High Mountain Rivers Research Articles

Freshwater algal diversity of the South-Tajik Depression in a high-mountainous extreme environment, Tajikistan

The research on algal communities' response to altitude and altitude-related climatic conditions is sparse. So far, a full, accessible list of algae from the water bodies of the South-Tajik Depression has not been available. We compiled an algal species list of 1190 taxa that were revealed by us or listed in references in the South-Tajik Depression high-mountain rivers Kafirnigan, Vakhsh, Kyzylsu, Yakhsu, and Tairsu and in the lakes of its basin. The altitude gradient of the studied area is about 2500 m above sea level. An altitude-related algal diversity analysis was done with help of statistics and bioindication. The Willis curve for the distribution of species to genera had a trend line of R 2 = 0.92. A multivariate analysis was used for quantitative estimates of the ecological tolerance ranges of critical species and for detecting cardinal factors and trends at local water bodies to global levels of biodiversity evolution. Our analysis shows that species distribution was strongly affected by altitude and altitude-related climatic variables. Statistical methods revealed that temperatures stimulate algal species diversity, while precipitation and altitude suppress it. One of the floristic complexity criteria is the average species richness of the algal genera or the infraspecies to species ratio, which increased from 1.12 to 1.20 and reflects increases in structural complexity with altitude. Therefore, high altitude stresses algal communities and stimulates species polymorphism as a compensatory mechanism for algal species survival. Our approach is pertinent to the problem of floristic differentiation under climate change and climatic instability.

Hexabromocyclododecane in alpine fish from the Tibetan Plateau, China

Hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) has just been listed into Stockholm Convention as a persistent organic pollutant recently. This paper studied the HBCDs in 79 wild fish from high mountain lakes and rivers of the Tibetan Plateau. The ∑HBCDs in fish muscles ranged from non detectable levels to 13.7 ng/g lipid weight (lw) (mean value of 2.12 ng/g lw) with a high detection frequency of 65.8%. α-HBCD dominated among the isomers and accounted for 78.2% of the total burden. Concentrations of ∑HBCDs in the fish were significantly correlated with the lipid content. A decreasing trend was observed between α-HBCD and trophic level. Positive correlation was also noted between the HBCD levels in fish from lakes and the annual precipitation, and this implied the long-range atmospheric transport of HBCDs to the Tibet Plateau. This was the first work to widely explore HBCDs contamination in the aquatic ecosystems of the Tibetan Plateau.

Distribution, floristic structure and habitat requirements of the riparian forest community Populetum talassicae ass. nova in the Central Pamir-Alai Mts (Tajikistan, Middle Asia)

This paper discusses the floristic structure, distribution and habitat requirements of a new forest syntaxon, <em>Populetum talassicae </em>ass. nova. The potential range of the <em>Populetum talassicae </em>association comprises the central Pamir-Alai and Tian-Shan Mountains in Middle Asia. The biotope of this community comprises high mountain river valleys and shore zones of mountain lakes situ- ated at elevations between 2200 and 2750 m. Phytocoenoses of the <em>Populetum talassicae </em>association are characterized by a clear predominance in the tree layer of a characteristic species of the association ‒ <em>Populus talassica</em>. Shrubs are not so abundant; how- ever, the undergrowth layer of the community could reach up to 60% of the total cover, consisting mainly of <em>Salix </em>spp., <em>Hipophaë rhamnoides</em>, <em>Lonicera stenantha</em>, <em>Juniperus semiglobosa </em>and <em>J. seravschanica</em>. The herbaceous layer is quite rich and has about 20 species on average. Among associated species mainly meadow, rush and marsh taxa have been noted. Regarding the considerable cover of the meadow species, the association of <em>Populetum talassicae </em>has been classified as the <em>Populetea laurifolio-suaveolentis </em>syntaxon. A new plant alliance was proposed ‒ <em>Populion talassicae </em>all. nova with <em>Pedicularis dolichorhiza </em>and <em>Astragalus tibetanus </em>as diagnostic species. The described forest association is one of the rarest and most rapidly disappearing wood communities in Tajikistan, which means that special conservation attention is called for.

A Flash-Flooding Storm at the Steep Edge of High Terrain: Disaster in the Himalayas

Flash floods on the edge of high terrain, such as the Himalayas or Rocky Mountains, are especially dangerous and hard to predict. The Leh flood of 2010 at the edge of the Himalayan Plateau in India is an example of the tragic consequences of such storms. The flood occurred over a high mountain river valley when, on three successive days, diurnally generated convective cells over the Tibetan Plateau gathered into mesoscale convective systems and moved off the edge of the Plateau over Leh. An easterly midlevel jet associated with a midlevel monsoon vortex over northern India and a high over Asia helped the convection organize into propagating mesoscale systems that moved over the edge of the Plateau. On the third day the mesoscale system moving off the plateau was greatly invigorated when it suddenly drew on moisture flowing upslope over the terrain. It gained maximum strength from this intake of moisture near Leh, and the heavy rains washed over the surrounding mountains and down and over the town.

The Mexican Sugarcane Industry: Overview, Constraints, Current Status and Long-Term Trends

Sugarcane (Saccharum species hybrid) as a source and epicenter of the renewable energy, bio-fuels and bio-materials, as well as a food crop, is becoming more widely recognized as a source of rural livelihoods. Sugarcane production in Mexico has more than 490 years of history; however, Mexican sugar industry is recognized as uncompetitive in nature, mainly due to stagnating low sugarcane and sucrose yield and highly fiber in stalks per hectare and variability in the production process. Average yields of sugarcane (TCH) range from 60 to 70 metric tons/ha and sucrose yields (TSH) 8,000 kg/ha last decade. The sugarcane agriculture yield decline has been defined as “the loss of productive capacity of sugarcane growing soils under long term monoculture” and takes place in a highly distinctive landscape on both the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico coasts and in high mountain river valleys in central Mexico. The sugar mills are characterized by a dichotomy because vary greatly in size, age and technology with a preponderance of medium and small mills, old, obsolete and inefficient technologies, which increases the cost of sugar production in Mexico compared to countries with advanced technology and supporting system. Therefore, Mexico is considered as a medium-to-low cost producer of sugar. These factors have adversely affected sugarcane growers and sugar industry, and constantly eroding their sustainability and profitability. The sugar has assumed the status of “political goods” like petroleum. The Mexican sugar industry is facing numerous challenges, like high crushing capacities and environmental impact, high demand from domestic market but low sugarcane productivity and capacity to supply sugar cane from fields. The diversification without strategies of sugarcane growers and sugar factories for improving profitability and competitiveness for creating the grounds for a green and sustainable biorefinery industry and to develop a modern agro-industry to fill a national need in food and biofuels also needs immediate attention. In this review, performance, present and future relevant aspects of the sugar industry are presented and discussed.

Distribution patterns, floristic structure and habitat requirements of the alpine river plant community Stuckenietum amblyphyllae ass. nova (Potametea) in the Pamir Alai Mountains (Tajikistan)

This paper discusses the floristic structure, distribution and habitat requirements of a new aquatic syntaxon, <em>Stuckenietum a</em><em>m</em><em>b</em><em>l</em><em>y</em><em>p</em><em>h</em><em>ylla</em><em>e </em>ass. nova. Patches of the <em>Stuckenietum amblyphyllae </em>association occur in the Pamir Alai Mountains in Middle Asia (Tajikistan). The biotope of this community represent high mountain rivers and ponds at the bottom of glacial river valleys situ- ated at elevations between 1900 and 3800 m. Patches of the <em>Stuckenietum amblyphyllae </em>association are characterised by a clear predominance of the typical species, i.e. <em>Stuckenia amblyphylla</em>, which occupies an aerial extent of between near 40 up to 90% of the surface studied. Patches of the community are poor in species, comprising a maximum of five taxa. Among associated species mainly rush, aquatic, meadow and marsh taxa have been noted. The <em>Stuckenietum amblyphyllae </em>community prefers cold, open, alkaline waters with medium flow-rate, ranging in depth from 15 to 75 cm. It is also, but rarely, found in the mountain ponds. Together with the <em>Stuckenia filiformis </em>community it designates in the Pamir Alai Mountains the upper limit of aquatic vegetation.

Investigations on intra- and interannual coarse sediment dynamics in a high-mountain river

Investigations on intra- and interannual coarse sediment dynamics in a high-mountain river

Ecological Water Requirement (EWR) Analysis of High Mountain and Steep Gorge (HMSG) River—Application to Upper Lancang–Mekong River

As “corridor” in the south–north and “barrier” in the west–east direction, Lancang River, the upstream of Lancang–Mekong River, has an obvious spatial–temporal characteristic and unique regional attributes. Recently, the hydropower development of the mainstream along Lancang River has disturbed the regional ecosystem to have unstable factors, and threatened the ecosystem health. This paper used the couple model of Grading Coefficient of ecological water requirement (GCEWR) and the ecological runoff (ER) to simulate the ecological water requirement (EWR) of Lancang River, in a broad sense, this method belongs to hydrology–ecology methodology. In the GCEWR–ER, We adopted ecological characteristic indexes (ECI) and hydrological characteristic variables (e.g. variance index) to calculate the GCEWR, and used three methods to calculate the basic variable (e.g. ER) of EWR: the first method directly used annual average runoff as ER; the second method was used frequency method and took year as basic time unit, and the third method took season (e.g. flood season, non-flood season) as the basic time unit to evaluate ER. Finally, in order to demonstrate applicability of this developed methodology, this paper adopted GCEWR–ER method to calculate the EWR of Lancang River in the Longitudinal Range-Gorge Region. By the systematic analysis of the results, we could get the minimum, satisfying and optimal EWR for the Lancang River, which were 142.53 × 108, 286.46 × 108 and 385.96 × 108 m3. The three EWR respectively occupied 25.10%, 50.46% and 67.98% of the average measured run-off (567.75 × 108 m3) of the Lancang River, and respectively occupied 18.63%, 37.45% and 50.45% of the natural run-off (765 × 108 m3) of the Lancang River.

Hydrogeomorphological characteristics and fluvial sediment transport of a high mountain river (Reintal Valley, Bavarian Alps, Germany)

Hydrogeomorphological characteristics and fluvial sediment transport of a high mountain river (Reintal Valley, Bavarian Alps, Germany)

Mediterranean calanoid copepods biogeography: new species identification and first records of hyperbenthic forms

Biogeographia vol. XXI V - 2003 (Printed October, 3131‘ 2003) Marine biogeography of the Mediterranean Sea: patterns and dynamics of biodiversity Mediterranean calanoid copepods biogeography: new species identification and first records of hyperbenthic forms GIACOMO ZAGAMI, 1\/LARINA CAMPOLMI, ANTONIA GRANATA Dz'pzzrtz'mmt0 zli Biologizz Azzimzzle ed Ecologizl Mzzrmzz, Unit/ersitfz di Messinzz, Szzlitzz Sperone, 3], 1—98]66, Messimz (Italy) Keywords: Calanoid copepods, plankton, hyperbenthos, biogeography, Mediterranean Sea, biodiversity. SUMMARY The spatio-temporal distribution patterns of the Mediterranean planktonic and hyperbenthic calanoid copepods were analysed. The atlantic origin 0F the major part ofplanlttonic calanoid copepods was defined, distinguishing between Mediterranean own species and the Alboran Sea, and Levantine Bacin populations migrated, rispectively, From Atlantic and Indo—Pacific Oceans. In the Mediterranean the presence, as other oceans of the world. of a hyperbenthic specific calanoid copepods community was showed. In this “ecological group” were identified populations ofatlantic and indo- pacific origin. of recent and ancient migration in the Mediterranean. lNTRODUCTION Copepoda, a subclass of the phylum Crustacea, consists of ten orders: Platycopioida, Calanoida, Misophrioida, Mormonilloida, Cyclopoida, Geliyelloida, Harpacticoida, Poecilostomatoida, Siphonostomatoida and Monstrilloida. Copepods are aquatic, mainly marine, organisms that have spread by adaptive radiation into all habitats, including the ocean depths, brackish coastal lagoons, submarine caves, and fresh waters of high mountain rivers and lakes. Humes (1994) estimated that by the end of 1993 about 11,500 species of Copepoda had been identified. Excluding Diaptomidae, around 1800 species of Copepoda Calanoida have been censused in the marine ecosystem (Huys and Boxshall, 1991; Humes, 1994). In their inventory of Mediterranean planktonic Copepoda, Razouls and Durand (1991) listed 301 species of Calanoida, to which must be added 11 new species identified between 1991 and 2000 for a total of312 species. There are records of 173 species of Copepoda Calanoida in Italian seas (Argano et al., 1995), i.e. 55.8% of the total identified in the Mediterranean. Since there

Spring benthic macroinvertebrate communities of selected streams in the High Caucasus (Azerbaijan SSR)

Investigations on invertebrate fauna were carried out at fifteen sites in some chosen streams of the Caucasus (Azerbaijan SSR) in March 1970. Seventy-five taxa of invertebrates were found in the investigated streams. Chironomidae constituted the most numerous group at all sites, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Simuliidae being other important components of the fauna. On the basis of percentage structure of dominance in the examined streams four types of faunistic communities were distinguished. The most common one was the type characteristic of high mountain streams and rivers with Diamesa sp. (gr. latitarsis) predominant. Nevertheless, in springtime this community was characterized by a greater number of taxa and a greater abundance of specimens as compared with the summer period. It may be thus assumed that the spring period in high mountain streams and rivers is more conducive to the development of the invertebrate fauna.

Remote Sensing of Snow in High Mountain Basins in Norway

Information on snow conditions in high mountain river basins is of vital interest for flood predictions and power production. Based on techniques derived for mapping of snow cover from digital NOAA-data, relations are established between snow covered area and remaining snow storage for three basins in southern Norway. Together with estimates of the precipitation and information on maximum accumulated snow, the relation can be useful in run-off predictions for the snow-melt period.

Remote Sensing of Snow in High Mountain Basins in Norway

Information on snow conditions in high mountain river basins is of vital interest for flood predictions and power production. Based on techniques derived for mapping of snow cover from digital NOAA-data, relations are established between snow covered area and remaining snow storage for three basins in southern Norway. Together with estimates of the precipitation and information on maximum accumulated snow, the relation can be useful in run-off predictions for the snow-melt period.

Métodos de ADN <i>Barcode</i> revelan diversidad de especies de <i>Astroblepus</i> en la cuenca del río Porce, Colombia

El género Astroblepus es endémico de la región Andina y está representado poraproximadamente 81 especies válidas que habitan ríos de alta montaña desde Panamá hasta Bolivia. Para Colombia, se han registrado 32 especies, de las cuales 23 fueron registradas en monitoreos recientes en la cuenca del río Porce, indicando que cerca del 71% de la diversidad de especies se encuentra en esta área. Morfológicamente, las especies de Astroblepus son muy similares y los caracteres empleados tradicionalmente para su determinación son poco resolutivos, lo que dificulta su identificación taxonómica. Con el objetivo de determinar la diversidad de Astroblepus en la cuenca del río Porce, se analizaron 129 individuos empleando herramientas de identificación genética mediante la secuenciación del gen Citrocromo Oxidasa sub-unidad I (COI) de 580pb y un análisis morfométrico basado en proporciones corporales, usando 12 hitos morfológicos. Los análisis genéticos y el método de delimitación de especies “General mixed Yulecoalescent”, indicaron la presencia de 12 entidades taxonómicas, las cuales fueron soportadas por sus distancias genéticas y por 13 medidas corporales basadas en proporciones. Los resultados indican que la diversidad de especies en el área ha sido sobreestimada, por lo que es necesario integrar diferentes metodologías para una correcta delimitación de especies.