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Continuous Gradient (continuous + gradient)
Selected AbstractsFlume experiments on the horizontal stream offset by strike-slip faultsEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 2 2004Shunji OuchiArticle first published online: 4 FEB 200 Abstract Flume experiments, in which the middle section of an erosion channel is displaced horizontally, have been conducted to assess the response of streams to horizontal displacement by a strike-slip fault. The experimental erosion channel was developed in a mixture of sand and clay, which provided relatively stable banks with its cohesiveness. Horizontal displacement of a strike-slip fault perpendicular to the channel is expected to add a ,at section to its longitudinal pro,le along the fault line. The experimental stream eliminated this ,at section with downstream degradation, upstream aggradation, and lateral channel shift. As a result, a roughly continuous longitudinal pro,le was maintained. This maintenance of a continuous longitudinal pro,le along channel is considered to be the principle of stream response to horizontal displacement by a strike-slip fault. Downstream degradation was the dominant process of this stream response in the overall tendency of erosion without sand supply. When the rate of fault displacement was low (long recurrence interval), the experimental stream eroded the fault surface, jutting laterally into the channel like a scarp, and de,ected the channel within the recurrence interval. This lateral channel shift gave some gradient to the reach created by fault displacement (offset reach), and the downstream degradation occurred as much as completing the remaining longitudinal pro,le adjustment. When the rate of fault displacement was high (short recurrence interval), the lateral erosion on the ,rst fault surface was interrupted by the next fault displacement. The displacement was then added incrementally to the existing channel offset making channel shift by lateral erosion increasingly dif,cult. The channel offset with sharp bends persisted without much modi,cation, and downstream degradation and upstream aggradation became evident with the effect of the offset channel course, which worked like a dam. In this case, a slight local convexity, which was incidentally formed by downstream degradation and upstream aggradation, tended to remain in the roughly continuous longitudinal pro,le, as long as the horizontal channel offset persisted. In either case, once the experimental stream obtained a roughly continuous gradient, further channel adjustment seemed to halt. Horizontal channel offset remained to a greater or lesser extent at the end of each run long after the last fault displacement. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Benthic macroinvertebrates in Swedish streams: community structure, taxon richness, and environmental relationsECOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2003Leonard Sandin Spatial scale, e.g. from the stream channel, riparian zone, and catchment to the regional and global scale is currently an important topic in running water management and bioassessment. An increased knowledge of how the biota is affected by human alterations and management measures taken at different spatial scales is critical for improving the ecological quality of running waters. However, more knowledge is needed to better understand the relationship between environmental factors at different spatial scales, assemblage structure and taxon richness of running water organisms. In this study, benthic macroinvertebrate data from 628 randomly selected streams were analysed for geographical and environmental relationships. The dataset also included 100 environmental variables, from local measures such as in-stream substratum and vegetation type, catchment vegetation and land-use, and regional variables such as latitude and longitude. Cluster analysis of the macroinvertebrate data showed a continuous gradient in taxonomic composition among the cluster groups from north to south. Both locally measured variables (e.g. water chemistry, substratum composition) and regional factors (e.g. latitude, longitude, and an ecoregional delineation) were important for explaining the variation in assemblage structure and taxon richness for stream benthic macroinvertebrates. This result is of importance when planning conservation and management measurements, implementing large-scale biomonitoring programs, and predicting how human alterations (e.g. global warming) will affect running water ecosystems. [source] A fully automated 2-D LC-MS method utilizing online continuous pH and RP gradients for global proteome analysisELECTROPHORESIS, Issue 23 2007Hu Zhou Abstract The conventional 2-D LC-MS/MS setup for global proteome analysis was based on online and offline salt gradients (step and continuous) using strong-cation-exchange chromatography in conjunction with RP chromatography and MS. The use of the online system with step salt elution had the possibility of resulting in peptide overlapping across fractions. The offline mode had the option to operate with continuous salt gradient to decrease peak overlap, but exhibited decreased robustness, lower reproducibility, and sample loss during the process. Due to the extensive washing requirement between the chromatography steps, online continuous gradient was not an option for salt elution. In this report, a fully automated, online, and continuous gradient (pH continuous online gradient, pCOG) 2-D LC-MS/MS system is introduced that provided excellent separation and identification power. The pH gradient-based elution provided more basic peptides than that of salt-based elution. Fraction overlap was significantly minimized by combining pH and continuous gradient elutions. This latter approach also increased sequence coverage and the concomitant confidence level in protein identification. The salt and pH elution-based 2-D LC-MS/MS approaches were compared by analyzing the mouse liver proteome. [source] Chromosome replication patterns in the hyperthermophilic euryarchaea Archaeoglobus fulgidus and Methanocaldococcus (Methanococcus) jannaschiiMOLECULAR MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 5 2002Sophie Maisnier-Patin Summary We analysed chromosome replication patterns in the two hyperthermophilic euryarchaea Archaeoglobus fulgidus and Methanocaldococcus (Methanococcus) jannaschii by marker frequency analysis (MFA). For A. fulgidus, the central region of the chromosomal physical map displayed a higher relative abundance in gene dosage during exponential growth, with two continuous gradients to a region of lower abundance at the diametrically opposite side of the genome map. This suggests bidirectional replication of the A. fulgidus chromosome from a single origin. The organization of the putative replication origin region relative to the cdc6, mcm and DNA polymerase genes differed from that reported for Pyrococcus species. No single replication origin or termination regions could be identified for M. jannaschii, adding to the list of unusual properties of this organism. The organization of the A. fulgidus cell cycle was characterized by flow cytometry analysis of the samples from which genomic DNA was extracted for MFA. The relative lengths of the cell cycle periods were found to be similar to those of crenarchaea. [source] Applying a continua landscape approach to evaluate plant response to fragmentation: Primula vulgaris in the Cantabrian mountainsAPPLIED VEGETATION SCIENCE, Issue 4 2009Alicia Valdés Abstract Question: Continua landscape approaches conceptualize the effects of habitat fragmentation on the biota by considering fragmented landscapes as continuous gradients, departing from the view of habitat as either suitable (fragment) or unsuitable (matrix). They also consider the ecological gradients or the ,Umwelt' (species-specific perception of the landscape) to represent the processes that ultimately limit organisms' ability to colonize and persist within habitat remnants. Are these approaches suitable for evaluating the response of plant species to fragmentation? Location: Fragmented mid-elevation temperate forests, Cantabrian range, Spain. Methods: The presence, abundance and demographic structure of populations of the perennial herb Primula vulgaris were sampled across a continuous extent of 100 ha, subdivided into 400 50 m × 50 m sampling units. These variables were related to forest availability, forest subdivision and edge density, topography and the spatial clumpiness of populations (a measure of plant dispersal constraints and, hence, a major surrogate of plant Umwelt). Results: Fragmentation processes, especially habitat loss, negatively affect P. vulgaris, with a stronger effect on presence than on abundance and demography. Despite the importance of habitat availability, P. vulgaris does not occupy all potentially suitable forest habitat, mostly owing to dispersal constraints. A positive effect of slope on plant presence also suggests some effect of habitat quality in determining establishment and occupancy of forest landscape. Conclusions: Within-habitat dispersal constraints are as important as forest fragmentation in determining the landscape-scale distribution of P. vulgaris. By assessing the relative role of the diverse fragmentation processes, and of the species' landscape perception, a continua landscape approach proves to be a valuable tool for predicting plant response to landscape change. [source] | |||||||||||||