Long-term trends in fish community composition across coastal bays and lakes in the Lavaca–Colorado Estuary

2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (12) ◽  
pp. 871-884 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip Matich ◽  
William B. Godwin ◽  
Mark Fisher

Human impacts continue to alter community structure, emphasizing the need to understand how spatial and temporal variability in disturbance and conservation affect ecological communities to optimize management strategies. Here, we quantify fish species richness, diversity, and community structure across five coastal bays and lakes in the Lavaca–Colorado Estuary, Texas, over 30 years to investigate spatial and temporal variability in species assemblages, and the potential effects of resource management. Results suggest that fish communities varied both spatially and temporally from 1976 to 2008, with greater temporal shifts in habitats more proximate to the Gulf of Mexico and removed from human residential areas — diversity increased in Powderhorn Lake and spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus (Cuvier, 1830)) and red drum (Sciaenops ocellatus (L., 1766)) abundances increased in Oyster Lake following changes in fishing regulations. Natural fluctuations in environmental conditions coupled with limited access to lakes by geographic restraints may have led to more pronounced changes in community structure. However, the effects of fishing management on fish communities within small lakes and bays within the Lavaca–Colorado Estuary is likely habitat- and context-specific, and continued monitoring, especially among ecologically and economically important species, will provide insight into how environmental change and anthropogenic disturbance may affect long-term trends in coastal community composition.

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Zuzanna Bielec-Bąkowska

AbstractThis paper addresses spatial and temporal variability in the occurrence of thunderstorms and related precipitation in southern Poland between 1951 and 2010. The analysis was based on thunderstorm observations and daily precipitation totals (broken down into the few ranges) from 15 meteorological stations. It was found that precipitation accompanied an overwhelming majority of thunderstorms. The most frequent range of thunderstorm precipitation totals was 0.1–10.0 mm which accounted for 60% of all values while precipitation higher than 20.0 mm accounted only for ca. 8%. During the study period, long-term change in the number of days with thunderstorm precipitation within a certain range displayed no clear-cut trends. Exceptions included: 1) an increase in the number of days with thunderstorm precipitation in the lowest range of totals (0.1–10.0 mm) at Katowice, Tarnów, Rzeszów and Lesko and decrease at Mt. Kasprowy Wierch, 2) an increase in the range 10.1–20.0 mm at Zakopane and 20.1–30.0 mm at Opole, 3) a decrease of the top range (more than 30.0 mm) at Mt. Śnieżka. It was found that the heaviest thunderstorm precipitation events, i.e. totalling more than 30 mm, and those events that covered all or most of the study area, occurred at the time of air advection from the southern or eastern sectors and a passage of atmospheric fronts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 7103-7123
Author(s):  
Susann Tegtmeier ◽  
Elliot Atlas ◽  
Birgit Quack ◽  
Franziska Ziska ◽  
Kirstin Krüger

Abstract. Halogenated very short-lived substances (VSLSs), such as bromoform (CHBr3), can be transported to the stratosphere and contribute to the halogen loading and ozone depletion. Given their highly variable emission rates and their short atmospheric lifetimes, the exact amount as well as the spatio-temporal variability of their contribution to the stratospheric halogen loading are still uncertain. We combine observational data sets with Lagrangian atmospheric modelling in order to analyse the spatial and temporal variability of the CHBr3 injection into the stratosphere for the time period 1979–2013. Regional maxima with mixing ratios of up to 0.4–0.5 ppt at 17 km altitude are diagnosed to be over Central America (1) and over the Maritime Continent–west Pacific (2), both of which are confirmed by high-altitude aircraft campaigns. The CHBr3 maximum over Central America is caused by the co-occurrence of convectively driven short transport timescales and strong regional sources, which in conjunction drive the seasonality of CHBr3 injection. Model results at a daily resolution reveal isolated, exceptionally high CHBr3 values in this region which are confirmed by aircraft measurements during the ACCENT campaign and do not occur in spatially or temporally averaged model fields. CHBr3 injection over the west Pacific is centred south of the Equator due to strong oceanic sources underneath prescribed by the here-applied bottom-up emission inventory. The globally largest CHBr3 mixing ratios at the cold point level of up to 0.6 ppt are diagnosed to occur over the region of India, Bay of Bengal, and Arabian Sea (3); however, no data from aircraft campaigns are available to confirm this finding. Inter-annual variability of stratospheric CHBr3 injection of 10 %–20 % is to a large part driven by the variability of coupled ocean–atmosphere circulation systems. Long-term changes, on the other hand, correlate with the regional sea surface temperature trends resulting in positive trends of stratospheric CHBr3 injection over the west Pacific and Asian monsoon region and negative trends over the east Pacific. For the tropical mean, these opposite regional trends balance each other out, resulting in a relatively weak positive trend of 0.017±0.012 ppt Br per decade for 1979–2013, corresponding to 3 % Br per decade. The overall contribution of CHBr3 together with CH2Br2 to the stratospheric halogen loading accounts for 4.7 ppt Br, in good agreement with existing studies, with 50 % and 50 % being injected in the form of source and product gases, respectively.


2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
H.J. Foster ◽  
M.J. Lees ◽  
H.S. Wheater ◽  
C. Neal ◽  
B. Reynolds

Abstract. Recent concern about the risk to biota from acidification in upland areas, due to air pollution and land-use change (such as the planting of coniferous forests), has generated a need to model catchment hydro-chemistry to assess environmental risk and define protection strategies. Previous approaches have tended to concentrate on quantifying either spatial variability at a regional scale or temporal variability at a given location. However, to protect biota from ‘acid episodes’, an assessment of both temporal and spatial variability of stream chemistry is required at a catchment scale. In addition, quantification of temporal variability needs to represent both episodic event response and long term variability caused by deposition and/or land-use change. Both spatial and temporal variability in streamwater chemistry are considered in a new modelling methodology based on application to the Plynlimon catchments, central Wales. A two-component End-Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA) is used whereby low and high flow chemistry are taken to represent ‘groundwater’ and ‘soil water’ end-members. The conventional EMMA method is extended to incorporate spatial variability in the two end-members across the catchments by quantifying the Acid Neutralisation Capacity (ANC) of each in terms of a statistical distribution. These are then input as stochastic variables to a two-component mixing model, thereby accounting for variability of ANC both spatially and temporally. The model is coupled to a long-term acidification model (MAGIC) to predict the evolution of the end members and, hence, the response to future scenarios. The results can be plotted as a function of time and space, which enables better assessment of the likely effects of pollution deposition or land-use changes in the future on the stream chemistry than current methods which use catchment average values. The model is also a useful basis for further research into linkage between hydrochemistry and intra-catchment biological diversity. Keywords: hydrochemistry, End-Member Mixing Analysis (EMMA), uplands, acidification


1987 ◽  
Vol 129 (6) ◽  
pp. 830-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Kratz ◽  
Thomas M. Frost ◽  
John J. Magnuson

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (60) ◽  
pp. 267-280 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.P. Carter ◽  
H.A. Fricker

AbstractRecent satellite studies have shown that active subglacial lakes exist under the Antarctic ice streams and persist almost to their grounding lines. When the lowest-lying lakes flood, the water crosses the grounding line and enters the sub-ice-shelf cavity. Modeling results suggest that this additional freshwater influx may significantly enhance melting at the ice-shelf base. We examine the spatial and temporal variability in subglacial water supply to the grounding lines of the Siple Coast ice streams, by combining estimates for lake volume change derived from Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite (ICESat) data with a model for subglacial water transport. Our results suggest that subglacial outflow tends to concentrate towards six embayments in the Siple Coast grounding line. Although mean grounding line outflow is ~60m3 s–1 for the entire Siple Coast, maximum local grounding line outflow may temporarily exceed 300 m3 s–1 during the synchronized flooding of multiple lakes in a hydrologic basin. Variability in subglacial outflow due to subglacial lake drainage may account for a substantial portion of the observed variability in freshwater flux out of the Ross Ice Shelf cavity. The temporal variability in grounding line outflow results in a net reduction in long-term average melt rate, but temporary peak melting rates may exceed the long-term average by a factor of three.


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