides a short introduction to BIRNM, including its history, marine life and ongoing research activities. Chapter 2 describes the benthic habitat classification scheme used to partition the different habitats into ecologically relevant groups. Chapter 3 explains the steps required to create a benthic habitat map using a combination of semi-automated and visual classification techniques. Chapter 4 details the steps used in the accuracy assessment and reports on the thematic accuracy of the final shallow-water map. Chapter 5 summarizes the type and abundance of each habitat class found inside BIRNM, how these habitats compare to past habitat maps and outlines how these new habitat maps may be used to inform future management activities.

青蒿的遗传转化及青蒿素生物合成的调控

利用发根农杆菌(Agrobacterium rhizogenes)1601，1000，1500，15834，A4，均成功地转化了中药青蒿(Artemisia annua L.)并且建立了pRi1601，pRi15834，pRiA4诱导的发根培养。pRi1601，pRi15834的发根诱导率比其它质粒高。太老或太幼的叶片不利子发根的诱导;发根主要从叶脉的伤口处萌发;带顶芽或带侧芽的叶片容易诱导根，但不一定是发根。光照有利于发根的诱导和发根的生长。以每个发根的“绝对生长速率”(Gtowth Ratio，GR)和绝对“侧根”数量(Number of Side Roots，NSR），通过大量的发根系的筛选，建立了8个发根系，1601-L-1, 1601-L-2, 1601-L-3, 1601-L-4, 15834-L-1, 1601-P-I, 16 01-P-2，15834-L-2。Southern分子检测表明，160l-1-1，1801-L-2, 1601-L-3，1601-L-4，1601-P-1，1601-P-2均为转化子。8个建立的发根系之间无论生长或者QHS的合成存在明显的差异。比较光／暗(16/8hrs)，25℃条件下培养的16 01-L-1，1601-L-2，1601-L-3，1601-L-4，1601-P-l，和1601-P-2，其中16 01-L-3的生长最快，160l-L-1的生长最慢;但是，1601-L-1的QHS的含量最高（可达1. 048%），1601-1-3的QHS的含量最低。160Z-L-3，15834 -L-1和2583:1-L-2的生长速率相差不大。用盛有l000mLMS液体培养基的3000mL的锥形瓶扩大培养1601-L -3，15834-L-1和15834-L-2，转速为ll0rlpm，培养过程中发根容易形成发根球（Hairy Root Balis，HRB），HRB的形成严重影响发根的生长和QHs的合成，HpLC分析表明扩大培养发根中QHS的含量比较低。 改变MS基本培养基中的无机离子的浓度，研究不同无机离子对发根生长和QHS的合成的影响。 l、KN03为18.79×10-3M时有利于1601- L-1生长，为14. 84×10-3M时有利于QHS的合成。NH-4N0-3浓度在10.93-12. 49×10—3M范围内有利于1601-L-1生长，在0-20.62×10-3M范围内对QHS的合成影响不大，大于20. 62×lO-3M不利QHS的合成。培养基中NH-4+／N0-3-比值为0. 37-0. 4-0.52:1时有利于发根的生长，比值为0.52 - 0.58:1时有利于QHS的合成。 2、H-2P0-4-浓度为2.498×10-3M时有利于发根的生长在0-2. 498×l0-3M范围内，随着浓度的提高，促进发根的生长。培养基中的H2P4 -的浓度在0-1.249×lO-3M的范围内，随着浓度的提高，促进QHS的合成，为1.249×10-3M时QHS的含量最高。 3、培养基中最适16 01-L-1生长的Ca-2+浓度为0.198- 0.766×10-3M，大于或小于该浓度范围，显著地抑制发根的生长。但是，在0-3.695×10-3M范围内，随着培养基中Ca-2+浓度提高，促进QHS的合成，最适Ca-2+浓度为3.695×l0-3M。 4、培养基中不加Mg-2+时，完全抑制发根生长，在0. 142×10-3M-7.506×l0-3M浓度范围内，对发根生长影响没有明显的差别。但是，HPLC和UV分析发根中QHS含量，培养基中不加Mg-2+时，发根中QHS含量最高。 5、培养基中的Fe-2+浓度在0. 25 -1．0×10-3M范围内，同时有利于16 01- L-1的生长和QHS的形成。 6、培养基中最适合予16 01- L-3生长的KI浓度为2.5ppm，大于或小予该浓度均显著地抑制发根的生长，培养基中加入KI明显地降低发根中的QHS的含量。 7、H2BO3对l601-L-l生长影响不大，HPLC分析QHS的含量，培养基中的H3BO3浓度为100ppm和400ppm，QHS的含量分别为1.69mg/g和1.80mg/g(DW)。 8、Cu-2+对1601-L-3的生长影响显著，最适合1601-L-3生长的Cu-2+浓度为1.00ppm，在0 -1.00ppm的浓度范围内，随着培养基中的Cu+浓度的提高，发根的生物量不断增加。培养基中QHS合成的最适Cu2+浓度为0.05ppm，大于或小于该浓度均显著地抑制发根中QHS的合成。 比较光培养和暗培养对发根生长的影响，结果表明光照明显地促进1601-L-l的生长，暗培养明显不利于发根的生长。最适合于发根生长的温度为25℃，大于35℃显著地抑制发根的生长，影响发根的根尖细胞的正常分裂。 改变培养基中的蔗糖浓度和在发根培养的不同时期给培养基中添加蔗糖，试验结果表明蔗糖作为碳源对1601-L-3和1601-L-1的生长具有显著的影响。 (1)培养基中缺少蔗糖显著地抑制发根的生长。 (2)发根培养的前5天时间内，蔗糖浓度为30- 60glL昀培养基最有利于发根的生长，50glL的培养基中的发根生长最快，培养基中的蔗糖浓度大于60g/L小于30g／L时，发根的生物量增加较少。 (3)发根培养至第15天时，蔗糖浓度为60g/L的培养基最有利予发根的生物量的增加。发根培养至30天时，蔗糖浓度为60-90g/L的培养基，发根的生物量的增加相差不大，但是为蔗糖浓度为30-40g/L的培养基中的发根生物量一倍。 (4)发根培养过程中，分别于第5和15天给蔗糖浓度为30g/L的培养基中添加一次或二次蔗糖，使培养基中的蔗糖终浓度相当于60g/L或90g/L，培养至30天时，添加蔗糖的培养基中的发根的干重生物量相当于不添加蔗糖培养基中的发根生物量一倍，相当于初始蔗糖浓度为60g/L和90g/L培养基中发根的生物量。 (5)随着培养基中蔗糖浓度的提高，发根干重/鲜重比显著增加。培养基中的蔗糖的消耗量与发根生物量的增加呈正相关，蔗糖消耗越多，发根生物量的增加越大。 比较pH值对发根生长和QHS合成的影响表明，灭菌前pH值在5.O-6.5范围内的培养基适合予1601-L-1的生长，小于5.O不利于发根的生长，pH5.8有利于1601-1-1生长和QHS的生物合成。发根收获时培养基中的pH值一般为4.5-5.2. pH7.O抑制发根的生长，pHl0.O对发根具有强烈的致死作用。发根在培养过程中，对培养基中的pH值具有显著的调节作用，发根能在很短的时间内(24- 48hrs)使pl:l值为5.8、6.4、7.0培养基降低到pH4. 5-5.2，pH为5.8的培养基有利于QHS合成。 比较不同基本培养基对发根生长和QHS合成的影响，试验结果表明N6、DCR、Litvay培养基有利于1601-L-1的生长，WS、White、B5培养基不利于发根的生长。DCR培养基中的QHS含量最高。 根据三水平试验选用三水平正交表来安排试验的原则，选用三水平正交表L7(3-)，研究多因子效应对发根生长和QHS合成的影响，试验结果表明，Mg2+，Fe2+，Mn-2+，NH4NO3，KN03 ,KI,Ca-2+为发根生长的主要因子，NH4N03，KNOs，Mg2+，Ca2+，肌醇为QHS合成的主要因子。 通过TLC分析发根中QHS和其它化学成分，同时比较发根和无菌苗及野生植株的化学成分，发根和无菌苗均能合成包括QHS在内的野生青蒿叶片中的大部分非挥发性的化台 物。 研究青蒿植株在发育过程中QHS的含量的变化以及发根、无菌苗和野生青蒿中QHS的合成，HP分析结果表明，l、不同的单株青蒿之间的QHS量相差很大。2、同一植株幼 叶的QHS含量比老叶的QHS含量高。3、不同单株青蒿之间达到最高QHS含量的时间不一样，开花期或开花之前。4、无菌苗（带根）或者不带根丛生芽均能合成QHS，但是带根的无菌蕾的QHS量比丛生芽中的QIS的含量高。5、不同发根农杆菌转化的发根系1601-L-1和15834-L-1都能合成ＱＨＳ。

Age-validation of a leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) recaptured after 20 years

On 10 July 1999, vertebrae bearing an oxytetracycline (OTC) time mark were retrieved from a tagged leopard shark (Triakis semifasciata) recaptured in San Francisco Bay, CA, after being at liberty for almost 20 years. An additional long-term leopard shark tag return was received in June 2001, for which growth information (but not vertebrae) was obtained. The first recapture is significant in that it represents the longest at-liberty period for an age-validated (OTC-injected) shark, extends and completes age validation for this species, spanning all age classes up to its estimated average maximum age, and provides an example of the persistence of the OTC time mark in an elasmobranch at liberty for almost 20 years. The recaptured leopard shark made in 2001 also provides valuable information on long-term growth from time of release to time of recapture. Findings are documented here so that other researchers are aware that validation is complete for this species, to present pertinent evidence of considerable interannual variability in growth in this species, and to report observations on processing difficulties relating to the ephemeral nature of the 20-yr-old OTC mark.

Late Holocene environmental variability in the upper San Francisco Estuary as reconstructed from tidal marsh sediments

EXTRACT (SEE PDF FOR FULL ABSTRACT): Tidal marsh sediments collected from Browns Island in the lower Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta, California, are used to reconstruct environmental variability over the past 6.8 ka. Calibrated radiocarbon dates provide chronostratigraphic control. Trace metal analyses, grain-size variability, organic content, and macrofossils are used to define short- and long-term variations in relative salinity and inundation frequency. Aggradation began in subtidal fresh water conditions about 6.8 ka. Subtidal aggradation of clayey silts continued until about 6.3 ka, when conditions shifted toward a lower intertidal brackish marsh environment. By 5.1 ka, a brackish marsh plain had evolved, with surface water freshening after 4.1 ka. Conditions returned to brackish similar to the present after 2.3 ka.

外来入侵种紫茎泽兰竞争策略与扩散动态

紫茎泽兰（Eupatorium adenophorum Spreng.）作为重要的外来入侵种之一，已严重破坏了入侵地生态系统的结构与功能，同时使当地农林业生产蒙受巨大的损失。因此，明确紫茎泽兰的竞争策略与扩散潜力，对制定合理的控制措施具有重要意义。 土壤氮素增加常常有助于外来种的入侵，那么降氮能否抵制入侵呢？向土壤中添加碳素，增强微生物对氮素的吸收，从而降低土壤中可被植物吸收的氮素是目前常用的降氮方法。为检验这一假说对入侵种紫茎泽兰的适用性，选取入侵种紫茎泽兰和本地种禾本科雀麦（Bromus japonicus）、菊科鱼眼草（Dichrocephala integrifolia），分别单栽或与紫茎泽兰混栽，向各植物组合中添加碳素（按1650克有机质/平方米计）或氮素（按30克氮素/平方米计），并设立对照进行盆栽实验。在碳素添加条件下，紫茎泽兰地上与地下生物量分别比对照降低了71.9% 和 74.9%，而本地种的生物量却没有受到显著影响。同时，碳素添加导致紫茎泽兰对本地种的竞争强度（RII）明显下降。氮素添加则减弱或逆转了上述碳素的作用。因此，向土壤中添加碳素有助于抵抗氮沉降对外来种入侵的促进作用，特别对抵御那些与氮素有亲和力的入侵种更为有效。在不同氮素条件下，紫茎泽兰对本地种竞争中，资源竞争强度均明显大于化感作用。尽管在紫茎泽兰发育早期化感作用较小，但是，碳素添加使紫茎泽兰可利用氮素减少，激发了化感作用在竞争中占有更大的比例，说明资源竞争与化感是相互结合、共同发挥作用的。 去叶作为模拟采食方法之一，至少可以通过两种方式影响植物竞争。一是去叶对目标种生长产生负面影响，二是邻种去叶有利于目标种生长，进而改变种间竞争关系。基于以上假定，对紫茎泽兰与相邻本地种分别单栽、同种合栽和异种混栽，进行去叶处理。结果恰与假定相悖：在整个生长季内，去叶增加目标株生物量的1.0 – 198.9%。对于入侵种而言，当邻居本地种去叶时，紫茎泽兰能完全弥补竞争产生的负面效应，即它与未去叶的单栽紫茎泽兰生长无显著差异;而紫茎泽兰去叶降低了相邻本地种的生长，加剧了原本由于竞争给对本地种带来的负面影响。因此，去叶效应与邻种的存在与否及邻种的类型均有关。在应用生物控制对目标株采食时，特别是在没有造成严重伤害或致死情况下，可以使本来具有竞争优势的入侵种变得更具强势。竞争与去叶之间存在复杂的相互作用，采食带来的间接效应可能比预想的更为复杂。因此，在生物控制措施实施之前，充分地估计生物控制的间接作用至关重要。 为检验反应—扩散模型（reaction–diffusion model）能否正确模拟紫茎泽兰小尺度扩散速率，本研究调查了四川攀枝花山区5个不同的生境的紫茎泽兰群落。对各样地内紫茎泽兰定位和年龄确定，基于克里金插值法做出其入侵格局的等年线图，通过等年线之间的垂直距离即可得到紫茎泽兰扩散速率的经验值。同时，计算内禀增长率和扩散系数，根据模型计算得到扩散速率的预测值。结果表明：紫茎泽兰扩散速率经验值明显小于模型预测值。因此，尽管反应—扩散模型已在大尺度扩散预测方面得到广泛的应用和验证，但在小尺度上，由于没有借助于复杂的生活史模型和分层模型，单凭反应—扩散模型不足以得到准确的预测。另外，在没有遭受干扰的生境中，可以发现紫茎泽兰扩散早期存在明显的时滞期。倘若这种时滞效应在入侵扩散中是频繁发生的，那么在判定物种是否具有入侵性时，很可能由于物种处于时滞期而被误认为非入侵种。 基于紫茎泽兰入侵至中国60年来所收集到的441已知分布记录和23个环境变量，采用GARP模型对其潜在分布范围做出了预测，并通过Kappa和ROC（receiver–operator characteristic）对预测结果进行检验。结果表明紫茎泽兰目前分布以云贵高原为主体，逐渐向四川盆地东部、山东半岛、东南沿海、台湾沿海以及海南岛等地扩散。冷季降水量、年极端低温和年均最高温对分布影响较大。RDA（Redundancy Analysis）分析结果显示温度和降水是限制紫茎泽兰扩散的重要因素。在过去的20年里，紫茎泽兰已经从温度较高、天气波动较小的亚热带气候逐渐向气候温凉、降水减少的高海拔地区扩散。紫茎泽兰可以适应相对较宽的温度和降水梯度，年均温度在10—22 ˚C，年降水量在800—2000 mm区间均有分布。本研究结果为发展早期预警工作、防止紫茎泽兰在中国进一步入侵提供了科学依据。

沿水分梯度草原群落NPP动态及对气候变化响应的模拟分析

水分条件不仅影响半干旱区群落的组成，而且在一定程度上决定了群落的功能。处于不同水分条件生境下群落的优势物种在水分利用和同化物利用效率方面的功能特征会存在差异，这些差异将导致群落对于气候变化产生不同的响应，进而影响到景观和区域尺度上对于全球变化下碳动态和格局的分析。本研究选取了锡林河流域典型草原区沿水分梯度的四个代表群落，在野外实验测定并结合长期定位研究成果基础上，利用BIOME-BGC模型对代表群落的长期净初级生产力(NPP)动态进行了模拟和模型验证。通过分析该地区1953~2005年气候变化趋势，推测了未来可能的气候变化情景，进而模拟了气候变化下四个群落长期NPP动态的响应。 野外实验分析表明，在四个群落中，净光合速率与光合有效辐射呈单峰曲线关系，与温度和蒸气压亏损(VPD)成反比，叶片氮含量和比叶面积也会影响到光合能力。四个群落由于水分与土壤条件的差别，净光合速率随VPD与温度的变化表现出不同的增减幅度。将日变化分为四个阶段，分别为大致在6:00~8:00左右的低温高湿阶段，10:00~16:00的高温低湿阶段，16:00以后的低温低湿阶段和低温高湿阶段变为高温低湿阶段过程中的适温适湿阶段。在每个阶段中，影响羊草光合速率的主导因子是不同的。在不同的水分与土壤状况下，羊草的光合特性表现出明显差异，但总体说来水分仍是光合作用的主导因子。 模型模拟结果表明，当前气候条件下，羊草群落NPP平均值为197.76 gC m-2 (SE=7.11)，大针茅群落NPP平均值为198.95 gC m-2 (SE=6.41)，贝加尔针茅群落NPP平均值为210.41 gC m-2 (SE=7.87)，克氏针茅群落NPP平均值为144.92 gC m-2 (SE=4.64)，四个群落NPP平均值为188.01 gC m-2 (SE=3.72)。 日最高温度与最低温度在1953~2005年间都明显增加，而降水变化很大。温度增加下(P0T1)NPP平均下降14.2%，降水增加下(P1T0)NPP平均增加13.2%，温度与降水都增加情景下(P1T1)NPP平均下降2.7%。在半干旱区，降水是NPP变化的主要限制因子，而温度通过影响了植物的呼吸与蒸散作用对NPP产生影响。 由于生境水分条件差别和优势物种功能特征差异，四个群落在气候变化中表现出对温度与降水不同的敏感程度，这与水分胁迫系数WSI、碳胁迫系数CSI变化密切相关。克氏针茅群落由于所处生境水分条件差，水分胁迫系数高，对降水的依赖程度最大;贝加尔针茅群落一方面处于较好的水分生境，具有相对较小的水分胁迫系数，另一方面，由于具有高碳氮比，维持呼吸消耗的光合产物比例低，碳胁迫系数远低于其它三个群落，未来气候变化下NPP较其它三个群落仍较高。

Cholesterol from prawn-head waste

A process is described for the isolation of Cholesterol from the fat obtained from prawn head-waste. Cholesterol of about 94% percent purity is obtained. The final yield on the basis of fat is about 2%.

Acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos, cadusafos and diazinon to three Indian major carps (Catla catla, Labeo rohita and Cirrhinus mrigala) fingerlings

Fingerlings of three Indian major carps, viz. Catla catla (Hamilton-Buchanon), Labeo rohita (Hamilton-Buchanon) and Cirrhinus mrigala (Hamilton-Buchanon), were exposed to different concentrations of chlorpyrifos (lorsban 10 G), cadusafos (rugby 10 G) and diazinon (basudin 10 G) for a period of 96h with a view to determine the median lethal concentrations (LC sub50) values for each of chemicals. Of the tested concentrations, chlorpyrifos at a dose of 6.65 ppm, cadusafos at 2.0 ppm and diazinon at a dose of 8.40 ppm or above induced 100% mortalities within 96h of exposure. The 96h LC sub50 values of chlorpyrefos, cadusafos and diazinon were 1.66, 0.72 and 2.10 ppm for C. catla, 2.35, 0.72 and 2.97 for L. rohita and 2.35, 0.72 and 2.10 ppm for C. mrigala, respectively. Pesticide induced behavioral abnormalities observed in the present study included erratic movements, rapid operculum activities, jumping of fish out of the test media, violent spasm and convulsion.

Preliminary observations on the effect of electrical seine on fish catch

Forty-six experiments were done with the electric seine in 24 tanks with a.c. and interrupted a.c. The source of electrical energy was a 3 Kw a.c. generator of water-cooled diesel engine. A control seining without applying electricity was conducted for every experiment with electric "seine" to have a comparison for the efficiency of electric "seine" over control ones. Electric seine was found to have an increased catch over control seining both in numbers and in weight. Electric seine with two electrodes was found to have better effect over three electrodes. Benthic fishes like Cirrhina mrigala, Notopterus notopterus, Cyprinus carpio, Glassogobius giuris, Ophicephalus sp. and Mystus sp. were found to be more sensitive in electric "seine". Increased catch of small fishes like C. mrigala, N, notopterus and Ophicephalus sp. has been observed in electrical "seine" in addition to larger ones.