区域气候变化统计降尺度研究进展

统计降尺度方法(the Statistical Downscaling Methods, SDM)是为合理预测区域尺度的气候变化情景而提出的新型研究方法。统计降尺度法利用多年大气环流的观测资料建立大尺度气候要素和区域气候要素之间的统计关系,并用独立的观测资料检验这种关系的合理性。把这种关系应用于大气环流模式(Global atmospheric general circulation models, GCMs)中输出大尺度气候信息,来预估区域未来的气候变化情景(如气温和降水)。同时,10a来降尺度方法在生态过程模拟以及气候变化与生态预报关系拟合研究方面也取得一定进展。对统计降尺度方法概念的内涵和外延、基本原理和操作步骤的创新研究方面进行了综述,归纳了该方法在模拟区域气候变化中的应用进展、研究热点及发展趋势,介绍了降尺度在生态预报中的相关应用,为相关研究提供参考。     

基于Budyko假设的潮河流域气候和植被变化对实际蒸散发的影响研究

由于参数较少且具有明确的物理学意义,基于水热平衡理论的Budyko假设常用于定量分析以及评价气候变化和植被变化对实际蒸散发的影响,对研究流域水量平衡和能量分配具有重要意义。依据位于我国北方密云水库上游的潮河流域1961—2015年的水文气象数据,选取了4种基于Budyko假设的模型来研究潮河流域水热耦合平衡关系,确定了该流域最适用模型以及模型参数最优值,并且采用情景设置法分析了流域实际蒸散发对气候以及植被变化的响应。结果表明:(1)与经典Budyko模型相比,采用流域下垫面参数修正的Budyko模型计算实际蒸散发的精度更高。其中,傅抱璞模型精度最高,决定系数、相对误差、纳什效率系数和均方根误差分别为0.85、4.30%、0.82和27.66 mm;(2)对傅抱璞模型下垫面参数ω进行优化,确定适用于潮河流域的模型参数取值为2.54,优化后的傅抱璞模型能够更好地反映流域实际蒸散发的变化特征;(3)情景模拟表明,气候变化和植被变化的共同作用导致潮河流域实际蒸散发的上升。其中,气候变化是引起流域蒸散发变化的主要驱动因素。     

Effects of warmer world scenarios on hydrologic inputs to Lake Mälaren,Sweden and implications for nutrient loads

A simple, rapid, and flexible modelling approach was applied to explore the impacts of climate change on hydrologic inputs and consequent implications for nutrient loading to Lake Mälaren, Sweden using a loading function model (GWLF). The first step in the process was to adapt the model for use in a large and complex Swedish catchment. We focused on the Galten basin with four rivers draining into the western region of Mälaren. The catchment model was calibrated and tested using long-term historical data for river discharge and dissolved nutrients (N, P). Then multiple regional climate model simulation results were downscaled to the local catchment level, and used to simulate possible hydrological and nutrient loading responses to warmer world scenarios. Climate change projections for the rivers of Galten basin show profound changes in the timing of discharge and nutrient delivery due to increased winter precipitation and earlier snow melt. Impacts on total annual discharge and load are minimal, but the alteration in river flow regime and the timing of nutrient delivery for future climate scenarios is strikingly different from historical conditions.     

Impact of climatic change on eco-hydrology: a case study for Poland

The impact of climatic change on variables of concern to eco-hydrology was examined. Long time series of records of temperature, precipitation and river flow for Poznan were analyzed and forecasts of tendencies were made. Spatial distribution of runoff and of the ratio of evapotranspiration to precipitation was obtained for the country. It was found likely that the dynamics of the hydrological cycle will accelerate. Annual precipitation, runoff and evapotranspiration will increase. The joint effect, including estimated growth in water demand, is likely to be a decrease in the amount of soil moisture.     

Modeled ecohydrological responses to climate change at seven small watersheds in the northeastern United States

A cross‐site analysis was conducted on seven diverse, forested watersheds in the northeastern United States to evaluate hydrological responses (evapotranspiration, soil moisture, seasonal and annual streamflow, and water stress) to projections of future climate. We used output from four atmosphere–ocean general circulation models (AOGCMs; CCSM4, HadGEM2‐CC, MIROC5, and MRI‐CGCM3) included in Phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, coupled with two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 8.5 and 4.5). The coarse resolution AOGCMs outputs were statistically downscaled using an asynchronous regional regression model to provide finer resolution future climate projections as inputs to the deterministic dynamic ecosystem model PnET‐BGC. Simulation results indicated that projected warmer temperatures and longer growing seasons in the northeastern United States are anticipated to increase evapotranspiration across all sites, although invoking CO₂ effects on vegetation (growth enhancement and increases in water use efficiency (WUE)) diminish this response. The model showed enhanced evapotranspiration resulted in drier growing season conditions across all sites and all scenarios in the future. Spruce‐fir conifer forests have a lower optimum temperature for photosynthesis, making them more susceptible to temperature stress than more tolerant hardwood species, potentially giving hardwoods a competitive advantage in the future. However, some hardwood forests are projected to experience seasonal water stress, despite anticipated increases in precipitation, due to the higher temperatures, earlier loss of snow packs, longer growing seasons, and associated water deficits. Considering future CO₂ effects on WUE in the model alleviated water stress across all sites. Modeled streamflow responses were highly variable, with some sites showing significant increases in annual water yield, while others showed decreases. This variability in streamflow responses poses a challenge to water resource management in the northeastern United States. Our analyses suggest that dominant vegetation type and soil type are important attributes in determining future hydrological responses to climate change.     

中国气候－植被关系初探

气候－植被分类必须强调气候因子的综合影响及其指标的区域性。一般的气候观测缺乏在生物学上具有重要与综合的作用或代表性,而区域潜在蒸散包括从所有表面的蒸发与植物蒸腾,并涉及到决定植被分布的两大要素：温度和降水。因此,区域潜在蒸散具有作为植被－气候相关分析与分类的综合气侯指标的功能。本文首次根据区域潜在蒸散对气侯－植被关系的热量与水分指标进行了初步探讨,提出了进行气候－植被关系的热量指标（ＴＩ）和区域湿润指标（ＲＭＩ）,并据此对中国气侯－植被关系进行了初步的定量研究。该研究对于了解气候－植被之间的相互关系,正确地评估和预测全球变化对人类及生物所赖以生存的生态环境的影响具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

中国气候-植被关系初探

气候—植被分类必须强调气候因子的综合影响及其指标的区域性。一般的气候观测缺乏在生物学上具有重要与综合的作用或代表性,而区域潜在蒸散包括从所有表面的蒸发与植物蒸腾,并涉及到决定植被分布的两大要素：温度和降水。因此,区域潜在蒸散具有作为植被—气候相关分析与分类的综合气候指标的功能。本文首次根据区域潜在蒸散对气候—植被关系的热量与水分指标进行了初步探讨,提出了进行气候—植被关系的热量指标(TI)和区域湿润指标(RMI),并据此对中国气候—植被关系进行了初步的定量研究。该研究对于了解气候—植被之间的相互关系,正确地评估和预测全球变化对人类及生物所赖以生存的生态环境的影响具有重要的理论和现实意义。     

Implications of climate change for agricultural productivity in the early twenty-first century

This paper reviews recent literature concerning a wide range of processes through which climate change could potentially impact global-scale agricultural productivity, and presents projections of changes in relevant meteorological, hydrological and plant physiological quantities from a climate model ensemble to illustrate key areas of uncertainty. Few global-scale assessments have been carried out, and these are limited in their ability to capture the uncertainty in climate projections, and omit potentially important aspects such as extreme events and changes in pests and diseases. There is a lack of clarity on how climate change impacts on drought are best quantified from an agricultural perspective, with different metrics giving very different impressions of future risk. The dependence of some regional agriculture on remote rainfall, snowmelt and glaciers adds to the complexity. Indirect impacts via sea-level rise, storms and diseases have not been quantified. Perhaps most seriously, there is high uncertainty in the extent to which the direct effects of CO₂ rise on plant physiology will interact with climate change in affecting productivity. At present, the aggregate impacts of climate change on global-scale agricultural productivity cannot be reliably quantified.     

基于全球气候模式集合的鄱阳湖流域未来潜在蒸散量及其干旱效应研究

鄱阳湖流域近年来旱涝灾害频发,原有的水量平衡被打破。因此,开展鄱阳湖地区潜在蒸散量及干旱效应研究具有重要意义。潜在蒸散量（Reference Evapotranspiration,ET₀）是评价区域水资源配置和计算干旱指数的重要指标。以我国的鄱阳湖流域为研究区,依托统计降尺度模型,基于站点观测数据、气候模式数据以及美国环境中心再分析数据,运用遗传算法构建多模式集合,模拟未来情景下流域潜在蒸散量和干旱指数（Drought Index,DI）时空演变特征。结果表明：基于遗传算法构建的模式集合较单一气候模式或等权模式集合,模拟性能佳;RCP4.5、8.5情景下流域ET₀均呈上升趋势,ET₀变化的第一主周期分别为20年和4年,流域ET₀未来空间变化特征表现为东高西低;RCP8.5情景下,鄱阳湖流域DI在年际上呈显著上升趋势,9-11月是干旱风险防范的关键时期;流域年DI变化的主周期为8年,流域的中东部地区将是未来干旱风险防范的重点区域。本研究为认识区域尺度下气候变化对潜在蒸散量的影响提供借鉴,同时为政府部门科学应对鄱阳湖流域未来时期可能出现的旱情提供的决策支持。     

城市化对流域生态水文过程的影响研究综述

了解流域水文过程(水量和水质)是流域综合管理的基础。城市化引起的生态环境问题已成为目前和未来一段相当长的时期内人类社会面临的重大问题。然而,城市化(土地利用/覆被变化、新污染物产生)、水文(降水、入渗、蒸散、径流过程)和生态系统服务(产水服务、调节气候、土壤保持、初级生产力、维持生物多样性等)在不同时空尺度之间的相互作用还存在知识空白。从城市化对流域生态系统结构和功能的影响、城市化对地表能量平衡与水量平衡的影响、城市化对水质和水生生物的影响、以及城市土地利用/覆被变化的大气环境效应等多方面系统总结了城市化影响流域生态水文过程的研究进展。研究发现,城市"热岛"、"干岛"、暴雨径流引起的城市内涝、水污染等环境现象都与生态水文过程密切相关。强调现代城市规划需要遵循生态水文学规律,从全流域生态系统角度认识近年来新出现的不同尺度的城市环境效应。城市最佳管理措施应以流域为单元实施,以调节土地利用/覆被、保护湿地(包括自然与人工湿地)为手段,充分发挥自然生态系统调节功能(如植被蒸散和净化水质)。未来城市生态水文学应围绕"低影响开发"以及"基于自然的解决方案"等城市流域管理措施,在稳定城市小气候、缓解洪涝干旱等极端水文气象灾害风险以及减轻城市水污染等方面开展多尺度综合研究。     

Study on Climate Vegetation Classification for Global Change in China

The study on climate-vegetation relationship is the basis for determining the re sponse of terrestrial ecosystem to global change. By means of quantitative analysis on climate-vegetation interaction, vegetation types and their distribution pattern could be corresponded with certain climatic types in a series of mathematical forms. Thus, the climate could be used to predict vegetation types and their distribution, the same is in reverse. Potential evapotranspiration rate is a comprehensive climatological index which combines temperature with precipitation, and could be used to evaluate the effect of climate on vegetation. In this respect, Holdridge life zone system has been drawing much attention and widely applied internationally owing to its simplicity. It is especially used in the assessment of sensibility of terrestrial ecosystems and their distribution in accordance with climate change and in prediction of the changing pattern of vegetation under doubled CO2 condition. However, Prentice (1990) pointed out that the accurancy of Holdridge life zone system is less than 40 % when it is used at global scale. The reason may be that the potential evapotranspiration calculated by Thornthwaite method, which is used in Holdridge life zone system, reflects the potential evapotranspiration from small evaporated area, while climate-vegetation classification is based on the regional scale. The authors try to establish a new climate-vegetation classification system based on the regional potential evapotranspiration. According to the following formula: where E designates regional actual evapotranspiration: Ep local potential evapotran-spiration: Epo, regional potential evapotranspiration. Ed can be calculated from Penman model or other models. E can be calculated from the following model: E=r · Rn (r2+Rn2+r · Rn) / (2) (r+Rn) · (r2+Rn2)where r designates precipitation (mm); Rn, net radiation (mm). Thus, Ep0 can be easily obtained. It is used as the regional thermal index (RTI) of climate-vegetation classification,and can be expressed as: RTl = Epo (3) Moisture index is another index of climate-veggetation classification. Usually, it can be expressed as the ratio between potential evapotranspiration and precipitation. However, this ratio can not reflect soil moisture, which is important for plant. The ratio between regional actual evapotranspiration and regional potential evapotranspiration is associated not only with climatic condition but also with soil moisture. So it can be used as the moisture index of climate-vegetation classification, and is defined as regional moisture index (RMI): RMI = E/Epo (5) Based on the average climatological data of 30 years from 647 meteorological observation stations in China. It was found that RTl could well reflect a regional thermal level. The values of RTI were less than 360 mm in cold temperate zone, 360～650 mm in temperate zone, 650～380 mm in warm temperate zone, 780～1100 mm in subtropical zone. And more than 1100 mm in tropical zone. RMI also reflects a regional moisture level very well. The values of RMI was less than 0.4 in desert area, 0.4～0.7 in grassland area and more than 0.7 in forest area. Thus, the climate-vegetation classification in China is established on the basis of the two indices: RTI and RMI. According to this model, the changing patterns of vegetation zones in China are given under the conditions of mean annual temperature in creasing by 2℃ and 4℃ and mean annual precipitation increasing by 20%. The results showed that the areas of forest and grassland would decrease, the vegetation zones would move northward and upward, and the area of desert would increase. The results also indicate that the Tibetan Plateau is an area highly sensitive to global change. It could be considered as an indicative or forewarning area for global change , and therefore, an area of great siginificance for monitoring and research. The possible beneficial effect of global change on China terrestrial ecosystems is that the plantation boundary will move northwards and upwards; and the disadvantageous effect is the expansion of desertification and the increase of instability in climatic conditions.     

The timing of autumn senescence is affected by the timing of spring phenology: implications for predictive models

Autumn senescence regulates multiple aspects of ecosystem function, along with associated feedbacks to the climate system. Despite its importance, current understanding of the drivers of senescence is limited, leading to a large spread in predictions of how the timing of senescence, and thus the length of the growing season, will change under future climate conditions. The most commonly held paradigm is that temperature and photoperiod are the primary controls, which suggests a future extension of the autumnal growing season as global temperatures rise. Here, using two decades of ground‐ and satellite‐based observations of temperate deciduous forest phenology, we show that the timing of autumn senescence is correlated with the timing of spring budburst across the entire eastern United States. On a year‐to‐year basis, an earlier/later spring was associated with an earlier/later autumn senescence, both for individual species and at a regional scale. We use the observed relationship to develop a novel model of autumn phenology. In contrast to current phenology models, this model predicts that the potential response of autumn phenology to future climate change is strongly limited by the impact of climate change on spring phenology. Current models of autumn phenology therefore may overpredict future increases in the length of the growing season, with subsequent impacts for modeling future CO₂ uptake and evapotranspiration.     

Possible impacts of climate change on hydrologic cycle in Slovakia and results of observations in 1951–2007

The hydrologic cycle in Slovakia is determined mainly by three basic components: precipitation (P), evapotranspiration (E) and runoff (R). The mean annual P total was 747 mm, E sum 476 mm and the mean R was 271 mm in Slovakia in 1951–1980 (E ≈ 0.65P and R ≈ 0.35P). T increase in 1.6°C and annual P decrease in 24 mm (3.1%) were detected in the 1881–2007 period. Regimes of potential and actual evapotranspiration, soil moisture and R have been changed mainly in the southern Slovakia. A physical model for the estimation of the energy balance equation components (total radiation balance and its components, potential and actual evapotranspiration, sensible heat flux) has been developed. Input data are the air temperature and humidity, cloudiness, the number of days with snow cover and precipitation, all measured in the network of 31 meteorological stations in Slovakia since 1951. The 20-year period 1988–2007 was by 0.9°C warmer than the normal period mean. The observed increase is at the upper limit of all climate change scenarios projected for Slovakia in 1991–2001. Annual P totals have not changed significantly, but substantial changes have been found in the P regime. The scenarios show significant changes in the hydrological cycle not only at river basins balance but also in case of soil water balance, mainly in the southern Slovakia.     

Climate Change Impacts on the Upper Indus Hydrology: Sources,Shifts and Extremes

The Indus basin heavily depends on its upstream mountainous part for the downstream supply of water while downstream demands are high. Since downstream demands will likely continue to increase, accurate hydrological projections for the future supply are important. We use an ensemble of statistically downscaled CMIP5 General Circulation Model outputs for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 to force a cryospheric-hydrological model and generate transient hydrological projections for the entire 21^st century for the upper Indus basin. Three methodological advances are introduced: (i) A new precipitation dataset that corrects for the underestimation of high-altitude precipitation is used. (ii) The model is calibrated using data on river runoff, snow cover and geodetic glacier mass balance. (iii) An advanced statistical downscaling technique is used that accounts for changes in precipitation extremes. The analysis of the results focuses on changes in sources of runoff, seasonality and hydrological extremes. We conclude that the future of the upper Indus basin’s water availability is highly uncertain in the long run, mainly due to the large spread in the future precipitation projections. Despite large uncertainties in the future climate and long-term water availability, basin-wide patterns and trends of seasonal shifts in water availability are consistent across climate change scenarios. Most prominent is the attenuation of the annual hydrograph and shift from summer peak flow towards the other seasons for most ensemble members. In addition there are distinct spatial patterns in the response that relate to monsoon influence and the importance of meltwater. Analysis of future hydrological extremes reveals that increases in intensity and frequency of extreme discharges are very likely for most of the upper Indus basin and most ensemble members.     

陕北黄土高原气象要素对植被覆盖的空间分异影响及风险探测

陕北黄土高原地处我国西北生态环境脆弱区,近年来受退耕还林（草）影响,区域植被覆盖变化显著,与气象要素的响应关系也呈现出了复杂的空间分异性和不确定性,亟待厘清。以不同地貌分区为响应单元,探究了陕北黄土高原变绿前后（1982-1992年与2005-2015年）NDVI指数的时空演化特征,分析了植被覆盖变化与气象要素之间的分异性响应关系,并透过最优参数的地理探测器模型（OPGD）探测了气象要素变化对植被覆盖演变的交互影响及风险。研究结果表明：（1）陕北黄土高原及各地貌分区在研究期内NDVI指数均呈显著上升趋势,且阶段化分异明显;各地貌区气温和实际蒸散发量在高原变绿前后趋势变化差异明显,1982-1992年主要呈不显著增加趋势,而2005-2015年则表现为不显著减少趋势;两个时期降水量的空间异质性较为显著,其中北部地区为持续增加趋势,而南部地区则由减少逆转为增加趋势。（2）不同地貌区NDVI指数与气温和蒸散发均呈正相关,且蒸散发与NDVI的相关性强于气温;相对高原变绿前,2005-2015年NDVI指数对各气象要素的响应强度均有所增大。（3）OPGD因子检测结果显示5km空间网格是评价气候变化对陕北黄土高原植被覆盖变化影响的最佳空间尺度,各地貌分区对NDVI指数变化影响最大的气象因子依次为：气温（黄土塬）、降水（盖沙黄土丘陵）、蒸散发（黄土峁状丘陵）、降水（黄土梁状丘陵）、降水（黄土宽谷丘陵）、蒸散发（风沙丘陵）、降水（土石丘陵）;交互探测表明气象因子间的交互作用对NDVI指数的空间分异具有协同增强性,但不同时期各地貌区的主导交互因子略有差异。（4）风险探测发现不同实际蒸散发量对NDVI指数的影响有显著空间差异。（5）陕北黄土高原的植被覆盖变化并不能简单归因于退耕还林（草）等生态修复措施,而应是多要素耦合驱动的结果,气象要素在其中扮演了不可忽视的作用。     

The land–atmosphere water flux in the tropics

Tropical vegetation is a major source of global land surface evapotranspiration, and can thus play a major role in global hydrological cycles and global atmospheric circulation. Accurate prediction of tropical evapotranspiration is critical to our understanding of these processes under changing climate. We examined the controls on evapotranspiration in tropical vegetation at 21 pan-tropical eddy covariance sites, conducted a comprehensive and systematic evaluation of 13 evapotranspiration models at these sites, and assessed the ability to scale up model estimates of evapotranspiration for the test region of Amazonia. Net radiation was the strongest determinant of evapotranspiration (mean evaporative fraction was 0.72) and explained 87% of the variance in monthly evapotranspiration across the sites. Vapor pressure deficit was the strongest residual predictor (14%), followed by normalized difference vegetation index (9%), precipitation (6%) and wind speed (4%). The radiation-based evapotranspiration models performed best overall for three reasons: (1) the vegetation was largely decoupled from atmospheric turbulent transfer (calculated from Ω decoupling factor), especially at the wetter sites; (2) the resistance-based models were hindered by difficulty in consistently characterizing canopy (and stomatal) resistance in the highly diverse vegetation; (3) the temperature-based models inadequately captured the variability in tropical evapotranspiration. We evaluated the potential to predict regional evapotranspiration for one test region: Amazonia. We estimated an Amazonia-wide evapotranspiration of 1370 mm yr⁻¹, but this value is dependent on assumptions about energy balance closure for the tropical eddy covariance sites; a lower value (1096 mm yr⁻¹) is considered in discussion on the use of flux data to validate and interpolate models.     

玉米农田蒸散过程及其对气候变化的响应模拟

应用基于生理生态学过程的EALCO模型,对玉米农田生态系统的蒸散(ET)过程进行了模拟,在模型检验基础上,使用该模型模拟了玉米农田生态系统ET过程对未来气候变化的响应。结果表明,EALCO模型中能量与水过程的动态耦合机制使模型能够较好地模拟农田蒸散过程,基于涡度相关法的观测值与模型模拟值在小时、日尺度上均吻合较好,模型可以解释67%的日蒸散的变化特征。对土壤蒸发与冠层蒸腾的分别模拟显示,生长季土壤蒸发约占ET的36%。温度的升高会引起ET与冠层蒸腾的增加,同时土壤蒸发减少;ET对降水减少的响应较为敏感,主要表现在土壤蒸发的下降。大气CO2浓度升高对冠层蒸腾影响显著,该情景下冠层蒸腾下降幅度最大。研究所假设的2100年气候情景下,该农田生态系统生长季蒸散将减少,然而相对于降水的减少而言,蒸散的减少量较小,即水分支出项相对增加,因此,发生土壤水分匮乏的可能性加大,这可能会加剧该地区的暖干化趋势,给作物产量及生态环境带来威胁。     

Integrated approaches to climate-crop modelling: needs and challenges

This paper discusses the need for a more integrated approach to modelling changes in climate and crops, and some of the challenges posed by this. While changes in atmospheric composition are expected to exert an increasing radiative forcing of climate change leading to further warming of global mean temperatures and shifts in precipitation patterns, these are not the only climatic processes which may influence crop production. Changes in the physical characteristics of the land cover may also affect climate; these may arise directly from land use activities and may also result from the large-scale responses of crops to seasonal, interannual and decadal changes in the atmospheric state. Climate models used to drive crop models may, therefore, need to consider changes in the land surface, either as imposed boundary conditions or as feedbacks from an interactive climate-vegetation model. Crops may also respond directly to changes in atmospheric composition, such as the concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO2), ozone (03) and compounds of sulphur and nitrogen, so crop models should consider these processes as well as climate change. Changes in these, and the responses of the crops, may be intimately linked with meteorological processes so crop and climate models should consider synergies between climate and atmospheric chemistry. Some crop responses may occur at scales too small to significantly influence meteorology, so may not need to be included as feedbacks within climate models. However, the volume of data required to drive the appropriate crop models may be very large, especially if short-time-scale variability is important. Implementation of crop models within climate models would minimize the need to transfer large quantities of data between separate modelling systems. It should also be noted that crop responses to climate change may interact with other impacts of climate change, such as hydrological changes. For example, the availability of water for irrigation may be affected by changes in runoff as a direct consequence of climate change, and may also be affected by climate-related changes in demand for water for other uses. It is, therefore, necessary to consider the interactions between the responses of several impacts sectors to climate change. Overall, there is a strong case for a much closer coupling between models of climate, crops and hydrology, but this in itself poses challenges arising from issues of scale and errors in the models. A strategy is proposed whereby the pursuit of a fully coupled climate-chemistry-crop-hydrology model is paralleled by continued use of separate climate and land surface models but with a focus on consistency between the models.     

Assessment of the Impact of Climate Shifts on Malaria Transmission in the Sahel

Climate affects malaria transmission through a complex network of causative pathways. We seek to evaluate the impact of hypothetical climate change scenarios on malaria transmission in the Sahel by using a novel mechanistic, high spatial- and temporal-resolution coupled hydrology and agent-based entomology model. The hydrology model component resolves individual precipitation events and individual breeding pools. The impact of future potential climate shifts on the representative Sahel village of Banizoumbou, Niger, is estimated by forcing the model of Banizoumbou environment with meteorological data from two locations along the north–south climatological gradient observed in the Sahel—both for warmer, drier scenarios from the north and cooler, wetter scenarios from the south. These shifts in climate represent hypothetical but historically realistic climate change scenarios. For Banizoumbou climatic conditions (latitude 13.54 N), a shift toward cooler, wetter conditions may dramatically increase mosquito abundance; however, our modeling results indicate that the increased malaria transmissibility is not simply proportional to the precipitation increase. The cooler, wetter conditions increase the length of the sporogonic cycle, dampening a large vectorial capacity increase otherwise brought about by increased mosquito survival and greater overall abundance. Furthermore, simulations varying rainfall event frequency demonstrate the importance of precipitation patterns, rather than simply average or time-integrated precipitation, as a controlling factor of these dynamics. Modeling results suggest that in addition to changes in temperature and total precipitation, changes in rainfall patterns are very important to predict changes in disease susceptibility resulting from climate shifts. The combined effect of these climate-shift–induced perturbations can be represented with the aid of a detailed mechanistic model.     

岷江上游不同景观结构小流域水量平衡的比较

研究了1988～2002年岷江上游两个小流域（镇江关流域和黑水河流域）不同景观结构（土地覆盖、海拔、坡度、斑块密度、最大斑块指数等）对水量平衡的影响.基于两个流域土地覆盖类型、1988～2002年多年平均降水量和蒸散量的空间分布、两个流域土地覆盖类型同期多年平均径流深度的数据,得到不同土地覆盖类型的海拔、坡度、坡向与降雨、蒸散、径流的关系.结果表明,两个流域有林地海拔、坡度、坡向的不同导致其降水、蒸散降水比、径流降水比各异;两个流域草地水量平衡对景观格局的响应模式与有林地基本一致;由于黑水河流域的耕地分布在干旱河谷中,其蒸散量远远大于降水量,耕地本身的景观结构（坡向、坡度,斑块密度）并不对其水量平衡产生影响,这一点与镇江关完全不同.