scholarly journals Contribution of Topography and Incident Solar Radiation to Variation of Soil and Plant Litter at an Area with Heterogeneous Terrain

2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 750-762 ◽  
Author(s):  
Felipe Cito Nettesheim ◽  
Tiago de Conto ◽  
Marcos Gervasio Pereira ◽  
Deivid Lopes Machado

Natural processes that determine soil and plant litter properties are controlled by multiple factors. However, little attention has been given to distinguishing the effects of environmental factors from the effects of spatial structure of the area on the distribution of soil and litter properties in tropical ecosystems covering heterogeneous topographies. The aim of this study was to assess patterns of soil and litter variation in a tropical area that intercepts different levels of solar radiation throughout the year since its topography has slopes predominantly facing opposing geographic directions. Soil data (pH, C, N, P, H+Al, Ca, Mg, K, Al, Na, sand, and silt) and plant litter data (N, K, Ca, P, and Mg) were gathered together with the geographic coordinates (to model the spatial structure) of 40 sampling units established at two sites composed of slopes predominantly facing northwest and southeast (20 units each). Soil and litter chemical properties varied more among slopes within similar geographic orientations than between the slopes facing opposing directions. Both the incident solar radiation and the spatial structure of the area were relevant in explaining the patterns detected in variation of soil and plant litter. Individual contributions of incident solar radiation to explain the variation in the properties evaluated suggested that this and other environmental factors may play a particularly relevant role in determining soil and plant litter distribution in tropical areas with heterogeneous topography. Furthermore, this study corroborates that the spatial structure of the area also plays an important role in the distribution of soil and litter within this type of landscape, which appears to be consistent with the action of water movement mechanisms in such areas.

1988 ◽  
Vol 20 (8-9) ◽  
pp. 167-178
Author(s):  
O. M. Skulberg

Off-flavour substances may be regarded as a resource which can be used to study special ecological mechanisms. Relevant research on off-flavours is inextricably combined with the study of perception, ethology, genetic control etc. The chemicals concerned are commonly perceived by the senses of olfaction and gustation. Thus research on the chemical ecology of off-flavour substances in the aquatic environment involves the study of a variety of disciplines. For example the biochemistry of the relevant substances and appropriate metabolic pathways must be considered. Chemical properties are important for the behaviour of the substances. The production of off-flavours by organisms is related to phenological circumstances. The biotic effects of ecologically significant substances are dependent on several environmental factors. This paper draws attention to the possible application of fundamental research in this area to selected problems of ecological importance.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 802
Author(s):  
Kristian Skeie ◽  
Arild Gustavsen

In building thermal energy characterisation, the relevance of proper modelling of the effects caused by solar radiation, temperature and wind is seen as a critical factor. Open geospatial datasets are growing in diversity, easing access to meteorological data and other relevant information that can be used for building energy modelling. However, the application of geospatial techniques combining multiple open datasets is not yet common in the often scripted workflows of data-driven building thermal performance characterisation. We present a method for processing time-series from climate reanalysis and satellite-derived solar irradiance services, by implementing land-use, and elevation raster maps served in an elevation profile web-service. The article describes a methodology to: (1) adapt gridded weather data to four case-building sites in Europe; (2) calculate the incident solar radiation on the building facades; (3) estimate wind and temperature-dependent infiltration using a single-zone infiltration model and (4) including separating and evaluating the sheltering effect of buildings and trees in the vicinity, based on building footprints. Calculations of solar radiation, surface wind and air infiltration potential are done using validated models published in the scientific literature. We found that using scripting tools to automate geoprocessing tasks is widespread, and implementing such techniques in conjunction with an elevation profile web service made it possible to utilise information from open geospatial data surrounding a building site effectively. We expect that the modelling approach could be further improved, including diffuse-shading methods and evaluating other wind shelter methods for urban settings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 56
Author(s):  
Siwei Lin ◽  
Nan Chen

Solar radiation may be shielded by the terrain relief before reaching the Martian surface, especially over some rugged terrains. Yet, to date, no comprehensive studies on the spatial structure of shielded astronomical solar radiation (SASR) and the possible sunshine duration (PSD) on Mars have been conducted by previous researchers. Previous studies generally ignored the influences of the terrain on the SASR and PSD, which resulted in a corresponding unexplored field on SASR. The purpose of this paper is to study the Martian spatial-temporal structure of SASR and the PSD under terrain influences. In this paper, the theory of Earth’s SASR, the previous Martian SASR model and the theory of planetary science were combined to propose the SASR model that can be applied to Mars. Then, with the spectrum method theory of geography, we defined two new concepts of spectrums to explore the spatial-temporal distribution of SASR and PSD in different Martian landforms. We found SASR and PSD on Mars were significantly influenced by terrain relief and latitude and showed sufficient regularity, which can be concluded as a gradual attenuation with terrain relief and a regularity of latitude anisotropy. The latitude anisotropy feature is a manifestation of the terrain shielding effect. With the latitude varying, SASR and PSD at different temporal scale generally showed different features with those of Earth, which may be attributed to the imbalanced seasons caused by Martian moving orbits and velocity. Compared to PSD, SASR showed more regular variation under terrain relief and was more influenced by the terrain relief which revealed that SASR is more sensitive to terrain relief than PSD. Additionally, the critical area is a quantitative index to reflect the stable spatial structure of SASR and PSD in different landforms and may be viewed as the minimum test region of sample areas. The corresponding result of the experiments herein indicated that either spectrum can effectively depict the spatial-temporal distribution of SASR and PSD on Mars under terrain relief and deepen the understanding of the variation of SASR and PSD influences by terrain. The critical area of either spectrum can be employed to explore and determine the stable spatial structure of SASR and PSD in different landforms. The proposed Martian SASR model and the new spectral method theory shed new light on revealing the spatial-temporal structure of SASR and PSD under terrain influences on Mars.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2007-2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadia Diovisalvi ◽  
Armando M. Rennella ◽  
Horacio E. Zagarese

A schematic representation of the seasonal cycle of rotifer in L. Chascomús. In this figure the relative abundances of the three dominant rotifer species are expressed as fractions of the estimated clear-sky mean daily incident solar radiation.


1987 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 135 ◽  
Author(s):  
RB Hacker

Species responses to grazing and environmental factors were studied in an arid halophytic shrubland community in Western Australia. The grazing responses of major shrub species were defined by using reciprocal averaging ordination of botanical data, interpreted in conjunction with a similar ordination of soil chemical properties and measures of soil erosion derived from large-scale aerial photographs. An apparent small-scale interaction between grazing and soil salinity was also defined. Long-term grazing pressure is apparently reduced on localised areas of high salinity. Environmental factors affecting species distribution are complex and appear to include soil salinity, soil cationic balance, geomorphological variation and the influence of cryptogamic crusts on seedling establishment.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 6301-6320 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. S. Pokrovsky ◽  
R. M. Manasypov ◽  
S. Loiko ◽  
L. S. Shirokova ◽  
I. A. Krickov ◽  
...  

Abstract. Analysis of organic and inorganic carbon (DOC and DIC, respectively), pH, Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cl, SO4 and Si in ~ 100 large and small rivers (< 10 to ≤ 150 000 km2) of western Siberia sampled in winter, spring, and summer over a more than 1500 km latitudinal gradient allowed establishing main environmental factors controlling the transport of river dissolved components in this environmentally important region, comprising continuous, discontinuous, sporadic and permafrost-free zones. There was a significant latitudinal trend consisting in a general decrease in DOC, DIC, SO4, and major cation (Ca, Mg, Na, K) concentration northward, reflecting the interplay between groundwater feeding (detectable mostly in the permafrost-free zone, south of 60° N) and surface flux (in the permafrost-bearing zone). The northward decrease in concentration of inorganic components was strongly pronounced both in winter and spring, whereas for DOC, the trend of concentration decrease with latitude was absent in winter, and less pronounced in spring flood than in summer baseflow. The most significant decrease in K concentration from the southern (< 59° N) to the northern (61–67° N) watersheds occurs in spring, during intense plant litter leaching. The latitudinal trends persisted for all river watershed size, from < 100 to > 10 000 km2. Environmental factors are ranked by their increasing effect on DOC, DIC, δ13CDIC, and major elements in western Siberian rivers as follows: watershed area < season < latitude. Because the degree of the groundwater feeding is different between large and small rivers, we hypothesize that, in addition to groundwater feeding of the river, there was a significant role of surface and shallow subsurface flow linked to plant litter degradation and peat leaching. We suggest that plant-litter- and topsoil-derived DOC adsorbs on clay mineral horizons in the southern, permafrost-free and discontinuous/sporadic permafrost zone but lacks the interaction with minerals in the continuous permafrost zone. It can be anticipated that, under climate warming in western Siberia, the maximal change will occur in small (< 1000 km2 watershed) rivers DOC, DIC and ionic composition and this change will be mostly pronounced in summer.


Author(s):  
Jhon Charles Donato Rondón ◽  
Yaira Ayarith Abuhatab Aragón

This study assessed short-term succession and related changes in diversity and succession of benthic diatom assemblages in a tropical rainforest stream in the biogeographic region of Chocó, Colombia. Diatom colonization in situ was studied over a 60-day period, in which we analyzed the number of valves and the taxonomic changes. The Shannon index ranged from 2.06 to 3.02 bits. A total of 127 species were identified and the most abundant were acidophilic species such as Eunotia intermedia, E. veneris, E. bilunaris var. mucophila, E. pirla and E. bilunaris. A Detrended Canonical Correspondence Analysis (DCCA) was used to explore the succession of diatom assemblages and its driving environmental factors. The DCCA explained 74.1% of the correlation between environmental variables and diatom species and 16.2% of the data variance. The species fell into four groups, the first group (Eunotia incisa, Frustulia saxonica, Fragilaria capucina var. acatu, among others) was related to lower nitrate concentrations, acidic pH and lower water temperature. The second group (Fragilaria capensis, Gomphonema olivaceum, Cymbella gracilis, among others) was associated to higher alkalinity and lower solar radiation availability. The third group (Nitzschia obtusa, N. amphibia, Naviculadicta vitabunda, Navicula cryptocephala, among others) was related to lower phosphate, higher nitrate concentrations, lower pH, and higher temperatures. The fourth group (Eunotia soleirolli, Frustulia vulgaris and F. rhomboides) was associated with higher solar radiation and lower alkalinity. These results underscore the importance of diatom diversity in Neotropical streams and the relevance of small variations in environmental factors on the composition of reference assemblages of Neotropical fluvial systems.


1962 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 247-253
Author(s):  
G. Stanhill

DM production from a heavily fertilized lucerne crop grown at Gilat and irrigated daily was compared with potential photosynthesis calculated from meteorological data [see F.C.A. 12: 1940]. After corrections were applied for losses due to respiration, root growth and light wasted beneath the crop canopy, calculated amounts agreed well with those measured. The percentage of light utilized was 33% with cutting at 31-day intervals and 46% with cutting at 48-day intervals. DM production was correlated positively with solar radiation and negatively with air temperature.-R.B. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gonzalo Martín Rivelli ◽  
María Elena Fernández Long ◽  
Leonor Gabriela Abeledo ◽  
Daniel Calderini ◽  
Daniel Julio Miralles ◽  
...  

Abstract Episodes of heat stress constrain crop production and will be aggravated in the near future according to short and medium-term climate scenarios. Global increase in cloudiness has also been observed, decreasing the incident solar radiation. This work was aimed to quantify the probability of occurrence of heat stress and cloudiness, alone or combined, during the typical post-flowering period of wheat and canola in the Southern Cone of South America. Extended climate series (last 3-5 decades with daily register) of 33 conventional weather stations from Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay (23ºS to 40ºS) were analysed considering the period from September to December. Two different daily events of heat stress were determined: i) maximum daily temperature above 30ºC (T>30ºC), and ii) 5ºC above the historical average maximum temperature of that day (T+5ºC). A cloudiness event was defined in our work as incident solar radiation 50% lower than the historical average radiation of that day (R50%). The T>30ºC event increased its probability of occurrence throughout the post-flowering phase, from September to December. By contrast, the risk of T+5ºC event decreased slightly, just like for R50%, and the higher the latitude, the lower the probability of R50%. The T>30ºC plus R50% combined stresses reached greater cumulated probabilities during post-flowering, compared to T+5ºC plus R50%, being 42% vs. 15% in northernmost locations, 26% vs. 19% in central (between 31ºS to 35ºS), and 28% vs. 1% in southernmost locations, respectively. A curvilinear relationship emerged between the monthly probability of combined stresses and the number of days with stress per month. In summary, T>30ºC was the most frequent thermal stress during post-flowering in wheat and canola. Both combined stresses had a noticeable risk of occurrence, but T>30ºC plus R50% was the highest. Evidence of the recent past and current occurrence of heat stress individually, and its combination with cloudiness events during post-flowering of temperate crops, serves as a baseline for future climate scenarios in main cropped areas in the Southern Cone of South America.


Author(s):  
Mónica Montserrat Escobedo-Sánchez ◽  
Ricardo Conejo-Flores ◽  
Sergio Miguel Durón-Torres ◽  
Juan Manuel García-González

The present investigation is related to one of the most important processes for the development of life on Earth; photosynthesis, an essential process in the cycle and development of living beings, centered on solar radiation that is useful for plants to carry out this process, Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR). The objective of this work is to generate information on the PAR through a database to collaborate in the decision-making of farmers in the area. For this purpose, a quantum sensor installed in building 6 of the UAZ Siglo XXI Campus was used. According to Abal (2013), in agricultural and production planning, it is especially important to have a detailed knowledge of incident solar radiation on the earth's surface (Abal and Durañona, 2013). When collecting, treating and analyzing the data, it was found that the daily average PAR is 819.52 μmol of photons m-2 s-1 (179.47 W m-2), if only the sunny hours are taken into account. It can be concluded that according to the PAR received in the evaluation region and the type of nutrients in the soil, other crop alternatives to those traditionally used can be sought.


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