Integration of ground survey and remote sensing derived data: Producing robust indicators of habitat extent and condition

The availability of suitable habitat is a key predictor of the changing status of biodiversity. Quantifying habitat availability over large spatial scales is, however, challenging. Although remote sensing techniques have high spatial coverage, there is uncertainty associated with these estimates due to errors in classification. Alternatively, the extent of habitats can be estimated from ground‐based field survey. Financial and logistical constraints mean that on‐the‐ground surveys have much lower coverage, but they can produce much higher quality estimates of habitat extent in the areas that are surveyed. Here, we demonstrate a new combined model which uses both types of data to produce unified national estimates of the extent of four key habitats across Great Britain based on Countryside Survey and Land Cover Map. This approach considers that the true proportion of habitat per km² (Z_i) is unobserved, but both ground survey and remote sensing can be used to estimate Z_i. The model allows the relationship between remote sensing data and Z_i to be spatially biased while ground survey is assumed to be unbiased. Taking a statistical model‐based approach to integrating field survey and remote sensing data allows for information on bias and precision to be captured and propagated such that estimates produced and parameters estimated are robust and interpretable. A simulation study shows that the combined model should perform best when error in the ground survey data is low. We use repeat surveys to parameterize the variance of ground survey data and demonstrate that error in this data source is small. The model produced revised national estimates of broadleaved woodland, arable land, bog, and fen, marsh and swamp extent across Britain in 2007.     

Probable blind spot in the International Diabetes Federation definition of metabolic syndrome

Objectives: The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) proposed a novel definition of the metabolic syndrome (MS) in 2005, which designated central obesity as mandatory. The new National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) version, announced by the American Heart Association and National Heart Lung and Blood Institute in October 2005, did not favor any of the five components. We set out to compare the cardiovascular profiles of patients cross‐defined by these two definitions to shed light on the differential meanings of the two. Research Methods and Procedures: We analyzed data from 2608 non‐institutionalized adults (≥19 years old) in the National Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan, who had complete data for the five MS defining components. Both definitions adopted lower cut‐points for fasting glucose and race‐specific cut‐points for waist circumference. Results: Under the IDF's and new NCEP's definitions, the MS prevalence was 6.2% and 11.6% in men and 12.6% and 16.5% in women, respectively. Although the two definitions had high agreement, IDF failed to pick up ～4% to 5% of people with more than three MS component disorders but a waist circumference less than the cut‐point. Subjects whose physical conditions only satisfied NCEP's definition had similar or worse metabolic profiles than those whose conditions satisfied both IDF's definition and the new NCEP's definition. Discussion: The IDF definition would fail to identify a portion of people who have more than three MS component disorders but a small waistline. Further research and discussion are needed on whether and how to implement the IDF's definition.     

金龟子绿僵菌在森林土壤中的分布及对松墨天牛致病性测定

松墨天牛是重大森林植物检疫性病害——松材线虫病的主要媒介昆虫。本研究于2005年8月～2006年8月从福建、江西两省共110个林分样区(其中松林88个样区)采集土壤样品330份,采用选择性培养基分离土壤中的金龟子绿僵菌。从21个样区的26份土样中分离出的金龟子绿僵菌占采集样区的19．1％和样品的7．9％,成菌落数(CFU)500～72500CFU/g,表明金龟子绿僵菌在森林土壤中有较为广泛的分布。对分离到的9个产孢量高的菌株,采用浸渍法(1×10~7孢子/mL)接种3～4龄健康松墨天牛幼虫,采用跗节接种法接种2～15日龄健康成虫,测定其致病力。结果表明,MaYTTR-03、MaYTTR-04菌株对松墨天牛幼虫和成虫均有较高致病力,表现出良好的生防潜力。     

Point pattern analysis of different age-classes of Larix principis-rupprechtii in Luya Mountain Reserve, Shanxi Province, China

Larix principis-rupprechtii forest is an important vegetation formation and has a large distribution area in Luya Mountain Reserve, China. Spatial pattern analysis on individual trees in different age-classes of Larix principis-rupprechtii was made in this paper. Here, we employed the technique of point pattern analysis, which could analyze patterns under all scales along a gradient. It was based on spatial mapped points of individual distribution. The results of this study showed that the densities of the five age-classes varied in the order: age-class 3 > age-class 4 > age-class 5 > age-class 2 > age-class 1. Although age-classes 1 and 2 have much fewer individuals than other three age-classes do, the population was stable at present. However, it would be necessary to take some measures for improving population regeneration for a long-time view. The individuals of all age-classes focused on clumping distribution in space; however, their distribution pattern varied with the change of scale. This mainly depended on biological features of Larix principis-rupprechtii and forest environments, but it also meant that the scale was an important factor in controlling spatial distribution pattern of tree individuals. The feature of clumping distribution became more significant with the increase of age. The relationships between individuals in different age-classes were almost all significantly correlated with each other. These associations became more significant within the older age-classes. This suggested that the individuals of different age-classes were interdistributed, by which the population could get benefits in resource utilization. The technique of point pattern analysis is effective and easy to be used in species pattern study. Its results are more closer to the reality, especially for community structure. Translated from Acta Ecologica Sinica, 2004, 24(1): 35–40 [译自: 生态学报]     

Point pattern analysis of different age-classes of Larix principis-rupprechtii in Luya Mountain Reserve, Shanxi Province, China

Larix principis-rupprechtii forest is an important vegetation formation and has a large distribution area in Luya Mountain Reserve,China.Spatial pattern analysis on individual trees in different age-classes of Larix principisrupprechtii was made in this paper.Here,we employed the technique of point pattern analysis,which could analyze patterns under all scales along a gradient.It was based on spatial mapped points of individual distribution.The results of this study showed that the densities of the five age-classes varied in the order:age-class 3＞age-class 4＞age-class 5＞age-class 2＞age-class 1.Although age-classes 1 and 2 have much fewer individuals than other three age-classes do,the population was stable at present.However,it would be necessary to take some measures for improving population regeneration for a long-time view.The individuals of all age-classes focused on clumping distribution in space;however,their distribution pattern varied with the change of scale.This mainly depended on biological features of Larix principis-rupprechtii and forest environments,but it also meant that the scale was an important factor in controlling spatial distribution pattern of tree individuals.The feature of clumping distribution became more significant with the increase of age.The relationships between individuals in different age-classes were almost all significantly correlated with each other.These associations became more significant within the older age-classes.This suggested that the individuals of different age-classes were interdistributed,by which the population could get benefits in resource utilization.The technique of point pattern analysis is effective and easy to be used in species pattern study.Its results are more closer to the reality,especially for community structure.     

A survey of the availability of primary bioinformatics web resources

The explosive growth of the bioinformatics field has led to a large amount of data and software applications publicly available as web resources. However, the lack of persistence of web references is a barrier to a comprehensive shared access. We conducted a study of the current availability and other features of primary bioinforo matics web resources （such as software tools and databases）. The majority （95%） of the examined bioinformatics web resources were found running on UNIX/Linux operating systems, and the most widely used web server was found to be Apache （or Apache-related products）. Of the overall 1,130 Uniform Resource Locators （URLs） examined, 91% were highly available （more than 90% of the time）, while only 4% showed low accessibility （less than 50% of the time） during the survey. Furthermore, the most common URL failure modes are presented and analyzed.     

Land use intensification increasingly drives the spatiotemporal patterns of the global human appropriation of net primary production in the last century

Land use has greatly transformed Earth's surface. While spatial reconstructions of how the extent of land cover and land-use types have changed during the last century are available, much less information exists about changes in land-use intensity. In particular, global reconstructions that consistently cover land-use intensity across land-use types and ecosystems are missing. We, therefore, lack understanding of how changes in land-use intensity interfere with the natural processes in land systems. To address this research gap, we map land-cover and land-use intensity changes between 1910 and 2010 for 9 points in time. We rely on the indicator framework of human appropriation of net primary production (HANPP) to quantify and map land-use-induced alterations of the carbon flows in ecosystems. We find that, while at the global aggregate level HANPP growth slowed down during the century, the spatial dynamics of changes in HANPP were increasing, with the highest change rates observed in the most recent past. Across all biomes, the importance of changes in land-use areas has declined, with the exception of the tropical biomes. In contrast, increases in land-use intensity became the most important driver of HANPP across all biomes and settings. We conducted uncertainty analyses by modulating input data and assumptions, which indicate that the spatial patterns of land use and potential net primary production are the most critical factors, while spatial allocation rules and uncertainties in overall harvest values play a smaller role. Highlighting the increasing role of land-use intensity compared to changes in the areal extent of land uses, our study supports calls for better integration of the intensity dimension into global analyses and models. On top of that, we provide important empirical input for further analyses of the sustainability of the global land system.     

中国梭梭属植物历史分布格局及其驱动机制

梭梭属(Haloxylon)植物是藜科的古老孑遗物种, 探究末次间冰期(last interglacial period, LIG)和末次盛冰期(last glacial maximum period, LGM)以来中国梭梭属植物的历史地理分布格局及其驱动机制, 对了解气候变化背景下旱生植物区系的发展与演化具有重要意义。本研究利用梭梭属85个自然分布点数据(60条梭梭(Haloxylon ammodendron)分布记录、25条白梭梭(H. persicum)分布记录)和2套环境因子数据, 整合GIS空间分析和9种物种分布模型, 分析了梭梭属末次间冰期以来的地理分布格局变化及其驱动机制。基于62个梭梭属种群的叶绿体基因测序数据, 利用最小成本路径方法, 模拟了末次间冰期以来梭梭属可能的扩散路径。利用R软件prcomp函数对影响梭梭属分布的环境变量进行主成分分析(principal component analysis, PCA), 评价了环境变量对梭梭属适宜分布的贡献, 并分析了关键变量与分布适宜性的相关性。结果表明: (1)集成模型的模拟精度较单一模型显著提升, 且对白梭梭的模拟精度高于梭梭; (2)末次间冰期以来, 梭梭属植物的分布均经历了显著收缩和冰后期扩张, 末次间冰期至末次盛冰期时期, 在准噶尔盆地、塔里木盆地西部广泛分布的梭梭大面积向西退缩至避难所(准噶尔盆地西北缘和塔里木盆地西北缘); 白梭梭从准噶尔盆地、塔里木盆地西端向南退缩至避难所(准噶尔盆地南缘); 末次盛冰期至今, 梭梭向东沿甘肃北部扩张直至内蒙古西部阿拉善荒漠, 白梭梭向东北方向小范围扩张, 占据了准噶尔盆地西部和南缘; (3)末次间冰期以来的气候波动对梭梭属植物的分布存在较大限制, 降水因子主导了梭梭属适宜分布面积的变化, 温度因子影响了梭梭属分布适宜性的高低。     

贵州师范大学植物标本室的历史与沿革

自2017年参加“国家标本资源共享平台”植物子平台以来,贵州师范大学地理与环境科学学院植物标本室除了数字化植物标本以外,还挖掘、整理了贵州师范大学植物分类学、植物地理学的建设和发展历程。经过3年的艰苦努力,最后向中国数字植物标本馆(CVH)提供了10 044份信息齐全的植物标本。通过此次植物标本数字化工作,彻底摸清了贵州师范大学地理与环境科学学院植物标本的家底,盘活了标本室的库存,使得老一辈植物地理学家黄威廉等老先生60余年的科研成果重新展现在世人面前。通过植物标本的数字化工作,挖掘整理出老一辈精彩的植物标本采集史和学术故事。在标本数字化的过程中,学生和老师都对植物标本以及植物标本背后的故事有了新的认识,对植物标本数字化的重要性和必要性也有了更深的体会。     

福建省安溪县药用植物资源调查与分析

依托第四次全国中药资源普查,采用代表区域-样地-样方-样方套,结合样线调查方法,通过野外调查、走访调查及查阅相关资料等,对福建安溪药用植物资源种类和分布进行分析。结果显示,安溪县药用植物有1515种,隶属215科844属,草本为主要生活类型,药用部位主要以根及根茎类和全草类为主;其中福建重点药材115种、特色药材46种。安溪县药用植物资源丰富,物种多样性高,今后应加强资源保护与规划,合理开发利用该地药用植物资源。