Sample records for source-sink population structure

  1. Characterizing source-sink dynamics with genetic parentage assignments

    Treesearch

    M. Zachariah Peery; Steven R. Beissinger; Roger F. House; Martine Berube; Laurie A. Hall; Anna Sellas; Per J. Palsboll

    2008-01-01

    Source-sink dynamics have been suggested to characterize the population structure of many species, but the prevalence of source-sink systems in nature is uncertain because of inherent challenges in estimating migration rates among populations. Migration rates are often difficult to estimate directly with demographic methods, and indirect genetic methods are subject to...

  2. Spatial variation in anthropogenic mortality induces a source-sink system in a hunted mesopredator.

    PubMed

    Minnie, Liaan; Zalewski, Andrzej; Zalewska, Hanna; Kerley, Graham I H

    2018-04-01

    Lethal carnivore management is a prevailing strategy to reduce livestock predation. Intensity of lethal management varies according to land-use, where carnivores are more intensively hunted on farms relative to reserves. Variations in hunting intensity may result in the formation of a source-sink system where carnivores disperse from high-density to low-density areas. Few studies quantify dispersal between supposed sources and sinks-a fundamental requirement for source-sink systems. We used the black-backed jackal (Canis mesomelas) as a model to determine if heterogeneous anthropogenic mortality induces a source-sink system. We analysed 12 microsatellite loci from 554 individuals from lightly hunted and previously unhunted reserves, as well as heavily hunted livestock- and game farms. Bayesian genotype assignment showed that jackal populations displayed a hierarchical population structure. We identified two genetically distinct populations at the regional level and nine distinct subpopulations at the local level, with each cluster corresponding to distinct land-use types separated by various dispersal barriers. Migration, estimated using Bayesian multilocus genotyping, between reserves and farms was asymmetric and heterogeneous anthropogenic mortality induced source-sink dynamics via compensatory immigration. Additionally some heavily hunted populations also acted as source populations, exporting individuals to other heavily hunted populations. This indicates that heterogeneous anthropogenic mortality results in the formation of a complex series of interconnected sources and sinks. Thus, lethal management of mesopredators may not be an effective long-term strategy in reducing livestock predation, as dispersal and, more importantly, compensatory immigration may continue to affect population reduction efforts as long as dispersal from other areas persists.

  3. Detecting black bear source-sink dynamics using individual-based genetic graphs.

    PubMed

    Draheim, Hope M; Moore, Jennifer A; Etter, Dwayne; Winterstein, Scott R; Scribner, Kim T

    2016-07-27

    Source-sink dynamics affects population connectivity, spatial genetic structure and population viability for many species. We introduce a novel approach that uses individual-based genetic graphs to identify source-sink areas within a continuously distributed population of black bears (Ursus americanus) in the northern lower peninsula (NLP) of Michigan, USA. Black bear harvest samples (n = 569, from 2002, 2006 and 2010) were genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci and locations were compared across years to identify areas of consistent occupancy over time. We compared graph metrics estimated for a genetic model with metrics from 10 ecological models to identify ecological factors that were associated with sources and sinks. We identified 62 source nodes, 16 of which represent important source areas (net flux > 0.7) and 79 sink nodes. Source strength was significantly correlated with bear local harvest density (a proxy for bear density) and habitat suitability. Additionally, resampling simulations showed our approach is robust to potential sampling bias from uneven sample dispersion. Findings demonstrate black bears in the NLP exhibit asymmetric gene flow, and individual-based genetic graphs can characterize source-sink dynamics in continuously distributed species in the absence of discrete habitat patches. Our findings warrant consideration of undetected source-sink dynamics and their implications on harvest management of game species. © 2016 The Author(s).

  4. Detecting black bear source–sink dynamics using individual-based genetic graphs

    PubMed Central

    Draheim, Hope M.; Moore, Jennifer A.; Etter, Dwayne; Winterstein, Scott R.; Scribner, Kim T.

    2016-01-01

    Source–sink dynamics affects population connectivity, spatial genetic structure and population viability for many species. We introduce a novel approach that uses individual-based genetic graphs to identify source–sink areas within a continuously distributed population of black bears (Ursus americanus) in the northern lower peninsula (NLP) of Michigan, USA. Black bear harvest samples (n = 569, from 2002, 2006 and 2010) were genotyped at 12 microsatellite loci and locations were compared across years to identify areas of consistent occupancy over time. We compared graph metrics estimated for a genetic model with metrics from 10 ecological models to identify ecological factors that were associated with sources and sinks. We identified 62 source nodes, 16 of which represent important source areas (net flux > 0.7) and 79 sink nodes. Source strength was significantly correlated with bear local harvest density (a proxy for bear density) and habitat suitability. Additionally, resampling simulations showed our approach is robust to potential sampling bias from uneven sample dispersion. Findings demonstrate black bears in the NLP exhibit asymmetric gene flow, and individual-based genetic graphs can characterize source–sink dynamics in continuously distributed species in the absence of discrete habitat patches. Our findings warrant consideration of undetected source–sink dynamics and their implications on harvest management of game species. PMID:27440668

  5. Can the source–sink hypothesis explain macrofaunal abundance patterns in the abyss? A modelling test

    PubMed Central

    Hardy, Sarah M.; Smith, Craig R.; Thurnherr, Andreas M.

    2015-01-01

    Low food availability is a major structuring force in deep-sea benthic communities, sustaining only very low densities of organisms in parts of the abyss. These low population densities may result in an Allee effect, whereby local reproductive success is inhibited, and populations are maintained by larval dispersal from bathyal slopes. This slope–abyss source–sink (SASS) hypothesis suggests that the abyssal seafloor constitutes a vast sink habitat with macrofaunal populations sustained only by an influx of larval ‘refugees' from source areas on continental slopes, where higher productivity sustains greater population densities. Abyssal macrofaunal population densities would thus be directly related to larval inputs from bathyal source populations. We evaluate three predictions derived from the SASS hypothesis: (i) slope-derived larvae can be passively transported to central abyssal regions within a single larval period, (ii) projected larval export from slopes to the abyss reproduces global patterns of macrofaunal abundance and (iii) macrofaunal abundance decreases with distance from the continental slope. We find that abyssal macrofaunal populations are unlikely to be sustained solely through influx of larvae from slope sources. Rather, local reproduction probably sustains macrofaunal populations in relatively high-productivity abyssal areas, which must also be considered as potential larval source areas for more food-poor abyssal regions. PMID:25948686

  6. The role of local populations within a landscape context: Defining and classifying sources and sinks

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Runge, J.P.; Runge, M.C.; Nichols, J.D.

    2006-01-01

    The interaction of local populations has been the focus of an increasing number of studies in the past 30 years. The study of source-sink dynamics has especially generated much interest. Many of the criteria used to distinguish sources and sinks incorporate the process of apparent survival (i.e., the combined probability of true survival and site fidelity) but not emigration. These criteria implicitly treat emigration as mortality, thus biasing the classification of sources and sinks in a manner that could lead to flawed habitat management. Some of the same criteria require rather restrictive assumptions about population equilibrium that, when violated, can also generate misleading inference. Here, we expand on a criterion (denoted ?contribution? or Cr) that incorporates successful emigration in differentiating sources and sinks and that makes no restrictive assumptions about dispersal or equilibrium processes in populations of interest. The metric Cr is rooted in the theory of matrix population models, yet it also contains clearly specified parameters that have been estimated in previous empirical research. We suggest that estimates of emigration are important for delineating sources and sinks and, more generally, for evaluating how local populations interact to generate overall system dynamics. This suggestion has direct implications for issues such as species conservation and habitat management.

  7. Divergence in sink contributions to population persistence (journal article)

    EPA Science Inventory

    Population sinks present unique conservation challenges. The loss of individuals in sinks can compromise persistence; but conversely, sinks can improve viability by improving connectivity and facilitating the recolonization of vacant sources. To assess the contribution of sinks t...

  8. Bounds on the dynamics of sink populations with noisy immigration.

    PubMed

    Eager, Eric Alan; Guiver, Chris; Hodgson, Dave; Rebarber, Richard; Stott, Iain; Townley, Stuart

    2014-03-01

    Sink populations are doomed to decline to extinction in the absence of immigration. The dynamics of sink populations are not easily modelled using the standard framework of per capita rates of immigration, because numbers of immigrants are determined by extrinsic sources (for example, source populations, or population managers). Here we appeal to a systems and control framework to place upper and lower bounds on both the transient and future dynamics of sink populations that are subject to noisy immigration. Immigration has a number of interpretations and can fit a wide variety of models found in the literature. We apply the results to case studies derived from published models for Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and blowout penstemon (Penstemon haydenii). Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Source-sink dynamics sustain central stonerollers (Campostoma anomalum) in a heavily urbanized catchment

    Treesearch

    Eric R. Waits; Mark J. Bagley; Michael J. Blum; Frank H. McCormick; James M. Lazorchak

    2008-01-01

    Relating local demographic processes to spatial structure (e.g. habitat heterogeneity) is essential for understanding population and species persistence (Hanski & Gilpin, 1997; Fagan, 2002). Yet few studies have tested general hypotheses about the importance of spatial patterns in determining population dynamics within river­stream networks (Lowe, Likens &...

  10. Sink populations in carnivore management: cougar demography and immigration in a hunted population.

    PubMed

    Robinson, Hugh S; Wielgus, Robert B; Cooley, Hilary S; Cooley, Skye W

    2008-06-01

    Carnivores are widely hunted for both sport and population control, especially where they conflict with human interests. It is widely believed that sport hunting is effective in reducing carnivore populations and related human-carnivore conflicts, while maintaining viable populations. However, the way in which carnivore populations respond to harvest can vary greatly depending on their social structure, reproductive strategies, and dispersal patterns. For example, hunted cougar (Puma concolor) populations have shown a great degree of resiliency. Although hunting cougars on a broad geographic scale (> 2000 km2) has reduced densities, hunting of smaller areas (i.e., game management units, < 1000 km2), could conceivably fail because of increased immigration from adjacent source areas. We monitored a heavily hunted population from 2001 to 2006 to test for the effects of hunting at a small scale (< 1000 km2) and to gauge whether population control was achieved (lambda < or = 1.0) or if hunting losses were negated by increased immigration allowing the population to remain stable or increase (lambda > or = 1.0). The observed growth rate of 1.00 was significantly higher than our predicted survival/fecundity growth rates (using a Leslie matrix) of 0.89 (deterministic) and 0.84 (stochastic), with the difference representing an 11-16% annual immigration rate. We observed no decline in density of the total population or the adult population, but a significant decrease in the average age of independent males. We found that the male component of the population was increasing (observed male population growth rate, lambda(OM) = 1.09), masking a decrease in the female component (lambda(OF) = 0.91). Our data support the compensatory immigration sink hypothesis; cougar removal in small game management areas (< 1000 km2) increased immigration and recruitment of younger animals from adjacent areas, resulting in little or no reduction in local cougar densities and a shift in population structure toward younger animals. Hunting in high-quality habitats may create an attractive sink, leading to misinterpretation of population trends and masking population declines in the sink and surrounding source areas.

  11. Phenotypic plasticity despite source-sink population dynamics in a long-lived perennial plant.

    PubMed

    Anderson, Jill T; Sparks, Jed P; Geber, Monica A

    2010-11-01

    • Species that exhibit adaptive plasticity alter their phenotypes in response to environmental conditions, thereby maximizing fitness in heterogeneous landscapes. However, under demographic source-sink dynamics, selection should favor traits that enhance fitness in the source habitat at the expense of fitness in the marginal habitat. Consistent with source-sink dynamics, the perennial blueberry, Vaccinium elliottii (Ericaceae), shows substantially higher fitness and population sizes in dry upland forests than in flood-prone bottomland forests, and asymmetrical gene flow occurs from upland populations into bottomland populations. Here, we examined whether this species expresses plasticity to these distinct environments despite source-sink dynamics. • We assessed phenotypic responses to a complex environmental gradient in the field and to water stress in the glasshouse. • Contrary to expectations, V. elliottii exhibited a high degree of plasticity in foliar and root traits (specific leaf area, carbon isotope ratios, foliar nitrogen content, root : shoot ratio, root porosity and root architecture). • We propose that plasticity can be maintained in source-sink systems if it is favored within the source habitat and/or a phylogenetic artifact that is not costly. Additionally, plasticity could be advantageous if habitat-based differences in fitness result from incipient niche expansion. Our results illuminate the importance of evaluating phenotypic traits and fitness components across heterogeneous landscapes. © The Authors (2010). Journal compilation © New Phytologist Trust (2010).

  12. Towards the theory of pollinator-mediated gene flow.

    PubMed Central

    Cresswell, James E

    2003-01-01

    I present a new exposition of a model of gene flow by animal-mediated pollination between a source population and a sink population. The model's parameters describe two elements: (i) the expected portion of the source's paternity that extends to the sink population; and (ii) the dilution of this portion by within-sink pollinations. The model is termed the portion-dilution model (PDM). The PDM is a parametric restatement of the conventional view of animal-mediated pollination. In principle, it can be applied to plant species in general. I formulate a theoretical value of the portion parameter that maximizes gene flow and prescribe this as a benchmark against which to judge the performance of real systems. Existing foraging theory can be used in solving part of the PDM, but a theory for source-to-sink transitions by pollinators is currently elusive. PMID:12831465

  13. Sinks without borders: Snowshoe hare dynamics in a complex landscape

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Griffin, Paul C.; Mills, L. Scott

    2009-01-01

    A full understanding of population dynamics of wide-ranging animals should account for the effects that movement and habitat use have on individual contributions to population growth or decline. Quantifying the per-capita, habitat-specific contribution to population growth can clarify the value of different patch types, and help to differentiate population sources from population sinks. Snowshoe hares, Lepus americanus, routinely use various habitat types in the landscapes they inhabit in the contiguous US, where managing forests for high snowshoe hare density is a priority for conservation of Canada lynx, Lynx canadensis. We estimated density and demographic rates via mark–recapture live trapping and radio-telemetry within four forest stand structure (FSS) types at three study areas within heterogeneous managed forests in western Montana. We found support for known fate survival models with time-varying individual covariates representing the proportion of locations in each of the FSS types, with survival rates decreasing as use of open young and open mature FSS types increased. The per-capita contribution to overall population growth increased with use of the dense mature or dense young FSS types and decreased with use of the open young or open mature FSS types, and relatively high levels of immigration appear to be necessary to sustain hares in the open FSS types. Our results support a conceptual model for snowshoe hares in the southern range in which sink habitats (open areas) prevent the buildup of high hare densities. More broadly, we use this system to develop a novel approach to quantify demographic sources and sinks for animals making routine movements through complex fragmented landscapes.

  14. Sources and Sinks: A Stochastic Model of Evolution in Heterogeneous Environments

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hermsen, Rutger; Hwa, Terence

    2010-12-01

    We study evolution driven by spatial heterogeneity in a stochastic model of source-sink ecologies. A sink is a habitat where mortality exceeds reproduction so that a local population persists only due to immigration from a source. Immigrants can, however, adapt to conditions in the sink by mutation. To characterize the adaptation rate, we derive expressions for the first arrival time of adapted mutants. The joint effects of migration, mutation, birth, and death result in two distinct parameter regimes. These results may pertain to the rapid evolution of drug-resistant pathogens and insects.

  15. Coexistence in streams: Do source-sink dynamics allow salamanders to persist with fish predators?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sepulveda, A.J.; Lowe, W.H.

    2011-01-01

    Theory suggests that source-sink dynamics can allow coexistence of intraguild predators and prey, but empirical evidence for this coexistence mechanism is limited. We used capture-mark-recapture, genetic methods, and stable isotopes to test whether source-sink dynamics promote coexistence between stream fishes, the intraguild predator, and stream salamanders (Dicamptodon aterrimus), the intraguild prey. Salamander populations from upstream reaches without fish were predicted to maintain or supplement sink populations in downstream reaches with fish. We found instead that downstream reaches with fish were not sinks even though fish consumed salamander larvae-apparent survival, recruitment, and population growth rate did not differ between upstream and downstream reaches. There was also no difference between upstream and downstream reaches in net emigration. We did find that D. aterrimus moved frequently along streams, but believe that this is a response to seasonal habitat changes rather than intraguild predation. Our study provides empirical evidence that local-scale mechanisms are more important than dispersal dynamics to coexistence of streams salamanders and fish. More broadly, it shows the value of empirical data on dispersal and gene flow for distinguishing between local and spatial mechanisms of coexistence. ?? 2011 Springer-Verlag.

  16. Population-level consequences of herbivory, changing climate, and source-sink dynamics on a long-lived invasive shrub.

    PubMed

    van Klinken, R D; Pichancourt, J B

    2015-12-01

    Long-lived plant species are highly valued environmentally, economically, and socially, but can also cause substantial harm as invaders. Realistic demographic predictions can guide management decisions, and are particularly valuable for long-lived species where population response times can be long. Long-lived species are also challenging, given population dynamics can be affected by factors as diverse as herbivory, climate, and dispersal. We developed a matrix model to evaluate the effects of herbivory by a leaf-feeding biological control agent released in Australia against a long-lived invasive shrub (mesquite, Leguminoseae: Prosopis spp.). The stage-structured, density-dependent model used an annual time step and 10 climatically diverse years of field data. Mesquite population demography is sensitive to source-sink dynamics as most seeds are consumed and redistributed spatially by livestock. In addition, individual mesquite plants, because they are long lived, experience natural climate variation that cycles over decadal scales, as well as anthropogenic climate change. The model therefore explicitly considered the effects of both net dispersal and climate variation. Herbivory strongly regulated mesquite populations through reduced growth and fertility, but additional mortality of older plants will be required to reach management goals within a reasonable time frame. Growth and survival of seeds and seedlings were correlated with daily soil moisture. As a result, population dynamics were sensitive to rainfall scenario, but population response times were typically slow (20-800 years to reach equilibrium or extinction) due to adult longevity. Equilibrium population densities were expected to remain 5% higher, and be more dynamic, if historical multi-decadal climate patterns persist, the effect being dampened by herbivory suppressing seed production irrespective of preceding rainfall. Dense infestations were unlikely to form under a drier climate, and required net dispersal under the current climate. Seed input wasn't required to form dense infestations under a wetter climate. Each factor we considered (ongoing herbivory, changing climate, and source-sink dynamics) has a strong bearing on how this invasive species should be managed, highlighting the need for considering both ecological context (in this case, source-sink dynamics) and the effect of climate variability at relevant temporal scales (daily, multi-decadal, and anthropogenic) when deriving management recommendations for long-lived species.

  17. Simulation of fruit-set and trophic competition and optimization of yield advantages in six Capsicum cultivars using functional-structural plant modelling.

    PubMed

    Ma, Y T; Wubs, A M; Mathieu, A; Heuvelink, E; Zhu, J Y; Hu, B G; Cournède, P H; de Reffye, P

    2011-04-01

    Many indeterminate plants can have wide fluctuations in the pattern of fruit-set and harvest. Fruit-set in these types of plants depends largely on the balance between source (assimilate supply) and sink strength (assimilate demand) within the plant. This study aims to evaluate the ability of functional-structural plant models to simulate different fruit-set patterns among Capsicum cultivars through source-sink relationships. A greenhouse experiment of six Capsicum cultivars characterized with different fruit weight and fruit-set was conducted. Fruit-set patterns and potential fruit sink strength were determined through measurement. Source and sink strength of other organs were determined via the GREENLAB model, with a description of plant organ weight and dimensions according to plant topological structure established from the measured data as inputs. Parameter optimization was determined using a generalized least squares method for the entire growth cycle. Fruit sink strength differed among cultivars. Vegetative sink strength was generally lower for large-fruited cultivars than for small-fruited ones. The larger the size of the fruit, the larger variation there was in fruit-set and fruit yield. Large-fruited cultivars need a higher source-sink ratio for fruit-set, which means higher demand for assimilates. Temporal heterogeneity of fruit-set affected both number and yield of fruit. The simulation study showed that reducing heterogeneity of fruit-set was obtained by different approaches: for example, increasing source strength; decreasing vegetative sink strength, source-sink ratio for fruit-set and flower appearance rate; and harvesting individual fruits earlier before full ripeness. Simulation results showed that, when we increased source strength or decreased vegetative sink strength, fruit-set and fruit weight increased. However, no significant differences were found between large-fruited and small-fruited groups of cultivars regarding the effects of source and vegetative sink strength on fruit-set and fruit weight. When the source-sink ratio at fruit-set decreased, the number of fruit retained on the plant increased competition for assimilates with vegetative organs. Therefore, total plant and vegetative dry weights decreased, especially for large-fruited cultivars. Optimization study showed that temporal heterogeneity of fruit-set and ripening was predicted to be reduced when fruits were harvested earlier. Furthermore, there was a 20 % increase in the number of extra fruit set.

  18. Identifying Greater Sage-Grouse source and sink habitats for conservation planning in an energy development landscape.

    PubMed

    Kirol, Christopher P; Beck, Jeffrey L; Huzurbazar, Snehalata V; Holloran, Matthew J; Miller, Scott N

    2015-06-01

    Conserving a declining species that is facing many threats, including overlap of its habitats with energy extraction activities, depends upon identifying and prioritizing the value of the habitats that remain. In addition, habitat quality is often compromised when source habitats are lost or fragmented due to anthropogenic development. Our objective was to build an ecological model to classify and map habitat quality in terms of source or sink dynamics for Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the Atlantic Rim Project Area (ARPA), a developing coalbed natural gas field in south-central Wyoming, USA. We used occurrence and survival modeling to evaluate relationships between environmental and anthropogenic variables at multiple spatial scales and for all female summer life stages, including nesting, brood-rearing, and non-brooding females. For each life stage, we created resource selection functions (RSFs). We weighted the RSFs and combined them to form a female summer occurrence map. We modeled survival also as a function of spatial variables for nest, brood, and adult female summer survival. Our survival-models were mapped as survival probability functions individually and then combined with fixed vital rates in a fitness metric model that, when mapped, predicted habitat productivity (productivity map). Our results demonstrate a suite of environmental and anthropogenic variables at multiple scales that were predictive of occurrence and survival. We created a source-sink map by overlaying our female summer occurrence map and productivity map to predict habitats contributing to population surpluses (source habitats) or deficits (sink habitat) and low-occurrence habitats on the landscape. The source-sink map predicted that of the Sage-Grouse habitat within the ARPA, 30% was primary source, 29% was secondary source, 4% was primary sink, 6% was secondary sink, and 31% was low occurrence. Our results provide evidence that energy development and avoidance of energy infrastructure were probably reducing the amount of source habitat within the ARPA landscape. Our source-sink map provides managers with a means of prioritizing habitats for conservation planning based on source and sink dynamics. The spatial identification of high value (i.e., primary source) as well as suboptimal (i.e., primary sink) habitats allows for informed energy development to minimize effects on local wildlife populations.

  19. Seasonal source-sink dynamics at the edge of a species' range

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kanda, L.L.; Fuller, T.K.; Sievert, P.R.; Kellogg, R.L.

    2009-01-01

    The roles of dispersal and population dynamics in determining species' range boundaries recently have received theoretical attention but little empirical work. Here we provide data on survival, reproduction, and movement for a Virginia opossum (Didelphis virginiana) population at a local distributional edge in central Massachusetts (USA). Most juvenile females that apparently exploited anthropogenic resources survived their first winter, whereas those using adjacent natural resources died of starvation. In spring, adult females recolonized natural areas. A life-table model suggests that a population exploiting anthropogenic resources may grow, acting as source to a geographically interlaced sink of opossums using only natural resources, and also providing emigrants for further range expansion to new human-dominated landscapes. In a geographical model, this source-sink dynamic is consistent with the local distribution identified through road-kill surveys. The Virginia opossum's exploitation of human resources likely ameliorates energetically restrictive winters and may explain both their local distribution and their northward expansion in unsuitable natural climatic regimes. Landscape heterogeneity, such as created by urbanization, may result in source-sink dynamics at highly localized scales. Differential fitness and individual dispersal movements within local populations are key to generating regional distributions, and thus species ranges, that exceed expectations. ?? 2009 by the Ecological Society of America.

  20. Hormonal and metabolic regulation of source-sink relations under salinity and drought: from plant survival to crop yield stability.

    PubMed

    Albacete, Alfonso A; Martínez-Andújar, Cristina; Pérez-Alfocea, Francisco

    2014-01-01

    Securing food production for the growing population will require closing the gap between potential crop productivity under optimal conditions and the yield captured by farmers under a changing environment, which is termed agronomical stability. Drought and salinity are major environmental factors contributing to the yield gap ultimately by inducing premature senescence in the photosynthetic source tissues of the plant and by reducing the number and growth of the harvestable sink organs by affecting the transport and use of assimilates between and within them. However, the changes in source-sink relations induced by stress also include adaptive changes in the reallocation of photoassimilates that influence crop productivity, ranging from plant survival to yield stability. While the massive utilization of -omic technologies in model plants is discovering hundreds of genes with potential impacts in alleviating short-term applied drought and salinity stress (usually measured as plant survival), only in relatively few cases has an effect on crop yield stability been proven. However, achieving the former does not necessarily imply the latter. Plant survival only requires water status conservation and delayed leaf senescence (thus maintaining source activity) that is usually accompanied by growth inhibition. However, yield stability will additionally require the maintenance or increase in sink activity in the reproductive structures, thus contributing to the transport of assimilates from the source leaves and to delayed stress-induced leaf senescence. This review emphasizes the role of several metabolic and hormonal factors influencing not only the source strength, but especially the sink activity and their inter-relations, and their potential to improve yield stability under drought and salinity stresses. © 2013.

  1. A framework for estimating the determinants of spatial and temporal variation in vital rates and inferring the occurrence of unobserved extreme events

    PubMed Central

    Jesenšek, Dušan; Crivelli, Alain J.

    2018-01-01

    We develop a general framework that combines long-term tag–recapture data and powerful statistical and modelling techniques to investigate how population, environmental and climate factors determine variation in vital rates and population dynamics in an animal species, using as a case study the population of brown trout living in Upper Volaja (Western Slovenia). This population has been monitored since 2004. Upper Volaja is a sink, receiving individuals from a source population living above a waterfall. We estimate the numerical contribution of the source population on the sink population and test the effects of temperature, population density and extreme events on variation in vital rates among 2647 individually tagged brown trout. We found that individuals dispersing downstream from the source population help maintain high population densities in the sink population despite poor recruitment. The best model of survival for individuals older than juveniles includes additive effects of birth cohort and sampling occasion. Fast growth of older cohorts and higher population densities in 2004–2005 suggest very low population densities in the late 1990s, which we hypothesize were caused by a flash flood that strongly reduced population size and created the habitat conditions for faster individual growth and transient higher population densities after the extreme event. PMID:29657746

  2. A framework for estimating the determinants of spatial and temporal variation in vital rates and inferring the occurrence of unobserved extreme events.

    PubMed

    Vincenzi, Simone; Jesenšek, Dušan; Crivelli, Alain J

    2018-03-01

    We develop a general framework that combines long-term tag-recapture data and powerful statistical and modelling techniques to investigate how population, environmental and climate factors determine variation in vital rates and population dynamics in an animal species, using as a case study the population of brown trout living in Upper Volaja (Western Slovenia). This population has been monitored since 2004. Upper Volaja is a sink, receiving individuals from a source population living above a waterfall. We estimate the numerical contribution of the source population on the sink population and test the effects of temperature, population density and extreme events on variation in vital rates among 2647 individually tagged brown trout. We found that individuals dispersing downstream from the source population help maintain high population densities in the sink population despite poor recruitment. The best model of survival for individuals older than juveniles includes additive effects of birth cohort and sampling occasion. Fast growth of older cohorts and higher population densities in 2004-2005 suggest very low population densities in the late 1990s, which we hypothesize were caused by a flash flood that strongly reduced population size and created the habitat conditions for faster individual growth and transient higher population densities after the extreme event.

  3. A new tool that links landscale connectivity and source-sink dynamics to population viability

    EPA Science Inventory

    The importance of connectivity and source-sink dynamics to conservation planning is widely appreciated. But the use of these concepts in practical applications such as the identification of critical habitat has been slowed because few models are designed to identify demographic s...

  4. Carbon source-sink limitations differ between two species with contrasting growth strategies.

    PubMed

    Burnett, Angela C; Rogers, Alistair; Rees, Mark; Osborne, Colin P

    2016-11-01

    Understanding how carbon source and sink strengths limit plant growth is a critical knowledge gap that hinders efforts to maximize crop yield. We investigated how differences in growth rate arise from source-sink limitations, using a model system comparing a fast-growing domesticated annual barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. NFC Tipple) with a slow-growing wild perennial relative (Hordeum bulbosum). Source strength was manipulated by growing plants at sub-ambient and elevated CO 2 concentrations ([CO 2 ]). Limitations on vegetative growth imposed by source and sink were diagnosed by measuring relative growth rate, developmental plasticity, photosynthesis and major carbon and nitrogen metabolite pools. Growth was sink limited in the annual but source limited in the perennial. RGR and carbon acquisition were higher in the annual, but photosynthesis responded weakly to elevated [CO 2 ] indicating that source strength was near maximal at current [CO 2 ]. In contrast, photosynthetic rate and sink development responded strongly to elevated [CO 2 ] in the perennial, indicating significant source limitation. Sink limitation was avoided in the perennial by high sink plasticity: a marked increase in tillering and root:shoot ratio at elevated [CO 2 ], and lower non-structural carbohydrate accumulation. Alleviating sink limitation during vegetative development could be important for maximizing growth of elite cereals under future elevated [CO 2 ]. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  5. Carbon source-sink limitations differ between two species with contrasting growth strategies: Source-sink limitations vary with growth strategy

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Burnett, Angela C.; Rogers, A.; Rees, M.

    When we understand how carbon source and sink strengths limit plant growth we realized how critical the knowledge gap is in hindering efforts to maximize crop yield. Here, we investigated how differences in growth rate arise from source–sink limitations, using a model system comparing a fast-growing domesticated annual barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. NFC Tipple) with a slow-growing wild perennial relative (Hordeum bulbosum). Source strength was manipulated by growing plants at sub-ambient and elevated CO 2 concentrations ([CO 2]). Limitations on vegetative growth imposed by source and sink were diagnosed by measuring relative growth rate, developmental plasticity, photosynthesis and major carbonmore » and nitrogen metabolite pools. Growth was sink limited in the annual but source limited in the perennial. RGR and carbon acquisition were higher in the annual, but photosynthesis responded weakly to elevated [CO 2] indicating that source strength was near maximal at current [CO 2]. In contrast, photosynthetic rate and sink development responded strongly to elevated [CO 2] in the perennial, indicating significant source limitation. Sink limitation was avoided in the perennial by high sink plasticity: a marked increase in tillering and root:shoot ratio at elevated [CO 2], and lower non-structural carbohydrate accumulation. Finally, by alleviating sink limitation during vegetative development could be important for maximizing growth of elite cereals under future elevated [CO 2].« less

  6. Carbon source-sink limitations differ between two species with contrasting growth strategies: Source-sink limitations vary with growth strategy

    DOE PAGES

    Burnett, Angela C.; Rogers, A.; Rees, M.; ...

    2016-09-22

    When we understand how carbon source and sink strengths limit plant growth we realized how critical the knowledge gap is in hindering efforts to maximize crop yield. Here, we investigated how differences in growth rate arise from source–sink limitations, using a model system comparing a fast-growing domesticated annual barley (Hordeum vulgare cv. NFC Tipple) with a slow-growing wild perennial relative (Hordeum bulbosum). Source strength was manipulated by growing plants at sub-ambient and elevated CO 2 concentrations ([CO 2]). Limitations on vegetative growth imposed by source and sink were diagnosed by measuring relative growth rate, developmental plasticity, photosynthesis and major carbonmore » and nitrogen metabolite pools. Growth was sink limited in the annual but source limited in the perennial. RGR and carbon acquisition were higher in the annual, but photosynthesis responded weakly to elevated [CO 2] indicating that source strength was near maximal at current [CO 2]. In contrast, photosynthetic rate and sink development responded strongly to elevated [CO 2] in the perennial, indicating significant source limitation. Sink limitation was avoided in the perennial by high sink plasticity: a marked increase in tillering and root:shoot ratio at elevated [CO 2], and lower non-structural carbohydrate accumulation. Finally, by alleviating sink limitation during vegetative development could be important for maximizing growth of elite cereals under future elevated [CO 2].« less

  7. Predator transitory spillover induces trophic cascades in ecological sinks

    PubMed Central

    Casini, Michele; Blenckner, Thorsten; Möllmann, Christian; Gårdmark, Anna; Lindegren, Martin; Llope, Marcos; Kornilovs, Georgs; Plikshs, Maris; Stenseth, Nils Christian

    2012-01-01

    Understanding the effects of cross-system fluxes is fundamental in ecosystem ecology and biological conservation. Source-sink dynamics and spillover processes may link adjacent ecosystems by movement of organisms across system boundaries. However, effects of temporal variability in these cross-system fluxes on a whole marine ecosystem structure have not yet been presented. Here we show, using 35 y of multitrophic data series from the Baltic Sea, that transitory spillover of the top-predator cod from its main distribution area produces cascading effects in the whole food web of an adjacent and semi-isolated ecosystem. At varying population size, cod expand/contract their distribution range and invade/retreat from the neighboring Gulf of Riga, thereby affecting the local prey population of herring and, indirectly, zooplankton and phytoplankton via top-down control. The Gulf of Riga can be considered for cod a “true sink” habitat, where in the absence of immigration from the source areas of the central Baltic Sea the cod population goes extinct due to the absence of suitable spawning grounds. Our results add a metaecosystem perspective to the ongoing intense scientific debate on the key role of top predators in structuring natural systems. The integration of regional and local processes is central to predict species and ecosystem responses to future climate changes and ongoing anthropogenic disturbances. PMID:22505739

  8. Self-sustaining populations, population sinks or aggregates of strays: chum (Oncorhynchus keta) and Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) in the Wood River system, Alaska.

    PubMed

    Lin, Jocelyn E; Hilborn, Ray; Quinn, Thomas P; Hauser, Lorenz

    2011-12-01

    Small populations can provide insights into ecological and evolutionary aspects of species distributions over space and time. In the Wood River system in Alaska, USA, small aggregates of Chinook (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and chum salmon (O. keta) spawn in an area dominated by sockeye salmon (O. nerka). Our objective was to determine whether these Chinook and chum salmon are reproductively isolated, self-sustaining populations, population sinks that produce returning adults but receive immigration, or strays from other systems that do not produce returning adults. DNA samples collected from adult chum salmon from 16 streams and Chinook salmon from four streams in the Wood River system over 3 years were compared to samples from large populations in the nearby Nushagak River system, a likely source of strays. For both species, microsatellite markers indicated no significant genetic differentiation between the two systems. Simulations of microsatellite data in a large source and a smaller sink population suggested that considerable immigration would be required to counteract the diverging effects of genetic drift and produce genetic distances as small as those observed, considering the small census sizes of the two species in the Wood River system. Thus, the Wood River system likely receives substantial immigration from neighbouring watersheds, such as the Nushagak River system, which supports highly productive runs. Although no data on population productivity in the Wood River system exist, our results suggest source-sink dynamics for the two species, a finding relevant to other systems where salmonid population sizes are limited by habitat factors. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  9. Could residual oil from the Exxon Valdez spill create a long-term population "sink" for sea otters in Alaska?

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Monson, Daniel H.; Doak, Daniel F.; Ballachey, Brenda E.; Bodkin, James L.

    2011-01-01

    Over 20 years ago, the Exxon Valdez oil tanker spilled 42 million L of crude oil into the waters of Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA. At the time of the spill, the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) population inhabiting the spill area suffered substantial acute injuries and loss. Subsequent research has resulted in one of the best-studied species responses to an oil spill in history. However, the question remains: Is the spill still influencing the Prince William Sound sea otter population? Here we fit time-varying population models to data for the sea otter population of western Prince William Sound to quantify the duration and extent of mortality effects from the spill. We hypothesize that the patchy nature of residual oil left in the environment has created a source-sink population dynamic. We fit models using the age distributions of both living and dying animals and estimates of sea otter population size to predict the number of sea otters in the hypothesized sink population and the number lost to this sink due to chronic exposure to residual oil. Our results suggest that the sink population has remained at just over 900 individuals (95% CI: 606-960) between 1990 and 2009, during which time prime-age survival remained 2-6% below pre-spill levels. This reduced survival led to chronic losses of ???900 animals over the past two decades, which is similar in magnitude to the number of sea otter deaths documented in western Prince William Sound during the acute phase of the spill. However, the unaffected source population appears to be counterbalancing these losses, with the model indicating that the sea otter population increased from ???2150 individuals in 1990 to nearly 3000 in 2009. The most optimistic interpretation of our results suggests that mortality effects dissipated between 2005 and 2007. Our results suggest that residual oil can affect wildlife populations on time scales much longer than previously believed and that cumulative chronic effects can be as significant as acute effects. Further, source-sink population dynamics can explain the slow recovery observed in the spill-affected western Prince William Sound sea otter population and are consistent with available data. ??2011 by the Ecological Society of America.

  10. Modelling recolonization of second-growth forest stands by the north american red squirrel Tamiasciurus hudsonicus.

    PubMed

    Nyquist, B; Tyson, R; Larsen, K

    2007-05-01

    In this paper, we present a model for source-sink population dynamics where the locations of source and sink habitats change over time. We do this in the context of the population dynamics of the North American red squirrel, Tamiasciurus hudsonicus, within a forest environment subject to harvesting and regrowth. Harvested patches of forest are initially sinks, then eventually become source habitat again as the forest regrows. At the same time, each harvested patch is gradually recolonized by squirrels from other forest patches. We are interested in the interaction of forest harvesting dynamics with squirrel population dynamics. This depends on the harvesting schedule, and on the choices squirrels make when deciding whether to settle in a mature forest patch or in a recently harvested patch. We find that the time it takes for a second-growth forest patch to be recolonized at the mature forest level is longer than the time required for the habitat quality to be restored to the mature forest level. We also notice that recolonization pressure decreases squirrel populations in neighbouring patches. The connectivity between forest patches and the cutting schedule used also affect the time course of recolonization and steady-state population levels.

  11. A method to analyze "source-sink" structure of non-point source pollution based on remote sensing technology.

    PubMed

    Jiang, Mengzhen; Chen, Haiying; Chen, Qinghui

    2013-11-01

    With the purpose of providing scientific basis for environmental planning about non-point source pollution prevention and control, and improving the pollution regulating efficiency, this paper established the Grid Landscape Contrast Index based on Location-weighted Landscape Contrast Index according to the "source-sink" theory. The spatial distribution of non-point source pollution caused by Jiulongjiang Estuary could be worked out by utilizing high resolution remote sensing images. The results showed that, the area of "source" of nitrogen and phosphorus in Jiulongjiang Estuary was 534.42 km(2) in 2008, and the "sink" was 172.06 km(2). The "source" of non-point source pollution was distributed mainly over Xiamen island, most of Haicang, east of Jiaomei and river bank of Gangwei and Shima; and the "sink" was distributed over southwest of Xiamen island and west of Shima. Generally speaking, the intensity of "source" gets weaker along with the distance from the seas boundary increase, while "sink" gets stronger. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Cougar survival and source-sink structure on Greater Yellowstone's Northern Range

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ruth, T.K.; Haroldson, M.A.; Murphy, K.M.; Buotte, P.C.; Hornocker, M.G.; Quigley, H.B.

    2011-01-01

    We studied survival and causes of mortality of radiocollared cougars (Puma concolor) on the Greater Yellowstone Northern Range (GYNR) prior to (1987–1994) and after wolf (Canis lupus) reintroduction (1998–2005) and evaluated temporal, spatial, and environmental factors that explain variation in adult, subadult, and kitten survival. Using Program MARK and multimodel inference, we modeled cougar survival based on demographic status, season, and landscape attributes. Our best models for adult and independent subadults indicated that females survived better than males and survival increased with age until cougars reached older ages. Lower elevations and increasing density of roads, particularly in areas open to cougar hunting north of Yellowstone National Park (YNP), increased mortality risks for cougars on the GYNR. Indices of ungulate biomass, cougar and wolf population size, winter severity, rainfall, and individual characteristics such as the presence of dependent young, age class, and use of Park or Wilderness were not important predictors of survival. Kitten survival increased with age, was lower during winter, increased with increasing minimum estimates of elk calf biomass, and increased with increasing density of adult male cougars. Using our best model, we mapped adult cougar survival on the GYNR landscape. Results of receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis indicated a good model fit for both female (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.81, 95%CI = 0.70–0.92, n = 35 locations) and male cougars (AUC = 0.84, 95%CI = 0.74–0.94, n = 49 locations) relative to hunter harvest locations in our study area. Using minimum estimates of survival necessary to sustain the study population, we developed a source-sink surface and we identify several measures that resource management agencies can take to enhance cougar population management based on a source-sink strategy.

  13. Human-caused mortality influences spatial population dynamics: pumas in landscapes with varying mortality risks

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Newby, Jesse R.; Mills, L. Scott; Ruth, Toni K.; Pletscher, Daniel H.; Mitchell, Michael S.; Quigley, Howard B.; Murphy, Kerry M.; DeSimone, Rich

    2013-01-01

    An understanding of how stressors affect dispersal attributes and the contribution of local populations to multi-population dynamics are of immediate value to basic and applied ecology. Puma (Puma concolor) populations are expected to be influenced by inter-population movements and susceptible to human-induced source–sink dynamics. Using long-term datasets we quantified the contribution of two puma populations to operationally define them as sources or sinks. The puma population in the Northern Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (NGYE) was largely insulated from human-induced mortality by Yellowstone National Park. Pumas in the western Montana Garnet Mountain system were exposed to greater human-induced mortality, which changed over the study due to the closure of a 915 km2 area to hunting. The NGYE’s population growth depended on inter-population movements, as did its ability to act as a source to the larger region. The heavily hunted Garnet area was a sink with a declining population until the hunting closure, after which it became a source with positive intrinsic growth and a 16× increase in emigration. We also examined the spatial and temporal characteristics of individual dispersal attributes (emigration, dispersal distance, establishment success) of subadult pumas (N = 126). Human-caused mortality was found to negatively impact all three dispersal components. Our results demonstrate the influence of human-induced mortality on not only within population vital rates, but also inter-population vital rates, affecting the magnitude and mechanisms of local population’s contribution to the larger metapopulation.

  14. Global epidemic invasion thresholds in directed cattle subpopulation networks having source, sink, and transit nodes.

    PubMed

    Schumm, Phillip; Scoglio, Caterina; Zhang, Qian; Balcan, Duygu

    2015-02-21

    Through the characterization of a metapopulation cattle disease model on a directed network having source, transit, and sink nodes, we derive two global epidemic invasion thresholds. The first threshold defines the conditions necessary for an epidemic to successfully spread at the global scale. The second threshold defines the criteria that permit an epidemic to move out of the giant strongly connected component and to invade the populations of the sink nodes. As each sink node represents a final waypoint for cattle before slaughter, the existence of an epidemic among the sink nodes is a serious threat to food security. We find that the relationship between these two thresholds depends on the relative proportions of transit and sink nodes in the system and the distributions of the in-degrees of both node types. These analytic results are verified through numerical realizations of the metapopulation cattle model. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  15. Sources and Sinks: Elucidating Mechanisms, Documenting Patterns, and Forecasting Impacts

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2017-01-18

    Molecular Ecology 17: 3628-3639. Fazio III, V. W., Miles, D. B., & White, M. M. 2004. Genetic differentiation in the endangered Black-capped Vireo...exploration of accuracy and power. Molecular Ecology 13: 55–65. Raymond, M., & Rousset, F. 1995. GENEPOP (version 1.2): population genetics software for...SUPPLEMENTAL GENETICS MEMO Sources and Sinks: Elucidating Mechanisms, Documenting Patterns, and Forecasting Impacts SERDP Project RC-2120

  16. The effect of glyphosate on import into a sink leaf of sugar beet

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Shieh, Wenjang; Geiger, D.R.

    1990-05-01

    The basis for glyphosate inducted limitation of carbon import into developing leaves was studied in sugar beet. To separate the effects of the herbicide on export from those on import, glyphosate was supplied to a developing leaf from two exporting source leaves which fed the sink leaf. Carbon import into the sink leaf was determined by supplying {sup 14}CO{sub 2} to a third source leaf which also supplies carbon to the monitored sink leaf. Import into the sink leaf decreased within 2 to 3 h after glyphosate application, even though photosynthesis and export in the source leaf supplying {sup 14}Cmore » were unaffected. Reduced import into the sink leaf was accompanied by increased import by the tap root. Elongation of the sink leaf was only slightly decreased following arrival of glyphosate. Photosynthesis by the sink leaf was not inhibited. The results to data support the view that import is slowed by the inhibition of synthesis of structural or storage compounds in the developing leaves.« less

  17. Shoot litter breakdown and zinc dynamics of an aquatic plant, Schoenoplectus californicus.

    PubMed

    Arreghini, Silvana; de Cabo, Laura; Serafini, Roberto José María; Fabrizio de Iorio, Alicia

    2018-07-03

    Decomposition of plant debris is an important process in determining the structure and function of aquatic ecosystems. The aims were to find a mathematic model fitting the decomposition process of Schoenoplectus californicus shoots containing different Zn concentrations; compare the decomposition rates; and assess metal accumulation/mobilization during decomposition. A litterbag technique was applied with shoots containing three levels of Zn: collected from an unpolluted river (RIV) and from experimental populations at low (LoZn) and high (HiZn) Zn supply. The double exponential model explained S. californicus shoot decomposition, at first, higher initial proportion of refractory fraction in RIV detritus determined a lower decay rate and until 68 days, RIV and LoZn detritus behaved like a source of metal, releasing soluble/weakly bound zinc into the water; after 68 days, they became like a sink. However, HiZn detritus showed rapid release into the water during the first 8 days, changing to the sink condition up to 68 days, and then returning to the source condition up to 369 days. The knowledge of the role of detritus (sink/source) will allow defining a correct management of the vegetation used for zinc removal and providing a valuable tool for environmental remediation and rehabilitation planning.

  18. CASSIA--a dynamic model for predicting intra-annual sink demand and interannual growth variation in Scots pine.

    PubMed

    Schiestl-Aalto, Pauliina; Kulmala, Liisa; Mäkinen, Harri; Nikinmaa, Eero; Mäkelä, Annikki

    2015-04-01

    The control of tree growth vs environment by carbon sources or sinks remains unresolved although it is widely studied. This study investigates growth of tree components and carbon sink-source dynamics at different temporal scales. We constructed a dynamic growth model 'carbon allocation sink source interaction' (CASSIA) that calculates tree-level carbon balance from photosynthesis, respiration, phenology and temperature-driven potential structural growth of tree organs and dynamics of stored nonstructural carbon (NSC) and their modifying influence on growth. With the model, we tested hypotheses that sink demand explains the intra-annual growth dynamics of the meristems, and that the source supply is further needed to explain year-to-year growth variation. The predicted intra-annual dimensional growth of shoots and needles and the number of cells in xylogenesis phases corresponded with measurements, whereas NSC hardly limited the growth, supporting the first hypothesis. Delayed GPP influence on potential growth was necessary for simulating the yearly growth variation, indicating also at least an indirect source limitation. CASSIA combines seasonal growth and carbon balance dynamics with long-term source dynamics affecting growth and thus provides a first step to understanding the complex processes regulating intra- and interannual growth and sink-source dynamics. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

  19. Using plant growth modeling to analyze C source–sink relations under drought: inter- and intraspecific comparison

    PubMed Central

    Pallas, Benoît; Clément-Vidal, Anne; Rebolledo, Maria-Camila; Soulié, Jean-Christophe; Luquet, Delphine

    2013-01-01

    The ability to assimilate C and allocate non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) to the most appropriate organs is crucial to maximize plant ecological or agronomic performance. Such C source and sink activities are differentially affected by environmental constraints. Under drought, plant growth is generally more sink than source limited as organ expansion or appearance rate is earlier and stronger affected than C assimilation. This favors plant survival and recovery but not always agronomic performance as NSC are stored rather than used for growth due to a modified metabolism in source and sink leaves. Such interactions between plant C and water balance are complex and plant modeling can help analyzing their impact on plant phenotype. This paper addresses the impact of trade-offs between C sink and source activities and plant production under drought, combining experimental and modeling approaches. Two contrasted monocotyledonous species (rice, oil palm) were studied. Experimentally, the sink limitation of plant growth under moderate drought was confirmed as well as the modifications in NSC metabolism in source and sink organs. Under severe stress, when C source became limiting, plant NSC concentration decreased. Two plant models dedicated to oil palm and rice morphogenesis were used to perform a sensitivity analysis and further explore how to optimize C sink and source drought sensitivity to maximize plant growth. Modeling results highlighted that optimal drought sensitivity depends both on drought type and species and that modeling is a great opportunity to analyze such complex processes. Further modeling needs and more generally the challenge of using models to support complex trait breeding are discussed. PMID:24204372

  20. Nitrogen and carbon source-sink relationships in trees at the Himalayan treelines compared with lower elevations.

    PubMed

    Li, Mai-He; Xiao, Wen-Fa; Shi, Peili; Wang, San-Gen; Zhong, Yong-De; Liu, Xing-Liang; Wang, Xiao-Dan; Cai, Xiao-Hu; Shi, Zuo-Min

    2008-10-01

    No single hypothesis or theory has been widely accepted for explaining the functional mechanism of global alpine/arctic treeline formation. The present study tested whether the alpine treeline is determined by (1) the needle nitrogen content associated with photosynthesis (carbon gain); (2) a sufficient source-sink ratio of carbon; or (3) a sufficient C-N ratio. Nitrogen does not limit the growth and development of trees studied at the Himalayan treelines. Levels of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) in trees were species-specific and site-dependent; therefore, the treeline cases studied did not show consistent evidence of source/carbon limitation or sink/growth limitation in treeline trees. However, results of the combined three treelines showed that the treeline trees may suffer from a winter carbon shortage. The source capacity and the sink capacity of a tree influence its tissue NSC concentrations and the carbon balance; therefore, we suggest that the persistence and development of treeline trees in a harsh alpine environment may require a minimum level of the total NSC concentration, a sufficiently high sugar:starch ratio, and a balanced carbon source-sink relationship.

  1. Source-Sink Colonization as a Possible Strategy of Insects Living in Temporary Habitats.

    PubMed

    Frouz, Jan; Kindlmann, Pavel

    2015-01-01

    Continuous colonization and re-colonization is critical for survival of insect species living in temporary habitats. When insect populations in temporary habitats are depleted, some species may escape extinction by surviving in permanent, but less suitable habitats, in which long-term population survival can be maintained only by immigration from other populations. Such situation has been repeatedly described in nature, but conditions when and how this occurs and how important this phenomenon is for insect metapopulation survival are still poorly known, mainly because it is difficult to study experimentally. Therefore, we used a simulation model to investigate, how environmental stochasticity, growth rate and the incidence of dispersal affect the positive effect of permanent but poor ("sink") habitats on the likelihood of metapopulation persistence in a network of high quality but temporary ("source") habitats. This model revealed that permanent habitats substantially increase the probability of metapopulation persistence of insect species with poor dispersal ability if the availability of temporary habitats is spatio-temporally synchronized. Addition of permanent habitats to a system sometimes enabled metapopulation persistence even in cases in which the metapopulation would otherwise go extinct, especially for species with high growth rates. For insect species with low growth rates the probability of a metapopulation persistence strongly depended on the proportions of "source" to "source" and "sink" to "source" dispersal rates.

  2. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Tong, Tao; Letoquin, Ronan; Keller, Bernd

    An LED lamp or bulb is disclosed that comprises a light source, a heat sink structure and a remote planar phosphor carrier having at least one conversion material. The phosphor carrier can be remote to the light sources and mounted to the heat sink so that heat from the phosphor carrier spreads into the heat sink. The phosphor carrier can comprise a thermally conductive transparent material and a phosphor layer, with an LED based light source mounted to the heat sink such that light from the light source passes through the phosphor carrier. At least some of the LED lightmore » is converted by the phosphor carrier, with some lamp embodiments emitting a white light combination of LED and phosphor light. The phosphor arranged according to the present invention can operate at lower temperature to thereby operate at greater phosphor conversion efficiency and with reduced heat related damage to the phosphor.« less

  3. Dependence of spin pumping and spin transfer torque upon Ni81Fe19 thickness in Ta/Ag /Ni 81Fe19/Ag/Co 2MnGe /Ag /Ta spin-valve structures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Durrant, C. J.; Shelford, L. R.; Valkass, R. A. J.; Hicken, R. J.; Figueroa, A. I.; Baker, A. A.; van der Laan, G.; Duffy, L. B.; Shafer, P.; Klewe, C.; Arenholz, E.; Cavill, S. A.; Childress, J. R.; Katine, J. A.

    2017-10-01

    Spin pumping has been studied within Ta / Ag / Ni81Fe19 (0-5 nm) / Ag (6 nm) / Co2MnGe (5 nm) / Ag / Ta large-area spin-valve structures, and the transverse spin current absorption of Ni81Fe19 sink layers of different thicknesses has been explored. In some circumstances, the spin current absorption can be inferred from the modification of the Co2MnGe source layer damping in vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance (VNA-FMR) experiments. However, the spin current absorption is more accurately determined from element-specific phase-resolved x-ray ferromagnetic resonance (XFMR) measurements that directly probe the spin transfer torque (STT) acting on the sink layer at the source layer resonance. Comparison with a macrospin model allows the real part of the effective spin mixing conductance to be extracted. We find that spin current absorption in the outer Ta layers has a significant impact, while sink layers with thicknesses of less than 0.6 nm are found to be discontinuous and superparamagnetic at room temperature, and lead to a noticeable increase of the source layer damping. For the thickest 5-nm sink layer, increased spin current absorption is found to coincide with a reduction of the zero frequency FMR linewidth that we attribute to improved interface quality. This study shows that the transverse spin current absorption does not follow a universal dependence upon sink layer thickness but instead the structural quality of the sink layer plays a crucial role.

  4. Sources and sinks of plastic debris in estuaries: A conceptual model integrating biological, physical and chemical distribution mechanisms.

    PubMed

    Vermeiren, Peter; Muñoz, Cynthia C; Ikejima, Kou

    2016-12-15

    Micro- and macroplastic accumulation threatens estuaries worldwide because of the often dense human populations, diverse plastic inputs and high potential for plastic degradation and storage in these ecosystems. Nonetheless, our understanding of plastic sources and sinks remains limited. We designed conceptual models of the local and estuary-wide transport of plastics. We identify processes affecting the position of plastics in the water column; processes related to the mixing of fresh and salt water; and processes resulting from the influences of wind, topography, and organism-plastic interactions. The models identify gaps in the spatial context of plastic-organisms interactions, the chemical behavior of plastics in estuaries, effects of wind on plastic suspension-deposition cycles, and the relative importance of processes affecting the position in the water column. When interpreted in the context of current understanding, sinks with high management potential can be identified. However, source-sink patterns vary among estuary types and with local scale processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Sources, Sinks, and Model Accuracy

    EPA Science Inventory

    Spatial demographic models are a necessary tool for understanding how to manage landscapes sustainably for animal populations. These models, therefore, must offer precise and testable predications about animal population dynamics and how animal demographic parameters respond to ...

  6. Measuring and modelling seasonal patterns of carbohydrate storage and mobilization in the trunks and root crowns of peach trees.

    PubMed

    Da Silva, David; Qin, Liangchun; DeBuse, Carolyn; DeJong, Theodore M

    2014-09-01

    Developing a conceptual and functional framework for simulating annual long-term carbohydrate storage and mobilization in trees has been a weak point for virtually all tree models. This paper provides a novel approach for solving this problem using empirical field data and details of structural components of simulated trees to estimate the total carbohydrate stored over a dormant season and available for mobilization during spring budbreak. The seasonal patterns of mobilization and storage of non-structural carbohydrates in bark and wood of the scion and rootstock crowns of the trunks of peach (Prunus persica) trees were analysed subsequent to treatments designed to maximize differences in source-sink behaviour during the growing season. Mature peach trees received one of three treatments (defruited and no pruning, severe pruning to 1·0 m, and unthinned with no pruning) in late winter, just prior to budbreak. Selected trees of each treatment were harvested at four times (March, June, August and November) and slices of trunk and root crown tissue above and below the graft union were removed for carbohydrate analysis. Inner bark and xylem tissues from the first to fifth rings were separated and analysed for non-structural carbohydrates. Data from these experiments were then used to estimate the amount of non-structural carbohydrates available for mobilization and to parameterize a carbohydrate storage sub-model in the functional-structural L-PEACH model. The mass fraction of carbohydrates in all sample tissues decreased from March to June, but the decrease was greatest in the severely pruned and unthinned treatments. November carbohydrate mass fractions in all tissues recovered to values similar to those in the previous March, except in the older xylem rings of the severely pruned and unthinned treatment. Carbohydrate storage sink capacity in trunks was empirically estimated from the mean maximum measured trunk non-structural carbohydrate mass fractions. The carbohydrate storage source available for mobilization was estimated from these maximum mass fractions and the early summer minimum mass fractions remaining in these tissues in the severe treatments that maximized mobilization of stored carbohydrates. The L-PEACH sink-source carbohydrate distribution framework was then used along with simulated tree structure to successfully simulate annual carbohydrate storage sink and source behaviour over years. The sink-source concept of carbohydrate distribution within a tree was extended to include winter carbohydrate storage and spring mobilization by considering the storage sink and source as a function of the collective capacity of active xylem and phloem tissue of the tree, and its annual behaviour was effectively simulated using the L-PEACH functional-structural plant model.

  7. Non-structural carbohydrate partitioning in grass stems: a target to increase yield stability, stress tolerance, and biofuel production.

    PubMed

    Slewinski, Thomas L

    2012-08-01

    A dramatic change in agricultural crops is needed in order to keep pace with the demands of an increasing human population, exponential need for renewable fuels, and uncertain climatic changes. Grasses make up the vast majority of agricultural commodities. How these grasses capture, transport, and store carbohydrates underpins all aspects of crop productivity. Sink-source dynamics within the plant direct how much, where, and when carbohydrates are allocated, as well as determine the harvestable tissue. Carbohydrate partitioning can limit the yield capacity of these plants, thus offering a potential target for crop improvement. Grasses have the ability to buffer this sink-source interaction by transiently storing carbohydrates in stem tissue when production from the source is greater than whole-plant demand. These reserves improve yield stability in grain crops by providing an alternative source when photosynthetic capacity is reduced during the later phases of grain filling, or during periods of environmental and biotic stresses. Domesticated grasses such as sugarcane and sweet sorghum have undergone selection for high accumulation of stem carbohydrates, which serve as the primary sources of sugars for human and animal consumption, as well as ethanol production for fuel. With the enormous expectations placed on agricultural production in the near future, research into carbohydrate partitioning in grasses is essential for maintaining and increasing yields in grass crops. This review highlights the current knowledge of non-structural carbohydrate dynamics in grass stems and discusses the impacts of stem reserves in essential agronomic grasses.

  8. Life and Death Near Zero: The distribution and evolution of NEA orbits of near-zero MOID, (e, i), and q

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harris, Alan W.; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Granvik, Mikael

    2016-10-01

    Modeling the distribution of orbits with near-zero orbital parameters requires special attention to the dimensionality of the parameters in question. This is even more true since orbits of near-zero MOID, (e, i), or q are especially interesting as sources or sinks of NEAs. An essentially zero value of MOID (Minimum Orbital Intersection Distance) with respect to the Earth's orbit is a requirement for an impact trajectory, and initially also for ejecta from lunar impacts into heliocentric orbits. The collision cross section of the Earth goes up greatly with decreasing relative encounter velocity, venc, thus the impact flux onto the Earth is enhanced in such low-venc objects, which correspond to near-zero (e,i) orbits. And lunar ejecta that escapes from the Earth-moon system mostly does so at only barely greater than minimum velocity for escape (Gladman, et al., 1995, Icarus 118, 302-321), so the Earth-moon system is both a source and a sink of such low-venc orbits, and understanding the evolution of these populations requires accurately modeling the orbit distributions. Lastly, orbits of very low heliocentric perihelion distance, q, are particularly interesting as a "sink" in the NEA population as asteroids "fall into the sun" (Farinella, et al., 1994, Nature 371, 314-317). Understanding this process, and especially the role of disintegration of small asteroids as they evolve into low-q orbits (Granvik et al., 2016, Nature 530, 303-306), requires accurate modeling of the q distribution that would exist in the absence of a "sink" in the distribution. In this paper, we derive analytical expressions for the expected steady-state distributions near zero of MOID, (e,i), and q in the absence of sources or sinks, compare those to numerical simulations of orbit distributions, and lastly evaluate the distributions of discovered NEAs to try to understand the sources and sinks of NEAs "near zero" of these orbital parameters.

  9. Identification of metapopulation dynamics among Northern Goshawks of the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, and Coastal British Columbia

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sonsthagen, Sarah A.; McClaren, Erica L.; Doyle, Frank I.; Titus, K.; Sage, George K.; Wilson, Robert E.; Gust, Judy R.; Talbot, Sandra L.

    2012-01-01

    Northern Goshawks occupying the Alexander Archipelago, Alaska, and coastal British Columbia nest primarily in old-growth and mature forest, which results in spatial heterogeneity in the distribution of individuals across the landscape. We used microsatellite and mitochondrial data to infer genetic structure, gene flow, and fluctuations in population demography through evolutionary time. Patterns in the genetic signatures were used to assess predictions associated with the three population models: panmixia, metapopulation, and isolated populations. Population genetic structure was observed along with asymmetry in gene flow estimates that changed directionality at different temporal scales, consistent with metapopulation model predictions. Therefore, Northern Goshawk assemblages located in the Alexander Archipelago and coastal British Columbia interact through a metapopulation framework, though they may not fit the classic model of a metapopulation. Long-term population sources (coastal mainland British Columbia) and sinks (Revillagigedo and Vancouver islands) were identified. However, there was no trend through evolutionary time in the directionality of dispersal among the remaining assemblages, suggestive of a rescue-effect dynamic. Admiralty, Douglas, and Chichagof island complex appears to be an evolutionarily recent source population in the Alexander Archipelago. In addition, Kupreanof island complex and Kispiox Forest District populations have high dispersal rates to populations in close geographic proximity and potentially serve as local source populations. Metapopulation dynamics occurring in the Alexander Archipelago and coastal British Columbia by Northern Goshawks highlight the importance of both occupied and unoccupied habitats to long-term population persistence of goshawks in this region.

  10. Dependence of spin pumping and spin transfer torque upon Ni 81 Fe 19 thickness in Ta / Ag / Ni 81 Fe 19 / Ag / Co 2 MnGe / Ag / Ta spin-valve structures

    DOE PAGES

    Durrant, C. J.; Shelford, L. R.; Valkass, R. A. J.; ...

    2017-10-18

    Spin pumping has been studied within Ta / Ag / Ni 81Fe 19 (0–5 nm) / Ag (6 nm) / Co 2MnGe (5 nm) / Ag / Ta large-area spin-valve structures, and the transverse spin current absorption of Ni 81Fe 19 sink layers of different thicknesses has been explored. In some circumstances, the spin current absorption can be inferred from the modification of the Co 2MnGe source layer damping in vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance (VNA-FMR) experiments. However, the spin current absorption is more accurately determined from element-specific phase-resolved x-ray ferromagnetic resonance (XFMR) measurements that directly probe the spin transfermore » torque (STT) acting on the sink layer at the source layer resonance. Comparison with a macrospin model allows the real part of the effective spin mixing conductance to be extracted. We find that spin current absorption in the outer Ta layers has a significant impact, while sink layers with thicknesses of less than 0.6 nm are found to be discontinuous and superparamagnetic at room temperature, and lead to a noticeable increase of the source layer damping. For the thickest 5-nm sink layer, increased spin current absorption is found to coincide with a reduction of the zero frequency FMR linewidth that we attribute to improved interface quality. Furthermore, this study shows that the transverse spin current absorption does not follow a universal dependence upon sink layer thickness but instead the structural quality of the sink layer plays a crucial role.« less

  11. Dependence of spin pumping and spin transfer torque upon Ni 81 Fe 19 thickness in Ta / Ag / Ni 81 Fe 19 / Ag / Co 2 MnGe / Ag / Ta spin-valve structures

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Durrant, C. J.; Shelford, L. R.; Valkass, R. A. J.

    Spin pumping has been studied within Ta / Ag / Ni 81Fe 19 (0–5 nm) / Ag (6 nm) / Co 2MnGe (5 nm) / Ag / Ta large-area spin-valve structures, and the transverse spin current absorption of Ni 81Fe 19 sink layers of different thicknesses has been explored. In some circumstances, the spin current absorption can be inferred from the modification of the Co 2MnGe source layer damping in vector network analyzer ferromagnetic resonance (VNA-FMR) experiments. However, the spin current absorption is more accurately determined from element-specific phase-resolved x-ray ferromagnetic resonance (XFMR) measurements that directly probe the spin transfermore » torque (STT) acting on the sink layer at the source layer resonance. Comparison with a macrospin model allows the real part of the effective spin mixing conductance to be extracted. We find that spin current absorption in the outer Ta layers has a significant impact, while sink layers with thicknesses of less than 0.6 nm are found to be discontinuous and superparamagnetic at room temperature, and lead to a noticeable increase of the source layer damping. For the thickest 5-nm sink layer, increased spin current absorption is found to coincide with a reduction of the zero frequency FMR linewidth that we attribute to improved interface quality. Furthermore, this study shows that the transverse spin current absorption does not follow a universal dependence upon sink layer thickness but instead the structural quality of the sink layer plays a crucial role.« less

  12. Manipulation of the hypocotyl sink activity by reciprocal grafting of two Raphanus sativus varieties: its effects on morphological and physiological traits of source leaves and whole-plant growth.

    PubMed

    Sugiura, Daisuke; Betsuyaku, Eriko; Terashima, Ichiro

    2015-12-01

    To reveal whether hypocotyl sink activities are regulated by the aboveground parts, and whether physiology and morphology of source leaves are affected by the hypocotyl sink activities, we conducted grafting experiments using two Raphanus sativus varieties with different hypocotyl sink activities. Comet (C) and Leafy (L) varieties with high and low hypocotyl sink activities were reciprocally grafted and resultant plants were called by their scion and stock such as CC, LC, CL and LL. Growth, leaf mass per area (LMA), total non-structural carbohydrates (TNCs) and photosynthetic characteristics were compared among them. Comet hypocotyls in CC and LC grew well regardless of the scions, whereas Leafy hypocotyls in CL and LL did not. Relative growth rate was highest in LL and lowest in CC. Photosynthetic capacity was correlated with Rubisco (ribulose 1·5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) content but unaffected by TNC. High C/N ratio and accumulation of TNC led to high LMA and structural LMA. These results showed that the hypocotyl sink activity was autonomously regulated by hypocotyl and that the down-regulation of photosynthesis was not induced by TNC. We conclude that the change in the sink activity alters whole-plant growth through the changes in both biomass allocation and leaf morphological characteristics in R. sativus. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Regulation Effects of Water and Nitrogen on the Source-Sink Relationship in Potato during the Tuber Bulking Stage

    PubMed Central

    Li, Wenting; Xiong, Binglin; Wang, Shiwen; Deng, Xiping; Yin, Lina; Li, Hongbing

    2016-01-01

    The source-sink relationship determines crop yield, and it is largely regulated by water and nutrients in agricultural production. This has been widely investigated in cereals, but fewer studies have been conducted in root and tuber crops such as potato (Solanum tuberosum L.). The objective of this study was to investigate the source-sink relationship in potato and the regulation of water and nitrogen on the source-sink relationship during the tuber bulking stage. A pot experiment using virus-free plantlets of the Atlantic potato cultivar was conducted, using three water levels (50%, 70% and 90% of field capacity) and three nitrogen levels (0, 0.2, 0.4 g N∙kg−1 soil). The results showed that, under all water and nitrogen levels, plant source capacity were small at the end of the experiment, since photosynthetic activity in leaves were low and non-structural reserves in underground stems were completely remobilized. While at this time, there were very big differences in maximum and minimum tuber number and tuber weight, indicating that the sink tuber still had a large potential capacity to take in assimilates. These results suggest that the source-supplied assimilates were not sufficient enough to meet the demands of sink growth. Thus, we concluded that, unlike cereals, potato yield is more likely to be source-limited than sink-limited during the tuber bulking stage. Water and nitrogen are two key factors in potato production management. Our results showed that water level, nitrogen level and the interaction between water and nitrogen influence potato yield mainly through affecting source capacity via the net photosynthetic rate, total leaf area and leaf life span. Well-watered, sufficient nitrogen and well-watered combined with sufficient nitrogen increased yield mainly by enhancing the source capacity. Therefore, this suggests that increasing source capacity is more crucial to improve potato yield. PMID:26752657

  14. Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?

    PubMed Central

    Johnson, Rachel C.; Weber, Peter K.; Wikert, John D.; Workman, Michelle L.; MacFarlane, R. Bruce; Grove, Marty J.; Schmitt, Axel K.

    2012-01-01

    Maintaining viable populations of salmon in the wild is a primary goal for many conservation and recovery programs. The frequency and extent of connectivity among natal sources defines the demographic and genetic boundaries of a population. Yet, the role that immigration of hatchery-produced adults may play in altering population dynamics and fitness of natural populations remains largely unquantified. Quantifying, whether natural populations are self-sustaining, functions as sources (population growth rate in the absence of dispersal, λ>1), or as sinks (λ<1) can be obscured by an inability to identify immigrants. In this study we use a new isotopic approach to demonstrate that a natural spawning population of Chinook salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) considered relatively healthy, represents a sink population when the contribution of hatchery immigrants is taken into consideration. We retrieved sulfur isotopes (34S/32S, referred to as δ34S) in adult Chinook salmon otoliths (ear bones) that were deposited during their early life history as juveniles to determine whether individuals were produced in hatcheries or naturally in rivers. Our results show that only 10.3% (CI = 5.5 to 18.1%) of adults spawning in the river had otolith δ34S values less than 8.5‰, which is characteristic of naturally produced salmon. When considering the total return to the watershed (total fish in river and hatchery), we estimate that 90.7 to 99.3% (CI) of returning adults were produced in a hatchery (best estimate = 95.9%). When population growth rate of the natural population was modeled to account for the contribution of previously unidentified hatchery immigrants, we found that hatchery-produced fish caused the false appearance of positive population growth. These findings highlight the potential dangers in ignoring source-sink dynamics in recovering natural populations, and question the extent to which declines in natural salmon populations are undetected by monitoring programs. PMID:22347362

  15. Managed Metapopulations: Do Salmon Hatchery ‘Sources’ Lead to In-River ‘Sinks’ in Conservation?

    DOE PAGES

    Johnson, Rachel C.; Weber, Peter K.; Wikert, John D.; ...

    2012-02-08

    Maintaining viable populations of salmon in the wild is a primary goal for many conservation and recovery programs. The frequency and extent of connectivity among natal sources defines the demographic and genetic boundaries of a population. Yet, the role that immigration of hatchery-produced adults may play in altering population dynamics and fitness of natural populations remains largely unquantified. Quantifying, whether natural populations are self-sustaining, functions as sources (population growth rate in the absence of dispersal, λ>1), or as sinks (λ<1) can be obscured by an inability to identify immigrants. In this study we use a new isotopic approach to demonstratemore » that a natural spawning population of Chinook salmon, (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) considered relatively healthy, represents a sink population when the contribution of hatchery immigrants is taken into consideration. We retrieved sulfur isotopes ( 34S/ 32S, referred to as δ 34S) in adult Chinook salmon otoliths (ear bones) that were deposited during their early life history as juveniles to determine whether individuals were produced in hatcheries or naturally in rivers. Our results show that only 10.3% (CI=5.5 to 18.1%) of adults spawning in the river had otolith δ 34S values less than 8.5‰, which is characteristic of naturally produced salmon. When considering the total return to the watershed (total fish in river and hatchery), we estimate that 90.7 to 99.3% (CI) of returning adults were produced in a hatchery (best estimate=95.9%). When population growth rate of the natural population was modeled to account for the contribution of previously unidentified hatchery immigrants, we found that hatchery-produced fish caused the false appearance of positive population growth. In conclusion, these findings highlight the potential dangers in ignoring source-sink dynamics in recovering natural populations, and question the extent to which declines in natural salmon populations are undetected by monitoring programs.« less

  16. Metapopulation dynamics and total biomass: Understanding the effects of diffusion in complex networks.

    PubMed

    Ruiz-Herrera, Alfonso

    2018-05-01

    In this study, I explored the impact of constructing a new dispersal route between two different patches in a metapopulation. My results indicated that its success/failure on the population abundance greatly depends on the patches directly involved and negligibly on the network topology. Specifically, constructing a dispersal route is highly recommended if it connects a source to a source that is close to becoming a sink or a sink that is close to becoming a source. This biological property is the basis for understanding the influence of the network topology on the population abundance. According to some thresholds discussed in this manuscript, I identified when a given route has a positive or negative effect on the population size. Consequently, as a simple rule of thumb, managers should look for metapopulations that have the maximum (resp. minimum) number paths with a positive (resp. negative) effect on the population abundance. As emphasized, the biological results of this paper do not depend on the model formulation. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Divergence in sink contributions to population persistence

    EPA Science Inventory

    Population sinks present unique conservation challenges. The loss of animals in sinks can compromise persistence. Conversely, sinks can bolster population sizes, improving viability. To assess the contribution of sinks to regional persistence, we simulated the removal of sink hab...

  18. Impact of a classic paper by H. Ronald Pulliam: An overview of the first twenty years (1988-2007)

    EPA Science Inventory

    In 1988, H. Ronald Pulliam published the classic paper, “Sources, Sinks, and Population Regulation.” The message of this paper was that population dynamics can change across heterogeneous landscapes, where populations in “sink” habitats rely on inputs from “source” habitats to p...

  19. Removal of unwanted fluid

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Subudhi, Sudhakar; Sreenivas, K. R.; Arakeri, Jaywant H.

    2013-01-01

    This work is concerned with the removal of unwanted fluid through the source-sink pair. The source consists of fluid issuing out of a nozzle in the form of a jet and the sink is a pipe that is kept some distance from the source pipe. Of concern is the percentage of source fluid sucked through the sink. The experiments have been carried in a large glass water tank. The source nozzle diameter is 6 mm and the sink pipe diameter is either 10 or 20 mm. The horizontal and vertical separations and angles between these source and sink pipes are adjustable. The flow was visualized using KMnO4 dye, planer laser induced fluorescence and particle streak photographs. To obtain the effectiveness (that is percentage of source fluid entering the sink pipe), titration method is used. The velocity profiles with and without the sink were obtained using particle image velocimetry. The sink flow rate to obtain a certain effectiveness increase dramatically with lateral separation. The sink diameter and the angle between source and the sink axes don't influence effectiveness as much as the lateral separation.

  20. Zoonotic disease in a peripheral population: persistence and transmission of Leishmania major in a putative sink-source system in the Negev Highlands, Israel.

    PubMed

    Berger, Ruti; Wasserberg, Gideon; Warburg, Alon; Orshan, Laor; Kotler, Burt P

    2014-08-01

    Populations at the edge of their geographic distributions are referred to as peripheral populations. Very little attention has been given to this topic in the context of persistence of infectious disease in natural populations. In this study, we examined this question using zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) caused by Leishmania major in the Negev Desert of Israel as a model system. Here, we suggest that the regional persistence of Phlebotomus papatasi populations and L. major transmission in the Sede Boqer region could be explained through processes akin to sink-source and/or mainland-island metapopulation dynamics. Given its potentially enzootically superior ecological conditions, we hypothesize that the Zin Valley ecotope constitutes the "mainland" or the "source" patch for the Sede Boqer area where L. major transmission is persistent and resistant to local extinctions (die-outs) whereas the local sand fly populations on the Zin Plateau ("island patch" or "sink patch") are more prone to local extinctions. Between 2007 and 2008, we trapped sand flies and sand rats in the two areas and compared sand fly abundance and L. major infection prevalence in both. In both 2007 and 2008, sand fly abundance was high and continuous in the Zin Wadi but low and discontinuous in the Zin Plateau. Infection prevalence of sand rats was significantly higher in the Wadi (13%) compared with the Zin Plateau (3%). Minimum infection rate in sand flies did not differ significantly between the two areas. Overall, our results are consistent with the premise that the Zin Valley population is relatively robust in terms of L. major transmission, whereas transmission is potentially more tenuous in the plateau. Understanding the biotic and abiotic processes enabling the persistence of L. major and other vector-borne diseases in peripheral disease foci is important for predicting the effect of anthropogenic land use and climate change.

  1. So little source, so much sink: requirements for afterdepolarizations to propagate in tissue.

    PubMed

    Xie, Yuanfang; Sato, Daisuke; Garfinkel, Alan; Qu, Zhilin; Weiss, James N

    2010-09-08

    How early (EADs) and delayed afterdepolarizations (DADs) overcome electrotonic source-sink mismatches in tissue to trigger premature ventricular complexes remains incompletely understood. To study this question, we used a rabbit ventricular action potential model to simulate tissues in which a central area of contiguous myocytes susceptible to EADs or DADs was surrounded by unsusceptible tissue. In 1D tissue with normal longitudinal conduction velocity (0.55 m/s), the numbers of contiguous susceptible myocytes required for an EAD and a barely suprathreshold DAD to trigger a propagating action potential were 70 and 80, respectively. In 2D tissue, these numbers increased to 6940 and 7854, and in 3D tissue to 696,910 and 817,280. These numbers were significantly decreased by reduced gap junction conductance, simulated fibrosis, reduced repolarization reserve and heart failure electrical remodeling. In conclusion, the source-sink mismatch in well-coupled cardiac tissue powerfully protects the heart from arrhythmias due to sporadic afterdepolarizations. Structural and electrophysiological remodeling decrease these numbers significantly but still require synchronization mechanisms for EADs and DADs to overcome the robust protective effects of source-sink mismatch. Copyright 2010 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Carbon partitioning in Arabidopsis thaliana is a dynamic process controlled by the plants metabolic status and its circadian clock.

    PubMed

    Kölling, Katharina; Thalmann, Matthias; Müller, Antonia; Jenny, Camilla; Zeeman, Samuel C

    2015-10-01

    Plant growth involves the coordinated distribution of carbon resources both towards structural components and towards storage compounds that assure a steady carbon supply over the complete diurnal cycle. We used (14) CO2 labelling to track assimilated carbon in both source and sink tissues. Source tissues exhibit large variations in carbon allocation throughout the light period. The most prominent change was detected in partitioning towards starch, being low in the morning and more than double later in the day. Export into sink tissues showed reciprocal changes. Fewer and smaller changes in carbon allocation occurred in sink tissues where, in most respects, carbon was partitioned similarly, whether the sink leaf assimilated it through photosynthesis or imported it from source leaves. Mutants deficient in the production or remobilization of leaf starch exhibited major alterations in carbon allocation. Low-starch mutants that suffer from carbon starvation at night allocated much more carbon into neutral sugars and had higher rates of export than the wild type, partly because of the reduced allocation into starch, but also because of reduced allocation into structural components. Moreover, mutants deficient in the plant's circadian system showed considerable changes in their carbon partitioning pattern suggesting control by the circadian clock. © 2015 The Authors. Plant, Cell & Environment published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  3. Grizzly bear management in Yellowstone National Park: The heart of recovery in the Yellowstone Ecosystem

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schwartz, C.C.; Gunther, K.; McCullough, Dale R.; Kaji, Koichi; Yamanaka, Masami

    2006-01-01

    Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos) management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) in the past quarter century has resulted in more than doubling of the population from around 200 to more than 500, expansion of range back into habitats where the bear has extirpated more than a century ago, and a move toward removal from the U.S. Endangered Species list. At the center of this success story are the management programs in Yellowstone National Park (YNP). Regulations that restrict human activity, camping, and food storage, elimination of human food and garbage as attractants, and ranger attendance of roadside bears have all resulted in the population of grizzlies in YNP approaching carrying capacity. Recent studies suggest, however, that YNP alone is too small to support the current population, making management beyond the park boundary important and necessary to the demographics of the population as a whole. Demographic analyses suggest a source-sink dynamic exists within the GYE, with YNP and lands outside the park within the Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone (RZ) representing source habitats, whereas lands beyond the RZ constitute sinks. The source-sink demography in the GYE is indicative of carnivore conservation issues worldwide where many national parks or preserves designed to protect out natural resources are inadequate in size or shape to provide all necessary life history requirements for these wide-ranging species. Additionally, wide-ranging behavior and long-distance dispersal seem inherent to large carnivores, so mortality around the edges is virtually inevitable, and conservation in the GYE is inextricably linked to management regimes not only within YNP, but within the GYE as a whole. We discuss those needs here.

  4. Population demographics of two local South Carolina mourning dove populations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McGowan, D.P.; Otis, D.L.

    1998-01-01

    The mourning dove (Zenaida macroura) call-count index had a significant (P 2,300 doves and examined >6,000 individuals during harvest bag checks. An age-specific band recovery model with time- and area-specific recovery rates, and constant survival rates, was chosen for estimation via Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC), likelihood ratio, and goodness-of-fit criteria. After-hatching-year (AHY) annual survival rate was 0.359 (SE = 0.056), and hatching-year (HY) annual survival rate was 0.118 (SE = 0.042). Average estimated recruitment per adult female into the prehunting season population was 3.40 (SE = 1.25) and 2.32 (SE = 0.46) for the 2 study areas. Our movement data support earlier hypotheses of nonmigratory breeding and harvested populations in South Carolina. Low survival rates and estimated population growth rate in the study areas may be representative only of small-scale areas that are heavily managed for dove hunting. Source-sink theory was used to develop a model of region-wide populations that is composed of source areas with positive growth rates and sink areas of declining growth. We suggest management of mourning doves in the Southeast might benefit from improved understanding of local population dynamics, as opposed to regional-scale population demographics.

  5. Pollen source effects on growth of kernel structures and embryo chemical compounds in maize.

    PubMed

    Tanaka, W; Mantese, A I; Maddonni, G A

    2009-08-01

    Previous studies have reported effects of pollen source on the oil concentration of maize (Zea mays) kernels through modifications to both the embryo/kernel ratio and embryo oil concentration. The present study expands upon previous analyses by addressing pollen source effects on the growth of kernel structures (i.e. pericarp, endosperm and embryo), allocation of embryo chemical constituents (i.e. oil, protein, starch and soluble sugars), and the anatomy and histology of the embryos. Maize kernels with different oil concentration were obtained from pollinations with two parental genotypes of contrasting oil concentration. The dynamics of the growth of kernel structures and allocation of embryo chemical constituents were analysed during the post-flowering period. Mature kernels were dissected to study the anatomy (embryonic axis and scutellum) and histology [cell number and cell size of the scutellums, presence of sub-cellular structures in scutellum tissue (starch granules, oil and protein bodies)] of the embryos. Plants of all crosses exhibited a similar kernel number and kernel weight. Pollen source modified neither the growth period of kernel structures, nor pericarp growth rate. By contrast, pollen source determined a trade-off between embryo and endosperm growth rates, which impacted on the embryo/kernel ratio of mature kernels. Modifications to the embryo size were mediated by scutellum cell number. Pollen source also affected (P < 0.01) allocation of embryo chemical compounds. Negative correlations among embryo oil concentration and those of starch (r = 0.98, P < 0.01) and soluble sugars (r = 0.95, P < 0.05) were found. Coincidently, embryos with low oil concentration had an increased (P < 0.05-0.10) scutellum cell area occupied by starch granules and fewer oil bodies. The effects of pollen source on both embryo/kernel ratio and allocation of embryo chemicals seems to be related to the early established sink strength (i.e. sink size and sink activity) of the embryos.

  6. A Marriage Of Larval Modeling And Empirical Data: Linking Adult, Larval And Juvenile Scallops In An Estuary

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bayer, S.; Wahle, R.; Brooks, D. A.; Brady, D. C.

    2016-02-01

    The giant sea scallop, Placopecten magellanicus, is a commercially valuable sedentary broadcast spawner that occupies offshore banks and coastal bays and estuaries in the Northwest Atlantic. Although area closures have helped repopulate depleted scallop populations, little is known about whether populations at densities that yield larvae supply local or distant populations. Surveying scallop populations in the Damariscotta River estuary in Maine during the 2013 and 2014 spawning seasons, and settling out spat bags to collect settling larvae along the gradient of the estuary, we were able to compare adult densities to newly settled juvenile (`spat') abundance. Using the location where we found a high density of adults, we incorporated previously published behavior, pelagic larval duration, wind and current data into a particle dispersal model within the estuary to determine likely sinks for larvae from the 2013 and 2014 spawning seasons. Preliminary model simulations demonstrate where in the estuary swimming is effective in affecting water column position for larvae, and that most larvae are retained much closer to the mouth of the estuary than previously expected. Combining larval dispersal modeling with empirical data on adult densities and spat settlement on the scale of an embayment or estuary may be helpful in determining sources, sinks and areas that are both sources and sinks for shellfish species that are endangered or economically critical. This may aid in determining small area closures or Marine Protected Areas along coastal regions in the Gulf of Maine and beyond.

  7. On valuing patches: Estimating contributions to metapopulation growth with reverse-time capture-recapture modelling

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sanderlin, J.S.; Waser, P.M.; Hines, J.E.; Nichols, J.D.

    2012-01-01

    Metapopulation ecology has historically been rich in theory, yet analytical approaches for inferring demographic relationships among local populations have been few. We show how reverse-time multi-state capture-recapture models can be used to estimate the importance of local recruitment and interpopulation dispersal to metapopulation growth. We use 'contribution metrics' to infer demographic connectedness among eight local populations of banner-tailed kangaroo rats, to assess their demographic closure, and to investigate sources of variation in these contributions. Using a 7 year dataset, we show that: (i) local populations are relatively independent demographically, and contributions to local population growth via dispersal within the system decline with distance; (ii) growth contributions via local survival and recruitment are greater for adults than juveniles, while contributions involving dispersal are greater for juveniles; (iii) central populations rely more on local recruitment and survival than peripheral populations; (iv) contributions involving dispersal are not clearly related to overall metapopulation density; and (v) estimated contributions from outside the system are unexpectedly large. Our analytical framework can classify metapopulations on a continuum between demographic independence and panmixia, detect hidden population growth contributions, and make inference about other population linkage forms, including rescue effects and source-sink structures. Finally, we discuss differences between demographic and genetic population linkage patterns for our system. ?? 2011 The Royal Society.

  8. Source-sink interaction: a century old concept under the light of modern molecular systems biology.

    PubMed

    Chang, Tian-Gen; Zhu, Xin-Guang; Raines, Christine

    2017-07-20

    Many approaches to engineer source strength have been proposed to enhance crop yield potential. However, a well-co-ordinated source-sink relationship is required finally to realize the promised increase in crop yield potential in the farmer's field. Source-sink interaction has been intensively studied for decades, and a vast amount of knowledge about the interaction in different crops and under different environments has been accumulated. In this review, we first introduce the basic concepts of source, sink and their interactions, then summarize current understanding of how source and sink can be manipulated through both environmental control and genetic manipulations. We show that the source-sink interaction underlies the diverse responses of crops to the same perturbations and argue that development of a molecular systems model of source-sink interaction is required towards a rational manipulation of the source-sink relationship for increased yield. We finally discuss both bottom-up and top-down routes to develop such a model and emphasize that a community effort is needed for development of this model. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  9. Marsh soils as potential sinks for Bacteroides fecal indicator bacteria, Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge, Georgetown, SC, USA

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Drexler, Judith Z.; Johnson, Heather E.; Duris, Joseph W.; Krauss, Ken W.

    2014-01-01

    A soil core collected in a tidal freshwater marsh in the Waccamaw National Wildlife Refuge (Georgetown, SC) exuded a particularly strong odor of cow manure upon extrusion. In order to test for manure and determine its provenance, we carried out microbial source tracking using DNA markers for Bacteroides, a noncoliform, anaerobic bacterial group that represents a broad group of the fecal population. Three core sections from 0-3 cm, 9-12 cm and 30-33 were analyzed for the presence of Bacteroides. The ages of core sediments were estimated using 210Pb and 137Cs dating. All three core sections tested positive for Bacteroides DNA markers related to cow or deer feces. Because cow manure is stockpiled, used as fertilizer, and a source of direct contamination in the Great Pee Dee River/Winyah Bay watershed, it is very likely the source of the Bacteroides that was deposited on the marsh. The mid-points of the core sections were dated as follows: 0-3 cm: 2009; 9-12 cm: 1999, and 30-33 cm: 1961. The presence of Bacteroides at different depths/ages in the soil profile indicates that soils in tidal freshwater marshes are, at the least, capable of being short-term sinks for Bacteroides and, may have the potential to be long-term sinks of stable, naturalized populations.

  10. Consequences of a refuge for the predator-prey dynamics of a wolf-elk system in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada.

    PubMed

    Goldberg, Joshua F; Hebblewhite, Mark; Bardsley, John

    2014-01-01

    Refugia can affect predator-prey dynamics via movements between refuge and non-refuge areas. We examine the influence of a refuge on population dynamics in a large mammal predator-prey system. Wolves (Canis lupus) have recolonized much of their former range in North America, and as a result, ungulate prey have exploited refugia to reduce predation risk with unknown impacts on wolf-prey dynamics. We examined the influence of a refuge on elk (Cervus elaphus) and wolf population dynamics in Banff National Park. Elk occupy the Banff townsite with little predation, whereas elk in the adjoining Bow Valley experience higher wolf predation. The Banff refuge may influence Bow Valley predator-prey dynamics through source-sink movements. To test this hypothesis, we used 26 years of wolf and elk population counts and the Delayed Rejection Adaptive Metropolis Markov chain Monte Carlo method to fit five predator-prey models: 1) with no source-sink movements, 2) with elk density-dependent dispersal from the refuge to the non-refuge, 3) with elk predation risk avoidance movements from the non-refuge to the refuge, 4) with differential movement rates between refuge and non-refuge, and 5) with short-term, source-sink wolf movements. Model 1 provided the best fit of the data, as measured by Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). In the top model, Banff and Bow Valley elk had median growth rates of 0.08 and 0.03 (95% credibility intervals [CIs]: 0.027-0.186 and 0.001-0.143), respectively, Banff had a median carrying capacity of 630 elk (95% CI: 471.9-2676.9), Bow Valley elk had a median wolf encounter rate of 0.02 (95% CI: 0.013-0.030), and wolves had a median death rate of 0.23 (95% CI: 0.146-0.335) and a median conversion efficiency of 0.07 (95% CI: 0.031-0.124). We found little evidence for potential source-sink movements influencing the predator-prey dynamics of this system. This result suggests that the refuge was isolated from the non-refuge.

  11. Consequences of a Refuge for the Predator-Prey Dynamics of a Wolf-Elk System in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

    PubMed Central

    Goldberg, Joshua F.; Hebblewhite, Mark; Bardsley, John

    2014-01-01

    Refugia can affect predator-prey dynamics via movements between refuge and non-refuge areas. We examine the influence of a refuge on population dynamics in a large mammal predator-prey system. Wolves (Canis lupus) have recolonized much of their former range in North America, and as a result, ungulate prey have exploited refugia to reduce predation risk with unknown impacts on wolf-prey dynamics. We examined the influence of a refuge on elk (Cervus elaphus) and wolf population dynamics in Banff National Park. Elk occupy the Banff townsite with little predation, whereas elk in the adjoining Bow Valley experience higher wolf predation. The Banff refuge may influence Bow Valley predator-prey dynamics through source-sink movements. To test this hypothesis, we used 26 years of wolf and elk population counts and the Delayed Rejection Adaptive Metropolis Markov chain Monte Carlo method to fit five predator-prey models: 1) with no source-sink movements, 2) with elk density-dependent dispersal from the refuge to the non-refuge, 3) with elk predation risk avoidance movements from the non-refuge to the refuge, 4) with differential movement rates between refuge and non-refuge, and 5) with short-term, source-sink wolf movements. Model 1 provided the best fit of the data, as measured by Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). In the top model, Banff and Bow Valley elk had median growth rates of 0.08 and 0.03 (95% credibility intervals [CIs]: 0.027–0.186 and 0.001–0.143), respectively, Banff had a median carrying capacity of 630 elk (95% CI: 471.9–2676.9), Bow Valley elk had a median wolf encounter rate of 0.02 (95% CI: 0.013–0.030), and wolves had a median death rate of 0.23 (95% CI: 0.146–0.335) and a median conversion efficiency of 0.07 (95% CI: 0.031–0.124). We found little evidence for potential source-sink movements influencing the predator-prey dynamics of this system. This result suggests that the refuge was isolated from the non-refuge. PMID:24670632

  12. Response of plant community structure and primary productivity to experimental drought and flooding in an Alaskan fen

    Treesearch

    Amber C. Churchill; Merritt R. Turetsky; A. David McGuire; Teresa N. Hollingsworth

    2015-01-01

    Northern peatlands represent a long-term net sink for atmospheric CO2, but these ecosystems can shift from net carbon (C) sinks to sources based on changing climate and environmental conditions. In particular, changes in water availability associated with climate control peatland vegetation and carbon uptake processes. We examined the influence of changing hydrology on...

  13. [Eco-economic thinking for developing carbon sink industry in the de-farming regions].

    PubMed

    Wang, Ji Jun; Wang, Zheng Shu; Cheng, Si Min; Gu, Wen; Li, Yue; Li, Mao Sen

    2017-12-01

    Based on the potential and the law that plants absorb carbon dioxide, carbon sink industry means certain appropriate artificial intervention to obtain clean air, and to meet people's production and life demand for ecological environment industry. Carbon sink industry is considered as a breakthrough point and a new growth point for optimizing and upgrading of the original relatively balanced or stable agricultural industry-resources system. Among the ecosystem services in the de-farming regions, the rapid increase of the economic manifestation of carbon fixation and oxygen release function and the carbon sink potential, as well as the rise of carbon trading and carbon market both in domestic and international, have established a theoretical and practical basis for the deve-lopment of carbon industry. With the development of the carbon sink industry, improving the carbon sequestration output will become the core of the carbon sink industry. The producers or marketers will form the controlling of the carbon source, the development of the path for carbon storage increasing and re-layout of agricultural industry-resources structure, and thus bring new vitality to regional sustainable development in the de-farming regions. This indicates the emphasis for the future research and development, that is, allocating the agricultural industry-resources structure and their benign coupling mechanism after integrating the carbon sink industry.

  14. Structural and Physiological Changes in Sugar Beet Leaves during Sink to Source Conversion 1

    PubMed Central

    Fellows, Robert J.; Geiger, Donald R.

    1974-01-01

    The onset of export during leaf development was correlated with changes in metabolism and ultrastructure and with patterns of solute distribution in the developing seventh leaf of sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L.) in order to study the cause of initiation of translocation. Infrared gas analysis of carbon dioxide uptake showed a broad peak for net photosynthesis dm−2 at 35 to 40% final laminar length. Pulse labeling with 14CO2 demonstrated that maximum import of translocate occurred at 25% final laminar length; export was first observed at 35% final laminar length. Between 40 and 50% final laminar length a rapid increase in amount of export occurred, primarily as a result of the increase in the area of leaf which was exporting. Whole leaf autoradiography revealed that onset of phloem loading spread basipetally from the leaf tip; loading was initiated at about 22% final laminar length and was essentially complete by 50% final laminar length. Those areas which clearly exhibited loading no longer imported from other parts of the plant while the area in transition still appeared to import label from source regions. There was little difference between source and sink leaf tissue in the kinetic parameters Kj and Jmax (30) for uptake of exogenous sucrose supplied via free space. The concentration of solutes in sieve elements and companion cells of the sink leaf was highest in the mature tip area and gradually decreased in the direction of the immature base. There appeared to be no dramatic structural transformation within the phloem of the minor veins that was closely correlated with the time when phloem loading or export began. Rather, there appeared to be a gradual differentiation of phloem which resulted in a sizable proportion of the population of minor vein sieve elements and companion cells attaining maturity in the older sink regions prior to initiation of phloem loading. The area of the leaf undergoing development appeared to exhibit the beginnings of phloem loading 30 to 45 hours prior to onset of export. Import continued into the area in transition until the full level of vein loading was attained. Structural maturation of the phloem and onset of phloem loading are felt to be more preparatory in nature rather than immediately causal events which triggered export. The initiation of export out of a developing leaf, we believe, is the result of the increasing solute content within the sieve element and companion cells of the minor veins, in particular. The higher osmotic pressure in the sieve tubes causes a reversal of the previously inward directed gradient and produces a mass flow, through unobstructed sieve elements, out of the new source region of the leaf. Images PMID:16658993

  15. Information-System Structure by Communication-Technology Concepts: A Cybernetic Model Approach.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Reisig, Gerhard H. R.

    1978-01-01

    Presents the "Evidence-of-Existence" information system in which the structure is developed, with application of cybernetic concepts, as an isomorphic model in analogy to the system structure of communication technology. Three criteria of structuring are postulated: (1) source-channel-sink, with input-output characteristics, (2) filter-type…

  16. SCODE: A Secure Coordination-Based Data Dissemination to Mobile Sinks in Sensor Networks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hung, Lexuan; Lee, Sungyoung; Lee, Young-Koo; Lee, Heejo

    For many sensor network applications such as military, homeland security, it is necessary for users (sinks) to access sensor networks while they are moving. However, sink mobility brings new challenges to secure routing in large-scale sensor networks. Mobile sinks have to constantly propagate their current location to all nodes, and these nodes need to exchange messages with each other so that the sensor network can establish and maintain a secure multi-hop path between a source node and a mobile sink. This causes significant computation and communication overhead for sensor nodes. Previous studies on sink mobility have mainly focused on efficiency and effectiveness of data dissemination without security consideration. In this paper, we propose a secure and energy-efficient data dissemination protocol — Secure COodination-based Data dissEmination (SCODE) — for mobile sinks in sensor networks. We take advantages of coordination networks (grid structure) based on Geographical Adaptive Fidelity (GAF) protocol to construct a secure and efficient routing path between sources and sinks. Our security analysis demonstrates that the proposed protocol can defend against common attacks in sensor network routing such as replay attacks, selective forwarding attacks, sinkhole and wormhole, Sybil attacks, HELLO flood attacks. Our performance evaluation both in mathematical analysis and simulation shows that the SCODE significantly reduces communication overhead and energy consumption while the latency is similar compared with the existing routing protocols, and it always delivers more than 90 percentage of packets successfully.

  17. General analytical solutions for DC/AC circuit-network analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rubido, Nicolás; Grebogi, Celso; Baptista, Murilo S.

    2017-06-01

    In this work, we present novel general analytical solutions for the currents that are developed in the edges of network-like circuits when some nodes of the network act as sources/sinks of DC or AC current. We assume that Ohm's law is valid at every edge and that charge at every node is conserved (with the exception of the source/sink nodes). The resistive, capacitive, and/or inductive properties of the lines in the circuit define a complex network structure with given impedances for each edge. Our solution for the currents at each edge is derived in terms of the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the Laplacian matrix of the network defined from the impedances. This derivation also allows us to compute the equivalent impedance between any two nodes of the circuit and relate it to currents in a closed circuit which has a single voltage generator instead of many input/output source/sink nodes. This simplifies the treatment that could be done via Thévenin's theorem. Contrary to solving Kirchhoff's equations, our derivation allows to easily calculate the redistribution of currents that occurs when the location of sources and sinks changes within the network. Finally, we show that our solutions are identical to the ones found from Circuit Theory nodal analysis.

  18. Late Cretaceous Turbidite Reservoirs Along the Equatorial West African Margin: An Industry Perspective on Source-to-Sink Relationships

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wilson, Jonathan; Kohlmann, Fabian; Nicoll, Graeme

    2017-04-01

    The source-to-sink mindset provides an important framework for the exploration geologist. It enables an integrated understanding of hinterland and basin, and can lead to subsurface risk mitigation, particularly with respect to predicting reservoir location and quality. Despite the numerous benefits associated with source-to-sink analysis, such studies are time-consuming to generate, encompassing a large array of disciplines and data, and are not routinely performed within the hydrocarbon industry. The discovery of several significant hydrocarbon fields along the equatorial West African margin has been followed by a series of expensive failures throughout the last decade associated with reservoir quality/presence. This paper discusses a case study focused on the equatorial West African margin, demonstrating how three well-known but effective approaches can be integrated to reconstruct source-to-sink relationships in an ancient sedimentary system, helping de-risk exploration efforts. The first step is to characterize the hinterland. To do this, detailed information was collected for two separate but interlinked datasets—mineral deposits and hard rock geochronology. Combined, these two datasets allow an understanding of the timing and nature of an areas tectonic evolution to be easily developed. The data can be used alongside stratigraphic data and geodynamic information from a plate tectonic model to reconstruct topography and bathymetry of the earth at different episodes of geological time. Paleo digital elevation models (PDEMs) give a first-order approximation of hinterland topography and therefore allow possible sediment source areas to be identified and potential sediment transport pathways to be visualized by means of the digital reconstruction of paleo-drainage networks and their attendant watersheds. This integrated global dataset of hinterland geochronology provides useful "source" information complemented by "sink" information contained within a detrital geochronology database. By combining these two datasets and matching the age populations, sediment provenance can be deduced and source-to-sink relationships can be unraveled. Sedimentary provenance analysis from detrital/hinterland geochronology, and the application of flow routing algorithms to PDEMs, allow for the physical limits of paleo-drainage basins to be reconstructed. Assessment of the nature and composition of the hinterland within individual paleo-drainage basins provides a useful means of predicting the quality of sediment in associated point-sourced depocentres along the margin. For example, the erosion of hinterlands with markedly different compositions can have dramatic effects on the quality of sediment delivered to the surrounding basins. Sediment transport pathways provided by PDEMs and detrital zircon geochronology provide a paleo-drainage network that can be further developed by exploiting power-law scaling relationships observed between source-to-sink systems (Somme et al. 2009). These relationships, and more general predictive models (e.g., Syvitski and Milliman 2007), allow for semiquantitative approximation of morphological and sedimentological parameters in both the source and sink domain and provide a useful means of verifying inferred drainage patterns. In frontier areas where subsurface constraint is sparse, an appreciation of sink characteristics, such as fan size and sediment flux are extremely valuable as a first-pass basin screening tool.

  19. Space shuttle heat pipe thermal control systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Alario, J.

    1973-01-01

    Heat pipe (HP) thermal control systems designed for possible space shuttle applications were built and tested under this program. They are: (1) a HP augmented cold rail, (2) a HP/phase change material (PCM) modular heat sink and (3) a HP radiating panel for compartment temperature control. The HP augmented cold rail is similar to a standard two-passage fluid cold rail except that it contains an integral, centrally located HP throughout its length. The central HP core helps to increase the local power density capability by spreading concentrated heat inputs over the entire rail. The HP/PCM modular heat sink system consists of a diode HP connected in series to a standard HP that has a PCM canister attached to its mid-section. It is designed to connect a heat source to a structural heat sink during normal operation, and to automatically decouple from it and sink to the PCM whenever structural temperatures are too high. The HP radiating panel is designed to conductively couple the panel feeder HPs directly to a fluid line that serves as a source of waste heat. It is a simple strap-on type of system that requires no internal or external line modifications to distribute the heat to a large radiating area.

  20. High population variability and source-sink dynamics in a solitary bee species.

    PubMed

    Franzén, Markus; Nilsson, Sven G

    2013-06-01

    Although solitary bees are considered to play key roles in ecosystem functions, surprisingly few studies have explored their population dynamics. We investigated the population dynamics of a rare, declining, solitary bee (Andrena humilis) in a landscape of 80 km2 in southern Sweden from 2003 to 2011. Only one population was persistent throughout all years studied; most likely this population supplied the surrounding landscape with 11 smaller, temporary local populations. Despite stable pollen availability, the size of the persistent population fluctuated dramatically in a two-year cycle over the nine years, with 490-1230 nests in odd-numbered years and 21-48 nests in even-numbered years. These fluctuations were not significantly related to climatic variables or pollen availability. Nineteen colonization and 14 extinction events were recorded. Occupancy decreased with distance from the persistent population and increased with increasing resource (pollen) availability. There were significant positive correlations between the size of the persistent population and patch occupancy and colonization. Colonizations were generally more common in patches closer to the persistent population, whereas extinctions were independent of distance from the persistent population. Our results highlight the complex population dynamics that exist for this solitary bee species, which could be due to source-sink dynamics, a prolonged diapause, or can represent a bet-hedging strategy to avoid natural enemies and survive in small habitat patches. If large fluctuations in solitary bee populations prove to be widespread, it will have important implications for interpreting ecological relationships, bee conservation, and pollination.

  1. North America carbon dioxide sources and sinks: magnitude, attribution, and uncertainty

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    King, Anthony W.; Hayes, Daniel J.; Huntzinger, Deborah N.

    2012-12-01

    North America is both a source and sink of atmospheric CO2. Sources, predominately fossil-fuel combustion in the United States along with contributions from deforestation in Mexico, add CO2 to the atmosphere. Most North America ecosystems, particularly regrowing forests in the United States, are sinks for atmospheric CO2. CO2 is removed from the atmosphere in photosynthesis, converted into biomass and stored as carbon in vegetation, soil and wood products. Fossil-fuel emissions dominate the North American source-sink balance. North America is a net source of atmospheric CO2 with ecosystem sinks balancing approximately 35% of fossil-fuel CO2 emissions from North America.

  2. N-Sink: A Tool to Identify Nitrogen Sources and Sinks within aWatershed Framework

    EPA Science Inventory

    N-Sink is a customized ArcMap© program that provides maps of N sourcesand sinks within a watershed, and estimates the delivery efficiency of N movement from sources to the watershed outlet. The primary objective of N-Sink is to assist land use planners, watershed managers, and la...

  3. Taking climate, land use, and social economy into estimation of carbon budget in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China.

    PubMed

    Li, Ting; Li, Jing; Zhou, Zixiang; Wang, Yanze; Yang, Xiaonan; Qin, Keyu; Liu, Jingya

    2017-04-01

    Carbon sequestration is an indispensable ecosystem service provided by soil and vegetation, so mapping and valuing the carbon budget by considering both ecological and social factors is an important trend in evaluating ecosystem services. In this work, we established multiple scenarios to evaluate the impacts of land use change, population growth, carbon emission per capita, and carbon markets on carbon budget. We quantified carbon sinks (aboveground and belowground) under different scenarios, using the Carnegie-Ames-Stanford Approach (CASA) model and an improved carbon cycle process model, and studied carbon sources caused by human activities by analyzing the spatial distribution of human population and carbon emission per capita. We also assessed the net present value (NPV) for carbon budgets under different carbon price and discount rate scenarios using NPV model. Our results indicate that the carbon budget of Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region is surplus: Carbon sinks range from 1.50 × 10 10 to 1.54 × 10 10  t, while carbon sources caused by human activities range from 2.76 × 10 5 to 7.60 × 10 5  t. And the NPV for carbon deficits range from 3.20 × 10 11 RMB to 1.52 × 10 12 RMB. From the perspective of ecological management, deforestation, urban sprawl, population growth, and excessive carbon consumption are considered as the main challenges in balancing carbon sources and sinks. Levying carbon tax would be a considerable option when decision maker develops carbon emission reduction policies. Our results provide a scientific and credible reference for harmonious and sustainable development in the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Region of China.

  4. Contribution of Changing Sources and Sinks to the Growth Rate of Atmospheric Methane Concentrations for the Last Two Decades

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Matthews, Elaine; Walter, B.; Bogner, J.; Sarma, D.; Portmey, G.; Travis, Larry (Technical Monitor)

    2001-01-01

    In situ measurements of atmospheric methane concentrations begun in the early 1980s show decadal trends, as well as large interannual variations, in growth rate. Recent research indicates that while wetlands can explain several of the large growth anomalies for individual years, the decadal trend may be the combined effect of increasing sinks, due to increases in tropospheric OH, and stabilizing sources. We discuss new 20-year histories of annual, global source strengths for all major methane sources, i.e., natural wetlands, rice cultivation, ruminant animals, landfills, fossil fuels, and biomass burning. We also present estimates of the temporal pattern of the sink required to reconcile these sources and atmospheric concentrations over this time period. Analysis of the individual emission sources, together with model-derived estimates of the OH sink strength, indicates that the growth rate of atmospheric methane observed over the last 20 years can only be explained by a combination of changes in source emissions and an increasing tropospheric sink. Direct validation of the global sources and the terrestrial sink is not straightforward, in part because some sources/sinks are relatively small and diffuse (e.g., landfills and soil consumption), as well as because the atmospheric record integrates multiple and substantial sources and tropospheric sinks in regions such as the tropics. We discuss ways to develop and test criteria for rejecting and/or accepting a suite of scenarios for the methane budget.

  5. Comparative dynamics of small mammal populations in treefall gaps and surrounding understorey within Amazonian rainforest

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Beck, H.; Gaines, M.S.; Hines, J.E.; Nichols, J.D.

    2004-01-01

    Variation in food resource availability can have profound effects on habitat selection and dynamics of populations. Previous studies reported higher food resource availability and fruit removal in treefall gaps than in the understorey. Therefore, gaps have been considered 'keystone habitat' for Neotropical frugivore birds. Here we test if this prediction would also hold for terrestrial small mammals. In the Amazon, we quantified food resource availability in eleven treefall gaps and paired understorey habitats and used feeding experiments to test if two common terrestrial rodents (Oryzomys megacephalus and Proechimys spp.) would perceive differences between habitats. We live-trapped small mammals in eleven gaps and understorey sites for two years, and compared abundance, fitness components (survival and per capita recruitment) and dispersal of these two rodent species across gaps and understorey and seasons (rainy and dry). Our data indicated no differences in resource availability and consumption rate between habitats. Treefall gaps may represent a sink habitat for Oryzomys where individuals had lower fitness, apparently because of habitat-specific ant predation on early life stages, than in the understorey, the source habitat. Conversely, gaps may be source habitat for Proechimys where individuals had higher fitness, than in the understorey, the sink habitat. Our results suggest the presence of source-sink dynamics in a tropical gap-understorey landscape, where two rodent species perceive habitats differently. This may be a mechanism for their coexistence in a heterogeneous and species-diverse system.

  6. Identification of source-sink dynamics in mountain lions of the Great Basin

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Understanding population boundaries and movement rates in the field for species that are cryptic and occur at low densities is often extremely difficult and logistically prohibitive; however genetic techniques may offer insights that have previously been unattainable. We analyzed thirteen microsatel...

  7. Zoonotic Disease in a Peripheral Population: Persistence and Transmission of Leishmania major in a Putative Sink-Source System in the Negev Highlands, Israel

    PubMed Central

    Berger, Ruti; Warburg, Alon; Orshan, Laor; Kotler, Burt P.

    2014-01-01

    Abstract Populations at the edge of their geographic distributions are referred to as peripheral populations. Very little attention has been given to this topic in the context of persistence of infectious disease in natural populations. In this study, we examined this question using zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis (ZCL) caused by Leishmania major in the Negev Desert of Israel as a model system. Here, we suggest that the regional persistence of Phlebotomus papatasi populations and L. major transmission in the Sede Boqer region could be explained through processes akin to sink-source and/or mainland-island metapopulation dynamics. Given its potentially enzootically superior ecological conditions, we hypothesize that the Zin Valley ecotope constitutes the “mainland” or the “source” patch for the Sede Boqer area where L. major transmission is persistent and resistant to local extinctions (die-outs) whereas the local sand fly populations on the Zin Plateau (“island patch” or “sink patch”) are more prone to local extinctions. Between 2007 and 2008, we trapped sand flies and sand rats in the two areas and compared sand fly abundance and L. major infection prevalence in both. In both 2007 and 2008, sand fly abundance was high and continuous in the Zin Wadi but low and discontinuous in the Zin Plateau. Infection prevalence of sand rats was significantly higher in the Wadi (13%) compared with the Zin Plateau (3%). Minimum infection rate in sand flies did not differ significantly between the two areas. Overall, our results are consistent with the premise that the Zin Valley population is relatively robust in terms of L. major transmission, whereas transmission is potentially more tenuous in the plateau. Understanding the biotic and abiotic processes enabling the persistence of L. major and other vector-borne diseases in peripheral disease foci is important for predicting the effect of anthropogenic land use and climate change. PMID:25072990

  8. An estimate of juvenile survival in black-capped vireos and its implications to source-sink analyses of songbirds

    Treesearch

    Joseph A. Grzybowski

    2005-01-01

    An indirect estimate of juvenile survival was derived for a closed, small, population of Black-capped Vireos (Vireo atricapillus) in the Wichita Mountains, Oklahoma monitored since 1987. I used seasonal fecundities of vireos in years when the population was stable in the formula for intrinsic growth rate to solve for juvenile survival. The derived...

  9. Coexistence of the social types: genetic population structure in the ant Formica exsecta.

    PubMed

    Seppä, Perttu; Gyllenstrand, Niclas; Corander, Jukka; Pamilo, Pekka

    2004-11-01

    The ant Formica exsecta has two types of colonies that exist in sympatry but usually as separate subpopulations: colonies with simple social organization and single queens (M type) or colonial networks with multiple queens (P type). We used both nuclear (DNA microsatellites) and mitochondrial markers to study the transition between the social types, and the contribution of males and females in gene flow within and between the types. Our results showed that the social types had different spatial genetic structures. The M subpopulations formed a fairly uniform population, whereas the P subpopulations were, on average, more differentiated from each other than from the nearby M subpopulations and could have been locally established from the M-type colonies, followed by philopatric behavior and restricted emigration of females. Thus, the relationship between the two social types resembles that of source (M type) and sink (P type) populations. The comparison of mitochondrial (phiST) and nuclear (FST) differentiation indicates that the dispersal rate of males is four to five times larger than that of females both among the P-type subpopulations and between the social types. Our results suggest that evolution toward complex social organization can have an important effect on genetic population structure through changes in dispersal behavior associated with different sociogenetic organizations.

  10. A novel simulation methodology merging source-sink dynamics and landscape connectivity

    EPA Science Inventory

    Source-sink dynamics are an emergent property of complex species-landscape interactions. This study explores the patterns of source and sink behavior that become established across a large landscape, using a simulation model for the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis cauri...

  11. Forecasting lionfish sources and sinks in the Atlantic: are Gulf of Mexico reef fisheries at risk?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Johnston, Matthew W.; Bernard, Andrea M.; Shivji, Mahmood S.

    2017-03-01

    Invasive lionfish ( Pterois volitans/miles complex) now permeate the entire tropical western Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico, but lionfish abundance has been measured only in select locations in the field. Despite its rapid range expansion, a comprehensive meta-population analysis of lionfish `sources' and `sinks' and consequentially the invader's potential abundance and impacts on economically important, sympatric reef fishes have not been assessed. These data are urgently needed to spatially direct control efforts and to plan for and perhaps mitigate lionfish-caused damage. Here, we use a biophysical computer model to: (1) forecast larval lionfish sources and sinks that are also delineated as low to high lionfish `density zones' throughout their invaded range, and (2) assess the potential vulnerability of five grouper and snapper species— Epinephelus morio, Mycteroperca microlepis, Epinephelus flavolimbatus, Lutjanus campechanus, and Rhomboplites aurorubens—to lionfish within these density zones in the Gulf of Mexico. Our results suggest that the west Florida shelf and nearshore waters of Texas, USA, and Guyana, South America, function both as lionfish sources and sinks and should be a high priority for targeted lionfish control. Furthermore, of the five groupers and snappers studied, the high fishery value E. morio (red grouper) is the Gulf of Mexico species most at risk from lionfish. Lacking a comprehensive lionfish control policy, these risk exposure data inform managers where removals should be focused and demonstrate the risk to five sympatric native groupers and snappers in the Gulf of Mexico that may be susceptible to dense lionfish aggregations, should control efforts fail.

  12. Determining the vertical carbon dioxide source/sink distribution in a mountain pine beetle attacked forest: A comparison of eddy-covariance and ecophysiological approaches

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Emmel, C.; Bowler, R.; Black, T. A.; Christen, A.

    2012-12-01

    Disturbance of forests caused by insect attacks, such as the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae, MPB) outbreak in Western North America may lead to a conversion of affected forests from a net carbon dioxide (CO2) sink to a net source. Informed management of forests can help reduce the associated CO2 emissions. The objective of this study is to determine the vertical distribution of sources and sinks of CO2 in an open MPB attacked lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) canopy (stand height h = 17 m, leaf areas index LAI = 0.55 m2 m-2) in the Interior of British Columbia. The stand has a considerable living secondary structure with a maximum height of 12 m while 99% of the mature pine trees composing the upper canopy are dead. We compared two different methods to accomplish the goal of determining the vertical divergence of the CO2 flux and relate it to the different vegetation layers. Data from a field campaign in July / August 2010 were used. The first method employs eddy-covariance (EC) measurements to determine the vertical source/sink distribution within and above the canopy. The instrumentation included open-path infrared gas analyzers and 3D ultrasonic anemometers. With simultaneous EC measurements at seven heights (z/h = 0.05, 0.15, 0.40, 0.60, 0.85, 1.05 and 1.30) we determined the CO2 uptake or release of the layers between the measurement levels by calculating the flux density divergence and the CO2 storage change in the air of each layer. The second method uses an ecophysiological approach developing a canopy CO2 exchange model. CO2 exchange was directly measured on tree boles and the soil using a portable non-steady-state CO2 chamber system and on leaves using a LI-COR LI-6400 photosynthesis system. Measurements were made during different times of the day and under varying temperature and moisture conditions over the course of the campaign. Airborne light detection and ranging (LIDAR) measurements, and vertical, horizontal and species-specific LAI measurements provided necessary information about the stand structure. We combined this information with measurements of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at 6 levels, soil moisture and temperature measurements to model the vertical CO2 source/sink distribution over the course of the campaign. In earlier research, it was found that this stand made the transition from a carbon source to a sink faster than expected (Brown et al., 2010, Agric For Meteorol 150, 254-264). The flux profile showed substantial daytime CO2 uptake below z/h = 0.5, while in the upper canopy there was respiratory CO2 loss. PAR penetrates deep into the canopy with on average almost 60% reaching the ground level (z/h = 0.05). Our study demonstrates that the secondary structure is responsible for significant CO2 uptake, while the understory together with the soil and the dead lodgepole pine trees in the upper canopy are weak CO2 sources, resulting in the stand being a carbon sink. We will discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the two proposed methods with regard to technical challenges and uncertainties, and how the two methods compared overall.

  13. Phosphorus storage and mobilization in coastal Phragmites wetlands: Influence of local-scale hydrodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Karstens, Svenja; Buczko, Uwe; Glatzel, Stephan

    2016-04-01

    Coastal Phragmites wetlands are at the interface between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and are of paramount importance for nutrient regulation. They can act both as sinks and sources for phosphorus, depending on environmental conditions, sediment properties as well as on antecedent nutrient loading and sorption capacity of the sediments. The Darss-Zingst Bodden Chain is a shallow lagoon system at the German Baltic Sea coast with a long eutrophication history. It is lined almost at its entire length by reed wetlands. In order to elucidate under which conditions these wetlands act as sources or sinks for phosphorus, in-situ data of chemo-physical characteristics of water and sediment samples were combined with hydrodynamic measurements and laboratory experiments. Small-scale basin structures within the wetland serve as sinks for fine-grained particles rich in phosphorus, iron, manganese and organic matter. Without turbulent mixing the bottom water and the sediment surface lack replenishment of oxygen. During stagnant periods with low water level, low turbulence and thus low-oxygen conditions phosphorus from the sediments is released. But the sediments are capable of becoming sinks again once oxygen is resupplied. A thin oxic sediment surface layer rich in iron and manganese adsorbs phosphorus quickly. We demonstrate that sediments in coastal Phragmites wetlands can serve both as sources and sinks of soluble reactive phosphorus on a very short time-scale, depending on local-scale hydrodynamics and the state of the oxic-anoxic sediment interface.

  14. The development rubrics skill argued as alternative assessment floating and sinking materials

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Viyanti; Cari; Sunarno, Widha; Prasetyo, Zuhdan Kun

    2017-11-01

    The quality of arguing to learners of floating and sinking material can be assessed by using the rubric of an argumentation assessment skill as an alternative assessment. The quality of the argument is measured by the ability of learners to express the claim in a structured manner in order to maintain the claim with supporting data. The purpose of this study was to develop an argument skill rubric based on the preliminary study results which showed a gap between demands and reality related to the students ‘floating and sinking students’ argument skills. This research was conducted in one of State Senior High School Bandar Lampung. The study population is all students of senior high scholl class XI. Research sample was taken by randomly obtained by 20 students. The research used descriptive survey method. Data were obtained through a multiple choice test both grounded and interview. The results were analyzed based on the level of students’ argumentation skills that had met the criteria which developed in the assessment rubric. The results of the data analysis found that the learners are in the range of levels 1 through 3. Based on the data the average learner is at the level of quality argument “high” for component I and the quality of “low” argument for component 2. This indicates learners experience difficulty which making alternative statement supported by reference in accordance with the initial statement submitted. This fact is supported by interviews that learners need a structured strategy to design alternative statements from shared reading sources to support the preliminary statements presented.

  15. [Regulation framework of watershed landscape pattern for non-point source pollution control based on 'source-sink' theory: A case study in the watershed of Maluan Bay, Xiamen City, China].

    PubMed

    Huang, Ning; Wang, Hong Ying; Lin, Tao; Liu, Qi Ming; Huang, Yun Feng; Li, Jian Xiong

    2016-10-01

    Watershed landscape pattern regulation and optimization based on 'source-sink' theory for non-point source pollution control is a cost-effective measure and still in the exploratory stage. Taking whole watershed as the research object, on the basis of landscape ecology, related theories and existing research results, a regulation framework of watershed landscape pattern for non-point source pollution control was developed at two levels based on 'source-sink' theory in this study: 1) at watershed level: reasonable basic combination and spatial pattern of 'source-sink' landscape was analyzed, and then holistic regulation and optimization method of landscape pattern was constructed; 2) at landscape patch level: key 'source' landscape was taken as the focus of regulation and optimization. Firstly, four identification criteria of key 'source' landscape including landscape pollutant loading per unit area, landscape slope, long and narrow transfer 'source' landscape, pollutant loading per unit length of 'source' landscape along the riverbank were developed. Secondly, nine types of regulation and optimization methods for different key 'source' landscape in rural and urban areas were established, according to three regulation and optimization rules including 'sink' landscape inlay, banding 'sink' landscape supplement, pollutants capacity of original 'sink' landscape enhancement. Finally, the regulation framework was applied for the watershed of Maluan Bay in Xiamen City. Holistic regulation and optimization mode of watershed landscape pattern of Maluan Bay and key 'source' landscape regulation and optimization measures for the three zones were made, based on GIS technology, remote sensing images and DEM model.

  16. Emission and Sink of Greenhouse Gases in Soils of Moscow

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mozharova, N. V.; Kulachkova, S. A.; Lebed'-Sharlevich, Ya. I.

    2018-03-01

    The first inventory and zoning of the emission and sink of methane and carbon dioxide in the urban structure of greenhouse gases from soils and surface technogenic formations (STFs) (Technosols) on technogenic, recrementogenic, and natural sediments have been performed with consideration for the global warming potential under conditions of different formation rate of these gases, underflooding, and sealing. From gas geochemical criteria and anthropogenic pedogenesis features, the main sources of greenhouse gases, their intensity, and mass emission were revealed. The mass fractions of emissions from the sectors of waste and land use in the inventories of greenhouse gas emissions have been determined. New sources of gas emission have been revealed in the first sector, the emissions from which add tens of percent to the literature and state reports. In the second sector, emissions exceed the available data in 70 times. Estimation criteria based on the degree of manifestation and chemical composition of soil-geochemical anomalies and barrier capacities have been proposed. The sink of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere and the internal (latent) sink of methane in soils and STFs have been determined. Ecological functions of soils and STFs have been shown, and the share of latent methane sink has been calculated. The bacterial oxidation of methane in soils and STFs exceeds its emission to the atmosphere in almost hundred times.

  17. Measuring and modelling seasonal patterns of carbohydrate storage and mobilization in the trunks and root crowns of peach trees

    PubMed Central

    Da Silva, David; Qin, Liangchun; DeBuse, Carolyn; DeJong, Theodore M.

    2014-01-01

    Background and Aims Developing a conceptual and functional framework for simulating annual long-term carbohydrate storage and mobilization in trees has been a weak point for virtually all tree models. This paper provides a novel approach for solving this problem using empirical field data and details of structural components of simulated trees to estimate the total carbohydrate stored over a dormant season and available for mobilization during spring budbreak. Methods The seasonal patterns of mobilization and storage of non-structural carbohydrates in bark and wood of the scion and rootstock crowns of the trunks of peach (Prunus persica) trees were analysed subsequent to treatments designed to maximize differences in source–sink behaviour during the growing season. Mature peach trees received one of three treatments (defruited and no pruning, severe pruning to 1·0 m, and unthinned with no pruning) in late winter, just prior to budbreak. Selected trees of each treatment were harvested at four times (March, June, August and November) and slices of trunk and root crown tissue above and below the graft union were removed for carbohydrate analysis. Inner bark and xylem tissues from the first to fifth rings were separated and analysed for non-structural carbohydrates. Data from these experiments were then used to estimate the amount of non-structural carbohydrates available for mobilization and to parameterize a carbohydrate storage sub-model in the functional–structural L-PEACH model. Key Results The mass fraction of carbohydrates in all sample tissues decreased from March to June, but the decrease was greatest in the severely pruned and unthinned treatments. November carbohydrate mass fractions in all tissues recovered to values similar to those in the previous March, except in the older xylem rings of the severely pruned and unthinned treatment. Carbohydrate storage sink capacity in trunks was empirically estimated from the mean maximum measured trunk non-structural carbohydrate mass fractions. The carbohydrate storage source available for mobilization was estimated from these maximum mass fractions and the early summer minimum mass fractions remaining in these tissues in the severe treatments that maximized mobilization of stored carbohydrates. The L-PEACH sink–source carbohydrate distribution framework was then used along with simulated tree structure to successfully simulate annual carbohydrate storage sink and source behaviour over years. Conclusions The sink–source concept of carbohydrate distribution within a tree was extended to include winter carbohydrate storage and spring mobilization by considering the storage sink and source as a function of the collective capacity of active xylem and phloem tissue of the tree, and its annual behaviour was effectively simulated using the L-PEACH functional–structural plant model. PMID:24674986

  18. Quantifying the source-sink balance and carbohydrate content in three tomato cultivars.

    PubMed

    Li, Tao; Heuvelink, Ep; Marcelis, Leo F M

    2015-01-01

    Supplementary lighting is frequently applied in the winter season for crop production in greenhouses. The effect of supplementary lighting on plant growth depends on the balance between assimilate production in source leaves and the overall capacity of the plants to use assimilates. This study aims at quantifying the source-sink balance and carbohydrate content of three tomato cultivars differing in fruit size, and to investigate to what extent the source/sink ratio correlates with the potential fruit size. Cultivars Komeet (large size), Capricia (medium size), and Sunstream (small size, cherry tomato) were grown from 16 August to 21 November, at similar crop management as in commercial practice. Supplementary lighting (High Pressure Sodium lamps, photosynthetic active radiation at 1 m below lamps was 162 μmol photons m(-2) s(-1); maximum 10 h per day depending on solar irradiance level) was applied from 19 September onward. Source strength was estimated from total plant growth rate using periodic destructive plant harvests in combination with the crop growth model TOMSIM. Sink strength was estimated from potential fruit growth rate which was determined from non-destructively measuring the fruit growth rate at non-limiting assimilate supply, growing only one fruit on each truss. Carbohydrate content in leaves and stems were periodically determined. During the early growth stage, 'Komeet' and 'Capricia' showed sink limitation and 'Sunstream' was close to sink limitation. During this stage reproductive organs had hardly formed or were still small and natural irradiance was high (early September) compared to winter months. Subsequently, during the fully fruiting stage all three cultivars were strongly source-limited as indicated by the low source/sink ratio (average source/sink ratio from 50 days after planting onward was 0.17, 0.22, and 0.33 for 'Komeet,' 'Capricia,' and 'Sunstream,' respectively). This was further confirmed by the fact that pruning half of the fruits hardly influenced net leaf photosynthesis rates. Carbohydrate content in leaves and stems increased linearly with the source/sink ratio. We conclude that during the early growth stage under high irradiance, tomato plants are sink-limited and that the level of sink limitation differs between cultivars but it is not correlated with their potential fruit size. During the fully fruiting stage tomato plants are source-limited and the extent of source limitation of a cultivar is positively correlated with its potential fruit size.

  19. LED lamp or bulb with remote phosphor and diffuser configuration with enhanced scattering properties

    DOEpatents

    Tong, Tao; Le Toquin, Ronan; Keller, Bernd; Tarsa, Eric; Youmans, Mark; Lowes, Theodore; Medendorp, Jr., Nicholas W; Van De Ven, Antony; Negley, Gerald

    2014-11-11

    An LED lamp or bulb is disclosed that comprises a light source, a heat sink structure and an optical cavity. The optical cavity comprises a phosphor carrier having a conversions material and arranged over an opening to the cavity. The phosphor carrier comprises a thermally conductive transparent material and is thermally coupled to the heat sink structure. An LED based light source is mounted in the optical cavity remote to the phosphor carrier with light from the light source passing through the phosphor carrier. A diffuser dome is included that is mounted over the optical cavity, with light from the optical cavity passing through the diffuser dome. The properties of the diffuser, such as geometry, scattering properties of the scattering layer, surface roughness or smoothness, and spatial distribution of the scattering layer properties may be used to control various lamp properties such as color uniformity and light intensity distribution as a function of viewing angle.

  20. ESTUARINE-OCEAN EXCHANGE IN A NORTH PACIFIC ESTUARY: COMPARISON OF STEADY STATE AND DYNAMIC MODELS

    EPA Science Inventory

    Nutrient levels in coastal waters must be accurately assessed to determine the nutrient effects of increasing populations on coastal ecosystems. To accomplish this goal, in-field data with sufficient temporal resolution are required to define nutrient sources and sinks, and to ul...

  1. Coupling individual kernel-filling processes with source-sink interactions into GREENLAB-Maize.

    PubMed

    Ma, Yuntao; Chen, Youjia; Zhu, Jinyu; Meng, Lei; Guo, Yan; Li, Baoguo; Hoogenboom, Gerrit

    2018-02-13

    Failure to account for the variation of kernel growth in a cereal crop simulation model may cause serious deviations in the estimates of crop yield. The goal of this research was to revise the GREENLAB-Maize model to incorporate source- and sink-limited allocation approaches to simulate the dry matter accumulation of individual kernels of an ear (GREENLAB-Maize-Kernel). The model used potential individual kernel growth rates to characterize the individual potential sink demand. The remobilization of non-structural carbohydrates from reserve organs to kernels was also incorporated. Two years of field experiments were conducted to determine the model parameter values and to evaluate the model using two maize hybrids with different plant densities and pollination treatments. Detailed observations were made on the dimensions and dry weights of individual kernels and other above-ground plant organs throughout the seasons. Three basic traits characterizing an individual kernel were compared on simulated and measured individual kernels: (1) final kernel size; (2) kernel growth rate; and (3) duration of kernel filling. Simulations of individual kernel growth closely corresponded to experimental data. The model was able to reproduce the observed dry weight of plant organs well. Then, the source-sink dynamics and the remobilization of carbohydrates for kernel growth were quantified to show that remobilization processes accompanied source-sink dynamics during the kernel-filling process. We conclude that the model may be used to explore options for optimizing plant kernel yield by matching maize management to the environment, taking into account responses at the level of individual kernels. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. The Rising Tide of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture: Sources, Sinks and Solutions

    PubMed Central

    Watts, Joy E. M.; Schreier, Harold J.; Lanska, Lauma; Hale, Michelle S.

    2017-01-01

    As the human population increases there is an increasing reliance on aquaculture to supply a safe, reliable, and economic supply of food. Although food production is essential for a healthy population, an increasing threat to global human health is antimicrobial resistance. Extensive antibiotic resistant strains are now being detected; the spread of these strains could greatly reduce medical treatment options available and increase deaths from previously curable infections. Antibiotic resistance is widespread due in part to clinical overuse and misuse; however, the natural processes of horizontal gene transfer and mutation events that allow genetic exchange within microbial populations have been ongoing since ancient times. By their nature, aquaculture systems contain high numbers of diverse bacteria, which exist in combination with the current and past use of antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and other treatment regimens—singularly or in combination. These systems have been designated as “genetic hotspots” for gene transfer. As our reliance on aquaculture grows, it is essential that we identify the sources and sinks of antimicrobial resistance, and monitor and analyse the transfer of antimicrobial resistance between the microbial community, the environment, and the farmed product, in order to better understand the implications to human and environmental health. PMID:28587172

  3. The Rising Tide of Antimicrobial Resistance in Aquaculture: Sources, Sinks and Solutions.

    PubMed

    Watts, Joy E M; Schreier, Harold J; Lanska, Lauma; Hale, Michelle S

    2017-06-01

    As the human population increases there is an increasing reliance on aquaculture to supply a safe, reliable, and economic supply of food. Although food production is essential for a healthy population, an increasing threat to global human health is antimicrobial resistance. Extensive antibiotic resistant strains are now being detected; the spread of these strains could greatly reduce medical treatment options available and increase deaths from previously curable infections. Antibiotic resistance is widespread due in part to clinical overuse and misuse; however, the natural processes of horizontal gene transfer and mutation events that allow genetic exchange within microbial populations have been ongoing since ancient times. By their nature, aquaculture systems contain high numbers of diverse bacteria, which exist in combination with the current and past use of antibiotics, probiotics, prebiotics, and other treatment regimens-singularly or in combination. These systems have been designated as "genetic hotspots" for gene transfer. As our reliance on aquaculture grows, it is essential that we identify the sources and sinks of antimicrobial resistance, and monitor and analyse the transfer of antimicrobial resistance between the microbial community, the environment, and the farmed product, in order to better understand the implications to human and environmental health.

  4. Demographic source-sink dynamics restrict local adaptation in Elliott's blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii).

    PubMed

    Anderson, Jill T; Geber, Monica A

    2010-02-01

    In heterogeneous landscapes, divergent selection can favor the evolution of locally adapted ecotypes, especially when interhabitat gene flow is minimal. However, if habitats differ in size or quality, source-sink dynamics can shape evolutionary trajectories. Upland and bottomland forests of the southeastern USA differ in water table depth, light availability, edaphic conditions, and plant community. We conducted a multiyear reciprocal transplant experiment to test whether Elliott's blueberry (Vaccinium elliottii) is locally adapted to these contrasting environments. Additionally, we exposed seedlings and cuttings to prolonged drought and flooding in the greenhouse to assess fitness responses to abiotic stress. Contrary to predictions of local adaptation, V. elliottii families exhibited significantly higher survivorship and growth in upland than in bottomland forests and under drought than flooded conditions, regardless of habitat of origin. Neutral population differentiation was minimal, suggesting widespread interhabitat migration. Population density, reproductive output, and genetic diversity were all significantly greater in uplands than in bottomlands. These disparities likely result in asymmetric gene flow from uplands to bottomlands. Thus, adaptation to a marginal habitat can be constrained by small populations, limited fitness, and immigration from a benign habitat. Our study highlights the importance of demography and genetic diversity in the evolution of local (mal)adaptation.

  5. Linking potential heat source and sink to urban heat island: Heterogeneous effects of landscape pattern on land surface temperature.

    PubMed

    Li, Weifeng; Cao, Qiwen; Lang, Kun; Wu, Jiansheng

    2017-05-15

    Rapid urbanization has significantly contributed to the development of urban heat island (UHI). Regulating landscape composition and configuration would help mitigate the UHI in megacities. Taking Shenzhen, China, as a case study area, we defined heat source and heat sink and identified strong and weak sources as well as strong and weak sinks according to the natural and socioeconomic factors influencing land surface temperature (LST). Thus, the potential thermal contributions of heat source and heat sink patches were differentiated. Then, the heterogeneous effects of landscape pattern on LST were examined by using semiparametric geographically weighted regression (SGWR) models. The results showed that landscape composition has more significant effects on thermal environment than configuration. For a strong source, the percentage of patches has a positive impact on LST. Additionally, when mosaicked with some heat sink, even a small improvement in the degree of dispersion of a strong source helps to alleviate UHI. For a weak source, the percentage and density of patches have positive impacts on LST. For a strong sink, the percentage, density, and degree of aggregation of patches have negative impacts on LST. The effects of edge density and patch shape complexity vary spatially with the fragmentation of a strong sink. Similarly, the impacts of a weak sink are mainly exerted via the characteristics of percent, density, and shape complexity of patches. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Carbon partitioning in Arabidopsis thaliana is a dynamic process controlled by the plants metabolic status and its circadian clock

    PubMed Central

    Kölling, Katharina; Thalmann, Matthias; Müller, Antonia; Jenny, Camilla; Zeeman, Samuel C

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Plant growth involves the coordinated distribution of carbon resources both towards structural components and towards storage compounds that assure a steady carbon supply over the complete diurnal cycle. We used 14CO2 labelling to track assimilated carbon in both source and sink tissues. Source tissues exhibit large variations in carbon allocation throughout the light period. The most prominent change was detected in partitioning towards starch, being low in the morning and more than double later in the day. Export into sink tissues showed reciprocal changes. Fewer and smaller changes in carbon allocation occurred in sink tissues where, in most respects, carbon was partitioned similarly, whether the sink leaf assimilated it through photosynthesis or imported it from source leaves. Mutants deficient in the production or remobilization of leaf starch exhibited major alterations in carbon allocation. Low-starch mutants that suffer from carbon starvation at night allocated much more carbon into neutral sugars and had higher rates of export than the wild type, partly because of the reduced allocation into starch, but also because of reduced allocation into structural components. Moreover, mutants deficient in the plant’s circadian system showed considerable changes in their carbon partitioning pattern suggesting control by the circadian clock. This work focusses on the temporal changes in the allocation and transport of photoassimilates within Arabidopsis rosettes, helping to fill a gap in our understanding of plant growth. Using short pulses of 14C-labelled carbon dioxide, we quantified how much carbon is used for growth and how much is stored as starch for use at night. In source leaves, partitioning is surprisingly dynamic during the day, even though photosynthesis is relatively constant, while in sink leaves, utilisation is more constant. Furthermore, by analysing metabolic mutants and clock mutants, and by manipulating the growth conditions, we show that partitioning is responsive to endogenous signals such as carbon starvation and the plant’s circadian rhythm. Commentary: Understanding carbon partitioning and its role in determining plant growth PMID:25651812

  7. Mapping sources, sinks, and connectivity using a simulation model of northern spotted owls- 5/20/2014

    EPA Science Inventory

    Source-sink dynamics are an emergent property of complex species- landscape interactions. A better understanding of how human activities affect source-sink dynamics has the potential to inform and improve the management of species of conservation concern. Here we use a study of t...

  8. Comparative analysis among the small RNA populations of source, sink and conductive tissues in two different plant-virus pathosystems.

    PubMed

    Herranz, Mari Carmen; Navarro, Jose Antonio; Sommen, Evelien; Pallas, Vicente

    2015-02-22

    In plants, RNA silencing plays a fundamental role as defence mechanism against viruses. During last years deep-sequencing technology has allowed to analyze the sRNA profile of a large variety of virus-infected tissues. Nevertheless, the majority of these studies have been restricted to a unique tissue and no comparative analysis between phloem and source/sink tissues has been conducted. In the present work, we compared the sRNA populations of source, sink and conductive (phloem) tissues in two different plant virus pathosystems. We chose two cucurbit species infected with two viruses very different in genome organization and replication strategy; Melon necrotic spot virus (MNSV) and Prunus necrotic ringspot virus (PNRSV). Our findings showed, in both systems, an increase of the 21-nt total sRNAs together with a decrease of those with a size of 24-nt in all the infected tissues, except for the phloem where the ratio of 21/24-nt sRNA species remained constant. Comparing the vsRNAs, both PNRSV- and MNSV-infected plants share the same vsRNA size distribution in all the analyzed tissues. Similar accumulation levels of sense and antisense vsRNAs were observed in both systems except for roots that showed a prevalence of (+) vsRNAs in both pathosystems. Additionally, the presence of overrepresented discrete sites along the viral genome, hot spots, were identified and validated by stem-loop RT-PCR. Despite that in PNRSV-infected plants the presence of vsRNAs was scarce both viruses modulated the host sRNA profile. We compare for the first time the sRNA profile of four different tissues, including source, sink and conductive (phloem) tissues, in two plant-virus pathosystems. Our results indicate that antiviral silencing machinery in melon and cucumber acts mainly through DCL4. Upon infection, the total sRNA pattern in phloem remains unchanged in contrast to the rest of the analyzed tissues indicating a certain tissue-tropism to this polulation. Independently of the accumulation level of the vsRNAs both viruses were able to modulate the host sRNA pattern.

  9. Effects of carbohydrate accumulation on photosynthesis differ between sink and source leaves of Phaseolus vulgaris L.

    PubMed

    Araya, Takao; Noguchi, Ko; Terashima, Ichiro

    2006-05-01

    Accumulation of non-structural carbohydrate in leaves represses photosynthesis. However, the extent of repression should be different between sink leaves (sugar consumers) and source leaves (sugar exporters). We investigated the effects of carbohydrate accumulation on photosynthesis in the primary leaves of bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) during leaf expansion. To increase the carbohydrate content of the leaves, we supplied 20 mM sucrose solution to the roots for 5 d (sugar treatment). Plants supplied only with water and nutrients were used as controls. The carbohydrate contents, which are the sum of glucose, sucrose and starch, of the sugar-treated leaves were 1.5-3 times of those of the control leaves at all developmental stages. In the young sink leaves, the photosynthetic rate at saturating light and at an ambient CO2 concentration (A360) did not differ between the sugar-treated and control leaves. The A360 of sugar-treated source leaves gradually decreased relative to the control source leaves with leaf expansion. The initial slope of the A-Ci (CO2 concentration in the intercellular space) curve, and the Rubisco (ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase) content per leaf area showed trends similar to that of A360. Differences in Amax between the treatments were slightly smaller than those in A360. These results indicate that the effect of carbohydrate accumulation on photosynthesis is significant in the source leaves, but not in the young sink leaves, and that the decrease in Rubisco content was the main cause of the carbohydrate repression of photosynthesis.

  10. Sink-oriented Dynamic Location Service Protocol for Mobile Sinks with an Energy Efficient Grid-Based Approach.

    PubMed

    Jeon, Hyeonjae; Park, Kwangjin; Hwang, Dae-Joon; Choo, Hyunseung

    2009-01-01

    Sensor nodes transmit the sensed information to the sink through wireless sensor networks (WSNs). They have limited power, computational capacities and memory. Portable wireless devices are increasing in popularity. Mechanisms that allow information to be efficiently obtained through mobile WSNs are of significant interest. However, a mobile sink introduces many challenges to data dissemination in large WSNs. For example, it is important to efficiently identify the locations of mobile sinks and disseminate information from multi-source nodes to the multi-mobile sinks. In particular, a stationary dissemination path may no longer be effective in mobile sink applications, due to sink mobility. In this paper, we propose a Sink-oriented Dynamic Location Service (SDLS) approach to handle sink mobility. In SDLS, we propose an Eight-Direction Anchor (EDA) system that acts as a location service server. EDA prevents intensive energy consumption at the border sensor nodes and thus provides energy balancing to all the sensor nodes. Then we propose a Location-based Shortest Relay (LSR) that efficiently forwards (or relays) data from a source node to a sink with minimal delay path. Our results demonstrate that SDLS not only provides an efficient and scalable location service, but also reduces the average data communication overhead in scenarios with multiple and moving sinks and sources.

  11. Spatial Light Modulators as Optical Crossbar Switches

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Juday, Richard

    2003-01-01

    A proposed method of implementing cross connections in an optical communication network is based on the use of a spatial light modulator (SLM) to form controlled diffraction patterns that connect inputs (light sources) and outputs (light sinks). Sources would typically include optical fibers and/or light-emitting diodes; sinks would typically include optical fibers and/or photodetectors. The sources and/or sinks could be distributed in two dimensions; that is, on planes. Alternatively or in addition, sources and/or sinks could be distributed in three dimensions -- for example, on curved surfaces or in more complex (including random) three-dimensional patterns.

  12. Contribution of Changing Sources and Sinks to the Growth Rate of Atmospheric Methane Concentrations for the Last Two Decades

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Matthews, Elaine; Walter, B.; Bogner, J.; Sarma, D.; Portney, B.; Hansen, James (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    In situ measurements of atmospheric methane concentrations begun in the early 1980s show decadal trends, as well as large interannual variations, in growth rate. Recent research indicates that while wetlands can explain several of the large growth anomalies for individual years, the decadal trend may be the combined effect of increasing sinks, due to increases in tropospheric OH, and stabilizing sources. We discuss new 20-year histories of annual, global source strengths for all major methane sources, i.e., natural wetlands, rice cultivation, ruminant animals, landfills, fossil fuels, and biomass burning, and present estimates of the temporal pattern of the sink required to reconcile these sources and atmospheric concentrations over the time period. Analysis of the individual emission sources, together with model-derived estimates of the OH sink strength, indicates that the growth rate of atmospheric methane observed over the last 20 years can only be explained by a combination of changes in source emissions and an increasing tropospheric sink.

  13. Reserve size and fragmentation alter community assembly, diversity, and dynamics.

    PubMed

    Lasky, Jesse R; Keitt, Timothy H

    2013-11-01

    Researchers have disputed whether a single large habitat reserve will support more species than many small reserves. However, relatively little is known from a theoretical perspective about how reserve size affects competitive communities structured by spatial abiotic gradients. We investigate how reserve size affects theoretical communities whose assembly is governed by dispersal limitation, abiotic niche differentiation, and source-sink dynamics. Simulations were conducted with varying scales of dispersal across landscapes with variable environmental spatial autocorrelation. Landscapes were inhabited by simulated trees with seedling and adult stages. For a fixed total area in reserves, we found that small reserve systems increased the distance between environments dominated by different species, diminishing the effects of source-sink dynamics. As reserve size decreased, environmental limitations to community assembly became stronger, α species richness decreased, and γ richness increased. When dispersal occurred across short distances, a large reserve strategy caused greater stochastic community variation, greater α richness, and lower γ richness than in small reserve systems. We found that reserve size variation trades off between preserving different aspects of natural communities, including α diversity versus γ diversity. Optimal reserve size will depend on the importance of source-sink dynamics and the value placed on different characteristics of natural communities. Anthropogenic changes to the size and separation of remnant habitats can have far-reaching effects on community structure and assembly.

  14. A two-dimensional transient analytical solution for a ponded ditch drainage system under the influence of source/sink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarmah, Ratan; Tiwari, Shubham

    2018-03-01

    An analytical solution is developed for predicting two-dimensional transient seepage into ditch drainage network receiving water from a non-uniform steady ponding field from the surface of the soil under the influence of source/sink in the flow domain. The flow domain is assumed to be saturated, homogeneous and anisotropic in nature and have finite extends in horizontal and vertical directions. The drains are assumed to be standing vertical and penetrating up to impervious layer. The water levels in the drains are unequal and invariant with time. The flow field is also assumed to be under the continuous influence of time-space dependent arbitrary source/sink term. The correctness of the proposed model is checked by developing a numerical code and also with the existing analytical solution for the simplified case. The study highlights the significance of source/sink influence in the subsurface flow. With the imposition of the source and sink term in the flow domain, the pathline and travel time of water particles started deviating from their original position and above that the side and top discharge to the drains were also observed to have a strong influence of the source/sink terms. The travel time and pathline of water particles are also observed to have a dependency on the height of water in the ditches and on the location of source/sink activation area.

  15. Using multiple metrics to assess the effects of forest succession on population status: a comparative study of two terrestrial salamanders in the US Pacific Northwest

    Treesearch

    Hart Welsh; Karen L. Pope; Clara A. Wheeler

    2008-01-01

    Investigations to determine stable or source-sink animal population dynamics are challenging and often infeasible for most species due to the time and expense of mark-recapture studies and the challenge of life histories attributes that result in low detectability and low recapture probabilities. Often, managers rely solely on occupancy or relative abundance patterns...

  16. Three-dimensional nonhydrostatic simulations of summer thunderstorms in the humid subtropics versus High Plains

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lin, Hsin-mu; Wang, Pao K.; Schlesinger, Robert E.

    2005-11-01

    This article presents a detailed comparison of cloud microphysical evolution among six warm-season thunderstorm simulations using a time-dependent three-dimensional model WISCDYMM. The six thunderstorms chosen for this study consist of three apiece from two contrasting climate zones, the US High Plains (one supercell and two multicells) and the humid subtropics (two in Florida, US and one in Taipei, Taiwan, all multicells). The primary goal of this study is to investigate the differences among thunderstorms in different climate regimes in terms of their microphysical structures and how differently these structures evolve in time. A subtropical case is used as an example to illustrate the general contents of a simulated storm, and two examples of the simulated storms, one humid subtropical and one northern High Plains case, are used to describe in detail the microphysical histories. The simulation results are compared with the available observational data, and the agreement between the two is shown to be at least fairly close overall. The analysis, synthesis and implications of the simulation results are then presented. The microphysical histories of the six simulated storms in terms of the domain-integrated masses of all five hydrometeor classes (cloud water, cloud ice, rain, snow, graupel/hail), along with the individual sources (and sinks) of the three precipitating hydrometeor classes (rain, snow, graupel/hail) are analyzed in detail. These analyses encompass both the absolute magnitudes and their percentage contributions to the totals, for the condensate mass and their precipitation production (and depletion) rates, respectively. Comparisons between the hydrometeor mass partitionings for the High Plains versus subtropical thunderstorms show that, in a time-averaged sense, ice hydrometeors (cloud ice, snow, graupel/hail) account for ˜ 70-80% of the total hydrometeor mass for the High Plains storms but only ˜ 50% for the subtropical storms, after the systems have reached quasi-steady mature states. This demonstrates that ice processes are highly important even in thunderstorms occurring in warm climatic regimes. The dominant rain sources are two of the graupel/hail sinks, shedding and melting, in both High Plains and subtropical storms, while the main rain sinks are accretion by hail and evaporation. The dominant graupel/hail sources are accretion of rain, snow and cloud water, while its main sinks are shedding and melting. The dominant snow sources are the Bergeron-Findeisen process and accretion of cloud water, while the main sinks are accretion by graupel/hail and sublimation. However, the rankings of the leading production and depletion mechanisms differ somewhat in different storm cases, especially for graupel/hail. The model results indicate that the same hydrometeor types in the different climates have their favored microphysical sources and sinks. These findings not only prove that thunderstorm structure depends on local dynamic and thermodynamic atmospheric conditions that are generally climate-dependent, but also provide information about the partitioning of hydrometeors in the storms. Such information is potentially useful for convective parameterization in large-scale models.

  17. EVALUATING EFFECTS OF LOW QUALITY HABITATS ON REGIONAL GROWTH IN PEOMYCUS LEUCOPUS: INSIGHTS FROM FIELD-PARAMETERIZED SPATIAL MATRIX MODELS.

    EPA Science Inventory

    Due to complex population dynamics and source-sink metapopulation processes, animal fitness sometimes varies across landscapes in ways that cannot be deduced from simple density patterns. In this study, we examine spatial patterns in fitness using a combination of intensive fiel...

  18. Assessment of an apparent relationship between availability of soluble carbohydrates and reduced nitrogen during floral initiation in tobacco

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Raper, C. D. Jr; Thomas, J. F.; Tolley-Henry, L.; Rideout, J. W.; Raper CD, J. r. (Principal Investigator)

    1988-01-01

    Daily relative accumulation rate of soluble carbohydrates (RARS) and reduced nitrogen (RARN) in the shoot, as estimates of source strength, were compared with daily relative growth rates (RGR) of the shoot, as an estimate of sink demand, during floral transformation in apical meristems of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum 'NC 2326') grown at day/night temperatures of 18/14, 22/18, 26/22, 30/26, and 34/30 C. Source strength was assumed to exceed sink demand for either carbohydrates or nitrogen when the ratio of RARS/RGR or RARN/RGR was greater than unity, and sink demand was assumed to exceed source strength when the ratio was less than unity. Time of floral initiation, which was delayed up to 21 days with increases in temperature over the experimental range, was associated with intervals in which source strength of either carbohydrate or nitrogen exceeded sink demand, while sink demand for the other exceeded source strength. Floral initiation was not observed during intervals in which source strengths of both carbohydrates and nitrogen were greater than or less than sink demand. These results indicate that floral initiation is responsive to an imbalance in the relative availabilities of carbohydrate and nitrogen.

  19. Challenges and constraints of dynamically emerged source and sink in atomtronic circuits: From closed-system to open-system approaches

    PubMed Central

    Lai, Chen-Yen; Chien, Chih-Chun

    2016-01-01

    While batteries offer electronic source and sink for electronic devices, atomic analogues of source and sink and their theoretical descriptions have been a challenge in cold-atom systems. Here we consider dynamically emerged local potentials as controllable source and sink for bosonic atoms. Although a sink potential can collect bosons in equilibrium and indicate its usefulness in the adiabatic limit, sudden switching of the potential exhibits low effectiveness in pushing bosons into it. This is due to conservation of energy and particle in isolated systems such as cold atoms. By varying the potential depth and interaction strength, the systems can further exhibit averse response, where a deeper emerged potential attracts less bosonic atoms into it. To explore possibilities for improving the effectiveness, we investigate what types of system-environment coupling can help bring bosons into a dynamically emerged sink, and a Lindblad operator corresponding to local cooling is found to serve the purpose. PMID:27849034

  20. Active crystals on a sphere

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Praetorius, Simon; Voigt, Axel; Wittkowski, Raphael; Löwen, Hartmut

    2018-05-01

    Two-dimensional crystals on curved manifolds exhibit nontrivial defect structures. Here we consider "active crystals" on a sphere, which are composed of self-propelled colloidal particles. Our work is based on a phase-field-crystal-type model that involves a density and a polarization field on the sphere. Depending on the strength of the self-propulsion, three different types of crystals are found: a static crystal, a self-spinning "vortex-vortex" crystal containing two vortical poles of the local velocity, and a self-translating "source-sink" crystal with a source pole where crystallization occurs and a sink pole where the active crystal melts. These different crystalline states as well as their defects are studied theoretically here and can in principle be confirmed in experiments.

  1. Photosynthesis down-regulation precedes carbohydrate accumulation under sink limitation in Citrus.

    PubMed

    Nebauer, Sergio G; Renau-Morata, Begoña; Guardiola, José Luis; Molina, Rosa-Victoria

    2011-02-01

    Photosynthesis down-regulation due to an imbalance between sources and sinks in Citrus leaves could be mediated by excessive accumulation of carbohydrates. However, there is limited understanding of the physiological role of soluble and insoluble carbohydrates in photosynthesis regulation and the elements triggering the down-regulation process. In this work, the role of non-structural carbohydrates in the regulation of photosynthesis under a broad spectrum of source-sink relationships has been investigated in the Salustiana sweet orange. Soluble sugar and starch accumulation in leaves, induced by girdling experiments, did not induce down-regulation of the photosynthetic rate in the presence of sinks (fruits). The leaf-to-fruit ratio did not modulate photosynthesis but allocation of photoassimilates to the fruits. The lack of strong sink activity led to a decrease in the photosynthetic rate and starch accumulation in leaves. However, photosynthesis down-regulation due to an excess of total soluble sugars or starch was discarded because photosynthesis and stomatal conductance reduction occurred prior to any significant accumulation of these carbohydrates. Gas exchange and fluorescence parameters suggested biochemical limitations to photosynthesis. In addition, the expression of carbon metabolism-related genes was altered within 24 h when strong sinks were removed. Sucrose synthesis and export genes were inhibited, whereas the expression of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase was increased to cope with the excess of assimilates. In conclusion, changes in starch and soluble sugar turnover, but not sugar content per se, could provide the signal for photosynthesis regulation. In these conditions, non-stomatal limitations strongly inhibited the photosynthetic rate prior to any significant increase in carbohydrate levels.

  2. Diversity changes of microbial communities into hospital surface environments.

    PubMed

    Yano, Rika; Shimoda, Tomoko; Watanabe, Reina; Kuroki, Yasutoshi; Okubo, Torahiko; Nakamura, Shinji; Matsuo, Junji; Yoshimura, Sadako; Yamaguchi, Hiroyuki

    2017-07-01

    Previous works have demonstrated considerable variability in hospital cleanliness in Japan, suggesting that contamination is driven by factors that are currently poorly controlled. We undertook 16S rRNA sequence analysis to study population structures of hospital environmental microbiomes to see which factor(s) impacted contamination. One hundred forty-four samples were collected from surfaces of three hospitals with distinct sizes ("A": >500 beds, "B": 100-500 beds, "C": <100 beds). Sample locations of two ward types (Surgical and Internal) included patient room bed table (multiple) (4BT), patient overbed table (multiple) (4OT), patient room sink (multiple) (4S), patient room bed table (single) (SBT), patient overbed table (single) (SOT), patient room sink (single) (SS), nurse desk (ND), and nurse wagon (NW). Total DNA was extracted from each sample, and the 50 samples that yielded sufficient DNA were used for further 16S rRNA sequencing of hospital microbiome populations with cluster analysis. The number of assigned bacterial OTU populations was significantly decreased in hospital "C" compared to the other hospitals. Cluster analysis of sampling locations revealed that the population structure in almost all locations of hospital "C" and some locations in the other hospitals was very similar and unusually skewed with a family, Enterobacteriaceae. Interestingly, locations included patient area (4OT, 4BT, SBT) and nurse area (ND), with a device (NW) bridging the two and a place (4S and SS) shared between patients or visitors. We demonstrated diversity changes of hospital environmental microbiomes with a skewed population, presumably by medical staff pushing NWs or sinks shared by patients or visitors. Copyright © 2017 Japanese Society of Chemotherapy and The Japanese Association for Infectious Diseases. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Removal of Atmospheric Ethanol by Wet Deposition: A Global Flux Estimate

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Felix, J. D. D.; Willey, J. D.; Avery, B.; Thomas, R.; Mullaugh, K.; Kieber, R. J.; Mead, R. N.; Helms, J. R.; Campos, L.; Shimizu, M. S.; Guibbina, F.

    2017-12-01

    Global ethanol fuel consumption has increased exponentially over the last two decades and the US plans to double annual renewable fuel production in the next five years as required by the renewable fuel standard. Regardless of the technology or feedstock used to produce the renewable fuel, the primary end product will be ethanol. Increasing ethanol fuel consumption will have an impact on the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere and increase atmospheric concentrations of the secondary pollutant peroxyacetyl nitrate as well a variety of VOCs with relatively high ozone reactivities (e.g. ethanol, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde). Despite these documented effects of ethanol emissions on atmospheric chemistry, current global atmospheric ethanol budget models have large uncertainties in the magnitude of ethanol sources and sinks. The presented work investigates the global wet deposition sink by providing the first estimate of the global wet deposition flux of ethanol (2.4 ± 1.6 Tg/yr) based on empirical wet deposition data (219 samples collected at 12 locations). This suggests the wet deposition sink removes between 6 and 17% of atmospheric ethanol annually. Concentrations of ethanol in marine wet deposition (25 ± 6 nM) were an order of magnitude less than in the majority of terrestrial deposition (345 ± 280 nM). Terrestrial deposition collected in locations impacted by high local sources of biofuel usage and locations downwind from ethanol distilleries were an order of magnitude higher in ethanol concentration (3090 ± 448 nM) compared to deposition collected in terrestrial locations not impacted by these sources. These results indicate that wet deposition of ethanol is heavily influenced by local sources and ethanol emission impacts on air quality may be more significant in highly populated areas. As established and developing countries continue to rapidly increase ethanol fuel consumption and subsequent emissions, understanding the magnitude of all ethanol sources and sinks and impacts on the atmosphere is essential.

  4. Non-thermal O/1D/ produced by dissociative recombination of O2/+/ - A theoretical model and observational results. [in earth atmosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Schmitt, G. A.; Abreu, V. J.; Hays, P. B.

    1981-01-01

    Thermal and nonthermal O(1D) number density profiles are calculated. The two populations are assumed to be coupled by a thermalization cross-section which determines the loss and production in the nonthermal and thermal populations, respectively. The sources, sinks and transport of the two populations are used to model volume emission rate profiles at 6300 A. The 6300 A brightness measured by the Visible Airglow Experiment is then used to establish the presence of the nonthermal population and to determine the thermalization cross-section.

  5. Sources, sinks, and spatial ecology of cotton mice in longleaf pine stands undergoing restoration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sharp, N.W.; Mitchell, M.S.; Grand, J.B.

    2009-01-01

    The Fire and Fire Surrogate studya replicated, manipulative experimentsought the most economically and ecologically efficient way to restore the nation's fire-maintained ecosystems. As part of this study, we conducted a 3-year markrecapture study, comprising 105,000 trap-nights, to assess demographic responses of cotton mice (Peromyscus gossypinus) to Fire and Fire Surrogate treatments at the Gulf Coastal Plain site, where longleaf pine was the ecosystem to be restored. We compared competing models to evaluate restoration effects on variation in apparent survival and recruitment over time, space, and treatment, and incorporated measures of available source habitat for cotton mice with reverse-time modeling to infer immigration from outside the study area. The top-ranked survival model contained only variation over time, but the closely ranked 2nd and 3rd models included variation over space and treatment, respectively. The top 4 recruitment models all included effects for availability of source habitat and treatments. Burning appeared to degrade habitat quality for cotton mice, showing demographic characteristics of a sink, but treatments combining fire with thinning of trees or application of herbicide to the understory appeared to improve habitat quality, possibly creating sources. Bottomland hardwoods outside the study also acted as sources by providing immigrants to experimental units. Models suggested that population dynamics operated over multiple spatial scales. Treatments applied to 15-ha stands probably only caused local variation in vital rates within the larger population. ?? 2009 American Society of Mammalogists.

  6. Atmospheric CO2 at Waliguan station in China: Transport climatology, temporal patterns and source-sink region representativeness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Siyang; An, Xingqin; Zhou, Lingxi; Tans, Pieter P.; Jacobson, Andy

    2017-06-01

    In order to explore where the source and sink have the greatest impact on CO2 background concentration at Waliguan (WLG) station, a statistical method is here proposed to calculate the representative source-sink region. The key to this method is to find the best footprint threshold, and the study is carried out in four parts. Firstly, transport climatology, expressed by total monthly footprint, was simulated by FLEXPART on a 7-day time scale. Surface CO2 emissions in Eurasia frequently transported to WLG station. WLG station was mainly influenced by the westerlies in winter and partly controlled by the Southeast Asian monsoon in summer. Secondly, CO2 concentrations, simulated by CT2015, were processed and analyzed through data quality control, screening, fitting and comparing. CO2 concentrations displayed obvious seasonal variation, with the maximum and minimum concentration appearing in April and August, respectively. The correlation of CO2 fitting background concentrations was R2 = 0.91 between simulation and observation. The temporal patterns were mainly correlated with CO2 exchange of biosphere-atmosphere, human activities and air transport. Thirdly, for the monthly CO2 fitting background concentrations from CT2015, a best footprint threshold was found based on correlation analysis and numerical iteration using the data of footprints and emissions. The grid cells where monthly footprints were greater than the best footprint threshold were the best threshold area corresponding to representative source-sink region. The representative source-sink region of maximum CO2 concentration in April was primarily located in Qinghai province, but the minimum CO2 concentration in August was mainly influenced by emissions in a wider region. Finally, we briefly presented the CO2 source-sink characteristics in the best threshold area. Generally, the best threshold area was a carbon sink. The major source and sink were relatively weak owing to less human activities and vegetation types in this high altitude area. CO2 concentrations were more influenced by human activities when air mass passed through many urban areas in summer. Therefore, the combination of footprints and emissions is an effective approach for assessing the source-sink region representativeness of CO2 background concentration.

  7. Contaminated sinks in intensive care units: an underestimated source of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae in the patient environment.

    PubMed

    Roux, D; Aubier, B; Cochard, H; Quentin, R; van der Mee-Marquet, N

    2013-10-01

    Extended-spectrum beta-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBLE) outbreaks in intensive care units (ICUs) associated with contaminated handwashing sinks have been reported. To conduct a regional study to assess whether handwashing sinks in 135 ICU patient rooms are a potential source of contamination, and to identify factors associated with an increased risk of sink contamination. A multicentre study was conducted in 13 ICUs, including microbiological testing for ESBLE contamination at 185 sinks. The micro-organisms isolated were analysed using randomly amplified polymorphic DNA analysis to assess clonal spread in ICUs. Data were collected to document the use of each sink, factors that may contribute to contamination of clinical areas near to the sinks, and routine cleansing procedures for the sinks. Fifty-seven sinks were contaminated (31%) with ESBLE, mostly Klebsiella (N = 33) and Enterobacter (N = 18). In two ICUs, a high contamination rate was associated with clonal spread of an epidemic isolate. Risk factors for contamination of and by handwashing sinks were frequent: 81 sinks (44%) were used for handwashing as well as the disposal of body fluids; splash risk was identified for 67 sinks (36%), among which 23 were contaminated by ESBLE. Routine sink disinfection was frequent (85%), mostly daily (75%), and involved quaternary ammonium compounds (41%) or bleach (21%). A lower sink contamination rate was significantly associated with use of the sink being restricted to handwashing and to daily sink disinfection using bleach. In ICUs, contaminated sinks are a potential source of ESBLE in the environment of the patient, a problem that may be underestimated by ICU teams. Relatively simple measures may result in a rapid improvement of the situation, and a significant decrease of the risk of exposure of ICU patients to multiresistant Enterobacteriaceae. Copyright © 2013 The Healthcare Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Implications of Fine-Grained Habitat Fragmentation and Road Mortality for Jaguar Conservation in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil.

    PubMed

    Cullen, Laury; Stanton, Jessica C; Lima, Fernando; Uezu, Alexandre; Perilli, Miriam L L; Akçakaya, H Reşit

    2016-01-01

    Jaguar (Panthera onca) populations in the Upper Paraná River, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest region, live in a landscape that includes highly fragmented areas as well as relatively intact ones. We developed a model of jaguar habitat suitability in this region, and based on this habitat model, we developed a spatially structured metapopulation model of the jaguar populations in this area to analyze their viability, the potential impact of road mortality on the populations' persistence, and the interaction between road mortality and habitat fragmentation. In more highly fragmented populations, density of jaguars per unit area is lower and density of roads per jaguar is higher. The populations with the most fragmented habitat were predicted to have much lower persistence in the next 100 years when the model included no dispersal, indicating that the persistence of these populations are dependent to a large extent on dispersal from other populations. This, in turn, indicates that the interaction between road mortality and habitat fragmentation may lead to source-sink dynamics, whereby populations with highly fragmented habitat are maintained only by dispersal from populations with less fragmented habitat. This study demonstrates the utility of linking habitat and demographic models in assessing impacts on species living in fragmented landscapes.

  9. Implications of Fine-Grained Habitat Fragmentation and Road Mortality for Jaguar Conservation in the Atlantic Forest, Brazil

    PubMed Central

    Cullen, Laury; Stanton, Jessica C.; Lima, Fernando; Uezu, Alexandre; Perilli, Miriam L. L.; Akçakaya, H. Reşit

    2016-01-01

    Jaguar (Panthera onca) populations in the Upper Paraná River, in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest region, live in a landscape that includes highly fragmented areas as well as relatively intact ones. We developed a model of jaguar habitat suitability in this region, and based on this habitat model, we developed a spatially structured metapopulation model of the jaguar populations in this area to analyze their viability, the potential impact of road mortality on the populations' persistence, and the interaction between road mortality and habitat fragmentation. In more highly fragmented populations, density of jaguars per unit area is lower and density of roads per jaguar is higher. The populations with the most fragmented habitat were predicted to have much lower persistence in the next 100 years when the model included no dispersal, indicating that the persistence of these populations are dependent to a large extent on dispersal from other populations. This, in turn, indicates that the interaction between road mortality and habitat fragmentation may lead to source-sink dynamics, whereby populations with highly fragmented habitat are maintained only by dispersal from populations with less fragmented habitat. This study demonstrates the utility of linking habitat and demographic models in assessing impacts on species living in fragmented landscapes. PMID:27973584

  10. Optimizing single irrigation scheme to improve water use efficiency by manipulating winter wheat sink-source relationships in Northern China Plain.

    PubMed

    Xu, Xuexin; Zhang, Yinghua; Li, Jinpeng; Zhang, Meng; Zhou, Xiaonan; Zhou, Shunli; Wang, Zhimin

    2018-01-01

    Improving winter wheat grain yield and water use efficiency (WUE) with minimum irrigation is very important for ensuring agricultural and ecological sustainability in the Northern China Plain (NCP). A three-year field experiment was conducted to determine how single irrigation can improve grain yield and WUE by manipulating the "sink-source" relationships. To achieve this, no-irrigation after sowing (W0) as a control, and five single irrigation treatments after sowing (75 mm of each irrigation) were established. They included irrigation at upstanding (WU), irrigation at jointing (WJ), irrigation at booting (WB), irrigation at anthesis (WA) and irrigation at medium milk (WM). Results showed that compared with no-irrigation after sowing (W0), WU, WJ, WB, WA and WM significantly improved mean grain yield by 14.1%, 19.9%, 17.9%, 11.6%, and 7.5%, respectively. WJ achieved the highest grain yield (8653.1 kg ha-1) and WUE (20.3 kg ha-1 mm-1), and WB observed the same level of grain yield and WUE as WJ. In comparison to WU, WJ and WB coordinated pre- and post-anthesis water use while reducing pre-anthesis and total evapotranspiration (ET). They also retained higher soil water content above 180 cm soil layers at anthesis, increased post-anthesis water use, and ultimately increased WUE. WJ and WB optimized population quantity and individual leaf size, delayed leaf senescence, extended grain-filling duration, improved post-anthesis biomass and biomass remobilization (source supply capacity) as well as post-anthesis biomass per unit anthesis leaf area (PostBA-leaf ratio). WJ also optimized the allocation of assimilation, increased the spike partitioning index (SPI, spike biomass/biomass at anthesis) and grain production efficiency (GPE, the ratio of grain number to biomass at anthesis), thus improved mean sink capacity by 28.1%, 5.7%, 21.9%, and 26.7% in comparison to W0, WU, WA and WM, respectively. Compared with WA and WM, WJ and WB also increased sink capacity, post-anthesis biomass and biomass remobilization. These results demonstrated that single irrigation at jointing or booting could improve grain yield and WUE via coordinating the "source-sink" relationships with the high sink capacity and source supply capacity. Therefore, we propose that under adequate soil moisture conditions before sowing, single irrigation scheme from jointing to booting with 75 mm irrigation amount is the optimal minimum irrigation practice for wheat production in this region.

  11. Impact of heat source/sink on radiative heat transfer to Maxwell nanofluid subject to revised mass flux condition

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khan, M.; Irfan, M.; Khan, W. A.

    2018-06-01

    Nanofluids retain noteworthy structure that have absorbed attentions of numerous investigators because of their exploration in nanotechnology and nanoscience. In this scrutiny a mathematical computation of 2D flows of Maxwell nanoliquid influenced by a stretched cylinder has been established. The heat transfer structure is conceded out in the manifestation of thermal radiation and heat source/sink. Moreover, the nanoparticles mass flux condition is engaged in this exploration. This newly endorsed tactic is more realistic where the conjecture is made that the nanoparticle flux is zero and nanoparticle fraction regulates itself on the restrictions consequently. By utilizing apposite conversion the governing PDEs are transformed into ODEs and then tackled analytically via HAM. The attained outcomes are plotted and deliberated in aspect for somatic parameters. It is remarked that with an intensification in the Deborah number β diminish the liquid temperature while it boosts for radiation parameter Rd . Furthermore, the concentration of Maxwell liquid has conflicting impact for Brownian motion Nb and thermophoresis parameters Nt .

  12. Hormonal and metabolic regulation of tomato fruit sink activity and yield under salinity

    PubMed Central

    Albacete, Alfonso; Cantero-Navarro, Elena; Balibrea, María E.; Großkinsky, Dominik K.; de la Cruz González, María; Martínez-Andújar, Cristina; Smigocki, Ann C.; Roitsch, Thomas; Pérez-Alfocea, Francisco

    2014-01-01

    Salinization of water and soil has a negative impact on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) productivity by reducing growth of sink organs and by inducing senescence in source leaves. It has been hypothesized that yield stability implies the maintenance or increase of sink activity in the reproductive structures, thus contributing to the transport of assimilates from the source leaves through changes in sucrolytic enzymes and their regulation by phytohormones. In this study, classical and functional physiological approaches have been integrated to study the influence of metabolic and hormonal factors on tomato fruit sink activity, growth, and yield: (i) exogenous hormones were applied to plants, and (ii) transgenic plants overexpressing the cell wall invertase (cwInv) gene CIN1 in the fruits and de novo cytokinin (CK) biosynthesis gene IPT in the roots were constructed. Although salinity reduces fruit growth, sink activity, and trans-zeatin (tZ) concentrations, it increases the ethylene precursor 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid (ACC) during the actively growing period (25 days after anthesis). Indeed, exogenous application of the CK analogue kinetin to salinized actively growing fruits recovered sucrolytic activities (mainly cwInv and sucrose synthase), sink strength, and fruit weight, whereas the ethylene-releasing compound ethephon had a negative effect in equivalent non-stressed fruits. Fruit yield was increased by both the constitutive expression of CIN1 in the fruits (up to 4-fold) or IPT in the root (up to 30%), owing to an increase in the fruit number (lower flower abortion) and in fruit weight. This is possibly related to a recovery of sink activity in reproductive tissues due to both (i) increase in sucrolytic activities (cwInv, sucrose synthase, and vacuolar and cytoplasmic invertases) and tZ concentration, and (ii) a decrease in the ACC levels and the activity of the invertase inhibitor. This study provides new functional evidences about the role of metabolic and hormonal inter-regulation of local sink processes in controlling tomato fruit sink activity, growth, and yield under salinity. PMID:25170099

  13. Emergence and Prevalence of Human Vector-Borne Diseases in Sink Vector Populations

    PubMed Central

    Rascalou, Guilhem; Pontier, Dominique; Menu, Frédéric; Gourbière, Sébastien

    2012-01-01

    Vector-borne diseases represent a major public health concern in most tropical and subtropical areas, and an emerging threat for more developed countries. Our understanding of the ecology, evolution and control of these diseases relies predominantly on theory and data on pathogen transmission in large self-sustaining ‘source’ populations of vectors representative of highly endemic areas. However, there are numerous places where environmental conditions are less favourable to vector populations, but where immigration allows them to persist. We built an epidemiological model to investigate the dynamics of six major human vector borne-diseases in such non self-sustaining ‘sink’ vector populations. The model was parameterized through a review of the literature, and we performed extensive sensitivity analysis to look at the emergence and prevalence of the pathogen that could be encountered in these populations. Despite the low vector abundance in typical sink populations, all six human diseases were able to spread in 15–55% of cases after accidental introduction. The rate of spread was much more strongly influenced by vector longevity, immigration and feeding rates, than by transmission and virulence of the pathogen. Prevalence in humans remained lower than 5% for dengue, leishmaniasis and Japanese encephalitis, but substantially higher for diseases with longer duration of infection; malaria and the American and African trypanosomiasis. Vector-related parameters were again the key factors, although their influence was lower than on pathogen emergence. Our results emphasize the need for ecology and evolution to be thought in the context of metapopulations made of a mosaic of sink and source habitats, and to design vector control program not only targeting areas of high vector density, but working at a larger spatial scale. PMID:22629337

  14. Characteristics of sources and sinks of momentum in a turbulent boundary layer

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fiscaletti, D.; Ganapathisubramani, B.

    2018-05-01

    In turbulent boundary layers, the wall-normal gradient of the Reynolds shear stress identifies momentum sources and sinks (T =∂ [-u v ]/∂ y ). These motions can be physically interpreted in two ways: (1) as contributors to the turbulence term balancing the mean momentum equation, and (2) as regions of strong local interaction between velocity and vorticity fluctuations. In this paper, the space-time evolution of momentum sources and sinks is investigated in a turbulent boundary layer at the Reynolds number (Reτ) = 2700, with time-resolved planar particle image velocimetry in a plane along the streamwise and wall-normal directions. Wave number-frequency power spectra of T fluctuations reveal that the wave velocities of momentum sources and sinks tend to match the local streamwise velocity in proximity to the wall. However, as the distance from the wall increases, the wave velocities of the T events are slightly lower than the local streamwise velocities of the flow, which is also confirmed from the tracking in time of the intense momentum sources and sinks. This evidences that momentum sources and sinks are preferentially located in low-momentum regions of the flow. The spectral content of the T fluctuations is maximum at the wall, but it decreases monotonically as the distance from the wall grows. The relative spectral contributions of the different wavelengths remains unaltered at varying wall-normal locations. From autocorrelation coefficient maps, the characteristic streamwise and wall-normal extents of the T motions are respectively 60 and 40 wall units, independent of the wall distance. Both statistics and instantaneous visualizations show that momentum sources and sinks have a preferential tendency to be organized in positive-negative pairs in the wall-normal direction.

  15. Magnetospheric electrons

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Coroniti, F. V.; Thorne, R. M.

    1972-01-01

    Coupling of source, transport, and sink processes produces a fairly accurate model for the macroscopic structure and dynamics of magnetospheric electrons. Auroral electrons are controlled by convective transport from a plasma sheet source coupled with a precipitation loss due to whistler and electrostatic plasma turbulence. Outer and inner zone electrons are governed by radial diffusion transport from convection and acceleration sources external to the plasmapause and by parasitic precipitation losses arising from cyclotron and Landau interactions with whistler and ion cyclotron turbulence.

  16. Education & Collection Facility GSHP Demonstration Project

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Joplin, Jeff

    The Denver Museum of Nature & Science (DMNS) designed and implemented an innovative ground source heat pump (GSHP) system for heating and cooling its new Education and Collection Facility (ECF) building addition. The project goal was to successfully design and install an open-loop GSHP system that utilized water circulating within an underground municipal recycled (non-potable) water system as the heat sink/source as a demonstration project. The expected results were to significantly reduce traditional GSHP installation costs while increasing system efficiency, reduce building energy consumption, require significantly less area and capital to install, and be economically implemented wherever access to amore » recycled water system is available. The project added to the understanding of GSHP technology by implementing the first GSHP system in the United States utilizing a municipal recycled water system as a heat sink/source. The use of this fluid through a GSHP system has not been previously documented. This use application presents a new opportunity for local municipalities to develop and expand the use of underground municipal recycled (non-potable) water systems. The installation costs for this type of technology in the building structure would be a cost savings over traditional GSHP costs, provided the local municipal infrastructure was developed. Additionally, the GSHP system functions as a viable method of heat sink/source as the thermal characteristics of the fluid are generally consistent throughout the year and are efficiently exchanged through the GSHP system and its components. The use of the recycled water system reduces the area required for bore or loop fields; therefore, presenting an application for building structures that have little to no available land use or access. This GSHP application demonstrates the viability of underground municipal recycled (non-potable) water systems as technically achievable, environmentally supportive, and an efficient system.« less

  17. High-order scheme for the source-sink term in a one-dimensional water temperature model

    PubMed Central

    Jing, Zheng; Kang, Ling

    2017-01-01

    The source-sink term in water temperature models represents the net heat absorbed or released by a water system. This term is very important because it accounts for solar radiation that can significantly affect water temperature, especially in lakes. However, existing numerical methods for discretizing the source-sink term are very simplistic, causing significant deviations between simulation results and measured data. To address this problem, we present a numerical method specific to the source-sink term. A vertical one-dimensional heat conduction equation was chosen to describe water temperature changes. A two-step operator-splitting method was adopted as the numerical solution. In the first step, using the undetermined coefficient method, a high-order scheme was adopted for discretizing the source-sink term. In the second step, the diffusion term was discretized using the Crank-Nicolson scheme. The effectiveness and capability of the numerical method was assessed by performing numerical tests. Then, the proposed numerical method was applied to a simulation of Guozheng Lake (located in central China). The modeling results were in an excellent agreement with measured data. PMID:28264005

  18. High-order scheme for the source-sink term in a one-dimensional water temperature model.

    PubMed

    Jing, Zheng; Kang, Ling

    2017-01-01

    The source-sink term in water temperature models represents the net heat absorbed or released by a water system. This term is very important because it accounts for solar radiation that can significantly affect water temperature, especially in lakes. However, existing numerical methods for discretizing the source-sink term are very simplistic, causing significant deviations between simulation results and measured data. To address this problem, we present a numerical method specific to the source-sink term. A vertical one-dimensional heat conduction equation was chosen to describe water temperature changes. A two-step operator-splitting method was adopted as the numerical solution. In the first step, using the undetermined coefficient method, a high-order scheme was adopted for discretizing the source-sink term. In the second step, the diffusion term was discretized using the Crank-Nicolson scheme. The effectiveness and capability of the numerical method was assessed by performing numerical tests. Then, the proposed numerical method was applied to a simulation of Guozheng Lake (located in central China). The modeling results were in an excellent agreement with measured data.

  19. Three dimensional global modeling of atmospheric CO2

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fung, I.; Hansen, J.; Rind, D.

    1983-01-01

    A model was developed to study the prospects of extracting information on carbon dioxide sources and sinks from observed CO2 variations. The approach uses a three dimensional global transport model, based on winds from a 3-D general circulation model (GCM), to advect CO2 noninteractively, i.e., as a tracer, with specified sources and sinks of CO2 at the surface. The 3-D model employed is identified and biosphere, ocean and fossil fuel sources and sinks are discussed. Some preliminary model results are presented.

  20. The influence of the arid Andean high plateau on the phylogeography and population genetics of guanaco (Lama guanicoe) in South America

    PubMed Central

    MARIN, JUAN C.; GONZÁLEZ, BENITO A.; POULIN, ELIE; CASEY, CIARA S.; JOHNSON, WARREN E.

    2012-01-01

    A comprehensive study of the phylogeography and population genetics of the largest wild artiodactyl in the arid and cold-temperate South American environments, the guanaco (Lama guanicoe) was conducted. Patterns of molecular genetic structure were described using 514 bp of mtDNA sequence and 14 biparentally-inherited microsatellite markers from 314 samples. These individuals originated from 17 localities throughout the current distribution across Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile. This confirmed well-defined genetic differentiation and subspecies designation of populations geographically separated to the northwest (L. g. cacsilensis) and southeast (L. g. guanicoe) of the central Andes plateau. However, these populations are not completely isolated, as shown by admixture prevalent throughout a limited contact zone, and a strong signal of expansion from north to south in the beginning of the Holocene. Microsatellite analyses differentiated 3 northwestern and 4-5 southeastern populations, suggesting patterns of genetic contact among these populations. Possible genetic refuges were identified, as were source-sink patterns of gene flow at historical and recent time scales. Conservation and management of guanaco should be implemented with an understanding of these local population dynamics while also considering the preservation of broader adaptive variation and evolutionary processes. PMID:23206254

  1. Relaxation, Structure and Properties of Semi-coherent Interfaces

    DOE PAGES

    Shao, Shuai; Wang, Jian

    2015-11-05

    Materials containing high density of interfaces are promising candidates for future energy technologies, because interfaces acting as sources, sinks, and barriers for defects can improve mechanical and irradiation properties of materials. Semi-coherent interface widely occurring in various materials is composed of a network of misfit dislocations and coherent regions separated by misfit dislocations. Lastly, in this article, we review relaxation mechanisms, structure and properties of (111) semi-coherent interfaces in face centered cubic structures.

  2. A large and persistent carbon sink in the world's forests

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pan, Y.; Birdsey, R.A.; Fang, J.; Houghton, R.; Kauppi, P.E.; Kurz, W.A.; Phillips, O.L.; Shvidenko, A.; Lewis, S.L.; Canadell, J.G.; Ciais, P.; Jackson, R.B.; Pacala, S.W.; McGuire, A.D.; Piao, S.; Rautiainen, A.; Sitch, S.; Hayes, D.

    2011-01-01

    The terrestrial carbon sink has been large in recent decades, but its size and location remain uncertain. Using forest inventory data and long-term ecosystem carbon studies, we estimate a total forest sink of 2.4 ?? 0.4 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year-1) globally for 1990 to 2007. We also estimate a source of 1.3 ?? 0.7 Pg C year-1 from tropical land-use change, consisting of a gross tropical deforestation emission of 2.9 ?? 0.5 Pg C year-1 partially compensated by a carbon sink in tropical forest regrowth of 1.6 ?? 0.5 Pg C year-1. Together, the fluxes comprise a net global forest sink of 1.1 ?? 0.8 Pg C year-1, with tropical estimates having the largest uncertainties. Our total forest sink estimate is equivalent in magnitude to the terrestrial sink deduced from fossil fuel emissions and land-use change sources minus ocean and atmospheric sinks.

  3. Understanding the contribution of habitats and regional variation to long-term population trends in tricolored blackbirds

    PubMed Central

    Graves, Emily E; Holyoak, Marcel; Rodd Kelsey, T; Meese, Robert J

    2013-01-01

    Population trends represent a minimum amount of information required to assess the conservation status of a species. However, understanding and detecting trends can be complicated by variation among habitats and regions, and by dispersal connecting habitats through source-sink dynamics. We analyzed trends in breeding populations between habitats and regions to better understand the overall dynamics of a species' decline. Specifically, we analyzed historical trends in breeding populations of tricolored blackbirds (Agelaius tricolor) using breeding records from 1907 to 2009. The species breeds itinerantly and ephemerally uses multiple habitat types and breeding areas, which make interpretation of trends complex. We found overall abundance declines of 63% between 1935 and 1975. Since 1980 overall declines became nonsignificant and obscure despite large amounts of data from 1980 to 2009. Temporal trends differed between breeding habitat types and were associated with regional differences in population declines. A new habitat, triticale crops (a wheat-rye hybrid grain) produced colonies 40× larger, on average, than other breeding habitats, and contributed to a change in regional distribution since it primarily occurred in a single region. The mechanism for such an effect is not clear, but could represent the local availability of foodstuffs in the landscape rather than something specific to triticale crops. While variation in trends among habitats clearly occurred, they could not easily be ascribed to source-sink dynamics, ecological traps, habitat selection or other detailed ecological mechanisms. Nonetheless, such exchanges provide valuable information to guide management of dynamic systems. PMID:24101977

  4. Characterizing Materials Sources and Sinks; Current Approaches: Part II. Chemical and Physical Characterization

    EPA Science Inventory

    The paper discusses methods for characterizing chemical emissions from material sources, including laboratory, dynamic chamber, and full-scale studies. Indoor sources and their interaction with sinks play a major role in determining indoor air quality (IAQ). Techniques for evalua...

  5. Laboratory study of PCBs transport from primary sources to ...

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    The sorption of airborne polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) by twenty building materials and their subsequent re-emission (desorption) from concrete were investigated using two 53-L environmental chambers connected in series with a field-collected caulk in the source chamber serving as a stable source of PCBs and building materials in the test chamber. During the tests, the PCB concentrations in the outlet air of the test chamber were monitored and the building materials were removed from the test chamber at different times to determine their PCB content. Among the materials tested, a petroleum-based paint, a latex paint, and a certain type of carpet were among the strongest sinks. Solvent-free epoxy coating, certain types of flooring materials, and brick were among the weakest sinks. For a given sink material, PCB congeners with lower vapor pressures were sorbed in larger quantities. Rough estimates of the partition and diffusion coefficients were obtained by applying a sink model to the data acquired from the chamber studies. A desorption test with the concrete panels showed that re-emission is a slow process, suggesting that PCB sinks, e.g. concrete, can release PCBs into the air for a prolonged period of time (years or decades). This study could fill some of the data gaps associated with the characterization of PCB sinks in contaminated buildings. This paper summarizes the laboratory research results for PCB transport from primary sources to PCB sinks, includ

  6. Thermal trim for luminaire

    DOEpatents

    Bazydola, Sarah; Ghiu, Camil-Daniel; Harrison, Robert; Jeswani, Anil

    2013-11-19

    A luminaire with a thermal pathway to reduce the junction temperature of the luminaire's light source, and methods for so doing, are disclosed. The luminaire includes a can, a light engine, and a trim, that define a substantially continuous thermal pathway from the light engine to a surrounding environment. The can defines a can cavity and includes a can end region. The light engine is within the can cavity and includes a light source and a heat sink, including a heat sink end region, coupled thereto. The trim is at least partially disposed within the can cavity and includes a first trim end region coupled to the heat sink end region and a second trim end region coupled to the can end region. Thermal interface material may be located between: the heat sink and the trim, the trim and the can, and/or the heat sink and the light source.

  7. Thermal trim for a luminaire

    DOEpatents

    Bazydola, Sarah; Ghiu, Camil-Daniel; Harrison, Robert; Jeswani, Anil

    2013-02-19

    A luminaire with a thermal pathway to reduce the junction temperature of the luminaire's light source, and methods for so doing, are disclosed. The luminaire includes a can, a light engine, and a trim, that define a substantially continuous thermal pathway from the light engine to a surrounding environment. The can defines a can cavity and includes a can end region. The light engine is within the can cavity and includes a light source and a heat sink, including a heat sink end region, coupled thereto. The trim is at least partially disposed within the can cavity and includes a first trim end region coupled to the heat sink end region and a second trim end region coupled to the can end region. Thermal interface material may be located between: the heat sink and the trim, the trim and the can, and/or the heat sink and the light source.

  8. Source-sink-storage relationships of conifers

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Luxmoore, R.J.; Oren, R.; Sheriff, D.W.

    1995-07-01

    Irradiance, air temperature, saturation vapor pressure deficit, and soil temperature vary in association with Earth`s daily rotation, inducing significant hourly changes in the rates of plant physiological processes. These processes include carbon fixation in photosynthesis, sucrose translocation, and carbon utilization in growth, storage, and respiration. The sensitivity of these physiological processes to environmental factors such as temperature, soil water availability, and nutrient supply reveals differences that must be viewed as an interactive whole in order to comprehend whole-plant responses to the environment. Integrative frameworks for relationships between plant physiological processes are needed to provide syntheses of plant growth and development.more » Source-sink-storage relationships, addressed in this chapter, provide one framework for synthesis of whole-plant responses to external environmental variables. To address this issue, some examples of carbon assimilation and utilization responses of five conifer species to environmental factors from a range of field environments are first summarized. Next, the interactions between sources, sinks, and storages of carbon are examined at the leaf and tree scales, and finally, the review evaluates the proposition that processes involved with carbon utilization (sink activity) are more sensitive to the supply of water and nutrients (particularly nitrogen) than are the processes of carbon gain (source activity) and carbon storage. The terms {open_quotes}sink{close_quotes} and {open_quotes}source{close_quotes} refer to carbon utilization and carbon gain, respectively. The relative roles of stored carbon reserves and of current photosynthate in meeting sink demand are addressed. Discussions focus on source-sink-storage relationships within the diurnal, wetting-drying, and annual cycles of conifer growth and development, and some discussion of life cycle aspects is also presented.« less

  9. The Derivation of Sink Functions of Wheat Organs using the GREENLAB Model

    PubMed Central

    Kang, Mengzhen; Evers, Jochem B.; Vos, Jan; de Reffye, Philippe

    2008-01-01

    Background and Aims In traditional crop growth models assimilate production and partitioning are described with empirical equations. In the GREENLAB functional–structural model, however, allocation of carbon to different kinds of organs depends on the number and relative sink strengths of growing organs present in the crop architecture. The aim of this study is to generate sink functions of wheat (Triticum aestivum) organs by calibrating the GREENLAB model using a dedicated data set, consisting of time series on the mass of individual organs (the ‘target data’). Methods An experiment was conducted on spring wheat (Triticum aestivum, ‘Minaret’), in a growth chamber from, 2004 to, 2005. Four harvests were made of six plants each to determine the size and mass of individual organs, including the root system, leaf blades, sheaths, internodes and ears of the main stem and different tillers. Leaf status (appearance, expansion, maturity and death) of these 24 plants was recorded. With the structures and mass of organs of four individual sample plants, the GREENLAB model was calibrated using a non-linear least-square-root fitting method, the aim of which was to minimize the difference in mass of the organs between measured data and model output, and to provide the parameter values of the model (the sink strengths of organs of each type, age and tiller order, and two empirical parameters linked to biomass production). Key Results and Conclusions The masses of all measured organs from one plant from each harvest were fitted simultaneously. With estimated parameters for sink and source functions, the model predicted the mass and size of individual organs at each position of the wheat structure in a mechanistic way. In addition, there was close agreement between experimentally observed and simulated values of leaf area index. PMID:18045794

  10. Land application of spent gypsum from ditch filters: phosphorus source or sink?

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Agricultural drainage ditches can provide a direct connection between fields and surface waters, and some have been shown to deliver high loads of phosphorus (P) to sensitive water bodies. A potential way to reduce nutrient loads in drainage ditches is to install filter structures containing P sorbi...

  11. Does Don Fisher's high-pressure manifold model account for phloem transport and resource partitioning?

    PubMed Central

    Patrick, John W.

    2013-01-01

    The pressure flow model of phloem transport envisaged by Münch (1930) has gained wide acceptance. Recently, however, the model has been questioned on structural and physiological grounds. For instance, sub-structures of sieve elements may reduce their hydraulic conductances to levels that impede flow rates of phloem sap and observed magnitudes of pressure gradients to drive flow along sieve tubes could be inadequate in tall trees. A variant of the Münch pressure flow model, the high-pressure manifold model of phloem transport introduced by Donald Fisher may serve to reconcile at least some of these questions. To this end, key predicted features of the high-pressure manifold model of phloem transport are evaluated against current knowledge of the physiology of phloem transport. These features include: (1) An absence of significant gradients in axial hydrostatic pressure in sieve elements from collection to release phloem accompanied by transport properties of sieve elements that underpin this outcome; (2) Symplasmic pathways of phloem unloading into sink organs impose a major constraint over bulk flow rates of resources translocated through the source-path-sink system; (3) Hydraulic conductances of plasmodesmata, linking sieve elements with surrounding phloem parenchyma cells, are sufficient to support and also regulate bulk flow rates exiting from sieve elements of release phloem. The review identifies strong circumstantial evidence that resource transport through the source-path-sink system is consistent with the high-pressure manifold model of phloem transport. The analysis then moves to exploring mechanisms that may link demand for resources, by cells of meristematic and expansion/storage sinks, with plasmodesmal conductances of release phloem. The review concludes with a brief discussion of how these mechanisms may offer novel opportunities to enhance crop biomass yields. PMID:23802003

  12. Limitation of Unloading in the Developing Grains Is a Possible Cause Responsible for Low Stem Non-structural Carbohydrate Translocation and Poor Grain Yield Formation in Rice through Verification of Recombinant Inbred Lines

    PubMed Central

    Li, Guohui; Pan, Junfeng; Cui, Kehui; Yuan, Musong; Hu, Qiuqian; Wang, Wencheng; Mohapatra, Pravat K.; Nie, Lixiao; Huang, Jianliang; Peng, Shaobing

    2017-01-01

    Remobilisation of non-structural carbohydrates (NSC) from leaves and stems and unloading into developing grains are essential for yield formation of rice. In present study, three recombinant inbred lines of rice, R91, R156 and R201 have been tested for source-flow-sink related attributes determining the nature of NSC accumulation and translocation at two nitrogen levels in the field. Compared to R91 and R156, R201 had lower grain filling percentage, harvest index, and grain yield. Meanwhile, R201 had significantly lower stem NSC translocation during grain filling stage. Grain filling percentage, harvest index, and grain yield showed the consistent trend with stem NSC translocation among the three lines. In comparison with R91 and R156, R201 had similarity in leaf area index, specific leaf weight, stem NSC concentration at heading, biomass, panicles m-2, spikelets per panicle, remobilization capability of assimilation in stems, sink capacity, sink activity, number and cross sectional area of small vascular bundles, greater number and cross sectional area of large vascular bundles, and higher SPAD, suggesting that source, flow, and sink were not the limiting factors for low stem NSC translocation and grain filling percentage of R201. However, R201 had significant higher stem and rachis NSC concentrations at maturity, which implied that unloading in the developing grains might result in low NSC translocation in R201. The results indicate that stem NSC translocation could be beneficial for enhancement of grain yield potential, and poor unloading into caryopsis may be the possible cause of low stem NSC translocation, poor grain filling and yield formation in R201. PMID:28848573

  13. Electron Transport at the Microbe–Mineral Interface: A Synthesis of Current Research Challenges

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Richardson, David; Fredrickson, Jim K.; Zachara, John M.

    2012-12-01

    Many bacterial and archaeal species can couple growth to the respiratory reduction or oxidation of insoluble mineral oxides of transition metals. These solid substrates are abundant electron sinks and sources for life on Earth, but, since they are insoluble in water, they cannot enter the bacterial cells. So, to exploit these electron sinks and sources, specific respiratory electron-transfer mechanisms must overcome the physical limitations associated with electron transfer between a microbe and extracellular metal oxides. Recent microbiological, geochemical, biochemical, spectroscopic and structural work is beginning to shed light on the molecular mechanism and impacts of electron transfer at themicrobe–mineral interfacemore » from a nanometre to kilometre scale. The research field is attracting attention in applied quarters from those with interests in nanowires, microbial fuel cells, bioremediation and microbial cell factories.« less

  14. Occurrence of the siphonophore Muggiaea atlantica in Scottish coastal waters: source or sink?

    PubMed Central

    Blackett, Michael; Lucas, Cathy H.; Cook, Katherine; Licandro, Priscilla

    2017-01-01

    We applied the concept of source–sink dynamics to investigate a recent (1999–2013) increase in the occurrence of the siphonophore Muggiaea atlantica in Scottish coastal waters. Our aim was to determine whether this change represented the establishment of resident populations (i.e. “sources”), or transient populations reliant on immigration (i.e. “sinks”). First, we show that local production was not always sufficient to account for recruitment (a “source” prerequisite), suggesting reliance on immigration (a “sink” prerequisite). Using variation partitioning, we then discriminated between the exclusive effects of immigration [indexed by the European Slope Current (ESC)] and local production (indexed by local sea temperature and food availability). On the west coast (Loch Ewe), interannual variability in the species’ abundance was determined by, in order of increasing importance: (i) suitable local environmental conditions (13%); (ii) the role of the ESC in modulating these conditions (20%); and (iii) immigration via the ESC (29%). These results provided a strong indication that Loch Ewe represents a sink habitat for M. atlantica. However, on the east coast (Stonehaven) our results were less conclusive, probably due to the less direct influence of the ESC. For both locations, we suggest that low winter temperatures prevented overwintering, necessitating annual re-colonization via immigration. PMID:28566798

  15. Multiscale Metabolic Modeling: Dynamic Flux Balance Analysis on a Whole-Plant Scale1[W][OPEN

    PubMed Central

    Grafahrend-Belau, Eva; Junker, Astrid; Eschenröder, André; Müller, Johannes; Schreiber, Falk; Junker, Björn H.

    2013-01-01

    Plant metabolism is characterized by a unique complexity on the cellular, tissue, and organ levels. On a whole-plant scale, changing source and sink relations accompanying plant development add another level of complexity to metabolism. With the aim of achieving a spatiotemporal resolution of source-sink interactions in crop plant metabolism, a multiscale metabolic modeling (MMM) approach was applied that integrates static organ-specific models with a whole-plant dynamic model. Allowing for a dynamic flux balance analysis on a whole-plant scale, the MMM approach was used to decipher the metabolic behavior of source and sink organs during the generative phase of the barley (Hordeum vulgare) plant. It reveals a sink-to-source shift of the barley stem caused by the senescence-related decrease in leaf source capacity, which is not sufficient to meet the nutrient requirements of sink organs such as the growing seed. The MMM platform represents a novel approach for the in silico analysis of metabolism on a whole-plant level, allowing for a systemic, spatiotemporally resolved understanding of metabolic processes involved in carbon partitioning, thus providing a novel tool for studying yield stability and crop improvement. PMID:23926077

  16. Stress, deformation and diffusion interactions in solids - A simulation study

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fischer, F. D.; Svoboda, J.

    2015-05-01

    Equations of diffusion treated in the frame of Manning's concept, are completed by equations for generation/annihilation of vacancies at non-ideal sources and sinks, by conservation laws, by equations for generation of an eigenstrain state and by a strain-stress analysis. The stress-deformation-diffusion interactions are demonstrated on the evolution of a diffusion couple consisting of two thin layers of different chemical composition forming a free-standing plate without external loading. The equations are solved for different material parameters represented by the values of diffusion coefficients of individual components and by the intensity of sources and sinks for vacancies. The results of simulations indicate that for low intensity of sources and sinks for vacancies a significant eigenstress state can develop and the interdiffusion process is slowed down. For high intensity of sources and sinks for vacancies a significant eigenstrain state can develop and the eigenstress state quickly relaxes. If the difference in the diffusion coefficients of individual components is high, then the intensity of sources and sinks for vacancies influences the interdiffusion process considerably. For such systems their description only by diffusion coefficients is insufficient and must be completed by a microstructure characterization.

  17. Contextualising the Last Survivors: Population Structure of Marine Turtles in the Dominican Republic.

    PubMed

    Carreras, Carlos; Godley, Brendan J; León, Yolanda M; Hawkes, Lucy A; Revuelta, Ohiana; Raga, Juan A; Tomás, Jesús

    2013-01-01

    Nesting by three species of marine turtles persists in the Dominican Republic, despite historic threats and long-term population decline. We conducted a genetic survey of marine turtles in the Dominican Republic in order to link them with other rookeries around the Caribbean. We sequenced a 740bp fragment of the control region of the mitochondrial DNA of 92 samples from three marine turtle species [hawksbill (n = 48), green (n = 2) and leatherback (n = 42)], and incorporated published data from other nesting populations and foraging grounds. The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Dominican Republic appeared to be isolated from Awala-Yalimapo, Cayenne, Trinidad and St. Croix but connected with other Caribbean populations. Two distinct nesting populations of hawksbill turtles (Eremochelys imbricata) were detected in the Dominican Republic and exhibited interesting patterns of connectivity with other nesting sites and juvenile and adult male foraging aggregations. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has almost been extirpated from the Dominican Republic and limited inference could be made from our samples. Finally, results were compared with Lagrangian drifting buoys and published Lagrangian virtual particles that travelled through the Dominican Republic and Caribbean waters. Conservation implications of sink-source effects or genetic isolation derived from these complex inter-connections are discussed for each species and population.

  18. Contextualising the Last Survivors: Population Structure of Marine Turtles in the Dominican Republic

    PubMed Central

    Carreras, Carlos; Godley, Brendan J.; León, Yolanda M.; Hawkes, Lucy A.; Revuelta, Ohiana; Raga, Juan A.; Tomás, Jesús

    2013-01-01

    Nesting by three species of marine turtles persists in the Dominican Republic, despite historic threats and long-term population decline. We conducted a genetic survey of marine turtles in the Dominican Republic in order to link them with other rookeries around the Caribbean. We sequenced a 740bp fragment of the control region of the mitochondrial DNA of 92 samples from three marine turtle species [hawksbill (n = 48), green (n = 2) and leatherback (n = 42)], and incorporated published data from other nesting populations and foraging grounds. The leatherback turtle (Dermochelys coriacea) in the Dominican Republic appeared to be isolated from Awala-Yalimapo, Cayenne, Trinidad and St. Croix but connected with other Caribbean populations. Two distinct nesting populations of hawksbill turtles (Eremochelys imbricata) were detected in the Dominican Republic and exhibited interesting patterns of connectivity with other nesting sites and juvenile and adult male foraging aggregations. The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) has almost been extirpated from the Dominican Republic and limited inference could be made from our samples. Finally, results were compared with Lagrangian drifting buoys and published Lagrangian virtual particles that travelled through the Dominican Republic and Caribbean waters. Conservation implications of sink-source effects or genetic isolation derived from these complex inter-connections are discussed for each species and population. PMID:23840394

  19. Quantifying the Sources and Sinks of Greenhouse Gases: What Does It Take to Satisfy Scientific and Decision-Making Needs?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, K. J.; Keller, K.; Ogle, S. M.; Smith, S.

    2014-12-01

    Changes in the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases (GHGs) are key drivers of anthropogenic climate change. It is hence not surprising that current and emerging U.S. governmental science priorities and programs focused on climate change (e.g. a U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Plan; the U.S. Carbon Cycle Science Program, the U.S. Global Change Research Program, Executive Order 13653 'Preparing the U.S. for the Impacts of Climate Change') all call for an improved understanding of these sources and sinks.. Measurements of the total atmospheric burden of these gases are well established, but measurements of their sources and sinks are difficult to make over spatial and temporal scales that are relevant for scientific and decisionmaking needs. Quantifying the uncertainty in these measurements is particularly challenging. This talk reviews the intersection of the state of knowledge of GHG sources and sinks, focusing in particular on CO2 and CH4, and science and decision-making needs for this information. Different science and decision-making needs require differing levels of uncertainty. A number of high-priority needs (early detection of changes in the Earth system, projections of future climate, support of markets or regulations) often require a high degree of accuracy and/or precision. We will critically evaluate current U.S. planning to documents to infer current perceived needs for GHG source/sink quantification, attempting to translate these needs into quantitative uncertainty metrics. We will compare these perceived needs with the current state of the art of GHG source/sink quantification, including the apparent pattern of systematic differences between so-called "top down" and "bottom-up" flux estimates. This comparison will enable us to identify where needs can be readily satisfied, and where gaps in technology exist. Finally, we will examine what steps could be taken to close existing gaps.

  20. Design and simulation of a novel high-efficiency cooling heat-sink structure using fluid-thermodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hongqi, Jing; Li, Zhong; Yuxi, Ni; Junjie, Zhang; Suping, Liu; Xiaoyu, Ma

    2015-10-01

    A novel high-efficiency cooling mini-channel heat-sink structure has been designed to meet the package technology demands of high power density laser diode array stacks. Thermal and water flowing characteristics have been simulated using the Ansys-Fluent software. Owing to the increased effective cooling area, this mini-channel heat-sink structure has a better cooling effect when compared with the traditional macro-channel heat-sinks. Owing to the lower flow velocity in this novel high efficient cooling structure, the chillers' water-pressure requirement is reduced. Meanwhile, the machining process of this high-efficiency cooling mini-channel heat-sink structure is simple and the cost is relatively low, it also has advantages in terms of high durability and long lifetime. This heat-sink is an ideal choice for the package of high power density laser diode array stacks. Project supported by the Defense Industrial Technology Development Program (No. B1320133033).

  1. Current source density correlates of cerebellar Golgi and Purkinje cell responses to tactile input

    PubMed Central

    Tahon, Koen; Wijnants, Mike; De Schutter, Erik

    2011-01-01

    The overall circuitry of the cerebellar cortex has been known for over a century, but the function of many synaptic connections remains poorly characterized in vivo. We used a one-dimensional multielectrode probe to estimate the current source density (CSD) of Crus IIa in response to perioral tactile stimuli in anesthetized rats and to correlate current sinks and sources to changes in the spike rate of corecorded Golgi and Purkinje cells. The punctate stimuli evoked two distinct early waves of excitation (at <10 and ∼20 ms) associated with current sinks in the granular layer. The second wave was putatively of corticopontine origin, and its associated sink was located higher in the granular layer than the first trigeminal sink. The distinctive patterns of granular-layer sinks correlated with the spike responses of corecorded Golgi cells. In general, Golgi cell spike responses could be linearly reconstructed from the CSD profile. A dip in simple-spike activity of coregistered Purkinje cells correlated with a current source deep in the molecular layer, probably generated by basket cell synapses, interspersed between sparse early sinks presumably generated by synapses from granule cells. The late (>30 ms) enhancement of simple-spike activity in Purkinje cells was characterized by the absence of simultaneous sinks in the granular layer and by the suppression of corecorded Golgi cell activity, pointing at inhibition of Golgi cells by Purkinje axon collaterals as a likely mechanism of late Purkinje cell excitation. PMID:21228303

  2. Connecting Source with Sink: The Role of Arabidopsis AAP8 in Phloem Loading of Amino Acids1[OPEN

    PubMed Central

    Santiago, James P.; Tegeder, Mechthild

    2016-01-01

    Allocation of large amounts of nitrogen to developing organs occurs in the phloem and is essential for plant growth and seed development. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and many other plant species, amino acids represent the dominant nitrogen transport forms in the phloem, and they are mainly synthesized in photosynthetically active source leaves. Following their synthesis, a broad spectrum of the amino nitrogen is actively loaded into the phloem of leaf minor veins and transported within the phloem sap to sinks such as developing leaves, fruits, or seeds. Controlled regulation of the source-to-sink transport of amino acids has long been postulated; however, the molecular mechanism of amino acid phloem loading was still unknown. In this study, Arabidopsis AMINO ACID PERMEASE8 (AAP8) was shown to be expressed in the source leaf phloem and localized to the plasma membrane, suggesting its function in phloem loading. This was further supported by transport studies with aap8 mutants fed with radiolabeled amino acids and by leaf exudate analyses. In addition, biochemical and molecular analyses revealed alterations in leaf nitrogen pools and metabolism dependent on the developmental stage of the mutants. Decreased amino acid phloem loading and partitioning to sinks led to decreased silique and seed numbers, but seed protein levels were unchanged, demonstrating the importance of AAP8 function for sink development rather than seed quality. Overall, these results show that AAP8 plays an important role in source-to-sink partitioning of nitrogen and that its function affects source leaf physiology and seed yield. PMID:27016446

  3. Ecological Networks in Stored Grain: Key Postharvest Nodes for Emerging Pests, Pathogens, and Mycotoxins.

    PubMed

    Hernandez Nopsa, John F; Daglish, Gregory J; Hagstrum, David W; Leslie, John F; Phillips, Thomas W; Scoglio, Caterina; Thomas-Sharma, Sara; Walter, Gimme H; Garrett, Karen A

    2015-10-01

    Wheat is at peak quality soon after harvest. Subsequently, diverse biota use wheat as a resource in storage, including insects and mycotoxin-producing fungi. Transportation networks for stored grain are crucial to food security and provide a model system for an analysis of the population structure, evolution, and dispersal of biota in networks. We evaluated the structure of rail networks for grain transport in the United States and Eastern Australia to identify the shortest paths for the anthropogenic dispersal of pests and mycotoxins, as well as the major sources, sinks, and bridges for movement. We found important differences in the risk profile in these two countries and identified priority control points for sampling, detection, and management. An understanding of these key locations and roles within the network is a new type of basic research result in postharvest science and will provide insights for the integrated pest management of high-risk subpopulations, such as pesticide-resistant insect pests.

  4. Ecological Networks in Stored Grain: Key Postharvest Nodes for Emerging Pests, Pathogens, and Mycotoxins

    PubMed Central

    Hernandez Nopsa, John F.; Daglish, Gregory J.; Hagstrum, David W.; Leslie, John F.; Phillips, Thomas W.; Scoglio, Caterina; Thomas-Sharma, Sara; Walter, Gimme H.; Garrett, Karen A.

    2015-01-01

    Wheat is at peak quality soon after harvest. Subsequently, diverse biota use wheat as a resource in storage, including insects and mycotoxin-producing fungi. Transportation networks for stored grain are crucial to food security and provide a model system for an analysis of the population structure, evolution, and dispersal of biota in networks. We evaluated the structure of rail networks for grain transport in the United States and Eastern Australia to identify the shortest paths for the anthropogenic dispersal of pests and mycotoxins, as well as the major sources, sinks, and bridges for movement. We found important differences in the risk profile in these two countries and identified priority control points for sampling, detection, and management. An understanding of these key locations and roles within the network is a new type of basic research result in postharvest science and will provide insights for the integrated pest management of high-risk subpopulations, such as pesticide-resistant insect pests. PMID:26955074

  5. The sustainability of subsistence hunting by Matsigenka native communities in Manu National Park, Peru.

    PubMed

    Ohl-Schacherer, Julia; Shepard, Glenn H; Kaplan, Hillard; Peres, Carlos A; Levi, Taal; Yu, Douglas W

    2007-10-01

    The presence of indigenous people in tropical parks has fueled a debate over whether people in parks are conservation allies or direct threats to biodiversity. A well-known example is the Matsigenka (or Machiguenga) population residing in Manu National Park in Peruvian Amazonia. Because the exploitation of wild meat (or bushmeat), especially large vertebrates, represents the most significant internal threat to biodiversity in Manu, we analyzed 1 year of participatory monitoring of game offtake in two Matsigenka native communities within Manu Park (102,397 consumer days and 2,089 prey items). We used the Robinson and Redford (1991) index to identify five prey species hunted at or above maximum sustainable yield within the approximately 150-km(2) core hunting zones of the two communities: woolly monkey (Lagothrix lagotricha), spider monkey (Ateles chamek), white-lipped peccary (Tayassu pecari), Razor-billed Currasow (Mitu tuberosa), and Spix's Guan (Penelope jacquacu). There was little or no evidence that any of these five species has become depleted, other than locally, despite a near doubling of the human population since 1988. Hunter-prey profiles have not changed since 1988, and there has been little change in per capita consumption rates or mean prey weights. The current offtake by the Matsigenka appears to be sustainable, apparently due to source-sink dynamics. Source-sink dynamics imply that even with continued human population growth within a settlement, offtake for each hunted species will eventually reach an asymptote. Thus, stabilizing the Matsigenka population around existing settlements should be a primary policy goal for Manu Park.

  6. Meteorological effects on the levels of fecal indicator bacteria in an urban stream: a modeling approach.

    PubMed

    Cho, Kyung Hwa; Cha, Sung Min; Kang, Joo-Hyon; Lee, Seung Won; Park, Yongeun; Kim, Jung-Woo; Kim, Joon Ha

    2010-04-01

    Gwangju Creek (GJC) in Korea, which drains a highly urbanized watershed, has suffered from substantial fecal contamination, thereby limiting the beneficial use of the water in addition to threatening public health. In this study, to quantitatively estimate the sinks and sources of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) in GJC under varying meteorological conditions, two FIB (i.e., Escherichia coli and enterococci bacteria) were monitored hourly for 24h periods during both wet and dry weather conditions at four sites along GJC, and the collected data was subsequently used to develop a spatiotemporal FIB prediction model. The monitoring data revealed that storm washoff and irradiational die-off by sunlight are the two key processes controlling FIB populations in wet and dry weather, respectively. FIB populations significantly increased during precipitation, with greater concentrations occurring at higher rainfall intensity. During dry weather, FIB populations decreased in the presence of sunlight in daytime but quickly recovered at nighttime due to continuous point-source inputs. In this way, the contributions of the key processes (i.e., irradiational die-off by sunlight, settling, storm washoff, and resuspension) to the FIB levels in GJC under different meteorological conditions were quantitatively estimated using the developed model. The modeling results showed that the die-off by sunlight is the major sink of FIB during the daytime in dry weather with a minor contribution from the settling process. During wet weather, storm washoff and resuspension are equally important processes that are responsible for the substantial increase of FIB populations. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Geospatial Analysis of Atmospheric Haze Effect by Source and Sink Landscape

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, T.; Xu, K.; Yuan, Z.

    2017-09-01

    Based on geospatial analysis model, this paper analyzes the relationship between the landscape patterns of source and sink in urban areas and atmospheric haze pollution. Firstly, the classification result and aerosol optical thickness (AOD) of Wuhan are divided into a number of square grids with the side length of 6 km, and the category level landscape indices (PLAND, PD, COHESION, LPI, FRAC_MN) and AOD of each grid are calculated. Then the source and sink landscapes of atmospheric haze pollution are selected based on the analysis of the correlation between landscape indices and AOD. Next, to make the following analysis more efficient, the indices selected before should be determined through the correlation coefficient between them. Finally, due to the spatial dependency and spatial heterogeneity of the data used in this paper, spatial autoregressive model and geo-weighted regression model are used to analyze atmospheric haze effect by source and sink landscape from the global and local level. The results show that the source landscape of atmospheric haze pollution is the building, and the sink landscapes are shrub and woodland. PLAND, PD and COHESION are suitable for describing the atmospheric haze effect by source and sink landscape. Comparing these models, the fitting effect of SLM, SEM and GWR is significantly better than that of OLS model. The SLM model is superior to the SEM model in this paper. Although the fitting effect of GWR model is more unsuited than that of SLM, the influence degree of influencing factors on atmospheric haze of different geography can be expressed clearer. Through the analysis results of these models, following conclusions can be summarized: Reducing the proportion of source landscape area and increasing the degree of fragmentation could cut down aerosol optical thickness; And distributing the source and sink landscape evenly and interspersedly could effectively reduce aerosol optical thickness which represents atmospheric haze pollution; For Wuhan City, the method of adjusting the built-up area slightly and planning the non-built-up areas reasonably can be taken to reduce atmospheric haze pollution.

  8. Intrinsic and extrinsic drivers of source-sink dynamics

    EPA Science Inventory

    1. Many factors affect the presence and exchange of individuals among subpopulations and influence not only the emergence, but the strength of ensuing source-sink dynamics within metapopulations, yet their relative contributions remain largely unexplored. 2. To help identify the...

  9. An Enhanced Backbone-Assisted Reliable Framework for Wireless Sensor Networks

    PubMed Central

    Tufail, Ali; Khayam, Syed Ali; Raza, Muhammad Taqi; Ali, Amna; Kim, Ki-Hyung

    2010-01-01

    An extremely reliable source to sink communication is required for most of the contemporary WSN applications especially pertaining to military, healthcare and disaster-recovery. However, due to their intrinsic energy, bandwidth and computational constraints, Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) encounter several challenges in reliable source to sink communication. In this paper, we present a novel reliable topology that uses reliable hotlines between sensor gateways to boost the reliability of end-to-end transmissions. This reliable and efficient routing alternative reduces the number of average hops from source to the sink. We prove, with the help of analytical evaluation, that communication using hotlines is considerably more reliable than traditional WSN routing. We use reliability theory to analyze the cost and benefit of adding gateway nodes to a backbone-assisted WSN. However, in hotline assisted routing some scenarios where source and the sink are just a couple of hops away might bring more latency, therefore, we present a Signature Based Routing (SBR) scheme. SBR enables the gateways to make intelligent routing decisions, based upon the derived signature, hence providing lesser end-to-end delay between source to the sink communication. Finally, we evaluate our proposed hotline based topology with the help of a simulation tool and show that the proposed topology provides manifold increase in end-to-end reliability. PMID:22294890

  10. Are gas exchange responses to resource limitation and defoliation linked to source:sink relationships?

    PubMed

    Pinkard, E A; Eyles, A; O'Grady, A P

    2011-10-01

    Productivity of trees can be affected by limitations in resources such as water and nutrients, and herbivory. However, there is little understanding of their interactive effects on carbon uptake and growth. We hypothesized that: (1) in the absence of defoliation, photosynthetic rate and leaf respiration would be governed by limiting resource(s) and their impact on sink limitation; (2) photosynthetic responses to defoliation would be a consequence of changing source:sink relationships and increased availability of limiting resources; and (3) photosynthesis and leaf respiration would be adjusted in response to limiting resources and defoliation so that growth could be maintained. We tested these hypotheses by examining how leaf photosynthetic processes, respiration, carbohydrate concentrations and growth rates of Eucalyptus globulus were influenced by high or low water and nitrogen (N) availability, and/or defoliation. Photosynthesis of saplings grown with low water was primarily sink limited, whereas photosynthetic responses of saplings grown with low N were suggestive of source limitation. Defoliation resulted in source limitation. Net photosynthetic responses to defoliation were linked to the degree of resource availability, with the largest responses measured in treatments where saplings were ultimately source rather than sink limited. There was good evidence of acclimation to stress, enabling higher rates of C uptake than might otherwise have occurred. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  11. Atmospheric measurements of peroxyacetyl nitrate and other organic nitrates at high latitudes - Possible sources and sinks

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Singh, H. B.; O'Hara, D.; Herlth, D.; Bradshaw, J. D.; Sandholm, S. T.; Gregory, G. L.; Sachse, G. W.; Blake, D. R.; Crutzen, P. J.; Kanakidou, M. A.

    1992-01-01

    Measurements of PAN and other reactive nitrogen species during the NASA Arctic Boundary Layer Expedition (ABLE 3A) are described, their north-south and east-west gradients in the free troposphere are characterized, and the sources and sinks of PAN and NO(y) are assessed. Large concentrations of PAN and NO(y) are present in the Arctic/sub-Arctic troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere during the summer. Mixing ratios of PAN and a variety of other molecules are more abundant in the free troposphere compared to the boundary layer. Coincident PAN and O3 atmospheric structures suggest that phenomena that define PAN also define the corresponding O3 behavior. Model calculations, correlations between NO(y) and anthropogenic tracers, and the compositions of NO(y) itself suggest that the Arctic/sub-Arctic reactive nitrogen measured during ABLE 3A is predominantly of anthropogenic origin with a minor component from the stratosphere.

  12. Iron-rich clay minerals on Mars - Potential sources or sinks for hydrogen and indicators of hydrogen loss over time

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Burt, D. M.

    1989-01-01

    Although direct evidence is lacking, indirect evidence suggests that iron-rich clay minerals or poorly-ordered chemical equivalents are widespread on the Martian surface. Such clays can act as sources or sinks for hydrogen ('hydrogen sponges'). Ferrous clays can lose hydrogen and ferric clays gain it by the coupled substitution Fe(3+)O(Fe(2+)OH)-1, equivalent to minus atomic H. This 'oxy-clay' substitution involves only proton and electron migration through the crystal structure, and therefore occurs nondestructively and reversibly, at relatively low temperatures. The reversible, low-temperature nature of this reaction contrasts with the irreversible nature of destructive dehydroxylation (H2O loss) suffered by clays heated to high temperatures. In theory, metastable ferric oxy-clays formed by dehydrogenation of ferrous clays over geologic time could, if exposed to water vapor, extract the hydrogen from it, releasing oxygen.

  13. Shoreline erosion and decadal sediment accumulation in the Tar-Pamlico estuary, North Carolina, USA: A source-to-sink analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Eulie, Devon O.; Corbett, D. Reide; Walsh, J. P.

    2018-03-01

    Estuaries contain vital habitats and it is important to understand how these areas respond to human activities and natural processes such as sea-level rise and wave attack. As estuarine shorelines erode or become modified with hard structures, there is potential for significantly altering the availability of sediment and the filling of coastal systems. This study used a source-to-sink approach and quantified rates of shoreline erosion in the Tar-Pamlico sub-estuary, a tributary of the larger Albemarle-Pamlico Estuarine System (APES). The average shoreline change rate (SCR) determined using an end-point method was -0.5 ± 0.9 m yr-1 for the Tar-Pamlico. Incorporating bulk density estimates, this contributes 0.6 × 105 tons of fine sediment to the system annually, or after accounting for fluvial input, about 40% of the total sediment supply to the sub-estuary. The role of the Tar-Pamlico as a sink for these sediments was addressed using the radionuclide tracers 210Pb and 137Cs. Radionuclide activities and sediment accumulation rates identified several depositional regions, in particular in the middle of the estuary. Linear sediment accumulation rates ranged from 0.10 ± 0.02 to 0.38 ± 0.02 g cm-2 yr-1, and total storage of fine sediment in the system was 1.6 × 105 t yr-1. It was not possible to confidently discern a change in the rate of shoreline erosion or seabed accumulation. A preliminary budget for fine sediments (grain-size <63 μm) was then calculated to compare erosional sources with sedimentary sinks. Almost all (∼93.0%) of the fine sediment entering the system was accumulated and stored, while only about 7.0% was exported to Pamlico Sound.

  14. Contaminated handwashing sinks as the source of a clonal outbreak of KPC-2-producing Klebsiella oxytoca on a hematology ward.

    PubMed

    Leitner, Eva; Zarfel, Gernot; Luxner, Josefa; Herzog, Kathrin; Pekard-Amenitsch, Shiva; Hoenigl, Martin; Valentin, Thomas; Feierl, Gebhard; Grisold, Andrea J; Högenauer, Christoph; Sill, Heinz; Krause, Robert; Zollner-Schwetz, Ines

    2015-01-01

    We investigated sinks as possible sources of a prolonged Klebsiella pneumonia carbapenemase (KPC)-producing Klebsiella oxytoca outbreak. Seven carbapenem-resistant K. oxytoca isolates were identified in sink drains in 4 patient rooms and in the medication room. Investigations for resistance genes and genetic relatedness of patient and environmental isolates revealed that all the isolates harbored the blaKPC-2 and blaTEM-1 genes and were genetically indistinguishable. We describe here a clonal outbreak caused by KPC-2-producing K. oxytoca, and handwashing sinks were a possible reservoir. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  15. How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    White, Angela C.; Rogers, Alistair; Rees, Mark

    Growth is a major component of fitness in all organisms, an important mediator of competitive interactions in plant communities, and a central determinant of yield in crops. Understanding what limits plant growth is therefore of fundamental importance to plant evolution, ecology, and crop science, but each discipline views the process from a different perspective. This review highlights the importance of source–sink interactions as determinants of growth. The evidence for source- and sink-limitation of growth, and the ways in which regulatory molecular feedback systems act to maintain an appropriate source:sink balance, are first discussed. Evidence clearly shows that future increases inmore » crop productivity depend crucially on a quantitative understanding of the extent to which sources or sinks limit growth, and how this changes during development. In addition, to identify bottlenecks limiting growth and yield, a holistic view of growth is required at the whole-plant scale, incorporating mechanistic interactions between physiology, resource allocation, and plant development. Such a holistic perspective on source–sink interactions will allow the development of a more integrated, whole-system level understanding of growth, with benefits across multiple disciplines.« less

  16. How can we make plants grow faster? A source–sink perspective on growth rate

    DOE PAGES

    White, Angela C.; Rogers, Alistair; Rees, Mark; ...

    2015-10-14

    Growth is a major component of fitness in all organisms, an important mediator of competitive interactions in plant communities, and a central determinant of yield in crops. Understanding what limits plant growth is therefore of fundamental importance to plant evolution, ecology, and crop science, but each discipline views the process from a different perspective. This review highlights the importance of source–sink interactions as determinants of growth. The evidence for source- and sink-limitation of growth, and the ways in which regulatory molecular feedback systems act to maintain an appropriate source:sink balance, are first discussed. Evidence clearly shows that future increases inmore » crop productivity depend crucially on a quantitative understanding of the extent to which sources or sinks limit growth, and how this changes during development. In addition, to identify bottlenecks limiting growth and yield, a holistic view of growth is required at the whole-plant scale, incorporating mechanistic interactions between physiology, resource allocation, and plant development. Such a holistic perspective on source–sink interactions will allow the development of a more integrated, whole-system level understanding of growth, with benefits across multiple disciplines.« less

  17. Changes in Amazonian forest biomass, dynamics, and composition, 1980-2002

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phillips, Oliver L.; Higuchi, Niro; Vieira, Simone; Baker, Timothy R.; Chao, Kuo-Jung; Lewis, Simon L.

    Long-term, on-the-ground monitoring of forest plots distributed across Amazonia provides a powerful means to quantify stocks and fluxes of biomass and biodiversity. Here we examine the evidence for concerted changes in the structure, dynamics, and functional composition of old-growth Amazonian forests over recent decades. Mature forests have, as a whole, gained biomass and undergone accelerated growth and dynamics, but questions remain as to the long-term persistence of these changes. Because forest growth on average exceeds mortality, intact Amazonian forests have been functioning as a carbon sink. We estimate a net biomass increase in trees ≥10 cm diameter of 0.62 ± 0.23 t C ha-1 a-1 through the late twentieth century. If representative of the wider forest landscape, this translates into a sink in South American old-growth forest of at least 0.49 ± 0.18 Pg C a-1. If other biomass and necromass components also increased proportionally, the estimated South American old-growth forest sink is 0.79 ± 0.29 Pg C a-1, before allowing for possible gains in soil carbon. If tropical forests elsewhere are behaving similarly, the old-growth biomass forest sink would be 1.60 ± 0.58 Pg C a-1. This bottom-up estimate of the carbon balance of tropical forests is preliminary, pending syntheses of detailed biometric studies across the other tropical continents. There is also some evidence for recent changes in the functional composition (biodiversity) of Amazonian forest, but the evidence is less comprehensive than that for changes in structure and dynamics. The most likely driver(s) of changes are recent increases in the supply of resources such as atmospheric carbon dioxide, which would increase net primary productivity, increasing tree growth and recruitment, and, in turn, mortality. In the future the growth response of remaining undisturbed Amazonian forests is likely to saturate, and there is a risk of these ecosystems transitioning from sink to source driven by higher respiration (temperature), higher mortality (drought), or compositional change (functional shifts toward lighterwooded plants). Even a modest switch from carbon sink to source for Amazonian forests would impact global climate, biodiversity, and human welfare, while the documented acceleration of tree growth and mortality may already be affecting the interactions of thousands of plant and millions of animal species.

  18. Impacts of rural development on Yellowstone wildlife: linking grizzly bear Ursus arctos demographics with projected residential growth

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Schwartz, Charles C.; Gude, Patricia H.; Landenburger, Lisa; Haroldson, Mark A.; Podruzny, Shannon

    2012-01-01

    Exurban development is consuming wildlife habitat within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem with potential consequences to the long-term conservation of grizzly bears Ursus arctos. We assessed the impacts of alternative future land-use scenarios by linking an existing regression-based simulation model predicting rural development with a spatially explicit model that predicted bear survival. Using demographic criteria that predict population trajectory, we portioned habitats into either source or sink, and projected the loss of source habitat associated with four different build out (new home construction) scenarios through 2020. Under boom growth, we predicted that 12 km2 of source habitat were converted to sink habitat within the Grizzly Bear Recovery Zone (RZ), 189 km2 were converted within the current distribution of grizzly bears outside of the RZ, and 289 km2 were converted in the area outside the RZ identified as suitable grizzly bear habitat. Our findings showed that extremely low densities of residential development created sink habitats. We suggest that tools, such as those outlined in this article, in addition to zoning and subdivision regulation may prove more practical, and the most effective means of retaining large areas of undeveloped land and conserving grizzly bear source habitat will likely require a landscape-scale approach. We recommend a focus on land conservation efforts that retain open space (easements, purchases and trades) coupled with the implementation of ‘bear community programmes’ on an ecosystem wide basis in an effort to minimize human-bear conflicts, minimize management-related bear mortalities associated with preventable conflicts and to safeguard human communities. Our approach has application to other species and areas, and it has illustrated how spatially explicit demographic models can be combined with models predicting land-use change to help focus conservation priorities.

  19. A Disease-Mediated Trophic Cascade in the Serengeti and its Implications for Ecosystem C

    PubMed Central

    Holdo, Ricardo M.; Sinclair, Anthony R. E.; Dobson, Andrew P.; Metzger, Kristine L.; Bolker, Benjamin M.; Ritchie, Mark E.; Holt, Robert D.

    2009-01-01

    Tree cover is a fundamental structural characteristic and driver of ecosystem processes in terrestrial ecosystems, and trees are a major global carbon (C) sink. Fire and herbivores have been hypothesized to play dominant roles in regulating trees in African savannas, but the evidence for this is conflicting. Moving up a trophic scale, the factors that regulate fire occurrence and herbivores, such as disease and predation, are poorly understood for any given ecosystem. We used a Bayesian state-space model to show that the wildebeest population irruption that followed disease (rinderpest) eradication in the Serengeti ecosystem of East Africa led to a widespread reduction in the extent of fire and an ongoing recovery of the tree population. This supports the hypothesis that disease has played a key role in the regulation of this ecosystem. We then link our state-space model with theoretical and empirical results quantifying the effects of grazing and fire on soil carbon to predict that this cascade may have led to important shifts in the size of pools of C stored in soil and biomass. Our results suggest that the dynamics of herbivores and fire are tightly coupled at landscape scales, that fire exerts clear top-down effects on tree density, and that disease outbreaks in dominant herbivores can lead to complex trophic cascades in savanna ecosystems. We propose that the long-term status of the Serengeti and other intensely grazed savannas as sources or sinks for C may be fundamentally linked to the control of disease outbreaks and poaching. PMID:19787022

  20. Estimation of In-Canopy Ammonia Sources and Sinks in a Fertilized Zea mays Field

    EPA Science Inventory

    An analytical model was developed that describes the in-canopy vertical distribution of NH3 source and sinks and vertical fluxes in a fertilized agricultural setting using measured in-canopy concentration and wind speed profiles.

  1. Thiourea, a ROS scavenger, regulates source-to-sink relationship to enhance crop yield and oil content in Brassica juncea (L.).

    PubMed

    Pandey, Manish; Srivastava, Ashish Kumar; D'Souza, Stanislaus Francis; Penna, Suprasanna

    2013-01-01

    In the present agricultural scenario, the major thrust is to increase crop productivity so as to ensure sustainability. In an earlier study, foliar application of thiourea (TU; a non physiological thiol based ROS scavenger) has been demonstrated to enhance the stress tolerance and yield of different crops under field condition. Towards this endeavor, present work deals with the effect of TU on photosynthetic efficiency and source-to-sink relationship of Indian mustard (Brassica juncea) for understanding its mode of action. The application of TU increased the efficiency of both PSI and PSII photosystems and vegetative growth of plant. The comparative analysis of sucrose to starch ratio and expression level of sugar transporters confirmed the higher source and sink strength in response to TU treatment. The biochemical evidence in support of this was derived from higher activities of sucrose phosphate synthase and fructose-1,6-bis-phosphatase at source; and sucrose synthase and different classes of invertases at both source and sink. This indicated an overall increase in photoassimilate level at sink. An additional contribution through pod photosynthesis was confirmed through the analysis of phosphoenol pyruvate carboxylase enzyme activity and level of organic acids. The increased photoassimilate level was also co-ordinated with acetyl coA carboxylase mediated oil biosynthesis. All these changes were ultimately reflected in the form of 10 and 20% increase in total yield and oil content, respectively under TU treatment as compared to control. Additionally, no change was observed in oil composition of seeds derived from TU treated plants. The study thus signifies the co-ordinated regulation of key steps of photosynthesis and source-to-sink relationship through the external application of TU resulting in increased crop yield and oil content.

  2. Seasonal trends in the pigment and amino acid compositions of sinking particles in biogenic CaCO 3 and SiO 2 dominated regions of the Pacific sector of the Southern Ocean along 170°W

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ingalls, Anitra E.; Liu, Zhanfei; Lee, Cindy

    2006-05-01

    We investigated amino acids and pigments in particles settling through the water column of the Southern Ocean and showed that spatial and temporal differences in phytoplankton source and consumer population influence sinking particle composition. Sediment traps were deployed along 170°W from November 1996 to March 1998 as part of the United States Joint Global Ocean Flux Study (US JGOFS) Antarctic Environment Southern Ocean Process Study (AESOPS) program. Peak fluxes of amino acids and pigments occurred during austral spring and summer (November-April) and were highest in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC). Compositional changes in pigments and total hydrolyzed amino acids demonstrate how the source of sinking particles varies with latitude and suggest that sinking material was most degraded in relatively diatom-depleted regions and toward the end of the high-flux period (February-March). At the Subantarctic Front, high proportions of pheophytin and β-alanine illustrate the important role of microbes in degradation. Further south at the Antarctic Polar Front, glycine, pyropheophorbide, and pheophorbide enrichments reflected a greater contribution of diatoms and greater processing by zooplankton grazers. Even further south in the ACC, enrichments of the diatom pigment fucoxanthin, diatom cell wall indicators glycine and serine, and diatom frustule-bound amino acids suggested the settling of empty frustules and aggregates. Despite being protected by the mineral, diatom-bound amino acids were not preferentially preserved between shallow and deep traps, possibly because of silica dissolution and a relatively small amount of organic carbon remineralization. Our results show that organic matter at diatom-rich stations is removed by mechanisms that do not result in the appearance of organic matter degradation indicators. Recent observations that calcium carbonate has a higher carrying capacity for sinking organic matter than silica may be related to diatom silicification, physiological status and decomposition pathway.

  3. Prolonged deficits in parvalbumin neuron stimulation-evoked network activity despite recovery of dendritic structure and excitability in the somatosensory cortex following global ischemia in mice.

    PubMed

    Xie, Yicheng; Chen, Shangbin; Wu, Yujin; Murphy, Timothy H

    2014-11-05

    Relatively few studies have examined plasticity of inhibitory neuronal networks following stroke in vivo, primarily due to the inability to selectively monitor inhibition. We assessed the structure of parvalbumin (PV) interneurons during a 5 min period of global ischemia and reperfusion in mice, which mimicked cerebral ischemia during cardiac arrest or forms of transient ischemic attack. The dendritic structure of PV-neurons in cortical superficial layers was rapidly swollen and beaded during global ischemia, but recovered within 5-10 min following reperfusion. Using optogenetics and a multichannel optrode, we investigated the function of PV-neurons in mouse forelimb somatosensory cortex. We demonstrated pharmacologically that PV-channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) stimulation evoked activation in layer IV/V, which resulted in rapid current sinks mediated by photocurrent and action potentials (a measure of PV-neuron excitability), which was then followed by current sources mediated by network GABAergic synaptic activity. During ischemic depolarization, the PV-ChR2-evoked current sinks (excitability) were suppressed, but recovered rapidly following reperfusion concurrent with repolarization of the DC-EEG. In contrast, the current sources reflecting GABAergic synaptic network activity recovered slowly and incompletely, and was coincident with the partial recovery of the forepaw stimulation-evoked current sinks in layer IV/V 30 min post reperfusion. Our in vivo data suggest that the excitability of PV inhibitory neurons was suppressed during global ischemia and rapidly recovered during reperfusion. In contrast, PV-ChR2 stimulation-evoked GABAergic synaptic network activity exhibited a prolonged suppression even ∼1 h after reperfusion, which could contribute to the dysfunction of sensation and cognition following transient global ischemia. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3414890-12$15.00/0.

  4. An approach to analyzing the intensity of the daytime surface urban heat island effect at a local scale.

    PubMed

    Xu, Shenlai

    2009-04-01

    A landscape index LI is proposed to evaluate the intensity of the daytime surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect at a local scale. Three aspects of this landscape index are crucial: the source landscape, the sink landscape, and the contribution of source and sink landscapes to the intensity of the SUHI. Source and sink landscape types are identified using the thermo-band of Landsat 7 with a spatial resolution of 60 m, along with appropriate threshold values for the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, Modified Normalized Difference Water Index, and Normalized Difference Built-up Index. The landscape index was defined as the ratio of the contributions of the source and sink landscapes to the intensity of the SUHI. The intensity of the daytime SUHI is assessed with the help of the landscape index. Our analysis indicates the landscape index can be used to evaluate and compare the intensity of the daytime SUHI for different areas.

  5. Competition of coagulation sink and source rate: New particle formation in the Pearl River Delta of China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gong, Youguo; Hu, Min; Cheng, Yafang; Su, Hang; Yue, Dingli; Liu, Feng; Wiedensohler, A.; Wang, Zhibin; Kalesse, H.; Liu, Shang; Wu, Zhijun; Xiao, Kaitao; Mi, Puchun; Zhang, Yuanhang

    The coagulation sink and its role in new particle formation are investigated based on data obtained during the PRIDE-PRD2004 campaign at Xinken of Pearl River Delta, China. Analysis of size distributions and mode contributions of the coagulation sink show that the observed higher load of accumulation mode particles impose a significant effect on the coagulation sink and result in higher coagulation sinks at Xinken despite of the lower total particle number compared with other areas. Hence it is concluded that the higher coagulation sink may depress the occurrence frequency of new particle formation events. The strategies targeting at controlling accumulation mode particles may have influences on the frequency of new particle formation events at this area. The factors affecting the coagulation sink are evaluated. The relatively lower ambient relative humidities may weaken the coagulation sink and facilitate the occurrence of new particle formation events during noontime, while the surmise of nucleation and growth involving organic matter may imply an actually higher coagulation sink than expected. These factors have a significant influence on the ultimate fate of the newly formed nuclei and new particle formation. A comparison of event and non-event days indicates that the coagulation sink is not the only decisive factor affecting new particle formation, other factors including the precursor vapors and photochemical activity are none the less important either. Competition of coagulation sink and high source rate leads to the occurrence of new particle formation events at Xinken.

  6. TEM Pump With External Heat Source And Sink

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Nesmith, Bill J.

    1991-01-01

    Proposed thermoelectric/electromagnetic (TEM) pump driven by external source of heat and by two or more heat pipe radiator heat sink(s). Thermoelectrics generate electrical current to circulate liquid metal in secondary loop of two-fluid-loop system. Intended for use with space and terrestrial dual loop liquid metal nuclear reactors. Applications include spacecraft on long missions or terrestrial beacons or scientific instruments having to operate in remote areas for long times. Design modified to include multiple radiators, converters, and ducts, as dictated by particular application.

  7. Isotopic constraints on global atmospheric methane sources and sinks: a critical assessment of recent findings and new data

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schwietzke, S.; Sherwood, O.; Michel, S. E.; Bruhwiler, L.; Dlugokencky, E. J.; Tans, P. P.

    2017-12-01

    Methane isotopic data have increasingly been used in recent studies to help constrain global atmospheric methane sources and sinks. The added scientific contributions to this field include (i) careful comparisons and merging of atmospheric isotope measurement datasets to increase spatial coverage, (ii) in-depth analyses of observed isotopic spatial gradients and seasonal patterns, and (iii) improved datasets of isotopic source signatures. Different interpretations have been made regarding the utility of the isotopic data on the diagnosis of methane sources and sinks. Some studies have found isotopic evidence of a largely microbial source causing the renewed growth in global atmospheric methane since 2007, and underestimated global fossil fuel methane emissions compared to most previous studies. However, other studies have challenged these conclusions by pointing out substantial spatial variability in isotopic source signatures as well as open questions in atmospheric sinks and biomass burning trends. This presentation will review and contrast the main arguments and evidence for the different conclusions. The analysis will distinguish among the different research objectives including (i) global methane budget source attribution in steady-state, (ii) source attribution of recent global methane trends, and (iii) identifying specific methane sources in individual plumes during field campaigns. Additional comparisons of model experiments with atmospheric measurements and updates on isotopic source signature data will complement the analysis.

  8. Carbohydrate regulation of photosynthesis and respiration from branch girdling in four species of wet tropical rain forest trees

    Treesearch

    Shinichi Asao; Michael G. Ryan

    2015-01-01

    How trees sense source-sink carbon balance remains unclear. One potential mechanism is a feedback from non-structural carbohydrates regulating photosynthesis and removing excess as waste respiration when the balance of photosynthesis against growth and metabolic activity changes. We tested this carbohydrate regulation of photosynthesis and respiration using branch...

  9. [Correlating landscape pattern with total nitrogen concentration using a location-weighted sink-source landscape index in the Haihe River Basin, China].

    PubMed

    Sun, Ran-Hao; Chen, Li-Ding; Wang, Wei; Wang, Zhao-Ming

    2012-06-01

    Understanding the effect of land cover pattern on nutrient losses is of great importance in management of water resources. The extensive application of mechanism models is limited in large-scale watersheds owing to the intensive data and calibration requirements. On the other hand, the traditional landscape indexes only take the areas and types of land cover into account, considering less about their topographic features and spatial patterns. We constructed a location-weighted landscape index (LWLI) based on the Lorenz curve, which plots the cumulative proportion of areas for sink and source landscapes respectively against cumulative proportion of their relative location to the outlet in a watershed, including relative elevation, distance and slope. We assessed the effect of land cover pattern on total nitrogen losses in the Haihe River. Firstly, 26 watersheds were derived from 1: 250 000 digital elevation model (DEM), and their "source" and "sink" landscape types were identified from Landsat TM images in 2007. The source" landscapes referred to the paddy land, dry land and residential area, correspondingly the "sink" landscapes referred to the forest and grassland. Secondly, LWLI was calculated according to the landscape types and spatial patterns for each watershed. Thirdly, we accessed the effect of land cover pattern on total nitrogen (TN) flux according to the value of LWLI, comparing with the area proportion of sink-source landscapes. The correlation coefficients were different in three parts of Haihe River, i. e., 0.86, 0.67 and 0.65 in the Yanshan Mts, Taihang Mts and lower Haihe River. The results showed strong correlations between TN and LWLI in contrast to the weak correlations between TN and area proportion of sink and source landscape types. This study indicates the spatial pattern of land cover is essential for accessing the nutrient losses, and the location-weighted landscape pattern analysis may be an alternate to existing water quality models, especially in large watershed scales. The sink-source index is sufficiently simple that it can be compared across watersheds and be easily interpreted, and potentially be used in landscape pattern optimal designing and planning.

  10. Transient performance and temperature field of a natural convection air dehumidifier loop

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fazilati, Mohammad Ali; Sedaghat, Ahmad; Alemrajabi, Ali-Akbar

    2017-07-01

    In this paper, transient performance of the previously introduced natural convection heat and mass transfer loop is investigated for an air dehumidifier system. The performance of the loop is studied in different conditions of heat source/heat sink temperature and different startup desiccant concentrations. Unlike conventional loops, it is observed that natural convection of the fluid originates from the heat sink towards the heat source. The proper operation of the cycle is highly dependent on the heat sink/heat source temperatures. To reduce the time constant of the system, a proper desiccant concentration should be adopted for charge of the loop.

  11. Estimating sources, sinks and fluxes of reactive atmospheric compounds within a forest canopy

    EPA Science Inventory

    While few dispute the significance of within-canopy sources or sinks of reactive gaseous and particulate compounds, their estimation continues to be the subject of active research and debate. Reactive species undergo turbulent dispersion within an inhomogeneous flow field, and ma...

  12. Geochemistry and Hydrogeology of Water-Filled Sinkholes at Bitter Lake NWR, Roswell, NM

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Premo, Z. E.; Crossey, L. J.

    2008-12-01

    Bitter Lake NWR in southeast (Roswell) New Mexico is located at the convergence of the Pecos River and the surface discharge region in the Roswell Artesian Basin (shallow alluvial aquifer and carbonate aquifer). The Refuge hosts approximately 50 water-filled sinkholes, which each support a unique and diverse aquatic ecosystem. An initial survey of water chemistries indicates that each sink has a unique chemical identity and neutral to alkaline pH. Sinkholes are filled by one or more artesian springs, groundwater seepage and possible hydrothermal water sources. We present results of water and gas analyses of 10 representative sinkholes, sampled during spring and summer, 2008. Analytical results, including major ions, metals (arsenic, selenium, iron), and gas chemistries are compared with monitoring well data from wells found to the north of the Refuge, along the Pecos River, and to the west, along the Pecos Slope - the regional aquifer recharge area. Well samples representative of regional groundwater provide potential end member perspectives for sources of sinkhole waters. Samples were collected incrementally from the surface to sinkhole floor to profile the limnological structure and to assess chemical variation and mixing through the water column. A sonde was deployed to measure and record physical parameters. Results of the analysis are used to describe the geochemical mixing that is occurring within the sinks. As each sink behaves as an independent unit, those separated by less than 10 meters can have dramatic variability in chemical signature and biological influence. For example, among the 29 sinks sampled during the initital survey, chloride concentrations range from 1.912x10-3 to 1.405 mol/kg; sulfate from 7.204x10-4 to 0.1364 mol/kg; and fluoride from 3.579x10-4 to 3.453x10-3 mol/kg. Along the Pecos Slope, groundwater chloride concentrations increase from less than 1.410x10-3 mol/kg near the major recharge area in the Sacramento Mountains to 0.141 mol/kg in the discharge area at the Pecos River to the east of Roswell, which includes the Refuge. Sinks are thus analyzed on three resolutions: regional distribution of sink chemistry (both within the Refuge and along and to the west of the Pecos River); variability between mature and immature sinks; and the anatomy of a representative sink.

  13. A Greedy Scanning Data Collection Strategy for Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks with a Mobile Sink.

    PubMed

    Zhu, Chuan; Zhang, Sai; Han, Guangjie; Jiang, Jinfang; Rodrigues, Joel J P C

    2016-09-06

    Mobile sink is widely used for data collection in wireless sensor networks. It can avoid 'hot spot' problems but energy consumption caused by multihop transmission is still inefficient in real-time application scenarios. In this paper, a greedy scanning data collection strategy (GSDCS) is proposed, and we focus on how to reduce routing energy consumption by shortening total length of routing paths. We propose that the mobile sink adjusts its trajectory dynamically according to the changes of network, instead of predetermined trajectory or random walk. Next, the mobile sink determines which area has more source nodes, then it moves toward this area. The benefit of GSDCS is that most source nodes are no longer needed to upload sensory data for long distances. Especially in event-driven application scenarios, when event area changes, the mobile sink could arrive at the new event area where most source nodes are located currently. Hence energy can be saved. Analytical and simulation results show that compared with existing work, our GSDCS has a better performance in specific application scenarios.

  14. A Greedy Scanning Data Collection Strategy for Large-Scale Wireless Sensor Networks with a Mobile Sink

    PubMed Central

    Zhu, Chuan; Zhang, Sai; Han, Guangjie; Jiang, Jinfang; Rodrigues, Joel J. P. C.

    2016-01-01

    Mobile sink is widely used for data collection in wireless sensor networks. It can avoid ‘hot spot’ problems but energy consumption caused by multihop transmission is still inefficient in real-time application scenarios. In this paper, a greedy scanning data collection strategy (GSDCS) is proposed, and we focus on how to reduce routing energy consumption by shortening total length of routing paths. We propose that the mobile sink adjusts its trajectory dynamically according to the changes of network, instead of predetermined trajectory or random walk. Next, the mobile sink determines which area has more source nodes, then it moves toward this area. The benefit of GSDCS is that most source nodes are no longer needed to upload sensory data for long distances. Especially in event-driven application scenarios, when event area changes, the mobile sink could arrive at the new event area where most source nodes are located currently. Hence energy can be saved. Analytical and simulation results show that compared with existing work, our GSDCS has a better performance in specific application scenarios. PMID:27608022

  15. Quantification of mid and late evoked sinks in laminar current source density profiles of columns in the primary auditory cortex

    PubMed Central

    Schaefer, Markus K.; Hechavarría, Julio C.; Kössl, Manfred

    2015-01-01

    Current source density (CSD) analysis assesses spatiotemporal synaptic activations at somatic and/or dendritic levels in the form of depolarizing current sinks. Whereas many studies have focused on the short (<50 ms) latency sinks, associated with thalamocortical projections, sinks with longer latencies have received less attention. Here, we analyzed laminar CSD patterns for the first 600 ms after stimulus onset in the primary auditory cortex of Mongolian gerbils. By applying an algorithm for contour calculation, three distinct mid and four late evoked sinks were identified in layers I, III, Va, VIa, and VIb. Our results further showed that the patterns of intracortical information-flow remained qualitatively similar for low and for high sound pressure level stimuli at the characteristic frequency (CF) as well as for stimuli ± 1 octave from CF. There were, however, differences associated with the strength, vertical extent, onset latency, and duration of the sinks for the four stimulation paradigms used. Stimuli one octave above the most sensitive frequency evoked a new, and quite reliable, sink in layer Va whereas low level stimulation led to the disappearance of the layer VIb sink. These data indicate the presence of input sources specifically activated in response to level and/or frequency parameters. Furthermore, spectral integration above vs. below the CF of neurons is asymmetric as illustrated by CSD profiles. These results are important because synaptic feedback associated with mid and late sinks—beginning at 50 ms post stimulus latency—is likely crucial for response modulation resulting from higher order processes like memory, learning or cognitive control. PMID:26557058

  16. The carbon balance of terrestrial ecosystems in China.

    PubMed

    Piao, Shilong; Fang, Jingyun; Ciais, Philippe; Peylin, Philippe; Huang, Yao; Sitch, Stephen; Wang, Tao

    2009-04-23

    Global terrestrial ecosystems absorbed carbon at a rate of 1-4 Pg yr(-1) during the 1980s and 1990s, offsetting 10-60 per cent of the fossil-fuel emissions. The regional patterns and causes of terrestrial carbon sources and sinks, however, remain uncertain. With increasing scientific and political interest in regional aspects of the global carbon cycle, there is a strong impetus to better understand the carbon balance of China. This is not only because China is the world's most populous country and the largest emitter of fossil-fuel CO(2) into the atmosphere, but also because it has experienced regionally distinct land-use histories and climate trends, which together control the carbon budget of its ecosystems. Here we analyse the current terrestrial carbon balance of China and its driving mechanisms during the 1980s and 1990s using three different methods: biomass and soil carbon inventories extrapolated by satellite greenness measurements, ecosystem models and atmospheric inversions. The three methods produce similar estimates of a net carbon sink in the range of 0.19-0.26 Pg carbon (PgC) per year, which is smaller than that in the conterminous United States but comparable to that in geographic Europe. We find that northeast China is a net source of CO(2) to the atmosphere owing to overharvesting and degradation of forests. By contrast, southern China accounts for more than 65 per cent of the carbon sink, which can be attributed to regional climate change, large-scale plantation programmes active since the 1980s and shrub recovery. Shrub recovery is identified as the most uncertain factor contributing to the carbon sink. Our data and model results together indicate that China's terrestrial ecosystems absorbed 28-37 per cent of its cumulated fossil carbon emissions during the 1980s and 1990s.

  17. Data collection framework for energy efficient privacy preservation in wireless sensor networks having many-to-many structures.

    PubMed

    Bahşi, Hayretdin; Levi, Albert

    2010-01-01

    Wireless sensor networks (WSNs) generally have a many-to-one structure so that event information flows from sensors to a unique sink. In recent WSN applications, many-to-many structures evolved due to the need for conveying collected event information to multiple sinks. Privacy preserved data collection models in the literature do not solve the problems of WSN applications in which network has multiple un-trusted sinks with different level of privacy requirements. This study proposes a data collection framework bases on k-anonymity for preventing record disclosure of collected event information in WSNs. Proposed method takes the anonymity requirements of multiple sinks into consideration by providing different levels of privacy for each destination sink. Attributes, which may identify an event owner, are generalized or encrypted in order to meet the different anonymity requirements of sinks at the same anonymized output. If the same output is formed, it can be multicasted to all sinks. The other trivial solution is to produce different anonymized outputs for each sink and send them to related sinks. Multicasting is an energy efficient data sending alternative for some sensor nodes. Since minimization of energy consumption is an important design criteria for WSNs, multicasting the same event information to multiple sinks reduces the energy consumption of overall network.

  18. How reservoirs alter drinking water quality: Organic matter sources, sinks, and transformations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kraus, Tamara E.C.; Bergamaschi, Brian A.; Hernes, Peter J.; Doctor, Daniel H.; Kendall, Carol; Downing, Bryan D.; Losee, Richard F.

    2011-01-01

    Within reservoirs, production, transformation, and loss of dissolved organic matter (DOM) occur simultaneously. While the balance between production and loss determines whether a reservoir is a net sink or source of DOM, changes in chemical composition are also important because they affect DOM reactivity with respect to disinfection by-product (DBP) formation. The composition of the DOM pool also provides insight into DOM sources and processing, which can inform reservoir management. We examined the concentration and composition of DOM in San Luis Reservoir, a large off-stream impoundment of the California State Water Project. We used a wide array of DOM chemical tracers including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, trihalomethane and haloacetic acid formation potentials (THMFP and HAAFP, respectively), absorbance properties, isotopic composition, lignin phenol content, and structural groupings determined by 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). There were periods when the reservoir was a net source of DOC due to the predominance of algal production (summer), a net sink due to the predominance of degradation (fall–winter), and balanced between production and consumption (spring). Despite only moderate variation in bulk DOC concentration (3.0–3.6 mg C/L), changes in DOM composition indicated that terrestrial-derived material entering the reservoir was being degraded and replaced by aquatic-derived DOM produced within the reservoir. Substantial changes in the propensity of the DOM pool to form THMs and HAAs illustrate that the DBP precursor pool was not directly coupled to bulk DOC concentration and indicate that algal production is an important source of DBP precursors. Results suggest reservoirs have the potential to attenuate DOM amount and reactivity with respect to DBP precursors via degradative processes; however, these benefits can be decreased or even negated by the production of algal-derived DOM.

  19. Global Drainage Patterns to Modern Terrestrial Sedimentary Basins and its Influence on Large River Systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nyberg, B.; Helland-Hansen, W.

    2017-12-01

    Long-term preservation of alluvial sediments is dependent on the hydrological processes that deposit sediments solely within an area that has available accomodation space and net subsidence know as a sedimentary basin. An understanding of the river processes contributing to terrestrial sedimentary basins is essential to fundamentally constrain and quantify controls on the modern terrestrial sink. Furthermore, the terrestrial source to sink controls place constraints on the entire coastal, shelf and deep marine sediment routing systems. In addition, the geographical importance of modern terrestrial sedimentary basins for agriculture and human settlements has resulted in significant upstream anthropogenic catchment modification for irrigation and energy needs. Yet to our knowledge, a global catchment model depicting the drainage patterns to modern terrestrial sedimentary basins has previously not been established that may be used to address these challenging issues. Here we present a new database of 180,737 global catchments that show the surface drainage patterns to modern terrestrial sedimentary basins. This is achieved by using high resolution river networks derived from digital elevation models in relation to newly acquired maps on global modern sedimentary basins to identify terrestrial sinks. The results show that active tectonic regimes are typically characterized by larger terrestrial sedimentary basins, numerous smaller source catchments and a high source to sink relief ratio. To the contrary passive margins drain catchments to smaller terrestrial sedimentary basins, are composed of fewer source catchments that are relatively larger and a lower source to sink relief ratio. The different geomorphological characteristics of source catchments by tectonic setting influence the spatial and temporal patterns of fluvial architecture within sedimentary basins and the anthropogenic methods of exploiting those rivers. The new digital database resource is aimed to help the geoscientific community to contribute further to our quantitative understanding of source-to-sink systems and its allogenic and autogenic controls, geomorphological characteristics, terrestrial sediment transit times and the anthropogenic impact on those systems.

  20. Estimation of in-canopy flux distributions of reactive nitrogen and sulfur within a mixed hardwood forest in southern Appalachia

    EPA Science Inventory

    Estimating the source/sink distribution and vertical fluxes of air pollutants within and above forested canopies is critical for understanding biological, physical, and chemical processes influencing the soil-vegetation-atmosphere exchange. The vertical source-sink profiles of re...

  1. Estimation of in-canopy ammonia sources and sinks in a fertilized Zea mays field

    EPA Science Inventory

    An analytical model was developed that describes the in-canopy vertical distribution of NH3 source and sinks and vertical fluxes in a fertilized agricultural setting using measured in-canopy concentration and wind speed profiles. This model was applied to quantify in-canopy air-s...

  2. FOREST HARVESTS AND WOOD PRODUCTS: SOURCES AND SINKS OF ATMOSPHERIC CARBON DIOXIDE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Changes in the net carbon(c)sink-source balance related to a country's forest harvesting and use of wood products is an important component in making country-level inventories of greenhouse gas emissions,a current activity within many signatory nations to the UN Framework Convent...

  3. Global epidemic invasion thresholds in directed cattle subpopulation networks having source, sink, and transit nodes

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Through the characterization of a metapopulation cattle disease model on a directed network having source, transit, and sink nodes, we derive two global epidemic invasion thresholds. The first threshold defines the conditions necessary for an epidemic to successfully spread at the global scale. The ...

  4. Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) investigation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Christensen, Andrew B.

    1995-01-01

    This report covers the activities performed under NAS5-32572. The results of those activities are included in this Final Report. TIMED Science Objectives: (1) To determine the temperature, density, and wind structure of the MLTI (mixed layer thermal inertia), including the seasonal and latitudinal variations; and (2) To determine the relative importance of the various radiative, chemical, electrodynamical, and dynamical sources and sinks of energy for the thermal structure of the MLTI. GUVI Science Goals: (1) Determine the spatial and temporal variations of temperature and constituent densities in the lower thermosphere; and (2) Determine the importance of auroral energy sources and solar EUV (extreme ultraviolet) to the energy balance of the region.

  5. When sources become sinks: migrational meltdown in heterogeneous habitats.

    PubMed

    Ronce, O; Kirkpatrick, M

    2001-08-01

    We consider the evolution of ecological specialization in a landscape with two discrete habitat types connected by migration, for example, a plant-insect system with two plant hosts. Using a quantitative genetic approach. we study the joint evolution of a quantitative character determining performance in each habitat together with the changes in the population density. We find that specialization on a single habitat evolves with intermediate migration rates, whereas a generalist species evolves with both very low and very large rates of movement between habitats. There is a threshold at which a small increase in the connectivity of the two habitats will result in dramatic decrease in the total population size and the nearly complete loss of use of one of the two habitats through a process of "migrational meltdown." In some situations, equilibria corresponding to a specialist and a generalist species are simultaneously stable. Analysis of our model also shows cases of hysteresis in which small transient changes in the landscape structure or accidental demographic disturbances have irreversible effects on the evolution of specialization.

  6. The hydrometeor partitioning and microphysical processes over the Pacific Warm Pool in numerical modeling

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, Yi-Chih; Wang, Pao K.

    2017-01-01

    Numerical modeling is conducted to study the hydrometeor partitioning and microphysical source and sink processes during a quasi-steady state of thunderstorms over the Pacific Warm Pool by utilizing the microphysical model WISCDYMM to simulate selected storm cases. The results show that liquid-phase hydrometeors dominate thunderstorm evolution over the Pacific Warm Pool. The ratio of ice-phase mass to liquid-phase mass is about 41%: 59%, indicating that ice-phase water is not as significant over the Pacific Warm Pool as the liquid water compared to the larger than 50% in the subtropics and 80% in the US High Plains in a previous study. Sensitivity tests support the dominance of liquid-phase hydrometeors over the Pacific Warm Pool. The major rain sources are the key hail sinks: melting of hail and shedding from hail; whereas the crucial rain sinks are evaporation and accretion by hail. The major snow sources are Bergeron-Findeisen process, transfer of cloud ice to snow and accretion of cloud water; whereas the foremost sink of snow is accretion by hail. The essential hail sources are accretions of rain, cloud water, and snow; whereas the critical hail sinks are melting of hail and shedding from hail. The contribution and ranking of sources and sinks of these precipitates are compared with the previous study. Hydrometeors have their own special microphysical processes in the development and depletion over the Pacific Warm Pool. Microphysical budgets depend on atmospheric dynamical and thermodynamical conditions which determine the partitioning of hydrometeors. This knowledge would benefit the microphysics parameterization in cloud models and cumulus parameterization in global circulation models.

  7. Prioritizing Sites for Protection and Restoration for Grizzly Bears (Ursus arctos) in Southwestern Alberta, Canada.

    PubMed

    Braid, Andrew C R; Nielsen, Scott E

    2015-01-01

    As the influence of human activities on natural systems continues to expand, there is a growing need to prioritize not only pristine sites for protection, but also degraded sites for restoration. We present an approach for simultaneously prioritizing sites for protection and restoration that considers landscape patterns for a threatened population of grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) in southwestern Alberta, Canada. We considered tradeoffs between bottom-up (food resource supply) and top-down (mortality risk from roads) factors affecting seasonal habitat quality for bears. Simulated annealing was used to prioritize source-like sites (high habitat productivity, low mortality risk) for protection, as well as sink-like sites (high habitat productivity, high mortality risk) for restoration. Priority source-like habitats identified key conservation areas where future developments should be limited, whereas priority sink-like habitats identified key areas for mitigating road-related mortality risk with access management. Systematic conservation planning methods can be used to complement traditional habitat-based methods for individual focal species by identifying habitats where conservation actions (both protection and restoration) have the highest potential utility.

  8. A review of carbon monoxide sources, sinks, and concentrations in the earth's atmosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bortner, M. H.; Kummler, R. H.; Jaffe, L. S.

    1972-01-01

    Carbon monoxide is a toxic pollutant which is continually introduced into the earth's atmosphere in significant quantities. There are apparently some mechanisms operating which destroy most of the CO in the atmosphere, i.e., a carbon monoxide sink. These mechanisms have not as yet been established in a quantitative sense. This report discusses the various possible removal mechanisms which warrant serious consideration. Particular emphasis is given to chemical reactions (especially that with OH), soil bacteria and other biological action, and transport effects. The sources of carbon monoxide, both natural and anthropogenic, are reviewed and it is noted that there is quite possibly a significant undefined natural source. Atmospheric CO concentrations are discussed and their implications on carbon monoxide lifetime, sinks and sources are considered.

  9. The genomic and epidemiological dynamics of human influenza A virus.

    PubMed

    Rambaut, Andrew; Pybus, Oliver G; Nelson, Martha I; Viboud, Cecile; Taubenberger, Jeffery K; Holmes, Edward C

    2008-05-29

    The evolutionary interaction between influenza A virus and the human immune system, manifest as 'antigenic drift' of the viral haemagglutinin, is one of the best described patterns in molecular evolution. However, little is known about the genome-scale evolutionary dynamics of this pathogen. Similarly, how genomic processes relate to global influenza epidemiology, in which the A/H3N2 and A/H1N1 subtypes co-circulate, is poorly understood. Here through an analysis of 1,302 complete viral genomes sampled from temperate populations in both hemispheres, we show that the genomic evolution of influenza A virus is characterized by a complex interplay between frequent reassortment and periodic selective sweeps. The A/H3N2 and A/H1N1 subtypes exhibit different evolutionary dynamics, with diverse lineages circulating in A/H1N1, indicative of weaker antigenic drift. These results suggest a sink-source model of viral ecology in which new lineages are seeded from a persistent influenza reservoir, which we hypothesize to be located in the tropics, to sink populations in temperate regions.

  10. Effects of dispersal on total biomass in a patchy, heterogeneous system: analysis and experiment.

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zhang, Bo; Liu, Xin; DeAngelis, Donald L.; Ni, Wei-Ming; Wang, G Geoff

    2015-01-01

    An intriguing recent result from mathematics is that a population diffusing at an intermediate rate in an environment in which resources vary spatially will reach a higher total equilibrium biomass than the population in an environment in which the same total resources are distributed homogeneously. We extended the current mathematical theory to apply to logistic growth and also showed that the result applies to patchy systems with dispersal among patches, both for continuous and discrete time. This allowed us to make specific predictions, through simulations, concerning the biomass dynamics, which were verified by a laboratory experiment. The experiment was a study of biomass growth of duckweed (Lemna minor Linn.), where the resources (nutrients added to water) were distributed homogeneously among a discrete series of water-filled containers in one treatment, and distributed heterogeneously in another treatment. The experimental results showed that total biomass peaked at an intermediate, relatively low, diffusion rate, higher than the total carrying capacity of the system and agreeing with the simulation model. The implications of the experiment to dynamics of source, sink, and pseudo-sink dynamics are discussed.

  11. Synergies Between Quantum Mechanics and Machine Learning in Reaction Prediction.

    PubMed

    Sadowski, Peter; Fooshee, David; Subrahmanya, Niranjan; Baldi, Pierre

    2016-11-28

    Machine learning (ML) and quantum mechanical (QM) methods can be used in two-way synergy to build chemical reaction expert systems. The proposed ML approach identifies electron sources and sinks among reactants and then ranks all source-sink pairs. This addresses a bottleneck of QM calculations by providing a prioritized list of mechanistic reaction steps. QM modeling can then be used to compute the transition states and activation energies of the top-ranked reactions, providing additional or improved examples of ranked source-sink pairs. Retraining the ML model closes the loop, producing more accurate predictions from a larger training set. The approach is demonstrated in detail using a small set of organic radical reactions.

  12. Estimating the seasonal carbon source-sink geography of a natural, steady-state terrestrial biosphere

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Box, Elgene O.

    1988-01-01

    The estimation of the seasonal dynamics of biospheric-carbon sources and sinks to be used as an input to global atmospheric CO2 studies and models is discussed. An ecological biosphere model is given and the advantages of the model are examined. Monthly maps of estimated biospheric carbon source and sink regions and estimates of total carbon fluxes are presented for an equilibrium terrestrial biosphere. The results are compared with those from other models. It is suggested that, despite maximum variations of atmospheric CO2 in boreal latitudes, the enormous contributions of tropical wet-dry regions to global atmospheric CO2 seasonality can not be ignored.

  13. Scalar potential model (SPM) of redshift and discrete redshift

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hodge, John

    2005-11-01

    On the galactic scale the universe is inhomogeneous and redshift z is occasionally less than zero. Several differences among galaxy types suggest that spiral galaxies are Sources and that early type galaxies are Sinks of a scalar potential field (SPF). The morphology-radius and intragalactic medium cluster observations support a cell structure of galaxies. The SPF causes the mass expected by Newtonian mechanics to measure less in Source galaxies and more in Sink galaxies. The cell structure allows the universe to be bounded and flat without collapsing. An equation is derived relating z of particle photons and the distance D to galaxies. The calculated z has a correlation coefficient of 0.88 with the measured z for a sample of 32 spiral galaxies with a Cepheid based D. The equation is consistent with z <0 observations of close galaxies. At low cosmological distances, the equation reduces to z ~ KD, where K is a constant, positive value. The model qualitatively suggests the discrete variations in z, which was reported by W. G. Tifft, 1997, ApJ 485, 465 and others, are consistent with the SPM. Full text: http://web.infoave.net/ scjh.

  14. The impact of agricultural soil erosion on the global carbon cycle

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Van Oost, Kristof; Quine, T.A.; Govers, G.; De Gryze, S.; Six, J.; Harden, J.W.; Ritchie, J.C.; McCarty, G.W.; Heckrath, G.; Kosmas, C.; Giraldez, J.V.; Marques Da Silva, J.R.; Merckx, R.

    2007-01-01

    Agricultural soil erosion is thought to perturb the global carbon cycle, but estimates of its effect range from a source of 1 petagram per year -1 to a sink of the same magnitude. By using caesium-137 and carbon inventory measurements from a large-scale survey, we found consistent evidence for an erosion-induced sink of atmospheric carbon equivalent to approximately 26% of the carbon transported by erosion. Based on this relationship, we estimated a global carbon sink of 0.12 (range 0.06 to 0.27) petagrams of carbon per year-1 resulting from erosion in the world's agricultural landscapes. Our analysis directly challenges the view that agricultural erosion represents an important source or sink for atmospheric CO2.

  15. Multi-Source Cooperative Data Collection with a Mobile Sink for the Wireless Sensor Network.

    PubMed

    Han, Changcai; Yang, Jinsheng

    2017-10-30

    The multi-source cooperation integrating distributed low-density parity-check codes is investigated to jointly collect data from multiple sensor nodes to the mobile sink in the wireless sensor network. The one-round and two-round cooperative data collection schemes are proposed according to the moving trajectories of the sink node. Specifically, two sparse cooperation models are firstly formed based on geographical locations of sensor source nodes, the impairment of inter-node wireless channels and moving trajectories of the mobile sink. Then, distributed low-density parity-check codes are devised to match the directed graphs and cooperation matrices related with the cooperation models. In the proposed schemes, each source node has quite low complexity attributed to the sparse cooperation and the distributed processing. Simulation results reveal that the proposed cooperative data collection schemes obtain significant bit error rate performance and the two-round cooperation exhibits better performance compared with the one-round scheme. The performance can be further improved when more source nodes participate in the sparse cooperation. For the two-round data collection schemes, the performance is evaluated for the wireless sensor networks with different moving trajectories and the variant data sizes.

  16. Multi-Source Cooperative Data Collection with a Mobile Sink for the Wireless Sensor Network

    PubMed Central

    Han, Changcai; Yang, Jinsheng

    2017-01-01

    The multi-source cooperation integrating distributed low-density parity-check codes is investigated to jointly collect data from multiple sensor nodes to the mobile sink in the wireless sensor network. The one-round and two-round cooperative data collection schemes are proposed according to the moving trajectories of the sink node. Specifically, two sparse cooperation models are firstly formed based on geographical locations of sensor source nodes, the impairment of inter-node wireless channels and moving trajectories of the mobile sink. Then, distributed low-density parity-check codes are devised to match the directed graphs and cooperation matrices related with the cooperation models. In the proposed schemes, each source node has quite low complexity attributed to the sparse cooperation and the distributed processing. Simulation results reveal that the proposed cooperative data collection schemes obtain significant bit error rate performance and the two-round cooperation exhibits better performance compared with the one-round scheme. The performance can be further improved when more source nodes participate in the sparse cooperation. For the two-round data collection schemes, the performance is evaluated for the wireless sensor networks with different moving trajectories and the variant data sizes. PMID:29084155

  17. Mapping sources, sinks, and connectivity using a simulation model of Northern Spotted Owls

    EPA Science Inventory

    This is a study of source-sink dynamics at a landscape scale. In conducting the study, we make use of a mature simulation model for the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) that was developed as part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s most recent recovery plannin...

  18. 78 FR 52898 - Science-Based Methods for Entity-Scale Quantification of Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks From...

    Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

    2013-08-27

    ... DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE [Docket Number: USDA-2013-0003] Science-Based Methods for Entity-Scale Quantification of Greenhouse Gas Sources and Sinks From Agriculture and Forestry Practices AGENCY: Office of the... of Agriculture (USDA) has prepared a report containing methods for quantifying entity-scale...

  19. Density and Reproductive Success of California Towhees

    Treesearch

    Kathryn L. Purcell; Jared Verner

    1998-01-01

    Models of habitat selection commonly asume that higher-quality source habitats will be occupied at higher densities than sink habitats. We examined an apparent sink habitat for California Towhees (Pipilo crissalis) in which densities are greater than in nearby source habitats. We estimated territory density using spot-mapping and monitored nests of towhees in grazed...

  20. [Urban heat island effect based on urban heat island source and sink indices in Shenyang, Northeast China].

    PubMed

    Li, Li-Guang; Xu, Shen-Lai; Wang, Hong-Bo; Zhao, Zi-Qi; Cai, Fu; Wu, Jin-Wen; Chen, Peng-Shi; Zhang, Yu-Shu

    2013-12-01

    Based on the remote images in 2001 and 2010, the source and sink areas of urban heat island (UHI) in Shenyang City, Northeast China were determined by GIS technique. The effect of urban regional landscape pattern on UHI effect was assessed with land surface temperature (LST), area rate index (CI) of the source and sink areas and intensity index (LI) of heat island. The results indicated that the land use type changed significantly from 2001 to 2010, which significantly changed the source and sink areas of UHI, especially in the second and third circle regions. The source and sink areas were 94.3% and 5.7% in the first circle region, 64.0% and 36.0% in the third circle region in 2001, while they were 93.4% and 6.6%, 70.2% and 29.8% in 2010, respectively. It suggested that the land use pattern extended by a round shape in Shenyang led to the corresponding UHI pattern. The LST in the study area tended to decrease from the first circle region to the third. The UHI intensity was characterized with a single center in 2001 and with several centers in 2010, and the grade of UHI intensity was in a decreasing trend from 2001 to 2010. The absolute value of CI increased from the first circle region to the third, and the L1 was close to 1, suggesting the change in land use pattern had no significant influence on UHI in Shenyang.

  1. Evaluation of nitrous acid sources and sinks in urban outflow

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gall, Elliott T.; Griffin, Robert J.; Steiner, Allison L.; Dibb, Jack; Scheuer, Eric; Gong, Longwen; Rutter, Andrew P.; Cevik, Basak K.; Kim, Saewung; Lefer, Barry; Flynn, James

    2016-02-01

    Intensive air quality measurements made from June 22-25, 2011 in the outflow of the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) metropolitan area are used to evaluate nitrous acid (HONO) sources and sinks. A two-layer box model was developed to assess the ability of established and recently identified HONO sources and sinks to reproduce observations of HONO mixing ratios. A baseline model scenario includes sources and sinks established in the literature and is compared to scenarios including three recently identified sources: volatile organic compound-mediated conversion of nitric acid to HONO (S1), biotic emission from the ground (S2), and re-emission from a surface nitrite reservoir (S3). For all mechanisms, ranges of parametric values span lower- and upper-limit values. Model outcomes for 'likely' estimates of sources and sinks generally show under-prediction of HONO observations, implying the need to evaluate additional sources and variability in estimates of parameterizations, particularly during daylight hours. Monte Carlo simulation is applied to model scenarios constructed with sources S1-S3 added independently and in combination, generally showing improved model outcomes. Adding sources S2 and S3 (scenario S2/S3) appears to best replicate observed HONO, as determined by the model coefficient of determination and residual sum of squared errors (r2 = 0.55 ± 0.03, SSE = 4.6 × 106 ± 7.6 × 105 ppt2). In scenario S2/S3, source S2 is shown to account for 25% and 6.7% of the nighttime and daytime budget, respectively, while source S3 accounts for 19% and 11% of the nighttime and daytime budget, respectively. However, despite improved model fit, there remains significant underestimation of daytime HONO; on average, a 0.15 ppt/s unknown daytime HONO source, or 67% of the total daytime source, is needed to bring scenario S2/S3 into agreement with observation. Estimates of 'best fit' parameterizations across lower to upper-limit values results in a moderate reduction of the unknown daytime source, from 0.15 to 0.10 ppt/s.

  2. StreaMorph: A Case for Synthesizing Energy-Efficient Adaptive Programs Using High-Level Abstractions

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2013-08-12

    technique when switching from using eight cores to one core. 1. Introduction Real - time streaming of media data is growing in popularity. This includes...both capture and processing of real - time video and audio, and delivery of video and audio from servers; recent usage number shows over 800 million...source of data, when that source is a real - time source, and it is generally not necessary to get ahead of the sink. Even with real - time sources and sinks

  3. Quantifying terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed, Upper Yangtze, China from 1975 to 2000

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zhao, Shuqing; Liu, Shuguang; Yin, Runsheng; Li, Zhengpeng; Deng, Yulin; Tan, Kun; Deng, Xiangzheng; Rothstein, David; Qi, Jiaguo; Yin, Runsheng

    2009-01-01

    Quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems and carbon fluxes between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is critical to our understanding of regional patterns of carbon storage and loss. Here we use the General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System to simulate the terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed of China's upper Yangtze basin from 1975 to 2000, based on unique combinations of spatial and temporal dynamics of major driving forces, such as climate, soil properties, nitrogen deposition, and land use and land cover changes. Our analysis demonstrates that the Jinsha watershed ecosystems acted as a carbon sink during the period of 1975–2000, with an average rate of 0.36 Mg/ha/yr, primarily resulting from regional climate variation and local land use and land cover change. Vegetation biomass accumulation accounted for 90.6% of the sink, while soil organic carbon loss before 1992 led to lower net gain of carbon in the watershed, and after that soils became a small sink. Ecosystem carbon sinks/source pattern showed a high degree of spatial heterogeneity, Carbon sinks were associated with forest areas without disturbances, whereas carbon Sources were primarily caused by stand-replacing disturbances. This highlights the importance of land-use history in determining the regional carbon sinks/source pattern.

  4. The atmosphere as a source/sink of polychlorinated biphenyls to/from the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site.

    PubMed

    Apell, Jennifer N; Gschwend, Philip M

    2017-08-01

    Waterbodies polluted with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) may cause the air in the surrounding area to become PCB-contaminated. Conversely, when a waterbody is located in or near an urban area, the deposition of atmospheric PCBs may act as a low-level, ongoing source of PCB contamination to that water. Distinguishing these situations is necessary to be protective of human populations and to guide efforts seeking to cleanup such aquatic ecosystems. To assess the situation at the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW) Superfund site, low-density polyethylene passive samplers were deployed in the summer of 2015 to quantify freely dissolved water and gaseous air concentrations of PCBs thereby enabling estimates of the direction and magnitude of air-water exchange of PCB congeners. For the sum of the 27 PCB congeners, average concentrations were 220 pg/m 3 (95% C.I.: 80-610) in the air and 320 pg/L (95% C.I.: 110-960) in the water. The sum of air-water exchange fluxes of these PCB congeners was estimated to be 68 ng/m 2 /day (95% C.I.: 30-148) into the lower atmosphere, contrasting with the reported wet and dry depositional flux of only 5.5 ng/m 2 /day (95% C.I.: 1-38) from the air into the water. Therefore, the atmosphere was ultimately a sink of PCBs from the LDW Superfund site, at least under 2015 summertime conditions. However, we conclude that air-water exchange of PCBs is likely only a minor sink of PCBs from the LDW and only a minor source of contamination to the region's local atmosphere. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Volume-weighted particle-tracking method for solute-transport modeling; Implementation in MODFLOW–GWT

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Winston, Richard B.; Konikow, Leonard F.; Hornberger, George Z.

    2018-02-16

    In the traditional method of characteristics for groundwater solute-transport models, advective transport is represented by moving particles that track concentration. This approach can lead to global mass-balance problems because in models of aquifers having complex boundary conditions and heterogeneous properties, particles can originate in cells having different pore volumes and (or) be introduced (or removed) at cells representing fluid sources (or sinks) of varying strengths. Use of volume-weighted particles means that each particle tracks solute mass. In source or sink cells, the changes in particle weights will match the volume of water added or removed through external fluxes. This enables the new method to conserve mass in source or sink cells as well as globally. This approach also leads to potential efficiencies by allowing the number of particles per cell to vary spatially—using more particles where concentration gradients are high and fewer where gradients are low. The approach also eliminates the need for the model user to have to distinguish between “weak” and “strong” fluid source (or sink) cells. The new model determines whether solute mass added by fluid sources in a cell should be represented by (1) new particles having weights representing appropriate fractions of the volume of water added by the source, or (2) distributing the solute mass added over all particles already in the source cell. The first option is more appropriate for the condition of a strong source; the latter option is more appropriate for a weak source. At sinks, decisions whether or not to remove a particle are replaced by a reduction in particle weight in proportion to the volume of water removed. A number of test cases demonstrate that the new method works well and conserves mass. The method is incorporated into a new version of the U.S. Geological Survey’s MODFLOW–GWT solute-transport model.

  6. Carbon dioxide in Arctic and subarctic regions

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Gosink, T. A.; Kelley, J. J.

    1981-03-01

    A three year research project was presented that would define the role of the Arctic ocean, sea ice, tundra, taiga, high latitude ponds and lakes and polar anthropogenic activity on the carbon dioxide content of the atmosphere. Due to the large physical and geographical differences between the two polar regions, a comparison of CO/sub 2/ source and sink strengths of the two areas was proposed. Research opportunities during the first year, particularly those aboard the Swedish icebreaker, YMER, provided additional confirmatory data about the natural source and sink strengths for carbon dioxide in the Arctic regions. As a result, themore » hypothesis that these natural sources and sinks are strong enough to significantly affect global atmospheric carbon dioxide levels is considerably strengthened. Based on the available data we calculate that the whole Arctic region is a net annual sink for about 1.1 x 10/sup 15/ g of CO/sub 2/, or the equivalent of about 5% of the annual anthropogenic input into the atmosphere. For the second year of this research effort, research on the seasonal sources and sinks of CO/sub 2/ in the Arctic will be continued. Particular attention will be paid to the seasonal sea ice zones during the freeze and thaw periods, and the tundra-taiga regions, also during the freeze and thaw periods.« less

  7. Analysis of ecosystem controls on soil carbon source-sink relationships in the northwest Great Plains

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Tan, Z.; Liu, S.; Johnston, C.A.; Liu, J.; Tieszen, L.L.

    2006-01-01

    Our ability to forecast the role of ecosystem processes in mitigating global greenhouse effects relies on understanding the driving forces on terrestrial C dynamics. This study evaluated the controls on soil organic C (SOC) changes from 1973 to 2000 in the northwest Great Plains. SOC source-sink relationships were quantified using the General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System (GEMS) based on 40 randomly located 10 × 10 km2 sample blocks. These sample blocks were aggregated into cropland, grassland, and forestland groups based on land cover composition within each sample block. Canonical correlation analysis indicated that SOC source-sink relationship from 1973 to 2000 was significantly related to the land cover type while the change rates mainly depended on the baseline SOC level and annual precipitation. Of all selected driving factors, the baseline SOC and nitrogen levels controlled the SOC change rates for the forestland and cropland groups, while annual precipitation determined the C source-sink relationship for the grassland group in which noticeable SOC sink strength was attributed to the conversion from cropped area to grass cover. Canonical correlation analysis also showed that grassland ecosystems are more complicated than others in the ecoregion, which may be difficult to identify on a field scale. Current model simulations need further adjustments to the model input variables for the grass cover-dominated ecosystems in the ecoregion.

  8. Convection and the seeding of the North Atlantic bloom

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    D'Asaro, Eric A.

    Observations of vertical velocities in deep wintertime mixed layers using neutrally buoyant floats show that the convectively driven vertical velocities, roughly 1000 m per day, greatly exceed the sinking velocities of phytoplankton, 10 m or less per day. These velocities mix plankton effectively and uniformly across the convective layer and are therefore capable of returning those that have sunk to depth back into the euphotic zone. This mechanism cycles cells through the surface layer during the winter and provides a seed population for the spring bloom. A simple model of this mechanism applied to immortal phytoplankton in the subpolar Labrador Sea predicts that the seed population in early spring will be a few percent of the fall concentration if the plankton sink more slowly than the mean rate at which the surface well-mixed layer grows over the winter. Plankton that sink faster than this will mostly sink into the abyss with only a minute fraction remaining by spring. The shallower mixed layers of mid-latitudes are predicted to be much less effective at maintaining a seed population over the winter, limiting the ability of rapidly sinking cells to survive the winter.

  9. Seasonal fecundity and source-sink status of shrub-nesting birds in a southwestern riparian corridor

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Brand, L.A.; Noon, B.R.

    2011-01-01

    Saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) has increasingly dominated riparian floodplains relative to native forests in the southwestern U.S., but little is known about its impacts on avian productivity or population status. We monitored 86 Arizona Bell's Vireo (Vireo bellii arizonae), 147 Abert's Towhee (Melozone aberti), and 154 Yellow-breasted Chat (Icteria virens) nests to assess reproductive parameters in cottonwood-willow (Populus-Salix), saltcedar, and mesquite (Prosopis spp.) stands along the San Pedro River, Arizona during 1999-2001. We also assessed source-sink status for each species in each vegetation type using field data combined with data from the literature. There were no significant differences in reproductive parameters between vegetation types for Abert's Towhee or Yellow-breasted Chat, although seasonal fecundity was quite low across vegetation types for the latter (0.75 ?? 0.14; mean ?? SE). Bell's Vireo had extremely low seasonal fecundity in saltcedar (0.10 ?? 0.09) and significantly fewer fledglings per nest in saltcedar (0.09 ?? 0.09) compared with cottonwood (1.07 ?? 0.32). Point estimates of ?? were substantially <1 for all three focal species in all habitats indicating the entire study area may be performing as a sink; 90% CI of included 1 only for Abert's Towhee across vegetation types and Bell's Vireo in cottonwood vegetation. These results are surprising given the San Pedro is considered to be one of the best remaining occurrences of lowland native riparian vegetation in the southwestern United States. ?? 2011 by the Wilson Ornithological Society.

  10. Protocol for buffer space negotiation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Nessett, D.

    There are at least two ways to manage the buffer memory of a communications node. On etechnique veiws the buffer as a single resource that is to be reserved and released as a unit for a particular communication transaction. A more common approach treats the node's buffer space as a collection of resources (e.g., bytes, words, packet slots) capable of being allocated among multiple concurrent conversations. To achieve buffer space multiplexing, some sort of negotiation for buffer space must take place between source and sink nodes before a transaction can commence. Results are presented which indicate that, for an applicationmore » involving a CSMA broadcast network, buffer space multiplexing offers better performance than buffer reservation. To achieve this improvement, a simple protocol is presented that features flow-control information traveling both from source to sink as well as from sink to source. It is argued that this bidirectionality allows the sink to allocate buffer space among its active communication paths more effectively. 13 figures.« less

  11. Systems biology derived source-sink mechanism of BMP gradient formation

    PubMed Central

    Zinski, Joseph; Bu, Ye; Wang, Xu; Dou, Wei

    2017-01-01

    A morphogen gradient of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling patterns the dorsoventral embryonic axis of vertebrates and invertebrates. The prevailing view in vertebrates for BMP gradient formation is through a counter-gradient of BMP antagonists, often along with ligand shuttling to generate peak signaling levels. To delineate the mechanism in zebrafish, we precisely quantified the BMP activity gradient in wild-type and mutant embryos and combined these data with a mathematical model-based computational screen to test hypotheses for gradient formation. Our analysis ruled out a BMP shuttling mechanism and a bmp transcriptionally-informed gradient mechanism. Surprisingly, rather than supporting a counter-gradient mechanism, our analyses support a fourth model, a source-sink mechanism, which relies on a restricted BMP antagonist distribution acting as a sink that drives BMP flux dorsally and gradient formation. We measured Bmp2 diffusion and found that it supports the source-sink model, suggesting a new mechanism to shape BMP gradients during development. PMID:28826472

  12. Systems biology derived source-sink mechanism of BMP gradient formation.

    PubMed

    Zinski, Joseph; Bu, Ye; Wang, Xu; Dou, Wei; Umulis, David; Mullins, Mary C

    2017-08-09

    A morphogen gradient of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling patterns the dorsoventral embryonic axis of vertebrates and invertebrates. The prevailing view in vertebrates for BMP gradient formation is through a counter-gradient of BMP antagonists, often along with ligand shuttling to generate peak signaling levels. To delineate the mechanism in zebrafish, we precisely quantified the BMP activity gradient in wild-type and mutant embryos and combined these data with a mathematical model-based computational screen to test hypotheses for gradient formation. Our analysis ruled out a BMP shuttling mechanism and a bmp transcriptionally-informed gradient mechanism. Surprisingly, rather than supporting a counter-gradient mechanism, our analyses support a fourth model, a source-sink mechanism, which relies on a restricted BMP antagonist distribution acting as a sink that drives BMP flux dorsally and gradient formation. We measured Bmp2 diffusion and found that it supports the source-sink model, suggesting a new mechanism to shape BMP gradients during development.

  13. Million Trees Los Angeles: Carbon dioxide sink or source?

    Treesearch

    E.G. McPherson; A. Kendall; S. Albers

    2015-01-01

    This study seeks to answer the question, 'Will the Million Trees LA (MTLA) programme be a CO2 sink or source?' Using surveys, interviews, field sampling and computer simulation of tree growth and survival over a 40-year period, we developed the first process-based life cycle inventory of CO2 for a large tree...

  14. MODELING THE DISTRIBUTION OF NONPOINT NITROGEN SOURCES AND SINKS IN THE NEUSE RIVER BASIN OF NORTH CAROLINA, USA

    EPA Science Inventory

    This study quantified nonpoint nitrogen (N) sources and sinks across the 14,582 km2 Neuse River Basin (NRB) located in North Carolina, to provide a tabular database to initialize in-stream N decay models and graphic overlay products for the development of management approaches to...

  15. Analysis of soybean leaf metabolism and seed coat transcriptome reveal sink strength is maintained under abiotic stress conditions

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    The seed coat is a vital tissue for directing the flow of photosynthate from source leaves to the embryo and cotyledons during seed development. By forming a sucrose gradient, the seed coat promotes transport of sugars from source leaves to seeds, thereby establishing sink strength. Understanding th...

  16. The global carbon dioxide budget

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Sundquist, E.T.

    1993-01-01

    The increase in atmospheric CO2 levels during the last deglaciation was comparable in magnitude to the recent historical increase. However, global CO2 budgets for these changes reflect fundamental differences in rates and in sources and sinks. The modern oceans are a rapid net CO2 sink, whereas the oceans were a gradual source during the deglaciation. Unidentified terrestrial CO2 sinks are important uncertainties in both the deglacial and recent CO2 budgets. The deglacial CO2 budget represents a complexity of long-term dynamic behavior that is not adequately addressed by current models used to forecast future atmospheric CO2 levels.

  17. How Reservoirs Alter DOM Amount and Composition: Sources, Sinks, and Transformations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kraus, T. E.; Bergamaschi, B. A.; Hernes, P. J.; Doctor, D. H.; Kendall, C.; Losee, R. F.; Downing, B. D.

    2011-12-01

    Reservoirs are critical components of many water supply systems as they allow the storage of water when supply exceeds demand. However, during water storage biogeochemical processes can alter both the amount and composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can in turn affect water quality. While the balance between production and loss determines whether a reservoir is a net sink or source of DOM, changes in chemical composition are also relevant as they affect DOM reactivity (e.g. persistence in the environment, removability during coagulation treatment, and potential to form toxic compounds during drinking water treatment). The composition of the DOM pool also provides information about the DOM sources and processing, which can inform reservoir management. We examined the concentration and composition of DOM in San Luis Reservoir (SLR), a large off-stream impoundment of the California State Water Project. We used an array of DOM chemical tracers including dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration, optical properties, isotopic composition, lignin phenol content, and structural groupings determined by 13C NMR. There were periods when the reservoir was i) a net source of DOM due to the predominance of algal production (summer), ii) a net sink due to the predominance of degradation (fall/winter), and iii) balanced between production and consumption (spring). Despite only moderate variation in bulk DOC concentration (3.0-3.6 mg C/L), substantial changes in DOM composition indicated that terrestrial-derived material entering the reservoir was being degraded and replaced by aquatic-derived DOM produced within the reservoir. Results suggest reservoirs have the potential to reduce DOM amount and reactivity via degradative processes, however, these benefits can be decreased or even negated by the production of algal-derived DOM.

  18. The Water Vapor Source and Transport Characteristic of Rainy Seasons in Eastern China Base on Lagrangian Method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shi, Y.; Jiang, Z.; Liu, Z.; Li, L.

    2017-12-01

    The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory platform is employed in this studyto simulate trajectories of air parcels in the different rainy seasons in East China from 1961 to 2010,with the purpose of investigating general and specific characteristics of moisture sources and the eventual relationship withprecipitation in each rainy season.The moisture transport andsource-sink characteristics of different rainy seasons have evident differences. The results show that the frontal pre-rainy season is mainly influenced bywinter monsoon system, and the precipitation is strongly affected by water vapor from Pacific Ocean (PO) and East China (EC). Afterthe onset of South China Sea Summer Monsoon (SCSMS), the moisture from Pacific Ocean decreases and from Indian Ocean monsoon area increases. Afterwards, with the northward of the rain belt, the parcels from Southwest region (South China Sea (SCS), Indian Ocean (IO) andIndo-China Peninsula and Indian Peninsula(IP)) decrease and from North region (EC, Eurasia (EA) and PO) increase. Besides, most of the land areas are water vapor sink region and most of sea areas are water vapor source region. Before the onset of SCSMS, EC and PO are two main water vapor source areas.After the onset of SCSMS, the source from PO decreasesand Indian monsoon area becomes the main vapor source region. IP is the main water vapor sink area for all four rainy seasons.As for moisture circulation characteristics, the results of vertical structure of water vapor transport indicate that the maximum water vapor transport in west and east boundaries is located in mid-troposphere and in south and north boundaries is at low-troposphere. The spatiotemporal analysis of moisture trajectory based onmultivariate empirical orthogonal function (MVEOF) indicates that the first mode has close relationship with the precipitation in North China and PDO pattern; the second mode is closely related with the precipitation in Yangtze-Huaihe river basin and EAP pattern.

  19. Soil organic matter dynamics under decaying wood in a subtropical wet forest: effect of tree species and decay stage.

    Treesearch

    Marcela Zalamea; Grizelle Gonzalez; Chien-Lu Ping; Gary Michaelson

    2007-01-01

    Decaying wood is an important structural and functional component of forests: it contributes to generate habitat diversity, acts as either sink or source of nutrients, and plays a preponderant role in soil formation. Thus, decaying wood might likely have measurable effects on chemical properties of the underlying soil.We hypothesized that decaying wood would have a...

  20. The role of Kenya in the trans-African spread of maize streak virus strain A.

    PubMed

    Pande, Daniel; Madzokere, Eugene; Hartnady, Penelope; Kraberger, Simona; Hadfield, James; Rosario, Karyna; Jäschke, Anja; Monjane, Adérito L; Owor, Betty E; Dida, Mathews M; Shepherd, Dionne N; Martin, Darren P; Varsani, Arvind; Harkins, Gordon W

    2017-03-15

    Maize streak virus (MSV), the causal agent of maize streak disease (MSD), is the most important viral pathogen of Africa's staple food crop, maize. Previous phylogeographic analyses have revealed that the most widely-distributed and common MSV variant, MSV-A 1 , has been repeatedly traversing Africa over the past fifty years with long-range movements departing from either the Lake Victoria region of East Africa, or the region around the convergence of Zimbabwe, South Africa and Mozambique in southern Africa. Despite Kenya being the second most important maize producing country in East Africa, little is known about the Kenyan MSV population and its contribution to the ongoing diversification and trans-continental dissemination of MSV-A 1 . We therefore undertook a sampling survey in this country between 2008 and 2011, collecting MSD prevalence data in 119 farmers' fields, symptom severity data for 170 maize plants and complete MSV genome sequence data for 159 MSV isolates. We then used phylogenetic and phylogeographic analyses to show that whereas the Kenyan MSV population is likely primarily derived from the MSV population in neighbouring Uganda, it displays considerably more geographical structure than the Ugandan population. Further, this geographical structure likely confounds apparent associations between virus genotypes and both symptom severity and MSD prevalence in Kenya. Finally, we find that Kenya is probably a sink rather than a source of MSV diversification and movement, and therefore, unlike Uganda, Kenya probably does not play a major role in the trans-continental dissemination of MSV-A 1 . Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Nitrogen attenuation of terrestrial carbon cycle response to global environmental factors

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jain, A.A.; Yang, Xiaojuan; Kheshgi, H.; McGuire, A. David; Post, W.; Kicklighter, David W.

    2009-01-01

    Nitrogen cycle dynamics have the capacity to attenuate the magnitude of global terrestrial carbon sinks and sources driven by CO2 fertilization and changes in climate. In this study, two versions of the terrestrial carbon and nitrogen cycle components of the Integrated Science Assessment Model (ISAM) are used to evaluate how variation in nitrogen availability influences terrestrial carbon sinks and sources in response to changes over the 20th century in global environmental factors including atmospheric CO2 concentration, nitrogen inputs, temperature, precipitation and land use. The two versions of ISAM vary in their treatment of nitrogen availability: ISAM-NC has a terrestrial carbon cycle model coupled to a fully dynamic nitrogen cycle while ISAM-C has an identical carbon cycle model but nitrogen availability is always in sufficient supply. Overall, the two versions of the model estimate approximately the same amount of global mean carbon uptake over the 20th century. However, comparisons of results of ISAM-NC relative to ISAM-C reveal that nitrogen dynamics: (1) reduced the 1990s carbon sink associated with increasing atmospheric CO2 by 0.53 PgC yr−1 (1 Pg = 1015g), (2) reduced the 1990s carbon source associated with changes in temperature and precipitation of 0.34 PgC yr−1 in the 1990s, (3) an enhanced sink associated with nitrogen inputs by 0.26 PgC yr−1, and (4) enhanced the 1990s carbon source associated with changes in land use by 0.08 PgC yr−1 in the 1990s. These effects of nitrogen limitation influenced the spatial distribution of the estimated exchange of CO2 with greater sink activity in high latitudes associated with climate effects and a smaller sink of CO2 in the southeastern United States caused by N limitation associated with both CO2 fertilization and forest regrowth. These results indicate that the dynamics of nitrogen availability are important to consider in assessing the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of terrestrial carbon sources and sinks.

  2. [Simulation of CO2 exchange between forest canopy and atmosphere].

    PubMed

    Diao, Yiwei; Wang, Anzhi; Jin, Changjie; Guan, Dexin; Pei, Tiefan

    2006-12-01

    Estimating the scalar source/sink distribution of CO2 and its vertical fluxes within and above forest canopy continues to be a critical research problem in biosphere-atmosphere exchange processes and plant ecology. With broad-leaved Korean pine forest in Changbai Mountains as test object, and based on Raupach's localized near field theory, the source/sink and vertical flux distribution of CO2 within and above forest canopy were modeled through an inverse Lagrangian dispersion analysis. This model correctly predicted a strong positive CO2 source strength in the deeper layers of the canopy due to soil-plant respiration, and a strong CO2 sink in the upper layers of the canopy due to the assimilation by sunlit foliage. The foliage in the top layer of canopy changed from a CO2 source in the morning to a CO2 sink in the afternoon, while the soil constituted a strong CO2 source all the day. The simulation results accorded well with the eddy covariance CO2 flux measurements within and above the canopy, and the average precision was 89%. The CO2 exchange predicted by the analysis was averagely 15% higher than that of the eddy correlation, but exhibited identical temporal trend. Atmospheric stability remarkably affected the CO2 exchange between forest canopy and atmosphere.

  3. Development of a Small Thermoelectric Generators Prototype for Energy Harvesting from Low Temperature Waste Heat at Industrial Plant.

    PubMed

    Chiarotti, Ugo; Moroli, Valerio; Menchetti, Fernando; Piancaldini, Roberto; Bianco, Loris; Viotto, Alberto; Baracchini, Giulia; Gaspardo, Daniele; Nazzi, Fabio; Curti, Maurizio; Gabriele, Massimiliano

    2017-03-01

    A 39-W thermoelectric generator prototype has been realized and then installed in industrial plant for on-line trials. The prototype was developed as an energy harvesting demonstrator using low temperature cooling water waste heat as energy source. The objective of the research program is to measure the actual performances of this kind of device working with industrial water below 90 °C, as hot source, and fresh water at a temperature of about 15 °C, as cold sink. The article shows the first results of the research program. It was verified, under the tested operative conditions, that the produced electric power exceeds the energy required to pump the water from the hot source and cold sink to the thermoelectric generator unit if they are located at a distance not exceeding 50 m and the electric energy conversion efficiency is 0.33%. It was calculated that increasing the distance of the hot source and cold sink to the thermoelectric generator unit to 100 m the produced electric energy equals the energy required for water pumping, while reducing the distance of the hot source and cold sink to zero meters the developed unit produces an electric energy conversion efficiency of 0.61%.

  4. Variation in carbohydrate source-sink relations of forest and treeline white spruce in southern, interior and northern Alaska.

    PubMed

    Sveinbjörnsson, Bjartmar; Smith, Matthew; Traustason, Tumi; Ruess, Roger W; Sullivan, Patrick F

    2010-08-01

    Two opposing hypotheses have been presented to explain reduced tree growth at the treeline, compared with growth in lower elevation or lower latitude forests: the carbon source and sink limitation hypotheses. The former states that treeline trees have an unfavorable carbon balance and cannot support growth of the magnitude observed at lower elevations or latitudes, while the latter argues that treeline trees have an adequate carbon supply, but that cold temperatures directly limit growth. In this study, we examined the relative importance of source and sink limitation in forest and treeline white spruce (Picea glauca) in three mountain ranges from southern to northern Alaska. We related seasonal changes in needle nonstructural carbohydrate (NSC) content with branch extension growth, an approach we argue is more powerful than using needle NSC concentration. Branch extension growth in the southernmost Chugach Mountains was much greater than in the White Mountains and the Brooks Range. Trees in the Chugach Mountains showed a greater seasonal decline in needle NSC content than trees in the other mountain ranges, and the seasonal change in NSC was correlated with site-level branch growth across mountain ranges. There was no evidence of a consistent difference in branch growth between the forest and treeline sites, which differ in elevation by approximately 100 m. Our results point to a continuum between source and sink limitation of growth, with high-elevation trees in northern and interior Alaska showing greater evidence of sink limitation, and those in southern Alaska showing greater potential for source limitation.

  5. Carbon allocation, source-sink relations and plant growth: do we need to revise our carbon centric concepts?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Körner, Christian

    2014-05-01

    Since the discovery that plants 'eat air' 215 years ago, carbon supply was considered the largely unquestioned top driver of plant growth. The ease at which CO2 uptake (C source activity) can be measured, and the elegant algorithms that describe the responses of photosynthesis to light, temperature and CO2 concentration, explain why carbon driven growth and productivity became the starting point of all process based vegetation models. Most of these models, nowadays adopt other environmental drivers, such as nutrient availability, as modulating co-controls, but the carbon priority is retained. Yet, if we believe in the basic rules of stoichometry of all life, there is an inevitable need of 25-30 elements other then carbon, oxygen and hydrogen to build a healthy plant body. Plants compete for most of these elements, and their availability (except for N) is finite per unit land area. Hence, by pure plausibility, it is a highly unlikely situation that carbon plays the rate limiting role of growth under natural conditions, except in deep shade or on exceptionally fertile soils. Furthermore, water shortage and low temperature, both act directly upon tissue formation (meristems) long before photosynthetic limitations come into play. Hence, plants will incorporate C only to the extent other environmental drivers permit. In the case of nutrients and mature ecosystems, this sink control of plant growth may be masked in the short term by a tight, almost closed nutrient cycle or by widening the C to other element ratio. Because source and sink activity must match in the long term, it is not possible to identify the hierarchy of growth controls without manipulating the environment. Dry matter allocation to C rich structures and reserves may provide some stoichimetric leeway or periodic escapes from the more fundamental, long-term environmental controls of growth and productivity. I will explain why carbon centric explanations of growth are limited or arrive at plausible answers for the wrong reason. Suggested reading: Fatichi, Leuzinger, Körner (2013) Moving beyond photosynthesis: from carbon source to sink-driven vegetation modeling. New Phytologist. Körner C (2013) Growth controls photosynthesis - mostly. Nova Acta Leopoldina 391:273-283.

  6. Identifying habitat sinks: A case study of Cooper's hawks in an urban environment

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Mannan, R.W.; Steidl, R.J.; Boal, C.W.

    2008-01-01

    We studied a population of Cooper's hawks (Accipiter cooperii) in Tucson, Arizona from 1994 to 2005. High rates of mortality of nestlings from an urban-related disease prompted speculation that the area represented an ecological trap and habitat sink for Cooper's hawks. In this paper, we used estimates of survival and productivity from 11years of monitoring to develop an estimate of the rate of population change, ??, for Cooper's hawks in the area. We used a Cormack-Jolly-Seber approach to estimate survival of breeding hawks, and a stochastic, stage-based matrix to estimate ??. Despite the urban-related disease, the estimate of ?? indicated that the area does not function as a habitat sink for Cooper's hawks (?? = 1.11 ?? 0.047; P = 0.0073 for the null of ?? 1). Because data required to reliably identify habitat sinks are extensive and difficult to acquire, we suggest that the concept of habitat sinks be applied cautiously until substantiated with reliable empirical evidence. ?? 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.

  7. Parasite sources and sinks in a patched Ross-Macdonald malaria model with human and mosquito movement: Implications for control.

    PubMed

    Ruktanonchai, Nick W; Smith, David L; De Leenheer, Patrick

    2016-09-01

    We consider the dynamics of a mosquito-transmitted pathogen in a multi-patch Ross-Macdonald malaria model with mobile human hosts, mobile vectors, and a heterogeneous environment. We show the existence of a globally stable steady state, and a threshold that determines whether a pathogen is either absent from all patches, or endemic and present at some level in all patches. Each patch is characterized by a local basic reproduction number, whose value predicts whether the disease is cleared or not when the patch is isolated: patches are known as "demographic sinks" if they have a local basic reproduction number less than one, and hence would clear the disease if isolated; patches with a basic reproduction number above one would sustain endemic infection in isolation, and become "demographic sources" of parasites when connected to other patches. Sources are also considered focal areas of transmission for the larger landscape, as they export excess parasites to other areas and can sustain parasite populations. We show how to determine the various basic reproduction numbers from steady state estimates in the patched network and knowledge of additional model parameters, hereby identifying parasite sources in the process. This is useful in the context of control of the infection on natural landscapes, because a commonly suggested strategy is to target focal areas, in order to make their corresponding basic reproduction numbers less than one, effectively turning them into sinks. We show that this is indeed a successful control strategy-albeit a conservative and possibly expensive one-in case either the human host, or the vector does not move. However, we also show that when both humans and vectors move, this strategy may fail, depending on the specific movement patterns exhibited by hosts and vectors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Do mitigation strategies reduce global warming potential in the northern U.S. Corn Belt?

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Agriculture is both an anthropogenic source of CO2, CH4, and N2O, and a sink for CO2 and CH4. Management can impact agriculture's net global warming potential (GWP) by changing source and/or sink. This study compared GWP among three crop management systems: business as usual (BAU), optimum greenhous...

  9. Effect of drought on sorbitol and sucrose metabolism in sinks and sources of peach

    Treesearch

    Riccardo Lo Bianco; Mark Rieger; Shi-Jean S. Sung

    2000-01-01

    In peach (Prunus persica [L.] Batsch.), sorbitol and sucrose are the two main forms of photosynthetic and translocated carbon and may have different functions depending on the organ of utilization and its developmental stage. The role and interaction of sorbitol and sucrose metabolism was studied in mature leaves (source) and shoot tips (sinks) of...

  10. Endangered Butterflies as a Model System for Managing Source Sink Dynamics on Department of Defense Lands

    DTIC Science & Technology

    patches to cycle from sink to source status and back.Objective: Through a combination of field studies and state-of-the-art quantitative models, we...landscapes with dynamic changes in habitat quality due to management. We also validated our general approach by comparing patterns in our focal species to general, cross-taxa, patterns.

  11. A preliminary source-to-sink sediment budget for aeolian sands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sebe, Krisztina; Csillag, Gábor; Timár, Gábor; Jámbor, Áron

    2015-04-01

    Source-to-sink sediment budgets are being intensively studied in fluvial systems. In contrast, sediment budget calculations are very rare for wind-transported material. This may be attributed to the fact that the exact delineation of both source and sink areas in aeolian systems can pose difficulties. In the Pannonian Basin, aeolian action by northwesterly to northerly winds exerted a thorough impact on landscape evolution during the Quaternary, testified among others by yardangs, wind corridors and numerous ventifacts as well as extensive blown sand fields. Wind erosion has been dated to be important since at least 1.5 Ma ago. Considering the sand fraction, the Pleistocene Pannonian Basin seems to be a nearly complete aeolian sedimentary system from source to sink, thus it provides a good opportunity to carry out sediment budget calculations. The largest blown sand accumulation occupies ~10 000 km2 in the central part of the Pannonian Basin, in the area called Kiskunság, and contains considerable volumes of aeolian sands extending down to the Lower Pleistocene. Its material is traditionally considered to originate from fluvial sediments of the Danube floodplain. However, recent studies on wind erosion and wind direction reconstructions have indicated that a considerable portion of the sand can have had a provenance in the extensive unconsolidated sediments of the Late Miocene Lake Pannon, which cover the uplifting Transdanubian Range and its surroundings. To gain data on this question, we carried out sediment budget calculations to assess if material volumes of the supposed source and sink areas are comparable. In the source area we reconstructed a paleotopography, practically a bounding envelope surface for the Pliocene/Pleistocene boundary using existing knowledge e.g. on the typical succession of Lake Pannon sediments and the evolution history of the area. The missing volume down to the present-day surface was then calculated, where the removed material was constituted dominantly by the Upper Miocene sediments, subordinately by older clastics. The final amount of sand possibly eroded by the wind from the area was calculated by reducing this volume through estimating the portion of sand in the lacustrine succession and the ratio of aeolian and fluvial erosion. Aeolian sand volumes of the sink were calculated using borehole data from publications and original borehole documentations. This approach contains several error sources, including uncertainties in the position of the envelope surface, varying quality of borehole documentations or the distribution of sampling points. As a result, the estimated error margin of the missing volume computation is up to 50% and the provided value is rather a minimum estimation. A similar value can be valid for the sink area. The calculations showed that sand volumes of the source and sink areas are comparable, with the eroded material being about one third to a half of that of the deposited amount (somewhere below 150 km3 and between 300-400 km3, respectively). This result supports the idea that Transdanubia is an important source area of the Kiskunság blown sand field. The portion of sand in the sink not accounted for by the present estimation can be derived from two sources. Probably more blown sand had been delivered to the sink from areas even more upwind from the Transdanubian Range (Danube Basin), now not included in the calculations. The floodplain of the Danube may have also provided sediments, but mostly only in the Late Pleistocene, when the river had already occupied its modern course upwind of the Kiskunság area. Work has been supported by the OTKA projects K 106197 and NK83400.

  12. Observational constraints on the global atmospheric CO2 budget

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Tans, Pieter P.; Fung, Inez Y.; Takahashi, Taro

    1990-01-01

    Observed atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and data on the partial pressures of CO2 in surface ocean waters are combined to identify globally significant sources and sinks of CO2. The atmospheric data are compared with boundary layer concentrations calculated with the transport fields generated by a general circulation model (GCM) for specified source-sink distributions. In the model the observed north-south atmospheric concentration gradient can be maintained only if sinks for CO2 are greater in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere. The observed differences between the partial pressure of CO2 in the surface waters of the Northern Hemisphere and the atmosphere are too small for the oceans to be the major sink of fossil fuel CO2. Therefore, a large amount of the CO2 is apparently absorbed on the continents by terrestrial ecosystems.

  13. Quantifying terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed, Upper Yangtze, China from 1975 to 2000

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zhao, Shuqing; Liu, Shuguang; Yin, Runsheng; Li, Zhengpeng; Deng, Yulin; Tan, Kun; Deng, Xiangzheng; Rothstein, David; Qi, Jiaguo

    2010-01-01

    Quantifying the spatial and temporal dynamics of carbon stocks in terrestrial ecosystems and carbon fluxes between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere is critical to our understanding of regional patterns of carbon budgets. Here we use the General Ensemble biogeochemical Modeling System to simulate the terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the Jinsha watershed of China’s upper Yangtze basin from 1975 to 2000, based on unique combinations of spatial and temporal dynamics of major driving forces, such as climate, soil properties, nitrogen deposition, and land use and land cover changes. Our analysis demonstrates that the Jinsha watershed ecosystems acted as a carbon sink during the period of 1975–2000, with an average rate of 0.36 Mg/ha/yr, primarily resulting from regional climate variation and local land use and land cover change. Vegetation biomass accumulation accounted for 90.6% of the sink, while soil organic carbon loss before 1992 led to a lower net gain of carbon in the watershed, and after that soils became a small sink. Ecosystem carbon sink/source patterns showed a high degree of spatial heterogeneity. Carbon sinks were associated with forest areas without disturbances, whereas carbon sources were primarily caused by stand-replacing disturbances. It is critical to adequately represent the detailed fast-changing dynamics of land use activities in regional biogeochemical models to determine the spatial and temporal evolution of regional carbon sink/source patterns.

  14. Special Important Aspects of the Thomson Effect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lashkevych, Igor; Velázquez, J. E.; Titov, Oleg Yu.; Gurevich, Yuri G.

    2018-06-01

    A comprehensive study of the mechanisms of heating and cooling originating from an electrical current in semiconductor devices is reported. The variation in temperature associated with the Peltier effect is not related to the presence of heat sources and sinks if the heat flux is correctly determined. The Thomson effect is commonly regarded as a heat source/sink proportional to the Thomson coefficient, which is added to the Joule heating. In the present work, we will show that this formulation of the Thomson effect is not sufficiently clear. When the heat flux is correctly defined, the Thomson heat source/sink is proportional to the Seebeck coefficient. In the conditions in which the Peltier effect takes place, the temperature gradient is created, and, consequently, the Thomson effect will occur naturally.

  15. Special Important Aspects of the Thomson Effect

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lashkevych, Igor; Velázquez, J. E.; Titov, Oleg Yu.; Gurevich, Yuri G.

    2018-03-01

    A comprehensive study of the mechanisms of heating and cooling originating from an electrical current in semiconductor devices is reported. The variation in temperature associated with the Peltier effect is not related to the presence of heat sources and sinks if the heat flux is correctly determined. The Thomson effect is commonly regarded as a heat source/sink proportional to the Thomson coefficient, which is added to the Joule heating. In the present work, we will show that this formulation of the Thomson effect is not sufficiently clear. When the heat flux is correctly defined, the Thomson heat source/sink is proportional to the Seebeck coefficient. In the conditions in which the Peltier effect takes place, the temperature gradient is created, and, consequently, the Thomson effect will occur naturally.

  16. On the structure of existence regions for sinks of the Hénon map

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Galias, Zbigniew, E-mail: galias@agh.edu.pl; Tucker, Warwick, E-mail: warwick@math.uu.se

    2014-03-15

    An extensive search for stable periodic orbits (sinks) for the Hénon map in a small neighborhood of the classical parameter values is carried out. Several parameter values which generate a sink are found and verified by rigorous numerical computations. Each found parameter value is extended to a larger region of existence using a simplex continuation method. The structure of these regions of existence is investigated. This study shows that for the Hénon map, there exist sinks close to the classical case.

  17. Effect of altered sink:source ratio on photosynthetic metabolism of source leaves

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Plaut, Z.; Mayoral, M.L.; Reinhold, L.

    When seven crop species were grown under identical environmental conditions, decreased sink:source ratio led to a decreased photosynthetic rate within 1 to 3 days in Cucumis sativus L., Gossypium hirsutum L., and Raphanus sativus L., but not in Capsicum annuum L., Solanum melongena L., Phaseolus vulgaris L., or Ricinus communis L. The decrease was not associated with stomatal closure. In cotton and cucumbers, sink removal led to an increase in starch and sugar content, in glucose 6-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate pools, and in the proportion of /sup 14/C detected in sugar phosphates and UDPglucose following /sup 14/CO/sub 2/ supply. Whenmore » mannose was supplied to leaf discs to sequester cytoplasmic inorganic phosphate, promotion of starch synthesis, and inhibition of CO/sub 2/ fixation, were observed in control discs, but not in discs from treated plants. Phosphate buffer reduced starch synthesis in the latter, but not the former discs. The findings suggest that sink removal led to a decreased ratio inorganic phosphate:phosphorylated compounds. In beans /sup 14/C in sugar phosphates increased following sink removal, but without sucrose accumulation, suggesting tighter feedback control of sugar level. Starch accumulated to higher levels than in the other plants, but CO/sub 2/ fixation rate was constant for several days.« less

  18. Carbon source/sink function of a subtropical, eutrophic lake determined from an overall mass balance and a gas exchange and carbon burial balance.

    PubMed

    Yang, Hong; Xing, Yangping; Xie, Ping; Ni, Leyi; Rong, Kewen

    2008-02-01

    Although studies on carbon burial in lake sediments have shown that lakes are disproportionately important carbon sinks, many studies on gaseous carbon exchange across the water-air interface have demonstrated that lakes are supersaturated with CO(2) and CH(4) causing a net release of CO(2) and CH(4) to the atmosphere. In order to more accurately estimate the net carbon source/sink function of lake ecosystems, a more comprehensive carbon budget is needed, especially for gaseous carbon exchange across the water-air interface. Using two methods, overall mass balance and gas exchange and carbon burial balance, we assessed the carbon source/sink function of Lake Donghu, a subtropical, eutrophic lake, from April 2003 to March 2004. With the overall mass balance calculations, total carbon input was 14 905 t, total carbon output was 4950 t, and net carbon budget was +9955 t, suggesting that Lake Donghu was a great carbon sink. For the gas exchange and carbon burial balance, gaseous carbon (CO(2) and CH(4)) emission across the water-air interface totaled 752 t while carbon burial in the lake sediment was 9477 t. The ratio of carbon emission into the atmosphere to carbon burial into the sediment was only 0.08. This low ratio indicates that Lake Donghu is a great carbon sink. Results showed good agreement between the two methods with both showing Lake Donghu to be a great carbon sink. This results from the high primary production of Lake Donghu, substantive allochthonous carbon inputs and intensive anthropogenic activity. Gaseous carbon emission accounted for about 15% of the total carbon output, indicating that the total output would be underestimated without including gaseous carbon exchange.

  19. Linking occurrence and fitness to persistence: Habitat-based approach for endangered Greater Sage-Grouse

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Aldridge, Cameron L.; Boyce, Mark S.

    2007-01-01

    Detailed empirical models predicting both species occurrence and fitness across a landscape are necessary to understand processes related to population persistence. Failure to consider both occurrence and fitness may result in incorrect assessments of habitat importance leading to inappropriate management strategies. We took a two-stage approach to identifying critical nesting and brood-rearing habitat for the endangered Greater Sage-Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Alberta at a landscape scale. First, we used logistic regression to develop spatial models predicting the relative probability of use (occurrence) for Sage-Grouse nests and broods. Secondly, we used Cox proportional hazards survival models to identify the most risky habitats across the landscape. We combined these two approaches to identify Sage-Grouse habitats that pose minimal risk of failure (source habitats) and attractive sink habitats that pose increased risk (ecological traps). Our models showed that Sage-Grouse select for heterogeneous patches of moderate sagebrush cover (quadratic relationship) and avoid anthropogenic edge habitat for nesting. Nests were more successful in heterogeneous habitats, but nest success was independent of anthropogenic features. Similarly, broods selected heterogeneous high-productivity habitats with sagebrush while avoiding human developments, cultivated cropland, and high densities of oil wells. Chick mortalities tended to occur in proximity to oil and gas developments and along riparian habitats. For nests and broods, respectively, approximately 10% and 5% of the study area was considered source habitat, whereas 19% and 15% of habitat was attractive sink habitat. Limited source habitats appear to be the main reason for poor nest success (39%) and low chick survival (12%). Our habitat models identify areas of protection priority and areas that require immediate management attention to enhance recruitment to secure the viability of this population. This novel approach to habitat-based population viability modeling has merit for many species of concern. ?? 2007 by the Ecological Society of America.

  20. Increasing virulence, but not infectivity, associated with serially emergent virus strains of a fish rhabdovirus

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Breyta, Rachel; McKenney, Douglas; Tesfaye, Tarin; Ono, Kotaro; Kurath, Gael

    2016-01-01

    Surveillance and genetic typing of field isolates of a fish rhabdovirus, infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV), has identified four dominant viral genotypes that were involved in serial viral emergence and displacement events in steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in western North America. To investigate drivers of these landscape-scale events, IHNV isolates designated 007, 111, 110, and 139, representing the four relevant genotypes, were compared for virulence and infectivity in controlled laboratory challenge studies in five relevant steelhead trout populations. Viral virulence was assessed as mortality using lethal dose estimates (LD50), survival kinetics, and proportional hazards analysis. A pattern of increasing virulence for isolates 007, 111, and 110 was consistent in all five host populations tested, and correlated with serial emergence and displacements in the virus-endemic lower Columbia River source region during 1980–2013. The fourth isolate, 139, did not have higher virulence than the previous isolate 110. However, the mG139M genotype displayed a conditional displacement phenotype in that it displaced type mG110M in coastal Washington, but not in the lower Columbia River region, indicating that factors other than evolution of higher viral virulence were involved in some displacement events. Viral infectivity, measured as infectious dose (ID50), did not correlate consistently with virulence or with viral emergence, and showed a narrow range of variation relative to the variation observed in virulence. Comparison among the five steelhead trout populations confirmed variation in resistance to IHNV, but correlations with previous history of virus exposure or with sites of viral emergence varied between IHNV source and sink regions. Overall, this study indicated increasing viral virulence over time as a potential driver for emergence and displacement events in the endemic Lower Columbia River source region where these IHNV genotypes originated, but not in adjacent sink regions.

  1. Aerial and surface rivers: downwind impacts on water availability from land use changes in Amazonia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weng, Wei; Luedeke, Matthias K. B.; Zemp, Delphine C.; Lakes, Tobia; Kropp, Juergen P.

    2018-02-01

    The abundant evapotranspiration provided by the Amazon forests is an important component of the hydrological cycle, both regionally and globally. Since the last century, deforestation and expanding agricultural activities have been changing the ecosystem and its provision of moisture to the atmosphere. However, it remains uncertain how the ongoing land use change will influence rainfall, runoff, and water availability as findings from previous studies differ. Using moisture tracking experiments based on observational data, we provide a spatially detailed analysis recognizing potential teleconnection between source and sink regions of atmospheric moisture. We apply land use scenarios in upwind moisture sources and quantify the corresponding rainfall and runoff changes in downwind moisture sinks. We find spatially varying responses of water regimes to land use changes, which may explain the diverse results from previous studies. Parts of the Peruvian Amazon and western Bolivia are identified as the sink areas most sensitive to land use change in the Amazon and we highlight the current water stress by Amazonian land use change on these areas in terms of the water availability. Furthermore, we also identify the influential source areas where land use change may considerably reduce a given target sink's water reception (from our example of the Ucayali River basin outlet, rainfall by 5-12 % and runoff by 19-50 % according to scenarios). Sensitive sinks and influential sources are therefore suggested as hotspots for achieving sustainable land-water management.

  2. Baltic Sea Blue Carbon: Role of environmental factors influencing the carbon sink capacity of eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Röhr, E.; Holmer, M.; Boström, C.

    2016-02-01

    Although the global seagrass coverage area is less than 0.2 % of the worlds ocean floor, the carbon sink capacity of seagrasses may account up to 18 % of oceanic carbon burial and thus play a critical structural and functional role in many coastal ecosystems. Recent studies have shown considerable variation in the global estimates for seagrass meadow Corg accumulation rates and stocks, and indicate lack of understanding the factors influencing this variability. We sampled 20 eelgrass (Zostera marina) meadows in Finland and Denmark to study the variation in Corg accumulation rates and stocks within the Baltic Sea area. The study sites in both regions spanned a gradient from sheltered to exposed locations. The estimates for Corg accumulation rates at the Finnish eelgrass meadows were two orders of magnitude lower than the estimates for the Danish sites. The Corg stock integrated over the top 25 cm of sediment showed similar pattern, suggesting that the Finnish eelgrass meadows are carbon sources rather than carbon sinks, and the produced Corg is exported from the meadows. In contrast, at the Danish sites both Corg accumulation rates and areal Corg stock was more varying suggesting, that in this region the meadows function both as carbon sinks and sources. Our analysis further showed that a large percentage (> 55 %) of the variation in the Corg stocks was explained by sediment characteristics (density, fraction of silt and grain size distribution). In addition, the contribution of Zostera marina detritus to the sediment Corg pool explained >14 % of the variation in the Corg stocks. In order to get more reliable regional and global estimates of the role of seagrass meadows in the ocean carbon cycle, more studies accounting for the full range of environmental and species characteristics are urgently needed.

  3. Heat dissipation investigation of the internal heat sink geometry of a commercial available LED lamp

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Lai, S. L.; Ong, N. R.; Kirtsaeng, S.; Sakuntasathien, S.; Alcain, J. B.; Sauli, Z.; Thangsi, K.; Retnasamy, V.

    2017-09-01

    Thermal issue is still the bottleneck of the LED to sustain their operational performance. LED lamp is vastly commercialized and has become the next generation of lighting source to substitute the conventional incandescent lamp. Thus, thermal management issue on LED lamp is important to maintain the device reliability. This study focuses on the modification of internal heat sink of the LED lamp which was considered and the thermal performance was investigated. Open source software, Salome and Elmer were used for this study. The result shows that larger surface area of heat sink has better heat dissipation performance.

  4. A Bayesian methodological framework for accommodating interannual variability of nutrient loading with the SPARROW model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wellen, Christopher; Arhonditsis, George B.; Labencki, Tanya; Boyd, Duncan

    2012-10-01

    Regression-type, hybrid empirical/process-based models (e.g., SPARROW, PolFlow) have assumed a prominent role in efforts to estimate the sources and transport of nutrient pollution at river basin scales. However, almost no attempts have been made to explicitly accommodate interannual nutrient loading variability in their structure, despite empirical and theoretical evidence indicating that the associated source/sink processes are quite variable at annual timescales. In this study, we present two methodological approaches to accommodate interannual variability with the Spatially Referenced Regressions on Watershed attributes (SPARROW) nonlinear regression model. The first strategy uses the SPARROW model to estimate a static baseline load and climatic variables (e.g., precipitation) to drive the interannual variability. The second approach allows the source/sink processes within the SPARROW model to vary at annual timescales using dynamic parameter estimation techniques akin to those used in dynamic linear models. Model parameterization is founded upon Bayesian inference techniques that explicitly consider calibration data and model uncertainty. Our case study is the Hamilton Harbor watershed, a mixed agricultural and urban residential area located at the western end of Lake Ontario, Canada. Our analysis suggests that dynamic parameter estimation is the more parsimonious of the two strategies tested and can offer insights into the temporal structural changes associated with watershed functioning. Consistent with empirical and theoretical work, model estimated annual in-stream attenuation rates varied inversely with annual discharge. Estimated phosphorus source areas were concentrated near the receiving water body during years of high in-stream attenuation and dispersed along the main stems of the streams during years of low attenuation, suggesting that nutrient source areas are subject to interannual variability.

  5. Using a Divided Bar Apparatus to Measure Thermal Conductivity of Samples of Odd Sizes and Shapes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Crowell, J. "; Gosnold, W. D.

    2012-12-01

    Standard procedure for measuring thermal conductivity using a divided bar apparatus requires a sample that has the same surface dimensions as the heat sink/source surface in the divided bar. Heat flow is assumed to be constant throughout the column and thermal conductivity (K) is determined by measuring temperatures (T) across the sample and across standard layers and using the basic relationship Ksample=(Kstandard*(ΔT1+ΔT2)/2)/(ΔTsample). Sometimes samples are not large enough or of correct proportions to match the surface of the heat sink/source, however using the equations presented here the thermal conductivity of these samples can still be measured with a divided bar. Measurements were done on the UND Geothermal Laboratories stationary divided bar apparatus (SDB). This SDB has been designed to mimic many in-situ conditions, with a temperature range of -20C to 150C and a pressure range of 0 to 10,000 psi for samples with parallel surfaces and 0 to 3000 psi for samples with non-parallel surfaces. The heat sink/source surfaces are copper disks and have a surface area of 1,772 mm2 (2.74 in2). Layers of polycarbonate 6 mm thick with the same surface area as the copper disks are located in the heat sink and in the heat source as standards. For this study, all samples were prepared from a single piece of 4 inch limestone core. Thermal conductivities were measured for each sample as it was cut successively smaller. The above equation was adjusted to include the thicknesses (Th) of the samples and the standards and the surface areas (A) of the heat sink/source and of the sample Ksample=(Kstandard*Astandard*Thsample*(ΔT1+ΔT3))/(ΔTsample*Asample*2*Thstandard). Measuring the thermal conductivity of samples of multiple sizes, shapes, and thicknesses gave consistent values for samples with surfaces as small as 50% of the heat sink/source surface, regardless of the shape of the sample. Measuring samples with surfaces smaller than 50% of the heat sink/source surface resulted in thermal conductivity values which were too high. The cause of the error with the smaller samples is being examined as is the relationship between the amount of error in the thermal conductivity and the difference in surface areas. As more measurements are made an equation to mathematically correct for the error is being developed on in case a way to physically correct the problem cannot be determined.

  6. Estimating Sources and Sinks of Methane from Soils in the Contiguous United States (CONUS)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shu, S.; Jain, A. K.; Kheshgi, H. S.

    2017-12-01

    The global methane (CH4) budget estimated based on state-of-the-art models remains highly uncertain. Sources and sinks of CH4 from soils, including wetlands, are the most important source of uncertainty. Soils are estimated to account for about 45% of global CH4 emissions. At the same time oxidation of CH4 by soils is a significant sink, representing about 10% of the total sink. However, most regional and global scale modeling studies of soil CH4 fluxes have ignored the sink through soil oxidation and the source of CH4 emissions from the wet soils with shallow water tables. In this study, we link a bottom-up soil gas diffusion and CH4 biogeochemistry model to a land surface model, ISAM, to calculate the sources, emissions from both wetlands and non-wetlands, and sinks, soil oxidation, of CH4 from soils for the CONUS over the period 1900-2100. The newly developed soil CH4 model framework consists of a gas diffusion module with the vertically resolved soil hydrology (depth up to 3.5 m soil) and soil organic carbon (SOC) and CH4 biogeochemistry module. SOC profile is estimated by modeling vertical soil mixing and thus can represent the deep SOC content and estimate CH4 production from the deep non-wetland soil. For the diffusion calculations, we separately consider both the dissolved and gaseous O2 and CH4 at each soil layer. For CH4 biogeochemistry, we parameterize the production, soil oxidation, ebullition and aerenchyma transportation of CH4 for both seasonal/permanent wetland and wet soil. The SWAMP inundated fraction dataset with 8-day temporal resolution is incorporated to prescribe the extent of permanent and seasonal wetland extent for the recent decade. The model is first evaluated using a compilation of published CH4 site measurement data for CONUS. We then perform two different model experiments: 1) forced by the CRUNCEP climate data from 1900 to 2010 to estimate the contemporary CH4 emission and 2) forced by a climate projection of IPCC's highest representative concentration pathway (RCP8.5) from 2011 to 2100. Our study shows that soil oxidation has an important role attenuating the estimated natural CH4 source. We also find a wetter and warmer climate affects the dry soil CH4 sink and wet soil CH4 emissions and increases the estimated CH4 source over the CONUS.

  7. Variation in carbohydrate source-sink relations of forest and treeline white spruce in southern, interior and northern Alaska

    Treesearch

    Bjartmar Sveinbjornsson; Matthew Smith; Tumi Traustason; Roger W. Ruess; Patrick F. Sullivan

    2010-01-01

    Two opposing hypotheses have been presented to explain reduced tree growth at the treeline, compared with growth in lower elevation or lower latitude forests: the carbon source and sink limitation hypotheses. The former states that treeline trees have an unfavorable carbon balance and cannot support growth of the magnitude observed at lower elevations or latitudes,...

  8. Source/sink patterns of disturbance and cross-scale mismatches in a panarchy of social-ecological landscapes

    Treesearch

    Nicola1 Zaccarelli; Petrosillo; Irene; Giovanni Zurlini; KurtHans Riitters

    2008-01-01

    Land-use change is one of the major factors affecting global environmental change and represents a primary human effect on natural systems. Taking into account the scales and patterns of human land uses as source/sink disturbance systems, we describe a framework to characterize and interpret the spatial patterns of disturbances along a continuum of scales in a panarchy...

  9. Eccentric preformative molt in the spotted Towhee

    DOE PAGES

    Fettig, Stephen M.; Hathcock, Charles Dean

    2016-11-04

    Examination of wing-feather molt often provides information essential for aging birds in the hand (Mulvihill 1993, pyle 1997b, 2008). Correctly aging birds is important for understanding the causal relationships between age-class survival rates and population changes (DeSante et al. 2005). For example, correctly aging birds facilitates understanding of climate effects on reproduction better than merely moni- toring population numbers because reproduction varies widely with annual weather patterns (DeSante and O’grady 2000). Age-class information can also provide a clear measure of habitat quality without confounding effects such as population sources and sinks (Van horne 1983) or misleading habitat-quality information based onmore » relative abundance or population size (pulliam 1988). Changes in bird populations often lag changes in the survival rate of an age class, while environmental changes often affect one age class immediately or after a short lag (Temple and Wiens 1989)« less

  10. Interannual variability in dissolved inorganic nutrients in northern San Francisco Bay estuary

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Peterson, D.H.; Smith, R.E.; Hager, S.W.; Harmon, D.D.; Herndon, R.E.; Schemel, L.E.

    1985-01-01

    Nearly two decades of seasonal dissolved inorganic nutrient-salinity distributions in northern San Francisco Bay estuary (1960-1980) illustrate interannual variations in effects of river flow (a nutrient source) and phytoplankton productivity (a nutrient sink). During winter, nutrient sources dominate the nutrient-salinity distribution patterns (nutrients are at or exceed conservative mixing concentrations). During summer, however, the sources and sinks are in close competition. In summers of wet years, the effects of increased river flow often dominate the nutrient distributions (nutrients are at or less than conservative mixing concentrations), whereas in summers of dry years, phytoplankton productivity dominates (the very dry years 1976-1977 were an exception for reasons not yet clearly known). Such source/sink effects also vary with chemical species. During summer the control of phytoplankton on nutrient distributions is apparently strongest for ammonium, less so for nitrate and silica, and is the least for phosphate. Furthermore, the strength of the silica sink (diatom productivity) is at a maximum at intermediate river flows. This relation, which is in agreement with other studies based on phytoplankton abundance and enumeration, is significant to the extent that diatoms are an important food source for herbivores. The balance or lack of balance between nutrient sources and sinks varies from one estuary to another just as it can from one year to another within the same estuary. At one extreme, in some estuaries river flow dominates the estuarine dissolved inorganic nutrient distributions throughout most of the year. At the other extreme, phytoplankton productivity dominates. In northern San Francisco Bay, for example, the phytoplankton nutrient sink is not as strong as in less turbid estuaries. In this estuary, however, river effects, which produce or are associated with near-conservative nutrient distributions, are strong even at flows less than mean-annual flow. Thus, northern San Francisco Bay appears to be an estuary in between the two extremes and is shifted closer to one extreme or the other depending on interannual variations in river flow. ?? 1985 Dr W. Junk Publishers.

  11. Effects of dispersal on total biomass in a patchy, heterogeneous system: Analysis and experiment.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Bo; Liu, Xin; DeAngelis, D L; Ni, Wei-Ming; Wang, G Geoff

    2015-06-01

    An intriguing recent result from mathematics is that a population diffusing at an intermediate rate in an environment in which resources vary spatially will reach a higher total equilibrium biomass than the population in an environment in which the same total resources are distributed homogeneously. We extended the current mathematical theory to apply to logistic growth and also showed that the result applies to patchy systems with dispersal among patches, both for continuous and discrete time. This allowed us to make specific predictions, through simulations, concerning the biomass dynamics, which were verified by a laboratory experiment. The experiment was a study of biomass growth of duckweed (Lemna minor Linn.), where the resources (nutrients added to water) were distributed homogeneously among a discrete series of water-filled containers in one treatment, and distributed heterogeneously in another treatment. The experimental results showed that total biomass peaked at an intermediate, relatively low, diffusion rate, higher than the total carrying capacity of the system and agreeing with the simulation model. The implications of the experiment to dynamics of source, sink, and pseudo-sink dynamics are discussed. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Reconciliation of the carbon budget in the ocean's twilight zone.

    PubMed

    Giering, Sarah L C; Sanders, Richard; Lampitt, Richard S; Anderson, Thomas R; Tamburini, Christian; Boutrif, Mehdi; Zubkov, Mikhail V; Marsay, Chris M; Henson, Stephanie A; Saw, Kevin; Cook, Kathryn; Mayor, Daniel J

    2014-03-27

    Photosynthesis in the surface ocean produces approximately 100 gigatonnes of organic carbon per year, of which 5 to 15 per cent is exported to the deep ocean. The rate at which the sinking carbon is converted into carbon dioxide by heterotrophic organisms at depth is important in controlling oceanic carbon storage. It remains uncertain, however, to what extent surface ocean carbon supply meets the demand of water-column biota; the discrepancy between known carbon sources and sinks is as much as two orders of magnitude. Here we present field measurements, respiration rate estimates and a steady-state model that allow us to balance carbon sources and sinks to within observational uncertainties at the Porcupine Abyssal Plain site in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean. We find that prokaryotes are responsible for 70 to 92 per cent of the estimated remineralization in the twilight zone (depths of 50 to 1,000 metres) despite the fact that much of the organic carbon is exported in the form of large, fast-sinking particles accessible to larger zooplankton. We suggest that this occurs because zooplankton fragment and ingest half of the fast-sinking particles, of which more than 30 per cent may be released as suspended and slowly sinking matter, stimulating the deep-ocean microbial loop. The synergy between microbes and zooplankton in the twilight zone is important to our understanding of the processes controlling the oceanic carbon sink.

  13. Modelling fungal sink competitiveness with grains for assimilates in wheat infected by a biotrophic pathogen

    PubMed Central

    Bancal, Marie-Odile; Hansart, Amandine; Sache, Ivan; Bancal, Pierre

    2012-01-01

    Background and Aims Experiments have shown that biotrophic fungi divert assimilates for their growth. However, no attempt has been made either to account for this additional sink or to predict to what extent it competes with both grain filling and plant reserve metabolism for carbon. Fungal sink competitiveness with grains was quantified by a mixed experimental–modelling approach based on winter wheat infected by Puccinia triticina. Methods One week after anthesis, plants grown under controlled conditions were inoculated with varying loads. Sporulation was recorded while plants underwent varying degrees of shading, ensuring a range of both fungal sink and host source levels. Inoculation load significantly increased both sporulating area and rate. Shading significantly affected net assimilation, reserve mobilization and sporulating area, but not grain filling or sporulation rates. An existing carbon partitioning (source–sink) model for wheat during the grain filling period was then enhanced, in which two parameters characterize every sink: carriage capacity and substrate affinity. Fungal sink competitiveness with host sources and sinks was modelled by representing spore production as another sink in diseased wheat during grain filling. Key Results Data from the experiment were fitted to the model to provide the fungal sink parameters. Fungal carriage capacity was 0·56 ± 0·01 µg dry matter °Cd−1 per lesion, much less than grain filling capacity, even in highly infected plants; however, fungal sporulation had a competitive priority for assimilates over grain filling. Simulation with virtual crops accounted for the importance of the relative contribution of photosynthesis loss, anticipated reserve depletion and spore production when light level and disease severity vary. The grain filling rate was less reduced than photosynthesis; however, over the long term, yield loss could double because the earlier reserve depletion observed here would shorten the duration of grain filling. Conclusions Source–sink modelling holds the promise of accounting for plant–pathogen interactions over time under fluctuating climatic/lighting conditions in a robust way. PMID:22589327

  14. A large and persistent carbon sink in the world's forests

    Treesearch

    Yude Pan; Richard A. Birdsey; Jingyun Fang; Richard Houghton; Pekka E. Kauppi; Werner A. Kurz; Oliver L. Phillips; Anatoly Shvidenko; Simon L. Lewis; Josep G. Canadell; Philippe Ciais; Robert B. Jackson; Stephen W. Pacala; A. David McGuire; Shilong Piao; Aapo Rautiainen; Stephen Sitch; Daniel Hayes

    2011-01-01

    The terrestrial carbon sink has been large in recent decades, but its size and location remain uncertain. Using forest inventory data and long-term ecosystem carbon studies, we estimate a total forest sink of 2.4 ± 0.4 petagrams of carbon per year (Pg C year-1) globally for 1990 to 2007. We also estimate a source of 1.3 ± 0.7 Pg...

  15. Modeling Atmospheric CO2 Processes to Constrain the Missing Sink

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kawa, S. R.; Denning, A. S.; Erickson, D. J.; Collatz, J. C.; Pawson, S.

    2005-01-01

    We report on a NASA supported modeling effort to reduce uncertainty in carbon cycle processes that create the so-called missing sink of atmospheric CO2. Our overall objective is to improve characterization of CO2 source/sink processes globally with improved formulations for atmospheric transport, terrestrial uptake and release, biomass and fossil fuel burning, and observational data analysis. The motivation for this study follows from the perspective that progress in determining CO2 sources and sinks beyond the current state of the art will rely on utilization of more extensive and intensive CO2 and related observations including those from satellite remote sensing. The major components of this effort are: 1) Continued development of the chemistry and transport model using analyzed meteorological fields from the Goddard Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, with comparison to real time data in both forward and inverse modes; 2) An advanced biosphere model, constrained by remote sensing data, coupled to the global transport model to produce distributions of CO2 fluxes and concentrations that are consistent with actual meteorological variability; 3) Improved remote sensing estimates for biomass burning emission fluxes to better characterize interannual variability in the atmospheric CO2 budget and to better constrain the land use change source; 4) Evaluating the impact of temporally resolved fossil fuel emission distributions on atmospheric CO2 gradients and variability. 5) Testing the impact of existing and planned remote sensing data sources (e.g., AIRS, MODIS, OCO) on inference of CO2 sources and sinks, and use the model to help establish measurement requirements for future remote sensing instruments. The results will help to prepare for the use of OCO and other satellite data in a multi-disciplinary carbon data assimilation system for analysis and prediction of carbon cycle changes and carbodclimate interactions.

  16. Frequent Spread of Plasmodium vivax Malaria Maintains High Genetic Diversity at the Myanmar-China Border, Without Distance and Landscape Barriers.

    PubMed

    Lo, Eugenia; Lam, Nancy; Hemming-Schroeder, Elizabeth; Nguyen, Jennifer; Zhou, Guofa; Lee, Ming-Chieh; Yang, Zhaoqing; Cui, Liwang; Yan, Guiyun

    2017-12-05

    In Myanmar, civil unrest and the establishment of internally displaced person (IDP) settlements along the Myanmar-China border have impacted malaria transmission. Microsatellite markers were used to examine source-sink dynamics for Plasmodium vivax between IDP settlements and surrounding villages in the border region. Genotypic structure and diversity were compared across the 3 years following the establishment of IDP settlements, to infer demographic history. We investigated whether human migration and landscape heterogeneity contributed to P. vivax transmission. P. vivax from IDP settlements and local communities consistently exhibited high genetic diversity within populations but low polyclonality within individuals. No apparent genetic structure was observed among populations and years. P. vivax genotypes in China were similar to those in Myanmar, and parasite introduction was unidirectional. Landscape factors, including distance, elevation, and land cover, do not appear to impede parasite gene flow. The admixture of P. vivax genotypes suggested that parasite gene flow via human movement contributes to the spread of malaria both locally in Myanmar and across the international border. Our genetic findings highlight the presence of large P. vivax gene reservoirs that can sustain transmission. Thus, it is important to reinforce and improve existing control efforts along border areas. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Numerical analysis of high-power broad-area laser diode with improved heat sinking structure using epitaxial liftoff technique

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Younghyun; Sung, Yunsu; Yang, Jung-Tack; Choi, Woo-Young

    2018-02-01

    The characteristics of high-power broad-area laser diodes with the improved heat sinking structure are numerically analyzed by a technology computer-aided design based self-consistent electro-thermal-optical simulation. The high-power laser diodes consist of a separate confinement heterostructure of a compressively strained InGaAsP quantum well and GaInP optical cavity layers, and a 100-μm-wide rib and a 2000-μm long cavity. In order to overcome the performance deteriorations of high-power laser diodes caused by self-heating such as thermal rollover and thermal blooming, we propose the high-power broad-area laser diode with improved heat-sinking structure, which another effective heat-sinking path toward the substrate side is added by removing a bulk substrate. It is possible to obtain by removing a 400-μm-thick GaAs substrate with an AlAs sacrificial layer utilizing well-known epitaxial liftoff techniques. In this study, we present the performance improvement of the high-power laser diode with the heat-sinking structure by suppressing thermal effects. It is found that the lateral far-field angle as well as quantum well temperature is expected to be improved by the proposed heat-sinking structure which is required for high beam quality and optical output power, respectively.

  18. Using Bayesian hierarchical models to better understand nitrate sources and sinks in agricultural watersheds.

    PubMed

    Xia, Yongqiu; Weller, Donald E; Williams, Meghan N; Jordan, Thomas E; Yan, Xiaoyuan

    2016-11-15

    Export coefficient models (ECMs) are often used to predict nutrient sources and sinks in watersheds because ECMs can flexibly incorporate processes and have minimal data requirements. However, ECMs do not quantify uncertainties in model structure, parameters, or predictions; nor do they account for spatial and temporal variability in land characteristics, weather, and management practices. We applied Bayesian hierarchical methods to address these problems in ECMs used to predict nitrate concentration in streams. We compared four model formulations, a basic ECM and three models with additional terms to represent competing hypotheses about the sources of error in ECMs and about spatial and temporal variability of coefficients: an ADditive Error Model (ADEM), a SpatioTemporal Parameter Model (STPM), and a Dynamic Parameter Model (DPM). The DPM incorporates a first-order random walk to represent spatial correlation among parameters and a dynamic linear model to accommodate temporal correlation. We tested the modeling approach in a proof of concept using watershed characteristics and nitrate export measurements from watersheds in the Coastal Plain physiographic province of the Chesapeake Bay drainage. Among the four models, the DPM was the best--it had the lowest mean error, explained the most variability (R 2  = 0.99), had the narrowest prediction intervals, and provided the most effective tradeoff between fit complexity (its deviance information criterion, DIC, was 45.6 units lower than any other model, indicating overwhelming support for the DPM). The superiority of the DPM supports its underlying hypothesis that the main source of error in ECMs is their failure to account for parameter variability rather than structural error. Analysis of the fitted DPM coefficients for cropland export and instream retention revealed some of the factors controlling nitrate concentration: cropland nitrate exports were positively related to stream flow and watershed average slope, while instream nitrate retention was positively correlated with nitrate concentration. By quantifying spatial and temporal variability in sources and sinks, the DPM provides new information to better target management actions to the most effective times and places. Given the wide use of ECMs as research and management tools, our approach can be broadly applied in other watersheds and to other materials. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Comparison of atmospheric CO2 mole fractions and source-sink characteristics at four WMO/GAW stations in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Cheng, Siyang; Zhou, Lingxi; Tans, Pieter P.; An, Xingqin; Liu, Yunsong

    2018-05-01

    As CO2 is a primary driving factor of climate change, the mole fraction and source-sink characteristics of atmospheric CO2 over China are constantly inferred from multi-source and multi-site data. In this paper, we compared ground-based CO2 measurements with satellite retrievals and investigated the source-sink regional representativeness at China's four WMO/GAW stations. The results indicate that, firstly, atmospheric CO2 mole fractions from ground-based sampling measurement and Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) products reveal similar seasonal variation. The seasonal amplitude of the column-averaged CO2 mole fractions is smaller than that of the ground-based CO2 at all stations. The extrema of the seasonal cycle of ground-based and column CO2 mole fractions are basically synchronous except a slight phase delay at Lin'an (LAN) station. For the two-year average, the column CO2 is lower than ground-based CO2, and both of them reveal the lowest CO2 mole fraction at Waliguan (WLG) station. The lowest (∼4 ppm) and largest (∼8 ppm) differences between the column and ground-based CO2 appear at WLG and Longfengshan (LFS) stations, respectively. The CO2 mole fraction and its difference between GOSAT and ground-based measurement are smaller in summer than in winter. The differences of summer column CO2 among these stations are also much smaller than their ground-based counterparts. In winter, the maximum of ground-based CO2 mole fractions and the greatest difference between the two (ground-based and column) datasets appear at the LFS station. Secondly, the representative areas of the monthly CO2 background mole fractions at each station were found by employing footprints and emissions. Smaller representative areas appeared at Shangdianzi (SDZ) and LFS, whereas larger ones were seen at WLG and LAN. The representative areas in summer are larger than those in winter at WLG and SDZ, but the situation is opposite at LAN and LFS. The representative areas for the stations are different in summer and winter, distributed in four typical regions. The CO2 net fluxes in these representative areas show obvious seasonal cycles with similar trends but different varying ranges and different time of the strongest sink. The intensities and uncertainties of the CO2 fluxes are different at different stations in different months and source-sink sectors. Overall, the WLG station is almost a carbon sink, but the other three stations present stronger carbon sources for most of the year. These findings could be conducive to the application of multi-source CO2 data and the understanding of regional CO2 source-sink characteristics and patterns over China.

  20. Seasonal and interannual variability of atmospheric heat sources and moisture sinks as determined from NCEP/NCAR ranalysis. Part I

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Yanai, Michio; Tomita, Tomohiko

    1997-11-01

    In this paper, an analysis of the heat and moisture budgets of the troposphere is revised and extended. The analysis is based on the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) reanalysis from 1980 to 1994. The seasonal and interannual variability of heat sources and sinks and the nature of heating over various geographical locations is examined in detail. Results presented include global distributions of the 15-year mean of the vertically integrated heat source and moisture sink and the outgoing longwave radiation flux for northern winter and northern summer. A time series of monthlymore » mean anomalies of the apparent heat source, the apparent moisture sink, outgoing longwave radiation, sea surface temperature, and divergence at wind fields of 850 hPa and 200 hPa are presented for the equatorial Indian Ocean, the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean, western Tibet, and eastern Tibet. In the equatorial Indian Ocean, short period oscillation is superimposed upon longer periods. Over the eastern Pacific, a longer periodicity is dominant and the variability of the heat source is very well correlated with similar variations of outgoing longwave radiation, sea surface temperature, and horizontal divergence. The high correlation with these variables suggests that anomalous heating is accompanied by intensified convective activity favored by warmer sea surface temperature. 13 refs., 5 figs.« less

  1. Geostationary Carbon Process Mapper (GCPM)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Key, Richard; Sander, Stanley; Eldering, Annmarie; Miller, Charles; Frankenberg, Christian; Natraj, Vijay; Rider, David; Blavier, Jean-Francois; Bekker, Dmitriy; Wu, Yen-Hung

    2012-01-01

    Geostationary Carbon Process Mapper (GCPM) is an earth science mission to measure key atmospheric trace gases related to climate change and human activity.Understanding of sources and sinks of CO2 is currently limited by frequency of observations and uncertainty in vertical transport. GCPM improves this situation by making simultaneous high resolution measurements of CO2, CH4, CF, and CO in near-IR, many times per day. GCPM is able to investigate processes with time scales of minutes to hours. CO2, CH4, CF, Co selected because their combination provides information needed to disentangle natural and anthropogenic sources/sinks. Quasi-continuous monitoring effectively eliminates atmospheric transport uncertainties from source/sink inversion modeling. will have one instrument (GeoFTS), hosted on a commercial communications satellite, planned for two years operation. GCPM will affordably advance the understanding of observed cycle variability improving future climate projections.

  2. Understanding methane variability from 1980 - 2015 using inversions of methane, δ13C and ethane

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Thompson, Rona; Nisbet, Euan

    2017-04-01

    Atmospheric methane (CH4) increased globally during the 20th century, from a pre-industrial value of approximately 722 ppb to 1773 ppb in 1999. The upward trend, however, was interrupted between 1999 and 2006, when the atmospheric growth rate of CH4 was close to zero. From 2007, atmospheric CH4 started to increase again and, in 2014, the growth rate was substantially faster (12.5 ppb/y) than in any other year since 2007. Changes in the atmospheric growth rate indicate changes in the balance of CH4 sources and sinks, however, the cause of the 1999-2006 stabilization and subsequent rise in atmospheric CH4, and its attribution to different sources is still not fully resolved. Various explanations have been proposed for the pause in the growth, including a reduction in fossil fuel and wetland emissions, and for its renewed increase, such as increasing emissions from wetlands, enteric fermentation, and fossil fuels, as well as a decline in the OH sink. To better constrain the sources and sinks of CH4, we have performed an inversion using the AGAGE 12-box model of the atmosphere using atmospheric observations of CH4, δ13C, and of ethane. Using observations of these 3 atmospheric tracers simultaneously, a stronger constraint is placed on the different sources, as well as the principal atmospheric sink via oxidation by OH. In the model, we account for all emissions grouped into microbial, fossil fuel, biomass burning, landfill and ocean sources, as well as the soil oxidation sink. We also account for the atmospheric sink of CH4 and ethane via oxidation by OH and Cl radicals. The modelled lifetimes of CH4 and ethane were 8.2 years and 1.3 months, respectively. Inversions were also performed in which the OH sink was optimized simultaneously with the emissions. We find that fossil fuel emissions were underestimated in the northern mid to high latitudes in the 1980s but were overestimated from the mid 1990s onwards with respect to the prior (EDGAR-4.2), and that there is no evidence for a recent increase. For microbial emissions, we find an increase in emissions in the northern low and high latitudes from the early 2000s. The inversion also shifts microbial emissions from the northern to the southern low latitudes with respect to the prior (LPX-Bern for wetlands and EDGAR-4.2 for enteric fermentation). Finally, we do not find any evidence for a recent decrease in the OH sink.

  3. Increased Photochemical Efficiency in Cyanobacteria via an Engineered Sucrose Sink.

    PubMed

    Abramson, Bradley W; Kachel, Benjamin; Kramer, David M; Ducat, Daniel C

    2016-12-01

    In plants, a limited capacity to utilize or export the end-products of the Calvin-Benson cycle (CB) from photosynthetically active source cells to non-photosynthetic sink cells can result in reduced carbon capture and photosynthetic electron transport (PET), and lowered photochemical efficiency. The down-regulation of photosynthesis caused by reduced capacity to utilize photosynthate has been termed 'sink limitation'. Recently, several cyanobacterial and algal strains engineered to overproduce target metabolites have exhibited increased photochemistry, suggesting that possible source-sink regulatory mechanisms may be involved. We directly examined photochemical properties following induction of a heterologous sucrose 'sink' in the unicellular cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942. We show that total photochemistry increases proportionally to the experimentally controlled rate of sucrose export. Importantly, the quantum yield of PSII (ΦII) increases in response to sucrose export while the PET chain becomes more oxidized from less PSI acceptor-side limitation, suggesting increased CB activity and a decrease in sink limitation. Enhanced photosynthetic activity and linear electron flow are detectable within hours of induction of the heterologous sink and are independent of pigmentation alterations or the ionic/osmotic effects of the induction system. These observations provide direct evidence that secretion of heterologous carbon bioproducts can be used as an alternative approach to improve photosynthetic efficiency, presumably by by-passing sink limitation. Our results also suggest that engineered microalgal production strains are valuable alternative models for examining photosynthetic sink limitation because they enable greater control and monitoring of metabolite fluxes relative to plants. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Japanese Society of Plant Physiologists. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Natural and anthropogenic variations in methane sources during the past two millennia.

    PubMed

    Sapart, C J; Monteil, G; Prokopiou, M; van de Wal, R S W; Kaplan, J O; Sperlich, P; Krumhardt, K M; van der Veen, C; Houweling, S; Krol, M C; Blunier, T; Sowers, T; Martinerie, P; Witrant, E; Dahl-Jensen, D; Röckmann, T

    2012-10-04

    Methane is an important greenhouse gas that is emitted from multiple natural and anthropogenic sources. Atmospheric methane concentrations have varied on a number of timescales in the past, but what has caused these variations is not always well understood. The different sources and sinks of methane have specific isotopic signatures, and the isotopic composition of methane can therefore help to identify the environmental drivers of variations in atmospheric methane concentrations. Here we present high-resolution carbon isotope data (δ(13)C content) for methane from two ice cores from Greenland for the past two millennia. We find that the δ(13)C content underwent pronounced centennial-scale variations between 100 BC and AD 1600. With the help of two-box model calculations, we show that the centennial-scale variations in isotope ratios can be attributed to changes in pyrogenic and biogenic sources. We find correlations between these source changes and both natural climate variability--such as the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age--and changes in human population and land use, such as the decline of the Roman empire and the Han dynasty, and the population expansion during the medieval period.

  5. CO2 fluxes from a tropical neighborhood: sources and sinks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Velasco, E.; Roth, M.; Tan, S.; Quak, M.; Britter, R.; Norford, L.

    2011-12-01

    Cities are the main contributors to the CO2 rise in the atmosphere. The CO2 released from the various emission sources is typically quantified by a bottom-up aggregation process that accounts for emission factors and fossil fuel consumption data. This approach does not consider the heterogeneity and variability of the urban emission sources, and error propagation can result in large uncertainties. In this context, direct measurements of CO2 fluxes that include all major and minor anthropogenic and natural sources and sinks from a specific district can be used to evaluate emission inventories. This study reports and compares CO2 fluxes measured directly using the eddy covariance method with emissions estimated by emissions factors and activity data for a residential neighborhood of Singapore, a highly populated and urbanized tropical city. The flux measurements were conducted during one year. No seasonal variability was found as a consequence of the constant climate conditions of tropical places; but a clear diurnal pattern with morning and late afternoon peaks in phase with the rush-hour traffic was observed. The magnitude of the fluxes throughout daylight hours is modulated by the urban vegetation, which is abundant in terms of biomass but not of land-cover (15%). Even though the carbon uptake by vegetation is significant, it does not exceed the anthropogenic emissions and the monitored district is a net CO2 source of 20.3 ton km-2 day-1 on average. The carbon uptake by vegetation is investigated as the difference between the estimated emissions and the measured fluxes during daytime.

  6. Inventory of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions and sinks: 1990-2008

    DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

    2010-04-01

    An emissions inventory that identifies and quantifies a country's primary anthropogenic sources and sinks of greenhouse gases is essential for addressing climate change. This inventory adheres to both 1) a comprehensive and detailed set of methodolog...

  7. Sources and sinks for ammonia and nitrite on the early Earth and the reaction of nitrite with ammonia

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Summers, D. P.

    1999-01-01

    An analysis of sources and sinks for ammonia and nitrite on the early Earth was conducted. Rates of formation and destruction, and steady state concentrations of both species were determined by steady state kinetics. The importance of the reaction of nitrite with ammonia on the feasibility of ammonia formation from nitrite was evaluated. The analysis considered conditions such as temperature, ferrous iron concentration, and pH. For sinks we considered the reduction of nitrite to ammonia, reaction between nitrite and ammonia, photochemical destruction of both species, and destruction at hydrothermal vents. Under most environmental conditions, the primary sink for nitrite is reduction to ammonia. The reaction between ammonia and nitrite is not an important sink for either nitrite or ammonia. Destruction at hydrothermal vents is important at acidic pH's and at low ferrous iron concentrations. Photochemical destruction, even in a worst case scenario, is unimportant under many conditions except possibly under acidic, low iron concentration, or low temperature conditions. The primary sink for ammonia is photochemical destruction in the atmosphere. Under acidic conditions, more of the ammonia is tied up as ammonium (reducing its vapor pressure and keeping it in solution) and hydrothermal destruction becomes more important.

  8. Alternative majority-voting methods for real-time computing systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shin, Kang G.; Dolter, James W.

    1989-01-01

    Two techniques that provide a compromise between the high time overhead in maintaining synchronous voting and the difficulty of combining results in asynchronous voting are proposed. These techniques are specifically suited for real-time applications with a single-source/single-sink structure that need instantaneous error masking. They provide a compromise between a tightly synchronized system in which the synchronization overhead can be quite high, and an asynchronous system which lacks suitable algorithms for combining the output data. Both quorum-majority voting (QMV) and compare-majority voting (CMV) are most applicable to distributed real-time systems with single-source/single-sink tasks. All real-time systems eventually have to resolve their outputs into a single action at some stage. The development of the advanced information processing system (AIPS) and other similar systems serve to emphasize the importance of these techniques. Time bounds suggest that it is possible to reduce the overhead for quorum-majority voting to below that for synchronous voting. All the bounds assume that the computation phase is nonpreemptive and that there is no multitasking.

  9. Wildland fire emissions, carbon, and climate: Seeing the forest and the trees - A cross-scale assessment of wildfire and carbon dynamics in fire-prone, forested ecosystems

    Treesearch

    Rachel A. Loehman; Elizabeth Reinhardt; Karin L. Riley

    2014-01-01

    Wildfires are an important component of the terrestrial carbon cycle and one of the main pathways for movement of carbon from the land surface to the atmosphere. Fires have received much attention in recent years as potential catalysts for shifting landscapes from carbon sinks to carbon sources. Unless structural or functional ecosystem shifts occur, net carbon balance...

  10. Source-To-Sink Perspectives On The Mississippi River System, Miocene To Present, Mountain To Abyss

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bentley, S. J.; Blum, M. D.

    2013-12-01

    . The objective of this study is to present a synthesis of the Mississippi River source-to-sink system, from montane source to abyssal sink, to elucidate specific geomorphic components and boundaries in the system, controls on mass transfer, and resultant geomorphic and statigraphic development. The Mississippi River source-to-sink system constitutes one of the largest sources, conduits, and depocenters of sediment on Earth, extending from elevations of 3.7 km in the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico abyssal plain. Despite being one of the most intensely studied fluvial-marine systems in the world, comprehensive understanding and management of the system's resources remain a challenge. The system is valuable in many ways: it provides navigation and water to the heart of North America, and sustains extensive marine fisheries. The river has built a delta that is home to millions of people and yet is subsiding rapidly. Ancestral Mississippi fluvial-marine deposits continue to yield high-value petroleum resources to exploration. To address the range of temporal and spatial scales over which the system has developed and continues to evolve, we will focus on three geological time spans that display contrasting geologic forcing and response: Miocene, Pleistocene, and late Holocene. The present configuration of source, conduit, and sink were established during the Miocene epoch, when tectonics (via the uplifting southern Rockies, and later the rejuvenated Appalachians) and climate (wet in the east and dry in the west) provided abundant water and sediment to prograde the shelf margin and initiate deep-sea fan growth. Pleistocene continental glaciation, eustasy, and catastrophic drainage events further sculpted the alluvial valley, and extended the shelf margin, and fan. Studies of Modern processes and Holocene delta development have provided keys to both the delta's past and future evolution, in terms of cyclic autogenic lobe-switching, mass-transport events, storm-driven sediment delivery to canyon heads, and allogenic/anthropogenic controls on sediment supply and subsidence.

  11. Spatially varying density dependence drives a shifting mosaic of survival in a recovering apex predator (Canis lupus).

    PubMed

    O'Neil, Shawn T; Bump, Joseph K; Beyer, Dean E

    2017-11-01

    Understanding landscape patterns in mortality risk is crucial for promoting recovery of threatened and endangered species. Humans affect mortality risk in large carnivores such as wolves ( Canis lupus ), but spatiotemporally varying density dependence can significantly influence the landscape of survival. This potentially occurs when density varies spatially and risk is unevenly distributed. We quantified spatiotemporal sources of variation in survival rates of gray wolves ( C. lupus ) during a 21-year period of population recovery in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, USA. We focused on mapping risk across time using Cox Proportional Hazards (CPH) models with time-dependent covariates, thus exploring a shifting mosaic of survival. Extended CPH models and time-dependent covariates revealed influences of seasonality, density dependence and experience, as well as individual-level factors and landscape predictors of risk. We used results to predict the shifting landscape of risk at the beginning, middle, and end of the wolf recovery time series. Survival rates varied spatially and declined over time. Long-term change was density-dependent, with landscape predictors such as agricultural land cover and edge densities contributing negatively to survival. Survival also varied seasonally and depended on individual experience, sex, and resident versus transient status. The shifting landscape of survival suggested that increasing density contributed to greater potential for human conflict and wolf mortality risk. Long-term spatial variation in key population vital rates is largely unquantified in many threatened, endangered, and recovering species. Variation in risk may indicate potential for source-sink population dynamics, especially where individuals preemptively occupy suitable territories, which forces new individuals into riskier habitat types as density increases. We encourage managers to explore relationships between adult survival and localized changes in population density. Density-dependent risk maps can identify increasing conflict areas or potential habitat sinks which may persist due to high recruitment in adjacent habitats.

  12. Genetic distinction between contiguous urban and rural multimammate mice in Tanzania despite gene flow.

    PubMed

    Gryseels, S; Goüy de Bellocq, J; Makundi, R; Vanmechelen, K; Broeckhove, J; Mazoch, V; Šumbera, R; Zima, J; Leirs, H; Baird, S J E

    2016-10-01

    Special conditions are required for genetic differentiation to arise at a local geographical scale in the face of gene flow. The Natal multimammate mouse, Mastomys natalensis, is the most widely distributed and abundant rodent in sub-Saharan Africa. A notorious agricultural pest and a natural host for many zoonotic diseases, it can live in close proximity to humans and appears to compete with other rodents for the synanthropic niche. We surveyed its population genetic structure across a 180-km transect in central Tanzania along which the landscape varied between agricultural land in a rural setting and natural woody vegetation, rivers, roads and a city (Morogoro). We sampled M. natalensis across 10 localities and genotyped 15 microsatellite loci from 515 individuals. Hierarchical STRUCTURE analyses show a K-invariant pattern distinguishing Morogoro suburbs (located in the centre of the transect) from nine surrounding rural localities. Landscape connectivity analyses in Circuitscape and comparison of rainfall patterns suggest that neither geographical isolation nor natural breeding asynchrony could explain the genetic differentiation of the urban population. Using the isolation-with-migration model implemented in IMa2, we inferred that a split between suburban and rural populations would have occurred recently (<150 years ago) with higher urban effective population density consistent with an urban source to rural sink of effective migration. The observed genetic differentiation of urban multimammate mice is striking given the uninterrupted distribution of the animal throughout the landscape and the high estimates of effective migration (2N e M = 3.0 and 29.7), suggesting a strong selection gradient across the urban boundary. © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology. Journal of Evolutionary Biology © 2016 European Society For Evolutionary Biology.

  13. Fgf8 morphogen gradient forms by a source-sink mechanism with freely diffusing molecules.

    PubMed

    Yu, Shuizi Rachel; Burkhardt, Markus; Nowak, Matthias; Ries, Jonas; Petrásek, Zdenek; Scholpp, Steffen; Schwille, Petra; Brand, Michael

    2009-09-24

    It is widely accepted that tissue differentiation and morphogenesis in multicellular organisms are regulated by tightly controlled concentration gradients of morphogens. How exactly these gradients are formed, however, remains unclear. Here we show that Fgf8 morphogen gradients in living zebrafish embryos are established and maintained by two essential factors: fast, free diffusion of single molecules away from the source through extracellular space, and a sink function of the receiving cells, regulated by receptor-mediated endocytosis. Evidence is provided by directly examining single molecules of Fgf8 in living tissue by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, quantifying their local mobility and concentration with high precision. By changing the degree of uptake of Fgf8 into its target cells, we are able to alter the shape of the Fgf8 gradient. Our results demonstrate that a freely diffusing morphogen can set up concentration gradients in a complex multicellular tissue by a simple source-sink mechanism.

  14. Enzyme localization, crowding, and buffers collectively modulate diffusion-influenced signal transduction: Insights from continuum diffusion modeling

    PubMed Central

    Kekenes-Huskey, Peter M.; Eun, Changsun; McCammon, J. A.

    2015-01-01

    Biochemical reaction networks consisting of coupled enzymes connect substrate signaling events with biological function. Substrates involved in these reactions can be strongly influenced by diffusion “barriers” arising from impenetrable cellular structures and macromolecules, as well as interactions with biomolecules, especially within crowded environments. For diffusion-influenced reactions, the spatial organization of diffusion barriers arising from intracellular structures, non-specific crowders, and specific-binders (buffers) strongly controls the temporal and spatial reaction kinetics. In this study, we use two prototypical biochemical reactions, a Goodwin oscillator, and a reaction with a periodic source/sink term to examine how a diffusion barrier that partitions substrates controls reaction behavior. Namely, we examine how conditions representative of a densely packed cytosol, including reduced accessible volume fraction, non-specific interactions, and buffers, impede diffusion over nanometer length-scales. We find that diffusion barriers can modulate the frequencies and amplitudes of coupled diffusion-influenced reaction networks, as well as give rise to “compartments” of decoupled reactant populations. These effects appear to be intensified in the presence of buffers localized to the diffusion barrier. These findings have strong implications for the role of the cellular environment in tuning the dynamics of signaling pathways. PMID:26342355

  15. Gypsum Wallboard as a sink for formaldehyde

    EPA Science Inventory

    Formaldehyde (HCHO) has been of special concern as an indoor air pollutant because of its presence in a wide range of consumer products and its adverse health effects. Materials acting as HCHO sinks, such as painted gypsum wallboard, can become emission sources. However, adsorpti...

  16. Combining stable isotope and carbohydrate analyses in phloem sap and fine roots to study seasonal changes of source-sink relationships in a Mediterranean beech forest.

    PubMed

    Scartazza, Andrea; Moscatello, Stefano; Matteucci, Giorgio; Battistelli, Alberto; Brugnoli, Enrico

    2015-08-01

    Carbon isotope composition (δ(13)C) and carbohydrate content of phloem sap and fine roots were measured in a Mediterranean beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) forest throughout the growing season to study seasonal changes of source-sink relationships. Seasonal variations of δ(13)C and content of phloem sap sugars, collected during the daylight period, reflected the changes in soil and plant water status. The correlation between δ(13)C and content of phloem sap sugars, collected from plants belonging to different social classes, was significantly positive only during the driest month of July. In this month, δ(13)C of phloem sap sugars was inversely related to the increment of trunk radial growth and positively related to δ(13)C of fine roots. We conclude that the relationship between δ(13)C and the amount of phloem sap sugars is affected by a combination of causes, such as sink strength, tree social class, changes in phloem anatomy and transport capacity, and phloem loading of sugars to restore sieve tube turgor following the reduced plant water potential under drought conditions. However, δ(13)C and sugar composition of fine roots suggested that phloem transport of leaf sucrose to this belowground component was not impaired by mild drought and that sucrose was in a large part allocated towards fine roots in July, depending on tree social class. Hence, fine roots could represent a functional carbon sink during the dry seasonal periods, when transport and use of assimilates in other sink tissues are reduced. These results indicate a strict link between above- and belowground processes and highlight a rapid response of this Mediterranean forest to changes in environmental drivers to regulate source-sink relationships and carbon sink capacity. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Resilience in Source to Sink Systems: A Millennial Record of Watershed Responses to Disturbance in Loon Lake, Umpqua River Basin, Oregon

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guerrero, F. J.; Richardson, K.; Hatten, J. A.

    2017-12-01

    Small mountainous watersheds are disproportionate sources of particulate organic matter (POM) to long-term sinks like lake bottoms and the ocean. Thus, alterations in sediment routing resulting from disturbances (e.g. earthquakes, fires, and timber harvesting) have profound consequences on watershed's (biogeochemical) resilience. The assessment of these biogeochemical impacts is complicated by the episodic signal propagation along these source-to-sink systems and therefore is seldom attempted. We report on a 1500-year record of historical changes in Loon Lake, a local sedimentary sink (1.2 km2) for a 230 km2 watershed in the Oregon Coast Range. Particle size distributions and POM elemental composition (C, N) were sampled at high temporal resolution ( 3 years). Stable isotopic composition and lignin biomarkers were sampled with varying temporal resolution depending on the period analyzed: 1939-2013 (3-year resolution); 515-1939 (15-year resolution). Disturbance history in Loon Lake catchment is recorded as a sequence of event beds deposited in sharp contrast within a matrix of background sedimentation. At least 8 out of 23 event beds were associated with >8.2 magnitude earthquakes (including the 9.0 megathrust earthquake in 1700). Forest fires in 1770 and 1890 were also recorded as event beds. After 1939, event beds record the impacts of landscape destabilization due to the interaction between intense storms and timber harvesting. At the onset of each event, %C, %N, and C:N ratios increased reflecting the input of coarse POM from surficial soil horizons. Top layers bracketing event beds are rich in clays and have low %C, suggesting a deep-soil sediment source. Isotopic signatures (i.e. δ13C, δ15N) confirm the allochthony of sediment inputs during events and lignin biomarkers suggest a replacement of riparian inputs by a strong gymnosperm signal, particularly after 1945. Thus, event beds record changes in the relative importance of different sediment sources within the catchment as they connect with their sink on the lake bottom. In contrast with continuous records of ecosystem changes from small watersheds, discontinuous records suggest the need for resilience assessments that go beyond the reconstruction of recovery paths to consider source to sink connectivity in small mountainous watersheds.

  18. Influence of plankton community structure on the sinking velocity of marine aggregates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bach, L. T.; Boxhammer, T.; Larsen, A.; Hildebrandt, N.; Schulz, K. G.; Riebesell, U.

    2016-08-01

    About 50 Gt of carbon is fixed photosynthetically by surface ocean phytoplankton communities every year. Part of this organic matter is reprocessed within the plankton community to form aggregates which eventually sink and export carbon into the deep ocean. The fraction of organic matter leaving the surface ocean is partly dependent on aggregate sinking velocity which accelerates with increasing aggregate size and density, where the latter is controlled by ballast load and aggregate porosity. In May 2011, we moored nine 25 m deep mesocosms in a Norwegian fjord to assess on a daily basis how plankton community structure affects material properties and sinking velocities of aggregates (Ø 80-400 µm) collected in the mesocosms' sediment traps. We noted that sinking velocity was not necessarily accelerated by opal ballast during diatom blooms, which could be due to relatively high porosity of these rather fresh aggregates. Furthermore, estimated aggregate porosity (Pestimated) decreased as the picoautotroph (0.2-2 µm) fraction of the phytoplankton biomass increased. Thus, picoautotroph-dominated communities may be indicative for food webs promoting a high degree of aggregate repackaging with potential for accelerated sinking. Blooms of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi revealed that cell concentrations of 1500 cells/mL accelerate sinking by about 35-40%, which we estimate (by one-dimensional modeling) to elevate organic matter transfer efficiency through the mesopelagic from 14 to 24%. Our results indicate that sinking velocities are influenced by the complex interplay between the availability of ballast minerals and aggregate packaging; both of which are controlled by plankton community structure.

  19. Reduced-Stress Mounting for Thermocouples

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wood, C.

    1986-01-01

    Mounting accommodates widely different coefficients of thermal expansion. In new method, legs of thermocouple placed in separate n- and p-type arrays. Two arrays contact common heat pipe as source but have separate heatpipe sinks. Net expansion (or contraction) taken up by spring mounting on heat-pipe sinks.

  20. MEASUREMENT OF VOCS DESORBED FROM BUILDING MATERIALS--A HIGH TEMPERATURE DYNAMIC CHAMBER METHOD

    EPA Science Inventory

    Mass balance is a commonly used approach for characterizing the source and sink behavior of building materials. Because the traditional sink test methods evaluate the adsorption and desorption of volatile organic compounds (VOC) at ambient temperatures, the desorption process is...

  1. Current source density analysis of the hippocampal theta rhythm: associated sustained potentials and candidate synaptic generators.

    PubMed

    Brankack, J; Stewart, M; Fox, S E

    1993-07-02

    Single-electrode depth profiles of the hippocampal EEG were made in urethane-anesthetized rats and rats trained in an alternating running/drinking task. Current source density (CSD) was computed from the voltage as a function of depth. A problem inherent to AC-coupled profiles was eliminated by incorporating sustained potential components of the EEG. 'AC' profiles force phasic current sinks to alternate with current sources at each lamina, changing the magnitude and even the sign of the computed membrane current. It was possible to include DC potentials in the profiles from anesthetized rats by using glass micropipettes for recording. A method of 'subtracting' profiles of the non-theta EEG from theta profiles was developed as an approach to including sustained potentials in recordings from freely-moving animals implanted with platinum electrodes. 'DC' profiles are superior to 'AC' profiles for analysis of EEG activity because 'DC'-CSD values can be considered correct in sign and more closely represent the actual membrane current magnitudes. Since hippocampal inputs are laminated, CSD analysis leads to straightforward predictions of the afferents involved. Theta-related activity in afferents from entorhinal neurons, hippocampal interneurons and ipsi- and contralateral hippocampal pyramids all appear to contribute to sources and sinks in CA1 and the dentate area. The largest theta-related generator was a sink at the fissure, having both phasic and tonic components. This sink may reflect activity in afferents from the lateral entorhinal cortex. The phase of the dentate mid-molecular sink suggests that medial entorhinal afferents drive the theta-related granule and pyramidal cell firing. The sustained components may be simply due to different average rates of firing during theta rhythm than during non-theta EEG in afferents whose firing rates are also phasically modulated.

  2. Methane Emissions from Upland Forests

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Megonigal, Patrick; Pitz, Scott; Wang, Zhi-Ping

    2016-04-01

    Global budgets ascribe 4-10% of atmospheric methane sinks to upland soils and assume that soils are the sole surface for methane exchange between upland forests and the atmosphere. The dogma that upland forests are uniformly atmospheric methane sinks was challenged a decade ago by the discovery of abiotic methane production from plant tissue. Subsequently a variety of relatively cryptic microbial and non-microbial methane sources have been proposed that have the potential to emit methane in upland forests. Despite the accumulating evidence of potential methane sources, there are few data demonstrating actual emissions of methane from a plant surface in an upland forest. We report direct observations of methane emissions from upland tree stems in two temperate forests. Stem methane emissions were observed from several tree species that dominate a forest located on the mid-Atlantic coast of North America (Maryland, USA). Stem emissions occurred throughout the growing season while soils adjacent to the trees simultaneously consumed methane. Scaling fluxes by stem surface area suggested the forest was a net methane source during a wet period in June, and that stem emissions offset 5% of the soil methane sink on an annual basis. High frequency measurements revealed diurnal cycles in stem methane emission rates, pointing to soils as the methane source and transpiration as the most likely pathway for gas transport. Similar observations were made in an upland forest in Beijing, China. However, in this case the evidence suggested the methane was not produced in soils, but in the heartwood by microbial or non-microbial processes. These data challenge the concept that forests are uniform sinks of methane, and suggest that upland forests are smaller methane sinks than previously estimated due to stem emissions. Tree emissions may be particularly important in upland tropical forests characterized by high rainfall and transpiration.

  3. Source-to-sink transport of sugar and regulation by environmental factors

    PubMed Central

    Lemoine, Remi; Camera, Sylvain La; Atanassova, Rossitza; Dédaldéchamp, Fabienne; Allario, Thierry; Pourtau, Nathalie; Bonnemain, Jean-Louis; Laloi, Maryse; Coutos-Thévenot, Pierre; Maurousset, Laurence; Faucher, Mireille; Girousse, Christine; Lemonnier, Pauline; Parrilla, Jonathan; Durand, Mickael

    2013-01-01

    Source-to-sink transport of sugar is one of the major determinants of plant growth and relies on the efficient and controlled distribution of sucrose (and some other sugars such as raffinose and polyols) across plant organs through the phloem. However, sugar transport through the phloem can be affected by many environmental factors that alter source/sink relationships. In this paper, we summarize current knowledge about the phloem transport mechanisms and review the effects of several abiotic (water and salt stress, mineral deficiency, CO2, light, temperature, air, and soil pollutants) and biotic (mutualistic and pathogenic microbes, viruses, aphids, and parasitic plants) factors. Concerning abiotic constraints, alteration of the distribution of sugar among sinks is often reported, with some sinks as roots favored in case of mineral deficiency. Many of these constraints impair the transport function of the phloem but the exact mechanisms are far from being completely known. Phloem integrity can be disrupted (e.g., by callose deposition) and under certain conditions, phloem transport is affected, earlier than photosynthesis. Photosynthesis inhibition could result from the increase in sugar concentration due to phloem transport decrease. Biotic interactions (aphids, fungi, viruses…) also affect crop plant productivity. Recent breakthroughs have identified some of the sugar transporters involved in these interactions on the host and pathogen sides. The different data are discussed in relation to the phloem transport pathways. When possible, the link with current knowledge on the pathways at the molecular level will be highlighted. PMID:23898339

  4. Source-to-sink transport of sugar and regulation by environmental factors.

    PubMed

    Lemoine, Remi; La Camera, Sylvain; Atanassova, Rossitza; Dédaldéchamp, Fabienne; Allario, Thierry; Pourtau, Nathalie; Bonnemain, Jean-Louis; Laloi, Maryse; Coutos-Thévenot, Pierre; Maurousset, Laurence; Faucher, Mireille; Girousse, Christine; Lemonnier, Pauline; Parrilla, Jonathan; Durand, Mickael

    2013-01-01

    Source-to-sink transport of sugar is one of the major determinants of plant growth and relies on the efficient and controlled distribution of sucrose (and some other sugars such as raffinose and polyols) across plant organs through the phloem. However, sugar transport through the phloem can be affected by many environmental factors that alter source/sink relationships. In this paper, we summarize current knowledge about the phloem transport mechanisms and review the effects of several abiotic (water and salt stress, mineral deficiency, CO2, light, temperature, air, and soil pollutants) and biotic (mutualistic and pathogenic microbes, viruses, aphids, and parasitic plants) factors. Concerning abiotic constraints, alteration of the distribution of sugar among sinks is often reported, with some sinks as roots favored in case of mineral deficiency. Many of these constraints impair the transport function of the phloem but the exact mechanisms are far from being completely known. Phloem integrity can be disrupted (e.g., by callose deposition) and under certain conditions, phloem transport is affected, earlier than photosynthesis. Photosynthesis inhibition could result from the increase in sugar concentration due to phloem transport decrease. Biotic interactions (aphids, fungi, viruses…) also affect crop plant productivity. Recent breakthroughs have identified some of the sugar transporters involved in these interactions on the host and pathogen sides. The different data are discussed in relation to the phloem transport pathways. When possible, the link with current knowledge on the pathways at the molecular level will be highlighted.

  5. Development of genetic diversity, differentiation and structure over 500 years in four ponderosa pine populations.

    PubMed

    Lesser, M R; Parchman, T L; Jackson, S T

    2013-05-01

    Population history plays an important role in shaping contemporary levels of genetic variation and geographic structure. This is especially true in small, isolated range-margin populations, where effects of inbreeding, genetic drift and gene flow may be more pronounced than in large continuous populations. Effects of landscape fragmentation and isolation distance may have implications for persistence of range-margin populations if they are demographic sinks. We studied four small, disjunct populations of ponderosa pine over a 500-year period. We coupled demographic data obtained through dendroecological methods with microsatellite data to discern how and when contemporary levels of allelic diversity, among and within-population levels of differentiation, and geographic structure, arose. Alleles accumulated rapidly following initial colonization, demonstrating proportionally high levels of gene flow into the populations. At population sizes of approximately 100 individuals, allele accumulation saturated. Levels of genetic differentiation among populations (F(ST) and Jost's D(est)) and diversity within populations (F(IS)) remained stable through time. There was no evidence of geographic genetic structure at any time in the populations' history. Proportionally, high gene flow in the early stages of population growth resulted in rapid accumulation of alleles and quickly created relatively homogenous genetic patterns among populations. Our study demonstrates that contemporary levels of genetic diversity were formed quickly and early in population development. How contemporary genetic diversity accumulates over time is a key facet of understanding population growth and development. This is especially relevant given the extent and speed at which species ranges are predicted to shift in the coming century. © 2013 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  6. Honeycomb-Fin Heat Sink

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rippel, Wally E.

    1989-01-01

    Improved finned heat sink for electronic components more lightweight, inexpensive, and efficient. Designed for use with forced air, easily scaled up to dissipate power up to few hundred watts. Fins are internal walls of aluminum honeycomb structure. Cell structure gives strength to thin aluminum foil. Length of channels chosen for thermodynamic efficency; columns of cells combined in any reasonable number because flowing air distributed to all. Heat sink cools nearly as effectively at ends as near its center, no matter how many columns of cells combined.

  7. Genome-Wide Identification, 3D Modeling, Expression and Enzymatic Activity Analysis of Cell Wall Invertase Gene Family from Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz)

    PubMed Central

    Yao, Yuan; Geng, Meng-Ting; Wu, Xiao-Hui; Liu, Jiao; Li, Rui-Mei; Hu, Xin-Wen; Guo, Jian-Chun

    2014-01-01

    The cell wall invertases play a crucial role on the sucrose metabolism in plant source and sink organs. In this research, six cell wall invertase genes (MeCWINV1-6) were cloned from cassava. All the MeCWINVs contain a putative signal peptide with a predicted extracellular location. The overall predicted structures of the MeCWINV1-6 are similar to AtcwINV1. Their N-terminus domain forms a β-propeller module and three conserved sequence domains (NDPNG, RDP and WECP(V)D), in which the catalytic residues are situated in these domains; while the C-terminus domain consists of a β-sandwich module. The predicted structure of Pro residue from the WECPD (MeCWINV1, 2, 5, and 6), and Val residue from the WECVD (MeCWINV3 and 4) are different. The activity of MeCWINV1 and 3 were higher than other MeCWINVs in leaves and tubers, which suggested that sucrose was mainly catalyzed by the MeCWINV1 and 3 in the apoplastic space of cassava source and sink organs. The transcriptional levels of all the MeCWINVs and their enzymatic activity were lower in tubers than in leaves at all the stages during the cassava tuber development. It suggested that the major role of the MeCWINVs was on the regulation of carbon exportation from source leaves, and the ratio of sucrose to hexose in the apoplasts; the role of these enzymes on the sucrose unloading to tuber was weaker. PMID:24786092

  8. Genome-wide identification, 3D modeling, expression and enzymatic activity analysis of cell wall invertase gene family from cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz).

    PubMed

    Yao, Yuan; Geng, Meng-Ting; Wu, Xiao-Hui; Liu, Jiao; Li, Rui-Mei; Hu, Xin-Wen; Guo, Jian-Chun

    2014-04-28

    The cell wall invertases play a crucial role on the sucrose metabolism in plant source and sink organs. In this research, six cell wall invertase genes (MeCWINV1-6) were cloned from cassava. All the MeCWINVs contain a putative signal peptide with a predicted extracellular location. The overall predicted structures of the MeCWINV1-6 are similar to AtcwINV1. Their N-terminus domain forms a β-propeller module and three conserved sequence domains (NDPNG, RDP and WECP(V)D), in which the catalytic residues are situated in these domains; while the C-terminus domain consists of a β-sandwich module. The predicted structure of Pro residue from the WECPD (MeCWINV1, 2, 5, and 6), and Val residue from the WECVD (MeCWINV3 and 4) are different. The activity of MeCWINV1 and 3 were higher than other MeCWINVs in leaves and tubers, which suggested that sucrose was mainly catalyzed by the MeCWINV1 and 3 in the apoplastic space of cassava source and sink organs. The transcriptional levels of all the MeCWINVs and their enzymatic activity were lower in tubers than in leaves at all the stages during the cassava tuber development. It suggested that the major role of the MeCWINVs was on the regulation of carbon exportation from source leaves, and the ratio of sucrose to hexose in the apoplasts; the role of these enzymes on the sucrose unloading to tuber was weaker.

  9. Dynamics of prolonged salt movement in the Glückstadt Graben (NW Germany) driven by tectonic and sedimentary processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Warsitzka, Michael; Kley, Jonas; Jähne-Klingberg, Fabian; Kukowski, Nina

    2017-01-01

    The formation of salt structures exerted a major influence on the evolution of subsidence and sedimentation patterns in the Glückstadt Graben, which is part of the Central European Basin System and comprises a post-Permian sediment thickness of up to 11 km. Driven by regional tectonics and differential loading, large salt diapirs, salt walls and salt pillows developed. The resulting salt flow significantly influenced sediment distribution in the peripheral sinks adjacent to the salt structures and overprinted the regional subsidence patterns. In this study, we investigate the geometric and temporal evolution of salt structures and subsidence patterns in the central Glückstadt Graben. Along a key geological cross section, the post-Permian strata were sequentially decompacted and restored in order to reconstruct the subsidence history of minibasins between the salt structures. The structural restoration reveals that subsidence of peripheral sinks and salt structure growth were initiated in Early to Middle Triassic time. From the Late Triassic to the Middle Jurassic, salt movement and salt structure growth never ceased, but were faster during periods of crustal extension. Following a phase from Late Jurassic to the end of the early Late Cretaceous, in which minor salt flow occurred, salt movement was renewed, particularly in the marginal parts of the Glückstadt Graben. Subsidence rates and tectonic subsidence derived from backstripping of 1D profiles reveal that especially the Early Triassic and Middle Keuper times were periods of regional extension. Three specific types of salt structures and adjacent peripheral sinks could be identified: (1) Graben centre salt walls possessing deep secondary peripheral sinks on the sides facing away from the basin centre, (2) platform salt walls, whose main peripheral sinks switched multiple times from one side of the salt wall to the other, and (3) Graben edge pillows, which show only one peripheral sink facing the basin centre.

  10. Transition to a Source with Modified Physical Parameters by Energy Supply or Using an External Force

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kucherov, A. N.

    2017-11-01

    A study has been made of the possibility for the physical parameters of a source/sink, i.e., for the enthalpy, temperature, total pressure, maximum velocity, and minimum dimension, at a constant radial Mach number to be changed by energy or force action on the gas in a bounded zone. It has been shown that the parameters can be controlled at a subsonic, supersonic, and transonic (sonic in the limit) radial Mach number. In the updated source/sink, all versions of a vortex-source combination can be implemented: into a vacuum, out of a vacuum, into a submerged space, and out of a submerged space, partially or fully.

  11. Watershed nitrogen and phosphorus balance: The upper Potomac River basin

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jaworski, N.A.; Groffman, P.M.; Keller, A.A.

    1992-01-01

    Nitrogen and phosphorus mass balances were estimated for the portion of the Potomac River basin watershed located above Washington, D.C. The total nitrogen (N) balance included seven input source terms, six sinks, and one 'change-in-storage' term, but was simplified to five input terms and three output terms. The phosphorus (P) baance had four input and three output terms. The estimated balances are based on watershed data from seven information sources. Major sources of nitrogen are animal waste and atmospheric deposition. The major sources of phosphorus are animal waste and fertilizer. The major sink for nitrogen is combined denitrification, volatilization, andmore » change-in-storage. The major sink for phosphorus is change-in-storage. River exports of N and P were 17% and 8%, respectively, of the total N and P inputs. Over 60% of the N and P were volatilized or stored. The major input and output terms on the budget are estimated from direct measurements, but the change-in-storage term is calculated by difference. The factors regulating retention and storage processes are discussed and research needs are identified.« less

  12. Research in atmospheric chemistry and transport

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yung, Y. L.

    1982-01-01

    The carbon monoxide cycle was studied by incorporating the known CO sources and sinks in a tracer model which used the winds generated by a general circulation model. The photochemical production and loss terms, which depended on OH radical concentrations, were calculated in an interactive fashion. Comparison of the computed global distribution and seasonal variations of CO with observations was used to yield constraints on the distribution and magnitude of the sources and sinks of CO, and the abundance of OH radicals in the troposphere.

  13. Evolvable circuit with transistor-level reconfigurability

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stoica, Adrian (Inventor); Salazar-Lazaro, Carlos Harold (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    An evolvable circuit includes a plurality of reconfigurable switches, a plurality of transistors within a region of the circuit, the plurality of transistors having terminals, the plurality of transistors being coupled between a power source terminal and a power sink terminal so as to be capable of admitting power between the power source terminal and the power sink terminal, the plurality of transistors being coupled so that every transistor terminal to transistor terminal coupling within the region of the circuit comprises a reconfigurable switch.

  14. Evolutionary Technique for Automated Synthesis of Electronic Circuits

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stoica, Adrian (Inventor); Salazar-Lazaro, Carlos Harold (Inventor)

    2007-01-01

    An evolvable circuit includes a plurality of reconfigurable switches, a plurality of transistors within a region of the circuit, the plurality of transistors having terminals, the plurality of transistors being coupled between a power source terminal and a power sink terminal so as to be capable of admitting power between the power source terminal and the power sink terminal, the plurality of transistors being coupled so that every transistor to transistor terminal coupling within the region of the circuit comprises a reconfigurable switch.

  15. CO2 Flux Estimation Errors Associated with Moist Atmospheric Processes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Parazoo, N. C.; Denning, A. S.; Kawa, S. R.; Pawson, S.; Lokupitiya, R.

    2012-01-01

    Vertical transport by moist sub-grid scale processes such as deep convection is a well-known source of uncertainty in CO2 source/sink inversion. However, a dynamical link between vertical transport, satellite based retrievals of column mole fractions of CO2, and source/sink inversion has not yet been established. By using the same offline transport model with meteorological fields from slightly different data assimilation systems, we examine sensitivity of frontal CO2 transport and retrieved fluxes to different parameterizations of sub-grid vertical transport. We find that frontal transport feeds off background vertical CO2 gradients, which are modulated by sub-grid vertical transport. The implication for source/sink estimation is two-fold. First, CO2 variations contained in moist poleward moving air masses are systematically different from variations in dry equatorward moving air. Moist poleward transport is hidden from orbital sensors on satellites, causing a sampling bias, which leads directly to small but systematic flux retrieval errors in northern mid-latitudes. Second, differences in the representation of moist sub-grid vertical transport in GEOS-4 and GEOS-5 meteorological fields cause differences in vertical gradients of CO2, which leads to systematic differences in moist poleward and dry equatorward CO2 transport and therefore the fraction of CO2 variations hidden in moist air from satellites. As a result, sampling biases are amplified and regional scale flux errors enhanced, most notably in Europe (0.43+/-0.35 PgC /yr). These results, cast from the perspective of moist frontal transport processes, support previous arguments that the vertical gradient of CO2 is a major source of uncertainty in source/sink inversion.

  16. Ecophysiology of phototrophic sulfur bacteria in lakes: Vertical distribution of planktonic populations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Guerrero, R.

    1985-01-01

    The study of purple and green sulfur bacterial populations in nature is of interest for the following reasons: (1) high quantities of biomass, with low species diversity can be collected; (2) study of planktonic life permits one to understand the mechanisms, structural as well as physiological, used to maintain their vertical position without sinking; and (3) they are capable of sulfur oxidations and reductions that act as important intermediates in the global sulfur cycle. Purple and green photosynthetic bacteria, moreover, may be responsible for certain geological deposits. Planktonic phototrophic sulfur bacteria were analyzed in relation to their vertical distribution in the water column. Factors, including competition for light, that determine their sedimentation rates and the numerical changes in species and populations were assessed.

  17. Does phloem loading strategy and capacity alter plant response to elevated atmospheric [CO2]?

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A better understanding of the interactions between photosynthesis, photoassimilate translocation and sink activity is necessary to improve crop productivity. Rising atmospheric [CO2] perturbs source-sink balance which needs to be addressed to adapt crops to future growing conditions. This project ta...

  18. CARPET AS A SINK FOR CHLORPYRIFOS FOLLOWING THE USE OF TOTAL RELEASE AEROSOLS IN THE EPA TEST HOUSE

    EPA Science Inventory

    Pesticides may be found in homes from indoor applications to control pests or by their translocation from outdoor sources. Contaminants may persist adsorbed to surfaces and/or particles in "sinks" where over time they may dissociate as airborne vapors. Experiments wer...

  19. Is phloem loading a driver of plant photosynthetic responses to elevated atmospheric [CO2]? 

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    A better understanding of the interactions between photosynthesis, photoassimilate translocation and sink activity is necessary to improve crop productivity. Rising atmospheric [CO2] is perturbing source-sink balance in a manner not experienced by crops during the history of their cultivation, so ne...

  20. Modeling the dynamical sinking of biogenic particles in eastern-boundary upwelling systems

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rossi, Vincent; Monroy, Pedro; López, Cristobal; Hernández-García, Emilio; Dewitte, Boris; Paulmier, Aurélien; Garçon, Véronique

    2017-04-01

    Although most of the organic material produced by photosynthesis in the upper ocean is recycled in surface waters, a significant portion sinks into the deep ocean where it is stored for long time-scales. Knowledge of the export flux of organic carbon from the sea surface to depths is needed to estimate the efficiency of the biological carbon pump, a key process of global carbon cycling. We study how the sinking of biogenic particles produced in the euphotic layer is affected by subsurface ocean currents as derived from a regional dynamical model. In the range of sizes and densities appropriate for marine biogenic particles, the sinking trajectories are given by the equation of motion of small particles in a fluid flow (Maxey-Riley equation). We use a modelled 3-dimensional velocity field with major energetic structures in the mesoscale and we assess the influence of physical processes such as the Coriolis force and the inertia of the particles. We find that the latter forces are negligible as compared to the most important terms, which are passive motion with the velocity of the flow and a constant added vertical velocity due to gravity. Horizontal two-dimensional clustering is observed at depth, similar to the inhomogeneities observed in sinking ocean particles. Based on ensemble experiments, we explore the influence of the mean flow and the mesoscale eddy field on particles lateral advection and size fractionation. This modeling framework allows us to extend the concept of particle source funnels and helps interpreting particles fluxes estimated from sediment traps deployed in upwelling systems, informing the spatial mismatch between surface production and particle export.

  1. Isolation of Phyllosilicate–Iron Redox Cycling Microorganisms from an Illite–Smectite Rich Hydromorphic Soil

    PubMed Central

    Shelobolina, Evgenya; Konishi, Hiromi; Xu, Huifang; Benzine, Jason; Xiong, Mai Yia; Wu, Tao; Blöthe, Marco; Roden, Eric

    2012-01-01

    The biogeochemistry of phyllosilicate–Fe redox cycling was studied in a Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass) dominated redoximorphic soil from Shovelers Sink, a small glacial depression near Madison, WI. The clay size fraction of Shovelers Sink soil accounts for 16% of the dry weight of the soil, yet contributes 74% of total Fe. The dominant mineral in the clay size fraction is mixed layer illite–smectite, and in contrast to many other soils and sediments, Fe(III) oxides are present in low abundance. We examined the Fe biogeochemistry of Shovelers Sink soils, estimated the abundance of Fe redox cycling microorganisms, and isolated in pure culture representative phyllosilicate–Fe oxidizing and reducing organisms. The abundance of phyllosilicate–Fe reducing and oxidizing organisms was low compared to culturable aerobic heterotrophs. Both direct isolation and dilution-to-extinction approaches using structural Fe(II) in Bancroft biotite as a Fe(II) source, and O2 as the electron acceptor, resulted in recovery of common rhizosphere organisms including Bradyrhizobium spp. and strains of Cupriavidus necator and Ralstonia solanacearum. In addition to oxidizing biotite and soluble Fe(II) with O2, each of these isolates was able to oxidize Fe(II) in reduced NAu-2 smectite with NO3- as the electron acceptor. Oxidized NAu-2 smectite or amorphous Fe(III) oxide served as electron acceptors for enrichment and isolation of Fe(III)-reducing microorganisms, resulting in recovery of a strain related to Geobacter toluenoxydans. The ability of the recovered microorganisms to cycle phyllosilicate–Fe was verified in an experiment with native Shovelers Sink clay. This study confirms that Fe in the native Shovelers Sink clay is readily available for microbial redox transformation and can be cycled by the Fe(III)-reducing and Fe(II)-oxidizing microorganisms recovered from the soil. PMID:22493596

  2. Isolation of phyllosilicate-iron redox cycling microorganisms from an illite-smectite rich hydromorphic soil.

    PubMed

    Shelobolina, Evgenya; Konishi, Hiromi; Xu, Huifang; Benzine, Jason; Xiong, Mai Yia; Wu, Tao; Blöthe, Marco; Roden, Eric

    2012-01-01

    The biogeochemistry of phyllosilicate-Fe redox cycling was studied in a Phalaris arundinacea (reed canary grass) dominated redoximorphic soil from Shovelers Sink, a small glacial depression near Madison, WI. The clay size fraction of Shovelers Sink soil accounts for 16% of the dry weight of the soil, yet contributes 74% of total Fe. The dominant mineral in the clay size fraction is mixed layer illite-smectite, and in contrast to many other soils and sediments, Fe(III) oxides are present in low abundance. We examined the Fe biogeochemistry of Shovelers Sink soils, estimated the abundance of Fe redox cycling microorganisms, and isolated in pure culture representative phyllosilicate-Fe oxidizing and reducing organisms. The abundance of phyllosilicate-Fe reducing and oxidizing organisms was low compared to culturable aerobic heterotrophs. Both direct isolation and dilution-to-extinction approaches using structural Fe(II) in Bancroft biotite as a Fe(II) source, and O(2) as the electron acceptor, resulted in recovery of common rhizosphere organisms including Bradyrhizobium spp. and strains of Cupriavidus necator and Ralstonia solanacearum. In addition to oxidizing biotite and soluble Fe(II) with O(2), each of these isolates was able to oxidize Fe(II) in reduced NAu-2 smectite with [Formula: see text] as the electron acceptor. Oxidized NAu-2 smectite or amorphous Fe(III) oxide served as electron acceptors for enrichment and isolation of Fe(III)-reducing microorganisms, resulting in recovery of a strain related to Geobacter toluenoxydans. The ability of the recovered microorganisms to cycle phyllosilicate-Fe was verified in an experiment with native Shovelers Sink clay. This study confirms that Fe in the native Shovelers Sink clay is readily available for microbial redox transformation and can be cycled by the Fe(III)-reducing and Fe(II)-oxidizing microorganisms recovered from the soil.

  3. Effects of low sink demand on leaf photosynthesis under potassium deficiency.

    PubMed

    Pan, Yonghui; Lu, Zhifeng; Lu, Jianwei; Li, Xiaokun; Cong, Rihuan; Ren, Tao

    2017-04-01

    The interaction between low sink demand and potassium (K) deficiency in leaf photosynthesis was not intensively investigated, therefore this interaction was investigated in winter oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Plants subjected to sufficient (+K) or insufficient (-K) K supply treatments were maintained or removed their flowers and pods; these conditions were defined as high sink demand (HS) or low sink demand (LS), respectively. The low sink demand induced a lower photosynthetic rate (P n ), especially in the -K treatment during the first week. A negative relationship between P n and carbohydrate concentration was observed in the -K treatment but not in the +K treatment, suggesting that the decrease in P n in the -K treatment was the result of sink feedback regulation under low sink demand. Longer sink removal duration increased carbohydrate concentration, but the enhanced assimilate did not influence P n . On the contrary, low sink demand resulted in a high K concentration, slower chloroplast degradation rate and better PSII activity, inducing a higher P n compared with HS. Consequently, low sink demand decreased leaf photosynthesis over the short term due to sink feedback regulation, and potassium deficiency enhanced the photosynthetic decrease through carbohydrate accumulation and a lower carbohydrate concentration threshold for initiating photosynthesis depression. A longer duration of limited sink demand and sufficient potassium supply resulted in a higher photosynthesis rate because of delayed chloroplast degradation. This finding indicates that the nutritional status plays a role in leaf photosynthesis variations due to sink-source manipulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

  4. Plant growth modelling and applications: the increasing importance of plant architecture in growth models.

    PubMed

    Fourcaud, Thierry; Zhang, Xiaopeng; Stokes, Alexia; Lambers, Hans; Körner, Christian

    2008-05-01

    Modelling plant growth allows us to test hypotheses and carry out virtual experiments concerning plant growth processes that could otherwise take years in field conditions. The visualization of growth simulations allows us to see directly and vividly the outcome of a given model and provides us with an instructive tool useful for agronomists and foresters, as well as for teaching. Functional-structural (FS) plant growth models are nowadays particularly important for integrating biological processes with environmental conditions in 3-D virtual plants, and provide the basis for more advanced research in plant sciences. In this viewpoint paper, we ask the following questions. Are we modelling the correct processes that drive plant growth, and is growth driven mostly by sink or source activity? In current models, is the importance of soil resources (nutrients, water, temperature and their interaction with meristematic activity) considered adequately? Do classic models account for architectural adjustment as well as integrating the fundamental principles of development? Whilst answering these questions with the available data in the literature, we put forward the opinion that plant architecture and sink activity must be pushed to the centre of plant growth models. In natural conditions, sinks will more often drive growth than source activity, because sink activity is often controlled by finite soil resources or developmental constraints. PMA06: This viewpoint paper also serves as an introduction to this Special Issue devoted to plant growth modelling, which includes new research covering areas stretching from cell growth to biomechanics. All papers were presented at the Second International Symposium on Plant Growth Modeling, Simulation, Visualization and Applications (PMA06), held in Beijing, China, from 13-17 November, 2006. Although a large number of papers are devoted to FS models of agricultural and forest crop species, physiological and genetic processes have recently been included and point the way to a new direction in plant modelling research.

  5. Extreme late-summer drought causes neutral annual carbon balance in southwestern ponderosa pine forests and grasslands

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kolb, Thomas; Dore, Sabina; Montes-Helu, Mario

    2013-03-01

    We assessed the impacts of extreme late-summer drought on carbon balance in a semi-arid forest region in Arizona. To understand drought impacts over extremes of forest cover, we measured net ecosystem production (NEP), gross primary production (GPP), and total ecosystem respiration (TER) with eddy covariance over five years (2006-10) at an undisturbed ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) forest and at a former forest converted to grassland by intense burning. Drought shifted annual NEP from a weak source of carbon to the atmosphere to a neutral carbon balance at the burned site and from a carbon sink to neutral at the undisturbed site. Carbon fluxes were particularly sensitive to drought in August. Drought shifted August NEP at the undisturbed site from sink to source because the reduction of GPP (70%) exceeded the reduction of TER (35%). At the burned site drought shifted August NEP from weak source to neutral because the reduction of TER (40%) exceeded the reduction of GPP (20%). These results show that the lack of forest recovery after burning and the exposure of undisturbed forests to late-summer drought reduce carbon sink strength and illustrate the high vulnerability of forest carbon sink strength in the southwest US to predicted increases in intense burning and precipitation variability.

  6. Are the Laurentian Great Lakes a CO2 Source or Sink?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fernandez, J.; Townsend-Small, A.

    2016-12-01

    As concentrations of CO2 increase in our atmosphere, large bodies of water are prone to an accompanying increase in CO2. Accruing CO2 sinking into the Great Lakes can create more acidic waters, which is detrimental to the healthy growth of organisms producing calcium carbonate skeletons - a phenomenon that has been confirmed in modern oceans. Recent estimates suggests that Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, and Lake Superior are sources of atmospheric CO2, while Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are CO2 sinks, although this is based largely on water volume and little research has been done to validate these predictions. Water samples were collected aboard the University National Oceanographic Laboratory System RV Blue Heron and the Canadian Coast Guard RV Limnos from Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Erie during the summer of 2016. Alkalinity and pCO2 were analyzed in lab to further calculate dissolved concentrations and fluxes of CO2, providing more information to resolve whether the Great Lakes are a CO2 source or sink. Additional work involves sampling all five of the Great lakes throughout the year to determine any seasonal trends in CO2. 13C-DIC will also be measured in order to differentiate methane oxidation and respiration to the CO2 pool.

  7. Striate cortical contribution to the transcorneal electrically evoked response of the visual system.

    PubMed

    Shimazu, K; Miyake, Y; Fukatsu, Y; Watanabe, S

    1996-01-01

    Analyses of current-source-density (CSD) and multiple unit activity (MUA) in area 17 of the cat were performed to determine the sources of the cortical transcorneal electrically evoked response. Cortical field potential, CSD and MUA profiles were obtained with multi-electrodes. CSD findings include: current sinks (inward cell membrane current) within 20 ms latency, in layers 4 and 6 of the striate cortex; current sinks corresponding to N3 (negative component of the EER; latency, 35 ms) in layer 4 and lower layer 3 with current sources (outward cell membrane current) for N3 in the supragranular layers; current sinks with latency over 40 ms in the supragranular layers. In the layers 4 and 6, simultaneous MUA was seen. When the stimulus frequency was increased or with dual stimulation, the N3 current sinks were decreased. This indicates that N1 (latency, 9 ms) and N2 (latency, 20 ms) reflect near-field potentials in layers 4 and 6, generated by geniculocortical afferents, and that N3 is a post- and polysynaptic component. It is also suggested that dipoles composed of cell bodies and the apical dendrites of pyramidal cells of layer 3, generated by satellite cells in layer 4, play a major role in generating N3.

  8. Experimental evaluation of the significance of the pressure transport term for the Turbulence Kinetic Energy Budget across contrasting forest architectures

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ehrnsperger, Laura; Wunder, Tobias; Thomas, Christoph

    2017-04-01

    Forests are one of the dominant vegetation types on Earth and are an important sink for carbon on our planet. Forests are special ecosystems due to their great canopy height und complex architecture consisting of a subcanopy and a canopy layer, which changes the mechanisms of turbulent exchange within the plant canopy. To date, the sinks and sources of turbulence in forest canopies are not completely understood, especially the role of the pressure transport remains unclear. The INTRAMIX experiment was conducted in a mountainous Norway spruce (Picea abies) forest at the Fluxnet Waldstein site (DE-Bay) in Bavaria, Germany, for a period of 10 weeks in order to experimentally evaluate the significance of the pressure transport to the TKE budget for the first time. The INTRAMIX data of the dense mountain forest was compared to observations from a sparse Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) stand in Oregon, USA, to study the influence of forest architecture. We hypothesized that the pressure transport is more important in dense forest canopies as the crown decouples the subcanopy from the buoyancy- and shear-driven flow above the canopy. It is also investigated how atmospheric stability influences the TKE budget. Based upon model results from literature we expect the pressure transport to act as a source for TKE especially under free convective and unstable dynamic stability. Results to date indicate that pressure transport is most important in the subcanopy with decreasing magnitude with increasing height. Nevertheless, pressure transport is a continuous source of TKE above the canopy, while in the canopy and subcanopy layer pressure transport acts both as a sink and source term for TKE. In the tree crown layer pressure transport is a source in the morning and afternoon hours and acts as a sink during the evening, while in the subcanopy pressure transport is a source around noon and during the night and acts as a sink in the early morning and afternoon hours. This complementary pattern suggests that the pressure transport is an important means for exchanging TKE across canopy layers.

  9. Rainfall-runoff response informed by exact solutions of Boussinesq equation on hillslopes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bartlett, M. S., Jr.; Porporato, A. M.

    2017-12-01

    The Boussinesq equation offers a powerful approach forunderstanding the flow dynamics of unconfined aquifers. Though this nonlinear equation allows for concise representation of both soil and geomorphological controls on groundwater flow, it has only been solved exactly for a limited number of initial and boundary conditions. These solutions do not include source/sink terms (evapotranspiration, recharge, and seepage to bedrock) and are typically limited to horizontal aquifers. Here we present a class of exact solutions that are general to sloping aquifers and a time varying source/sink term. By incorporating the source/sink term, they may describe aquifers with both time varying recharge over seasonal or weekly time scales, as well as a loss of water from seepage to the bedrock interface, which is a common feature in hillslopes. These new solutions shed light on the hysteretic relationship between streamflow and groundwater and the behavior of the hydrograph recession curves, thus providing a robust basis for deriving a runoff curves for the partition of rainfall into infiltration and runoff.

  10. Thermophoresis on boundary layer heat and mass transfer flow of Walters-B fluid past a radiate plate with heat sink/source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vasu, B.; Gorla, Rama Subba Reddy; Murthy, P. V. S. N.

    2017-05-01

    The Walters-B liquid model is employed to simulate medical creams and other rheological liquids encountered in biotechnology and chemical engineering. This rheological model introduces supplementary terms into the momentum conservation equation. The combined effects of thermal radiation and heat sink/source on transient free convective, laminar flow and mass transfer in a viscoelastic fluid past a vertical plate are presented by taking thermophoresis effect into account. The transformed conservation equations are solved using a stable, robust finite difference method. A parametric study illustrating the influence of viscoelasticity parameter ( Γ), thermophoretic parameter ( τ), thermal radiation parameter ( F), heat sink/source ( ϕ), Prandtl number ( Pr), Schmidt number ( Sc), thermal Grashof number ( Gr), solutal Grashof number ( Gm), temperature and concentration profiles as well as local skin-friction, Nusselt and Sherwood number is conducted. The results of this parametric study are shown graphically and inform of table. The study has applications in polymer materials processing.

  11. Urban land use choices and biogeochemical consequences

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hutyra, L.; Reinmann, A.; Decina, S.; Templer, P. H.

    2016-12-01

    Urban areas are the clear, dominant source of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions. However, urban areas are also a heterogeneous mix of biological CO2 sources and sinks. The magnitude and timing of sources and sinks varies diurnally and seasonally with phenology, climate, and nitrogen inputs. Both the anthropogenic and biological CO2 fluxes are highly sensitive to management choices. We present results quantifying the role of management preferences and land use decisions in influencing biological CO2 fluxes across a gradient of urban development. Specifically, we explore the fluxes from soil respiration, plant growth, and the role of nitrogen deposition and amendments across urban gradients.

  12. Temperate Forest Methane Sink Diminished by Tree Emissions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Megonigal, P.; Pitz, S.

    2015-12-01

    Global budgets ascribe 4-10% of atmospheric CH4 sinks to upland soils and assume that soils are the sole surface for CH4 exchange between upland forests and the atmosphere. The prevailing dogma that upland forests are sinks of atmospheric CH4 was challenged a decade ago by large discrepancies in bottom-up versus top-down models of CH4 concentrations over upland forests that are still unexplained. Evidence of a novel abiotic mechanism for CH4 production from plant tissue is too small to explain the discrepancy. Alternative hypotheses for this observation have been proposed, but not tested. Here we demonstrate that CH4 is emitted from the stems of dominant tree species in an upland forest. Tree emissions occur throughout the growing season while soils adjacent to the trees are consuming CH4, challenging the concept that forests are uniform sinks of CH4. Scaling by stem surface area showed the forest to be a net CH4 source during a wet sample in June and a reduced CH4 sink by 5% annually. High frequency measurements revealed diurnal cycling in the rate of CH4 emissions, pointing to soils as the CH4 source and transpiration as the most likely pathway for CH4 transport. We propose the forests are smaller CH4 sinks than previously estimated due to stem emissions. Stem emissions may be particularly important in upland tropical forests characterized by high rainfall and transpiration, resolving differences between models and measurements.

  13. SOURCES AND SINKS OF NEUTRALS AND PLASMA IN THE SATURNIAN MAGNETOSPHERE (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Richardson, J. D.

    2009-12-01

    This talk will review current knowledge on the source and sinks of plasm and energy in Saturn's magnetosphere. Enceladus dominates the water group source, with most of the material escaping from the plume near the southern pole. The relatively low corotation energy in this region results in less energy being available to heat electrons. The electrons are too cold to ionize the neutrals and the inner magnetosphere is dominated by neutrals. In addition, Saturn's atmosphere is a large source of neutral H, the rings contribute O2, and Titan is a source whose magnitude is controversial. In the inner magnetosphere most particles and energy are removed as fast neutrals; transport is more important further out and may be dominated by fingers of inflow and outflow as at Jupiter.

  14. Improvement of pea biomass and seed productivity by simultaneous increase of phloem and embryo loading with amino acids.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Lizhi; Garneau, Matthew G; Majumdar, Rajtilak; Grant, Jan; Tegeder, Mechthild

    2015-01-01

    The development of sink organs such as fruits and seeds strongly depends on the amount of nitrogen that is moved within the phloem from photosynthetic-active source leaves to the reproductive sinks. In many plant species nitrogen is transported as amino acids. In pea (Pisum sativum L.), source to sink partitioning of amino acids requires at least two active transport events mediated by plasma membrane-localized proteins, and these are: (i) amino acid phloem loading; and (ii) import of amino acids into the seed cotyledons via epidermal transfer cells. As each of these transport steps might potentially be limiting to efficient nitrogen delivery to the pea embryo, we manipulated both simultaneously. Additional copies of the pea amino acid permease PsAAP1 were introduced into the pea genome and expression of the transporter was targeted to the sieve element-companion cell complexes of the leaf phloem and to the epidermis of the seed cotyledons. The transgenic pea plants showed increased phloem loading and embryo loading of amino acids resulting in improved long distance transport of nitrogen, sink development and seed protein accumulation. Analyses of root and leaf tissues further revealed that genetic manipulation positively affected root nitrogen uptake, as well as primary source and sink metabolism. Overall, the results suggest that amino acid phloem loading exerts regulatory control over pea biomass production and seed yield, and that import of amino acids into the cotyledons limits seed protein levels. © 2014 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Local extinction of dragonfly and damselfly populations in low- and high-quality habitat patches.

    PubMed

    Suhonen, Jukka; Hilli-Lukkarinen, Milla; Korkeamäki, Esa; Kuitunen, Markku; Kullas, Johanna; Penttinen, Jouni; Salmela, Jukka

    2010-08-01

    Understanding the risk of extinction of a single population is an important problem in both theoretical and applied ecology. Local extinction risk depends on several factors, including population size, demographic or environmental stochasticity, natural catastrophe, or the loss of genetic diversity. The probability of local extinction may also be higher in low-quality sink habitats than in high-quality source habitats. We tested this hypothesis by comparing local extinction rates of 15 species of Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) between 1930-1975 and 1995-2003 in central Finland. Local extinction rates were higher in low-quality than in high-quality habitats. Nevertheless, for the three most common species there were no differences in extinction rates between low- and high-quality habitats. Our results suggest that a good understanding of habitat quality is crucial for the conservation of species in heterogeneous landscapes.

  16. Development of beryllium-based neutron target system with three-layer structure for accelerator-based neutron source for boron neutron capture therapy.

    PubMed

    Kumada, Hiroaki; Kurihara, Toshikazu; Yoshioka, Masakazu; Kobayashi, Hitoshi; Matsumoto, Hiroshi; Sugano, Tomei; Sakurai, Hideyuki; Sakae, Takeji; Matsumura, Akira

    2015-12-01

    The iBNCT project team with University of Tsukuba is developing an accelerator-based neutron source. Regarding neutron target material, our project has applied beryllium. To deal with large heat load and blistering of the target system, we developed a three-layer structure for the target system that includes a blistering mitigation material between the beryllium used as the neutron generator and the copper heat sink. The three materials were bonded through diffusion bonding using a hot isostatic pressing method. Based on several verifications, our project chose palladium as the intermediate layer. A prototype of the neutron target system was produced. We will verify that sufficient neutrons for BNCT treatment are generated by the device in the near future. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of discrepancies in stratosphere-troposphere exchange on inferred sources and sinks of CO2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deng, F.; Jones, D. B. A.; Walker, T. W.; Keller, M.; Bowman, K. W.; Henze, D. K.; Nassar, R.; Kort, E. A.; Wofsy, S. C.; Walker, K. A.; Bourassa, A. E.; Degenstein, D. A.

    2015-10-01

    The upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) represents a transition region between the more dynamically active troposphere and more stably stratified stratosphere. The region is characterized by strong gradients in the distribution of long-lived tracers, whose representation in models is sensitive to discrepancies in transport. We evaluate the GEOS-Chem model in the UTLS using carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) observations from the HIAPER (The High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) campaign in March 2010. GEOS-Chem CO2/O3 correlation suggests that there is a discrepancy in mixing across the tropopause in the model, which results in an overestimate of CO2 and an underestimate of O3 in the Arctic lower stratosphere. We assimilate stratospheric O3 data from the Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System (OSIRIS) and use the assimilated O3 fields together with the HIPPO CO2/O3 correlations to obtain an adjustment to the modeled CO2 profile in the Arctic UTLS (primarily between the 320 and 360 K isentropic surfaces). The HIPPO-derived adjustment corresponds to a sink of 0.60 Pg C for March-August 2010 in the Arctic. Imposing this adjustment results in a reduction in the CO2 sinks inferred from GOSAT observations for temperate North America, Europe, and tropical Asia of 19, 13, and 49 %, respectively. Conversely, the inversion increased the source of CO2 from tropical South America by 23 %. We find that the model also underestimates CO2 in the upper tropical and subtropical troposphere. Correcting for the underestimate in the model relative to HIPPO in the tropical upper troposphere leads to a reduction in the source from tropical South America by 77 %, and produces an estimated sink for tropical Asia that is only 19 % larger than the standard inversion (without the imposed source and sink). Globally, the inversion with the Arctic and tropical adjustment produces a sink of -6.64 Pg C, which is consistent with the estimate of -6.65 Pg C in the standard inversion. However, the standard inversion produces a stronger northern land sink by 0.98 Pg C to account for the CO2 overestimate in the high-latitude UTLS, suggesting that this UTLS discrepancy can impact the latitudinal distribution of the inferred sources and sinks. We find that doubling the model resolution from 4° × 5° to 2° × 2.5° enhances the CO2 vertical gradient in the high-latitude UTLS, and reduces the overestimate in CO2 in the extratropical lower stratosphere. Our results illustrate that discrepancies in the CO2 distribution in the UTLS can affect CO2 flux inversions and suggest the need for more careful evaluation of model errors in the UTLS.

  18. Sensitivity analysis of the potential impact of discrepancies in stratosphere-troposphere exchange on inferred sources and sinks of CO2

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deng, F.; Jones, D. B. A.; Walker, T. W.; Keller, M.; Bowman, K. W.; Henze, D. K.; Nassar, R.; Kort, E. A.; Wofsy, S. C.; Walker, K. A.; Bourassa, A. E.; Degenstein, D. A.

    2015-04-01

    The upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) represents a transition region between the more dynamically active troposphere and more stably stratified stratosphere. The region is characterized by strong gradients in the distribution of long-lived tracers, which are sensitive to discrepancies in transport in models. We evaluate the GEOS-Chem model in the UTLS using carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) observations from the HIAPER (The High-Performance Instrumented Airborne Platform for Environmental Research) Pole-to-Pole Observations (HIPPO) campaign in March 2010. GEOS-Chem CO2 / O3 correlation suggests that there is a discrepancy in mixing across the tropopause in the model, which results in an overestimate of CO2 and an underestimate of O3 in the Arctic lower stratosphere. We assimilate stratospheric O3 data from OSIRIS and used the assimilated O3 fields together with the HIPPO CO2 / O3 correlations to obtain a correction to the modeled CO2 profile in the Arctic UTLS (primarily between the 320 and 360 K isentropic surfaces). The HIPPO-derived correction corresponds to a sink of 0.13 Pg C month-1 in the Arctic. Imposing this sink during March-August 2010 results in a reduction in the CO2 sinks inferred from GOSAT observations for temperate North America, Europe, and tropical Asia of 20, 12, and 50%, respectively. Conversely, the inversion increased the source of CO2 from tropical South America by 20%. We found that the model also underestimated CO2 in the upper tropical and subtropical troposphere, which may be linked by mixing across the subtropical tropopause. Correcting for the bias relative to HIPPO in the tropical upper troposphere, by imposing a source of 0.33 Pg C, led to a reduction in the source from tropical South America by 44%, and produced a flux estimate for tropical Asia that was in agreement with the standard inversion (without the imposed source and sink). However, the seasonal transition from a source to a sink of CO2 for tropical Asia was shifted from April to June. It is unclear whether the discrepancies found in the UTLS are due to errors in mixing associated with the large-scale dynamics or are due to the numerical errors in the advection scheme. However, our results illustrate that discrepancies in the CO2 distribution in the UTLS can affect CO2 flux inversions and suggest the need for more careful evaluation of model transport errors in the UTLS.

  19. Climate change reduces the net sink of CH4 and N2O in a semiarid grassland

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) are potent greenhouse gases; their concentrations in the atmosphere have increased because of human activity. Soils are important sources and sinks of both gases where their production and consumption are largely regulated by biological processes. Climate change...

  20. Methane uptake in urban forests and lawns

    Treesearch

    Peter M. Groffman; Richard V. Pouyat

    2009-01-01

    The largest natural biological sink for the radiatively active trace gas methane (CH4) is bacteria in soils that consume CH4 as an energy and carbon source. This sink has been shown to be sensitive to nitrogen (N) inputs and alterations of soil physical conditions. Given this sensitivity, conversion of native ecosystems to...

  1. Impact of insect defoliation on forest carbon balance as assessed with a canopy assimilation model

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    As carbon sinks, forests are increasingly becoming important trading commodities in carbon trading markets. However, disturbances such as fire, hurricanes and herbivory can lead to forests being sources rather than sinks of carbon. Here, we investigate the carbon balance of an oak/pine forest in the...

  2. CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE DIFFUSION HYPOTHESIS IN THE THEORY OF POROUS MEDIA VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUND (VOC) SOURCES AND SINKS

    EPA Science Inventory

    The paper proposes three alternative, diffusion-limited mathematical models to account for volatile organic compound (VOC) interactions with indoor sinks, using the linear isotherm model as a reference point. (NOTE: Recent reports by both the U.S. EPA and a study committee of the...

  3. Solution of the comoving-frame equation of transfer in spherically symmetric flows. V - Multilevel atoms. [in early star atmospheres

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Mihalas, D.; Kunasz, P. B.

    1978-01-01

    The coupled radiative transfer and statistical equilibrium equations for multilevel ionic structures in the atmospheres of early-type stars are solved. Both lines and continua are treated consistently; the treatment is applicable throughout a transonic wind, and allows for the presence of background continuum sources and sinks in the transfer. An equivalent-two-level-atoms approach provides the solution for the equations. Calculations for simplified He (+)-like model atoms in parameterized isothermal wind models indicate that subordinate line profiles are sensitive to the assumed mass-loss rate, and to the assumed structure of the velocity law in the atmospheres.

  4. Global carbon - nitrogen - phosphorus cycle interactions: A key to solving the atmospheric CO2 balance problem?

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Peterson, B. J.; Mellillo, J. M.

    1984-01-01

    If all biotic sinks of atmospheric CO2 reported were added a value of about 0.4 Gt C/yr would be found. For each category, a very high (non-conservative) estimate was used. This still does not provide a sufficient basis for achieving a balance between the sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2. The bulk of the discrepancy lies in a combination of errors in the major terms, the greatest being in a combination of errors in the major terms, the greatest being in the net biotic release and ocean uptake segments, but smaller errors or biases may exist in calculations of the rate of atmospheric CO2 increase and total fossil fuel use as well. The reason why biotic sinks are not capable of balancing the CO2 increase via nutrient-matching in the short-term is apparent from a comparison of the stoichiometry of the sources and sinks. The burning of fossil fuels and forest biomass releases much more CO2-carbon than is sequestered as organic carbon.

  5. Modeling Tree Growth Taking into Account Carbon Source and Sink Limitations.

    PubMed

    Hayat, Amaury; Hacket-Pain, Andrew J; Pretzsch, Hans; Rademacher, Tim T; Friend, Andrew D

    2017-01-01

    Increasing CO 2 concentrations are strongly controlled by the behavior of established forests, which are believed to be a major current sink of atmospheric CO 2 . There are many models which predict forest responses to environmental changes but they are almost exclusively carbon source (i.e., photosynthesis) driven. Here we present a model for an individual tree that takes into account the intrinsic limits of meristems and cellular growth rates, as well as control mechanisms within the tree that influence its diameter and height growth over time. This new framework is built on process-based understanding combined with differential equations solved by numerical method. Our aim is to construct a model framework of tree growth for replacing current formulations in Dynamic Global Vegetation Models, and so address the issue of the terrestrial carbon sink. Our approach was successfully tested for stands of beech trees in two different sites representing part of a long-term forest yield experiment in Germany. This model provides new insights into tree growth and limits to tree height, and addresses limitations of previous models with respect to sink-limited growth.

  6. Towards a landscape scale management of pesticides: ERA using changes in modelled occupancy and abundance to assess long-term population impacts of pesticides.

    PubMed

    Topping, Chris J; Craig, Peter S; de Jong, Frank; Klein, Michael; Laskowski, Ryszard; Manachini, Barbara; Pieper, Silvia; Smith, Rob; Sousa, José Paulo; Streissl, Franz; Swarowsky, Klaus; Tiktak, Aaldrik; van der Linden, Ton

    2015-12-15

    Pesticides are regulated in Europe and this process includes an environmental risk assessment (ERA) for non-target arthropods (NTA). Traditionally a non-spatial or field trial assessment is used. In this study we exemplify the introduction of a spatial context to the ERA as well as suggest a way in which the results of complex models, necessary for proper inclusion of spatial aspects in the ERA, can be presented and evaluated easily using abundance and occupancy ratios (AOR). We used an agent-based simulation system and an existing model for a widespread carabid beetle (Bembidion lampros), to evaluate the impact of a fictitious highly-toxic pesticide on population density and the distribution of beetles in time and space. Landscape structure and field margin management were evaluated by comparing scenario-based ERAs for the beetle. Source-sink dynamics led to an off-crop impact even when no pesticide was present off-crop. In addition, the impacts increased with multi-year application of the pesticide whereas current ERA considers only maximally one year. These results further indicated a complex interaction between landscape structure and pesticide effect in time, both in-crop and off-crop, indicating the need for NTA ERA to be conducted at landscape- and multi-season temporal-scales. Use of AOR indices to compare ERA outputs facilitated easy comparison of scenarios, allowing simultaneous evaluation of impacts and planning of mitigation measures. The landscape and population ERA approach also demonstrates that there is a potential to change from regulation of a pesticide in isolation, towards the consideration of pesticide management at landscape scales and provision of biodiversity benefits via inclusion and testing of mitigation measures in authorisation procedures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. A necessary condition for dispersal driven growth of populations with discrete patch dynamics.

    PubMed

    Guiver, Chris; Packman, David; Townley, Stuart

    2017-07-07

    We revisit the question of when can dispersal-induced coupling between discrete sink populations cause overall population growth? Such a phenomenon is called dispersal driven growth and provides a simple explanation of how dispersal can allow populations to persist across discrete, spatially heterogeneous, environments even when individual patches are adverse or unfavourable. For two classes of mathematical models, one linear and one non-linear, we provide necessary conditions for dispersal driven growth in terms of the non-existence of a common linear Lyapunov function, which we describe. Our approach draws heavily upon the underlying positive dynamical systems structure. Our results apply to both discrete- and continuous-time models. The theory is illustrated with examples and both biological and mathematical conclusions are drawn. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  8. Constraining the Statistics of Population III Binaries

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Stacy, Athena; Bromm, Volker

    2012-01-01

    We perform a cosmological simulation in order to model the growth and evolution of Population III (Pop III) stellar systems in a range of host minihalo environments. A Pop III multiple system forms in each of the ten minihaloes, and the overall mass function is top-heavy compared to the currently observed initial mass function in the Milky Way. Using a sink particle to represent each growing protostar, we examine the binary characteristics of the multiple systems, resolving orbits on scales as small as 20 AU. We find a binary fraction of approx. 36, with semi-major axes as large as 3000 AU. The distribution of orbital periods is slightly peaked at approx. < 900 yr, while the distribution of mass ratios is relatively flat. Of all sink particles formed within the ten minihaloes, approx. 50 are lost to mergers with larger sinks, and 50 of the remaining sinks are ejected from their star-forming disks. The large binary fraction may have important implications for Pop III evolution and nucleosynthesis, as well as the final fate of the first stars.

  9. Spatial-temporal population dynamics across species range: from center to margin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Guo, Q.; Taper, M.L.; Schoenberger, M.; Brandl, J.

    2005-01-01

    Understanding the boundaries of species' ranges and the variations in population dynamics from the centre to margin of a species' range is critical. This study simulated spatial-temporal patterns of birth and death rates and migration across a species' range in different seasons. Our results demonstrated the importance of dispersal and migration in altering birth and death rates, balancing source and sink habitats, and governing expansion or contraction of species' ranges in changing environments. We also showed that the multiple equilibria of metapopulations across a species' range could be easily broken following climatic changes or physical disturbances either or local or regional. Although we refer to our models as describing the population dynamics across whole species' range, they should also apply to small-scale habitats (metapopulations) in which species abundance follows a humped pattern or to any ecosystem or landscape where strong central-marginal (C-M) environmental gradients exist. Conservation of both central and marginal populations would therefore be equally important considerations in making management decisions.

  10. Spatial-temporal population dynamics across species range: From centre to margin

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Guo, Q.; Taper, M.; Schoenberger, M.; Brandle, J.

    2005-01-01

    Understanding the boundaries of species' ranges and the variations in population dynamics from the centre to margin of a species' range is critical. This study simulated spatial-temporal patterns of birth and death rates and migration across a species' range in different seasons. Our results demonstrated the importance of dispersal and migration in altering birth and death rates, balancing source and sink habitats, and governing expansion or contraction of species' ranges in changing environments. We also showed that the multiple equilibria of metapopulations across a species' range could be easily broken following climatic changes or physical disturbances either local or regional. Although we refer to our models as describing the population dynamics across whole species' range, they should also apply to small-scale habitats (metapopulations) in which species abundance follows a humped pattern or to any ecosystem or landscape where strong central-marginal (C-M) environmental gradients exist. Conservation of both central and marginal populations would therefore be equally important considerations in making management decisions.

  11. A coupled airflow and source/sink model for simulating indoor VOC exposures.

    PubMed

    Yang, X; Chen, Q

    2001-12-01

    In this paper, a numerical model is presented to study the indoor air quality (IAQ) in a room with different emission sources, sinks, and ventilation methods. A computer program, ACCESS-IAQ, is developed to simulate the airflow pattern, the time history of the contaminant concentrations in the occupied zone, and the inhalation exposures. The program developed may be useful for IAQ professional to design healthy and comfortable indoor environments. A numerical study has been carried out to predict the effectiveness of a displacement ventilation and a mixing ventilation on volatile organic compound (VOC) removal in a model office. Results from the numerical predictions show that when a "wet" emission source (a freshly painted wood stain) is distributed uniformly across the floor area with sinks (gypsum board) from the four vertical walls, displacement ventilation has consistently lower exposure at the breathing level of the occupant in the room. Such an effect is mainly due to the higher ventilation efficiency of displacement ventilation compared to the mixing ventilation. The simulation results also show that the walls adsorb significant amounts of VOCs during the first hour and act as secondary sources thereafter.

  12. Thermoelectric refrigerator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Park, Brian V. (Inventor); Smith, Jr., Malcolm C. (Inventor); McGrath, Ralph D. (Inventor); Gilley, Michael D. (Inventor); Criscuolo, Lance (Inventor); Nelson, John L. (Inventor)

    1996-01-01

    A refrigerator is provided which combines the benefits of superinsulation materials with thermoelectric devices and phase change materials to provide an environmentally benign system that is energy efficient and can maintain relatively uniform temperatures for extended periods of time with relatively low electrical power requirements. The refrigerator includes a thermoelectric assembly having a thermoelectric device with a hot sink and a cold sink. The superinsulation materials include a plurality of vacuum panels. The refrigerator is formed from an enclosed structure having a door. The vacuum panels may be contained within the walls of the enclosed structure and the door. By mounting the thermoelectric assembly on the door, the manufacturer of the enclosed structure is simplified and the overall R rating of the refrigerator increased. Also an electrical motor and propellers may be mounted on the door to assist in the circulation of air to improve the efficiency of the cold sink and the hot sink. A propeller and/or impeller is preferably mounted within the refrigerator to assist in establishing the desired air circulation flow path.

  13. Late-stage sinking of plutons

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Glazner, A.F.; Miller, D.M.

    1997-01-01

    Many granodiorite to diorite plutons in the Great Basin of western North America are surrounded by rim monoclines or anticlines that suggest relative downward movement of the plutons while wall rocks were hot and ductile. We propose that such plutons rise to a level of approximately neutral buoyancy and then founder as their densities increase ??? 40% during crystallization. Late-stage sinking of intermediate to mafic plutons should be common when wall rocks are rich in weak, low-density minerals such as quartz and calcite. Structures related to sinking will overprint those related to initial pluton emplacement and may be mistaken for regional tectonic structures.

  14. Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material

    DOEpatents

    Klett, James W.; Burchell, Timothy D.

    2004-08-24

    A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distribution of pore sizes and a highly aligned graphic structure in the struts. The foam material can be made into a composite which is useful in high temperature sandwich panels for both thermal and structural applications. The foam is encased and filled with a phase change material to provide a very efficient heat sink device.

  15. Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material

    DOEpatents

    Klett, James W.; Burchell, Timothy D.

    2007-01-02

    A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distribution of pore sizes and a highly aligned graphic structure in the struts. The foam material can be made into a composite which is useful in high temperature sandwich panels for both thermal and structural applications. The foam is encased and filled with a phase change material to provide a very efficient heat sink device.

  16. Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material

    DOEpatents

    Klett, James W.; Burchell, Timothy D.

    2006-03-21

    A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distribution of pore sizes and a highly aligned graphic structure in the struts. The foam material can be made into a composite which is useful in high temperature sandwich panels for both thermal and structural applications. The foam is encased and filled with a phase change material to provide a very efficient heat sink device.

  17. Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material

    DOEpatents

    Klett, James W.; Burchell, Timothy D.

    2002-01-01

    A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distribution of pore sizes and a highly aligned graphic structure in the struts. The foam material can be made into a composite which is useful in high temperature sandwich panels for both thermal and structural applications. The foam is encased and filled with a phase change material to provide a very efficient heat sink device.

  18. Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material

    DOEpatents

    Klett, James W.; Burchell, Timothy D.

    2000-01-01

    A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distribution of pore sizes and a highly aligned graphic structure in the struts. The foam material can be made into a composite which is useful in high temperature sandwich panels for both thermal and structural applications. The foam is encased and filled with a phase change material to provide a very efficient heat sink device.

  19. Pitch-based carbon foam heat sink with phase change material

    DOEpatents

    Klett, James W.; Burchell, Timothy D.

    2007-01-23

    A process for producing a carbon foam heat sink is disclosed which obviates the need for conventional oxidative stabilization. The process employs mesophase or isotropic pitch and a simplified process using a single mold. The foam has a relatively uniform distribution of pore sizes and a highly aligned graphic structure in the struts. The foam material can be made into a composite which is useful in high temperature sandwich panels for both thermal and structural applications. The foam is encased and filled with a phase change material to provide a very efficient heat sink device.

  20. Heat Transfer Enhancement by Finned Heat Sinks with Micro-structured Roughness

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ventola, L.; Chiavazzo, E.; Calignano, F.; Manfredi, D.; Asinari, P.

    2014-04-01

    We investigated the benefits of micro-structured roughness on heat transfer performance of heat sinks, cooled by forced air. Heat sinks in aluminum alloy by direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) manufacturing technique were fabricated; values of the average surface roughness Ra from 1 to 25 microns (standard milling leads to roughness around 1 micron) under turbulent regimes (Reynolds number based on heating edge from 3000 to 17000) have been explored. An enhancement of 50% in thermal performances with regards to standard manufacturing was observed. This may open the way for huge boost in the technology of electronic cooling by DMLS.

  1. Reconciling estimates of the contemporary North American carbon balance among terrestrial biosphere models, atmospheric inversions, and a new approach for estimating net ecosystem exchange from inventory-based data

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hayes, Daniel J.; Turner, David P.; Stinson, Graham; McGuire, A. David; Wei, Yaxing; West, Tristram O.; Heath, Linda S.; de Jong, Bernardus; McConkey, Brian G.; Birdsey, Richard A.; Kurz, Werner A.; Jacobson, Andrew R.; Huntzinger, Deborah N.; Pan, Yude; Post, W. Mac; Cook, Robert B.

    2012-01-01

    We develop an approach for estimating net ecosystem exchange (NEE) using inventory-based information over North America (NA) for a recent 7-year period (ca. 2000–2006). The approach notably retains information on the spatial distribution of NEE, or the vertical exchange between land and atmosphere of all non-fossil fuel sources and sinks of CO2, while accounting for lateral transfers of forest and crop products as well as their eventual emissions. The total NEE estimate of a -327 ± 252 TgC yr-1 sink for NA was driven primarily by CO2 uptake in the Forest Lands sector (-248 TgC yr-1), largely in the Northwest and Southeast regions of the US, and in the Crop Lands sector (-297 TgC yr-1), predominantly in the Midwest US states. These sinks are counteracted by the carbon source estimated for the Other Lands sector (+218 TgC yr-1), where much of the forest and crop products are assumed to be returned to the atmosphere (through livestock and human consumption). The ecosystems of Mexico are estimated to be a small net source (+18 TgC yr-1) due to land use change between 1993 and 2002. We compare these inventory-based estimates with results from a suite of terrestrial biosphere and atmospheric inversion models, where the mean continental-scale NEE estimate for each ensemble is -511 TgC yr-1 and -931 TgC yr-1, respectively. In the modeling approaches, all sectors, including Other Lands, were generally estimated to be a carbon sink, driven in part by assumed CO2 fertilization and/or lack of consideration of carbon sources from disturbances and product emissions. Additional fluxes not measured by the inventories, although highly uncertain, could add an additional -239 TgC yr-1 to the inventory-based NA sink estimate, thus suggesting some convergence with the modeling approaches.

  2. Novel Natural Convection Heat Sink Design Concepts From First Principles

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2016-06-01

    NAVAL POSTGRADUATE SCHOOL MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA THESIS Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited NOVEL NATURAL ...COVERED Master’s Thesis 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE NOVEL NATURAL CONVECTION HEAT SINK DESIGN CONCEPTS FROM FIRST PRINCIPLES 5. FUNDING NUMBERS 6...geometric structures that incorporate the principles of the stack effect to improve the heat transfer capability of a heat sink under natural convection

  3. Estimating In Situ Zooplankton Non-Predation Mortality in an Oligo-Mesotrophic Lake from Sediment Trap Data: Caveats and Reality Check

    PubMed Central

    Dubovskaya, Olga P.; Tang, Kam W.; Gladyshev, Michail I.; Kirillin, Georgiy; Buseva, Zhanna; Kasprzak, Peter; Tolomeev, Aleksandr P.; Grossart, Hans-Peter

    2015-01-01

    Background Mortality is a main driver in zooplankton population biology but it is poorly constrained in models that describe zooplankton population dynamics, food web interactions and nutrient dynamics. Mortality due to non-predation factors is often ignored even though anecdotal evidence of non-predation mass mortality of zooplankton has been reported repeatedly. One way to estimate non-predation mortality rate is to measure the removal rate of carcasses, for which sinking is the primary removal mechanism especially in quiescent shallow water bodies. Objectives and Results We used sediment traps to quantify in situ carcass sinking velocity and non-predation mortality rate on eight consecutive days in 2013 for the cladoceran Bosmina longirostris in the oligo-mesotrophic Lake Stechlin; the outcomes were compared against estimates derived from in vitro carcass sinking velocity measurements and an empirical model correcting in vitro sinking velocity for turbulence resuspension and microbial decomposition of carcasses. Our results show that the latter two approaches produced unrealistically high mortality rates of 0.58-1.04 d-1, whereas the sediment trap approach, when used properly, yielded a mortality rate estimate of 0.015 d-1, which is more consistent with concurrent population abundance data and comparable to physiological death rate from the literature. Ecological implications Zooplankton carcasses may be exposed to water column microbes for days before entering the benthos; therefore, non-predation mortality affects not only zooplankton population dynamics but also microbial and benthic food webs. This would be particularly important for carbon and nitrogen cycles in systems where recurring mid-summer decline of zooplankton population due to non-predation mortality is observed. PMID:26146995

  4. Partitioning of ocean and land uptake of CO2 as inferred by delta C-13 measurements from the NOAA Climate Monitoring and Diagnostics Laboratory Global Air Sampling Network

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ciais, Philippe; Tans, Pieter P.; White, James W. C.; Trolier, Michael; Francey, Roger J.; Berry, Joe A.; Randall, David R.; Sellers, Piers J.; Collatz, James G.; Schimel, David S.

    1995-01-01

    Using delta C-13 measurements in atmospheric CO2 from a cooperative global air sampling network, we determined the partitioning of the net uptake of CO2 between ocean and land as a function of latitude and time. The majority of delta C-13 measurements were made at the Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) of the University of Colorado. We perform an inverse deconvolution of both CO2 and delta C-13 observations, using a two-dimensional model of atmospheric transport. Also, the discrimination against C-13 by plant photosynthesis, as a function of latitude and time, is calculated from global runs of the simple biosphere (SiB) model. Uncertainty due to the longitudinal structure of the data, which is not represented by the model, is studied through a bootstrap analysis by adding and omitting measurement sites. The resulting error estimates for our inferred sources and sinks are of the order of 1 GTC (1 GTC = 10(exp 15) gC). Such error bars do not reflect potential systematic errors arising from our estimates of the isotopic disequilibria between the atmosphere and the oceans and biosphere, which are estimated in a separate sensitivity analysis. With respect to global totals for 1992 we found that 3.2 GTC of carbon dissolved into the ocean and that 1.5 GTC were sequestered by land ecosystems. Northern hemisphere ocean gyres north of 15 deg N absorbed 2.7 GTC. The equatorial oceans between 10 deg S and 10 deg N were a net source to the atmosphere of 0.9 GTC. We obtained a sink of 1.6 GTC in southern ocean gyres south of 20 deg S, although the deconvolution is poorly constrained by sparse data coverage at high southern latitudes. The seasonal uptake of CO2 in the northern gyres appears to be correlated with a bloom of phytoplankton in surface waters. On land, northern temperate and boreal ecosystems between 35 deg N and 65 deg N were found to be a major sink of CO2 in 1992, as large as 3.5 GTC. Northern tropical ecosystems (equator-30 deg N) appear to be a net source to the source to the atmosphere of 2 GTC which could reflect biomass burning. A small sink, 0.3 GTC, was inferred for southern tropical ecosystems (30 deg S-equator).

  5. Quantifying greenhouse gas sources and sinks in managed wetland systems

    Treesearch

    Stephen M Ogle; Patrick Hunt; Carl Trettin

    2014-01-01

    This chapter provides methodologies and guidance for reporting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and sinks at the entity scale for managed wetland systems. More specifically, it focuses on methods for managed palustrine wetlands.1 Section 4.1 provides an overview of wetland systems and resulting GHG emissions, system boundaries and temporal scale, a summary of the...

  6. The planetary distribution of heat sources and sinks during FGGE

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Johnson, D. R.; Wei, M. Y.

    1985-01-01

    Heating distributions from analysis of the National Meteorological Center and European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecasts data sets; methods used and problems involved in the inference of diabatic heating; the relationship between differential heating and energy transport; and recommendations on the inference of heat soruces and heat sinks for the planetary show are discussed.

  7. Emulating natural disturbances for declining late-successional species: a case study of the consequences for cerulean warblers (Setophaga cerulea).

    PubMed

    Boves, Than J; Buehler, David A; Sheehan, James; Wood, Petra Bohall; Rodewald, Amanda D; Larkin, Jeffrey L; Keyser, Patrick D; Newell, Felicity L; George, Gregory A; Bakermans, Marja H; Evans, Andrea; Beachy, Tiffany A; McDermott, Molly E; Perkins, Kelly A; White, Matthew; Wigley, T Bently

    2013-01-01

    Forest cover in the eastern United States has increased over the past century and while some late-successional species have benefited from this process as expected, others have experienced population declines. These declines may be in part related to contemporary reductions in small-scale forest interior disturbances such as fire, windthrow, and treefalls. To mitigate the negative impacts of disturbance alteration and suppression on some late-successional species, strategies that emulate natural disturbance regimes are often advocated, but large-scale evaluations of these practices are rare. Here, we assessed the consequences of experimental disturbance (using partial timber harvest) on a severely declining late-successional species, the cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), across the core of its breeding range in the Appalachian Mountains. We measured numerical (density), physiological (body condition), and demographic (age structure and reproduction) responses to three levels of disturbance and explored the potential impacts of disturbance on source-sink dynamics. Breeding densities of warblers increased one to four years after all canopy disturbances (vs. controls) and males occupying territories on treatment plots were in better condition than those on control plots. However, these beneficial effects of disturbance did not correspond to improvements in reproduction; nest success was lower on all treatment plots than on control plots in the southern region and marginally lower on light disturbance plots in the northern region. Our data suggest that only habitats in the southern region acted as sources, and interior disturbances in this region have the potential to create ecological traps at a local scale, but sources when viewed at broader scales. Thus, cerulean warblers would likely benefit from management that strikes a landscape-level balance between emulating natural disturbances in order to attract individuals into areas where current structure is inappropriate, and limiting anthropogenic disturbance in forests that already possess appropriate structural attributes in order to maintain maximum productivity.

  8. Emulating natural disturbances for declining late-successional species: A case study of the consequences for Cerulean Warblers (Setophaga cerulea)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Boves, Than J.; Buehler, David A.; Sheehan, James; Wood, Petra Bohall; Rodewald, Amanda D.; Larkin, Jeffrey L.; Keyser, Patrick D.; Newell, Felicity L.; George, Gregory A.; Bakermans, Marja H.; Evans, Andrea; Beachy, Tiffany A.; McDermott, Molly E.; Perkins, Kelly A.; White, Matthew; Wigley, T. Bently

    2013-01-01

    Forest cover in the eastern United States has increased over the past century and while some late-successional species have benefited from this process as expected, others have experienced population declines. These declines may be in part related to contemporary reductions in small-scale forest interior disturbances such as fire, windthrow, and treefalls. To mitigate the negative impacts of disturbance alteration and suppression on some late-successional species, strategies that emulate natural disturbance regimes are often advocated, but large-scale evaluations of these practices are rare. Here, we assessed the consequences of experimental disturbance (using partial timber harvest) on a severely declining late-successional species, the cerulean warbler (Setophaga cerulea), across the core of its breeding range in the Appalachian Mountains. We measured numerical (density), physiological (body condition), and demographic (age structure and reproduction) responses to three levels of disturbance and explored the potential impacts of disturbance on source-sink dynamics. Breeding densities of warblers increased one to four years after all canopy disturbances (vs. controls) and males occupying territories on treatment plots were in better condition than those on control plots. However, these beneficial effects of disturbance did not correspond to improvements in reproduction; nest success was lower on all treatment plots than on control plots in the southern region and marginally lower on light disturbance plots in the northern region. Our data suggest that only habitats in the southern region acted as sources, and interior disturbances in this region have the potential to create ecological traps at a local scale, but sources when viewed at broader scales. Thus, cerulean warblers would likely benefit from management that strikes a landscape-level balance between emulating natural disturbances in order to attract individuals into areas where current structure is inappropriate, and limiting anthropogenic disturbance in forests that already possess appropriate structural attributes in order to maintain maximum productivity.

  9. Volatile organic compounds sources and sinks in a wheat canopy. Analysis based on combined eddy-covariance fluxes, in-canopy profiles and chamber measurements with a PTR-TOF-Qi-MS

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Loubet, Benjamin; Gonzaga, Lais; Buysse, Pauline; Ciuraru, Raluca; Lafouge, Florence; Decuq, Céline; Zurfluh, Olivier; Fortineau, Alain; Fanucci, Olivier; Sarda-Esteve, Roland; Zannoni, Nora; Truong, Francois; Boissard, Christophe; Gros, Valérie

    2017-04-01

    Volatile organic compounds (VOC) are essential drivers of atmospheric chemistry. Many VOCs are emitted from and deposited to ecosystems. While forests and grasslands have already been substantially studied, exchanges of VOCs with crops are less known, although these ecosystems represent more than 50% of the surface in France. In this study, we analyze sources and sinks of VOCs in a wheat field (at the ICOS FR-GRI site near Paris) at anthesis based on measurements of fluxes, concentration profiles and branch chambers. The VOCs were measured using a PTR-TOF-Qi-MS (where Qi stands for Quad Ion guide). Air was successively sampled through lines located at different heights within and above the canopy, of which one was used for Eddy Covariance and located near a sonic anemometer. Additional measurements included the standard ICOS meteorological data as well as leaf area index profiles and photosynthesis curves at several heights in the canopy. We report fluxes and profiles for more than 500 VOCs. The deposition velocities of depositing compounds are compared to the maximum exchange velocity and the ozone deposition velocity. The sources and sinks location and magnitude are evaluated by inverse Lagrangian modelling assuming no reaction and simple reaction schemes in the canopy. The sources and sinks of VOC in the canopy are interpreted in terms crop phenology and the potential for reaction with ozone and NOx is evaluated. This study takes place in the ADEME CORTEA COV3ER French project (http://www6.inra.fr/cov3er).

  10. Effects of heat sink and source and entropy generation on MHD mixed convection of a Cu-water nanofluid in a lid-driven square porous enclosure with partial slip

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Chamkha, A. J.; Rashad, A. M.; Mansour, M. A.; Armaghani, T.; Ghalambaz, M.

    2017-05-01

    In this work, the effects of the presence of a heat sink and a heat source and their lengths and locations and the entropy generation on MHD mixed convection flow and heat transfer in a porous enclosure filled with a Cu-water nanofluid in the presence of partial slip effect are investigated numerically. Both the lid driven vertical walls of the cavity are thermally insulated and are moving with constant and equal speeds in their own plane and the effect of partial slip is imposed on these walls. A segment of the bottom wall is considered as a heat source meanwhile a heat sink is placed on the upper wall of cavity. There are heated and cold parts placed on the bottom and upper walls, respectively, while the remaining parts are thermally insulated. Entropy generation and local heat transfer according to different values of the governing parameters are presented in detail. It is found that the addition of nanoparticles decreases the convective heat transfer inside the porous cavity at all ranges of the heat sink and source lengths. The results for the effects of the magnetic field show that the average Nusselt number decreases considerably upon the enhancement of the Hartmann number. Also, adding nanoparticles to a pure fluid leads to increasing the entropy generation for all values of D for λl=-λr = 1 .

  11. Seismic Observation of the 26 March 2010 Sinking of the South Korean Naval Vessel Cheonanham

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rhee, S.; Hong, T.

    2011-12-01

    A South Korean naval vessel, Cheonanham, sank at ~2.5 km southwest from Bakryeong Island (37.929°N, 124.601°E) in 21:22 local time (12:22 UTC) on 26 March 2010. Only 58 people out of the 104 crew members were rescued from the incident, and the other 46 sailors were dead or missing in the incident. Three plausible causes of the sinking were raised: (1) striking by an explosive source (torpedo or mine), (2) shear breakage due to strain accumulation by fatigue, and (3) collision with a sunken rock. The incident was recorded as an M1.5 event at local seismic stations. We analyze local seismic records and investigate the source properties. The event location is determined not only by a usual location method, but also using low-frequency horizontal polarization analysis. The determined event location agrees with the reported sinking location. The S-wave amplitudes are found to be comparable to the P-wave amplitudes. Seismic waves coupled from shock waves are observed, which allows us to constrain the epicentral distance and explosion-source feature. The coupled shock waves have a dominant frequency of ~32 Hz. The shock waves and high P/S amplitude ratios suggest an underwater explosion that is responsible for the vessel sinking. The spectral contents of P waves allows us to constrain the source depth in the water. We infer the depth of the explosion in the sea by comparing the observed spectra with synthetic spectra. We compare the seismic features with those from nuclear explosions.

  12. The making of giant pumpkins: how selective breeding changed the phloem of Cucurbita maxima from source to sink.

    PubMed

    Savage, Jessica A; Haines, Dustin F; Holbrook, N Michele

    2015-08-01

    Despite the success of breeding programmes focused on increasing fruit size, relatively little is known about the anatomical and physiological changes required to increase reproductive allocation. To address this gap in knowledge, we compared fruit/ovary anatomy, vascular structure and phloem transport of two varieties of giant pumpkins, and their smaller fruited progenitor under controlled environmental conditions. We also modelled carbon transport into the fruit of competitively grown plants using data collected in the field. There was no evidence that changes in leaf area or photosynthetic capacity impacted fruit size. Instead, giant varieties differed in their ovary morphology and contained more phloem on a cross-sectional area basis in their petioles and pedicels than the ancestral variety. These results suggest that sink activity is important in determining fruit size and that giant pumpkins have an enhanced capacity to transport carbon. The strong connection observed between carbon fixation, phloem structure and fruit growth in field-grown plants indicates that breeding for large fruit has led to changes throughout the carbon transport system that could have important implications for how we think about phloem transport velocity and carbon allocation. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Phenology, growth and physiological adjustments of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) to sink limitation induced by fruit pruning

    PubMed Central

    Legros, S.; Mialet-Serra, I.; Caliman, J.-P.; Siregar, F. A.; Clement-Vidal, A.; Fabre, D.; Dingkuhn, M.

    2009-01-01

    Background and Aims Despite its simple architecture and small phenotypic plasticity, oil palm has complex phenology and source–sink interactions. Phytomers appear in regular succession but their development takes years, involving long lag periods between environmental influences and their effects on sinks. Plant adjustments to resulting source–sink imbalances are poorly understood. This study investigated oil palm adjustments to imbalances caused by severe fruit pruning. Methods An experiment with two treatments (control and complete fruit pruning) during 22 months in 2006–2008) and six replications per treatment was conducted in Indonesia. Phenology, growth of above-ground vegetative and reproductive organs, leaf morphology, inflorescence sex differentiation, dynamics of non-structural carbohydrate reserves and light-saturated net photosynthesis (Amax) were monitored. Key Results Artificial sink limitation by complete fruit pruning accelerated development rate, resulting in higher phytomer, leaf and inflorescence numbers. Leaf size and morphology remained unchanged. Complete fruit pruning also suppressed the abortion of male inflorescences, estimated to be triggered at about 16 months before bunch maturity. The number of female inflorescences increased after an estimated lag of 24–26 months, corresponding to time from sex differentiation to bunch maturity. The most important adjustment process was increased assimilate storage in the stem, attaining nearly 50 % of dry weight in the stem top, mainly as starch, whereas glucose, which in controls was the most abundant non-structural carbohydrate stored in oil palm, decreased. Conclusions The development rate of oil palm is in part controlled by source–sink relationships. Although increased rate of development and proportion of female inflorescences constituted observed adjustments to sink limitation, the low plasticity of plant architecture (constant leaf size, absence of branching) limited compensatory growth. Non-structural carbohydrate storage was thus the main adjustment process. PMID:19748908

  14. An analysis of the carbon balance of the Arctic Basin from 1997 to 2006

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    McGuire, A.D.; Hayes, D.J.; Kicklighter, D.W.; Manizza, M.; Zhuang, Q.; Chen, M.; Follows, M.J.; Gurney, K.R.; McClelland, J.W.; Melillo, J.M.; Peterson, B.J.; Prinn, R.G.

    2010-01-01

    This study used several model-based tools to analyse the dynamics of the Arctic Basin between 1997 and 2006 as a linked system of land-ocean-atmosphere C exchange. The analysis estimates that terrestrial areas of the Arctic Basin lost 62.9 Tg C yr-1 and that the Arctic Ocean gained 94.1 Tg C yr-1. Arctic lands and oceans were a net CO2 sink of 108.9 Tg C yr-1, which is within the range of uncertainty in estimates from atmospheric inversions. Although both lands and oceans of the Arctic were estimated to be CO2 sinks, the land sink diminished in strength because of increased fire disturbance compared to previous decades, while the ocean sink increased in strength because of increased biological pump activity associated with reduced sea ice cover. Terrestrial areas of the Arctic were a net source of 41.5 Tg CH4 yr-1 that increased by 0.6 Tg CH4 yr-1 during the decade of analysis, a magnitude that is comparable with an atmospheric inversion of CH4. Because the radiative forcing of the estimated CH4 emissions is much greater than the CO2 sink, the analysis suggests that the Arctic Basin is a substantial net source of green house gas forcing to the climate system.

  15. Increased sink strength offsets the inhibitory effect of sucrose on sugarcane photosynthesis.

    PubMed

    Ribeiro, Rafael V; Machado, Eduardo C; Magalhães Filho, José R; Lobo, Ana Karla M; Martins, Márcio O; Silveira, Joaquim A G; Yin, Xinyou; Struik, Paul C

    2017-01-01

    Spraying sucrose inhibits photosynthesis by impairing Rubisco activity and stomatal conductance (g s ), whereas increasing sink demand by partially darkening the plant stimulates sugarcane photosynthesis. We hypothesized that the stimulatory effect of darkness can offset the inhibitory effect of exogenous sucrose on photosynthesis. Source-sink relationship was perturbed in two sugarcane cultivars by imposing partial darkness, spraying a sucrose solution (50mM) and their combination. Five days after the onset of the treatments, the maximum Rubisco carboxylation rate (V cmax ) and the initial slope of A-C i curve (k) were estimated by measuring leaf gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence. Photosynthesis was inhibited by sucrose spraying in both genotypes, through decreases in V cmax , k, g s and ATP production driven by electron transport (J atp ). Photosynthesis of plants subjected to the combination of partial darkness and sucrose spraying was similar to photosynthesis of reference plants for both genotypes. Significant increases in V cmax , g s and J atp and marginal increases in k were noticed when combining partial darkness and sucrose spraying compared with sucrose spraying alone. Our data also revealed that increases in sink strength due to partial darkness offset the inhibition of sugarcane photosynthesis caused by sucrose spraying, enhancing the knowledge on endogenous regulation of sugarcane photosynthesis through the source-sink relationship. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  16. Use of the Stable Nitrogen Isotope to Reveal the Source-Sink Regulation of Nitrogen Uptake and Remobilization during Grain Filling Phase in Maize

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Lan; Guo, Song; Chen, Qinwu; Chen, Fanjun; Yuan, Lixing; Mi, Guohua

    2016-01-01

    Although the remobilization of vegetative nitrogen (N) and post-silking N both contribute to grain N in maize (Zea mays L.), their regulation by grain sink strength is poorly understood. Here we use 15N labeling to analyze the dynamic behaviors of both pre- and post-silking N in relation to source and sink manipulation in maize plants. The results showed that the remobilization of pre-silking N started immediately after silking and the remobilized pre-silking N had a greater contribution to grain N during early grain filling, with post-silking N importance increasing during the later filling stage. The amount of post-silking N uptake was largely driven by post-silking dry matter accumulation in both grain as well as vegetative organs. Prevention of pollination during silking had less effect on post-silking N uptake, as a consequence of compensatory growth of stems, husk + cob and roots. Also, leaves continuously export N even though grain sink was removed. The remobilization efficiency of N in the leaf and stem increased with increasing grain yield (hence N requirement). It is suggested that the remobilization of N in the leaf is controlled by sink strength but not the leaf per se. Enhancing post-silking N uptake rather than N remobilization is more likely to increase grain N accumulation. PMID:27606628

  17. Modeling the reversible, diffusive sink effect in response to transient contaminant sources.

    PubMed

    Zhao, D; Little, J C; Hodgson, A T

    2002-09-01

    A physically based diffusion model is used to evaluate the sink effect of diffusion-controlled indoor materials and to predict the transient contaminant concentration in indoor air in response to several time-varying contaminant sources. For simplicity, it is assumed the predominant indoor material is a homogeneous slab, initially free of contaminant, and the air within the room is well mixed. The model enables transient volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations to be predicted based on the material/air partition coefficient (K) and the material-phase diffusion coefficient (D) of the sink. Model predictions are made for three scenarios, each mimicking a realistic situation in a building. Styrene, phenol, and naphthalene are used as representative VOCs. A styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) backed carpet, vinyl flooring (VF), and a polyurethane foam (PUF) carpet cushion are considered as typical indoor sinks. In scenarios involving a sinusoidal VOC input and a double exponential decaying input, the model predicts the sink has a modest impact for SBR/styrene, but the effect increases for VF/phenol and PUF/naphthalene. In contrast, for an episodic chemical spill, SBR is predicted to reduce the peak styrene concentration considerably. A parametric study reveals for systems involving a large equilibrium constant (K), the kinetic constant (D) will govern the shape of the resulting gasphase concentration profile. On the other hand, for systems with a relaxed mass transfer resistance, K will dominate the profile.

  18. Estimates of gains and losses from unmeasured sources and sinks for streamflow and dissolved-solids load in selected reaches of the Arkansas River, southeastern Colorado, 2009-2010

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Ortiz, Roderick F.

    2013-01-01

    The Arkansas River is an important municipal water supply and is the primary supply for about 400,000 acres of irrigated land in southeastern Colorado. The suitability of this water for domestic, agricultural, and industrial use is affected by high salinity in parts of the Arkansas River. There is a need to quantify mass loading of dissolved solids (DS) in the Arkansas River. In 2009, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Arkansas River Basin Regional Resource Planning Group and the Colorado Water Conservation Board, began a study to estimate gains and losses from unmeasured sources and sinks for streamflow and DS load in selected reaches of the Arkansas River in southeastern Colorado. Two study reaches were selected for investigation—Canon City to just upstream from Pueblo Reservoir (UARB) and Avondale to Las Animas (LARB). The results from the water-budget analyses indicated that potential areas of unmeasured sources and sinks of streamflow were identifiable in the two study reaches. In the UARB, a substantial volume of water in the subreach from Ark at Canon City to the seasonal gaging station 5 miles downstream (Ark nr Canon City) was unaccounted for by the methodology used in this analysis. The daily gain from unmeasured sources in this subreach was estimated to be about 100 cubic feet per second (ft3/s) or about 20 ft3/s per river mile. Water-budget estimates for the remaining 18 miles of the UARB study reach indicated that gains or losses from unmeasured sources or sinks were within the measurement error as defined for this report. In the LARB, gains and losses from unmeasured sources and sinks were identified in some of the subreaches but the magnitude of the flux generally was small. Unmeasured sources ranging from less than 2 to 3 ft3/s per mile were identified in the river subreaches from Ark at Catlin Dam downstream to Ark at Swink. A streamflow loss was indicated along the subreach from Ark at Nepesta to Ark at Catlin Dam, particularly in 2010. The mechanism and spatial extent of this sink was not identified, and further investigation would be required to better quantify the loss. The results from the analyses of unmeasured sources of DS load indicated that potential source areas were identifiable in the study areas. It might be expected that unmeasured DS load flux would be identified along the same reaches where unmeasured streamflow flux was identified. To that extent, some of the observed results from the analysis of daily DS loading did mirror the streamflow results. In some subreaches of the Arkansas River, however, unmeasured sources and sinks of DS load did not appear to be directly associated with unmeasured sources and sinks of streamflow. In the UARB from Ark at Canon City to Ark nr Canon City, unmeasured gains in DS load were estimated to range from 11 to 22 tons per day per mile in 2009 and from about 8 to 13 tons per day per mile in 2010; streamflow from unmeasured sources was estimated to be about 20 ft3/s per mile along this same reach. Downstream from this short reach, DS load to the river from unmeasured sources was estimated to range from 5.4 to 7.6 tons per day per mile in 2010 for Ark nr Canon City to Ark at Portland and from 11 to 16 tons per day per mile in 2009 for Ark at Portland to Ark nr Portland. Unmeasured gains in streamflow were not identified in either of these subreaches. Several small tributaries with DS concentrations ranging from 3,000 mg/L to as high as 6,000 mg/L enter the river along these subreaches. These inputs may indicate a potential source of groundwater that could affect DS loading in the river. Further investigation would be needed to identify the unmeasured source or sources of DS load to determine the nature and extent of unmeasured inputs. In the LARB, gains in DS load from unmeasured sources were identified for the subreach from Ark nr Avondale to Ark at Nepesta, although no substantial amounts of streamflow from unmeasured sources were identified for this subreach. In 2009, the estimated gain in DS load from unmeasured sources for this subreach was 4.7 tons per day per mile. An increase in DS load from unmeasured sources also was identified along the subreach of the river from Ark at Catlin to Swink; the DS load from unmeasured sources was estimated to range from 10 to 28 tons per day per mile. The only loss of DS load was identified for the subreach from Nepesta to Catlin Dam in 2010. The mechanism and spatial extent of the losses were not identified, and further investigation would be required to better understand the results.

  19. A network flow model for load balancing in circuit-switched multicomputers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bokhari, Shahid H.

    1990-01-01

    In multicomputers that utilize circuit switching or wormhole routing, communication overhead depends largely on link contention - the variation due to distance between nodes is negligible. This has a major impact on the load balancing problem. In this case, there are some nodes with excess load (sources) and others with deficit load (sinks) and it is required to find a matching of sources to sinks that avoids contention. The problem is made complex by the hardwired routing on currently available machines: the user can control only which nodes communicate but not how the messages are routed. Network flow models of message flow in the mesh and the hypercube were developed to solve this problem. The crucial property of these models is the correspondence between minimum cost flows and correctly routed messages. To solve a given load balancing problem, a minimum cost flow algorithm is applied to the network. This permits one to determine efficiently a maximum contention free matching of sources to sinks which, in turn, tells one how much of the given imbalance can be eliminated without contention.

  20. Making methane visible

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gålfalk, Magnus; Olofsson, Göran; Crill, Patrick; Bastviken, David

    2016-04-01

    Methane (CH4) is one of the most important greenhouse gases, and an important energy carrier in biogas and natural gas. Its large scale emission patterns have been unpredictable and the source and sink distributions are poorly constrained. Remote assessment of CH4 with high sensitivity at m2 spatial resolution would allow detailed mapping of near ground distribution and anthropogenic sources and sinks in landscapes but has hitherto not been possible. Here we show that CH4 gradients can be imaged on

  1. Application of a rule-based model to estimate mercury exchange for three background biomes in the continental United States

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Hartman, J.S.; Weisberg, P.J.; Pillai, R.; Ericksen, J.A.; Kuiken, T.; Lindberg, S.E.; Zhang, H.; Rytuba, J.J.; Gustin, M.S.

    2009-01-01

    Ecosystems that have low mercury (Hg) concentrations (i.e., not enriched or impactedbygeologic or anthropogenic processes) cover most of the terrestrial surface area of the earth yet their role as a net source or sink for atmospheric Hg is uncertain. Here we use empirical data to develop a rule-based model implemented within a geographic information system framework to estimate the spatial and temporal patterns of Hg flux for semiarid deserts, grasslands, and deciduous forests representing 45% of the continental United States. This exercise provides an indication of whether these ecosystems are a net source or sink for atmospheric Hg as well as a basis for recommendation of data to collect in future field sampling campaigns. Results indicated that soil alone was a small net source of atmospheric Hg and that emitted Hg could be accounted for based on Hg input by wet deposition. When foliar assimilation and wet deposition are added to the area estimate of soil Hg flux these biomes are a sink for atmospheric Hg. ?? 2009 American Chemical Society.

  2. Systematic neutron guide misalignment for an accelerator-driven spallation neutron source

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zendler, C.; Bentley, P. M.

    2016-08-01

    The European Spallation Source (ESS) is a long pulse spallation neutron source that is currently under construction in Lund, Sweden. A considerable fraction of the 22 planned instruments extend as far as 75-150 m from the source. In such long beam lines, misalignment between neutron guide segments can decrease the neutron transmission significantly. In addition to a random misalignment from installation tolerances, the ground on which ESS is built can be expected to sink with time, and thus shift the neutron guide segments further away from the ideal alignment axis in a systematic way. These systematic errors are correlated to the ground structure, position of buildings and shielding installation. Since the largest deformation is expected close to the target, even short instruments might be noticeably affected. In this study, the effect of this systematic misalignment on short and long ESS beam lines is analyzed, and a possible mitigation by overillumination of subsequent guide sections investigated.

  3. A steady-state stomatal model of balanced leaf gas exchange, hydraulics and maximal source-sink flux.

    PubMed

    Hölttä, Teemu; Lintunen, Anna; Chan, Tommy; Mäkelä, Annikki; Nikinmaa, Eero

    2017-07-01

    Trees must simultaneously balance their CO2 uptake rate via stomata, photosynthesis, the transport rate of sugars and rate of sugar utilization in sinks while maintaining a favourable water and carbon balance. We demonstrate using a numerical model that it is possible to understand stomatal functioning from the viewpoint of maximizing the simultaneous photosynthetic production, phloem transport and sink sugar utilization rate under the limitation that the transpiration-driven hydrostatic pressure gradient sets for those processes. A key feature in our model is that non-stomatal limitations to photosynthesis increase with decreasing leaf water potential and/or increasing leaf sugar concentration and are thus coupled to stomatal conductance. Maximizing the photosynthetic production rate using a numerical steady-state model leads to stomatal behaviour that is able to reproduce the well-known trends of stomatal behaviour in response to, e.g., light, vapour concentration difference, ambient CO2 concentration, soil water status, sink strength and xylem and phloem hydraulic conductance. We show that our results for stomatal behaviour are very similar to the solutions given by the earlier models of stomatal conductance derived solely from gas exchange considerations. Our modelling results also demonstrate how the 'marginal cost of water' in the unified stomatal conductance model and the optimal stomatal model could be related to plant structural and physiological traits, most importantly, the soil-to-leaf hydraulic conductance and soil moisture. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. Using a Network of Flux Towers to Investigate the Effects of Wetland Restoration on Greenhouse Gas Fluxes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Baldocchi, D. D.; Hatala, J.; Knox, S.; Verfaillie, J. G.; Anderson, F.

    2012-12-01

    The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, a peatland and former wetland, was drained a 100 years ago for intensive agriculture. In the interim, over 10 m of peat has been lost, mostly through oxidation. Current land use is not sustainable, if this region is to maintain its integrity and serve as a conduit for freshwater pumped from northern to southern California. There is great interest in restoring this disturbed landscape with tule wetlands or rice; one is an effective carbon sink, the other an economically viable alternative. Questions arise to how effective are these new landscapes in sequestering carbon and what are the unintended consequences, such as the production of methane and high rates of evaporation from flooded lands, in a semi-arid climate? We are currently operating 6 eddy covariance flux systems that measure short and long term fluxes of carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane. We are making flux measurements over landscapes that represent business as usual (irrigated pasture and corn) and new alternatives (rice, a newly restored wetland and a 14 year old wetland). The pasture and corn operate as carbon sources and are weak emitters of methane on annual time scales. The rice is a modest sink of carbon dioxide, but becomes a carbon source when harvesting is considered. It is a smaller source of methane compared to rice growing in the Sacramento Valley on clay. It seems that there are sufficient alternative electron acceptors (iron, nitrate) that moderate methane production for rice growing on peat soils. The newly restored wetland is a huge methane source, with fluxes exceeding 300 nmol m-2 s-1. In the first two years of functioning, following disturbance, it is switching from being a carbon source to a sink, as tules fill the landscape. The older wetland remains a strong methane source, and its carbon dioxide sink potential is diminishing at it becomes derelict with much undecomposed vegetation.

  5. Magnetic properties as tracers for source-to-sink dispersal of sediments: A case study in the Taiwan Strait

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Horng, Chorng-Shern; Huh, Chih-An

    2011-09-01

    Different lithologies between Taiwan and southeastern China lead to diverse mineralogical composition for weathering products derived from the two shores of the Taiwan Strait. Pyrrhotite and magnetite are respectively the dominant magnetic minerals associated with fluvial sediments from western Taiwan and southeastern China. While magnetite commonly co-exists with pyrrhotite in sediments sourced from Taiwan, pyrrhotite has not been found in sediments sourced from mainland China. Associated with such a distinction are vast differences in magnetic properties, including magnetic susceptibility (χ), SIRM, HIRM and the S-ratio, which can be used to study the provenances of sediments in the Taiwan Strait and adjoining marginal seas. Based on any two of these parameters, the magnetic characteristics of much of the Taiwan Strait sediment can be explained using a two-endmember mixing model. Source-to-sink dispersal of sediments in the Taiwan Strait can then be traced from the distribution of these parameters. The results not only corroborate an earlier study based on radionuclides and particle size distribution ( Huh et al., 2011) but reveal more diagnostic details. Besides spatial distribution based on a large number (216) of surface sediments, we also analyzed temporal variation of magnetic properties in six well-dated cores collected at key sites along the sediment source-to-sink pathways. From profiles of these parameters in cores from the middle of the northern Taiwan Strait, it is calculated that sediment supply from Taiwan has increased substantially in the past five decades, which may very well be related to accelerated land use and increased frequency of intense rainfalls in Taiwan during the same period. The approach described in this work may be extended to other source-to-sink systems around the world and through time, especially the mountainous islands fringing the Pacific and Indian Oceans in southeastern Asia. As with Taiwan, these islands have high denudation rates and pyrrhotite is in all likelihood a mineral characteristic of their metamorphic terrains.

  6. Pelagic origin and fate of sedimenting particles in the Norwegian Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bathmann, Ulrich V.; Peinert, Rolf; Noji, Thomas T.; Bodungen, Bodo V.

    A 17 month record of vertical particle flux of dry weight, carbonate and organic carbon were 25.8, 9.4 and 2.4g.m -2y -1, respectively. Parallel to trap deployments, pelagic system structure was recorded with high vertical and temporal resolution. Within a distinct seasonal cycle of vertical particle flux, zooplankton faecal pellets of various sizes, shapes and contents were collected by the traps in different proportions and quantities throughout the year (range: 0-4,500 10 3m -2d -1). The remains of different groups of organisms showed distinct seasonal variations in abundance. In early summer there was a small maximum in the diatom flux and this was followed by pulses of tinntinids, radiolarians, foraminiferans and pteropods between July and November. Food web interactions in the water column were important in controlling the quality and quantity of sinking materials. For example, changes in the population structure of dominant herbivores, the break-down of regenerating summer populations of microflagellates and protozooplankton and the collapse of a pteropod dominated community, each resulted in marked sedimentation pulses. These data from the Norwegian Sea indicate those mechanisms which either accelerate or counteract loss of material via sedimentation. These involve variations in the structure of the pelagic system and they operatè on long (e.g. annual plankton succession) and short (e.g. the end of new production, sporadic grazing of swarm feeders) time scales. Connecting investigation of the water column with a high resolution in time in parallel with drifting sediment trap deployments and shipboard experiments with the dominant zooplankters is a promising approach for giving a better understanding of both the origin and the fate of material sinking to the sea floor.

  7. Boreal forest BVOC exchange: emissions versus in-canopy sinks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Putian; Ganzeveld, Laurens; Taipale, Ditte; Rannik, Üllar; Rantala, Pekka; Petteri Rissanen, Matti; Chen, Dean; Boy, Michael

    2017-12-01

    A multilayer gas dry deposition model has been developed and implemented into a one-dimensional chemical transport model SOSAA (model to Simulate the concentrations of Organic vapours, Sulphuric Acid and Aerosols) to calculate the dry deposition velocities for all the gas species included in the chemistry scheme. The new model was used to analyse in-canopy sources and sinks, including gas emissions, chemical production and loss, dry deposition, and turbulent transport of 12 featured biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) or groups of BVOCs (e.g. monoterpenes, isoprene+2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MBO), sesquiterpenes, and oxidation products of mono- and sesquiterpenes) in July 2010 at the boreal forest site SMEAR II (Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations). According to the significance of modelled monthly-averaged individual source and sink terms inside the canopy, the selected BVOCs were classified into five categories: 1. Most of emitted gases are transported out of the canopy (monoterpenes, isoprene + MBO). 2. Chemical reactions remove a significant portion of emitted gases (sesquiterpenes). 3. Bidirectional fluxes occur since both emission and dry deposition are crucial for the in-canopy concentration tendency (acetaldehyde, methanol, acetone, formaldehyde). 4. Gases removed by deposition inside the canopy are compensated for by the gases transported from above the canopy (acetol, pinic acid, β-caryophyllene's oxidation product BCSOZOH). 5. The chemical production is comparable to the sink by deposition (isoprene's oxidation products ISOP34OOH and ISOP34NO3). Most of the simulated sources and sinks were located above about 0.2 hc (canopy height) for oxidation products and above about 0.4 hc for emitted species except formaldehyde. In addition, soil deposition (including deposition onto understorey vegetation) contributed 11-61 % to the overall in-canopy deposition. The emission sources peaked at about 0.8-0.9 hc, which was higher than 0.6 hc where the maximum of dry deposition onto overstorey vegetation was located. This study provided a method to enable the quantification of the exchange between atmosphere and biosphere for numerous BVOCs, which could be applied in large-scale models in future. With this more explicit canopy exchange modelling system, this study analysed both the temporal and spatial variations in individual in-canopy sources and sinks, as well as their combined effects on driving BVOC exchange. In this study 12 featured BVOCs or BVOC groups were analysed. Other compounds could also be investigated similarly by being classified into these five categories.

  8. Assessment of Electron Beam Welding in Shipyard Construction,

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1985-12-01

    electrical grade transformer oil which acts as a heat sink for the electrical components. The main high voltage power source converts the three phase I ne...tensile strength material in the range of 80 100 KSI (HY8O 10o0) *’*’ and 3) high strength low alloy material (A710 Gr. A with sulfur 0.0l0 maximum...Carbon Steel Structural Grade HSLA Steel Grade A710: 1) Carbon Steels (2-3") 2) Aluminum * - Grade E633: 3) Low Alloy HY 80, HY 100: -"Aluminum, Titanium

  9. Distributed Egg Production Functions for Meloidogyne arenaria in Grape Varieties and Consideration of the Mechanistic Relationship between Plant and Parasite.

    PubMed

    Ferris, H; Schneider, S M; Semenoff, M C

    1984-04-01

    Nematode egg production rates, as mediated by environmental conditions and host status, are important determinants of population development. Rates of egg production by Meloidogyne arenaria varied from 0.48 to 1.0 egg per female per DD (degree days above 10 C) in different grape varieties. The length of the egg production period ranged from 550 to 855 DD where measurable, and was generally longer in those varieties where the production rate was slow. We hypothesize that if a successful infection site is established, a constant number of eggs is produced if favorable environmental conditions prevail. Mechanistic coupling structures between plant growth and nematode population models are formulated. The nematode population influences metabolite supply through its effect on physiological efficiency and also acts as a metabolic sink; the degree of plant physiological stress influences nematode population development by affecting the sex ratio and egg production rates.

  10. Defect sink characteristics of specific grain boundary types in 304 stainless steels under high dose neutron environments

    DOE PAGES

    Field, Kevin G.; Yang, Ying; Busby, Jeremy T.; ...

    2015-03-09

    Radiation induced segregation (RIS) is a well-studied phenomena which occurs in many structurally relevant nuclear materials including austenitic stainless steels. RIS occurs due to solute atoms preferentially coupling to mobile point defect fluxes that migrate and interact with defect sinks. Here, a 304 stainless steel was neutron irradiated up to 47.1 dpa at 320 °C. Investigations into the RIS response at specific grain boundary types were utilized to determine the sink characteristics of different boundary types as a function of irradiation dose. A rate theory model built on the foundation of the modified inverse Kirkendall (MIK) model is proposed andmore » benchmarked to the experimental results. This model, termed the GiMIK model, includes alterations in the boundary conditions based on grain boundary structure and includes expressions for interstitial binding. This investigation, through experiment and modeling, found specific grain boundary structures exhibit unique defect sink characteristics depending on their local structure. Furthermore, such interactions were found to be consistent across all doses investigated and had larger global implications including precipitation of Ni-Si clusters near different grain boundary types.« less

  11. Assessment of Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts on the Global Carbon Cycle Constrained by Atmospheric Measurements and Remote Sensing Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Keeling, Charles D.; Piper, Stephen C.

    2001-01-01

    This grant aimed to establish how the global carbon cycle has responded and will respond to global change. We proposed to use models to predict measurements of atmospheric CO2 concentration and C-13/C-12 isotopic ratio, and thereby to establish how sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2 have been influenced by climatic change and human activities. As the work progressed we developed strategies involving finding regional sources and sinks of atmospheric CO2 by an inverse approach, and studying their seasonal and interannual variability.

  12. On Blockage Corrections for Two-dimensional Wind Tunnel Tests Using the Wall-pressure Signature Method

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Allmaras, S. R.

    1986-01-01

    The Wall-Pressure Signature Method for correcting low-speed wind tunnel data to free-air conditions has been revised and improved for two-dimensional tests of bluff bodies. The method uses experimentally measured tunnel wall pressures to approximately reconstruct the flow field about the body with potential sources and sinks. With the use of these sources and sinks, the measured drag and tunnel dynamic pressure are corrected for blockage effects. Good agreement is obtained with simpler methods for cases in which the blockage corrections were about 10% of the nominal drag values.

  13. Heat Source/Sink in a Magneto-Hydrodynamic Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow in a Porous Medium: Dual Solutions.

    PubMed

    Hayat, Tasawar; Awais, Muhammad; Imtiaz, Amna

    2016-01-01

    This communication deals with the properties of heat source/sink in a magneto-hydrodynamic flow of a non-Newtonian fluid immersed in a porous medium. Shrinking phenomenon along with the permeability of the wall is considered. Mathematical modelling is performed to convert the considered physical process into set of coupled nonlinear mathematical equations. Suitable transformations are invoked to convert the set of partial differential equations into nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are tackled numerically for the solution computations. It is noted that dual solutions for various physical parameters exist which are analyzed in detail.

  14. Gas exchange in wetlands: Controls and remote sensing

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hines, Mark E.

    1992-01-01

    This project was directed toward the quantification of fluxes of gaseous biogenic sulfur compounds from freshwater wetlands. These compounds (primarily hydrogen sulfide (H2S), dimethyl sulfide (DMS), and carbonyl sulfide (OCS)) have been implicated in the regulation of planetary albedo by the formation of microscopic atmospheric aerosols when they oxidize, and the further role of these aerosols as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). The role of continental sources and sinks for these compounds is poorly understood. The present study was undertaken to quantify the source and sink strength of high latitude wetlands, and to delineate factors that regulate this flux.

  15. The Use of Source-Sink and Doublet Distributions Extended to the Solution of Boundary-Value Problems in Supersonic Flow

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heaslet, Max A; Lomax, Harvard

    1948-01-01

    A direct analogy is established between the use of source-sink and doublet distributions in the solution of specific boundary-value problems in subsonic wing theory and the corresponding problems in supersonic theory. The correct concept of the "finite part" of an integral is introduced and used in the calculation of the improper integrals associated with supersonic doublet distributions. The general equations developed are shown to include several previously published results and particular examples are given for the loading on rolling and pitching triangular wings with supersonic leading edges.

  16. Tropical nighttime warming as a dominant driver of variability in the terrestrial carbon sink

    Treesearch

    William R. L. Anderegg; Ashley P. Ballantyne; W. Kolby Smith; Joseph Majkut; Sam Rabin; Claudie Beaulieu; Richard Birdsey; John P. Dunne; Richard A. Houghton; Ranga B. Myneni; Yude Pan; Jorge L. Sarmiento; Nathan Serota; Elena Shevliakova; Pieter Tans; Stephen W. Pacala

    2015-01-01

    The terrestrial biosphere is currently a strong carbon (C) sink but may switch to a source in the 21st century as climate-driven losses exceed CO2-driven C gains, thereby accelerating global warming. Although it has long been recognized that tropical climate plays a critical role in regulating interannual climate variability, the causal link...

  17. Physical and Economic Integration of Carbon Capture Methods with Sequestration Sinks

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Murrell, G. R.; Thyne, G. D.

    2007-12-01

    Currently there are several different carbon capture technologies either available or in active development for coal- fired power plants. Each approach has different advantages, limitations and costs that must be integrated with the method of sequestration and the physiochemical properties of carbon dioxide to evaluate which approach is most cost effective. For large volume point sources such as coal-fired power stations, the only viable sequestration sinks are either oceanic or geological in nature. However, the carbon processes and systems under consideration produce carbon dioxide at a variety of pressure and temperature conditions that must be made compatible with the sinks. Integration of all these factors provides a basis for meaningful economic comparisons between the alternatives. The high degree of compatibility between carbon dioxide produced by integrated gasification combined cycle technology and geological sequestration conditions makes it apparent that this coupling currently holds the advantage. Using a basis that includes complete source-to-sink sequestration costs, the relative cost benefit of pre-combustion IGCC compared to other post-combustion methods is on the order of 30%. Additional economic benefits arising from enhanced oil recovery revenues and potential sequestration credits further improve this coupling.

  18. The role of branch architecture in assimilate production and partitioning: the example of apple (Malus domestica)

    PubMed Central

    Fanwoua, Julienne; Bairam, Emna; Delaire, Mickael; Buck-Sorlin, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    Understanding the role of branch architecture in carbon production and allocation is essential to gain more insight into the complex process of assimilate partitioning in fruit trees. This mini review reports on the current knowledge of the role of branch architecture in carbohydrate production and partitioning in apple. The first-order carrier branch of apple illustrates the complexity of branch structure emerging from bud activity events and encountered in many fruit trees. Branch architecture influences carbon production by determining leaf exposure to light and by affecting leaf internal characteristics related to leaf photosynthetic capacity. The dynamics of assimilate partitioning between branch organs depends on the stage of development of sources and sinks. The sink strength of various branch organs and their relative positioning on the branch also affect partitioning. Vascular connections between branch organs determine major pathways for branch assimilate transport. We propose directions for employing a modeling approach to further elucidate the role of branch architecture on assimilate partitioning. PMID:25071813

  19. Spontaneous cortical activity alternates between motifs defined by regional axonal projections

    PubMed Central

    Mohajerani, Majid H.; Chan, Allen W.; Mohsenvand, Mostafa; LeDue, Jeffrey; Liu, Rui; McVea, David A.; Boyd, Jamie D.; Wang, Yu Tian; Reimers, Mark; Murphy, Timothy H.

    2014-01-01

    In lightly anaesthetized or awake adult mice using millisecond timescale voltage sensitive dye imaging, we show that a palette of sensory-evoked and hemisphere-wide activity motifs are represented in spontaneous activity. These motifs can reflect multiple modes of sensory processing including vision, audition, and touch. Similar cortical networks were found with direct cortical activation using channelrhodopsin-2. Regional analysis of activity spread indicated modality specific sources such as primary sensory areas, and a common posterior-medial cortical sink where sensory activity was extinguished within the parietal association area, and a secondary anterior medial sink within the cingulate/secondary motor cortices for visual stimuli. Correlation analysis between functional circuits and intracortical axonal projections indicated a common framework corresponding to long-range mono-synaptic connections between cortical regions. Maps of intracortical mono-synaptic structural connections predicted hemisphere-wide patterns of spontaneous and sensory-evoked depolarization. We suggest that an intracortical monosynaptic connectome shapes the ebb and flow of spontaneous cortical activity. PMID:23974708

  20. Loss of dendritic connectivity in southern California's urban riverscape facilitates decline of an endemic freshwater fish

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Richmond, Jonathan Q.; Backlin, Adam R.; Galst-Cavalcante, Carey; O'Brien, John W.; Fisher, Robert N.

    2018-01-01

    Life history adaptations and spatial configuration of metapopulation networks allow certain species to persist in extreme fluctuating environments, yet long-term stability within these systems relies on the maintenance of linkage habitat. Degradation of such linkages in urban riverscapes can disrupt this dynamic in aquatic species, leading to increased extinction debt in local populations experiencing environment-related demographic flux. We used microsatellites and mtDNA to examine the effects of collapsed network structure in the endemic Santa Ana sucker Catostomus santaanae of southern California, a threatened species affected by natural flood-drought cycles, ‘boom-and-bust’ demography, hybridization, and presumed artificial transplantation. Our results show a predominance of drift-mediated processes in shaping population structure, and that reverse mechanisms for counterbalancing the genetic effects of these phenomena have dissipated with the collapse of dendritic connectivity. We use approximate Bayesian models to support two cases of artificial transplantation, and provide evidence that one of the invaded systems better represents the historic processes that maintained genetic variation within watersheds than any remaining drainages where C. santaanae is considered native. We further show that a stable dry gap in the northern range is preventing genetic dilution of pure C. santaanae persisting upstream of a hybrid assemblage involving a non-native sucker, and that local accumulation of genetic variation in the same drainage is influenced by position within the network. This work has important implications for declining species that have historically relied on dendritic metapopulation networks to maintain source-sink dynamics in phasic environments, but no longer possess this capacity in urban-converted landscapes.

  1. Seasonal atmospheric deposition and air-sea gaseous exchange of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons over the Yangtze River Estuary, East China Sea: Implication for the source-sink processes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, Y.; Guo, Z.

    2017-12-01

    As the home of the largest port in the world, the Yangtze River Estuary (YRE) in the East China Sea (ECS) is adjacent to the largest economic zone in China with more than 10% of Chinese population and provides one-fifth of national GDP. The YRE is under the path of contaminated East Asian continental outflow. These make the YRE unique for the pollutant biogeochemical cycling in the world. In this work, 94 pairs of air samples and 20 surface seawater samples covering four seasons were collected from a remote receptor site in the YRE from March 2014 to January 2015, in order to explore the seasonal fluxes of air-sea gaseous exchange and atmospheric dry and wet deposition of 15 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their source-sink processes at the air-sea interface. The average dry and wet deposition fluxes of 15 PAHs were estimated as 879 ± 1393 ng m-2 d-1 and 755 ± 545 ng m-2 d-1, respectively. The gaseous PAHs were released from seawater to atmosphere during the whole year with an average of 3039 ± 2030 ng m-2 d-1. The gaseous exchange of PAHs was referred as the dominant process at the air-sea interface in the YRE as the magnitude of volatilization flux of PAHs exceeded that of the total dry and wet deposition. The gaseous PAH exchange flux was dominated by 3-ring PAHs, with the highest value in summer while lowest in winter, depicting a strong seasonal variation due to temperature, wind speed and air-sea concentration gradient difference among seasons. Based on the simplified mass balance estimation, net 9.6 tons/y of PAHs was volatilized from seawater to atmosphere with an area of approximately 20000 km2 in the YRE. Apart from Yangtze River input and ocean ship emissions in the entire year, the selective release of low molecular weight PAHs from sediments in winter due to re-suspension triggered by the East Asian winter monsoon could be another possible source for dissolved PAHs. This work suggests that the source-sink processes of PAHs at air-sea interface in the YRE plays a crucial role in regional cycling of PAHs.

  2. Determination of Fluxes and their Source Partitioning from high-resolution Profile Measurements of Wind Speed and Scalars within and above short Canopies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Graf, A.; Ney, P.

    2017-12-01

    A continuously moving elevator-based system is described to measure vertical profiles of wind speed, temperature, CO2 and H2O within and above short plant canopies with a vertical resolution in the centimeter range. On sample days in 2015 to 2017, we measured profiles from the soil surface to 2 m a.g.l. in a crop rotation including wheat, barley, bare soil, winter catch crops and sugarbeet, with canopy heights of up to 1 m. Profiles over bare soil or very short canopies could be described well by fitting Monin-Obukhov-like profiles, and the derived fluxes of momentum and all three scalars matched well those of a nearby eddy-covariance station. In green canopies during the day, CO2 profiles clearly indicated the plant sink and soil source by a local minimum in the canopy and a maximum at the soil surface. H2O profiles, indicating sources both in the canopy and at the soil surface, did or did not show a local minimum between both, depending on canopy structure and turbulence. Temperature profiles showed various shapes including solar incident angle effects, and often the expected opposing signs of thermal stability between the subcanopy and the roughness sublayer. Finally, we test different existing parametrizations to estimate the vertical source / sink distribution from the measured profiles, compare the resulting vertically integrated fluxes to eddy-covariance based net fluxes, and discuss limitations and needed improvements to quantify subcanopy soil respiration and evaporation from such approaches.

  3. Nested atmospheric inversion for the terrestrial carbon sources and sinks in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, F.; Wang, H. W.; Chen, J. M.; Zhou, L. X.; Ju, W. M.; Ding, A. J.; Liu, L. X.; Peters, W.

    2013-08-01

    In this study, we establish a nested atmospheric inversion system with a focus on China using the Bayesian method. The global surface is separated into 43 regions based on the 22 TransCom large regions, with 13 small regions in China. Monthly CO2 concentrations from 130 GlobalView sites and 3 additional China sites are used in this system. The core component of this system is an atmospheric transport matrix, which is created using the TM5 model with a horizontal resolution of 3° × 2°. The net carbon fluxes over the 43 global land and ocean regions are inverted for the period from 2002 to 2008. The inverted global terrestrial carbon sinks mainly occur in boreal Asia, South and Southeast Asia, eastern America and southern South America. Most China areas appear to be carbon sinks, with strongest carbon sinks located in Northeast China. From 2002 to 2008, the global terrestrial carbon sink has an increasing trend, with the lowest carbon sink in 2002. The inter-annual variation (IAV) of the land sinks shows remarkable correlation with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). The terrestrial carbon sinks in China also show an increasing trend. However, the IAV in China is not the same as that of the globe. There is relatively stronger land sink in 2002, lowest sink in 2006, and strongest sink in 2007 in China. This IAV could be reasonably explained with the IAVs of temperature and precipitation in China. The mean global and China terrestrial carbon sinks over the period 2002-2008 are -3.20 ± 0.63 and -0.28 ± 0.18 PgC yr-1, respectively. Considering the carbon emissions in the form of reactive biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) and from the import of wood and food, we further estimate that China's land sink is about -0.31 PgC yr-1.

  4. Sensitivity of the boreal forest-mire ecotone CO2, CH4, and N2O global warming potential to rainy and dry weather

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ťupek, Boris; Minkkinen, Kari; Vesala, Timo; Nikinmaa, Eero

    2015-04-01

    In a mosaic of well drained forests and poorly drained mires of boreal landscape the weather events such as drought and rainy control greenhouse gas dynamics and ecosystem global warming potential (GWP). In forest-mire ecotone especially in ecosystems where CO2 sink is nearly balanced with CO2 source, it's fairly unknown whether the net warming effect of emissions of gases with strong radiative forcing (CH4 and N2O) could offset the net cooling effect of CO2 sequestration. We compared the net ecosystem CO2 exchange (NEE) estimated from the carbon sequestrations of forest stands and forest floor CO2 fluxes against CH4 and N2O fluxes of nine forest/mire site types along the soil moisture gradient in Finland. The ground water of nine sites changed between 10 m in upland forests and 0.1 m in mires, and weather during three years ranged between exceptionally wet and dry for the local climate. The NEE of upland forests was typically a sink of CO2, regardless the weather. Though, xeric pine forest was estimated to be a source of CO2 during wet and intermediate year and became a weak sink only in dry year. The NEE of forest-mire transitions ranged between a sink in dry year, while increased stand carbon sequestration could offset the reduced forest floor CO2 emission, and a source in wet year. The NEE of two sparsely forested mires strongly differed. The lawn type mire was balanced around zero and the hummock type mire was relatively strong NEE sink, regardless the weather. Generally, nearly zero N2O emission could not offset the cooling effect of net CH4 sink and net CO2 sink of upland forest and forest-mire transitions. However in sparsely forested mires, with N2O emission also nearly zero, the CH4 emission during wet and intermediate year played important role in turning the net cooling effect of NEE into a net warming. When evaluating GWP of boreal landscapes, undisturbed forest-mire transitions should be regarded as net cooling ecosystems instead of hotspots of net warming.

  5. Variations in the methane budget over the last two millennia

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sapart, C. J.

    2012-06-01

    Methane (CH4) is a strong greenhouse gas and even though its atmospheric abundance is lower than carbon dioxide (CO2), CH4 has a global warming potential twenty-five times larger than CO2 and its atmospheric abundance has drastically increased since 1800. Understanding the evolution of the CH4 atmospheric abundance is complex, because it is controlled by multiple sources (e.g. wetlands, biomass burning, ruminants, rice paddies and fossil fuel) and sinks, and large uncertainties exist on how sensitive those sources and sinks are to climate variability. The aim of this research is to understand the influence of climate variability and anthropogenic activity on the CH4 budget, i.e. the balance between the different sources and sinks, during the last two millennia. For this purpose a technique was developed to analyze the CH4 isotopic composition of air in ice cores. Analysis of the isotopic composition of CH4 preserved in ice cores provides evidence for the environmental drivers of variations in CH4 mixing ratios, because different sources and sinks affect the isotopic composition of CH4 uniquely. Our main results from air trapped in Greenland ice cores shows that the carbon isotopic composition (d13C) of CH4 underwent pronounced centennial-scale variations between 200 BC and 1600 AD without clear corresponding changes in CH4 mixing ratios. Two-box model calculations suggest that those centennial-scale variations in isotope ratios are due to changes in biomass burning and biogenic sources (e.g. wetlands, agriculture), which are correlated with both natural climate variability, including the Medieval Climate Anomaly and with changes in human population, land-use and important events in history as the expansion of the Roman Empire, the fall of the Han dynasty and the Medieval period. This shows that human activity had an impact on the methane budget already two thousand years ago and is likely responsible for the atmospheric methane increase in the atmosphere during this period. Also the more recent CH4 budget has been investigated by measuring the isotope composition of CH4 in air trapped in the surface layer of the ice sheet (called firn). Several processes involving isotopic fractionation occur in the firn, hence corrections need to be apply to the isotope data in order to reconstruct the atmospheric history. Those corrections were carried out with a firn air transport model and the best-estimate scenario shows an enrichment in d13C of CH4 over the last 50 years very likely caused by enhanced fossil fuel production and consumption during this period. The role of wetlands, the main natural CH4 source, has also been investigated using measurements of d13C from air trapped in ice covering Arctic lakes in the winter. Those data showed that during the winter and in presence of ice cover, CH4, which is produced in the lake sediment, is partly removed by oxidation in the water column. Therefore, shorter is the period of ice cover on Arctic lakes, more CH4 will reach the atmosphere. This process may be of major importance in a future changing climate.

  6. Reaction diffusion in the nickel-chromium-aluminum and cobalt-chromium-aluminum systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Levine, S. R.

    1977-01-01

    The effects of MCrAl coating-substrate interdiffusion on oxidation life and the general mutliphase, multicomponent diffusion problem were examined. Semi-infinite diffusion couples that had sources representing coatings and sinks representing gas turbine alloys were annealed at 1,000, 1,095, 1,150, or 1,205 C for as long as 500 hours. The source and sink aluminum and chromium contents and the base metal (cobalt or nickel) determined the parabolic diffusion rate constants of the couples and predicted finite coating lives. The beta source strength concept provided a method (1) for correlating beta recession rate constants with composition; (2) for determining reliable average total, diffusion, and constitutional activation energies; and (3) for calculating interdiffusion coefficients.

  7. Sources and sinks of formic, acetic, and pyruvic acids over central Amazonia. II - Wet season

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Talbot, R. W.; Andreae, M. O.; Berresheim, H.; Jacob, D. J.; Beecher, K. M.

    1990-01-01

    Potential sources and sinks of formic, acetic, and pyruvic acids over the Amazon forest were investigated using a photochemical model and data collected on gas phase concentrations of these acids in the forest canopy, boundary layer, and free troposphere over the central Amazon Basin during the 1987 wet season. It was found that the atmospheric reactions previously suggested in the literature as sources of carboxylic acids (i.e., the gas phase decomposition of isoprene, the reaction between CH3CO3 and a peroxide, and aqueous phase oxidation of CH2O) appear to be too slow to explain the observed concentrations, suggesting that other atmospheric reactions, so far unidentified, could make a major contribution to the carboxylic acid budgets.

  8. Quasi-passive heat sink for high-power laser diodes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vetrovec, John

    2009-02-01

    We report on a novel heat sink for high-power laser diodes offering unparalleled capacity in high-heat flux handling and temperature control. The heat sink uses a liquid coolant flowing at high speed in a miniature closed and sealed loop. Diode waste heat is received at high flux and transferred to environment, coolant fluid, heat pipe, or structure at a reduced flux. When pumping solid-state or alkali vapor lasers, diode wavelength can be electronically tuned to the absorption features of the laser gain medium. This paper presents the heat sink physics, engineering design, performance modeling, and configurations.

  9. Other Production Emissions Sources- September 2012 Workshop

    EPA Pesticide Factsheets

    View a presentation on other production emissions sources, presented at the Stakeholder Workshop on Natural Gas in the Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions and Sinks on Thursday September, 13, 2012.

  10. Theoretical modeling on the laser-induced phase deformation of liquid crystal optical phased shifter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhou, Zhuangqi; Wang, Xiangru; Zhuo, Rusheng; He, Xiaoxian; Wu, Liang; Wang, Xiaolin; Tan, Qinggui; Qiu, Qi

    2018-03-01

    To improve the working condition of liquid crystal phase shifter on incident laser power, a theoretical model on laser induced phase distortion is built on the physics of heat deposition and heat transfer. Four typical factors (absorption, heat sink structure, cooling fluid rate, and substrate) are analyzed to evaluate the influence of phase distortion when a relative high-power laser is pumped into the liquid crystal phase shifter. Flow rate of cooling fluid and heat sink structure are the most important two factors on improving the limit of incident laser power. Meanwhile, silicon wafer is suggested to replace the back glass contacting the heat sink, because of its higher heat transfer coefficient. If the device is fabricated on the conditions that: the total absorption is 5% and it has a strong heat sink structure with a flow rate of 0.01 m/s, when the incident laser power is 110W, the laser-induced phase deformation on the center is diminished to be less than 0.06, and the maximum temperature increase on the center is less than 1K degree.

  11. A multidisciplinary approach to trace Asian dust storms from source to sink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yan, Yan; Sun, Youbin; Ma, Long; Long, Xin

    2015-03-01

    Tracing the source of dust storm (DS) in mega-cities of northern China currently suffers ambiguities from different approaches including source-sink proxy comparison, air mass back trajectory modeling, and satellite image monitoring. By integrating advantages of all three methods, we present a multidisciplinary approach to trace the provenance of dust fall in Xi'an during the spring season (March to May) of 2012. We collected daily dust fall to calculate dust flux variation, and detected eight DS events with remarkable high flux values based on meteorological comparison and extreme detection algorithm. By combining MODIS images and accompanying real-time air mass back trajectories, we attribute four of them as natural DS events and the other four as anthropogenic DS events, suggesting the importance of natural and anthropogenic processes in supplying long-range transported dust. The primary sources of these DS events were constrained to three possible areas, including the northern Chinese deserts, Taklimakan desert, and Gurbantunggut desert. Proxy comparisons based upon the quartz crystallinity index and oxygen isotope further confirmed the source-to-sink linkage between the natural DS events in Xi'an and the dust emissions from the northern Chinese deserts. The integration of geochemical and meteorological tracing approaches favors the dominant contribution of short-distance transportation of modern dust fall on the Chinese Loess Plateau. Our study shows that the multidisciplinary approach could permit a better source identification of modern dust and should be applied properly for tracing the provenance fluctuations of geological dust deposits.

  12. Small-scale geochemical cycles and the distribution of uranium in central and north Florida organic deposits

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bond, P.A.

    1993-03-01

    The global geochemical cycle for an element tracks its path from its various sources to its sinks via processes of weathering and transportation. The cycle may then be quantified in a necessarily approximate manner. The geochemical cycle (thus quantified) reveals constraints (known and unknown) on an element's behavior imposed by the various processes which act on it. In the context of a global geochemical cycle, a continent becomes essentially a source term. If, however, an element's behavior is examined in a local or regional context, sources and their related sinks may be identified. This suggests that small-scale geochemical cycles maymore » be superimposed on global geochemical cycles. Definition of such sub-cycles may clarify the distribution of an element in the earth's near-surface environment. In Florida, phosphate minerals of the Hawthorn Group act as a widely distributed source of uranium. Uranium is transported by surface- and ground-waters. Florida is the site of extensive wetlands and peatlands. The organic matter associated with these deposits adsorbs uranium and may act as a local sink depending on its hydrogeologic setting. This work examines the role of organic matter in the distribution of uranium in the surface and shallow subsurface environments of central and north Florida.« less

  13. Atmospheric inversion of surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distribution of US crop production and consumption

    DOE PAGES

    Chen, J. M.; Fung, J. W.; Mo, G.; ...

    2015-01-19

    In order to improve quantification of the spatial distribution of carbon sinks and sources in the conterminous US, we conduct a nested global atmospheric inversion with detailed spatial information on crop production and consumption. County-level cropland net primary productivity, harvested biomass, soil carbon change, and human and livestock consumption data over the conterminous US are used for this purpose. Time-dependent Bayesian synthesis inversions are conducted based on CO₂ observations at 210 stations to infer CO₂ fluxes globally at monthly time steps with a nested focus on 30 regions in North America. Prior land surface carbon fluxes are first generated usingmore » a biospheric model, and the inversions are constrained using prior fluxes with and without adjustments for crop production and consumption over the 2002–2007 period. After these adjustments, the inverted regional carbon sink in the US Midwest increases from 0.25 ± 0.03 to 0.42 ± 0.13 Pg C yr⁻¹, whereas the large sink in the US southeast forest region is weakened from 0.41 ± 0.12 to 0.29 ± 0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹. These adjustments also reduce the inverted sink in the west region from 0.066 ± 0.04 to 0.040 ± 0.02 Pg C yr⁻¹ because of high crop consumption and respiration by humans and livestock. The general pattern of sink increases in crop production areas and sink decreases (or source increases) in crop consumption areas highlights the importance of considering the lateral carbon transfer in crop products in atmospheric inverse modeling, which provides a reliable atmospheric perspective of the overall carbon balance at the continental scale but is unreliable for separating fluxes from different ecosystems.« less

  14. Biological and physical controls on the flux and characteristics of sinking particles on the Northwest Atlantic margin

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hwang, Jeomshik; Manganini, Steven J.; Park, JongJin; Montluçon, Daniel B.; Toole, John M.; Eglinton, Timothy I.

    2017-06-01

    matter characteristics and radiocarbon contents of organic carbon (OC) were examined on sinking particle samples intercepted at three nominal depths of 1000 m, 2000 m, and 3000 m (˜50 m above the seafloor) during a 3 year sediment trap program on the New England slope in the Northwest Atlantic. We have sought to characterize the sources of sinking particles in the context of vertical export of biogenic particles from the overlying water column and lateral supply of resuspended sediment particles from adjacent margin sediments. High aluminum (Al) abundances and low OC radiocarbon contents indicated contributions from resuspended sediment which was greatest at 3000 m but also significant at shallower depths. The benthic source (i.e., laterally supplied resuspended sediment) of opal appears negligible based on the absence of a correlation with Al fluxes. In comparison, CaCO3 fluxes at 3000 m showed a positive correlation with Al fluxes. Benthic sources accounted for 42 ˜ 63% of the sinking particle flux based on radiocarbon mass balance and the relationship between Al flux and CaCO3 flux. Episodic pulses of Al at 3000 m were significantly correlated with the near-bottom current at a nearby hydrographic mooring site, implying the importance of current variability in lateral particle transport. However, Al fluxes at 1000 m and 2000 m were coherent but differed from those at 3000 m, implying more than one mode of lateral supply of particles in the water column.

  15. Regional drought-induced reduction in the biomass carbon sink of Canada's boreal forests.

    PubMed

    Ma, Zhihai; Peng, Changhui; Zhu, Qiuan; Chen, Huai; Yu, Guirui; Li, Weizhong; Zhou, Xiaolu; Wang, Weifeng; Zhang, Wenhua

    2012-02-14

    The boreal forests, identified as a critical "tipping element" of the Earth's climate system, play a critical role in the global carbon budget. Recent findings have suggested that terrestrial carbon sinks in northern high-latitude regions are weakening, but there has been little observational evidence to support the idea of a reduction of carbon sinks in northern terrestrial ecosystems. Here, we estimated changes in the biomass carbon sink of natural stands throughout Canada's boreal forests using data from long-term forest permanent sampling plots. We found that in recent decades, the rate of biomass change decreased significantly in western Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba), but there was no significant trend for eastern Canada (Ontario and Quebec). Our results revealed that recent climate change, and especially drought-induced water stress, is the dominant cause of the observed reduction in the biomass carbon sink, suggesting that western Canada's boreal forests may become net carbon sources if the climate change-induced droughts continue to intensify.

  16. Carbon allocation during fruiting in Rubus chamaemorus

    PubMed Central

    Gauci, R.; Otrysko, B.; Catford, J.-G.; Lapointe, L.

    2009-01-01

    Background and Aims Rubus chamaemorus (cloudberry) is a herbaceous clonal peatland plant that produces an extensive underground rhizome system with distant ramets. Most of these ramets are non-floral. The main objectives of this study were to determine: (a) if plant growth was source limited in cloudberry; (b) if the non-floral ramets translocated carbon (C) to the fruit; and (c) if there was competition between fruit, leaves and rhizomes for C during fruit development. Methods Floral and non-floral ramet activities were monitored during the period of flower and fruit development using three approaches: gas exchange measurements, 14CO2 labelling and dry mass accumulation in the different organs. Source and sink activity were manipulated by eliminating leaves or flowers or by reducing rhizome length. Key Results Photosynthetic rates were lower in floral than in deflowered ramets. Autoradiographs and 14C labelling data clearly indicated that fruit is a very strong sink for the floral ramet, whereas non-floral ramets translocated C toward the rhizome but not toward floral ramets. Nevertheless, rhizomes received some C from the floral ramet throughout the fruiting period. Ramets with shorter rhizomes produced smaller leaves and smaller fruits, and defoliated ramets produced very small fruits. Conclusions Plant growth appears to be source-limited in cloudberry since a reduction in sink strength did not induce a reduction in photosynthetic activity. Non-floral ramets did not participate directly to fruit development. Developing leaves appear to compete with the developing fruit but the intensity of this competition could vary with the specific timing of the two organs. The rhizome appears to act both as a source but also potentially as a sink during fruit development. Further studies are needed to characterize better the complex role played by the rhizome in fruit C nutrition. PMID:19520701

  17. Natural convection liquid desiccant loop as an auxiliary air conditioning system: investigating the operational parameters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fazilati, Mohammad Ali; Alemrajabi, Ali Akbar; Sedaghat, Ahmad

    2018-03-01

    Liquid desiccant air conditioning system with natural convection was presented previously as a new generation of AC systems. The system consists of two three-fluid energy exchangers namely absorber and regenerator in which the action of air dehumidifying and desiccant regeneration is done, respectively. The influence of working parameters on system performance including the heat source and heat sink temperature, concentration of desiccant solution fills the system initially and humidity content of inlet air to regenerator is investigated experimentally. The heat source temperatures of 50 °C and 60 °C, heat sink temperatures of 15 °C and 20 °C and desiccant concentrations of 30% and 34%, are examined here. The inlet air to regenerator has temperature of 38.5 °C and three relative humidity of 14%, 38% and 44%. In all experiments, the inlet air to absorber has temperature of 31 °C and relative humidity of 75%. By inspecting evaluation indexes of system, it is revealed that higher startup desiccant concentration solution is more beneficial for all study cases. It is also observed although the highest/lowest temperature heat source/heat sink is most suitable for best system operation, increasing the heat source temperature should be accompanied with decreasing heat sink temperature. Using drier air stream for regenerator inlet does not necessarily improve system performance; and the air stream with proper value of humidity content should be employed. Finally after running the system in its best working condition, the coefficient of performance (COP) reached 4.66 which verified to be higher than when the same air conditioning task done by a conventional vapor compression system, in which case the COP was 3.38.

  18. A source-sink model of the generation of plate tectonics from non-Newtonian mantle flow

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bercovici, David

    1995-01-01

    A model of mantle convection which generates plate tectonics requires strain rate- or stress-dependent rheology in order to produce strong platelike flows with weak margins as well as strike-slip deformation and plate spin (i.e., toroidal motion). Here, we employ a simple model of source-sink driven surface flow to determine the form of such a rheology that is appropriate for Earth's present-day plate motions. In this model, lithospheric motion is treated as shallow layer flow driven by sources and sinks which correspond to spreading centers and subduction zones, respectively. Two plate motion models are used to derive the source sink field. As originally implied in the simpler Cartesian version of this model, the classical power law rheologies do not generate platelike flows as well as the hypothetical Whitehead-Gans stick-slip rheology (which incorporates a simple self-lubrication mechanism). None of the fluid rheologies examined, however, produce more than approximately 60% of the original maximum shear. For either plate model, the viscosity fields produced by the power law rheologies are diffuse, and the viscosity lows over strike-slip shear zones or pseudo-margins are not as small as over the prescribed convergent-divergent margins. In contrast, the stick-slip rheology generates very platelike viscosity fields, with sharp gradients at the plate boundaries, and margins with almost uniformly low viscosity. Power law rheologies with high viscosity contrasts, however, lead to almost equally favorable comparisons, though these also yield the least platelike viscosity fields. This implies that the magnitude of toroidal flow and platelike strength distributions are not necessarily related and thus may present independent constraints on the determination of a self-consistent plate-mantle rheology.

  19. A source-sink model of the generation of plate tectonics from non-Newtonian mantle flow

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bercovici, D.

    1995-02-01

    A model of mantle convection which generates plate tectonics requires strain rate- or stress-dependent rheology in order to produce strong platelike flows with weak margins as well as strike-slip deformation and plate spin (i.e., toroidal motion). Here, we employ a simple model of source-sink driven surface flow to determine the form of such a rheology that is appropriate for Earth`s present-day plate motions. In this model, lithospheric motion is treated as shallow layer flow driven by sources and sinks which correspond to spreading centers and subduction zones, respectively. Two plate motion models are used to derive the source sink field.more » As originally implied in the simpler Cartesian version of this model, the classical power law rheologies do not generate platelike flows as well as the hypothetical Whitehead-Gans stick-slip rheology (which incorporates a simple self-lubrication mechanism). None of the fluid rheologies examined, however, produce more than approximately 60% of the original maximum shear. For either plate model, the viscosity fields produced by the power law rheologies are diffuse, and the viscosity lows over strike-slip shear zones or pseudo-margins are not as small as over the prescribed convergent-divergent margins. In contrast, the stick-slip rheology generates very platelike viscosity fields, with sharp gradients at the plate boundaries, and margins with almost uniformly low viscosity. Power law rheologies with high viscosity contrasts, however, lead to almost equally favorable comparisons, though these also yield the least platelike viscosity fields. This implies that the magnitude of toroidal flow and platelike strength distributions are not necessarily related and thus may present independent constraints on the determination of a self-consistent plate-mantle rheology.« less

  20. Whole-plant adjustments in coconut (Cocos nucifera) in response to sink-source imbalance.

    PubMed

    Mialet-Serra, I; Clement-Vidal, A; Roupsard, O; Jourdan, C; Dingkuhn, M

    2008-08-01

    Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is a perennial tropical monocotyledon that produces fruit continuously. The physiological function of the large amounts of sucrose stored in coconut stems is unknown. To test the hypothesis that reserve storage and mobilization enable the crop to adjust to variable sink-source relationships at the scale of the whole plant, we investigated the dynamics of dry matter production, yield and yield components, and concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrate reserves in a coconut plantation on Vanuatu Island in the South Pacific. Two treatments were implemented continuously over 29 months (April 2002 to August 2004): 50% leaf pruning (to reduce the source) and 100% fruit and inflorescence pruning (to reduce the sink). The pruning treatments had little effect on carbohydrate reserves because they affected only petioles, not the main reserve pool in the stem. Both pruning treatments greatly reduced dry matter production of the reproductive compartment, but vegetative growth and development were negligibly affected by treatment and season. Leaf pruning increased radiation-use efficiency (RUE) initially, and fruit pruning greatly reduced RUE throughout the experiment. Changes in RUE were negatively correlated with leaflet soluble sugar concentration, indicating feedback inhibition of photosynthesis. We conclude that vegetative development and growth of coconut show little phenotypic plasticity, assimilate demand for growth being largely independent of a fluctuating assimilate supply. The resulting sink-source imbalances were partly compensated for by transitory reserves and, more importantly, by variable RUE in the short term, and by adjustment of fruit load in the long term. Possible physiological mechanisms are discussed, as well as modeling concepts that may be applied to coconut and similar tree crops.

  1. Shifts in the meso- and bathypelagic archaea communities composition during recovery and short-term handling of decompressed deep-sea samples.

    PubMed

    La Cono, Violetta; Smedile, Francesco; La Spada, Gina; Arcadi, Erika; Genovese, Maria; Ruggeri, Gioacchino; Genovese, Lucrezia; Giuliano, Laura; Yakimov, Michail M

    2015-06-01

    Dark ocean microbial communities are actively involved in chemoautotrophic and anaplerotic fixation of bicarbonate. Thus, aphotic pelagic realm of the ocean might represent a significant sink of CO2 and source of primary production. However, the estimated metabolic activities in the dark ocean are fraught with uncertainties. Typically, deep-sea samples are recovered to the sea surface for downstream processing on deck. Shifts in ambient settings, associated with such treatments, can likely change the metabolic activity and community structure of deep-sea adapted autochthonous microbial populations. To estimate influence of recovery and short-term handling of deep-sea samples, we monitored the succession of bathypelagic microbial community during its 3 days long on deck incubation. We demonstrated that at the end of exposition, the deep-sea archaeal population decreased threefold, whereas the bacterial fraction doubled in size. As revealed by phylogenetic analyses of amoA gene transcripts, dominance of the active ammonium-oxidizing bathypelagic Thaumarchaeota groups shifted over time very fast. These findings demonstrated the simultaneous existence of various 'deep-sea ecotypes', differentially reacting to the sampling and downstream handling. Our study supports the hypothesis that metabolically active members of meso- and bathypelagic Thaumarchaeota possess the habitat-specific distribution, metabolic complexity and genetic divergence at subpopulation level. © 2015 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  2. Design and experimental study of an integrated vapor chamber-thermal energy storage system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kota, Krishna M.

    Future defense, aerospace and automotive technologies involve electronic systems that release high pulsed waste heat like during high power microwave and laser diode applications in tactical and combat aircraft, and electrical and electronic systems in hybrid electric vehicles, which will require the development of an efficient thermal management system. A key design issue is the need for fast charging so as not to overheat the key components. The goal of this work is to study the fabrication and technology implementation feasibility of a novel high energy storage, high heat flux passive heat sink. Key focus is to verify by theory and experiments, the practicability of using phase change materials as a temporary storage of waste heat for heat sink applications. The reason for storing the high heat fluxes temporarily is to be able to reject the heat at the average level when the heat source is off. Accordingly, a concept of a dual latent heat sink intended for moderate to low thermal duty cycle electronic heat sink applications is presented. This heat sink design combines the features of a vapor chamber with rapid thermal energy storage employing graphite foam inside the heat storage facility along with phase change materials and is attractive owing to its passive operation unlike some of the current thermal management techniques for cooling of electronics employing forced air circulation or external heat exchangers. In addition to the concept, end-application dependent criteria to select an optimized design for this dual latent heat sink are presented. A thermal resistance concept based design tool/model has been developed to analyze and optimize the design for experiments. The model showed that it is possible to have a dual latent heat sink design capable of handling 7 MJ of thermal load at a heat flux of 500 W/cm2 (over an area of 100 cm 2) with a volume of 0.072 m3 and weighing about 57.5 kg. It was also found that with such high heat flux absorption capability, the proposed conceptual design could have a vapor-to-condenser temperature difference of less than 10°C with a volume storage density of 97 MJ/m 3 and a mass storage density of 0.122 MJ/kg. The effectiveness of this heat sink depends on the rapidness of the heat storage facility in the design during the pulse heat generation period of the duty cycle. Heat storage in this heat sink involves transient simultaneous laminar film condensation of vapor and melting of an encapsulated phase change material in graphite foam. Therefore, this conjugate heat transfer problem including the wall inertia effect is numerically analyzed and the effectiveness of the heat storage mechanism of the heat sink is verified. An effective heat capacity formulation is employed for modeling the phase change problem and is solved using finite element method. The results of the developed model showed that the concept is effective in preventing undue temperature rise of the heat source. Experiments are performed to investigate the fabrication and implementation feasibility and heat transfer performance for validating the objectives of the design, i.e., to show that the VCTES heat sink is practicable and using PCM helps in arresting the vapor temperature rise in the heat sink. For this purpose, a prototype version of the VCTES heat sink is fabricated and tested for thermal performance. The volume foot-print of the vapor chamber is about 6"X5"X2.5". A custom fabricated thermal energy storage setup is incorporated inside this vapor chamber. A heat flux of 40 W/cm2 is applied at the source as a pulse and convection cooling is used on the condenser surface. Experiments are done with and without using PCM in the thermal energy storage setup. It is found that using PCM as a second latent system in the setup helps in lowering the undue temperature rise of the heat sink system. It is also found that the thermal resistance between the vapor chamber and the thermal energy storage setup, the pool boiling resistance at the heat source in the vapor chamber, the condenser resistance during heat discharging were key parameters that affect the thermal performance. Some suggestions for future improvements in the design to ease its implementation and enhance the heat transfer of this novel heat sink are also presented.

  3. Accounting for intracell flow in models with emphasis on water table recharge and stream-aquifer interaction: 1. Problems and concepts

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jorgensen, Donald G.; Signor, Donald C.; Imes, Jeffrey L.

    1989-01-01

    Intracell flow is important in modeling cells that contain both sources and sinks. Special attention is needed if recharge through the water table is a source. One method of modeling multiple sources and sinks is to determine the net recharge per cell. For example, for a model cell containing both a sink and recharge through the water table, the amount of recharge should be reduced by the ratio of the area of influence of the sink within the cell to the area of the cell. The reduction is the intercepted portion of the recharge. In a multilayer model this amount is further reduced by a proportion factor, which is a function of the depth of the flow lines from the water table boundary to the internal sink. A gaining section of a stream is a typical sink. The aquifer contribution to a gaining stream can be conceptualized as having two parts; the first part is the intercepted lateral flow from the water table and the second is the flow across the streambed due to differences in head between the water level in the stream and the aquifer below. The amount intercepted is a function of the geometry of the cell, but the amount due to difference in head across the stream bed is largely independent of cell geometry. A discharging well can intercept recharge through the water table within a model cell. The net recharge to the cell would be reduced in proportion to the area of influence of the well within the cell. The area of influence generally changes with time. Thus the amount of intercepted recharge and net recharge may not be constant with time. During periods when the well is not discharging there will be no intercepted recharge even though the area of influence from previous pumping may still exist. The reduction of net recharge per cell due to internal interception of flow will result in a model-calculated mass balance less than the prototype. Additionally the “effective transmissivity” along the intercell flow paths may be altered when flow paths are occupied by intercepted recharge.

  4. Physical control of the distributions of a key Arctic copepod in the Northeast Chukchi Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Elliott, Stephen M.; Ashjian, Carin J.; Feng, Zhixuan; Jones, Benjamin; Chen, Changsheng; Zhang, Yu

    2017-10-01

    The Chukchi Sea is a highly advective regime dominated by a barotropically driven northward flow modulated by wind driven currents that reach the bottom boundary layer of this shallow environment. A general northward gradient of decreasing temperature and food concentration leads to geographically divergent copepod growth and development rates between north and south. The physics of this system establish the biological connection potential between specific regions. The copepod Calanus glacialis is a key grazer, predator, and food source in Arctic shelf seas. Its summer distribution and abundance have direct effects on much of the food web, from phytoplankton to migrating bowhead whales. In August 2012 and 2013, C. glacialis distributions were quantified over Hanna Shoal in the northeast Chukchi Sea. Here an individual-based model with Lagrangian tracking and copepod life stage development capabilities is used to advect and develop these distributions forward and backward in time to determine the source (production locations) and sink (potential overwintering locations) regions of the transient Hanna Shoal C. glacialis population. Hanna Shoal supplies diapause competent C. glacialis to both the Beaufort Slope and the Chukchi Cap, mainly receives juveniles from the broad slope between Hanna Shoal and Herald Valley and receives second year adults from as far south as the Anadyr Gulf and as near as the broad slope between Hanna Shoal and Herald Valley. The 2013 sink region was shifted west relative to the 2012 region and the 2013 adult source region was shifted north relative to the 2012 adult source region. These connection potentials were not sensitive to precise times and locations of release, but were quite sensitive to depth of release. These patterns demonstrate how interannual differences in the physical conditions well south of Hanna Shoal play a critical role in determining the abundance and distribution of a key food source over Hanna Shoal and in the southern Beaufort Sea.

  5. Demography of the Yellowstone grizzly bears

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Pease, C.M.; Mattson, D.J.

    1999-01-01

    We undertook a demographic analysis of the Yellowstone grizzly bears (Ursus arctos) to identify critical environmental factors controlling grizzly bear vital rates, and thereby to help evaluate the effectiveness of past management and to identify future conservation issues. We concluded that, within the limits of uncertainty implied by the available data and our methods of data analysis, the size of the Yellowstone grizzly bear population changed little from 1975 to 1995. We found that grizzly bear mortality rates are about double in years when the whitebark pine crop fails than in mast years, and that the population probably declines when the crop fails and increases in mast years. Our model suggests that natural variation in whitebark pine crop size over the last two decades explains more of the perceived fluctuations in Yellowstone grizzly population size than do other variables. Our analysis used demographic data from 202 radio-telemetered bears followed between 1975 and 1992 and accounted for whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) crop failures during 1993-1995. We used a maximum likelihood method to estimate demographic parameters and used the Akaike Information Criteria to judge the significance of various independent variables. We identified no independent variables correlated with grizzly bear fecundity. In order of importance, we found that grizzly bear mortality rates are correlated with season, whitebark pine crop size (mast vs. nonmast year), sex, management-trapping status (never management-trapped vs. management-trapped once or more), and age. The mortality rate of bears that were management-trapped at least once was almost double that of bears that were never management-trapped, implying a source/sink (i.e., never management-trapped/management-trapped) structure. The rate at which bears move between the source and sink, estimated as the management-trapping rate (h), is critical to estimating the finite rate of increase, I>I?. We quantified h by estimating the rate at which bears that have never been management-trapped are management-trapped for the first time. It differed across seasons, was higher in nonmast than mast years, and varied with age. We calculate that I>I?=1.00 from 1975 to 1983 (four mast and five nonmast years) and 1.02 from 1984 to 1995 (seven mast and five nonmast years). Overall, we find that I>I?=1.01A? 0.04 (mean A? 1 SE) from 1975 to 1995. Our models suggest that future management should concentrate on the threats to whitebark pine, such as those posed by white pine blister rust, global warming, and fire suppression. As is currently widely recognized by Yellowstone land managers, our model also suggests that future management must compensate for the increased grizzly bear mortality that is likely to be caused by an increasing number of humans in Yellowstone.

  6. Oceanic islands are not sinks of biodiversity in spore-producing plants.

    PubMed

    Hutsemékers, Virginie; Szövényi, Péter; Shaw, A Jonathan; González-Mancebo, Juana-María; Muñoz, Jesús; Vanderpoorten, Alain

    2011-11-22

    Islands have traditionally been considered as migratory and evolutionary dead ends for two main reasons: island colonizers are typically assumed to lose their dispersal power, and continental back colonization has been regarded as unlikely because of niche preemption. The hypothesis that islands might actually represent dynamic refugia and migratory stepping stones for species that are effective dispersers, and in particular, for spore-producing plants, is formally tested here, using the archipelagos of the Azores, Canary Islands, and Madeira, as a model. Population genetic analyses based on nuclear microsatellite variation indicate that dispersal ability of the moss Platyhypnidium riparioides does not decrease in the island setting. The analyses further show that, unlike island populations, mainland (southwestern Europe and North Africa) populations underwent a severe bottleneck during the last glacial maximum (LGM). Our results thus refute the traditional view of islands as the end of the colonization road and point to a different perception of North Atlantic archipelagos as major sources of biodiversity for the postglacial recolonization of Europe by spore-producing plants.

  7. Nested atmospheric inversion for the terrestrial carbon sources and sinks in China

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, F.; Wang, H.; Chen, J. M.; Ju, W.; Ding, A.

    2013-01-01

    In this study, we establish a~nested atmospheric inversion system with a focus on China using the Bayes theory. The global surface is separated into 43 regions based on the 22 TransCom large regions, with 13 small regions in China. Monthly CO2 concentrations from 130 GlobalView sites and a Hong Kong site are used in this system. The core component of this system is atmospheric transport matrix, which is created using the TM5 model with a horizontal resolution of 3° × 2°. The net carbon fluxes over the 43 global land and ocean regions are inverted for the period from 2002 to 2009. The inverted global terrestrial carbon sinks mainly occur in Boreal Asia, South and Southeast Asia, eastern US and southern South America (SA). Most China areas appear to be carbon sinks, with strongest carbon sinks located in Northeast China. From 2002 to 2009, the global terrestrial carbon sink has an increasing trend, with the lowest carbon sink in 2002. The inter-annual variation (IAV) of the land sinks shows remarkable correlation with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO). However, no obvious trend is found for the terrestrial carbon sinks in China. The IAVs of carbon sinks in China show strong relationship with drought and temperature. The mean global and China terrestrial carbon sinks over the period 2002-2009 are -3.15 ± 1.48 and -0.21 ± 0.23 Pg C yr-1, respectively. The uncertainties in the posterior carbon flux of China are still very large, mostly due to the lack of CO2 measurement data in China.

  8. Study of the Residual Background Events in Ground Data from the ASTRO-HSXS Microcalorimeter

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kilbourne, Caroline A.; Boyce, Kevin R.; Chiao, M. P.; Eckart, M. E.; Kelley, R. L.; Leutenegger, M. A.; Porter, F. S.; Watanabe, T.; Ishisaki, Y.; Yamada, S.; hide

    2015-01-01

    The measured instrumental background of the XRS calorimeter spectrometer of Suzaku had several sources, including primary cosmic rays and secondary particles interacting with the pixels and with the silicon structure of the array. Prior to the launch of Suzaku, several data sets were taken without x-ray illumination to study the characteristics and timing of background signals produced in the array and anti-coincidence detector. Even though the source of the background in the laboratory was different from that in low-earth orbit (muons and environmental gamma-rays on the ground versus Galactic cosmic-ray (GCR) protons and alpha particles in space), the study of correlations and properties of populations of rare events was useful for establishing the preliminary screening parameters needed for selection of good science data. Sea-level muons are singly charged minimum-ionizing particles, like the GCR protons, and thus were good probes of the effectiveness of screening via the signals from the anti-coincidence detector. Here we present the first analysis of the on-ground background of the SXS calorimeter of Astro-H. On XRS, the background prior to screening was completely dominated by coincident events on many pixels resulting from the temperature pulse arising from each large energy deposition (greater than 200 keV) into the silicon frame around the array. The improved heat-sinking of the SXS array compared with XRS eliminated these thermal disturbances, greatly reducing the measured count rate in the absence of illumination. The removal of these events has made it easier to study the nature of the residual background and to look for additional event populations. We compare the SXS residual background to that measured in equivalent ground data for XRS and discuss these preliminary results.

  9. Sex-related and stage-dependent source-to-sink transition in Populus cathayana grown at elevated CO(2) and elevated temperature.

    PubMed

    Zhao, Hongxia; Li, Yongping; Zhang, Xiaolu; Korpelainen, Helena; Li, Chunyang

    2012-11-01

    Dioecious plants, which comprise more than 14,620 species, account for an important component of terrestrial ecosystems. Hence, understanding the sexually dimorphic responses in balancing carbon (C) supply and demand under elevated CO(2) is important for understanding leaf sink-to-source transitions. Here we investigate sex-related responses of the dioecious Populus cathayana Rehd. to elevated CO(2) and elevated temperature. The plants were grown in environmentally controlled growth chambers at two CO(2) enrichment regimes (350 ± 20 and 700 ± 20 μmol mol(-1)) with two temperature levels, elevated by 0 and 2 ± 0.2 °C (compared with the out-of-chamber environment). Plant growth characteristics, carbohydrate accumulation, C and nitrogen (N) allocation, photosynthetic capacity, N use efficiency and the morphology of mesophyll cells were investigated in the developing leaves (DLs) and expanded leaves (ELs) of both males and females. Elevated CO(2) enhanced plant growth and photosynthetic capacity in DLs of both males and females, and induced the male ELs to have a greater leaf mass production, net photosynthesis rate (P(n)), chlorophyll a/b ratio (Chl a/b), soluble protein level (SP), photosynthetic N use efficiency and soluble sugar level compared with females at the same leaf stage. Elevated temperature enhanced source activities and N uptake status during CO(2) enrichment, and the combined treatment induced males to be more responsive than females in sink capacities, especially in ELs, probably due to greater N acquisition from other plant parts. Our findings showed that elevated CO(2) increases the sink capacities of P. cathayana seedlings, and elevated temperature enhances the stimulation effect of elevated CO(2) on plant growth. Male ELs were found to play an important role in N acquisition from roots and stems under decreasing N in total leaves under elevated CO(2). Knowledge of the sex-specific leaf adaptability to warming climate can help us to understand sex-related source-to-sink transitions in dioecious plant species.

  10. Ammonia in the summer Arctic marine boundary layer: Sources, Sinks and Implications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wentworth, G.; Murphy, J. G.; Croft, B.; Martin, R.; Pierce, J. R.; Tremblay, J. E.; Courchesne, I.; Côté, J. S.; Gagnon, J.; Levasseur, M.; Thomas, J. L.; Abbatt, J.

    2015-12-01

    The abundance of NH3 can influence new particle formation rates, aerosol chemical and optical properties, as well as N-sensitive ecosystems via deposition. Sources and sinks of gas-phase ammonia (NH3) are poorly constrained in the High Arctic due to a lack of field observations. In particular, both the magnitude and direction of sea-air NH3 exchange are highly uncertain, although previous studies suggest the open ocean is likely to act as a net sink at high latitudes. In order to investigate potential NH3 sources, sinks and impacts, hourly gas-phase NH3 and particulate-phase NH4+ and SO42- measurements were taken from 13 July to 7 August 2014 aboard a research cruise throughout Baffin Bay and the eastern Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Simultaneous measurements of total seawater ammonium, pH and sea surface temperature were used to compute the compensation point (χ), which is the ambient NH3 concentration at which sea-air fluxes change direction. Ambient NH3 ranged from 30-650 ng m-3 throughout the cruise and was several orders of magnitude larger than measured χ values (0.4-10 ng m-3). Hence, the summertime Arctic Ocean is a strong net sink of NH3. GEOS-Chem (a chemical transport model) was employed to examine the impact of seabird guano (feces) on surface NH3 concentrations. A simulation without guano-derived NH3 emissions yielded highly acidic aerosol and underestimated surface NH3 by several orders of magnitude. Including NH3 emission estimates from seabird guano greatly improved model-measurement comparison. The importance of seabird guano as an NH3 source was also investigated using the FLEXible PARTicle dispersion model driven by WRF meteorology (FLEXPART-WRF). FLEXPART-WRF results confirm that air masses with origins co-located with large seabird colonies were enriched in NH3, whereas those originating over the open ocean were depleted in NH3. The influence of NH3 from wildfires, as well as implications for N-deposition and aerosol neutralization are also discussed.

  11. Implications of Deep Decarbonization for Carbon Cycle Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jones, A. D.; Williams, J.; Torn, M. S.

    2016-12-01

    The energy-system transformations required to achieve deep decarbonization in the United States, defined as a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 80% or more below 1990 levels by 2050, have profound implications for carbon cycle science, particularly with respect to 4 key objectives: understanding and enhancing the terrestrial carbon sink, using bioenergy sustainably, controlling non-CO2 GHGs, and emissions monitoring and verification. (1) As a source of mitigation, the terrestrial carbon sink is pivotal but uncertain, and changes in the expected sink may significantly affect the overall cost of mitigation. Yet the dynamics of the sink under changing climatic conditions, and the potential to protect and enhance the sink through land management, are poorly understood. Policy urgently requires an integrative research program that links basic science knowledge to land management practices. (2) Biomass resources can fill critical energy needs in a deeply decarbonized system, but current understanding of sustainability and lifecycle carbon aspects is limited. Mitigation policy needs better understanding of the sustainable amount, types, and cost of bioenergy feedstocks, their interactions with other land uses, and more efficient and reliable monitoring of embedded carbon. (3) As CO2 emissions from energy decrease under deep decarbonization, the relative share of non-CO2 GHGs grows larger and their mitigation more important. Because the sources tend to be distributed, variable, and uncertain, they have been under-researched. Policy needs a better understanding of mitigation priorities and costs, informed by deeper research in key areas such as fugitive CH4, fertilizer-derived N2O, and industrial F-gases. (4) The M&V challenge under deep decarbonization changes with a steep decrease in the combustion CO2 sources due to widespread electrification, while a greater share of CO2 releases is net-carbon-neutral. Similarly, gas pipelines may carry an increasing share of methane from biogenic or other net carbon-neutral sources. Improved lifecycle analysis will be needed to verify carbon neutrality, while the signal-to-noise challenge for attributing CO2 to fossil or biogenic fuels becomes more challenging.

  12. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Buesseler, K.O.; Trull, T.W.; Steinberg, D.K.

    The VERtical Transport In the Global Ocean (VERTIGO) study examined particle sources and fluxes through the ocean's 'twilight zone' (defined here as depths below the euphotic zone to 1000 m). Interdisciplinary process studies were conducted at contrasting sites off Hawaii (ALOHA) and in the NW Pacific (K2) during 3 week occupations in 2004 and 2005, respectively. We examine in this overview paper the contrasting physical, chemical and biological settings and how these conditions impact the source characteristics of the sinking material and the transport efficiency through the twilight zone. A major finding in VERTIGO is the considerably lower transfer efficiencymore » (T{sub eff}) of particulate organic carbon (POC), POC flux 500/150 m, at ALOHA (20%) vs. K2 (50%). This efficiency is higher in the diatom-dominated setting at K2 where silica-rich particles dominate the flux at the end of a diatom bloom, and where zooplankton and their pellets are larger. At K2, the drawdown of macronutrients is used to assess export and suggests that shallow remineralization above our 150 m trap is significant, especially for N relative to Si. We explore here also surface export ratios (POC flux/primary production) and possible reasons why this ratio is higher at K2, especially during the first trap deployment. When we compare the 500 m fluxes to deep moored traps, both sites lose about half of the sinking POC by >4000 m, but this comparison is limited in that fluxes at depth may have both a local and distant component. Certainly, the greatest difference in particle flux attenuation is in the mesopelagic, and we highlight other VERTIGO papers that provide a more detailed examination of the particle sources, flux and processes that attenuate the flux of sinking particles. Ultimately, we contend that at least three types of processes need to be considered: heterotrophic degradation of sinking particles, zooplankton migration and surface feeding, and lateral sources of suspended and sinking materials. We have evidence that all of these processes impacted the net attenuation of particle flux vs. depth measured in VERTIGO and would therefore need to be considered and quantified in order to understand the magnitude and efficiency of the ocean's biological pump.« less

  13. Heat Source/Sink in a Magneto-Hydrodynamic Non-Newtonian Fluid Flow in a Porous Medium: Dual Solutions

    PubMed Central

    Hayat, Tasawar; Awais, Muhammad; Imtiaz, Amna

    2016-01-01

    This communication deals with the properties of heat source/sink in a magneto-hydrodynamic flow of a non-Newtonian fluid immersed in a porous medium. Shrinking phenomenon along with the permeability of the wall is considered. Mathematical modelling is performed to convert the considered physical process into set of coupled nonlinear mathematical equations. Suitable transformations are invoked to convert the set of partial differential equations into nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are tackled numerically for the solution computations. It is noted that dual solutions for various physical parameters exist which are analyzed in detail. PMID:27598314

  14. Ethylene dynamics in the CELSS biomass production chamber

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rakow, Allen L.

    1994-01-01

    A material balance model for ethylene was developed and applied retrospectively to data obtained in the Biomass Production Chamber of CELSS in order to calculate true plant production rates of ethylene. Four crops were analyzed: wheat, lettuce, soybean, and potato. The model represents an effort to account for each and every source and sink for ethylene in the system. The major source of ethylene is the plant biomass and the major sink is leakage to the surroundings. The result, expressed in the units of ppd/day, were converted to nl of ethylene per gram of plant dry mass per hour and compare favorably with recent glasshouse to belljar experiments.

  15. Sources of fatty acids in Lake Michigan surface microlayers and subsurface waters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Meyers, Philip A.; Owen, Robert M.

    1980-11-01

    Fatty acid and organic carbon contents have been measured in the particulate and dissolved phases of surface microlayer and subsurface water samples collected from Lake Michigan. Concentrations are highest close to fluvial sources and lowest in offshore areas, yet surface/subsurface fractionation is lowest near river mouths and highest in open lake locations. These gradients plus accompanying fatty acid compositional changes indicate that river-borne organic materials are important constituents of coastal Lake Michigan microlayers and that sinking and turbulent resuspension of particulates affect surface film characteristics. Lake neuston and plankton contribute organic components which partially replace potamic materials removed by sinking.

  16. Cytokinins and Expression of SWEET, SUT, CWINV and AAP Genes Increase as Pea Seeds Germinate

    PubMed Central

    Jameson, Paula E.; Dhandapani, Pragatheswari; Novak, Ondrej; Song, Jiancheng

    2016-01-01

    Transporter genes and cytokinins are key targets for crop improvement. These genes are active during the development of the seed and its establishment as a strong sink. However, during germination, the seed transitions to being a source for the developing root and shoot. To determine if the sucrose transporter (SUT), amino acid permease (AAP), Sugar Will Eventually be Exported Transporter (SWEET), cell wall invertase (CWINV), cytokinin biosynthesis (IPT), activation (LOG) and degradation (CKX) gene family members are involved in both the sink and source activities of seeds, we used RT-qPCR to determine the expression of multiple gene family members, and LC-MS/MS to ascertain endogenous cytokinin levels in germinating Pisum sativum L. We show that genes that are actively expressed when the seed is a strong sink during its development, are also expressed when the seed is in the reverse role of being an active source during germination and early seedling growth. Cytokinins were detected in the imbibing seeds and were actively biosynthesised during germination. We conclude that, when the above gene family members are targeted for seed yield improvement, a downstream effect on subsequent seed germination or seedling vigour must be taken into consideration. PMID:27916945

  17. Understanding the Effect of Land Cover Classification on Model Estimates of Regional Carbon Cycling in the Boreal Forest Biome

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kimball, John; Kang, Sinkyu

    2003-01-01

    The original objectives of this proposed 3-year project were to: 1) quantify the respective contributions of land cover and disturbance (i.e., wild fire) to uncertainty associated with regional carbon source/sink estimates produced by a variety of boreal ecosystem models; 2) identify the model processes responsible for differences in simulated carbon source/sink patterns for the boreal forest; 3) validate model outputs using tower and field- based estimates of NEP and NPP; and 4) recommend/prioritize improvements to boreal ecosystem carbon models, which will better constrain regional source/sink estimates for atmospheric C02. These original objectives were subsequently distilled to fit within the constraints of a 1 -year study. This revised study involved a regional model intercomparison over the BOREAS study region involving Biome-BGC, and TEM (A.D. McGuire, UAF) ecosystem models. The major focus of these revised activities involved quantifying the sensitivity of regional model predictions associated with land cover classification uncertainties. We also evaluated the individual and combined effects of historical fire activity, historical atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and climate change on carbon and water flux simulations within the BOREAS study region.

  18. Fair sharing of resources in a supply network with constraints.

    PubMed

    Carvalho, Rui; Buzna, Lubos; Just, Wolfram; Helbing, Dirk; Arrowsmith, David K

    2012-04-01

    This paper investigates the effect of network topology on the fair allocation of network resources among a set of agents, an all-important issue for the efficiency of transportation networks all around us. We analyze a generic mechanism that distributes network capacity fairly among existing flow demands. The problem can be solved by semianalytical methods on a nearest-neighbor graph with one source and sink pair, when transport occurs over shortest paths. For this setup, we uncover a broad range of patterns of intersecting shortest paths as a function of the distance between the source and the sink. When the number of intersections is the maximum and the distance between the source and the sink is large, we find that a fair allocation implies a decrease of at least 50% from the maximum throughput. We also find that the histogram of the flow allocations assigned to the agents decays as a power law with exponent -1. Our semianalytical framework suggests possible explanations for the well-known reduction of the throughput in fair allocations. It also suggests that the combination of network topology and routing rules can lead to highly uneven (but fair) distributions of resources, a remark of caution to network designers.

  19. Fair sharing of resources in a supply network with constraints

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Carvalho, Rui; Buzna, Lubos; Just, Wolfram; Helbing, Dirk; Arrowsmith, David K.

    2012-04-01

    This paper investigates the effect of network topology on the fair allocation of network resources among a set of agents, an all-important issue for the efficiency of transportation networks all around us. We analyze a generic mechanism that distributes network capacity fairly among existing flow demands. The problem can be solved by semianalytical methods on a nearest-neighbor graph with one source and sink pair, when transport occurs over shortest paths. For this setup, we uncover a broad range of patterns of intersecting shortest paths as a function of the distance between the source and the sink. When the number of intersections is the maximum and the distance between the source and the sink is large, we find that a fair allocation implies a decrease of at least 50% from the maximum throughput. We also find that the histogram of the flow allocations assigned to the agents decays as a power law with exponent -1. Our semianalytical framework suggests possible explanations for the well-known reduction of the throughput in fair allocations. It also suggests that the combination of network topology and routing rules can lead to highly uneven (but fair) distributions of resources, a remark of caution to network designers.

  20. Participation of Green Organs to Grain Filling in Triticum turgidum var durum Grown under Mediterranean Conditions

    PubMed Central

    Monneveux, Philippe

    2017-01-01

    In wheat, flag leaf, stem, chaff and awns contribute to grain filling through photosynthesis and/or re-mobilization. Environmental and genetic effects on the relative contribution of each organ were examined by analyzing the consequences of sink-source manipulations (shading and excision) and by comparing carbon isotope discrimination (Δ) values in dry matter (at maturity) and sap (two weeks after anthesis) in six durum wheat genotypes grown in two contrasting seasons. The contribution of flag leaf, stem, chaff and awns to grain filling, estimated by sink-source manipulations, highly varied with the season. The contribution of ear photosynthesis and re-mobilization from the stem increased with post-anthesis water stress. They showed a large genetic variation that was, however, not clearly associated to morphological characteristics of ear and stem. Isotopic imprints of chaff on grain Δ were identified as a possible surrogate of the destructive and cumbersome sink-source manipulations to evaluate the contribution of carbon assimilated in ears or re-mobilized from stem. This might facilitate screening of genetic resources and allow the combining of favourable drought tolerance mechanisms in wheat. PMID:29295600

  1. Latent Heating Retrieval from TRMM Observations Using a Simplified Thermodynamic Model

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Grecu, Mircea; Olson, William S.

    2003-01-01

    A procedure for the retrieval of hydrometeor latent heating from TRMM active and passive observations is presented. The procedure is based on current methods for estimating multiple-species hydrometeor profiles from TRMM observations. The species include: cloud water, cloud ice, rain, and graupel (or snow). A three-dimensional wind field is prescribed based on the retrieved hydrometeor profiles, and, assuming a steady-state, the sources and sinks in the hydrometeor conservation equations are determined. Then, the momentum and thermodynamic equations, in which the heating and cooling are derived from the hydrometeor sources and sinks, are integrated one step forward in time. The hydrometeor sources and sinks are reevaluated based on the new wind field, and the momentum and thermodynamic equations are integrated one more step. The reevalution-integration process is repeated until a steady state is reached. The procedure is tested using cloud model simulations. Cloud-model derived fields are used to synthesize TRMM observations, from which hydrometeor profiles are derived. The procedure is applied to the retrieved hydrometeor profiles, and the latent heating estimates are compared to the actual latent heating produced by the cloud model. Examples of procedure's applications to real TRMM data are also provided.

  2. Tectonic Reorganization and the Cause of Paleocene and Eocene pCO2 Anomalies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Austermann, Jacqueline; Carter, Laura B.; Middleton, Jennifer; Stellmann, Jessica; Pyle, Lacey

    2017-04-01

    Oxygen isotope records reveal that deep-sea temperatures were relatively stable in the early and mid Paleocene before they rose by approx. 4°C to peak in the early Eocene. This Early Eocene Climate Optimum was followed by a 17 Myr cooling trend that led to the onset of Antarctic glaciation at the end of the Eocene. Several studies have examined the potential influence of perturbations to the sinks and sources of atmospheric carbon as mechanisms for the temperature drawdown over the Eocene. Examination of the changing magnitude of carbon sinks has focused on the importance of increased weathering associated with the uplift of the Tibetan plateau (Raymo and Ruddiman, 1992), the continental drift of basaltic provinces through the equatorial humid belt (Kent and Muttoni, 2013), or the emplacement of ophiolites during arc-continent collision in the face of a closing Tethys ocean (Jagoutz et al., 2016). With respect to carbon sources, the shutdown of Tethys subduction and related arc volcanism has been argued to significantly decrease carbon emissions and consequently global temperatures (Hoareau et al., 2015). In this study, we re-assess and quantify proposed atmospheric carbon sinks and sources to obtain an integrated picture of carbon flux changes over the Paleocene and Eocene and to estimate the relative importance of different mechanisms. To constrain carbon sources, we attempt to calculate the outgassing associated with large igneous provinces, mid-ocean ridges and volcanic arcs. We use plate reconstructions to track changes in length and divergence / convergence rates at plate boundaries as well as account for the onset and extinction of volcanic arcs. To constrain carbon sinks, we account for the sequestering of carbon due to silicate weathering and organic carbon burial. We again make use of plate reconstructions to trace highly weatherable arc systems and basaltic extrusions through the tropical humid belt and to assess the interplay between warmer Eocene climates and organic carbon burial due to higher productivity. With this analysis we estimate the possible magnitudes and timescales for carbon fluxes associated with the above factors and compare our calculated rates of carbon sinks/sources to the observed change in pCO2 and global temperature across the Paleocene and Eocene.

  3. VERTIGO (VERtical Transport In the Global Ocean): A study of particle sources and flux attenuation in the North Pacific

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buesseler, K. O.; Trull, T. W.; Steinberg, D. K.; Silver, M. W.; Siegel, D. A.; Saitoh, S.-I.; Lamborg, C. H.; Lam, P. J.; Karl, D. M.; Jiao, N. Z.; Honda, M. C.; Elskens, M.; Dehairs, F.; Brown, S. L.; Boyd, P. W.; Bishop, J. K. B.; Bidigare, R. R.

    2008-07-01

    The VERtical Transport In the Global Ocean (VERTIGO) study examined particle sources and fluxes through the ocean's "twilight zone" (defined here as depths below the euphotic zone to 1000 m). Interdisciplinary process studies were conducted at contrasting sites off Hawaii (ALOHA) and in the NW Pacific (K2) during 3-week occupations in 2004 and 2005, respectively. We examine in this overview paper the contrasting physical, chemical and biological settings and how these conditions impact the source characteristics of the sinking material and the transport efficiency through the twilight zone. A major finding in VERTIGO is the considerably lower transfer efficiency ( Teff) of particulate organic carbon (POC), POC flux 500/150 m, at ALOHA (20%) vs. K2 (50%). This efficiency is higher in the diatom-dominated setting at K2 where silica-rich particles dominate the flux at the end of a diatom bloom, and where zooplankton and their pellets are larger. At K2, the drawdown of macronutrients is used to assess export and suggests that shallow remineralization above our 150-m trap is significant, especially for N relative to Si. We explore here also surface export ratios (POC flux/primary production) and possible reasons why this ratio is higher at K2, especially during the first trap deployment. When we compare the 500-m fluxes to deep moored traps, both sites lose about half of the sinking POC by >4000 m, but this comparison is limited in that fluxes at depth may have both a local and distant component. Certainly, the greatest difference in particle flux attenuation is in the mesopelagic, and we highlight other VERTIGO papers that provide a more detailed examination of the particle sources, flux and processes that attenuate the flux of sinking particles. Ultimately, we contend that at least three types of processes need to be considered: heterotrophic degradation of sinking particles, zooplankton migration and surface feeding, and lateral sources of suspended and sinking materials. We have evidence that all of these processes impacted the net attenuation of particle flux vs. depth measured in VERTIGO and would therefore need to be considered and quantified in order to understand the magnitude and efficiency of the ocean's biological pump.

  4. Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks with Multiple Mobile Sinks.

    PubMed

    Yang, Jin; Liu, Fagui; Cao, Jianneng; Wang, Liangming

    2016-07-14

    Mobile sinks can achieve load-balancing and energy-consumption balancing across the wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, the frequent change of the paths between source nodes and the sinks caused by sink mobility introduces significant overhead in terms of energy and packet delays. To enhance network performance of WSNs with mobile sinks (MWSNs), we present an efficient routing strategy, which is formulated as an optimization problem and employs the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) to build the optimal routing paths. However, the conventional PSO is insufficient to solve discrete routing optimization problems. Therefore, a novel greedy discrete particle swarm optimization with memory (GMDPSO) is put forward to address this problem. In the GMDPSO, particle's position and velocity of traditional PSO are redefined under discrete MWSNs scenario. Particle updating rule is also reconsidered based on the subnetwork topology of MWSNs. Besides, by improving the greedy forwarding routing, a greedy search strategy is designed to drive particles to find a better position quickly. Furthermore, searching history is memorized to accelerate convergence. Simulation results demonstrate that our new protocol significantly improves the robustness and adapts to rapid topological changes with multiple mobile sinks, while efficiently reducing the communication overhead and the energy consumption.

  5. Disentangling the complex evolutionary history of the Western Palearctic blue tits (Cyanistes spp.) - phylogenomic analyses suggest radiation by multiple colonization events and subsequent isolation.

    PubMed

    Stervander, Martin; Illera, Juan Carlos; Kvist, Laura; Barbosa, Pedro; Keehnen, Naomi P; Pruisscher, Peter; Bensch, Staffan; Hansson, Bengt

    2015-05-01

    Isolated islands and their often unique biota continue to play key roles for understanding the importance of drift, genetic variation and adaptation in the process of population differentiation and speciation. One island system that has inspired and intrigued evolutionary biologists is the blue tit complex (Cyanistes spp.) in Europe and Africa, in particular the complex evolutionary history of the multiple genetically distinct taxa of the Canary Islands. Understanding Afrocanarian colonization events is of particular importance because of recent unconventional suggestions that these island populations acted as source of the widespread population in mainland Africa. We investigated the relationship between mainland and island blue tits using a combination of Sanger sequencing at a population level (20 loci; 12 500 nucleotides) and next-generation sequencing of single population representatives (>3 200 000 nucleotides), analysed in coalescence and phylogenetic frameworks. We found (i) that Afrocanarian blue tits are monophyletic and represent four major clades, (ii) that the blue tit complex has a continental origin and that the Canary Islands were colonized three times, (iii) that all island populations have low genetic variation, indicating low long-term effective population sizes and (iv) that populations on La Palma and in Libya represent relicts of an ancestral North African population. Further, demographic reconstructions revealed (v) that the Canary Islands, conforming to traditional views, hold sink populations, which have not served as source for back colonization of the African mainland. Our study demonstrates the importance of complete taxon sampling and an extensive multimarker study design to obtain robust phylogeographical inferences. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Interpretation of fast-ion signals during beam modulation experiments

    DOE PAGES

    Heidbrink, W. W.; Collins, C. S.; Stagner, L.; ...

    2016-07-22

    Fast-ion signals produced by a modulated neutral beam are used to infer fast-ion transport. The measured quantity is the divergence of perturbed fast-ion flux from the phase-space volume measured by the diagnostic, ∇•more » $$\\bar{Γ}$$. Since velocity-space transport often contributes to this divergence, the phase-space sensitivity of the diagnostic (or “weight function”) plays a crucial role in the interpretation of the signal. The source and sink make major contributions to the signal but their effects are accurately modeled by calculations that employ an exponential decay term for the sink. Recommendations for optimal design of a fast-ion transport experiment are given, illustrated by results from DIII-D measurements of fast-ion transport by Alfv´en eigenmodes. Finally, the signal-to-noise ratio of the diagnostic, systematic uncertainties in the modeling of the source and sink, and the non-linearity of the perturbation all contribute to the error in ∇•$$\\bar{Γ}$$.« less

  7. Impact of five tobacco endgame strategies on future smoking prevalence, population health and health system costs: two modelling studies to inform the tobacco endgame.

    PubMed

    van der Deen, Frederieke S; Wilson, Nick; Cleghorn, Christine L; Kvizhinadze, Giorgi; Cobiac, Linda J; Nghiem, Nhung; Blakely, Tony

    2018-05-01

    There is growing international interest in advancing 'the tobacco endgame'. We use New Zealand (Smokefree goal for 2025) as a case study to model the impacts on smoking prevalence (SP), health gains (quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs)) and cost savings of (1) 10% annual tobacco tax increases, (2) a tobacco-free generation (TFG), (3) a substantial outlet reduction strategy, (4) a sinking lid on tobacco supply and (5) a combination of 1, 2 and 3. Two models were used: (1) a dynamic population forecasting model for SP and (2) a closed cohort (population alive in 2011) multistate life table model (including 16 tobacco-related diseases) for health gains and costs. All selected tobacco endgame strategies were associated with reductions in SP by 2025, down from 34.7%/14.1% for Māori (indigenous population)/non-Māori in 2011 to 16.0%/6.8% for tax increases; 11.2%/5.6% for the TFG; 17.8%/7.3% for the outlet reduction; 0% for the sinking lid; and 9.3%/4.8% for the combined strategy. Major health gains accrued over the remainder of the 2011 population's lives ranging from 28 900 QALYs (95% Uncertainty Interval (UI)): 16 500 to 48 200; outlet reduction) to 282 000 QALYs (95%UI: 189 000 to 405 000; sinking lid) compared with business-as-usual (3% discounting). The timing of health gain and cost savings greatly differed for the various strategies (with accumulated health gain peaking in 2040 for the sinking lid and 2070 for the TFG). Implementing endgame strategies is needed to achieve tobacco endgame targets and reduce inequalities in smoking. Given such strategies are new, modelling studies provide provisional information on what approaches may be best. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

  8. Soil respiration across a permafrost transition zone: spatial structure and environmental correlates

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Stegen, James C.; Anderson, Carolyn G.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben

    Soil respiration is a key ecosystem function whereby shifts in respiration rates can shift systems from carbon sinks to sources. Soil respiration in permafrost-associated systems is particularly important given climate change driven permafrost thaw that leads to significant uncertainty in resulting ecosystem carbon dynamics. Here we characterize the spatial structure and environmental drivers of soil respiration across a permafrost transition zone. We find that soil respiration is characterized by a non-linear threshold that occurs at active-layer depths greater than 140 cm. We also find that within each season, tree basal area is a dominant driver of soil respiration regardless of spatial scale, but onlymore » in spatial domains with significant spatial variability in basal area. Our analyses further show that spatial variation (the coefficient of variation) and mean-variance power-law scaling of soil respiration in our boreal system are consistent with previous work in other ecosystems (e.g., tropical forests) and in population ecology, respectively. Comparing our results to those in other ecosystems suggests that temporally stable features such as tree-stand structure are often primary drivers of spatial variation in soil respiration. If so, this provides an opportunity to better estimate the magnitude and spatial variation in soil respiration through remote sensing. Finally, combining such an approach with broader knowledge of thresholding behavior – here related to active layer depth – would provide empirical constraints on models aimed at predicting ecosystem responses to ongoing permafrost thaw.« less

  9. Soil respiration across a permafrost transition zone: spatial structure and environmental correlates

    DOE PAGES

    Stegen, James C.; Anderson, Carolyn G.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; ...

    2017-09-28

    Soil respiration is a key ecosystem function whereby shifts in respiration rates can shift systems from carbon sinks to sources. Soil respiration in permafrost-associated systems is particularly important given climate change driven permafrost thaw that leads to significant uncertainty in resulting ecosystem carbon dynamics. Here we characterize the spatial structure and environmental drivers of soil respiration across a permafrost transition zone. We find that soil respiration is characterized by a non-linear threshold that occurs at active-layer depths greater than 140 cm. We also find that within each season, tree basal area is a dominant driver of soil respiration regardless of spatial scale, but onlymore » in spatial domains with significant spatial variability in basal area. Our analyses further show that spatial variation (the coefficient of variation) and mean-variance power-law scaling of soil respiration in our boreal system are consistent with previous work in other ecosystems (e.g., tropical forests) and in population ecology, respectively. Comparing our results to those in other ecosystems suggests that temporally stable features such as tree-stand structure are often primary drivers of spatial variation in soil respiration. If so, this provides an opportunity to better estimate the magnitude and spatial variation in soil respiration through remote sensing. Finally, combining such an approach with broader knowledge of thresholding behavior – here related to active layer depth – would provide empirical constraints on models aimed at predicting ecosystem responses to ongoing permafrost thaw.« less

  10. Soil respiration across a permafrost transition zone: spatial structure and environmental correlates

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Stegen, James C.; Anderson, Carolyn G.; Bond-Lamberty, Ben; Crump, Alex R.; Chen, Xingyuan; Hess, Nancy

    2017-09-01

    Soil respiration is a key ecosystem function whereby shifts in respiration rates can shift systems from carbon sinks to sources. Soil respiration in permafrost-associated systems is particularly important given climate change driven permafrost thaw that leads to significant uncertainty in resulting ecosystem carbon dynamics. Here we characterize the spatial structure and environmental drivers of soil respiration across a permafrost transition zone. We find that soil respiration is characterized by a non-linear threshold that occurs at active-layer depths greater than 140 cm. We also find that within each season, tree basal area is a dominant driver of soil respiration regardless of spatial scale, but only in spatial domains with significant spatial variability in basal area. Our analyses further show that spatial variation (the coefficient of variation) and mean-variance power-law scaling of soil respiration in our boreal system are consistent with previous work in other ecosystems (e.g., tropical forests) and in population ecology, respectively. Comparing our results to those in other ecosystems suggests that temporally stable features such as tree-stand structure are often primary drivers of spatial variation in soil respiration. If so, this provides an opportunity to better estimate the magnitude and spatial variation in soil respiration through remote sensing. Combining such an approach with broader knowledge of thresholding behavior - here related to active layer depth - would provide empirical constraints on models aimed at predicting ecosystem responses to ongoing permafrost thaw.

  11. Are changes in the phytoplankton community structure altering the flux of CO2 in regions of the North Atlantic?

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ostle, C.; Landschutzer, P.; Johnson, M.; Schuster, U.; Watson, A. J.; Edwards, M.; Robinson, C.

    2016-02-01

    The North Atlantic Ocean is a globally important sink of carbon dioxide (CO2). However, the strength of the sink varies temporally and regionally. This study uses a neural network method to map the surface ocean pCO2 (partial pressure of CO2) and flux of CO2from the atmosphere to the ocean alongside measurements of plankton abundance collected from the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey to determine the relationship between regional changes in phytoplankton community structure and regional differences in carbon flux. Despite increasing sea surface temperatures, the Grand Banks of Newfoundland show a decrease in sea surface pCO2 of -2 µatm yr-1 from 1993 to 2011. The carbon flux in the North Sea is variable over the same period. This is in contrast to most of the open ocean within the North Atlantic, where increases in sea surface pCO2 follow the trend of increasing CO2 in the atmosphere, i.e. the flux or sink remains constant. The increasing CO2 sink in the Grand Banks of Newfoundland and the variable sink in the North Sea correlate with changes in phytoplankton community composition. This study investigates the biogeochemical and oceanographic mechanisms potentially linking increasing sea surface temperature, changes in phytoplankton community structure and the changing carbon sink in these two important regions of the Atlantic Ocean. The use of volunteer ships to concurrently collect these datasets demonstrates the potential to investigate relationships between plankton community structure and carbon flux in a cost-effective way. These results not only have implications for plankton-dynamic biogeochemical models, but also likely influence carbon export, as different phytoplankton communities have different carbon export efficiencies. Extending and maintaining such datasets is critical to improving our understanding of and monitoring carbon cycling in the surface ocean and improving climate model accuracy.

  12. Role of Sink Density in Nonequilibrium Chemical Redistribution in Alloys

    DOE PAGES

    Martinez, Enrique Saez; Senninger, Oriane; Caro, Alfredo; ...

    2018-03-08

    Nonequilibrium chemical redistribution in open systems submitted to external forces, such as particle irradiation, leads to changes in the structural properties of the material, potentially driving the system to failure. Such redistribution is controlled by the complex interplay between the production of point defects, atomic transport rates, and the sink character of the microstructure. In this work, we analyze this interplay by means of a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) framework with an underlying atomistic model for the Fe-Cr model alloy to study the effect of ideal defect sinks on Cr concentration profiles, with a particular focus on the role ofmore » interface density. We observe that the amount of segregation decreases linearly with decreasing interface spacing. Within the framework of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, a general analytical model is derived and assessed against the KMC simulations to elucidate the structure-property relationship of this system. Interestingly, in the kinetic regime where elimination of point defects at sinks is dominant over bulk recombination, the solute segregation does not directly depend on the dose rate but only on the density of sinks. Furthermore, this model provides new insight into the design of microstructures that mitigate chemical redistribution and improve radiation tolerance.« less

  13. Role of Sink Density in Nonequilibrium Chemical Redistribution in Alloys

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Martinez, Enrique Saez; Senninger, Oriane; Caro, Alfredo

    Nonequilibrium chemical redistribution in open systems submitted to external forces, such as particle irradiation, leads to changes in the structural properties of the material, potentially driving the system to failure. Such redistribution is controlled by the complex interplay between the production of point defects, atomic transport rates, and the sink character of the microstructure. In this work, we analyze this interplay by means of a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) framework with an underlying atomistic model for the Fe-Cr model alloy to study the effect of ideal defect sinks on Cr concentration profiles, with a particular focus on the role ofmore » interface density. We observe that the amount of segregation decreases linearly with decreasing interface spacing. Within the framework of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, a general analytical model is derived and assessed against the KMC simulations to elucidate the structure-property relationship of this system. Interestingly, in the kinetic regime where elimination of point defects at sinks is dominant over bulk recombination, the solute segregation does not directly depend on the dose rate but only on the density of sinks. Furthermore, this model provides new insight into the design of microstructures that mitigate chemical redistribution and improve radiation tolerance.« less

  14. Uncovering Offshore Financial Centers: Conduits and Sinks in the Global Corporate Ownership Network.

    PubMed

    Garcia-Bernardo, Javier; Fichtner, Jan; Takes, Frank W; Heemskerk, Eelke M

    2017-07-24

    Multinational corporations use highly complex structures of parents and subsidiaries to organize their operations and ownership. Offshore Financial Centers (OFCs) facilitate these structures through low taxation and lenient regulation, but are increasingly under scrutiny, for instance for enabling tax avoidance. Therefore, the identification of OFC jurisdictions has become a politicized and contested issue. We introduce a novel data-driven approach for identifying OFCs based on the global corporate ownership network, in which over 98 million firms (nodes) are connected through 71 million ownership relations. This granular firm-level network data uniquely allows identifying both sink-OFCs and conduit-OFCs. Sink-OFCs attract and retain foreign capital while conduit-OFCs are attractive intermediate destinations in the routing of international investments and enable the transfer of capital without taxation. We identify 24 sink-OFCs. In addition, a small set of five countries - the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Singapore and Switzerland - canalize the majority of corporate offshore investment as conduit-OFCs. Each conduit jurisdiction is specialized in a geographical area and there is significant specialization based on industrial sectors. Against the idea of OFCs as exotic small islands that cannot be regulated, we show that many sink and conduit-OFCs are highly developed countries.

  15. Role of Sink Density in Nonequilibrium Chemical Redistribution in Alloys

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Martínez, Enrique; Senninger, Oriane; Caro, Alfredo; Soisson, Frédéric; Nastar, Maylise; Uberuaga, Blas P.

    2018-03-01

    Nonequilibrium chemical redistribution in open systems submitted to external forces, such as particle irradiation, leads to changes in the structural properties of the material, potentially driving the system to failure. Such redistribution is controlled by the complex interplay between the production of point defects, atomic transport rates, and the sink character of the microstructure. In this work, we analyze this interplay by means of a kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) framework with an underlying atomistic model for the Fe-Cr model alloy to study the effect of ideal defect sinks on Cr concentration profiles, with a particular focus on the role of interface density. We observe that the amount of segregation decreases linearly with decreasing interface spacing. Within the framework of the thermodynamics of irreversible processes, a general analytical model is derived and assessed against the KMC simulations to elucidate the structure-property relationship of this system. Interestingly, in the kinetic regime where elimination of point defects at sinks is dominant over bulk recombination, the solute segregation does not directly depend on the dose rate but only on the density of sinks. This model provides new insight into the design of microstructures that mitigate chemical redistribution and improve radiation tolerance.

  16. Compensatory mortality in a recovering top carnivore: wolves in Wisconsin, USA (1979-2013).

    PubMed

    Stenglein, Jennifer L; Wydeven, Adrian P; Van Deelen, Timothy R

    2018-05-01

    Populations of large terrestrial carnivores are in various stages of recovery worldwide and the question of whether there is compensation in mortality sources is relevant to conservation. Here, we show variation in Wisconsin wolf survival from 1979 to 2013 by jointly estimating the hazard of wolves' radio-telemetry ending (endpoint) and endpoint cause. In previous analyses, wolves lost to radio-telemetry follow-up (collar loss) were censored from analysis, thereby assuming collar loss was unconfounded with mortality. Our approach allowed us to explicitly estimate hazard due to collar loss and did not require censoring these records from analysis. We found mean annual survival was 76% and mean annual causes of mortality were illegal killing (9.4%), natural and unknown causes (9.5%), and other human-caused mortality such as hunting, vehicle collisions and lethal control (5.1%). Illegal killing and natural mortality were highest during winter, causing wolf survival to decrease relative to summer. Mortality was highest during early recovery and lowest during a period of sustained population growth. Wolves again experienced higher risk of human-caused mortality relative to natural mortality as wolves expanded into areas with more human activity. We detected partial compensation in human- and natural-caused mortality since 2004 as the population saturated more available habitat. Prior to 2004, we detected additivity in mortality sources. Assessments of wolf survival and cause of mortality rates and the finding of partial compensation in mortality sources will inform wolf conservation and management efforts by identifying sources and sinks, finding areas of conservation need, and assessing management zone delineation.

  17. Future forest aboveground carbon dynamics in the central United States: the importance of forest demographic processes

    Treesearch

    Wenchi Jin; Hong S. He; Frank R. Thompson; Wen J. Wang; Jacob S. Fraser; Stephen R. Shifley; Brice B. Hanberry; William D. Dijak

    2017-01-01

    The Central Hardwood Forest (CHF) in the United States is currently a major carbon sink, there are uncertainties in how long the current carbon sink will persist and if the CHF will eventually become a carbon source. We used a multi-model ensemble to investigate aboveground carbon density of the CHF from 2010 to 2300 under current climate. Simulations were done using...

  18. Recent change of artic tundra ecosystems from a net carbon dioxide sink to a source

    Treesearch

    Walter C. Oechel; Steven J. Hastings; George Vourlitis; Mitchell Jenkins; George Riechers; Nancy Grulke

    1993-01-01

    Arctic tundra has been a net sink for carbon dioxide during historic and recent geological times1-4, and large amounts of carbon are stored in the soils of northern ecosystems. Many regions of the Arctic are warmer now than they have been in the past5-10, and this warming may cause the soil to change from a carbon dioxide...

  19. Constraining the global bromomethane budget from carbon stable isotopes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bahlmann, Enno; Wittmer, Julian; Greule, Markus; Zetzsch, Cornelius; Seifert, Richard; Keppler, Frank

    2016-04-01

    Despite intense research in the last two decades, the global bromomethane (CH3Br) budget remains unbalanced with the known sinks exceeding the known sources by about 25%. The reaction with OH is the largest sink for CH3Br. We have determined the kinetic isotope effects for the reactions of CH3Br with the OH and Cl radical in order to better constrain the global CH3Br budget from an isotopic perspective. The isotope fractionation experiments were performed at 20±1°C in a 3500 L Teflon smog-chamber with initial CH3Br mixing ratios of about 2 and 10 ppm and perflourohexane (25 ppb) as internal standard. Atomic chlorine (Cl) was generated via photolysis of molecular chlorine (Cl2) using a solar simulator with an actinic flux comparable to that of the sun in mid-summer in Germany. OH radicals were generated via the photolysis of ozone (O3) at 253.7 nm in the presence of water vapor (RH = 70%).The mixing ratios of CH3Br, and perflourohexane were monitored by GC-MS with a time resolution of 15 minutes throughout the experiments. From each experiment 10 to 15 sub samples were taken in regular time intervals for subsequent carbon isotope ratio determinations by GC-IRMS performed at two independent laboratories in parallel. We found a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) of 17.6±3.3‰ for the reaction of CH3Br with OH and a KIE of 9.8±1.4 ‰ for the reaction with Cl*. We used these fractionation factors along with new data on the isotopic composition of CH3Br in the troposphere (-34±7‰) and the surface ocean (-26±7‰) along with reported source signatures, to constrain the unknown source from an isotopic perspective. The largest uncertainty in estimating the isotopic composition of the unknown source arises from the soil sink. Microbial degradation in soils is the second largest sink and assigned with a large fractionation factors of about 50‰. However, field experiments revealed substantially smaller apparent fractionation factors ranging from 11 to 22‰. In addition, simple model studies suggest that the soil uptake of CH3Br and hence its isotopic effect is largely controlled by diffusion resulting in an even smaller apparent isotopic fractionation. As a consequence, the estimated source signature for the unknown source is discussed with respect to the assumptions made for the soil sink.

  20. Quantifying the sources and sinks of nitrite in the oxygen minimum zone of the Eastern Tropical South Pacific

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ji, Qixing; Widner, Brittany; Jayakumar, Amal; Ward, Bess; Mulholland, Margaret

    2017-04-01

    In coastal upwelling regions, high surface productivity leads to high export and intense remineralization consuming oxygen. This, in combination with slow ventilation, creates oxygen minimum zones (OMZ) in eastern boundary regions of the ocean, such as the one off the Peruvian coast in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific. The OMZ is characterized by a layer of high nitrite concentration coinciding with water column anoxia. Sharp oxygen gradients are located above and below the anoxic layer (upper and lower oxyclines). Thus, the OMZ harbors diverse microbial metabolisms, several of which involve the production and consumption of nitrite. The sources of nitrite are ammonium oxidation and nitrate reduction. The sinks of nitrite include anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox), canonical denitrification and nitrite oxidation to nitrate. To quantify the sources and sinks of nitrite in the Peruvian OMZ, incubation experiments with 15N-labeled substrates (ammonium, nitrite and nitrate) were conducted on a research cruise in January 2015. The direct measurements of instantaneous nitrite production and consumption rates were compared with ambient nitrite concentrations to evaluate the turnover rate of nitrite in the OMZ. The distribution of nitrite in the water column showed a two-peak structure. A primary nitrite maximum (up to 0.5 μM) was located in the upper oxycline. A secondary nitrite maximum (up to 10 μM) was found in the anoxic layer. A nitrite concentration minimum occurred at the oxic-anoxic interface just below the upper oxycline. For the sources of nitrite, highest rates of ammonium oxidation and nitrate reduction were detected in the upper oxycline, where both nitrite and oxygen concentrations were low. Lower rates of nitrite production were detected within the layer of secondary nitrite maximum. For the sinks of nitrite, the rates of anammox, denitrification and nitrite oxidation were the highest just below the oxic-anoxic interface. Low nitrite consumption rates were also detected within the layer of the secondary nitrite maximum. The imbalances between nitrite production and consumption rates help to explain the distribution of nitrite in the water column. The primary nitrite maximum in the upper oxycline is consistent with ammonium oxidation exceeding nitrite oxidation. Nitrite consumption rates exceeding rates of nitrite production result in the low nitrite concentration at the oxic-anoxic interface. Within the secondary nitrite maximum in the anoxic layer, production and consumption of nitrite are equivalent within measurement error. These low turnover rates suggest the stability of the nitrite pool in the secondary nitrite maximum over long time scales (decades to millennial). These data could be implemented into biogeochemical models to decipher the origin and the evolution of nitrite distribution in the OMZs.

  1. Historical emissions critical for mapping decarbonization pathways

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Majkut, J.; Kopp, R. E.; Sarmiento, J. L.; Oppenheimer, M.

    2016-12-01

    Policymakers have set a goal of limiting temperature increase from human influence on the climate. This motivates the identification of decarbonization pathways to stabilize atmospheric concentrations of CO2. In this context, the future behavior of CO2 sources and sinks define the CO2 emissions necessary to meet warming thresholds with specified probabilities. We adopt a simple model of the atmosphere-land-ocean carbon balance to reflect uncertainty in how natural CO2 sinks will respond to increasing atmospheric CO2 and temperature. Bayesian inversion is used to estimate the probability distributions of selected parameters of the carbon model. Prior probability distributions are chosen to reflect the behavior of CMIP5 models. We then update these prior distributions by running historical simulations of the global carbon cycle and inverting with observationally-based inventories and fluxes of anthropogenic carbon in the ocean and atmosphere. The result is a best-estimate of historical CO2 sources and sinks and a model of how CO2 sources and sinks will vary in the future under various emissions scenarios, with uncertainty. By linking the carbon model to a simple climate model, we calculate emissions pathways and carbon budgets consistent with meeting specific temperature thresholds and identify key factors that contribute to remaining uncertainty. In particular, we show how the assumed history of CO2 emissions from land use change (LUC) critically impacts estimates of the strength of the land CO2 sink via CO2 fertilization. Different estimates of historical LUC emissions taken from the literature lead to significantly different parameterizations of the carbon system. High historical CO2 emissions from LUC lead to a more robust CO2 fertilization effect, significantly lower future atmospheric CO2 concentrations, and an increased amount of CO2 that can be emitted to satisfy temperature stabilization targets. Thus, in our model, historical LUC emissions have a significant impact on allowable carbon budgets under temperture targets.

  2. DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Holdridge, D. J.

    Global Warming and Methane--Global warming, an increase in Earth's near-surface temperature, is believed to result from the buildup of what scientists refer to as ''greenhouse gases.'' These gases include water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, perfluorocarbons, hydrofluoro-carbons, and sulfur hexafluoride. Greenhouse gases can absorb outgoing infrared (heat) radiation and re-emit it back to Earth, warming the surface. Thus, these gases act like the glass of a greenhouse enclosure, trapping infrared radiation inside and warming the space. One of the more important greenhouse gases is the naturally occurring hydrocarbon methane. Methane, a primary component of natural gas, is themore » second most important contributor to the greenhouse effect (after carbon dioxide). Natural sources of methane include wetlands, fossil sources, termites, oceans, fresh-waters, and non-wetland soils. Methane is also produced by human-related (or anthropogenic) activities such as fossil fuel production, coal mining, rice cultivation, biomass burning, water treatment facilities, waste management operations and landfills, and domesticated livestock operations (Figure 1). These anthropogenic activities account for approximately 70% of the methane emissions to the atmosphere. Methane is removed naturally from the atmosphere in three ways. These methods, commonly referred to as sinks, are oxidation by chemical reaction with tropospheric hydroxyl ion, oxidation within the stratosphere, and microbial uptake by soils. In spite of their important role in removing excess methane from the atmosphere, the sinks cannot keep up with global methane production. Methane concentrations in the atmosphere have increased by 145% since 1800. Increases in atmospheric methane roughly parallel world population growth, pointing to anthropogenic sources as the cause (Figure 2). Increases in the methane concentration reduce Earth's natural cooling efficiency by trapping more of the outgoing terrestrial infrared radiation, increasing the near-surface temperature.« less

  3. Conceptual study of hypersonic airbreathing missiles

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hunt, J. L.; Lawing, P. L.; Marcum, D. C.; Cubbage, J. M.

    1978-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to report recent results of an in-house conceptual study to evaluate the performance potential and research needs of airbreathing hypersonic missiles. An alkylated-borane (noncryogenic) fueled, dual-mode, ramjet/scramjet propulsion system structured with a Rene 41 inlet and a carbon-carbon combustor was assumed along with a Lockalloy heat sink fuselage structure and beryllium wings and control surfaces. Performance for an air-launched baseline missile with a 961 pound staging weight containing a 100 pound payload indicated excellent long range cruise, moderate acceleration and high maneuverability potential. A sizing study indicates that Mach 6 cruise ranges of the order of 2500 nautical miles for payloads of 300 pounds can be achieved with moderate size missile carry weights (9000 lbs.). Aerodynamic heating analyses indicate that unprotected heat-sink structures with internal insulation are feasible for ranges of several hundred miles. For ranges of several thousands of miles a multiwall radiation shield (Inconel/titanium) was selected for protection of the internally insulated heat sink structure.

  4. Temperature distribution in a stellar atmosphere diagnostic basis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jefferies, J. T.; Morrison, N. D.

    1973-01-01

    A stellar chromosphere is considered a region where the temperature increases outward and where the temperature structure of the gas controls the shape of the spectral lines. It is shown that lines which have collision-dominated source sink terms, like the Ca(+) and Mg(+) H and K lines, can be used to obtain the distribution of temperature with height from observed line profiles. Intrinsic emission lines and geometrical emission lines are found in spectral regions where the continuum is depressed. In visual regions, where the continuum is not depressed, emission core in absorption lines are attributed to reflections of intrinsic emission lines.

  5. Development and Validation of Water Vapor Tracers as Diagnostics for the Atmospheric Hydrologic Cycle

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bosilovich, Michael G.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Einaudi, Franco (Technical Monitor)

    2000-01-01

    Understanding of the local and remote sources of water vapor can be a valuable diagnostic in understanding the regional atmospheric hydrologic cycle. In the present study, we have implemented passive tracers as prognostic variables to follow water vapor evaporated in predetermined regions until the water tracer precipitates. The formulation of the sources and sinks of tracer water is generally proportional to the prognostic water vapor variable. Because all water has been accounted for in tracers, the water vapor variable provides the validation of the tracer water and the formulation of the sources and sinks. The tracers have been implemented in a GEOS General Circulation Model (GCM) simulation consisting of several summer periods to determine the source regions of precipitation for the United States and India. The recycling of water and interannual variability of the sources of water will be examined. Potential uses in GCM sensitivity studies, predictability studies and data assimilation will be discussed.

  6. Multi-scale constraints of sediment source to sink systems in frontier basins: a forward stratigraphic modeling case study of the Levant region

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Hawie, Nicolas; Deschamps, Remy; Granjeon, Didier; Nader, Fadi-Henri; Gorini, Christian; Müller, Carla; Montadert, Lucien; Baudin, François

    2015-04-01

    Recent scientific work underlined the presence of a thick Cenozoic infill in the Levant Basin reaching up to 12 km. Interestingly; restricted sedimentation was observed along the Levant margin in the Cenozoic. Since the Late Eocene successive regional geodynamic events affecting Afro-Arabia and Eurasia (collision and strike slip deformation)induced fast marginal uplifts. The initiation of local and long-lived regional drainage systems in the Oligo-Miocene period (e.g. Lebanon versus Nile) provoked a change in the depositional pattern along the Levant margin and basin. A shift from carbonate dominated environments into clastic rich systems has been observed. Through this communication we explore the importance of multi-scale constraints (i.e.,seismic, well and field data) in the quantification of the subsidence history, sediment transport and deposition of a Middle-Upper Miocene "multi-source" to sink system along the northernLevant frontier region. We prove through a comprehensive forward stratigraphic modeling workflow that the contribution to the infill of the northern Levant Basin (offshore Lebanon) is split in between proximal and more distal clastic sources as well as in situ carbonate/hemipelagic deposition. In a wider perspective this work falls under the umbrella of multi-disciplinary source to sink studies that investigate the impact of geodynamic events on basin/margin architectural evolutions, consequent sedimentary infill and thus on petroleum systems assessment.

  7. Phloem transport velocity varies over time and among vascular bundles during early cucumber seedling development.

    PubMed

    Savage, Jessica A; Zwieniecki, Maciej A; Holbrook, N Michele

    2013-11-01

    We use a novel dye-tracing technique to measure in vivo phloem transport velocity in cucumber (Cucumis sativus) plants during early seedling development. We focus on seedlings because of their importance in plant establishment and because they provide a simple source and sink model of phloem transport. The dye-tracing method uses a photodiode to track the movement of a bleach front of fluorescent dye traveling in the phloem from the cotyledons (source) to the roots (sink). During early seedling development, phloem transport velocity in this direction can change 2-fold depending on vascular connectivity and the number of actively growing sinks. Prior to leaf expansion, vascular bundles attached to the first developing leaf demonstrate a decline in basipetal phloem transport that can be alleviated by the leaf's removal. At this stage, seedlings appear carbon limited and phloem transport velocity is correlated with cotyledon area, a pattern that is apparent both during cotyledon expansion and after source area manipulation. When the first leaf transitions to a carbon source, seedling growth rate increases and basipetal phloem transport velocity becomes more stable. Because bundles appear to operate autonomously, transport velocity can differ among vascular bundles. Together, these results demonstrate the dynamic and heterogeneous nature of phloem transport and underline the need for a better understanding of how changes in phloem physiology impact growth and allocation at this critical stage of development.

  8. On Demand Internal Short Circuit Device Enables Verification of Safer, Higher Performing Battery Designs

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Darcy, Eric; Keyser, Matthew

    The Internal Short Circuit (ISC) device enables critical battery safety verification. With the aluminum interstitial heat sink between the cells, normal trigger cells cannot be driven into thermal runaway without excessive temperature bias of adjacent cells. With an implantable, on-demand ISC device, thermal runaway tests show that the conductive heat sinks protected adjacent cells from propagation. High heat dissipation and structural support of Al heat sinks show high promise for safer, higher performing batteries.

  9. Evaluation of carbon fluxes and trends (2000-2008) in the Greater Platte River Basin: a sustainability study on the potential biofuel feedstock development

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Gu, Yingxin; Wylie, Bruce K.; Zhang, Li; Gilmanov, Tagir G.

    2012-01-01

    This study evaluates the carbon fluxes and trends and examines the environmental sustainability (e.g., carbon budget, source or sink) of the potential biofuel feedstock sites identified in the Greater Platte River Basin (GPRB). A 9-year (2000–2008) time series of net ecosystem production (NEP), a measure of net carbon absorption or emission by ecosystems, was used to assess the historical trends and budgets of carbon flux for grasslands in the GPRB. The spatially averaged annual NEP (ANEP) for grassland areas that are possibly suitable for biofuel expansion (productive grasslands) was 71–169 g C m−2 year−1 during 2000–2008, indicating a carbon sink (more carbon is absorbed than released) in these areas. The spatially averaged ANEP for areas not suitable for biofuel feedstock development (less productive or degraded grasslands) was −47 to 69 g C m−2 year−1 during 2000–2008, showing a weak carbon source or a weak carbon sink (carbon emitted is nearly equal to carbon absorbed). The 9-year pre-harvest cumulative ANEP was 1166 g C m−2 for the suitable areas (a strong carbon sink) and 200 g C m−2 for the non-suitable areas (a weak carbon sink). Results demonstrate and confirm that our method of dynamic modeling of ecosystem performance can successfully identify areas desirable and sustainable for future biofuel feedstock development. This study provides useful information for land managers and decision makers to make optimal land use decisions regarding biofuel feedstock development and sustainability.

  10. Interactions between gravity waves and cold air outflows in a stably stratified uniform flow

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, Yuh-Lang; Wang, Ting-An; Weglarz, Ronald P.

    1993-01-01

    Interactions between gravity waves and cold air outflows in a stably stratified uniform flow forced by various combinations of prescribed heat sinks and sources are studied using a hydrostatic two-dimensional nonlinear numerical model. The formation time for the development of a stagnation point or reversed flow at the surface is not always directly proportional to the Froude number when wave reflections exist from upper levels. A density current is able to form by the wave-otuflow interaction, even though the Froude number is greater than a critical value. This is the result of the wave-outflow interaction shifting the flow response to a different location in the characteristic parameter space. A density current is able to form or be destroyed due to the wave-outflow interaction between a traveling gravity wave and cold air outflow. This is proved by performing experiments with a steady-state heat sink and an additional transient heat source. In a quiescent fluid, a region of cold air, convergence, and upward motion is formed after the collision between two outflows produced by two prescribed heat sinks. After the collision, the individual cold air outflows lose their own identity and merge into a single, stationary, cold air outflow region. Gravity waves tend to suppress this new stationary cold air outflow after the collision. The region of upward motion associated with the collision is confined to a very shallow layer. In a moving airstream, a density current produced by a heat sink may be suppressed or enhanced nonlinearly by an adjacent heat sink due to the wave-outflow interaction.

  11. Upscaling carbon fluxes over the Great Plains grasslands: Sinks and sources

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Zhang, Li; Wylie, Bruce K.; Ji, Lei; Gilmanov, Tagir G.; Tieszen, Larry L.; Howar, Daniel M.

    2011-01-01

    Previous studies suggested that the grasslands may be carbon sinks or near equilibrium, and they often shift between carbon sources in drought years and carbon sinks in other years. It is important to understand the responses of net ecosystem production (NEP) to various climatic conditions across the U.S. Great Plains grasslands. Based on 15 grassland flux towers, we developed a piecewise regression model and mapped the grassland NEP at 250 m spatial resolution over the Great Plains from 2000 to 2008. The results showed that the Great Plains was a net sink with an averaged annual NEP of 24 ± 14 g C m−2 yr−1, ranging from a low value of 0.3 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2002 to a high value of 47.7 g C m−2 yr−1 in 2005. The regional averaged NEP for the entire Great Plains grasslands was estimated to be 336 Tg C yr−1 from 2000 to 2008. In the 9 year period including 4 dry years, the annual NEP was very variable in both space and time. It appeared that the carbon gains for the Great Plains were more sensitive to droughts in the west than the east. The droughts in 2000, 2002, 2006, and 2008 resulted in increased carbon losses over drought-affected areas, and the Great Plains grasslands turned into a relatively low sink with NEP values of 15.8, 0.3, 20.1, and 10.2 g C m−2 yr−1 for the 4 years, respectively.

  12. Quantifying Contemporary Terrestrial Carbon Sources and Sinks in the Conterminous United States

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Liu, S.; Loveland, T.

    2003-12-01

    U.S. land likely accounts for a significant portion of the unidentified global carbon sink, although the magnitude is highly uncertain. The ultimate goal of this study is to quantify the contemporary temporal and spatial patterns of carbon sources and sinks in the conterminous United States from the early 1970s to 2000, and to explain the mechanisms that cause the variability and changes. Because of the difficulty and massive cost for developing land cover change databases for the conterminous United States, we adopt an ecoregion-based sampling approach. Carbon dynamics within thousands of 20 km by 20 km or 10 km by 10 km sampling blocks, stratified by Omernik Level III ecoregions, are simulated using the General Ensemble Biogeochemical Modeling System at the spatial resolution of 60 m by 60 m. The land use change data, providing unprecedented accuracy and consistency, are derived from Landsat imagery for five time points (nominally 1972, 1980, 1986, 1992, and 2000). Mechanisms have been implemented to assimilate data from key national benchmark databases (including the USDA Forest Service­_s Forest Inventory and Analysis data and the USDA­_s agricultural census data). The dynamics of carbon stocks in vegetation, soil, and harvested wood materials are quantified. Results from three ecoregions (i.e., Southeastern Plains, Piedmont, and Northern Piedmont) indicated that the carbon sink strength has been decreasing from the 1970s to 2000. The relative contribution of biomass accumulation to the sink decreased during this period, while those of soil organic carbon and harvested wood materials increased.

  13. Potential and timescales for oxygen depletion in coastal upwelling systems: A box-model analysis

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Harrison, C. S.; Hales, B.; Siedlecki, S.; Samelson, R. M.

    2016-05-01

    A simple box model is used to examine oxygen depletion in an idealized ocean-margin upwelling system. Near-bottom oxygen depletion is controlled by a competition between flushing with oxygenated offshore source waters and respiration of particulate organic matter produced near the surface and retained near the bottom. Upwelling-supplied nutrients are consumed in the surface box, and some surface particles sink to the bottom where they respire, consuming oxygen. Steady states characterize the potential for hypoxic near-bottom oxygen depletion; this potential is greatest for faster sinking rates, and largely independent of production timescales except in that faster production allows faster sinking. Timescales for oxygen depletion depend on upwelling and productivity differently, however, as oxygen depletion can only be reached in meaningfully short times when productivity is rapid. Hypoxia thus requires fast production, to capture upwelled nutrients, and fast sinking, to deliver the respiration potential to model bottom waters. Combining timescales allows generalizations about tendencies toward hypoxia. If timescales of sinking are comparable to or smaller than the sum of those for respiration and flushing, the steady state will generally be hypoxic, and results indicate optimal timescales and conditions exist to generate hypoxia. For example, the timescale for approach to hypoxia lengthens with stronger upwelling, since surface particle and nutrient are shunted off-shelf, in turn reducing subsurface respiration and oxygen depletion. This suggests that if upwelling winds intensify with climate change the increased forcing could offer mitigation of coastal hypoxia, even as the oxygen levels in upwelled source waters decline.

  14. Structural Design and Analysis of a Light-Weight Laminated Composite Heat Sink for Spaceflight PWBs

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Fan, Mark S.; Niemeyer, W. Lee

    1997-01-01

    In order to reduce the overall weight in spaceborne electronic systems, a conventional metallic heat sink typically used for double-sided printed wiring boards was suggested to be replaced by light-weight and high-strength laminated composite materials. Through technology validation assurance (TVA) approach, it has been successfully demonstrated that using laminated composite heat sink can not only reduce the weight of the heat sink by nearly 50%, but also significantly lower the internal thermally-induced stresses that are largely responsible for potential delamination under cyclic temperature variations. With composite heat sink, both thermal and dynamic performance of the double-sided printed wiring board (PWB) exceeds that of its counterpart with metallic heat sink. Also included in this work is the original contribution to the understanding of creep behavior of the worst-case leadless chip carrier (LCC) surface mount solder joint. This was identified as the interconnection most susceptible to thermal fatigue damage in the PWB assembly.

  15. Spread of thermal energy and heat sinks: implications for nerve-sparing robotic prostatectomy.

    PubMed

    Khan, Farhan; Rodriguez, Esequiel; Finley, David S; Skarecky, Douglas W; Ahlering, Thomas E

    2007-10-01

    During nerve-sparing robot-assisted laparoscopic prostatectomy, nerve injury caused by thermal energy is a concern. Using a porcine model, we studied thermal spread and queried whether vessels such as the prostatic pedicle may act as a heat sink, reducing the spread of thermal energy. Monopolar (MP) and bipolar (BP) cautery was applied laparoscopically on the anterior abdominal wall surface of six pigs with the da Vinci robot. Using fiberoptic thermometry (Luxtron Inc. Santa Clara, CA), temperatures were recorded with and without the interposed inferior epigastric vessels to evaluate the heat sink effect. Interposition of the inferior epigastric vessels definitively demonstrated a heat sink phenomenon: at 7 mm from the MP/BP energy source, temperatures rose 10.7 degrees C to 13.8 degrees C without interposed vessels versus only 1.9 degrees C to 2.5 degrees C when vessels were interposed (P < 0.001). The heat sink phenomenon suggests that the prostatic vascular pedicle should be protective of the neurovascular bundle during transection of the bladder neck during laparoscopic prostatectomy.

  16. Photosynthesis of young apple trees in response to low sink demand under different air temperatures.

    PubMed

    Fan, Pei G; Li, Lian S; Duan, Wei; Li, Wei D; Li, Shao H

    2010-03-01

    Gas exchange, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic end products and related enzymes in source leaves in response to low sink demand after girdling to remove the root sink were assessed in young apple trees (Malus pumila) grown in two greenhouses with different air temperatures for 5 days. Compared with the non-girdled control in the low-temperature greenhouse (diurnal maximum air temperature <32 degrees C), low sink demand resulted in lower net photosynthetic rate (P(n)), stomatal conductance (g(s)) and transpiration rate (E) but higher leaf temperature on Day 5, while in the high-temperature greenhouse (diurnal maximum air temperature >36 degrees C), P(n), g(s) and E declined from Day 3 onwards. Moreover, gas exchange responded more to low sink demand in the high-temperature greenhouse than in the low-temperature greenhouse. Decreased P(n) at low sink demand was accompanied by lower intercellular CO(2) concentrations in the low-temperature greenhouse. However, decreased maximal photochemical efficiency, potential activity, efficiency of excitation capture, actual efficiency and photochemical quenching, with increased minimal fluorescence and non-photochemical quenching of photosystem II (PSII), were observed in low sink demand leaves only in the high-temperature greenhouse. In addition, low sink demand increased leaf starch and soluble carbohydrate content in both greenhouses but did not result in lower activity of enzymes involved in metabolism. Thus, decreased P(n) under low sink demand was independent of a direct effect of end-product feedback but rather depended on a high temperature threshold. The lower P(n) was likely due to stomatal limitation in the low-temperature greenhouse, but mainly due to non-stomatal limitation in the high-temperature greenhouse.

  17. The Sulu Sea as Carbon Dioxide Sink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ferrera, C. M.; Jacinto, G. S.; Chen, C. T. A.

    2016-12-01

    The Sulu Sea, one of the marginal seas in the West Pacific and the largest internal sea in the Philippines, is characterized by its unique deep water ventilation pattern and high sediment organic carbon and CaCO3 content. Studies on the dissolved CO2 system in the Sulu Sea have remarkably shown that anthropogenic CO2 has already penetrated to the bottom of this 5km-deep basin, albeit limited to a dataset from a single station in December 1996. To further understand the role of this tropical marginal sea as CO2 sink and to assess its behavior as a CO2 sink during the 11-year period, water samples for dissolved CO2 parameters from two deep stations of high productivity and low productivity were collected in December 2007/January 2008 and were compared with the 1996 data. Results suggest that the surface waters in the low productivity region might have been acidifying at a rate of -0.0012 pH unit yr-1. Atmospheric CO2 increased at +1.9 ppmv yr-1 and seawater fCO2 at +3.30 μatm yr-1. Through deep water ventilation, anthropogenic CO2 has penetrated the water column thereby making the deeper waters a sink of anthropogenic CO2. But then the presence and dissolution of CaCO3 deposits at the sea floor and along the Sulu Sea slopes as a result of the reaction with this anthropogenic CO2 probably neutralizes the acidification at depths as shown by the increase in total alkalinity (+0.57 μmol kg-1 yr-1), and facilitates further uptake of CO2 from the atmosphere. Therefore, productivity at Sulu Sea surface waters results to sequestration of CO2 from the atmosphere to the sediment sink through organic carbon and CaCO3 deposits. While high temperature and low productivity surface waters make the Sulu Sea a source of CO2 to the atmosphere, ventilation patterns make the deep waters of the Sulu Sea an efficient sink for anthropogenic CO2. Given the larger area occupied by the CO2 sink deep waters compared to the CO2 source surface waters including an upwelling area, the Sulu Sea could possibly be a "net" CO2 sink, an important contribution to the otherwise underestimated inventory of CO2 from marginal seas.

  18. Phylogeography of Influenza A(H3N2) Virus in Peru, 2010-2012.

    PubMed

    Pollett, Simon; Nelson, Martha I; Kasper, Matthew; Tinoco, Yeny; Simons, Mark; Romero, Candice; Silva, Marita; Lin, Xudong; Halpin, Rebecca A; Fedorova, Nadia; Stockwell, Timothy B; Wentworth, David; Holmes, Edward C; Bausch, Daniel G

    2015-08-01

    It remains unclear whether lineages of influenza A(H3N2) virus can persist in the tropics and seed temperate areas. We used viral gene sequence data sampled from Peru to test this source-sink model for a Latin American country. Viruses were obtained during 2010-2012 from influenza surveillance cohorts in Cusco, Tumbes, Puerto Maldonado, and Lima. Specimens positive for influenza A(H3N2) virus were randomly selected and underwent hemagglutinin sequencing and phylogeographic analyses. Analysis of 389 hemagglutinin sequences from Peru and 2,192 global sequences demonstrated interseasonal extinction of Peruvian lineages. Extensive mixing occurred with global clades, but some spatial structure was observed at all sites; this structure was weakest in Lima and Puerto Maldonado, indicating that these locations may experience greater viral traffic. The broad diversity and co-circulation of many simultaneous lineages of H3N2 virus in Peru suggests that this country should not be overlooked as a potential source for novel pandemic strains.

  19. Loss of dendritic connectivity in southern California's urban riverscape facilitates decline of an endemic freshwater fish.

    PubMed

    Richmond, Jonathan Q; Backlin, Adam R; Galst-Cavalcante, Carey; O'Brien, John W; Fisher, Robert N

    2018-01-01

    Life history adaptations and spatial configuration of metapopulation networks allow certain species to persist in extreme fluctuating environments, yet long-term stability within these systems relies on the maintenance of linkage habitat. Degradation of such linkages in urban riverscapes can disrupt this dynamic in aquatic species, leading to increased extinction debt in local populations experiencing environment-related demographic flux. We used microsatellites and mtDNA to examine the effects of collapsed network structure in the endemic Santa Ana sucker Catostomus santaanae of southern California, a threatened species affected by natural flood-drought cycles, "boom-and-bust" demography, hybridization and presumed artificial transplantation. Our results show a predominance of drift-mediated processes in shaping population structure and that reverse mechanisms for counterbalancing the genetic effects of these phenomena have dissipated with the collapse of dendritic connectivity. We use approximate Bayesian models to support two cases of artificial transplantation and provide evidence that one of the invaded systems better represents the historic processes that maintained genetic variation within watersheds than any remaining drainages where C. santaanae is considered native. We further show that a stable dry gap in the northern range is preventing genetic dilution of pure C. santaanae persisting upstream of a hybrid assemblage involving a non-native sucker and that local accumulation of genetic variation in the same drainage is influenced by position within the network. This work has important implications for declining species that have historically relied on dendritic metapopulation networks to maintain source-sink dynamics in phasic environments, but no longer possess this capacity in urban-converted landscapes. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  20. Protein folding: complex potential for the driving force in a two-dimensional space of collective variables.

    PubMed

    Chekmarev, Sergei F

    2013-10-14

    Using the Helmholtz decomposition of the vector field of folding fluxes in a two-dimensional space of collective variables, a potential of the driving force for protein folding is introduced. The potential has two components. One component is responsible for the source and sink of the folding flows, which represent respectively, the unfolded states and the native state of the protein, and the other, which accounts for the flow vorticity inherently generated at the periphery of the flow field, is responsible for the canalization of the flow between the source and sink. The theoretical consideration is illustrated by calculations for a model β-hairpin protein.

  1. The 'sleeping beauty' galaxy NGC 4826: an almost textbook example of the Abelian Higgs vorto-source (-sink)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Saniga, Metod

    1995-03-01

    It is demonstrated that the kinematic 'peculiarity' of the early Sab galaxy NGC 4826 can easily be understood in terms of the Abelian Higgs (AH) model of spiral galaxies. A cylindrically symmetric AH vorto-source (-sink) with a disk-to-bulge ratio Omega greater than 1 is discussed and the distributions of the diagonal components of the corresponding stress-energy tensor Tmu,nu are presented. It is argued that the sign-changing component Tphiphi could account for the existence of two counter-rotating gas disks while negative values of Trr imply inward gas motions as observed in the outer and transition regions of the galaxy.

  2. Radiative Effects on a Free Convective MHD Flow past a Vertically Inclined Plate with with Heat Source and Sink

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sambath, P.; Pullepu, Bapuji; Kannan, R. M.

    2018-04-01

    The impact of thermal radiation on unsteady laminar free convective MHD flow of a incompressible viscous fluid passes through a vertically inclined plate under the persuade of heat source and sink is presented here.Plate surface is considered to have variable wall temperature. The fluid regarded as gray absorbing / emitting, but non dispersing medium. The periphery layer dimensionless equations that administer the flow are evaluated by a finite difference implicit method called Crank Nicolson method. Numerical solutions are carried out for velocity, temperature, local shear stress, heat transfer rate for various values of the parameters (Pr, λ, Δ M, Rd ) are presented.

  3. A study of high-temperature heat pipes with multiple heat sources and sinks. I - Experimental methodology and frozen startup profiles. II - Analysis of continuum transient and steady-state experimental data with numerical predictions

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Faghri, A.; Cao, Y.; Buchko, M.

    1991-01-01

    Experimental profiles for heat pipe startup from the frozen state were obtained, using a high-temperature sodium/stainless steel pipe with multiple heat sources and sinks to investigate the startup behavior of the heat pipe for various heat loads and input locations, with both low and high heat rejection rates at the condensor. The experimental results of the performance characteristics for the continuum transient and steady-state operation of the heat pipe were analyzed, and the performance limits for operation with varying heat fluxes and location are determined.

  4. Using species abundance distribution models and diversity indices for biogeographical analyses

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Fattorini, Simone; Rigal, François; Cardoso, Pedro; Borges, Paulo A. V.

    2016-01-01

    We examine whether Species Abundance Distribution models (SADs) and diversity indices can describe how species colonization status influences species community assembly on oceanic islands. Our hypothesis is that, because of the lack of source-sink dynamics at the archipelago scale, Single Island Endemics (SIEs), i.e. endemic species restricted to only one island, should be represented by few rare species and consequently have abundance patterns that differ from those of more widespread species. To test our hypothesis, we used arthropod data from the Azorean archipelago (North Atlantic). We divided the species into three colonization categories: SIEs, archipelagic endemics (AZEs, present in at least two islands) and native non-endemics (NATs). For each category, we modelled rank-abundance plots using both the geometric series and the Gambin model, a measure of distributional amplitude. We also calculated Shannon entropy and Buzas and Gibson's evenness. We show that the slopes of the regression lines modelling SADs were significantly higher for SIEs, which indicates a relative predominance of a few highly abundant species and a lack of rare species, which also depresses diversity indices. This may be a consequence of two factors: (i) some forest specialist SIEs may be at advantage over other, less adapted species; (ii) the entire populations of SIEs are by definition concentrated on a single island, without possibility for inter-island source-sink dynamics; hence all populations must have a minimum number of individuals to survive natural, often unpredictable, fluctuations. These findings are supported by higher values of the α parameter of the Gambin mode for SIEs. In contrast, AZEs and NATs had lower regression slopes, lower α but higher diversity indices, resulting from their widespread distribution over several islands. We conclude that these differences in the SAD models and diversity indices demonstrate that the study of these metrics is useful for biogeographical purposes.

  5. A new approach to the method of source-sink potentials for molecular conduction

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Pickup, Barry T., E-mail: B.T.Pickup@sheffield.ac.uk, E-mail: P.W.Fowler@sheffield.ac.uk; Fowler, Patrick W., E-mail: B.T.Pickup@sheffield.ac.uk, E-mail: P.W.Fowler@sheffield.ac.uk; Borg, Martha

    2015-11-21

    We re-derive the tight-binding source-sink potential (SSP) equations for ballistic conduction through conjugated molecular structures in a form that avoids singularities. This enables derivation of new results for families of molecular devices in terms of eigenvectors and eigenvalues of the adjacency matrix of the molecular graph. In particular, we define the transmission of electrons through individual molecular orbitals (MO) and through MO shells. We make explicit the behaviour of the total current and individual MO and shell currents at molecular eigenvalues. A rich variety of behaviour is found. A SSP device has specific insulation or conduction at an eigenvalue ofmore » the molecular graph (a root of the characteristic polynomial) according to the multiplicities of that value in the spectra of four defined device polynomials. Conduction near eigenvalues is dominated by the transmission curves of nearby shells. A shell may be inert or active. An inert shell does not conduct at any energy, not even at its own eigenvalue. Conduction may occur at the eigenvalue of an inert shell, but is then carried entirely by other shells. If a shell is active, it carries all conduction at its own eigenvalue. For bipartite molecular graphs (alternant molecules), orbital conduction properties are governed by a pairing theorem. Inertness of shells for families such as chains and rings is predicted by selection rules based on node counting and degeneracy.« less

  6. Assessing net ecosystem carbon exchange of U.S. terrestrial ecosystems by integrating eddy covariance flux measurements and satellite observations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Xiao, Jingfeng; Zhuang, Qianlai; Law, Beverly E.

    2011-01-01

    More accurate projections of future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and associated climate change depend on improved scientific understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Despite the consensus that U.S. terrestrial ecosystems provide a carbon sink, the size, distribution, and interannual variability of this sink remain uncertain. Here we report a terrestrial carbon sink in the conterminous U.S. at 0.63 pg C yr-1 with the majority of the sink in regions dominated by evergreen and deciduous forests and savannas. This estimate is based on our continuous estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) with high spatial (1 km) and temporalmore » (8-day) resolutions derived from NEE measurements from eddy covariance flux towers and wall-to-wall satellite observations from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the U.S. terrestrial ecosystems could offset a maximum of 40% of the fossil-fuel carbon emissions. Our results show that the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink varied between 0.51 and 0.70 pg C yr-1 over the period 2001–2006. The dominant sources of interannual variation of the carbon sink included extreme climate events and disturbances. Droughts in 2002 and 2006 reduced the U.S. carbon sink by ~20% relative to a normal year. Disturbances including wildfires and hurricanes reduced carbon uptake or resulted in carbon release at regional scales. Our results provide an alternative, independent, and novel constraint to the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink.« less

  7. Assessing net ecosystem carbon exchange of U S terrestrial ecosystems by integrating eddy covariance flux measurements and satellite observations

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Zhuang, Qianlai; Law, Beverly E.; Baldocchi, Dennis

    2011-01-01

    More accurate projections of future carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere and associated climate change depend on improved scientific understanding of the terrestrial carbon cycle. Despite the consensus that U.S. terrestrial ecosystems provide a carbon sink, the size, distribution, and interannual variability of this sink remain uncertain. Here we report a terrestrial carbon sink in the conterminous U.S. at 0.63 pg C yr 1 with the majority of the sink in regions dominated by evergreen and deciduous forests and savannas. This estimate is based on our continuous estimates of net ecosystem carbon exchange (NEE) with high spatial (1 km) andmore » temporal (8-day) resolutions derived from NEE measurements from eddy covariance flux towers and wall-to-wall satellite observations from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). We find that the U.S. terrestrial ecosystems could offset a maximum of 40% of the fossil-fuel carbon emissions. Our results show that the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink varied between 0.51 and 0.70 pg C yr 1 over the period 2001 2006. The dominant sources of interannual variation of the carbon sink included extreme climate events and disturbances. Droughts in 2002 and 2006 reduced the U.S. carbon sink by 20% relative to a normal year. Disturbances including wildfires and hurricanes reduced carbon uptake or resulted in carbon release at regional scales. Our results provide an alternative, independent, and novel constraint to the U.S. terrestrial carbon sink.« less

  8. Outbreak of Pantoea agglomerans Bloodstream Infections at an Oncology Clinic-Illinois, 2012-2013.

    PubMed

    Yablon, Brian R; Dantes, Raymund; Tsai, Victoria; Lim, Rachel; Moulton-Meissner, Heather; Arduino, Matthew; Jensen, Bette; Patel, Megan Toth; Vernon, Michael O; Grant-Greene, Yoran; Christiansen, Demian; Conover, Craig; Kallen, Alexander; Guh, Alice Y

    2017-03-01

    OBJECTIVE To determine the source of a healthcare-associated outbreak of Pantoea agglomerans bloodstream infections. DESIGN Epidemiologic investigation of the outbreak. SETTING Oncology clinic (clinic A). METHODS Cases were defined as Pantoea isolation from blood or catheter tip cultures of clinic A patients during July 2012-May 2013. Clinic A medical charts and laboratory records were reviewed; infection prevention practices and the facility's water system were evaluated. Environmental samples were collected for culture. Clinical and environmental P. agglomerans isolates were compared using pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. RESULTS Twelve cases were identified; median (range) age was 65 (41-78) years. All patients had malignant tumors and had received infusions at clinic A. Deficiencies in parenteral medication preparation and handling were identified (eg, placing infusates near sinks with potential for splash-back contamination). Facility inspection revealed substantial dead-end water piping and inadequate chlorine residual in tap water from multiple sinks, including the pharmacy clean room sink. P. agglomerans was isolated from composite surface swabs of 7 sinks and an ice machine; the pharmacy clean room sink isolate was indistinguishable by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis from 7 of 9 available patient isolates. CONCLUSIONS Exposure of locally prepared infusates to a contaminated pharmacy sink caused the outbreak. Improvements in parenteral medication preparation, including moving chemotherapy preparation offsite, along with terminal sink cleaning and water system remediation ended the outbreak. Greater awareness of recommended medication preparation and handling practices as well as further efforts to better define the contribution of contaminated sinks and plumbing deficiencies to healthcare-associated infections are needed. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:314-319.

  9. Characterization of Radial Curved Fin Heat Sink under Natural and Forced Convection

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khadke, Rishikesh; Bhole, Kiran

    2018-02-01

    Heat exchangers are important structures widely used in power plants, food industries, refrigeration, and air conditioners and now widely used in computing systems. Finned type of heat sink is widely used in computing systems. The main aim of the design of the heat sink is to maintain the optimum temperature level. To achieve this goal so many geometrical configurations are implemented. This paper presents a characterization of radially curved fin heat sink under natural and forced convection. Forced convection is studied for the optimization of temperature for better efficiency. The different alternatives in geometry are considered in characterization are heat intensity, the height of the fin and speed of the fan. By recognizing these alternatives the heat sink is characterized by the heat flux usually generated in high-end PCs. The temperature drop characteristics across height and radial direction are presented for the constant heat input and air flow in the heat sink. The effect of dimensionless elevation height (0 ≤ Z* ≤ 1) and Elenbaas Number (0.4 ≤ El ≤ 2.8) of the heat sink were investigated for study of the Nusselt number. Based on experimental characterization, process plan has been developed for the selection of the similar heat sinks for desired output (heat dissipation and temperature distribution).

  10. Discrete Particle Swarm Optimization Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks with Multiple Mobile Sinks

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Jin; Liu, Fagui; Cao, Jianneng; Wang, Liangming

    2016-01-01

    Mobile sinks can achieve load-balancing and energy-consumption balancing across the wireless sensor networks (WSNs). However, the frequent change of the paths between source nodes and the sinks caused by sink mobility introduces significant overhead in terms of energy and packet delays. To enhance network performance of WSNs with mobile sinks (MWSNs), we present an efficient routing strategy, which is formulated as an optimization problem and employs the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO) to build the optimal routing paths. However, the conventional PSO is insufficient to solve discrete routing optimization problems. Therefore, a novel greedy discrete particle swarm optimization with memory (GMDPSO) is put forward to address this problem. In the GMDPSO, particle’s position and velocity of traditional PSO are redefined under discrete MWSNs scenario. Particle updating rule is also reconsidered based on the subnetwork topology of MWSNs. Besides, by improving the greedy forwarding routing, a greedy search strategy is designed to drive particles to find a better position quickly. Furthermore, searching history is memorized to accelerate convergence. Simulation results demonstrate that our new protocol significantly improves the robustness and adapts to rapid topological changes with multiple mobile sinks, while efficiently reducing the communication overhead and the energy consumption. PMID:27428971

  11. Genome-Wide Transcriptional Profile Analysis of Prunus persica in Response to Low Sink Demand after Fruit Removal.

    PubMed

    Duan, Wei; Xu, Hongguo; Liu, Guotian; Fan, Peige; Liang, Zhenchang; Li, Shaohua

    2016-01-01

    Prunus persica fruits were removed from 1-year-old shoots to analysis photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence and genes changes in leaves to low sink demand caused by fruit removal (-fruit) during the final stage of rapid fruit growth. A decline in net photosynthesis rate was observed, accompanied with a decrease in stomatal conductance. The intercellular CO2 concentrations and leaf temperature increased as compared with a normal fruit load (+fruit). Moreover, low sink demand significantly inhibited the donor side and the reaction center of photosystem II. 382 genes in leaf with an absolute fold change ≥1 change in expression level, representing 116 up- and 266 down-regulated genes except for unknown transcripts. Among these, 25 genes for photosynthesis were down-regulated, 69 stress and 19 redox related genes up-regulated under the low sink demand. These studies revealed high leaf temperature may result in a decline of net photosynthesis rate through down-regulation in photosynthetic related genes and up-regulation in redox and stress related genes, especially heat shock proteins genes. The complex changes in genes at the transcriptional level under low sink demand provided useful starting points for in-depth analyses of source-sink relationship in P. persica.

  12. Reparable, high-density microelectronic module provides effective heat sink

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Carlson, K. J.; Maytone, F. F.

    1967-01-01

    Reparable modular system is used for packaging microelectronic flat packs and miniature discrete components. This three-dimensional compartmented structure incorporates etched phosphor bronze sheets and frames with etched wire conductors. It provides an effective heat sink for electric power dissipation in the absence of convective cooling means.

  13. Ecosystem variability along the estuarine salinity gradient: Examples from long-term study of San Francisco Bay

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Cloern, James E.; Jassby, Alan D.; Schraga, Tara; Kress, Erica S.; Martin, Charles A.

    2017-01-01

    The salinity gradient of estuaries plays a unique and fundamental role in structuring spatial patterns of physical properties, biota, and biogeochemical processes. We use variability along the salinity gradient of San Francisco Bay to illustrate some lessons about the diversity of spatial structures in estuaries and their variability over time. Spatial patterns of dissolved constituents (e.g., silicate) can be linear or nonlinear, depending on the relative importance of river-ocean mixing and internal sinks (diatom uptake). Particles have different spatial patterns because they accumulate in estuarine turbidity maxima formed by the combination of sinking and estuarine circulation. Some constituents have weak or no mean spatial structure along the salinity gradient, reflecting spatially distributed sources along the estuary (nitrate) or atmospheric exchanges that buffer spatial variability of ecosystem metabolism (dissolved oxygen). The density difference between freshwater and seawater establishes stratification in estuaries stronger than the thermal stratification of lakes and oceans. Stratification is strongest around the center of the salinity gradient and when river discharge is high. Spatial distributions of motile organisms are shaped by species-specific adaptations to different salinity ranges (shrimp) and by behavioral responses to environmental variability (northern anchovy). Estuarine spatial patterns change over time scales of events (intrusions of upwelled ocean water), seasons (river inflow), years (annual weather anomalies), and between eras separated by ecosystem disturbances (a species introduction). Each of these lessons is a piece in the puzzle of how estuarine ecosystems are structured and how they differ from the river and ocean ecosystems they bridge.

  14. Atmospheric inversion of the surface carbon flux with consideration of the spatial distributions of US crop production and consumption

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Chen, J. M.; Fung, J. W.; Mo, G.

    2015-01-01

    In order to improve quantification of the spatial distribution of carbon sinks and sources in the conterminous USA, we conduct a nested global atmospheric inversion with consideration of the spatial information of crop production and consumption. Spatially distributed 5 county-level cropland net primary productivity, harvested biomass, soil carbon change, and human and livestock consumption data over the conterminous USA are used for this purpose. Time-dependent Bayesian synthesis inversions are conducted based on CO₂ observations at 210 stations to infer CO₂ fluxes globally at monthly time steps with a nested focus on 30 regions in North America. Prior land surface carbonmore » 10 fluxes are first generated using a biospheric model, and the inversions are constrained using prior fluxes with and without adjustments for crop production and consumption over the 2002–2007 period. After these adjustments, the inverted regional carbon sink in the US Midwest increases from 0.25 ± 0.03 Pg C yr⁻¹ to 0.42 ± 0.13 Pg C yr⁻¹, whereas the large sink in the US Southeast forest region is weakened from 0.41±0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹ 15 to 0.29 ±0.12 Pg C yr⁻¹. These adjustments also reduce the inverted sink in the West region from 0.066 ± 0.04 Pg C yr⁻¹ to 0.040 ± 0.02 Pg C yr⁻1 because of high crop consumption and respiration by humans and livestock. The general pattern of sink increase in crop production areas and sink decreases (or source increases) in crop consumption areas highlights the importance of considering the lateral carbon transfer in crop 20 products in atmospheric inverse modeling, which provides an atmospheric perspective of the overall carbon balance of a region.« less

  15. Source/process apportionment of major and trace elements in sinking particles in the Sargasso sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Huang, S.; Conte, M. H.

    2009-01-01

    Elemental composition of the particle flux at the Oceanic Flux Program (OFP) time-series site off Bermuda was measured from January 2002 to March 2005. Eighteen elements (Mg, Al, Si, P, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Sr, Cd, Ba and Pb) in sediment trap material from 500, 1500 and 3200 m depths were quantified using fusion-HR-ICPMS. Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used to elucidate sources, elemental associations and processes that affect geochemical behavior in the water column. Results provide evidence for intense elemental cycling between the sinking flux material and the dissolved and suspended pools within mesopelagic and bathypelagic waters. Biological processing and remineralization rapidly deplete the sinking flux material in organic matter and associated elements (N, P, Cd, Zn) between 500 and 1500 m depth. Suspended particle aggregation, authigenic mineral precipitation, and chemical scavenging enriches the flux material in lithogenic minerals, barite and redox sensitive elements (Mn, Co, V, Fe). A large increase in the flux of lithogenic elements is observed with depth and confirms that the northeast Sargasso is a significant sink for advected continental materials, likely supplied via Gulf Stream circulation. PMF resolved major sources that contribute to sinking flux at all depths (carbonate, high-Mg carbonate, opal, organic matter, lithogenic material, and barite) as well as additional depth-specific elemental associations that contribute about half of the compositional variability in the flux. PMF solutions indicate close geochemical associations of barite-opal, Cd-P, Zn-Co, Zn-Pb and redox sensitive elements in the sinking flux material at 500 m depth. Major reorganizations of element associations occur as labile carrier phases break down and elements redistribute among new carrier phases deeper in the water column. Factor scores show strong covariation and similar temporal phasing among the three trap depths and indicate a tight coupling in particle flux compositional variability throughout the water column. Seasonality in flux composition is primarily driven by dilution of the lithogenic component with freshly-produced biogenic material during the late winter primary production maximum. Temporal trends in scores reveal subtle non-seasonal changes in flux composition occurring on month long timescales. This non-seasonal variability may be driven by changes in the biogeochemical properties of intermediate water masses that pass through the region and which affect rates of chemical scavenging and/or aggregation within the water column.

  16. Polystyrene plastic: a source and sink for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the marine environment

    PubMed Central

    Rochman, Chelsea M.; Manzano, Carlos; Hentschel, Brian T.; Massey Simonich, Staci L.; Hoh, Eunha

    2014-01-01

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on virgin polystyrene (PS) and PS marine debris led us to examine PS as a source and sink for PAHs in the marine environment. At two locations in San Diego Bay, we measured sorption of PAHs to PS pellets, sampling at 0, 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. We detected 25 PAHs using a new analytical method with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Several congeners were detected on samples before deployment. After deployment, some concentrations decreased (1,3-dimethylnaphthalene and 2,6-methylnaphthalene) while most increased (2-methylanthracene and all parent PAHs (PPAHs) except fluorene and fluoranthene), suggesting PS debris is a source and sink for PAHs. When comparing sorbed concentrations of PPAHs on PS to the five most common polymers (polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP)), PS sorbed greater concentrations than PP, PET and PVC, similar to HDPE and LDPE. Most strikingly, at 0 months, PPAHs on PS ranged from 8-200 times greater than on PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, and PP. The combination of greater PAHs in virgin pellets and large sorption suggests that PS may pose a greater risk of exposure to PAHs upon ingestion. PMID:24341360

  17. Polystyrene plastic: a source and sink for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the marine environment.

    PubMed

    Rochman, Chelsea M; Manzano, Carlos; Hentschel, Brian T; Simonich, Staci L Massey; Hoh, Eunha

    2013-12-17

    Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on virgin polystyrene (PS) and PS marine debris led us to examine PS as a source and sink for PAHs in the marine environment. At two locations in San Diego Bay, we measured sorption of PAHs to PS pellets, sampling at 0, 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. We detected 25 PAHs using a new analytical method with comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Several congeners were detected on samples before deployment. After deployment, some concentrations decreased (1,3-dimethylnaphthalene and 2,6-methylnaphthalene), while most increased [2-methylanthracene and all parent PAHs (PPAHs), except fluorene and fluoranthene], suggesting that PS debris is a source and sink for PAHs. When sorbed concentrations of PPAHs on PS are compared to the five most common polymers [polyethylene terephthalate (PET), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), and polypropylene (PP)], PS sorbed greater concentrations than PP, PET, and PVC, similar to HDPE and LDPE. Most strikingly, at 0 months, PPAHs on PS ranged from 8 to 200 times greater than on PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, and PP. The combination of greater PAHs in virgin pellets and large sorption suggests that PS may pose a greater risk of exposure to PAHs upon ingestion.

  18. From sink to source: Regional variation in U.S. forest carbon futures

    PubMed Central

    Wear, David N.; Coulston, John W.

    2015-01-01

    The sequestration of atmospheric carbon (C) in forests has partially offset C emissions in the United States (US) and might reduce overall costs of achieving emission targets, especially while transportation and energy sectors are transitioning to lower-carbon technologies. Using detailed forest inventory data for the conterminous US, we estimate forests’ current net sequestration of atmospheric C to be 173 Tg yr−1, offsetting 9.7% of C emissions from transportation and energy sources. Accounting for multiple driving variables, we project a gradual decline in the forest C emission sink over the next 25 years (to 112 Tg yr−1) with regional differences. Sequestration in eastern regions declines gradually while sequestration in the Rocky Mountain region declines rapidly and could become a source of atmospheric C due to disturbances such as fire and insect epidemics. C sequestration in the Pacific Coast region stabilizes as forests harvested in previous decades regrow. Scenarios simulating climate-induced productivity enhancement and afforestation policies increase sequestration rates, but would not fully offset declines from aging and forest disturbances. Separating C transfers associated with land use changes from sequestration clarifies forests’ role in reducing net emissions and demonstrates that retention of forest land is crucial for protecting or enhancing sink strength. PMID:26558439

  19. From sink to source: Regional variation in U.S. forest carbon futures.

    PubMed

    Wear, David N; Coulston, John W

    2015-11-12

    The sequestration of atmospheric carbon (C) in forests has partially offset C emissions in the United States (US) and might reduce overall costs of achieving emission targets, especially while transportation and energy sectors are transitioning to lower-carbon technologies. Using detailed forest inventory data for the conterminous US, we estimate forests' current net sequestration of atmospheric C to be 173 Tg yr(-1), offsetting 9.7% of C emissions from transportation and energy sources. Accounting for multiple driving variables, we project a gradual decline in the forest C emission sink over the next 25 years (to 112 Tg yr(-1)) with regional differences. Sequestration in eastern regions declines gradually while sequestration in the Rocky Mountain region declines rapidly and could become a source of atmospheric C due to disturbances such as fire and insect epidemics. C sequestration in the Pacific Coast region stabilizes as forests harvested in previous decades regrow. Scenarios simulating climate-induced productivity enhancement and afforestation policies increase sequestration rates, but would not fully offset declines from aging and forest disturbances. Separating C transfers associated with land use changes from sequestration clarifies forests' role in reducing net emissions and demonstrates that retention of forest land is crucial for protecting or enhancing sink strength.

  20. Alluvial Mountain Meadow Source-Sink Dynamics: Land-Cover Effects on Water and Fluvial Carbon Export

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Weiss, T.; Covino, T. P.; Wohl, E.; Rhoades, C.; Fegel, T.; Clow, D. W.

    2017-12-01

    Fluvial networks of historically glaciated mountain landscapes alternate between confined and unconfined valley segments. In low-gradient unconfined reaches, river-connected wet meadows commonly establish, and have been recognized as important locations of long-term water, carbon, and nutrient storage. Among connected meadow floodplains, sink-source behavior shifts as a function of flow state; storing water at high flows (snowmelt) and contributing toward higher late-season baseflows. Despite these benefits, historical and contemporary land-use practices often result in the simplification of wet meadow systems, leading to reduced river-floodplain connectivity, lower water-tables and reductions in hydrologic buffering capacity. In this study, we are exploring hydrologic-carbon relationships across a gradient of valley confinement and river-floodplain connectivity (connected, n=3; disconnected, n=4) within the Colorado Rockies. Our approach includes hydrologic analysis, fluorometric assays, water chemistry, instream metabolic measures, and land-cover assessment to examine patterns between land-form, carbon quantity and quality, and stream ecosystem productivity. Between different meadow types, preliminary results suggest differences between instream productivity, carbon qualities, and hydrologic-carbon sink-source dynamics across the season. These data and analyses will provide insight into water, carbon and nutrient flux dynamics as a function of land-cover in mountain headwaters.

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