青海可鲁克湖水鸟季节动态及渔鸥活动区分析

2008-2010年,对青海可鲁克湖的水鸟季节动态进行了调查。共记录到54种34828只水鸟,隶属于6目11科,雁鸭类水鸟最多,共统计到28445只,占水鸟总数的81.7%;其次是鸥类和鸻鹬类。可鲁克湖在水鸟春秋季迁徙高峰期在4月和10月,这也是水鸟多样性较高的两个月,其主要原因是由于迁徙鸭类数量和种类的增加。卫星跟踪表明,可鲁克湖是青海湖繁殖渔鸥重要的停歇地,渔鸥在可鲁克湖的停歇天数每年也有所不同,2007年和2008年秋季较2006年停歇时间短一些,初步判断与当地的人为干扰有关。当地政府对道路进行修建,其正好位于渔鸥的活动区内,这对渔鸥的日常活动造成较大影响,迫使渔鸥提前离开可鲁克湖。春季停歇天数的不同主要与青海湖面冰融的时间有关,若青海湖由于温度较高,冰融的时间早一些,渔鸥可能提前离开可鲁克湖,前往青海湖进行繁殖活动。     

Forecasting intensifying disturbance effects on coral reefs

Anticipating future changes of an ecosystem's dynamics requires knowledge of how its key communities respond to current environmental regimes. The Great Barrier Reef (GBR) is under threat, with rapid changes of its reef‐building hard coral (HC) community structure already evident across broad spatial scales. While several underlying relationships between HC and multiple disturbances have been documented, responses of other benthic communities to disturbances are not well understood. Here we used statistical modelling to explore the effects of broad‐scale climate‐related disturbances on benthic communities to predict their structure under scenarios of increasing disturbance frequency. We parameterized a multivariate model using the composition of benthic communities estimated by 145,000 observations from the northern GBR between 2012 and 2017. During this time, surveyed reefs were variously impacted by two tropical cyclones and two heat stress events that resulted in extensive HC mortality. This unprecedented sequence of disturbances was used to estimate the effects of discrete versus interacting disturbances on the compositional structure of HC, soft corals (SC) and algae. Discrete disturbances increased the prevalence of algae relative to HC while the interaction between cyclones and heat stress was the main driver of the increase in SC relative to algae and HC. Predictions from disturbance scenarios included relative increases in algae versus SC that varied by the frequency and types of disturbance interactions. However, high uncertainty of compositional changes in the presence of several disturbances shows that responses of algae and SC to the decline in HC needs further research. Better understanding of the effects of multiple disturbances on benthic communities as a whole is essential for predicting the future status of coral reefs and managing them in the light of new environmental regimes. The approach we develop here opens new opportunities for reaching this goal.     

Understanding the key characteristics and challenges of pine barrens restoration: insights from a Delphi survey of forest land managers and researchers

Pine barrens are open‐canopy ecological communities once prevalent on sandy soils across the northern Great Lakes Region of the United States and Canada, though fire suppression and plantation forestry have now reduced them to a few isolated areas. Efforts to restore pine barrens are underway on some public lands, but lack of knowledge on the social and ecological issues and challenges that affect these projects impedes fuller progress. As a precursor to designing a public preference survey for pine barrens restoration, we sought input from those with expert knowledge about pine barrens. Using a three‐round modified Delphi survey, forest land managers and researchers identified the key characteristics of pine barrens and important current and future management challenges. Key characteristics were related to fire, landscape structure, plant and animal species, soils, and social themes. Current and future challenges were related to landscape, invasive species, social, economic, climate change, and science themes. Four social issues (education, fire acceptance, fire risk, aesthetics) were rated among the top current challenges but none of them maintained prominence as future challenges. Potential explanations for this shift are that the experts felt these social concerns would be resolved in time or that other issues, such as development pressures and budgets for carrying out restoration, would become greater future challenges. Our approach can be used by managers and researchers to better understand the ecosystems they seek to restore and to communicate with public stakeholders about restoration efforts.     

INFLUENCE OF FRESHWATER FLOW REGIME ON FISH ASSEMBLAGES IN THE GREAT FISH RIVER AND ESTUARY

Summary

Two and a half years of data were collected from the lower Great Fish River, head region and estuary to determine the fish species composition within these areas. Gilchristella aestuaria, Liza dumerilii, Rhabdosargus holubi and Pomadasys commersonnii were the four most abundant species captured, with riverine flow rate having an important effect on both species composition and numbers of fishes in the different regions. Most marine species displayed a strong inverse relationship between catch per unit effort and elevated freshwater inputs. Euryhaline marine species dominated the catches at all sampling sites during low flows but were less common during high flow periods when catadromous species were most abundant. Based on the available evidence it is suggested that for most marine species in the river this decline in abundance is related to low conductivity levels following floods rather than avoidance of elevated flows. The impact of elevated suspensoid concentrations and lowered dissolved oxygen concentrations on freshwater and estuarine fish populations during major river flooding is also discussed.     

Wetland Waterbird Food Resources Increased by Harvesting Invasive Cattails

The conservation of many freshwater marsh waterbirds (i.e., waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, and secretive marshbirds) in the Laurentian Great Lakes requires managing invasive emergent macrophytes, which degrade waterbird habitat by creating dense, litter-clogged stands, and excluding plants that produce nutritionally balanced and high-energy food (seeds, tubers, and submerged aquatic vegetation). The most commonly used management approach in the United States Great Lakes region involves the application of herbicides, which can stimulate waterbird forage plants but does not address the accumulation of plant litter, the underlying cause of plant community diversity loss and habitat degradation. We experimentally evaluated the effects of an alternative approach, harvesting invasive plants and their litter followed by flooding, on plant communities, focusing on the effects of these treatments to increase the abundance of high-energy wetland plants. At the Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge in Michigan, USA, we experimentally treated an invasive cattail (Typha × glauca)-dominated wetland in August and September of 2016, 2017, and 2018, using a randomized block design with 4 blocks and 3 treatments (sediment surface harvest, above ground harvest, and control). We monitored the effects of these treatments on the abundance and dominance of waterbird forage-producing plants, plant diversity, and plant communities prior to (Jul 2016) and during the summer following each treatment (late Jul or early Aug 2017, 2018, and 2019). Additionally, we used pre- and post-treatment waterbird use-day data collected at the unit scale and compared values with satellite imagery-derived land cover changes. Compared to control plots, 3 years of harvesting and flooding significantly increased plant species diversity, increased the abundance of waterbird seed- and tuber-producing plant species by 5 times, and increased annual plant dominance by more than 10 times, while substantially reducing all measures of cattail and its litter. Use-days increased for total waterbirds, including waterfowl and dabbling ducks, following treatment. Cattail cover decreased and open water and non-cattail emergent vegetation cover increased. Harvesting invasive plant biomass coupled with flooding promoted a plant community composition and structure beneficial to waterbirds. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.