A helping hand: artificial nest site provisioning increases breeding success of a tropical seabird     

LA Hart  J Gane  I Olivier  M Brown 《African Journal of Marine Science》2016,38(2):233-239

Common white terns Gygis alba lay a single egg balanced on rocks or branches and consequently are at risk of low nesting success. A novel technique of hollowing out coconut husks and providing artificial nest sites was developed on Cousine Island, Seychelles. Our study aimed to critically assess whether common white tern nesting success differed between artificial and natural nest sites. For natural nest sites, nesting success and the stage of nest failure were also compared between seasons, nest heights, and tree species. Finally, we compared results from our study to those of a study conducted 10 years ago on the same island. Nesting success differed significantly between artificial nests and natural nests, with the success of artificial nests nearly double that of natural nests. Hatching success was similar for artificial and natural nests (65% and 52% respectively), suggesting coconut husks do not reduce egg losses, but rather provide secure perches for young chicks. Most natural nest failures occurred during the egg phase (70%), followed by the youngest chick phase (21%). Of the eggs that hatched in natural nests, 61% fledged successfully. Tree species and season significantly influenced nesting success for natural nests and nest height varied significantly between tree species. Higher nesting success was observed during the mixed seasonal period (50%) followed by the cooler, windier and drier South-East Monsoon season (33%). The hotter and more humid North-West Monsoon period had the lowest nesting success (20%). Comparisons of nesting success at natural and artificial nest sites with the earlier study did not differ significantly, despite a smaller population of common white terns being present on the island at that stage. Our results support the use of artificial nest sites to improve nesting success for this species and serve as a model for similar species currently under threat.  相似文献   

Review: Theory-guided machine learning applied to hydrogeology—state of the art,opportunities and future challenges     

Adombi  Adoubi Vincent De Paul  Chesnaux  Romain  Boucher  Marie-Am&#;lie 《Hydrogeology Journal》2021,29(8):2671-2683

Hydrogeology Journal - Thanks to recent technological advances, hydrogeologists now have access to large amounts of data acquired in real time. Processing these data using traditional modelling...  相似文献   

Calderas,landslides and paleo-canyons on Piton de la Fournaise volcano (La Réunion Island,Indian Ocean)     

Olivier Merle  Philippe Mairine  Laurent Michon  Patrick Bachèlery  Magali Smietana 《Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research》2010,189(1-2):131-142

Based upon a re-interpretation of previous data and a new field campaign, a structural evolution is proposed for the early history of Piton de la Fournaise volcano from 500,000 to 50,000 years. Conceptually, it is shown that the formation of a caldera in which lava flows are contained inside the caldera depression, gives time for erosion to excavate deep canyons on the external slopes of the volcano, for example, the Rivière des Remparts, the Rivière Langevin and the Rivière de l'Est canyons on Piton de la Fournaise volcano. These canyons are infilled when lavas, filling the caldera and overflowing its rim, are able again to flow on the external slopes of the volcano. In the past, this excavating/infilling process has occurred twice following the formation of the Rivière des Remparts and Morne Langevin calderas. The formation of the third caldera, the Plaine des Sables caldera, was followed by the excavation of the current canyons. In addition to this process, two large landslides have been documented in the field. The first, which happened about 300,000 years ago, is apparently the first episode of the break up of Piton de la Fournaise volcano, predating the formation of the four large calderas. The second landslide, which occurred 150,000 years ago and is considered to be less extensive, has carried away the entire southern flank of the Rivière des Remparts caldera.  相似文献   

Sediment yield in South Africa — A preliminary geographical analysis     

Kim Boucher  Alex van Breda Weaver Dr. 《GeoJournal》1991,23(1):7-17

The study examines the spatial relationships between sediment yield and 15 independent environmental variables in 54 catchments in South Africa. Rooseboom's (1978) data on the sediment yield from the catchments were standardized for a single time period. Bivariate regression analyses reveal no simple relationships. Multivariate regression analyses conducted for the whole and various sub-areas of South Africa indicate that latitude and longitude are the primary variables affecting spatial variations in sediment yield. This may be as a result of latitude and longitude being surrogate variables reflecting variation in other environmental variables (e. g. geology, vegetation). Within the sub-areas, 43.4% to 97.8% of the variation in sediment yield is explained by the combined variation in a number of different environmental variables. This study highlights a need for the collection and analysis of more sediment yield data, which would allow the analyses to be refined, to predict sediment yields from ungauged catchments in South Africa.  相似文献   

Cultures monoalgales: courte description et discussion d'une méthode permettant une observation à fort grossissement des cellules avant leur isolement à l'aide d'un emporte-pièce     

Dr Par Olivier L. Reymond 《Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries》1983,45(2):405-408

A method allowing isolation of phytoplancton algae for unialgal cultures is briefly described. Advantages and limits of the method are discussed.  相似文献   

Comments on a method allowing permanent preparations of phytoplankton for light microscopy and the accurate selection and positioning of its cells for transmission electron microscopy     

Dr. Olivier L. Reymond 《Aquatic Sciences - Research Across Boundaries》1983,45(2):409-410

A new flat embedding method is commented. This method allows embedding of the same phytoplankton sample for light and transmission electron microscopy. Rare or interesting field specimens can then be easily selected and sectioned without the need of cultures. A great range of biological material can be handled with this method.  相似文献   

Coseismic and post-seismic signatures of the Sumatra 2004 December and 2005 March earthquakes in GRACE satellite gravity   总被引：2，自引：0，他引：2  

Isabelle Panet  Valentin Mikhailov  Michel Diament  Fred Pollitz  Geoffrey King  Olivier de Viron  Matthias Holschneider  Richard Biancale  Jean-Michel Lemoine 《Geophysical Journal International》2007,171(1):177-190

The GRACE satellite mission has been measuring the Earth's gravity field and its temporal variations since 2002 April. Although these variations are mainly due to mass transfer within the geofluid envelops, they also result from mass displacements associated with phenomena including glacial isostatic adjustment and earthquakes. However, these last contributions are difficult to isolate because of the presence of noise and of geofluid signals, and because of GRACE's coarse spatial resolution (>400 km half-wavelength). In this paper, we show that a wavelet analysis on the sphere helps to retrieve earthquake signatures from GRACE geoid products. Using a wavelet analysis of GRACE geoids products, we show that the geoid variations caused by the 2004 December ( M _w= 9.2) and 2005 March ( M _w= 8.7) Sumatra earthquakes can be detected. At GRACE resolution, the 2004 December earthquake produced a strong coseismic decrease of the gravity field in the Andaman Sea, followed by relaxation in the area affected by both the Andaman 2004 and the Nias 2005 earthquakes. We find two characteristic timescales for the relaxation, with a fast variation occurring in the vicinity of the Central Andaman ridge. We discuss our coseismic observations in terms of density changes of crustal and upper-mantle rocks, and of the vertical displacements in the Andaman Sea. We interpret the post-seismic signal in terms of the viscoelastic response of the Earth's mantle. The transient component of the relaxation may indicate the presence of hot, viscous material beneath the active Central Andaman Basin.  相似文献   

Cumulating processes at the crust-mantle transition zone inferred from Permian mafic-ultramafic xenoliths (Puy Beaunit,France)     

Julien Berger  Olivier Féménias  Nicolas Coussaert  Jean-Claude C. Mercier  Daniel Demaiffe 《Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology》2007,153(5):557-575

Ultramafic and mafic xenoliths of magmatic origin, sampled in the Beaunit vent (northern French Massif Central), derive from the Permian (257 Ma) Beaunit layered complex (BLC) that was emplaced at the crust-mantle transition zone (∼1 GPa). These plutonic xenoliths are linked to a single fractional crystallisation process in four steps: peridotitic cumulates; websteritic cumulates; Al-rich mafic cumulates (plagioclase, pyroxenes, garnet, amphibole and spinel) and finally low-Al mafic cumulates. This sequence of cumulates can be related to the compositional evolution of hydrous Mg basaltic magma that evolved to high-Al basalt and finally to andesitic basalt. Sr and Nd isotopic compositions confirm the co-genetic character of the various magmatic xenoliths and argue for an enriched upper mantle source comparable to present mantle wedges above subduction zones. LILE, LREE and Pb enrichment are a common feature of all xenoliths and argue for an enriched sub-alkaline transitional parental magma. The existence of a Permian magma chamber at 30 km depth suggests that the low-velocity zone observed locally beneath the Moho probably does not represent an anomalous mantle but rather a sequence of mafic/ultramafic cumulates with densities close to those of mantle rocks.  相似文献   

2D magnetic resonance tomography applied to karstic conduit imaging   总被引：1，自引：1，他引：1  

J.-F. Girard  M. Boucher  A. Legchenko  J.-M. Baltassat 《Journal of Applied Geophysics》2007,63(3-4):103-116

Karstic conduits play a crucial role for water supply in many parts of the world. However, the imaging of such targets is generally a difficult task for most geophysical methods. Magnetic Resonance Sounding (MRS) is a geophysical method designed for imaging of water bearing structures. Initially, MRS was developed for characterizing horizontally stratified aquifers. However, when applying a 1D MRS measuring setup to the imaging of 2D–3D targets, the size of which may be much smaller than the loop, the accuracy and the lateral resolution may not be sufficient. We have studied the possibility of simultaneously processing several MRS aligned along a profile to perform a Magnetic Resonance Tomography (MRT). This work emphasizes the gain of resolution for 2D–3D imagery of MRT versus the interpolation of 1D inversion results of MRS along the same profile. Numerical modelling results show that the MRT response is sensitive to the size and location of the 2D target in the subsurface. Sensitivity studies reveal that by using the coincident transmitting/receiving (TX/RX) setup and shifting the loop around the anomaly area, the depth, section and position of a single karstic conduit with a size smaller than the MRS loop size can be resolved. The accuracy of the results depends on the noise level and signal level, the latter parameter being linked to the depth and volume of the karstic conduit and the water content in the limestone matrix. It was shown that when applying MRT to the localization of 2D anomalies such as karstic conduits, the inclination of the geomagnetic field, the orientation of the MRT profile and the angle of crossover of the conduit by the MRT profile must be taken into account. Otherwise additional errors in interpretation should be expected. A 2D inversion scheme was developed and tested. Both numerical and experimental results confirm the efficiency of the developed approach.  相似文献   

A review of algebraic constraints in terrestrial reference frame datum definition     

P. Sillard  C. Boucher 《Journal of Geodesy》2001,75(2-3):63-73

 Station coordinates are combined with velocities estimated by space geodesy techniques to produce the International Terrestrial Reference System. The input is sets of coordinates and velocities calculated by International Earth Rotation Service analysis centers using space geodesy techniques. The working reference system of individual analysis centers is generally conventionally defined. However, the implications of such processing can have an effect on the resulting combined set. The problem of datum definition as a function of coordinate combinations is reviewed. In particular, the problem of minimum constraints is clearly emphasized and the reference system effect is defined. The goal is to build a process that could be used generally to remove uncertainties in the underlying coordinate system without disturbing the underlying information with additional unnecessary information. Received: 25 January 1999 / Accepted: 20 September 2000  相似文献