Ichnology of Lower Jurassic beach deposits in the Shemshak Formation at Shahmirzad,southeastern Alborz Mountains,Iran

A 19 m thick package of well-sorted lowermost Jurassic (Hettangian-Lower Sinemurian?) sandstones within the Shemshak Formation of the southeastern Alborz Mountains displays features characteristic of foreshore to upper shoreface environments such as tabular bedding, low-angle lamination, trough cross-stratification, parting lineation, and oscillation ripples. In contrast to most other beach successions recorded in the literature the sandstones contain a trace fossil assemblage characterised by low abundance but comparatively high diversity. The assemblage, comprising 14 ichnotaxa, is dominated by Palaeophycus heberti, Rhizocorallium irregulare, Gyrochorte comosa, and Parahaentzschelinia surlyki. Contrary to predictions, which assume a dominance of suspension-feeders in such high-energy environments, the trace fossil assemblage represents a variety of ethological groups ranging from suspension-feeders to deposit-feeders, detritus-feeders, scavengers, and a possible trap constructor (Ctenopholeus), whereby deposit-feeders predominate. This anomaly is explained by a high amount of organic detritus in the sediment, indicated by abundant plant material, and a position of the beach in the vicinity of a river mouth.     

Holocene sand beaches of southern California: ENSO forcing and coastal processes on millennial scales

A proxy record of sand beach accretion for the past 10,000 years has been assembled from radiocarbon dates on the Pismo clam, Tivela stultorum, in archaeological sites along the southern California coast. When this record is compared with numerous climate proxies, it appears that El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) controls on wave climate and sediment flux have acted upon regional geomorphology at different sea levels to either accrete or erode the Holocene beaches of southern California. Tivela dates from the Santa Maria coast indicate that perennial sand beaches built by 9000 years ago in response to abundant riverine sediment contained by the natural groin at Point Sal, wave sheltering by the massive headland of Point Buchon, and Early Holocene El Niño events. On the western Santa Barbara coast, sand beaches were forming by 7000 years ago in response to high sand fluxes from the Santa Ynez Mountains to the many small littoral catchments, possibly aided by high local rates of uplift. Decline of these sand beach habitats 5000-4000 years ago coincides with increased El Niño-driven wave energy. In accord with slowing in sea-level rise ca. 6000 years ago, sand beaches were most widespread in the period 6000-5000 years ago on Estero Bay, the western Santa Barbara coast, and west of Point Dume. However, Tivela dates first appear 5000 years ago in the Oceanside and Silver Strand littoral cells of the San Diego region. This lag coincides with the Middle Holocene shift to a more variable climate and modern periodicity in El Niño events that increased sediment supply to the southern coast. The ontogeny of the littoral cells provides timelines for modeling coastal evolution with implications for sand beach ecology, prehistoric human coastal adaptations, and coastal planning for future climate change.     

Talitrid orientation as bioindicator of shoreline stability: Protected headland-bays versus exposed extended beaches

The behaviour of talitrids, being a local adaptation to beaches, is known to be related to environmental stability. The use of behavioural responses of resident populations as bioindicator of shoreline stability has been tested under various conditions, including after soft and hard engineering actions to stabilise eroded beaches. Port structures likely have impact on sediment longshore transportation and shoreline stability. The question was whether talitrid orientation behaviour could be proposed as bioindicator of impacts also for sandy bays of limited extension and highly used for recreation, such as those in the vicinity of touristic port structures. Orientation experiments were carried out on a set of sandy beaches of different extension and morphology, each of them in the vicinity of a touristic port, across the Mediterranean coasts. The protocol included field orientation tests of populations of talitrids, then analysed in terms of orientation precision seawards (considering sun compass orientation as the most locally adapted behavioural mechanism) in different seasons (before and after the touristic season) and times of day. The populations from more protected (either naturally or artificially) headland-bays showed a higher precision of orientation with respect to the shoreline direction than those from extended beaches, more subject to changes in longshore sedimentary transport as consequence of natural and human activities. The distance from the port and touristic pressure had no influence on talitrid orientation. An important stabilising factor for the sandy beach ecosystems, including talitrid populations and their behavioural adaptation, appeared to be the presence of seagrass banquette. The behavioural data point out that biotic information proceeding from local animal populations linked to beach sediments may complement sedimentology data and allow scaling the impacts occurring on a developed coastline. This becomes particularly relevant when considering interdisciplinary approaches to monitoring strategies.     

Sandblasting as a possible factor controlling the distribution of plants on a coastal dune system

Intensity of the abrasive effect of wind-borne sand – sandblasting – in addition to other environmental factors was measured at two vegetation zones on a sandy beach and one site at an inland area. One zone on the beach included foredunes sparsely vegetated by dune species such as Carex kobomugi and Calystegia soldanella. The other zone which was located ∼50 m inland from the first zone was flat grassland dominated by inland species such as Miscanthus sinensis and Imperata cylindrica var. Koenigii. The inland site consisted of short grassland located 3 km inland from the beach. Intensity of sandblasting was estimated by the whiteness of a transparent plastic sheet exposed to the air for 2 weeks. This sheet turned whitely opaque when it was abraded by wind-borne sand. The other environmental factors measured at the beach were intensity of salt spray, soil water content, soil salinity, and sand accumulation, while intensity of salt spray was the only additional factor measured at the inland site. Intensity of sandblasting was considerably higher at the foredune zone, while that at the grassland zone was as low as that at the inland site. Considerable salt spray was detected at the foredune and grassland zones. Differences in other environmental factors were small between the two zones on the beach. In order to compare the difference in tolerance to sandblasting, a jet of sand was applied to one ordinary species, C. kobomugi, from the foredune and two species, M. sinensis and I. cylindrica, from the grassland zone. The difference in tolerance was determined by the decrease in the area of green leaf after applying sandblasting with commercial sandblaster and/or spraying with sea water. M. sinensis and I. cylindrica lost much of the leaf area after sandblasting and salt spraying, while C. kobomugi lost little. These results indicated that one of the characteristic environmental factors of a foredune is the high intensity of sandblasting accompanied by salt spray, and that species found in the foredune are more tolerant to sandblasting than species distributing in more inland areas.     

安徽长江滩地杨树人工林个体生长与水淹状况的关系

通过对长江滩地连续7年的水文动态以及滩地杨树人工林年轮生长序列的研究,分析杨树人工林个体生长与水淹时间、水淹深度以及气候因子的相应关系,建立相关模型.结果表明,林分个体胸径分布格局与滩地的高程具显著的相关性,水淹深度对直径生长的影响大于水淹的时间,而当年的径向生长与前一年8、9月水淹情况以及气候因子的关系明显.在滩地营造杨树人工林,以丰产为目的宜选择水淹深度小于2m的地域造林,淹水深度超过2m的地域宜适当密植,以培养小径材为主.     

黄河中游连伯滩湿地景观格局变化

以黄河中游连伯滩湿地1990、1995、2000、2005年4个时相的卫星遥感影像为基础,通过斑块密度、斑块边缘长度、景观多样性指数、优势度、景观破碎化指数、平均斑块分维数等景观空间格局指数,系统地分析了连伯滩湿地1990年以来湿地景观空间格局变化情况。研究结果发现:(1)1990-2005年,草地、耕地、林地斑块面积在增加,而水域和滩地斑块的面积在不断减小;(2) 湿地景观多样性指数从1990年的0.9947增加到2005年的1.1247,表明随着人类干扰活动的增加,景观结构异质性增大;(3) 斑块数量的增加、斑块密度的增加以及斑块边缘长度的增加等都说明该区域破碎化程度增加。造成湿地退化的自然因素主要是长期干旱导致黄河及汾河径流补给大大减少,而人口的压力则是湿地退化最根本的原因。     

安徽长江滩地杨树人工林生物量和养分积累

安徽长江外滩Ⅰ-69杨树无性系人工林11年林分生物量达到90.2t·hm^-2,平均生产量为8.2t·hm^-2·a^-1,平均单株生产量为21.9kg·a^-1,与相同纬度带一般立地条件林分相比单株生产量高0.7%;另外林分叶面积指数为3.32m²·m^-2,造林后第3年叶面积指数的净增值达到最高,同时林分生产力开始进入最高水平该林分每生产1t干物质需要N 3.369kg、P 0.327kg、K 2.424kg、Ca 7.465kg、Mg 0.2kg、Cu 0.0073kg、Mn0.01868kg、Fe 0.1115kg和Zn 0.00268kg,同时吸收S 0.72kg、Cr 0.000252kg、Cd 0.0O039kg和Pb0.00043kg.年轮中元素含量逐年有波动,N和K呈负相关,而N与P则表现为正相关;滩地的淹水时间对年轮中P含量影响较大,其次是N,与K含量呈负相关,但不显著.     

崇明东滩硅藻植物初报

报道了2008年3月采自崇明东滩的硅藻植物共110个分类单位,包括105种5变种,隶属于2纲7目52属,其中7种1变种为中国新纪录：星形小环藻Cyclotella plitvicensis Hust.、较小侧链藻Pleurosira minor Metz.,L.-B.＆Garc.-Rodr.、较小短缝藻Eunotia minor（Kütz.）Grun.、狭长曲壳藻Achnanthes elata（Leud.-Fortm.）Gandhi、弯曲羽纹藻Pinnularia flexuosa Kram.、近弯羽纹藻近线性变种Pinnularia subgibba var.sublinearisWalth.＆Massach.、常态舟形藻Navicula normaloides Choln.和透明菱形藻Nitzschia pellucida Grun.。对崇明东滩硅藻的种类分布、生态特征进行了分析。     

A new marine cyclopoid copepod of the genus Neocyclops (Cyclopidae,Halicyclopinae) from Korea

A new cyclopoid species of the genus Neocyclops Gurney, 1927 is described. Type specimens were collected from a beach on south-western coast of the Korean Peninsula by rinsing intertidal coarse sandy sediments. Neocyclops hoonsooi sp. n. is most characteristic in showing the conspicuous chitinized transverse ridges originating from the medial margins of the coxae of all swimming legs. The new species is most similar to Neocyclops vicinus, described from the Brazilian coast, and Neocyclops petkovskii, from Australia. All three species share a large body size (more than 750 µm long), the presence of an exopodal seta on the antenna, two setae on the mandibular palp, the same seta/spine armature on the third endopodal segment of leg 3 (3 setae + 3 spines), and the fairly long inner distal spine on the third endopodal segment of the female leg 4. However, Neocyclops hoonsooi sp. n. differs from both species by the much shorter caudal rami (less than 1.7 times as long as wide) and the shorter dorsal caudal seta VII. Furthermore, Neocyclops hoonsooi is clearly distinguished from Neocyclops vicinus by the 10-segmented antennule (vs 12 segments in Neocyclops vicinus), and from Neocyclops petkovskii by the elongate inner distal spine on leg 5 exopod and the 3-segmented leg 5 in male (vs 4-segmented in Neocyclops petkovskii). A tabular comparison of characters separating Neocyclops hoonsooi from its closest allies and a key to Neocyclops species from the Indo-Pacific Ocean are provided. This is the first record of the genus Neocyclops from the northern Pacific.     

Habitat-related variation in tree leaf form in four tropical forest types on Pulau Ubin,Singapore

Abstract. Sun leaves from 37 species of tree and shrub were collected in four forest types on Pulau Ubin, Singapore. Evidence of habitat-related variation in the form of leaves is presented. The species were from the habitats: mangrove, beach forest, adinandra belukar (secondary forest on degraded soils) and secondary forest on undegraded soils. The mangrove forest species sampled had thicker leaves with a lower specific leaf area than the beach forest species. Leaves of species from the adinandra belukar were thicker and smaller, with more dry weight per unit area, than those of pioneers from undegraded sites. This is interpreted as oligotrophic xeromorphy in adinandra belukar.