Food Web Structure and Trophic Control in Central Puget Sound     

Chris J. Harvey  Gregory D. Williams  Phillip S. Levin 《Estuaries and Coasts》2012,35(3):821-838

We developed a food web model of central Puget Sound to provide science-based support for ecosystem-based management and to refine our understanding of bottom-up and top-down trophic forcing. Phytoplankton accounted for a large fraction of total biomass, total throughput, and caused considerable bottom-up effects in most functional groups in a dynamic simulation fit to time series data from 1981 to 2000. Top-down control was most apparent in the case of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), which exhibited keystone tendencies and appeared capable of causing trophic cascades. Increasing top-down control in several predator–prey relationships improved model fits to time series data from 1981 to 2000, but not as much as introducing non-equilibrium dynamics (biomass accumulation terms) to several key vertebrates. Fishing had little effect on system dynamics. Our model appears well-suited for addressing strategic, scenario-based questions of how the community as a whole will respond to management actions.  相似文献   

Geochemical,mineralogical and microbiological characteristics of sediment from a naturally reduced zone in a uranium-contaminated aquifer     

K.M. Campbell  R.K. Kukkadapu  N.P. Qafoku  A.D. Peacock  E. Lesher  K.H. Williams  J.R. Bargar  M.J. Wilkins  L. Figueroa  J. Ranville  J.A. Davis  P.E. Long 《Applied Geochemistry》2012

Localized zones or lenses of naturally reduced sediments have the potential to play a significant role in the fate and transport of redox-sensitive metals and metalloids in aquifers. To assess the mineralogy, microbiology and redox processes that occur in these zones, several cores from a region of naturally occurring reducing conditions in a U-contaminated aquifer (Rifle, CO) were examined. Sediment samples from a transect of cores ranging from oxic/suboxic Rifle aquifer sediment to naturally reduced sediment were analyzed for U and Fe content, oxidation state, and mineralogy; reduced S phases; and solid-phase organic C content using a suite of analytical and spectroscopic techniques on bulk sediment and size fractions. Solid-phase U concentrations were higher in the naturally reduced zone, with a high proportion of the U present as U(IV). The sediments were also elevated in reduced S phases and Fe(II), indicating it is very likely that U(VI), Fe(III), and SO₄ reduction has occurred or is occurring in the sediment. The microbial community was assessed using lipid- and DNA-based techniques, and statistical redundancy analysis was performed to determine correlations between the microbial community and the geochemistry. Increased concentrations of solid-phase organic C and biomass in the naturally reduced sediment suggests that natural bioreduction is stimulated by a zone of increased organic C concentration associated with fine-grained material and lower permeability to groundwater flow. Characterization of the naturally bioreduced sediment provides an understanding of the natural processes that occur in the sediment under reducing conditions and how they may impact natural attenuation of radionuclides and other redox sensitive materials. Results also suggest the importance of recalcitrant organic C for maintaining reducing conditions and U immobilization.  相似文献   

The Colorado East River Community Observatory Data Collection     

Zarine Kakalia  Charuleka Varadharajan  Erek Alper  Eoin L. Brodie  Madison Burrus  Rosemary W. H. Carroll  Danielle S. Christianson  Wenming Dong  Valerie C. Hendrix  Matthew Henderson  Susan S. Hubbard  Douglas Johnson  Roelof Versteeg  Kenneth H. Williams  Deborah A. Agarwal 《水文研究》2021,35(6):e14243

The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Colorado East River Community Observatory (ER) in the Upper Colorado River Basin was established in 2015 as a representative mountainous, snow-dominated watershed to study hydrobiogeochemical responses to hydrological perturbations in headwater systems. The ER is characterized by steep elevation, geologic, hydrologic and vegetation gradients along floodplain, montane, subalpine, and alpine life zones, which makes it an ideal location for researchers to understand how different mountain subsystems contribute to overall watershed behaviour. The ER has both long-term and spatially-extensive observations and experimental campaigns carried out by the Watershed Function Scientific Focus Area (SFA), led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and researchers from over 30 organizations who conduct cross-disciplinary process-based investigations and modelling of watershed behaviour. The heterogeneous data generated at the ER include hydrological, genomic, biogeochemical, climate, vegetation, geological, and remote sensing data, which combined with model inputs and outputs comprise a collection of datasets and value-added products within a mountainous watershed that span multiple spatiotemporal scales, compartments, and life zones. Within 5 years of collection, these datasets have revealed insights into numerous aspects of watershed function such as factors influencing snow accumulation and melt timing, water balance partitioning, and impacts of floodplain biogeochemistry and hillslope ecohydrology on riverine geochemical exports. Data generated by the SFA are managed and curated through its Data Management Framework. The SFA has an open data policy, and over 70 ER datasets are publicly available through relevant data repositories. A public interactive map of data collection sites run by the SFA is available to inform the broader community about SFA field activities. Here, we describe the ER and the SFA measurement network, present the public data collection generated by the SFA and partner institutions, and highlight the value of collecting multidisciplinary multiscale measurements in representative catchment observatories.  相似文献   

IACT observations of gamma-ray bursts: prospects for the Cherenkov Telescope Array     

Rudy C. Gilmore  Aurelien Bouvier  Valerie Connaughton  Adam Goldstein  Nepomuk Otte  Joel R. Primack  David A. Williams 《Experimental Astronomy》2013,35(3):413-457

Gamma rays at rest frame energies as high as 90 GeV have been reported from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) by the Fermi Large Area Telescope (LAT). There is considerable hope that a confirmed GRB detection will be possible with the upcoming Cherenkov Telescope Array (CTA), which will have a larger effective area and better low-energy sensitivity than current-generation imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes (IACTs). To estimate the likelihood of such a detection, we have developed a phenomenological model for GRB emission between 1 GeV and 1 TeV that is motivated by the high-energy GRB detections of Fermi-LAT, and allows us to extrapolate the statistics of GRBs seen by lower energy instruments such as the Swift-BAT and BATSE on the Compton Gamma-ray Observatory. We show a number of statistics for detected GRBs, and describe how the detectability of GRBs with CTA could vary based on a number of parameters, such as the typical observation delay between the burst onset and the start of ground observations. We also consider the possibility of using GBM on Fermi as a finder of GRBs for rapid ground follow-up. While the uncertainty of GBM localization is problematic, the small field-of-view for IACTs can potentially be overcome by scanning over the GBM error region. Overall, our results indicate that CTA should be able to detect one GRB every 20–30 months with our baseline instrument model, assuming consistently rapid pursuit of GRB alerts, and provided that spectral breaks below ~100 GeV are not a common feature of the bright GRB population. With a more optimistic instrument model, the detection rate can be as high as 1 to 2 GRBs per year.  相似文献   

Three routes to jet collimation by the Balbus–Hawley magnetorotational instability     

Peter T. Williams  † 《Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society》2005,361(1):345-356

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The problem of small divisors in planetary motion     

Carol A. Williams 《Celestial Mechanics and Dynamical Astronomy》1984,34(1-4):395-410

Small divisors caused by certain linear combinations of frequencies appear in all analytical planetary theories. With the exception of the deep resonance between Neptune and Pluto, they can be removed at the expense of introducing secular and mixed secular terms, limiting the domain in which the solution is valid. Because of them classical solutions are known not to converge uniformly; Poincaré referred to them as asymptotic. The KAM theory shows that if one is far enough from exact commensurability and has small enough planetary masses, expansions exist which will converge to quasi-periodic orbits. Solutions showing very small divisors are excluded from this region of convergence. The question of whether they are intrinsic to the problem or are just manifestations of the method of solution is not settled. Problems with a single commensurabily that can be isolated from the rest of the Hamiltonian may have solutions with no small divisors. The problem of two or more commensurabilities remains unsolved.  相似文献   

The final Galileo SSI observations of Io: orbits G28-I33     

Elizabeth P. Turtle  Laszlo P. Keszthelyi  Jani Radebaugh  Damon P. Simonelli  David A. Williams  Windy L. Jaeger  H.Herbert Breneman  Cynthia B. Phillips  the Galileo SSI Team 《Icarus》2004,169(1):3-28

We present the observations of Io acquired by the Solid State Imaging (SSI) experiment during the Galileo Millennium Mission (GMM) and the strategy we used to plan the exploration of Io. Despite Galileo's tight restrictions on data volume and downlink capability and several spacecraft and camera anomalies due to the intense radiation close to Jupiter, there were many successful SSI observations during GMM. Four giant, high-latitude plumes, including the largest plume ever observed on Io, were documented over a period of eight months; only faint evidence of such plumes had been seen since the Voyager 2 encounter, despite monitoring by Galileo during the previous five years. Moreover, the source of one of the plumes was Tvashtar Catena, demonstrating that a single site can exhibit remarkably diverse eruption styles—from a curtain of lava fountains, to extensive surface flows, and finally a ∼400 km high plume—over a relatively short period of time (∼13 months between orbits I25 and G29). Despite this substantial activity, no evidence of any truly new volcanic center was seen during the six years of Galileo observations. The recent observations also revealed details of mass wasting processes acting on Io. Slumping and landsliding dominate and occur in close proximity to each other, demonstrating spatial variation in material properties over distances of several kilometers. However, despite the ubiquitous evidence for mass wasting, the rate of volcanic resurfacing seems to dominate; the floors of paterae in proximity to mountains are generally free of debris. Finally, the highest resolution observations obtained during Galileo's final encounters with Io provided further evidence for a wide diversity of surface processes at work on Io.  相似文献   

The Sensitivity of Australian Fire Danger to Climate Change   总被引：14，自引：2，他引：12  

Allyson A. J. Williams  David J. Karoly  Nigel Tapper 《Climatic change》2001,49(1-2):171-191

Global climate change, such as that due to the proposed enhanced greenhouseeffect, is likely tohave a significant effect on biosphere-atmosphere interactions, includingbushfire regimes. Thisstudy quantifies the possible impact of climate change on fire regimes byestimating changes infire weather and the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FDI), an index thatis used throughoutAustralia to estimate fire danger. The CSIRO 9-level general circulation model(CSIRO9 GCM)is used to simulate daily and seasonal fire danger for the present Australianclimate and for adoubled-CO₂ climate. The impact assessment includes validation ofthe GCMs daily controlsimulation and the derivation of correction factors which improve theaccuracy of the firedanger simulation. In summary, the general impact of doubled-CO₂is to increase firedanger at all sites by increasing the number of days of very high and extremefire danger.Seasonal fire danger responds most to the large CO₂-induced changesin maximumtemperature.  相似文献   

Effects of the passage of an IMF discontinuity on the polar cap geometry and the formation of a polar cap arc     

S.-I. Akasofu  R. Williams  M. Roederer 《Planetary and Space Science》1984,32(1):119-125

Changes of the geometry of the open field line region (namely, the polar cap) caused by the passage of a tangential IMF discontinuity are simulated using the model constructed by Akasofu and Roederer (1983). A singly-bounded open field line region tends to split into two, forming a narrow closed field line region and thus allowing the formations of a plasma sheet and of an auroral arc across the highest latitude region of the Earth. The three-dimensional geometry of some of the closed field lines in the narrow closed region is examined. In this connection, an interesting observation of the formation of an auroral arc over Thule, Greenland, is reported.  相似文献   

Wind forced transport fluctuations of the Florida Current within the straits of Florida     

Thomas N. Lee  Elizabeth Williams 《中国海洋湖沼学报》1988,6(2):115-126

Volume transport fluctuations of the Florida Current (Gulf Stream), generated within the Straits of Florida by local meridional wind stress, is investigated. A simple coastal response model was applied to the Straits of Florida and forced by along-channel winds only. The predicted volume transports were in good agreement with transport estimates derived from moored current meters and cable voltages for winter winds. Surprisingly, good agreement was also found for the annual transport cycle for the two years of available data, suggesting that the seasonal change in local along-channel wind forcing provides a significant contribution to the annual transport cycle of the Gulf Stream.  相似文献