Integrating spatial data and shorebird nesting locations to predict the potential future impact of global warming on coastal habitats: A case study on Farasan Islands,Saudi Arabia

One of the expected effects of the global warming is changing coastal habitats by accelerating the rate of sea level rise. Coastal habitats support large number of marine and wetland species including shorebirds (plovers, sandpipers and allies). In this study, we investigate how coastal habitats may be impacted by sea level rise in the Farasan Islands, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We use Kentish plover Charadrius alexandrinus – a common coastal breeding shorebird – as an ecological model species to predict the influence of sea level rise. We found that any rise of sea level is likely to inundate 11% of Kentish plover nests. In addition, 5% of the coastal areas of Farasan Islands, which support 26% of Kentish plover nests, will be flooded, if sea level rises by one metre. Our results are constrained by the availability of data on both elevation and bird populations. Therefore, we recommend follow-up studies to model the impacts of sea level rise using different elevation scenarios, and the establishment of a monitoring programme for breeding shorebirds and seabirds in Farasan Islands to assess the impact of climate change on their populations.     

黄河口岔尖岛、大口河岛和望子岛潮间带秋季大型底栖动物生态学调查

2005年11月(秋季)对位于黄河口的岔尖岛、大口河岛和望子岛三岛的高、中、低潮带(岔尖岛:C1、C2、C3;大口河岛D1、D2、D3;望子岛W1、W2、W3)所设的9个采样站进行大型底栖动物调查,分析所获得的样品.结果表明,本次秋季调查共采到大型底栖动物34种,其中多毛类种类最多,13种,软体动物11种,甲壳动物8种,其他类群2种;大型底栖动物总平均栖息密度为164 ind./m2,总平均生物量为61.12 g/m2;9个采样站底栖生物的种类组成和数量特征有较大差异,其中物种数最高的为D3站,最低的为C1站.黄河口潮间带大型底栖动物生态特征主要受底质、潮汐、季节和人为干扰等因素的影响.     

Estimating abundance and spatial distribution patterns of the bubble crab Dotilla fenestrata (Crustacea: Brachyura)

Abstract The bubble crab Dotilla fenestrata forms very dense populations on the sand flats of the eastern coast of Inhaca Island, Mozambique, making it an interesting biological model to examine spatial distribution patterns and test the relative efficiency of common sampling methods. Due to its apparent ecological importance within the sandy intertidal community, understanding the factors ruling the dynamics of Dotilla populations is also a key issue. In this study, different techniques of estimating crab density are described, and the trends of spatial distribution of the different population categories are shown. The studied populations are arranged in discrete patches located at the well‐drained crests of nearly parallel mega sand ripples. For a given sample size, there was an obvious gain in precision by using a stratified random sampling technique, considering discrete patches as strata, compared to the simple random design. Density average and variance differed considerably among patches since juveniles and ovigerous females were found clumped, with higher densities at the lower and upper shore levels, respectively. Burrow counting was found to be an adequate method for large‐scale sampling, although consistently underestimating actual crab density by nearly half. Regression analyses suggested that crabs smaller than 2.9 mm carapace width tend to be undetected in visual burrow counts. A visual survey of sampling plots over several patches of a large Dotilla population showed that crab density varied in an interesting oscillating pattern, apparently following the topography of the sand flat. Patches extending to the lower shore contained higher densities than those mostly covering the higher shore. Within‐patch density variability also pointed to the same trend, but the density increment towards the lowest shore level varied greatly among the patches compared.     

Response of deposit-feeders to exclusion of epibenthic predators in a Mediterranean intertidal flat

Deposit-feeders are common components of macrofaunal assemblages in intertidal soft sediments. Predation has been considered to have a central role in affecting their distribution and population dynamics. This study investigates the effect of epibenthic predators on deposit-feeders, inhabiting the shallow layers of the sediment (surface and subsurface) and also the deepest layers (e.g., burrowing shrimp Upogebia pusilla; Petagna). The experiment was conducted in summer 2000 (August-September) at three different sites on an intertidal flat in Mediterranean Sea. In the field, predators were excluded using cages, placed on the surface of the sediment. It was predicted that under the cages, (i) abundances of animals would increase and (ii) species composition of assemblages would change as an effect of the exclusion of predators. Potential artefacts caused by the cages were controlled using partial cages (PC). Composition of organic matter and porosity were also analysed under PC and in natural controls to test whether the presence of cages would change sediment characteristics on the surface. At the end of the experiment, there were no significant differences in the composition of organic matter between PC and the undisturbed sediment (UC). After 8 weeks from the beginning of the experiment, exclusion of predators enhanced the abundance of U. pusilla. There were, however, no clear-cut changes in the species composition of macrofaunal assemblages and densities of animals did not increase under the cages. Indeed, some animals (Oligochaeta, Brania oculata, and Tanais dulongii) were less abundant under the cages (EC) than outside (PC and UC). We propose that predation might play a role in regulating interspecific relationships among some surface deposit-feeders and the burrowing shrimp U. pusilla.     

广西凌云县罗楼地区早三叠世牙形石

罗楼地区下三叠统,经赵金科（１９５９）研究显示,最低层位为Ｖishnuites marginalis菊石带（Gyronitan阶）,张舜新（１９９０）研究广西凤山金下三叠统形石时,未发现最高的牙形石带,当前研究发现,罗楼地区下三叠统牙形石丰富,可识别出Ｈindeodus parvus,Isarciclla staeschei ,Neospathodus waageni,Neospathodus novaehel-landiae,Neospathodus homeri-Neospathodus triangularis,Chiosella timorensis6个牙形石带（组合带）,从而表明该地区不但存在下三叠统底部层位Ｏtoceratan阶,而且存在下三叠统最高的牙形石带,牙形石组合面貌和岩相显示,该牙形石动物群生活环境与田东县作登地区同属盆地相环境。     

高黎贡山自然保护区西坡垂直带蚂蚁群落研究

首次研究了高黎贡山自然保护区西坡垂直带蚂蚁群落及共物种多样性。在北段和中北段随海拔升高优势种数目增加,而在南段随海拔升高优势种数目递减。在北段和中北段海随海拔升高优势种所占百分比递减,而在南段随海拔升高优势种所占比例递增。在西坡４个地段均呈现随海拔升高种数目和密度递减的基本规律。北段和中北段随海拔升高优势度指数降低,中南段和南段随海拔升高优势度指数增大。北段随海拔升高多样性指数递增,中北段多样性指数缺乏规律性,中南段和南段随海拔升高多样性指数递减。北段、中北段和中南段均呈现随海拔升高无效度指数递增规律,而南段表现出随海拔升高均匀度指数递减的相反情况。西坡４个地段垂直带上,蚂蚁群落之间的相似系数几乎均在０．００－０．２５,处于极不相似水平,只有１个系数超过此范围,我们认为在原始植被状态下,高黎贡山自然保护区西坡蚂蚁群落的基本规律是随着海拔升高。优势种数目递减,优势种所占比 递增,物种数目递减,优势度指数递增,多样性指数递减,均匀度指数递减。山体中部和下部植被的毁坏导致了实际调查中出现的反常情况。     

福建省崇武潮间带贝类的分布

在福建省祟武潮间带共采得标本178种,根据其中48种贝类的水平分布与垂直分布特点,它们对温度的适应性质可分为4个类群：暖湿带种占3．3％;亚热带种占57．6％;广温广布种占35．8％;热带种占3．3％。     

Strength, drag, and dislodgment of two competing intertidal algae from two wave exposures and four seasons

Intertidal macroalgae often experience greater risk of dislodgment with increasing size because of underscaling of breaking force of their stipes relative to drag on their thalli. This ratio (breaking force/drag) indicates safety from breakage at a given flow speed, with values greater than one indicating safety from breakage and values lower than one indicating danger of breakage. We examined this force ratio for the largest thalli of two species of co-dominant, red algae, Chondrus crispus Stackhouse and Mastocarpus stellatus Stack. In With. (Guiry), in four seasons at two wave exposures. During fall and winter, the largest thalli in both populations were dislodged resulting in a decrease in mass of the largest thalli found. This decrease was greater for Chondrus than for Mastocarpus, but their mass-specific force ratios (at 0.55 m s⁻¹) were equal indicating similar size-specific risk of dislodgment. The equality of force ratios was underlain by two similarities: (1) breaking force was independent of mass and not different between species; (2) mass-specific drag was not different between species. These similarities were underlain by dissimilar causes: (i) similarity in breaking force (the product of cross-sectional area and material strength) occurred because greater material strength of Mastocarpus compensated for greater mass-specific cross-sectional area of Chondrus; (ii) similarity in mass-specific drag (a function of planform area and the coefficient of drag) occurred because greater drag coefficients for Mastocarpus compensated for greater mass-specific planform areas of Chondrus. The similarity in force ratio, if it held at season- and site-relevant flow speeds, would suggest that during seasons of minimal growth and high wave exposure, the mass of the largest thalli of both species should be the same. Chondrus, however, had a greater mass at both sites in all seasons. Chondrus experienced greater decreases in mass probably because it grew larger and larger thalli are less safe. Extrapolation of a site-relevant force ratio for Chondrus in the fall revealed (1) that the site-relevant force ratio did not differ between exposures even though the mass-specific force ratio was greater at the protected site, and (2) a paradoxical result that all Chondrus thalli studied ought to have dislodged, but had not. This paradox may be resolved by consideration of the protection conferred by canopies of Chondrus: a canopy may effectively raise its site-relevant force ratio. Perhaps differences in protection conferred by different canopies explain why larger Chondrus persist with Mastocarpus even given a similarity in mass-specific force ratio.     

Environmental and behavioural factors affecting activity in the intertidal gastropod Hydrobia ulvae

Laboratory microcosms were used to investigate the mud snail Hydrobia ulvae (Pennant) bioturbation activities and behavioural changes in response to snail density, algal food, sediment moisture content, light regime and water cover conditions. Density-dependent kinetics of bioturbated muddy areas were described by von Bertalanffy equations, which provided reliable estimates of mud surface covering rates by snail tracks (m² h⁻¹ snail⁻¹). Snails need a wet habitat to be active either covered by seawater or by moving in fluid layers for low-tide conditions. Light and microphytobenthic biomass, which are less potent to affect snail activity, are positively interrelated to increase covering rates in the tested chl a concentrations within the range of 1-15 μg g⁻¹. Experimental results suggested us the relevance of microphytobenthos migration processes in affecting crawling activities of H. ulvae that appeared to adjust their foraging efforts in response to benthic algal biomass. Behavioural processes of H. ulvae, in terms of floating, crawling, burrowing and inactive snails, were described using a Markov model. Finally, an empirical model based on von Bertalanffy equations was proposed to describe kinetics of sediment covering by snail tracks under the influences of snail density, sediment moisture content, chl a concentrations and the four combinations of presence/absence of light and seawater. This model should provide a base for further development of a hydrosedimentary model to simulate the effects of H. ulvae bioturbation activities on the resuspension of the intertidal cohesive sediment-water interface for various in situ conditions.     

The effects of grazing on the distribution and composition of low-shore algal communities on the central coast of Portugal and on the southern coast of Britain

A red algal turf is often found just below the barnacle/limpet zone of many European shores, especially on steep shores of moderate exposure. The hypothesis that grazing by limpets determines the upper limit of distribution of this red algal turf was tested on moderately exposed shores in Portugal and Britain. We also aimed to assess whether the grazing effect is modified at various spatial scales. Grazers were excluded by fences, with half-fenced and unfenced controls. Exclusion plots were rapidly colonised by green ephemeral algae in the months immediately after the beginning of the experiment (summer); these algae were later replaced by perennial algae. The percentage cover of turf-forming macroalgae showed a significant increase at both locations. The upper limit of distribution extended more than 50 cm on most of the shores studied. In contrast, control and half-fenced plots remained devoid of algae. After 2 years, ungrazed plots were mainly colonised by a red algal turf (e.g. Caulacanthus ustulatus, Gelidium spp., Laurencia pinnatifida) in Portugal, while canopy cover (Fucus serratus and Himanthalia elongata) dominated in Britain in marked contrast to the grazed plots. Physical factors acting at both local and geographical scales may explain these differences. However, although physical factors probably have an important influence on the identity, size and abundance of sublittoral fringe macroalgae, grazers play a major role in directly setting their upper limits. The effect of grazing by limpets was not consistent for all of the morphological algal groups and spatial scales considered in the present study. The effect of grazing on the cover of turf algae varied between Portugal and Britain (location scale), while effects on ephemeral and canopy algal cover varied at the shore scale within location.