Hydraulic properties and drought response of a tropical bamboo (Cephalostachyum pergracile)

Bamboo plants are an essential component of tropical ecosystems,yet their vulnerability to climate extremes,such as drought,is poorly understood due to limited knowledge of their hydraulic properties.Cephalostachyum pergracile,a commonly used tropical bamboo species,exhibited a substantially higher mortality rate than other co-occurring bamboos during a severe drought event in 2019,but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear.This study investigated the leaf and stem hydraulic traits related to drought responses,including leaf-stem embolism resistance(P50leaf;P50stem) estimated using optical and X-ray microtomography methods,leaf pressure-volume and water-releasing curves.Additionally,we investigated the seasonal water potentials,native embolism level(PLC) and xylem water source using stable isotope.We found that C.pergracile exhibited strong resistance to embolism,showing low P50leaf,P50stem,and turgor loss point,despite its rapid leaf water loss.Interestingly,its leaves displayed greater resistance to embolism than its stem,suggesting a lack of effective hydraulic vulnerability segmentation(HVS) to protect the stem from excessive xylem tension.During the dry season,approximately 49% of the water was absorbed from the upper 20-cm-deep soil layer.Consequently,significant diurnal variation in leaf water potentials and an increase in midday PLC from 5.87±2.33% in the wet season to 12.87±4.09%in the dry season were observed.In summary,this study demonstrated that the rapid leaf water loss,high reliance on surface water,and a lack of effective HVS in C.pergracile accelerated water depletion and increased xylem embolism even in the typical dry season,which may explain its high mortality rate during extreme drought events in 2019.

Application of SWAN+ADCIRC to tide-surge and wave simulation in Gulf of Maine during Patriot's Day storm

The southern coast of the Gulf of Maine in the United States is prone to flooding caused by nor＇easters. A state-of-the-art fully-coupled model, the Simulating WAves Nearshore （SWAN） model with unstructured grids and the ADvanced CIRCulation （ADCIRC） model, was used to study the hydrodynamic response in the Gulf of Maine during the Patriot＇s Day storm of 2007, a notable example of nor＇easters in this area. The model predictions agree well with the observed tide-surges and waves during this storm event. Waves and circulation in the Gulf of Maine were analyzed. The Georges Bank plays an important role in dissipating wave energy through the bottom friction when waves propagate over the bank from offshore to the inner gulf due to its shallow bathymetry. Wave energy dissipation results in decreasing significant wave height （SWH） in the cross-bank direction and wave radiation stress gradient, which in turn induces changes in currents. While the tidal currents are dominant over the Georges Bank and in the Bay of Fundy, the residual currents generated by the meteorological forcing and waves are significant over the Georges Bank and in the coastal area and can reach 0.3 m/s and 0.2 m/s, respectively. In the vicinity of the coast, the longshore current generated by the surface wind stress and wave radiation stress acting parallel to the coastline is inversely proportional to the water depth and will eventually be limited by the bottom friction. The storm surge level reaches 0.8 m along the western periphery of the Gulf of Maine while the wave set-up due to radiation stress variation reaches 0.2 m. Therefore, it is significant to coastal flooding.

Can a multistage approach improve individual tree mortality predictions across the complex mixed-species and managed forests of eastern North America?

Tree mortality plays a fundamental role in the dynamics of forest ecosystems,yet it is one of the most difficult phenomena to accurately predict.Various modeling strategies have been developed to improve individual tree mortality predictions.One less explored strategy is the use of a multistage modeling approach.Potential improvements from this approach have remained largely unknown.In this study,we developed a novel multistage approach and compared its performance in individual tree mortality predictions with a more conventional approach using an identical individual tree mortality model formulation.Extensive permanent plot data(n=9442)covering the Acadian Region of North America and over multiple decades(1965–2014)were used in this study.Our results indicated that the model behavior with the multistage approach better depicted the observed mortality and showed a notable improvement over the conventional approach.The difference between the observed and predicted numbers of dead trees using the multistage approach was much smaller when compared with the conventional approach.In addition,tree survival probabilities predicted by the multistage approach generally were not significantly different from the observations,whereas the conventional approach consistently underestimated mortality across species and overestimated tree survival probabilities over the large range of DBH in the data.The new multistage approach also predictions of zero mortality in individual plots,a result not possible in conventional models.Finally,the new approach was more tolerant of modeling errors because it based estimates on ranked tree mortality rather than error-prone predicted values.Overall,this new multistage approach deserves to be considered and tested in future studies.

Enhancing Urban Mobility: Exploring the Potential of Exclusive Motorcycle Lane Using VISSIM

The proliferation of Mobility on Demand (MOD) services has ushered in a surge of ridesharing platforms, catalyzing the emergence of micro mobility solutions like motorcycle sharing. Consequently, motorcycles have witnessed unprecedented growth over recent decades. This proliferation, while offering convenience, has introduced challenges such as diminished road capacity, and compromised safety. This study advocates for the implementation of exclusive motorcycle lanes to mitigate the ensuing disorderliness using VISSIM microsimulation platform. Empirical data from a key corridor in Dhaka is harnessed to calibrate and simulate network performance scenarios—pre- and post-implementation of dedicated motorcycle lanes. The outcomes of our simulation experiments exhibit the implementation of dedicated motorcycle lanes leads to a reduction in vehicular throughput but improvement the flow of motorcycles. In addition, Surrogate Safety Measures (SSMs) demonstrate the safety improvements through implementation of the treatment.

Age, maturation, and population structure of the Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas off the Peruvian Exclusive Economic Zones

Age, maturation and population structure of the Humboldt squid Dosidicus gigas were studied based on random sampling of the Chinese jigging fishery off the Peruvian Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ) during 2008-2010. Estimated ages ranged from 144 to 633 days, confirming that the squid is a short-lived species with longevity no longer than 2 years. Occurrence of mature females and hatching in each month indicated that Humboldt squid spawned year-round. Back-calculated hatching dates for the samples were from January 22 nd , 2008 to April 22 nd , 2010 with a peak between January and March. Two size-based and two hatching date-based populations could be defined from mantle length (ML) at maturity and back-calculated hatching dates, respectively. Females matured at a larger size than males, and there was a significant difference in ML at maturity between the two hatching groups (P<0.05). The waters adjacent to 11°S off the Peruvian EEZ may be a potential spawning ground. This study shows the complexity of the population structure and large variability in key life history parameters in the Humboldt squid off the Peruvian EEZ, which should be considered in the assessment and management of this important resource.

Standardizing CPUE of Ommastrephes bartramii for Chinese squid-jigging fishery in Northwest Pacific Ocean

Generalized linear models (GLM) and generalized additive models (GAM) were used to standardize catch per unit fishing effort (CPUE) of Ommastrephes bartramii for Chinese squid-jigging fishery in Northwest Pacific Ocean.Three groups of variables were considered in the standardization:spatial variables (longitude and latitude),temporal variables (year and month) and environmental variables,including sea surface temperature (SST),sea surface salinity (SSS) and sea level height (SLH).CPUE was treated as the dependent variable and its error distribution was assumed to be log-normal in each model.The model selections of GLM and GAM were based on the finite sample-corrected Akaike information criterion (AICC) and pseudo-coefficient (Pcf) combined P-value,respectively.Both GAM and GLM analysis showed that the month was the most important variable affecting CPUE and could explain 21.3% of variability in CPUE while other variables only explained 8.66%.The interaction of spatial and temporal variables weakly influenced the CPUE.Moreover,spatio-temporal factors may be more important in influencing the CPUE of this squid than environmental variables.The standardized and nominal CPUEs were similar and had the same trends in spatio-temporal distribution,but the standardized CPUE values tended to be smaller than the nominal CPUE.The CPUE tended to have much higher monthly variation than annual variations and their values increased with month.The CPUE became higher with increasing latitude-high CPUE usually occurred in 145°E-148°E and 149°E-162°E.The CPUE was higher when SST was 14-21°C and the SLH from-22 cm to-18 cm.In this study,GAM tended to be more suitable than GLM in analysis of CPUE.

Modeling a habitat suitability index for the eastern fall cohort of Ommastrephes bartramii in the central North Pacific Ocean

The eastern fall cohort of the neon flying squid, Ommastrephes bartramii, has been commercially exploited by the Chinese squid jigging fleet in the central North Pacific Ocean since the late 1990s. To understand and identify their optimal habitat, we have developed a habitat suitability index (HSI) model using two potential important environmental variables - sea surface temperature (SST) and sea surface height anomaly (SSHA) - and fishery data from the main fishing ground (165°-180°E) during June and July of 1999-2003. A geometric mean model (GMM), minimum model (MM) and arithmetic weighted model (AWM) with different weights were compared and the best HSI model was selected using Akaike's information criterion (AIC). The performance of the developed HSI model was evaluated using fishery data for 2004. This study suggests that the highest catch per unit effort (CPUE) and fishing effort are closely related to SST and SSHA. The best SST- and SSHA-based suitability index (SI) regression models were SISST-based = 0.7SIeffort-SST + 0.3 SICPUE-SST, and SISSHA-based = 0.5SIeffort-SSHA + 0.5SICPUE-SSHA, respectively, showing that fishing effort is more important than CPUE in the estimation of SI. The best HSI model was the AWM, defined as HSI=0.3SISST-based+ 0.7SISSHA-based, indicating that SSHA is more important than SST in estimating the HSI of squid. In 2004, monthly HSI values greater than 0.6 coincided with the distribution of productive fishing ground and high CPUE in June and July, suggesting that the models perform well. The proposed model provides an important tool in our efforts to develop forecasting capacity of squid spatial dynamics.

Importance of Weighting for Multi-Variable Habitat Suitability Index Model: A Case Study of Winter- Spring Cohort of Ommastrephes bartramii in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

Weighting values for different habitat variables used in multi-factor habitat suitability index (HSI) modeling reflect the relative influences of different variables on distribution of fish species. Using the winter-spring cohort of neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii) in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean as an example, we evaluated the impact of different weighting schemes on the HSI models based on sea surface temperature, gradient of sea surface temperature and sea surface height. We compared differences in predicted fishing effort and HSI values resulting from different weighting. The weighting for different habitat variables could greatly influence HSI modeling and should be carefully done based on their relative importance in influencing the resource spatial distribution. Weighting in a multi-factor HSI model should be further studied and optimization methods should be developed to improve forecasting squid spatial distributions.

Effects of environmental variations on the abundance of western winter-spring cohort of neon flying squid(Ommastrephes bartramii) in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

During 1995-2011, annual production of winter-spring cohort of Ommastrephes bartramii for Chinese squidjigging fishery has greatly fluctuated, which is closely related to the environmental conditions on the spawning and fishing grounds. To better understand how squid recruitment and abundance were infuenced by ocean environmental conditions, biological and physical environmental variables including sea surface temperature （SST）, SST anomaly （SSTA）, chlorophyll a （Chl a） concentration and the Kuroshio Current were examined during years with the highest （1999）, intermediate （2005）, and lowest （2009） catches. Catch per unit effort （CPUE） of the squid-jigging vessels was used as an indicator of squid abundance. The results indicated that high SST and Chl a concentration on the spawning ground in 1999 resulted in favorable incubation and feeding conditions for squid recruitment. Whereas the suitable spawning zone （SSZ） in 2009 shifted southward and coincided with low SST and Chl a concentration, resulting in a reduction in the squid recruitment. The small difference of SSZ area in the three years suggested the SSZ provided limited influences on the variability in squid recruitment. Furthermore, high squid abundance in 1999 and 2005 was associated with warm SSTA on the fishing ground. While the cool SSTA on the fishing ground in 2009 contributed to adverse habitat for the squid, leading to extremely low abundance. It was inferred that strengthened intensity of the Kuroshio force generally yielded favorable environmental conditions for O. bartramii. Future research are suggested to focus on the fundamental research oil the early life stage of O. bartramii and mechanism of how the ocean-climate variability affects the squid abundance and spatial distribution by coupling physical model with squid biological process to explore transport path and abundance distribution.

A spectral mixture model analysis of the Kuroshio variability and the water exchange between the Kuroshio and the East China Sea

For understanding more about the water exchange between the Kuroshio and the East China Sea,We studied the variability of the Kuroshio in the East China Sea(ECS) in the period of 1991 to 2008 using a three-dimensional circulation model,and calculated Kuroshio onshore volume transport in the ECS at the minimum of 0.48 Sv(1 Sv ;106 m3/s) in summer and the maximum of 1.69 Sv in winter.Based on the data of WOA05 and NCEP,The modeled result indicates that the Kuroshio transport east of Taiwan Island decreased since 2000.Lateral movements tended to be stronger at two ends of the Kuroshio in the ECS than that of the middle segment.In addition,we applied a spectral mixture model(SMM) to determine the exchange zone between the Kuroshio and the shelf water of the ECS.The result reveals a significantly negative correlation(coefficient of-0.78) between the area of exchange zone and the Kuroshio onshore transport at 200 m isobath in the ECS.This conclusion brings a new view for the water exchange between the Kuroshio and the East China Sea.Additional to annual and semi-annual signals,intra-seasonal signal of probably the Pacific origin may trigger the events of Kuroshio intrusion and exchange in the ECS.

Species composition and diversity of pelagic fishes based on a longline fishery catch in the North Pacific Ocean

Evaluation of spatial-temporal variability of species composition and diversity in oceanic ecosystems is not easy because it is usually difficult to obtain sufficient data quantifying such variability.In this study,we examined pelagic species diversity indicators,species richness,Shannon-Wiener index of diversity and Hurlbert's species evenness,for fish assemblages from two areas(north and south) in the North Pacific Ocean(2°±12°N,178°E±165°W) during May±July 2008.The assemblages were based on data collected by an onboard scientific observer during a commercial longline fishing trip.The species richness and Shannon-Wiener diversity index of fish assemblages in the northern area were slightly higher than those in the southern area,although these differences were not significant(t test,P.0.05).Non-parametric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarities indicated that there were significant differences in fish assemblages between the two areas(P,0.01).

A Comparative Study of Fish Assemblages Near Aquaculture, Artificial and Natural Habitats

Habitat plays a critical role in regulating fish community structure. Using the data collected from a monthly trammel net survey in Ma'an archipelago off the east coast of China, we evaluated impacts of five different habitats(artificial reefs, mussel farms, cage aquaculture, rocky reefs and soft bottom) on fish assemblages. This study suggests that artificial reefs(AR) have significantly higher species richness, abundance and diversity than mussel farms(MF) or soft bottom(SB) habitats during most seasons, and that fish taxa in the AR habitats are similar to those in the rocky reef(RR) habitats. Two different fish assemblage patterns were revealed in the study area using non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination: an assemblage dominated by reef fishes(especially by Scorpaenidae species) in AR, RR and cage aquaculture(CA) habitats and an assemblage dominated by Sciaenidae species in MF and SB habitats. We suggest that reef fishes play a key role in differentiating fish community structures in the study area. Although few differences in fish abundance and diversity were found between the CA and SB habitats, a more diverse age structure was observed in the CA habitats. A much more complex fish assemblage and enhanced population of local species were established as a result of the presence of both floating and fixed artificial structures, probably through improved survival rates.

Timing of the Early Paleozoic Yangtze and Cathysian Convergence： Constraint from U-Pb Geochronology of Hydrothermal Zircons from Mafic Mylonite within the Shoucheng-Piaoli Ductile Shear Zone, Northern Guangxi

Objective The northern Guangxi region is in the southwestern part of the Southern China continent,which is located at the junction of the southwest section of the Early Paleozoic Yangtze block and Cathaysian block.A series of NNE-trending ductile shear zones are developed in this region,and these ductile shear zones are mostly previously suggested boundary faults of the Early Paleozoic Yangtze block and Cathaysian block,such as the Shoucheng–Piaoli ductile shear zone in Northern Guangxi （Meng Yuanku et al., 2016; Zhang Xuefeng et al., 2015）.

Roles of fishing and climate change in long-term fish species succession and population dynamics in the outer Beibu Gulf,South China Sea

A prevailing,controversial hypothesis is that fishing pressure has played a greater role than climatic and environmental drivers,in changing fish species succession and biomass fluctuation in the South China Sea(SCS).Based on otter trawl survey data from 1959 to 2010 in the outer Beibu Gulf(OBG),northern SCS,large seasonal and interannual variation is reported for fish species composition,the proportional abundances of dominant taxa,and fish biomass.Generalized additive models are developed to quantify relationships between fish biomass and the external factors of fishing pressure and climate change.Fishing pressure proved to be the main driver of sharp declines in demersal fish stocks,with high-value species being replaced by low-value ones over time.Abrupt decreases in fish biomass during the years of 1993 and 1998 correspond to El Nino events,with climate change possibly the main driver of proportional representation of pelagic species in fisheries trawl catch.The need to differentiate impacts of fishing and environmental drivers on fish species with different life history strategies is stressed to better understand fish community dynamics.

Morphological beak differences ofloliginid squid, Uroteuthis chinensis and Uroteuthis edulis, in the northern South China Sea

The mitre squid(U roteuthis chinensis) and the swordtip squid( U. edulis) are Indo-Pacific cephalopod species that are abundant in the western Pacific Ocean. They are currently exploited in the East and South China Seas and make up a significant portion of the Chinese neritic squid catch. Beaks, the feeding organs of squid, are important for individual size and biomass estimation because of their high resistance to degradation in predator stomachs and consistent dimensions. In this study, 104 U. chinensis and 143 U. edulis individuals were sampled from northern South China Sea with mantle length from 70 to 260 mm and 96 to 284 mm, respectively. The results indicated that morphological beak values were greater for U. edulis, compared to U. chinensis, for upper hood length(UHL), upper crest length(UCL), upper lateral wall length(ULWL), lower crest length(LCL), and lower lateral wall length(LLWL). According to principal component analysis, UHL/ML, UCL/ML, ULWL/ML, LCL/ML, LLWL/ML and LWL/ML could represent the characteristics of beaks for U. chinensis, while UHL/ML, UCL/ML, ULWL/ML, LHL/ML, LCL/ML and LLWL/ML could represent it for U. edulis. According to Akaike's information criterion(AIC) values, a power function was the most suitable model for U. chinensis, while a linear function was the most suitable model for U. edulis. The beak variable-mantle length ratio(beak variable/mantle length) declined with the increasing of mantle length and declined sharply at the early stage of growth in both beaks and species. The ratio changed quickly after achieving the mantle length of 140 mm for U. chinensis, while the ratio changed quickly after 170 mm for U. edulis. Beaks in both species experienced sharper changes through maturity stage I to II than other maturity stages. This study gives us basic beak morphology information for U. chinensis and U. edulis in the East and South China Seas. Geometric morphological methods combined with dietary analysis should be used in the future.

Projecting distributions of Argentine shortfin squid(Illex argentinus)in the Southwest Atlantic using a complex integrated model

We developed an approach that integrates generalized additive model（GAM） and neural network model（NNM）for projecting the distribution of Argentine shortfin squid（Illex argentinus）. The data for this paper was based on commercial fishery data and relevant remote sensing environmental data including sea surface temperature（SST）, sea surface height（SSH） and chlorophyll a（Chl a） from January to June during 2003 to 2011. The GAM was used to identify the significant oceanographic variables and establish their relationships with the fishery catch per unit effort（CPUE）. The NNM with the GAM identified significant variables as input vectors was used for predicting spatial distribution of CPUE. The GAM was found to explain 53.8% variances for CPUE. The spatial variables（longitude and latitude） and environmental variables（SST, SSH and Chl a） were significant. The CPUE had nonlinear relationship with SST and SSH but a linear relationship with Chl a. The NNM was found to be effective and robust in the projection with low mean square errors（MSE） and average relative variances（ARV）.The integrated approach can predict the spatial distribution and explain the migration pattern of Illex argentinus in the Southwest Atlantic Ocean.

Evaluation of ENVISAT ASAR data for sea surface wind retrieval in Hong Kong coastal waters of China

The C-band wind speed retrieval models, CMOD4, CMOD - IFR2, and CMOD5 were applied to retrieval of sea surface wind speeds from ENVISAT （European environmental satellite） ASAR （advanced synthetic aperture radar） data in the coastal waters near Hong Kong during a period from October 2005 to July 2007. The retrieved wind speeds are evaluated by comparing with buoy measurements and the QuikSCAT （quick scatterometer） wind products. The results show that the CMOD4 model gives the best performance at wind speeds lower than 15 m/s. The correlation coefficients with buoy and QuikSCAT winds are 0.781 and 0.896, respectively. The root mean square errors are the same 1.74 m/s. Namely, the CMOD4 model is the best one for sea surface wind speed retrieval from ASAR data in the coastal waters near Hong Kong.

The impact of spatial autocorrelation on CPUE standardization between two different fisheries

Catch per unit of eff ort(CPUE) data can display spatial autocorrelation. However, most of the CPUE standardization methods developed so far assumes independency of observations for the dependent variable, which is often invalid. In this study, we collected data of two fisheries, squid jigging fishery and mackerel trawl fishery. We used standard generalized linear model(GLM) and spatial GLMs to compare the impact of spatial autocorrelation on CPUE standardization for different fisheries. We found that spatialGLMs perform better than standard-GLM for both fisheries. The overestimation of precision of CPUE estimates was observed in both fisheries. Moran's I was used to quantify the level of autocorrelation for the two fisheries. The results show that autocorrelation in mackerel trawl fishery was much stronger than that in squid jigging fishery. According to the results of this paper, we highly recommend to account for spatial autocorrelation when using GLM to standardize CPUE data derived from commercial fisheries.

Ontogenetic difference of beak elemental concentration and its possible application in migration reconstruction for Ommastrephes bartramii in the North Pacific Ocean

The migration route of oceanic squid provides critical information for us to understand their spatial and temporal variations.Mark-recapture and electronic tags tend to be problematic during processing.Cephalopod hard structures such as the beak,containing abundant ecological information with stable morphology and statolithlike sequences of growth increments,may provide information for studying spatio-temporal distribution.In this study,we developed a method,which is based on elemental concentration of beaks at different ontogenetic stages and sampling locations,to reconstruct the squid migration route.We applied this method to Ommastrephes bartramii in the North Pacific Ocean.Nine trace elements were detected in the rostrum sagittal sections(RSS)of the beak using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(LA-ICP-MS).For those elements,significant differences were found between the different ontogenetic stages for phosphorus(P),copper(Cu)and zinc(Zn).Sodium(Na),P and Zn were chosen as indicators of sea surface temperature(SST)and a regression model was estimated.The high probability of occurrence in a particular area represented the possible optimal squid location based on a Bayesian model.A reconstructed migration route in this study,combining all the locations at different ontogenetic stages,was consistent with that hypothesized in previous studies.This study demonstrates that the beak can provide useful information for identifying the migration routes of oceanic squid.

Optimization of stratification scheme for a fishery-independent survey with multiple objectives

Fishery-independent surveys are often used for collecting high quality biological and ecological data to support fisheries management. A careful optimization of fishery-independent survey design is necessary to improve the precision of survey estimates with cost-effective sampling efforts. We developed a simulation approach to evaluate and optimize the stratification scheme for a fishery-independent survey with multiple goals including estimation of abundance indices of individual species and species diversity indices. We compared the performances of the sampling designs with different stratification schemes for different goals over different months. Gains in precision of survey estimates from the stratification schemes were acquired compared to simple random sampling design for most indices. The stratification scheme with five strata performed the best. This study showed that the loss of precision of survey estimates due to the reduction of sampling efforts could be compensated by improved stratification schemes, which would reduce the cost and negative impacts of survey trawling on those species with low abundance in the fishery-independent survey. This study also suggests that optimization of a survey design differed with different survey objectives. A post-survey analysis can improve the stratification scheme of fishery-independent survey designs.