Annual and Monthly Variations in Litter Macronutrients of Three Subalpine Forests in Western China

Macronutrients （N, P, K, Ca, Mg, and S） in litter of three primarily spruce （Picea purpurea Masters） （SF）, fir （Abies faxoniana Rehder ＆ E. H. Wilson） （FF）, and birch （Betula platyphylla Sukaczev） （BF） subalpine forests in western China were measured to understand the monthly variations in litter nutrient concentrations and annual and monthly nutrient returns via litteffall. Nutrient concentration in litter showed the rank order of Ca 〉 N 〉 Mg 〉 K 〉 S 〉 P. Monthly variations in nutrient concentrations were greater in leaf litter （LL） than other litter components. The highest and lowest concentrations of N, P, K, and S in LL were found in the growing season and the nongrowing season, respectively, but Ca and Mg were the opposite. Nutrient returns via litterfall showed a marked monthly pattern with a major peak in October and one or two small peaks in February and/or May, varying with the element and stand type, but no marked monthly variations in nutrient returns via woody litter, reproductive litter, except in May for the BF, and moss litter. Not only litter production but also nutrient concentration controlled the annual nutrient return and the monthly nutrient return pattern. The monthly patterns of the nutrient concentration and return were of ecological importance for nutrient cycling and plant growth in the subalpine forest ecosystems.

Monthly variation in litterfall and the amount of nutrients in an Aleurites montana plantation

In this study, the dynamics of monthly variation in litterfall and the amount of nutrients, i.e., organic C, N, P and K, in an Aleurites montana plantation were analyzed, based on a field study and experiments over one year. The results show that the litterfall mass of A. montana collected generally presents an ascending trend with maximum defoliation occurring in the autumn and winter （October-December）, accounting for 75.67% of the total amount of annual litterfalk The sequence in the amount of nutrients in A. montana litter was as follows： organic C 〉 N 〉 K 〉 P; their monthly amounts show various dynamic curves. Similar to the dynamics of the mass of monthly litterfall, the monthly returns of C, N, P and K generally show an ascending trend with their peak values all occurring in December. The mass of A. montana litterfall and the dynamics of its monthly nutrient return provide, to a certain degree, a scientific reference for planting and fertilizing A. montana.

Monthly Variation in Crustacean Assemblage(Decapod and Stomatopod) and Its Relationships with Environmental Variables in Laizhou Bay,China

In this study,we investigated the community structure of crustaceans(decapod and stomatopod) inhabiting the sandy mud bottoms of Laizhou Bay(northeastern China) monthly from May 2011 to April 2012.Investigation was stopped from December 2011 to February 2012 because of the extreme weather and sea ice.A total of 205,057 specimens belonging to 31 species(shrimp,15;crab,15;and stomatopod,1) were collected in 148 hauls.From 2011 to 2012,Oratosquilla oratoria was the dominant biomass species(47.80%),followed by Charybdis japonica(15.49%),Alpheus japonicas(12.61%),Portunus trituberculatus(6.46%),and Crangon spp.(4.19%).Crangon spp.was the most dominant species by individual(32.55%).O.oratoria was the most-frequently encountered species(81.76%),followed by Palaemon gravieri(70.95%),C.japonica(65.54%),A.japonicas(62.16%),and P.trituberculatus(54.73%).The biomass density increased from August to September 2011 and decreased from March 2012 to April 2012.The dynamics of the ecological indices evolve in a similar manner,with high values of diversity and evenness and rich species from May to June 2011 and low values from September to October 2011.O.oratoria,C.japonica,and P.trituberculatus differed by biomass data between groups I(samples obtained from September to October 2011) and II(samples in other months).These species contributed more than 70% to the similarity of the crustacean community structure.Furthermore,the subsets of environmental variables that best matched the crustacean-assemblage structure were as follows:water depth(WD) in summer(June to August);sea surface temperature(SST),dissolved oxygen(DO),and WD in autumn(September to November);and DO,salinity,and WD in spring(March to May).The calculated correlation coefficients and significance level were higher in the period of July to August 2011 than in other months.Comparing 2011 to 2012 with 1982 to 1983,the species composition remained stable.However,the dominant species changed significantly.High value and large species,such as F.chinensis,P.trituberculatus,and T.curvirostris,have been replaced by low value and small species(i.e.,Crangon spp.,P.gravieri,and C.japonica).

Study of monthly variations in primary production and their relationships with environmental factors in the Daya Bay based on a general additive model

In this study, the horizontal and vertical distribution of primary production(PP) and its monthly variations were described based on field data collected from the Daya Bay in January–December of 2016. The relationships between PP and environmental factors were analyzed using a general additive model(GAM). Significant seasonal differences were observed in the horizontal distribution of PP, while vertical distribution showed a relatively consistent unimodal pattern. The monthly average PP(calculated by carbon) ranged from 48.03 to 390.56 mg/(m~2·h),with an annual average of 182.77 mg/(m~2·h). The highest PP was observed in May and the lowest in November.Additionally, the overall trend in PP was spring>summer>winter>autumn, and spring PP was approximately three times that of autumn PP. GAM analysis revealed that temperature, bottom salinity, phytoplankton, and photosynthetically active radiation(PAR) had no significant relationships with PP, while longitude, depth, surface salinity, chlorophyll a(Chl a) and transparency were significantly correlated with PP. Overall, the results presented herein indicate that monsoonal changes and terrestrial and offshore water systems have crucial effects on environmental factors that are associated with PP changes.

Some Annual Variation Characteristics for the Northern Hemispheric Monthly Mean Precipitation Fields

By the utilization of monthly precipitation data from all stations in the Northern Hemisphere annexed to the 'World Survey of climatology, Vol. 1-15', the distributions of the maximum precipitation months (MPM), the annual relative precipitation (ARP) and the monthly relative precipitation (percent of annual) in January and July are respectively mapped. Moreover the distributions of intermonthly relative precipitation variabilities from January to December are plotted as well. From these figures, the precipitation in the Northern Hemisphere may be classified into three types(continental, oceanic and transitional types) and 17 regions. The precipitation regime may also be divided into two patterns, the global and regional patterns. The global pattern consists of planetary front system and ITCZ and its inter-monthly variation shows the north-and-south shift of the rain belt; the regional pattern consists of the sea-land monsoon and plateau monsoon regime, in which the inter-monthly variation of rain belt shows a east-and-wcst shift.

Spatial and Temporal Variations of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Relationship with Phytoplankton Density in Coastal Water of Kudat, Sabah, Malaysia

Coastal areas of Kudat are dominated by fisheries activities. Development of infrastructure for fishing facilities like jetty, landing centre and other human activities can increase the loading of nutrients in coastal area. High load of nutrients accelerates the blooming of phytoplankton and in long run creates eutrophication. This study was conducted to determine the temporal and spatial variations of nutrients and relationship of phytoplankton density in coastal water of Kudat. Five stations were selected with three replicated in the study area. Phytoplankton samples, water samples and in situ environmental parameters were collected from May 2019 to February 2020 (10 months). The highest concentration of nitrate (NO3) was observed in May 2019, but the highest concentration of phosphate (PO4) observed in July 2019. On the other hand, higher concentrations of phosphate (PO4) were determined than the concentration of nitrate (NO3) in all stations during study period. The distribution of nutrients is due to monsoonal runoff from surrounding areas as well due to anthropogenic activities. Among the 21 species three of them are from harmful algal species and but dominated by diatoms. Poor relationship observed among the dissolved inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton density, indicates that the relationship does not depend on only nutrients but with favourable environmental parameters. Anthropogenic activity can lead to excessive load of nutrients in Kudat coastal water and in long run cause eutrophication problem in ecosystem with potentially larger economic impacts in a long run period.

Discovery of the Significant Impacts of Swell Propagation on Global Wave Climate Change

This study compared the differences in the wave climate in the South China Sea and North Indian Ocean under these two datasets:ERA-40 wave reanalysis and Mei’s hindcast wave data.In the numerical calculation of regional ocean waves,the wave climate characteristics exhibited significant bias if the influence of external swells(swells from afar)was not fully considered,which may provide an incorrect basis for global climate change analysis.1)The trends of the significant wave height(SWH)obtained from the two datasets showed significant differences,such as those of the Bay of Bengal and the Java Sea in June-July-August.For the past 45 years,SWH from ERA-40(SWH-ERA)exhibited a significant annual increase in low-latitude waters of the North Indian Ocean(0.2-0.6 cm yr^(-1))and South China Sea(0.2-0.8 cm yr^(-1)).2)In the Bay of Bengal,the SWH-ERA in each month was generally 0.5 m higher than the SWH from Mei’s hindcast wave data(SWH-Mei)and can reach 1.0 m higher in some months.3)In the Bay of Bengal,SWH-ERA and SWH-Mei increased significantly at annual rates of 0.13 and 0.27 cm yr^(-1),respectively.This increasing trend was mainly reflected after 1978.SWH-ERA showed a trough in 1975(1.33 m)and a crest in 1992(1.83 m),which were not reflected in SWH-Mei.

Trends in major and minor meteorological variables and their influence on reference evapotranspiration for mid Himalayan region at east Sikkim, India

Abstract： Estimation of evapotranspiration （ET） for mountain ecosystem is of absolute importance since it serves as an important component in balancing the hydrologic cycle. The present study evaluates the performance of original and location specific calibrated Hargreaves equation （HARG） with the estimates of Food and Agricultural Organization （FAO） Penman Monteith （PM） method for higher altitudes in East Sikkim, India. The results show that the uncalibrated HARG model underestimates ET0 by 0.35 mm day^-1 whereas the results are significantly improved by regional calibration of the model. In addition, this paper also presents the variability in the trajectory associated with the climatic variables with the changing climate in the study site. Non- parametric Mann-Kendall （MK） test was used to investigate and understand the mean monthly trend of eight climatic parameters including reference evapotranspiration （ET0） for the period of 1985 - 2009. Trend of ET0 was estimated for the calculations done by FAO PM equation. The outcomes of the trend analysis show significant increasing （p ≤ 0.05） trend represented by higher Z-values, through MK test, for net radiation （Rn）, maximum temperature （Tmax） and minimum temperature （Train）, especially in the first months of the year. Whereas, significant （0.01 ≥ p ≤0.05） decreasing trend in vapor pressure deficit （VPD） and precipitation （P） is observed throughout the year. Declining trend in sunshine duration, VPD and ET0 is found in spring （March - May） and monsoon （June - November） season. The result displays significant （0.01≤ p ≤0.05） decreasing ET0 trend between （June - December） except in July, exhibiting the positive relation with VPD followed by sunshine duration at the station. Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of trend analysis of ET0 and other climatic variables for efficient planning and managing the agricultural practices, in identifying the changes in the meteorological parameters and to accurately assess the hydrologic water balance of the hilly regions.

The Characteristics of Mesoscale Convective Systems (MCSs) over East Asia in Warm Seasons

Mesoscale convective system (MCS) cloud clusters,defined using an objective recognition analysis based on hourly geostationary infrared satellite data over East Asia during the warm seasons of 1996-2008 (except 2004),were investigated in this study.The geographical pattern of MCS distribution over East Asia shows several high-frequency centers at low latitudes,including the Indo-China peninsula,the Bay of Bengal,the Andaman Sea,the Brahmaputra river delta,the south China coastal region,and the Philippine Islands.There are several middle-frequency centers in the middle latitudes,e.g.,the central-east of the Tibet Plateau,the Plateau of west Sichuan,Mount Wuyi,and the Sayan Mountains in Russia;whereas in Lake Baikal,the Tarim Basin,the Taklimakan Desert,the Sea of Japan,and the Sea of Okhotsk,rare MCS distributions are observed.MCSs are most intensely active in summer,with the highest monthly frequency in July,which is partly associated with the breaking out and prevailing of the summer monsoon in East Asia.An obvious diurnal cycle feature is also found in MCS activities,which shows that MCSs are triggered in the afternoon,mature in the evening,and dissipate at night.MCS patterns over East Asia can be characterized as small,short-lived,or elongated,which move slowly and usually lead to heavy rains or floods.

Diagnostic Quantification of the Cloud Water Resource in China during 2000–2019

By using the diagnostic quantification method for cloud water resource(CWR),the three-dimensional(3D)cloud fields of 1°×1°resolution during 2000-2019 in China are firstly obtained based on the NCEP reanalysis data and related satellite data.Then,combined with the Global Precipitation Climatology Project(GPCP)products,a 1°×1°gridded CWR dataset of China in recent 20 years is established.On this basis,the monthly and annual CWR and related variables in China and its six weather modification operation sub-regions are obtained,and the CWR characteristics in different regions are analyzed finally.The results show that in the past 20 years,the annual total amount of atmospheric hydrometeors(GM_(h))and water vapor(GM_(v))in the Chinese mainland are about 838.1 and 3835.9 mm,respectively.After deducting the annual mean precipitation of China(P_(s),661.7 mm),the annual CWR is about 176.4 mm.Among the six sub-regions,the southeast region has the largest amount of cloud condensation(C_(vh))and precipitation,leading to the largest GM_(h) and CWR there.In contrast,the annual P_(s),GM_(h),and CWR are all the least in the northwest region.Furthermore,the monthly and interannual variation trends of P_(s),C_(vh),and GM_(h) in different regions are identical,and the evolution characteristics of CWR are also consistent with the hydrometeor inflow(Q_(hi)).For the north,northwest,and northeast regions,in spring and autumn the precipitation efficiency of hydrometeors(PEh)is not high(20%-60%),the renewal time of hydrometeors(RT_(h))is relatively long(5-25 h),and GM_(h) is relatively high.Therefore,there is great potential for the development of CWR through artificial precipitation enhancement(APE).For the central region,spring,autumn,and winter are suitable seasons for CWR development.For the southeast and southwest regions,P_(s) and PE_(h) in summer are so high that the development of CWR should be avoided.For different spatial scales,there are significant differences in the characteristics of CWR.