Lagged effects of ocean climate change on fulmar population dynamics

Environmental variation reflected by the North Atlantic Oscillation affects breeding and survival in terrestrial vertebrates, and climate change is predicted to have an impact on population dynamics by influencing food quality or availability. The North Atlantic Oscillation also affects the abundance of marine fish and zooplankton, but it is unclear whether this filters up trophic levels to long-lived marine top predators. Here we show by analysis of data from a 50-year study of the fulmar that two different indices of ocean climate variation may have lagged effects on population dynamics in this procellariiform seabird. Annual variability in breeding performance is influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation, whereas cohort differences in recruitment are related to temperature changes in the summer growing season in the year of birth. Because fulmars exhibit delayed reproduction, there is a 5-year lag in the population's response to these effects of environmental change. These data show how interactions between different climatic factors result in complex dynamics, and that the effects of climate change may take many years to become apparent in long-lived marine top predators.     

过去1 300年南海东岛生态环境对气候变化的响应

东岛牛塘为目前在西沙群岛少见的淡水型湖泊,其中保存完好的粪土沉积物记录了距今1 300年来东岛生态环境演化历史.对DY4粪土沉积柱的研究结果表明,在1 400 AD前,东岛海鸟数量较多,牛塘湖岸周围植被生长较为繁盛,而在1 400~1 850 AD期间,东岛海鸟数量和植被生长都处于低谷.通过综合对比研究区、中国乃至北半球降雨量、温度变化记录,发现1 400 AD前岛屿生物量较高的时期对应于暖干的中世纪温暖期,而低生物量时期与凉湿的小冰期一致,证明南海热带孤立岛屿生态系统对区域乃至全球气候环境变化响应非常灵敏.     

Plankton effect on cod recruitment in the North Sea

The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua L.) has been overexploited in the North Sea since the late 1960s and great concern has been expressed about the decline in cod biomass and recruitment. Here we show that, in addition to the effects of overfishing, fluctuations in plankton have resulted in long-term changes in cod recruitment in the North Sea (bottom-up control). Survival of larval cod is shown to depend on three key biological parameters of their prey: the mean size of prey, seasonal timing and abundance. We suggest a mechanism, involving the match/mismatch hypothesis, by which variability in temperature affects larval cod survival and conclude that rising temperature since the mid-1980s has modified the plankton ecosystem in a way that reduces the survival of young cod.     

Electronic tagging and population structure of Atlantic bluefin tuna

Electronic tags that archive or transmit stored data to satellites have advanced the mapping of habitats used by highly migratory fish in pelagic ecosystems. Here we report on the electronic tagging of 772 Atlantic bluefin tuna in the western Atlantic Ocean in an effort to identify population structure. Reporting electronic tags provided accurate location data that show the extensive migrations of individual fish (n = 330). Geoposition data delineate two populations, one using spawning grounds in the Gulf of Mexico and another from the Mediterranean Sea. Transatlantic movements of western-tagged bluefin tuna reveal site fidelity to known spawning areas in the Mediterranean Sea. Bluefin tuna that occupy western spawning grounds move to central and eastern Atlantic foraging grounds. Our results are consistent with two populations of bluefin tuna with distinct spawning areas that overlap on North Atlantic foraging grounds. Electronic tagging locations, when combined with US pelagic longline observer and logbook catch data, identify hot spots for spawning bluefin tuna in the northern slope waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Restrictions on the time and area where longlining occurs would reduce incidental catch mortalities on western spawning grounds.     

Absence of deep-water formation in the Labrador Sea during the last interglacial period

The two main constituent water masses of the deep North Atlantic Ocean-North Atlantic Deep Water at the bottom and Labrador Sea Water at an intermediate level-are currently formed in the Nordic seas and the Labrador Sea, respectively. The rate of formation of these two water masses tightly governs the strength of the global ocean circulation and the associated heat transport across the North Atlantic Ocean. Numerical simulations have suggested a possible shut-down of Labrador Sea Water formation as a consequence of global warming. Here we use micropalaeontological data and stable isotope measurements in both planktonic and benthic foraminifera from deep Labrador Sea cores to investigate the density structure of the water column during the last interglacial period, which was thought to be about 2 degrees C warmer than present. Our results indicate that today's stratification between Labrador Sea Water and North Atlantic Deep Water never developed during the last interglacial period. Instead, a buoyant surface layer was present above a single water mass originating from the Nordic seas. Thus the present situation, with an active site of intermediate-water formation in the Labrador Sea, which settled some 7,000 years ago, has no analogue throughout the last climate cycle.     

两极与中低纬地区粪土层生物标志物性质比较

作为一个新的生态环境信息的载体,粪土沉积层很好地恢复了第四纪古生态记录,包括历史时期鸟类数量变化乃至人类文明历史,以及它们和气候环境变化的关系．在本研究中,我们分析了南极阿德雷岛企鹅粪土沉积物、北极斯瓦尔巴群岛的Ny-Alesund的海鸟粪土沉积物、中国南海西沙群岛中的东岛海鸟的聚居地沉积物、安徽省蒙城县尉迟寺人类文明古文化遗址等沉积物的生物标志物性质,并分别与生物标型元素组合对比．尽管同为粪土沉积层,但是由于所处地理位置不同、沉积环境不同、鸟类或人类粪便的不同以及当地植被的不同,四地沉积物的生物标志物显示出了不同的特征．相对生物标型元素组合,生物标志物提供了更为丰富的生态信息,包括历史时期鸟类数量和植被丰度变化．生物标志物和生核标型元素相互印证,完善了我们对粪土江积层的了解,加深了对这四个区域生态和环境演变过程的理解,使我们得以更好地研究古生态演变和古环境变化之间的关系和响应．     

Economics of alternative energy sources

An important part of the oil and natural gas at present consumed in the UK is used for the heating of buildings, a demand which shows large diurnal, day-to-day and annual fluctuations. The replacement of this energy by nuclear-generated electricity, as at present envisaged, would require the construction of some 250 GW of additional capacity by the end of the century, a progamme which does not seem feasible. By incorporating relatively cheap, short term storage in the form of low-grade heat, the generating capacity required to fulfil peak demand could be reduced by more than 50%. As soon as such storage is provided, however, other sources of energy become viable and attractive alternatives, and the UK is well situated to make use of wind, wave, and tidal power. It seems likely that the value of North Sea oil/gas reserves as feedstock to the chemical industry will rise sufficiently to make an early reduction in their consumption as fuel of great economic importance.     

Relationship between Hadley circulation and sea ice extent in the Bering Sea

The linkage between Hadley circulation （HC） and sea ice extent in the Bering Sea during March-April is investigated through an analysis of observed data in this research. It is found that HC is negatively correlated to the sea ice extent in the Bering Sea, namely, strong （weak） HC is corresponding to less （more） sea ice in the Bering Sea. The present study also addresses the large-scale atmospheric general circulation changes underlying the relationship between HC and sea ice in the Bering Sea. It follows that a positive phase of HC corresponds to westward located Aleutian low, anomalous southerlies over the eastern North Pacific and higher temperature in the Bering Sea, providing unfavorable atmospheric and thermal conditions for the sea ice forming, and thus sea ice extent in the Bering Sea is decreased, and vice versa. In addition, it is further identified that East Asian-North Pacific-North America teleconnection may play an important role in linking HC and changes of atmospheric circulations as well as sea ice in the Bering Sea.     

在低码率信道中提高视频编码质量的方法

电视手机是未来几年数字视频应用的一个热点.该文探讨适合于中低码率无线信道应用的一种方法：在实时编码的初期,通过量化QP(quantization parameter)值的调整,来满足信道带宽的要求;当信道变差时,在编码端采取动态丢帧策略,通过场景切换检测,将相关性强的帧丢失,在解码端通过双线性时序插补方法,恢复丢失的帧.这样可在保证编码质量的前提下,满足无线信道带宽时变的要求.同时讨论将这种方法应用到AVS和H.264视频编码算法中,实验证明这种方法可以有效应用到未来的电视手机中.     

试论三沙市的开发与管理

三沙市是2012年6月成立的中国目前最年轻的地级市,位于南中国海,是管辖面积最大的一个新市,三沙海域拥有丰富的鱼类、旅游、石油以及其他各种矿产资源,是我国南疆的国防线。位于南海海域的三沙市是个“聚宝盆”,其中蕴藏着为人类生存发展所必需的各种各样的丰富的物产资源,这些资源及其战略位置对发展我国国民经济和开展对外交流,都具有重要的战略意义。因此,研究三沙市的开发和管理具有重要的政策意义和现实意义。     

舟山海域鱼类名录新考

根据2000年4月至2005年4月,作者在舟山各地采集的大量鱼类标本,结合对舟山市各标本馆、所、室等现有舟山鱼类标本的复查,以及核对有关文献资料,确认舟山海域鱼类的种数共为467种,分别隶属于2纲35目158科,其中6种为近年国内外引进种.本文所列出鱼类名录,将为研究舟山海域鱼类形态、分类、生态、物种多样性、鱼类资源保护及合理开发利用提供科学的基础资料.     

全球地表温度大气遥相关路径研究

基于复杂网络方法,分析不同区域地表温度之间存在的相关关系及其时滞,建立了体现大气遥相关的全球地表温度网络,进而给出地表温度网络遥相关路径．研究表明:网络连接的空间距离在3 500和7 000 km处有1个峰值,这与大气Rossby波的1/2和1倍波长一致．地表温度网络中,影响传播的主导节点在北半球分布在东亚、向西延伸的北太平洋、美国东海岸及邻接的北大西洋地区;在南半球分布在50° S纬度带．遥相关现象在南半球比北半球更显著,典型遥相关路径与不同的环流作用有明确对应:1）北太平洋中部到墨西哥的连接反映了西风带的作用;2）北大西洋传播到非洲北部、格陵兰岛到里海的连接,均属于连接北大西洋到欧亚大陆的跨欧亚波列的一部分;3）俄罗斯喀拉海到北太平洋的连接与北大西洋涛动（NAO）密切关联;4）南半球的连接反映了大气西风带和Rossby波的影响．大气遥相关路径分析有利于深化对地表温度变化的认识,可为减缓气候全球变化提供理论基础．      

现代生物地理群落系统分析的仿古模拟研究——涠洲岛、西沙群岛、北海海滨生物地理群落比较及其意义

本文通过涠洲岛、西沙群岛、北海海滨生物地理群落的仿古模拟比较研究表明:用在生物地理群落系统分析对比方法(包括子系统选择、分异度,相似度计算,群落结构功能与环境分析进行)古生物地理区划研究将是可行的,涠洲岛海滨无脊椎动物区系属于热带与亚热带动物区系的过度地带,是热带动物区系的最北界,结合地史考察,阐明了生物地理边界性质和形成机制。     

When the American sea sturgeon swam east

The two species of Atlantic sea sturgeon on either shore of the North Atlantic, Acipenser sturio in Europe and A. oxyrinchus in North America, probably diverged with the closure of the Tethys Sea and the onset of the North Atlantic Gyre 15-20 million years ago, and contact between them was then presumably precluded by geographic distance. Here we present genetic, morphological and archaeological evidence indicating that the North American sturgeon colonized the Baltic during the Middle Ages and replaced the native sturgeon there, before recently becoming extinct itself in Europe as a result of human activities. In addition to representing a unique transatlantic colonization event by a fish that swims upriver to spawn, our findings have important implications for projects aimed at restocking Baltic waters with the European sturgeon.     

Links between salinity variation in the Caribbean and North Atlantic thermohaline circulation

Variations in the strength of the North Atlantic Ocean thermohaline circulation have been linked to rapid climate changes during the last glacial cycle through oscillations in North Atlantic Deep Water formation and northward oceanic heat flux. The strength of the thermohaline circulation depends on the supply of warm, salty water to the North Atlantic, which, after losing heat to the atmosphere, produces the dense water masses that sink to great depths and circulate back south. Here we analyse two Caribbean Sea sediment cores, combining Mg/Ca palaeothermometry with measurements of oxygen isotopes in foraminiferal calcite in order to reconstruct tropical Atlantic surface salinity during the last glacial cycle. We find that Caribbean salinity oscillated between saltier conditions during the cold oxygen isotope stages 2, 4 and 6, and lower salinities during the warm stages 3 and 5, covarying with the strength of North Atlantic Deep Water formation. At the initiation of the B?lling/Aller?d warm interval, Caribbean surface salinity decreased abruptly, suggesting that the advection of salty tropical waters into the North Atlantic amplified thermohaline circulation and contributed to high-latitude warming.     

北雄南秀 竞相并放——论中国山水画与地理环境的关系

浏览中国山水画史,你会发现历史上每个朝代著名的山水画家对山川景物都有着深入的了解和真切的感受。如画北方山石的荆浩、关仝、范宽等,画南方山石的董源、巨然、黄公望等彼此都有着不同的笔墨语言,对于山石结构有着不同的理解,也有着不同的表现。在地理环境范畴内,南北的地形地貌、气候各不相同。这对南北方山水画派的形成起着至关重要的作用。     

南海夏季风活动激发的大气遥相关型

北半球夏季,南海地区是全球大气热状况变化最为激烈的区域之一,而南海夏季风则是该地区最为活跃的天气事件,它的演变必将导致其它地区大气环流的响应．通过相关计算、合成分析等手段,揭示与南海夏季风活动相关联的北半球大气遥相关型的存在．该波列状的遥相关型与东亚地区相连,经北太平洋延伸至北美西岸．最高的相关位于西太平洋副热带高压区域,因而它可能对我国旱涝天气产生重要影响．     

Structural deformation and fault activity of the Tan-Lu Fault zone in the Bohai Sea since the late Pleistocene

The Tan-Lu Fault zone (TLFZ) is a significant fractural zone in eastern China and also a seismicity belt in North China. Based on total 4000-km-long shallow penetrated single seismic data with high-resolution, structural deformation and fault activity of the TLFZ in the Bohai Sea since the late Pleistocene are discussed in detail. The results show that the TLFZ with a discontinuous distribution and a general NNE-trending consists of 14 active subfaults with an NNE or NE strike in the Bohai Sea. Seismic data reveal that de-formation zones along the subfaults in the central Bohai Sea and the Laizhou Bay are wider and more complex than those in the Liaodong Gulf. Related folds and lots of secondary normal faults which are characterized by nearly vertical fault planes and a same or reverse dip construct the fractural zone in the Laizhou Bay and the central Bohai Sea. Usually, micro symmetrical grabens develop on the top of anticlines. In the Liaodong Gulf, subfault fractural zones usually consist of secondary normal faults with the same inclination or opposite inclination. Ages of seismic sequences and cutting relation between subfaults and seismic sequences suggest that the latest faulting age of the TLFZ is the end of the late Pleistocene in the Liaodong Gulf and the early Holocene in the Laizhou Bay and the central Bohai Sea. There is a good match between distribution of earthquakes and that of the subfaults in the Laizhou Bay and the central Bohai. Statistical result shows that total vertical offset of the TLFZ since the late Pleistocene ranges from 6 to 11 m. On the basis of offsets of the subfaults, the vertical slip rate is calculated and results show that average vertical slip rates in the central Bohai Sea are larger than those in the Liaodong Gulf and the Laizhou Bay. Slip rates more than 0.06 mm/a during 23–10 ka B.P. and 85–65 ka B.P. are larger than those in other stages. The TLFZ was mainly dominated by tensional normal component since the late Pleistocene. Synthesizing shallow deformation, activity and distribution of earthquakes, the TLFZ in the Bohai Sea can be divided into three segments: the Laizhou-Bay segment, the Bozhong segment, and the Liaodong-Gulf segment.     

何谓“欧洲”？——读《彩色欧洲史》

约翰·史蒂文森博士总编的《彩色欧洲史》叙述了从爱琴海文明到本世纪初的欧洲历史,再现了欧洲整体的发展全貌,摈除了“欧洲中心论”的传统影响,客观评价了欧洲在世界历史中的地位,尽量还原了真实的欧洲历史图景。不失为一套欧洲史的佳作。     

Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle

The last glacial cycle was characterized by substantial millennial-scale climate fluctuations, but the extent of any associated changes in global sea level (or, equivalently, ice volume) remains elusive. Highstands of sea level can be reconstructed from dated fossil coral reef terraces, and these data are complemented by a compilation of global sea-level estimates based on deep-sea oxygen isotope ratios at millennial-scale resolution or higher. Records based on oxygen isotopes, however, contain uncertainties in the range of +/-30 m, or +/-1 degrees C in deep sea temperature. Here we analyse oxygen isotope records from Red Sea sediment cores to reconstruct the history of water residence times in the Red Sea. We then use a hydraulic model of the water exchange between the Red Sea and the world ocean to derive the sill depth-and hence global sea level-over the past 470,000 years (470 kyr). Our reconstruction is accurate to within +/-12 m, and gives a centennial-scale resolution from 70 to 25 kyr before present. We find that sea-level changes of up to 35 m, at rates of up to 2 cm yr(-1), occurred, coincident with abrupt changes in climate.