The impact of roads on the avifauna of páramo grasslands in Cajas National Park,Ecuador

National parks are an important tool for conserving biodiversity, particularly in areas of high biodiversity and endemism such as the tropical Andes. However, national parks often face a variety of stressors related to recreation, road construction and illegal extraction of natural resources. Unfortunately, the influence of these stressors for biodiversity is rarely well documented. Cajas National Park in Ecuador is no exception. Despite being traversed by the Cuenca-Molleturo-Naranjal road, effects of the road construction on biodiversity have not been determined. We therefore assessed the influence of road proximity on bird species richness and abundance as well as composition of bird habitat groups in Cajas National Park using transect walks at 25 m and 250 m distance to the road (overall 18 transects, each 1 km length). In total, we recorded 1110 individuals of 28 páramo bird species. Overall species richness did not differ between transects near and far from the road. Nevertheless, the average abundance of shrubby páramo species was significantly higher far from the road than near the road (Far = 36, Near = 25). Moreover, we found a tendency towards differences in the composition of bird habitat groups between transects near and far from the road. One aspect potentially driving the observed patterns was the increasing proportion of planted non-native woody tree species within páramo grassland near the road, which may have caused reduced abundances of shrubby páramo bird species there. While roads represented a clear impact on the composition of bird species in the páramo, the major effect seems to be driven by the introduction of non-native plant species along the roadside. In order to reduce the impact of roads to a minimum, we suggest that park managers should control the introduction of such plant species.     

贵州省荔波发现百花锦蛇

2010年7月～2012年8月,在贵州省荔波南方喀斯特世界自然遗产地进行脊椎动物物种多样性调查时,分别在板寨、瑶山、翁昂和洞塘采集到游蛇科蛇类标本共5条,经分类鉴定为锦蛇属(Elaphe)的百花锦蛇(E.moellendorffi),为该物种在贵州省内首次发现,增加了其在国内的分布点.     

酒红朱雀的繁殖生态初步报道

2012年6月至8月期间,在甘肃莲花山国家级自然保护区发现3巢酒红朱雀(Carpodacus vinaceus).巢呈碗状,筑于小云杉(Picea asperata)或小灌木上,距地面高1.5～1.9 m.卵的大小为(21.06 ±0.59)mm ×(14.81±0.26)mm,重(2.32±0.08)g(n =6).雌鸟单独孵卵,雌雄共同育雏,孵卵期约14 d,育雏期约13 d.     

贵州梵净山自然保护区土壤甲螨群落的季节动态

2001年7月至2002年4月在不同的季节,对梵净山自然保护区属级水平上土壤甲螨结构的季节变化进行了调查.结果显示,土壤甲螨多度的四季变化为春季＞冬季＞秋季＞夏季.土壤甲螨多样性的四季变化为秋季＞夏季＞冬季＞春季.不同的季节土壤甲螨群落组成不同,但小奥甲螨属、小盾珠甲螨属、木单翼甲螨属3个属在每个季节均为绝对优势属.土壤甲螨主要分布在表层,但从夏季到冬季,土壤甲螨从表层向深层迁徙.     

Shrub Cover Influence on Seedling Growth and Survival Following Logging of a Tropical Forest

Logging in tropical forests may create large canopy openings. These gaps provide suitable conditions for some opportunistic shrubs and herbs to take advantage of the surge in resources and rapidly colonize disturbed sites. This dense plant cover may limit forest regeneration by interfering with tree seedling establishment, growth, and survival by altering the light and nutrients available to seedlings, modifying herbivore behavior, or a number of other factors. In Kibale National Park (Uganda), old logging sites are mainly covered by dense stands of Acanthus pubescens Engl., which appear to inhibit tree regeneration. We wanted to identify the ecological processes underlying this regeneration collapse. To do so, we designed a factorial experiment to evaluate the influences of herbivory and vegetation cover on the growth and survival of tree seedlings. We compared the survival and growth of transplanted tree seedlings in A. pubescens stands and logged forests, in the presence or absence of the understory vegetation layer (logged forest) or vegetation cover (A. pubescens), and with or without herbivory. We found no evidence to support the hypothesis that herbivory is significantly higher under dense A. pubescens cover. Seedling survival was not influenced by the environment. Seedling growth, however, was positively influenced by the removal of A. pubescens, suggesting that changes in resource availability associated with the presence of A. pubescens, may be important for regeneration. Our results suggest that sustained cutting of A. pubescens cover could foster the growth of established seedlings and could lead to tree regeneration and habitat restoration.     

内蒙古达赉湖西岸地区大鵟巢穴特征和巢址选择

2010年和2011年3月-6月,对内蒙古达赉湖国家级保护区达赉湖西岸地区大鵟(Buteo hemilasius)的巢穴结构和巢址选择因子进行了调查研究.采用野外观察和样方法定位了13个大鵟巢址,并对巢址样方的20个生态因子进行测量,运用主成分分析法对影响大鵟巢址选择的主要因子进行了分析.测量显示,大鵟巢穴的基本结构特征为:外径(94.7+4.2) cm;巢高度(46.1±2.7) cm;内径(24.8±1.5)cm;巢深(14.0±+0.9)cm.生境因子分析结果表明,达赉湖西岸地区大鵟的巢集中分布在湖岸或水塘附近的悬崖,营巢点坡度为15°-45°之间的阳坡或半阳坡;隐蔽度高于20％;草本密度大于5株/m2;植被均高大于30cm;巢距悬崖上部距离2-5m;距水源l00m以内;距居民点距离大于lkm;距草原道路的距离大于0.5km;而对于物种丰富度没有特殊要求.主成分分析显示,影响大鵟巢址选择的主要因子有3个,依次为:隐蔽性因子(主要包括巢址区域的植物特征和地形特征)、干扰因子和食物因子.各主成分中,相对系数绝对值最高的变量依次是:植被盖度、距居民点距离、巢的高度和距草原道路距离.     

人工管理和自然驱动下盐城海滨湿地互花米草沼泽演变及空间差异

将盐城国家级自然保护区核心区划分为人工管理区和自然湿地区两种模式,根据2000年、2006年、2011年3个时相的ETM+影像,运用RS、GIS技术和景观生态学方法,分析不同驱动力下互花米草沼泽景观变化的差异.结果表明:(1)人工管理区,2000-2011年,互花米草沼泽面积由272hm2增加到781hm2;平均分维数呈下降的趋势,聚合度指数呈上升的趋势,表明互花米草沼泽在空间上趋于聚集,在形状上趋于规则;从互花米草沼泽增长速率看,2000-2011年,呈现先快后慢的特征.在景观空间演变上,互花米草沼泽的平均宽度从598.679m增加到1719.002m,表现出向海陆两个方向扩张的特征.(2)自然湿地区,2000-2011年互花米草沼泽面积由2023hm2增加到3974hm2;平均分维数和聚合度指数呈先上升后下降的趋势;米草沼泽增长稳定,年增长约160-180 hm2/a,单位长度岸线年增长面积约为15 hm2· km-1·a-1左右;比较发现,自然湿地区互花米草沼泽的增长速度高于人工管理区的增长速度.在景观空间演变上,互花米草沼泽平均宽度从1625.586m增加到3193.317m,2000-2006年表现出向海洋单方向扩张的特征,2006-2011年表现出向海陆两个方向扩张的性质.(3)在自然条件下互花米草沼泽扩张受到气候、地貌过程、水文过程、植被类型及种间竞争的影响,表现出明显的带状特征.在人工管理下,通过建设拦水堤坝等,阻止了潮汐作用下海水的扩散能力,生态过程发生改变,致使生态系统类型向淡水湿地方向演变,抑制了互花米草沼泽的扩张,表现出一定的镶嵌格局.     

卧龙巴郎山川滇高山栎群落植物叶特性海拔梯度特征

川滇高山栎林是中国植被非常特殊的亚高山硬叶栎林类型,广泛分布在横断山地区。为了阐明植物群落植物叶型组成对海拔梯度的响应,对卧龙自然保护区巴朗山阳坡川滇高山栎群落植物叶型特征随海拔梯度（15海拔梯度,海拔2200～3600 m）的变化进行了研究。卧龙自然保护区巴朗山各个梯度川滇高山栎群落维管束植物的叶级以小型叶为主,占总种数的平均百分率为36.09％;细型叶和中型叶的维管束植物比例相当,分别为25.64％,25.22％;大型叶和巨型叶维管束植物分别占6.82％～9.94%和0.00％～0.71%;微型叶植物比例在1.28～5.59%;小型叶维管束植物的比例随海拔先降低后升高再降低,最低值出现在海拔3000 m左右。各个海拔梯度川滇高山栎林内维管束植物的叶型以单叶为主,平均占总种数的75.89％,其余为复叶植物,占总种数的24.11％;维管束单叶型植物物种比例随海拔升高变幅较小,在73.84％～78.78％之间,但在海拔2500 m有一个最低值,其比例为73.85％;复叶维管束植物在各海拔梯度群落物种数比例在21.21％～26.15％之间。各海拔川滇高山栎林内维管束植物的叶质以纸叶型为主,平均占总种数的46.03％,其次为薄叶植物（29.17％）,革质（22.00%）和厚革质植物（2.79％）。川滇高山栎群落内纸质与厚革质维管束植物种类的比例随海拔升高而降低;革质与薄叶型维管束植物种类的比例随海拔升高而升高。全缘维管束和非全缘维管束植物种类分别占总数的50.50％和49.50％;全缘类维管束植物随海拔升高呈正二项式分布,而非全缘维管束植物则呈相反的分布格局。     

河漫滩湿地生态阈值——以二卡自然保护区为例

以典型河漫滩湿地 —— 二卡自然保护区为研究区域,进行生态阈值研究。根据湿地补给河流 —— 海拉尔河的月均流量频率分布特征,选取58.72 m³/s(P=74.6%)、119.26 m³/s(P=44.4%)、190.35 m³/s(P=23.8%)分别代表河流的低、中、高径流期,分析各径流期湿地分布特征。结果表明,低、中径流期内草本沼泽及盐化沼泽所占比例较高,而高径流期则以季节性河流湿地及湖泊湿地为主。低径流期内,作为湿地中心区的湖泊湿地景观破碎度出现一个较明显的跃变,由中径流期的0.57增加到1.37。此时的湿地状态可近似的作为区域的生态阈值,即维持湿地面积占全区域面积的43.03%。而中、高径流期湿地面积比例可近似作为保护区湿地面积的适宜值和理想值,分别为53.66%和69.53%。其研究结果为二卡自然保护区的管理及保护提供支持,并为河漫滩湿地研究提供思路。     

北京松山自然保护区森林群落物种多样性及其神经网络预测

物种多样性是群落结构和功能复杂性的一种度量,物种多样性的空间分布格局受许多环境因子的影响.运用多样性指数,多层感知器网络,分析了松山保护区森林群落物种多样性与群落类型、结构和生境之间的关系.结果表明:(1)大果榆+山杨混交林、油松+青杨混交林物种丰富度、多样性和均匀度均较高,而大果榆林、华北落叶松林的各项指数值均较低.Patrick指数和Shannon-Weiner指数在森林群落中均表现为草本层＞灌木层＞乔木层;Pielou指数在榆林中表现为草本层＞乔木层＞灌木层,而在其他森林群落中表现为灌木层＞草本层＞乔木层.(2)功能层物种多样性在海拔梯度上的变化趋势不同,在乔木层,丰富度、多样性和均匀度随海拔的升高逐渐降低;在灌木层,丰富度、多样性和均匀度均呈比较明显的单峰曲线变化趋势;在草本层,丰富度和多样性随海拔的升高都呈下降趋势,而在草本层,均匀度变化不大.(3)用多层感知器网络预测功能层多样性效果很好,结果发现坡向对乔木层和灌木层物种多样性的影响最大,而海拔高度对草本层物种多样性的影响最大.