Global to community scale differences in the prevalence of convergent over divergent leaf trait distributions in plant assemblages

Aim The drivers of species assembly, by limiting the possible range of functional trait values, can lead to either convergent or divergent distributions of traits in realized assemblages. Here, to evaluate the strengths of these species assembly drivers, we partition trait variance across global, regional and community scales. We then test the hypothesis that, from global to community scales, the outcome of co‐occurring trait convergence and divergence is highly variable across biomes and communities. Location Global: nine biomes ranging from subarctic highland to tropical rain forest. Methods We analysed functional trait diversity at progressively finer spatial scales using a global, balanced, hierarchically structured dataset from 9 biomes, 58 communities and 652 species. Analyses were based on two key leaf traits (foliar nitrogen content and specific leaf area) that are known to drive biogeochemical cycling. Results While 35% of the global variance in these traits was between biomes, only 15% was between communities within biomes and as much as 50% occurred within communities. Despite this relatively high within‐community variance in trait values, we found that trait convergence dominated over divergence at both global and regional scales through comparisons of functional trait diversity in regional and community assemblages against random (null) models of species assembly. Main conclusions We demonstrate that the convergence of traits occurring from global to regional assemblages can be twice as strong as that from regional to community assemblages, and argue that large differences in the nature and strength of abiotic and biotic drivers of dominant species assembly can, at least partly, explain the variable outcome of simultaneous trait convergence and divergence across sites. Ultimately, these findings stress the urgent need to extend species assembly research to address those scales where trait variance is the highest, i.e. between biomes and within communities.     

不同密度下沙地樟子松碳、氮、磷化学计量及养分重吸收特征

以樟子松纯林为对象,研究了6种密度(490、750、1110、1550、1930、2560株·hm^-2)下不同器官(当年生叶、一年生叶、当年生枝、一年生枝和细根)的C、N、P化学计量特征及叶片N、P重吸收效率。结果表明:随着林分密度增加,当年生和一年生叶C含量及当年生和一年生枝P含量呈降低趋势(1550株·hm^-2除外),当年生枝、一年生枝和细根C含量、各器官N含量及当年生叶、一年生叶和细根P含量呈先升高后降低趋势,在1550株·hm^-2密度下最高;当年生叶、一年生叶和细根C∶N、当年生叶和枝C∶P以及当年生叶、当年生和一年生枝N∶P呈先降低后升高趋势,一年生叶和枝C∶P呈升高趋势;凋落叶C含量先增加后降低,N含量呈升高趋势,P含量先降低后升高;叶片N重吸收效率下降,P重吸收效率先升高后降低,N重吸收效率:P重吸收效率呈下降趋势。因此,随樟子松林分密度增加,N限制减弱,P限制增强。当林分密度为1550株·hm^-2时,养分更多分配到叶片和细根,促进高生长,为樟子松人工林适宜经营密度。     

温度植被干旱指数在蒙古高原干旱监测中的应用

以蒙古高原为研究区,选择2000—2019年植物生长季的MODIS归一化植被指数(NDVI)和陆地表面温度(LST)构建NDVI-LST特征空间,由该特征空间计算蒙古高原温度植被干旱指数(TVDI);利用Theil-Sen Median趋势分析、Mann-Kendall检验及Hurst指数方法分析蒙古高原TVDI的时空变化特征和未来的变化趋势,利用偏相关分析法探究气象因子与蒙古高原TVDI之间的关系。结果表明: 2000—2019年,蒙古高原TVDI以0.0001·a^-1呈增大趋势,期间,蒙古高原的干旱情况小幅加重,其中,草甸草原和典型草原干旱情况逐渐减轻,而荒漠草原和高山草地干旱情况加重。蒙古高原TVDI的Hurst指数均值为0.45,小于0.5的地区面积占比为71.5%,说明大部分地区2000—2019年的TVDI变化趋势与过去相反。中部的荒漠草原地区和东部的草甸草原地区未来干旱情况可能加重;典型草原的大部分地区以及内蒙古境内的荒漠草原未来干旱可能减轻;高山草地地区的干旱变化无法确定。蒙古高原有33.6%的地区TVDI与气温呈显著正相关,34.8%的地区TVDI与降水量呈显著负相关,其中,典型草原受气象因子的影响最显著。     

湖北房县下寒武统西蒿坪段钉形骨片化石

本文对采自湖北房县三座庵剖面下寒武统西蒿坪段的钉形骨片(nail-shaped)化石进行了研究,系统厘定和描述了2属2种,分别为Parazhijinites guizhouensis和Cambroclavus angxianensis;其中以C.fangxianensis骨片化石最为丰富,由三种类型的骨片组成,它们可能...     

Association mapping for partial resistance to Phytophthora sojae in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.)

Association mapping is a powerful high-resolution mapping tool for complex traits. The objective of this study was to identify QTLs for partial resistance to Phytophthora sojae. In this study, we evaluated a total of 214 soybean accessions by the hypocotyl inoculation method, and 175 were susceptible. The 175 susceptible accessions were then evaluated for P. sojae partial resistance using slant board assays. The 175 accessions were screened with 138 SSR markers that generated 730 SSR alleles. A subset of 495 SSR loci with minor allele frequency (MAF) ≥ 0.05 was used for association mapping by the Tassel general linear model (GLM) and mixed linear model (MLM) program. This soybean population could be divided into two subpopulations and no or weak relatedness was detected between pairwise accessions. Four SSR alleles, Satt634-133, Satt634-149, Sat_222-168 and Satt301-190, associated with partial resistance to P. sojae were detected by both GLM and MLM methods. Of these identified markers, one marker, Satt301, was located in regions where P. sojae resistance QTL have been previously mapped using linkage analysis. The identified markers will help to understand the genetic basis of partial resistance, and facilitate future marker-assistant selection aimed to improve resistance to P. sojae and reduce disease-related mortality in soybean.     

Fuel moisture content enhances nonadditive effects of plant mixtures on flammability and fire behavior

Fire behavior of plant mixtures includes a complex set of processes for which the interactive contributions of its drivers, such as plant identity and moisture, have not yet been unraveled fully. Plant flammability parameters of species mixtures can show substantial deviations of fire properties from those expected based on the component species when burnt alone; that is, there are nonadditive mixture effects. Here, we investigated how fuel moisture content affects nonadditive effects in fire behavior. We hypothesized that both the magnitude and variance of nonadditivity in flammability parameters are greater in moist than in dry fuel beds. We conducted a series of experimental burns in monocultures and 2‐species mixtures with two ericaceous dwarf shrubs and two bryophyte species from temperate fire‐prone heathlands. For a set of fire behavior parameters, we found that magnitude and variability of nonadditive effects are, on average, respectively 5.8 and 1.8 times larger in moist (30% MC) species mixtures compared to dry (10% MC) mixed fuel beds. In general, the moist mixtures caused negative nonadditive effects, but due to the larger variability these mixtures occasionally caused large positive nonadditive effects, while this did not occur in dry mixtures. Thus, at moister conditions, mixtures occasionally pass the moisture threshold for ignition and fire spread, which the monospecific fuel beds are unable to pass. We also show that the magnitude of nonadditivity is highly species dependent. Thus, contrary to common belief, the strong nonadditive effects in mixtures can cause higher fire occurrence at moister conditions. This new integration of surface fuel moisture and species interactions will help us to better understand fire behavior in the complexity of natural ecosystems.     

坝上地区农田及两种恢复生境中蜘蛛多样性与群落特征

蜘蛛是农田生态系统中重要的自然天敌,其生物多样性及群落特征直接决定了农田的害虫控制等生态系统服务功能质量。农田及其周边的恢复生境是蜘蛛重要的栖息地。本研究采用陷阱法,对河北省张家口市崇礼区871、1360、1635 m 3个海拔农田、自然恢复草地及人工修复林地的蜘蛛群落的物种组成、物种多样性和功能特征进行研究,分析不同恢复生境中蜘蛛群落特征。结果表明: 不同生境蜘蛛的物种多样性指数差异明显,人工修复林地蜘蛛的多度为124.3只,显著高于自然恢复草地(70.1)及农田(38.6)的蜘蛛多度;人工修复林地(16.3)与自然恢复草地(21.4)的物种丰富度没有显著差别,但均显著高于农田(8.9);人工修复林地(2.04)及自然恢复草地(2.05)的Shannon多样性指数差异不显著,且均显著高于农田(1.55)。3种生境的蜘蛛群落组成均具有显著差异;蜘蛛体长与蜘蛛捕猎类型呈正相关,大型蜘蛛倾向于通过捕猎获取食物;自然恢复草地与农田蜘蛛以游猎型为主,而人工修复林地倾向于拥有更多的结网型蜘蛛,高海拔地区的蜘蛛体积通常较小。自然恢复草地与人工修复林地均可以提升蜘蛛群落多样性,在区域生物多样性保护中起重要作用;不同生境蜘蛛群落组成出现了显著分化,即蜘蛛群落总体的功能特征发生改变和保留了部分生境特有种。2种恢复生境蜘蛛多样性指标优于农田生境,且2种恢复生境物种组成存在差异,均具有保护特有种的功能,研究结果对农田及区域尺度蜘蛛生物多样性保护与恢复具有指导意义。     

小叶臭黄皮叶挥发油化学成分的研究

采用水蒸气蒸馏法提取小叶臭黄皮叶挥发油,运用毛细管气相色谱-质谱联用法对挥发油成分进行了分析,共分离出84个峰,鉴定了其中的66种成分,所鉴定成分占挥发油总量的94.52%.其主要化学成分为α-芹子烯(15.76%)、石竹烯(15.05%)、β-芹子烯(9.54%)、α-蒎烯(6.43%)和α-石竹烯(5.39%)等.