生境破碎化对动物种群存活的影响

生境破碎是生物多样性下降的主要原因之一。通常以岛屿生物地理学、异质种群生物学和景观生态学的理论来解释不同空间尺度中生境破碎化的生态学效应。生境破碎化引起面积效应、隔离效应和边缘效应。这些效应通过影响动物种群的绝灭阈值、分布和多度、种间关系以及生态系统过程,最终影响动物种群的存活。野外研究表明,破碎化对动物的影响,因物种、生境类型和地理区域不同而有所变化,因此,预测物种在破碎生境中的存活比较困难。研究热点集中于：确定生境面积损失和生境斑块的空间格局对破碎景观中物种绝灭的相对影响,破碎景观中物种的适宜生境比例和绝灭阈值,异质种群动态以及生态系统的生态过程。随着3S技术的发展,生境破碎化模型趋于复杂,而发展有效的模型和验证模型将成为一项富有挑战性的任务。     

破碎化生境中粗柄独尾草种群大小对繁殖特性的影响

景观破碎化是目前存在的一种普遍现象,导致物种生存的原有生境总面积减小,产生许多大小不一的斑块种群。不同斑块生境中植物种群的大小直接反映植物对环境的响应特征和适应对策,与植物繁殖有关的开花结实特性、种子形态及萌发特性的研究将有助于深入了解植物在不同生境中的生存策略。以粗柄独尾草(Eremurus inderiensis)为研究对象,以野外调查为基础,对比研究不同斑块粗柄独尾草种群的种群大小和生殖成功,揭示不同生境中粗柄独尾草的生态适应性。结果表明:(1)不同斑块生境中,种群大小差异较大,且较小的种群幼苗比例也较小,种群大小与种群幼苗比例呈显著相关;(2)较小的种群自然座果率、结籽率较低,种群间差异显著;(3)随着生境破碎化程度增加,种子千粒重,种子长、宽等形态特征呈减小趋势,但种翅占比增大;(4)在粗柄独尾草最适萌发温度下,随着生境破碎化程度增加,种子萌发率有下降趋势。针对人类干扰程度强的衰退型粗柄独尾草种群,亟需减少人为干扰,依据不同生境中的干扰因素及种群生存现状,制定科学与切实可行的保护和恢复策略。     

基于目标种保护的生态廊道构建——以崇明岛为例

景观破碎化和适宜生境面积减少是生物多样性降低与物种灭绝的重要因素之一。生态廊道的构建为陆行野生动物扩大活动范围提供了空间途径,从而增加了物种基因交流的机会, 提高了种群的生存能力。上海市崇明岛是一个地理上孤立的冲积沙岛,随着岛上森林斑块的减少与破碎化,依赖林地生境生存的陆行动物个体与种群数量大大减少。本文以崇明岛为例,选择上海市一级保护动物刺猬作为目标种,在分析其生活习性和基质斑块空间分布特征的基础上,利用最小耗费模型和GIS手段,实现了生境斑块之间的最佳连接,建立了以目标动物保护为目的的生态廊道规划方案。     

景观生态学:两栖动物生态学研究的新途径

全球两栖动物正以远超过自然灭绝的高速率灭绝,这与生境丧失和景观破碎化有着直接关系。生境丧失导致两栖动物的生存空间减少,使局部种群消失,而景观破碎化则导致两栖动物种群之间的隔离度增加,不利于动物的繁殖和扩散。但两者往往是同时出现,相互作用。复合种群、景观连接度、景观遗传学及景观模型模拟等理论和方法的发展,为在生境丧失与破碎化景观下两栖动物的种群结构、组成和动态变化研究提供了理论基础和技术方法。同时景观生态学中特别重视研究的尺度,生境破碎化是发生在景观尺度下的生境变化过程,因此对生境破碎化的影响应该从现有的主要集中在斑块尺度和斑块-景观尺度转变到景观尺度上来。     

广西黑叶猴栖息地景观格局破碎化分析及其对种群的影响

黑叶猴(Trachypithecus francoisi)是仅分布于喀斯特石山生境的珍稀濒危灵长类动物。由于非法捕杀和人类活动干扰,其种群数量正在急剧减少。同时,随着森林砍伐和土地开垦的加速,其栖息地严重破碎化。因此,了解栖息地破碎化对黑叶猴种群的影响对于保护这一珍稀濒危物种具有重要意义。基于遥感影像、土地利用数据以及黑叶猴种群调查数据,通过Fragstats软件开展广西黑叶猴栖息地景观破碎化分析,并通过相关性和多元逐步回归分析,探讨了景观格局对广西黑叶猴种群数量的影响。结果表明：(1)广西黑叶猴栖息地呈现破碎化严峻、斑块形状复杂化、斑块团聚程度较弱且分散化的现象;栖息地以林地景观占据重要优势,但人为景观的干扰十分强烈;在不同地区中,生境破碎化程度、人为干扰强度以及景观配置均呈现不同的特征,其中扶绥地区人为干扰最为强烈,德保地区的景观块数破碎化程度较为严重,而龙州地区的人为干扰程度最小,其森林景观最为聚集。(2)蔓延度指数、平均斑块分维指数、林地面积、林地斑块大小、裸岩面积和裸岩面积比重等景观指数与黑叶猴种群数量有显著正向关系,Shannon多样性指数则是显著负向关系;而耕地面积、耕地...     

漫湾库区景观破碎化对区域生境质量的影响

水利工程的建设不仅改变了库区的景观格局,还会导致区域生物生境质量的变化。以澜沧江漫湾库区为例,在综合海拔高度、植被类型和水源地距离生境因子的基础上,考虑生物扩散过程,研究了建坝前后整个库区以及典型研究小区(库首、库中、库尾、对照)的重要生境斑块空间分布变化。结果表明:漫湾水电站建成后库区的猕猴总体生境破碎化程度增加,景观连接度减少且重要生境斑块的比例也有所降低,生境质量整体下降;4个研究小区的景观格局变化情况同整个库区相一致。空间上,生境质量明显退化的地区主要分布在库区的西部和南部,尤其是库尾地区,其生境斑块数量相较于建坝前增长了9倍,而景观连接度指数下降了81.48%。回归分析结果表明景观连接度指数与占景观面积百分比指数(PLAND)呈显著正相关(R~2=0.973),与斑块数(NP)呈显著负相关(R~2=-0.611);肯德尔系数表明斑块数(NP)、最大斑块指数(LPI)、占景观百分比指数(PLAND)、相似邻近百分比指数(PLADJ)、连通度指数(CONNECT)和香农多样性指数(SHDI)7个景观格局指数与景观连接度指数均表现出显著一致性。由此看出,库区景观破碎化越严重、区域景观连接度越低生境质量退化越明显;而提高生境主要植被类型的覆盖率、保护连接度贡献大的重要斑块和建设生态廊道,可以有效恢复库区生物生境质量。     

生境破碎化对食果动物及种子传播的影响

食果动物与依赖其传播种子的植物间在进化过程中形成互惠关系,生境破碎化往往干扰种子传播过程,继而破坏这种关系.生境破碎化通常降低食果动物的多样性,但亦有相反的情况出现.食果动物对生境破碎化的适应能力不同,泛性森林动物和广食性动物具有较强的适应性.生境破碎化对依赖动物传播的植物影响有差异,多数植物受到负面影响,但也有一些植物不受影响,甚至受益.动物在破碎生境中对种子传播的有效性是种子搬运量、传播距离、种子萌发及种群建立等环节的综合效果.破碎化生境中种子的搬运量与动物的觅食行为和食物选择有关;种子传播距离受食物资源可获得性的改变和生境斑块异质性的影响;种子萌发和更新种群建立成功与否决定于是否存在有效的种子传播者.生境破碎化如何影响种子传播以及动植物相互关系,尤其是异质斑块的空间分布如何影响食果动物的传播有效性、破碎化生境下动植物互惠共生关系如何建立,生境破碎化导致的植物入侵对本地植物种子传播的影响是未来需要深入研究的问题.     

Allee效应对具有生境恢复的集合种群的影响

Allee效应与种群的灭绝密切相关,其研究对生态保护和管理至关重要。Allee效应对物种续存是潜在的干扰因素,濒危物种更容易受其影响,可能会增加生存于生境破碎化斑块的濒危物种的死亡风险,因此研究Allee效应对种群的动态和续存的影响是必要的。从包含由生物有机体对环境的修复产生的Allee效应的集合种群模型出发,引入由其他机制形成的Allee效应,建立了常微分动力系统模型和基于网格模型的元胞自动机模型。通过理论分析和计算机模拟表明:(1)强Allee效应不利于具有生境恢复的集合种群的续存;(2)生境恢复有利于种群续存;(3)局部扩散影响了集合种群的空间结构、动态行为和稳定性,生境斑块之间的局部作用将会减缓或消除集合种群的Allee效应,有利于集合种群的续存。     

生境破碎对古尔班通古特沙漠南缘骆驼刺种群生物学特性的影响

在破碎化生境中,植物种群的生物学特性直接反映植物对环境的响应特征和适应对策,探讨不同破碎化程度生境中植株的大小、密度、结实率、种子大小、种子质量以及萌发特性等,对深入了解植物在不同生境中的生存和繁殖状况有重要的指导意义。对古尔班通古特沙漠南缘9个斑块化骆驼刺种群的形态特征和繁殖生物学参数进行了连续2年的调查研究,研究结果表明：随着生境破碎化程度的加剧,骆驼刺的株高、冠幅、密度、结实率、种子大小、种子质量以及萌发率等均显著下降（P < 0.05）。生境破碎不仅强烈抑制了骆驼刺植株的营养生长,使其生长矮小,个体分布稀疏,而且严重阻碍了骆驼刺的繁殖成功和种群更新,增加了种群衰退甚至灭绝的风险。     

不同干扰程度下沙生植物异翅独尾草的种群结构与动态特征

不断加剧的人类活动导致古尔班通古特沙漠南缘异翅独尾草(Eremurus anisopterus(Kar.et Kir.)Regel)生存生境片段化,形成许多大小不一的斑块种群。为深刻理解在不同程度破碎化斑块中异翅独尾草种群的生存现状,共选取19个样点,分析其龄级结构,编制静态生命表,绘制存活曲线和死亡曲线,并引入4个生存分析函数。结果表明:古尔班通古特沙漠南缘不同样地中异翅独尾草种群动态因人类干扰与生境破碎化程度的差异,呈现为不同的结构特征及变化趋势,各样地异翅独尾草种群龄级完整性均不同,破碎化程度高的样地中种群的龄级有残缺或断代现象;人类干扰程度中、弱的b类型、c类型斑块的种群年龄结构分别属于稳定至衰退型和增长型,而受干扰最强的a类型斑块中的种群结构表现出较强的波动性,种群趋于衰退的风险较高;存活曲线与4个生存函数曲线表明,a类型种群前、中期稳定,后期衰退;b类型种群前期衰退,中、后期稳定;c类型种群稳定增长。说明异翅独尾草种群的衰退可能是其生境破碎化引起的,因此,对于人类干扰程度强的衰退型种群应亟需减少人为干扰,依据不同生境中的干扰因素及种群生存现状,制定科学与切实可行的保护、恢复策略。     

Effects of rain forest disturbance and fragmentation: comparative changes of the raptor community along natural and human-made gradients in French Guiana

A density index of every diurnal raptor species (Falconiformes) was obtained on 101 400 ha sample plots distributed among eight natural habitats and five man-made habitats arranged along gradients of increasing forest degradation and fragmentation. The most significant structural parameter affecting species distribution was the tall canopy forest cover. Species richness, diversity and density all decreased with this mature forest cover index. Individual species and overall community densities decreased along the deforestation gradient but the species richness was partly maintained by species turnover. Six groups of species were identified according to their natural habitat preferences. Their distribution along the deforestation gradient was correlated with their natural habitat selection pattern. Thus the community composition of each vegetation or landscape type was predictable. Fifty-six percent of the regional assemblage of species had their optimal density in the primary forest. A third of them were interior forest species highly sensitive to forest disturbance and opening. The other two-thirds were upper canopy, gap or edge species more tolerant to forest fragmentation. The last twenty-one species were associated with various coastal habitats, from dense forest patches to mangrove and savanna. Again, one third of them were strictly restricted to their specialized habitats while the last two-thirds colonized human-altered habitats and progressively replaced primary forest species with increasing deforestation. The maintenance of large areas of every natural habitat was essential for the conservation of (1) the whole population of a third of the total raptor diversity and (2) optimal and presumably potential source populations of most other species surviving in human-modified habitats.     

圈养繁殖在大熊猫保护生物学中的作用

栖息地的日益恶化、片段化和种群孤岛化已成为保护大熊猫的严重障碍。尽管就地保护濒危物种是最有希望的措施,但对于大熊猫而言,研究表明圈养繁殖也是保护这一极危物和中的有效手段之一,对保护遗传多样性起以了重要作用,是延缓绝灭速率的保证。本文阐述了大圈养繁殖的必要性及其在保护生物学中的作用。     

海南龙血树种群生境及自然更新能力调查

对海南岛海南龙血树(Dracaena cambodiana Pierre ex Gagnep)生境、人为破坏情况和自然更新能力进行了调查与分析,探讨了其濒危原因。结果表明,海南龙血树属典型的岩石伴生型植物,主要分布在高温少雨地区,常生长在陡峭且裸露的花岗岩或石灰岩的石缝残积土中,或紧贴石壁生长于砂壤土中,其伴生树种以小乔木或灌木为主;由于无节制采挖和生境破坏,海南龙血树野生资源数量已十分有限。自然条件下海南龙血树的更新方式有种子更新、根蘖更新和桩蘖更新,但现有生境条件下无论何种更新方式均无法有效地实现种群的扩大和更新。可见,原生境破坏和无节制采挖是海南龙血树濒危的外因,"濒危生境"造成种子无法萌发或幼苗生长失败,导致种群无法实现自然更新是内因和主要原因。     

Clinal life-history variation in the river-sculpin,Cottus hangiongensis: an example of phenotypic plasticity

An amphidromous sculpin,Cottus hangiongensis, distributed freely in a natural river system, exhibited clinal differences in population density, sex ratio, age composition and life-history. In a second river, in which the distribution was restricted to a narrow area in the lower reaches by a notched weir, the species was characterized by high population density and a similar population structure in two different habitats. Little life-history variation was evident. Field observations suggested that clinal life-history variations inC. hangiongensis were not genotypic, but environmentally-induced, phenotypic responses. Rearing experiments demonstrated that the maturity of one-year old males was delayed under low density conditions, and that no relationship existed between the timing of maturity and the sex ratio. This suggests that phenotypic life-history variation inC. hangiongensis is induced primarily in response to population density. Such phenotypic plasticity in life-histories of individualC. hangiongensis populations may be an adaptation for exploitation of broad and heterogenous river habitats.     

浙江南麂列岛大檑山屿水仙自然居群的物种多样性、环境解释及空间分布格局分析

在野外调查基础上,对浙江南麂列岛大檑山屿水仙(Narcissus tazetta var.chinensis M.Roem.)自然居群5个典型生境(乔木林地、林缘、弃耕地、荒坡和灌木林地)的物种组成和α多样性指数进行分析,并采用典范对应分析(CCA)、最小生成树(MST)分析和空间点格局分析(SPPA)分别研究水仙自然居群物种分布与主要环境因子的关系、水仙与其伴生种的种间关系及空间分布格局.结果表明:浙江南麂列岛大檑山屿水仙自然居群5个生境共有植物28种,其中,乔木林地、林缘、弃耕地、荒坡和灌木林地分别有16、13、9、8和8种.5个生境中水仙的重要值均最高.弃耕地和乔木林地的Shannon-Wiener多样性指数较高,灌木林地和林缘其次,荒坡最低.5个生境的聚类分析结果显示:弃耕地和乔木林地聚为一组,其他3个生境聚为另一组.CCA排序结果显示:水仙的分布与坡度呈负相关,与土壤的电导率、含水量和温度以及坡向和海拔呈正相关,说明水仙适宜生长于坡度平缓以及土壤的含水量、电导率和温度适中的生境.MST分析结果显示:水仙与其伴生种羊蹄(Rumex japonicus Houtt.)、鬼针草(Bidens pilosa Linn.)、野艾蒿(Artemisia lavandulifolia DC.)的种间关系最近,这3个伴生种应作为水仙自然居群恢复生物治理的重点防控对象.SPPA分析结果显示:荒坡中水仙群丛分布数量相对较多,集中分布于东北角,西部和南部较少;在0.0~0.1 m尺度时,水仙群丛表现为随机分布;在大于0.1 m尺度时,表现为集中分布.研究结果显示:浙江南麂列岛大檑山屿水仙自然居群主要集中分布在东南坡的弃耕地,海岛生境异质性与自身繁殖特性是影响南麂列岛水仙自然居群恢复的关键因素,建议对水仙群落动态进行长期监测和相关研究,并结合岛屿生态系统进行综合管理.     

The role of natural habitats in agricultural systems for bird conservation: the case of the threatened Lesser Grey Shrike

Birds of agricultural systems are one of the most threatened groups of birds in Europe mainly due to their sharp population decline in recent decades. Habitat intensification resulting from more productive agricultural practices has been proposed as a major cause for these declines. However, especially in some regions such as Eastern European and Mediterranean countries, little is known about the ultimate factors linked to habitat intensification that drive population declines for different species. The Lesser Grey Shrike is a good study species for a better understanding of such processes since it is closely related to agricultural habitats in Europe and has suffered a strong decline in range and population size across the western half of the continent. In this study, we explored variations in breeding parameters of this shrike related to habitat composition and food supply at the territory level. We found that fledgling success of early breeders was related to the presence of natural (shrub lands) and semi-natural (fallows) habitats in the predominantly agricultural matrix that dominated breeding territories. Their influence on fledgling success appeared to be mediated by a higher arthropod availability on these habitats. Indeed, Lesser Grey Shrike showed a strong preference for these habitats as hunting locations. Our results highlight the importance of natural habitats in intensified agricultural land mosaics for the conservation of bird species. We suggest that management plans should pay special attention to the availability of habitats which serve as high quality food reservoirs and can potentially contribute to enhance the species population viability in an area. Finally, we discuss the possible link between agricultural intensification and Lesser Grey Shrike population declines in Western Europe.     

Population differentiation of temperate amphibians in unpredictable environments

Amphibians are a globally distributed and diverse lineage, but much of our current understanding of their population genetic structure comes from studies in mesic temperate habitats. We characterize the population genetic structure of two sympatric explosive breeding amphibians in the southwestern deserts of the United States: the Great Plains toad ( Anaxyrus cognatus ) and Couch's spadefoot toad ( Scaphiopus couchii ). For both species, we find limited genetic differentiation even between populations in adjacent valleys separated by dispersal barriers such as mountainous habitats. To understand how population genetic patterns in these two arid-adapted species compare to taxa in more mesic environments, we computed a standardized measure of population differentiation for A. cognatus , S. couchii , and for pond-breeding amphibians that inhabit mesic temperate environments. Our results indicate that the arid-adapted species have lower population genetic structure at fine and moderate scales than most other amphibian species we surveyed. We hypothesize that stochasticity in the availability of appropriate breeding sites as well as landscape homogeneity may result in increased population connectivity in desert-adapted frogs. Future work examining fine-scale population structure in amphibians from a diversity of habitats will test the generality of our findings. Intraspecific comparisons among localities with varied seasonality and habitats will be particularly useful for investigating the interaction between species-typical population dynamics and environmental characteristics as determinants of population connectivity in pond-breeding amphibians.     

Population structure of wild wheat D‐genome progenitor Aegilops tauschii Coss.: implications for intraspecific lineage diversification and evolution of common wheat

Aegilops tauschii Coss. is the D‐genome progenitor of hexaploid wheat. Aegilops tauschii, a wild diploid species, has a wide natural species range in central Eurasia, spreading from Turkey to western China. Amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis using a total of 122 accessions of Ae. tauschii was conducted to clarify the population structure of this widespread wild wheat species. Phylogenetic and principal component analyses revealed two major lineages in Ae. tauschii. Bayesian population structure analyses based on the AFLP data showed that lineages one (L1) and two (L2) were respectively significantly divided into six and three sublineages. Only four out of the six L1 sublineages were diverged from those of western habitats in the Transcaucasia and northern Iran region to eastern habitats such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Other sublineages including L2 were distributed to a limited extent in the western region. Subspecies strangulata seemed to be differentiated in one sublineage of L2. Among three major haplogroups (HG7, HG9 and HG16) previously identified in the Ae. tauschii population based on chloroplast variation, HG7 accessions were widely distributed to both L1 and L2, HG9 accessions were restricted to L2, and HG16 accessions belonged to L1, suggesting that HG9 and HG16 were formed from HG7 after divergence of the first two lineages of the nuclear genome. These results on the population structure of Ae. tauschii and the genealogical relationship among Ae. tauschii accessions should provide important agricultural and evolutionary knowledge on genetic resources and conservation of natural genetic diversity.     

Studying exotics in their native range: Can introduced fouling amphipods expand beyond artificial habitats?

Knowledge of the habitat use patterns of introduced species in their native or naturalized range can provide unique insights into processes of secondary dispersal and colonization of natural habitats. Caprellid amphipods are small mobile marine epibionts with limited natural dispersal. The global distribution of some caprellid species is mostly the result of anthropogenic transport; however, their subsequent spread beyond artificial habitats is poorly understood. A biogeographic approach, mainly focused on the native-range ecology of introduced and common fouling caprellid amphipods of southern Europe, was used to understand the implications of habitat use patterns for predicting their spread in the introduced regions. Specifically, abundance and composition of caprellid populations were compared among different primary habitats including artificial (floating pontoons), sheltered and wave-exposed rocky shores along the southern and southeastern coasts of Brazil. The findings indicated that artificial habitats act as reservoirs for globally distributed species in both their native and introduced ranges, while endemic species are more scarcely represented. Environmental conditions provided by primary habitats appear important in structuring caprellid assemblages on secondary substrata (basibiont species). Most wide-ranging caprellids were negatively correlated with the level of wave exposure, being more abundant in sheltered (artificial or natural) than in exposed habitats. In this context, Caprella scaura and Paracaprella pusilla, the two introduced caprellids recorded in the Mediterranean, where they are virtually restricted to artificial habitats, may become established in sheltered and even highly polluted natural habitats but hardly colonize wave-exposed rocky shores.     

Ideal free distributions, evolutionary games, and population dynamics in multiple-species environments

In this article, we develop population game theory, a theory that combines the dynamics of animal behavior with population dynamics. In particular, we study interaction and distribution of two species in a two-patch environment assuming that individuals behave adaptively (i.e., they maximize Darwinian fitness). Either the two species are competing for resources or they are in a predator-prey relationship. Using some recent advances in evolutionary game theory, we extend the classical ideal free distribution (IFD) concept for single species to two interacting species. We study population dynamical consequences of two-species IFD by comparing two systems: one where individuals cannot migrate between habitats and one where migration is possible. For single species, predator-prey interactions, and competing species, we show that these two types of behavior lead to the same population equilibria and corresponding species spatial distributions, provided interspecific competition is patch independent. However, if differences between patches are such that competition is patch dependent, then our predictions strongly depend on whether animals can migrate or not. In particular, we show that when species are settled at their equilibrium population densities in both habitats in the environment where migration between habitats is blocked, then the corresponding species spatial distribution need not be an IFD. Thus, when species are given the opportunity to migrate, they will redistribute to reach an IFD (e.g., under which the two species can completely segregate), and this redistribution will also influence species population equilibrial densities. Alternatively, we also show that when two species are distributed according to the IFD, the corresponding population equilibrium can be unstable.