Interactions between land use,habitat use,and population increase in greater snow geese: what are the consequences for natural wetlands?

The North American greater snow goose population has increased dramatically during the last 40 years. We evaluated whether refuge creation, changes in land use on the wintering and staging grounds, and climate warming have contributed to this expansion by affecting the distribution, habitat use, body condition, and migration phenology of birds. We also reviewed the effects of the increasing population on marshes on the wintering grounds, along the migratory routes and on the tundra in summer. Refuges established before 1970 may have contributed to the initial demographic increase. The most important change, however, was the switch from a diet entirely based on marsh plants in spring and winter (rhizomes of Scirpus/Spartina) to one dominated by crops (corn/young grass shoots) during the 1970s and 1980s. Geese now winter further north along the US Atlantic coast, leading to reduced hunting mortality. Their migratory routes now include portions of southwestern Québec where corn production has increased exponentially. Since the mid‐1960s, average temperatures have increased by 1–2.4°C throughout the geographic range of geese, which may have contributed to the northward shift in wintering range and an earlier migration in spring. Access to spilled corn in spring improved fat reserves upon departure for the Arctic and may have contributed to a high fecundity. The population increase has led to intense grazing of natural wetlands used by geese although these habitats are still largely undamaged. The foraging in fields allowed the population to exceed limits imposed by natural marshes in winter and spring, but also prevented permanent damage because of their overgrazing.     

Does Wet Prairie Vegetation Retain More Nitrogen with or withoutPhalaris arundinaceainvasion?

Elevated nitrogen (N) levels accelerate expansion of Phalaris arundinacea L. (reed canary grass), a highly aggressive invader that displaces native vegetation and forms monotypes. Hence, Phalaris is commonly presumed to have high nutrient uptake that contributes to higher N retention in a wetland. We compared the capability of wet prairie vegetation with and without invading Phalaris under low-N and high-N treatments to (1) accumulate N in plant tissues, (2) retain N in soil and (3) remove N from water flowing through mesocosms. With high-N treatment, above-ground biomass increased by > 90% (P < 0.0004; yrs. 1–2) and percent total N in above-ground tissues increased by > 46% (P = 0.0005; yrs. 1–2). Consequently, there was ~3 times as much total N accumulation in above-ground tissue (calculated from biomass and percent total N in tissues) with high-N treatment vs. low-N treatment (P < 0.0001; yrs. 1–2). Without invading Phalaris, wet prairie vegetation produced over 49% more above-ground biomass (P ￡ 0.022; yrs. 1–2) and accumulated over 38% more N in its above-ground tissues (P = 0.009; yrs. 1–2), compared to invaded mesocosms. The high-N treatment increased concentrations of soil ammonium (NH4–N) up to 157% (P = 0.0001) and soil nitrate (NO3–N) up to 549% (P < 0.001). After N treatments began, we found no differences in total N or NO3–N in soils (P > 0.05) or in concentrations of NH4–N or NO3–N released in the discharged water (P > 0.1) from wet prairie mesocosms with and without invading Phalaris. Soil NH4–N did not differ between the wet prairie mesocosms with and without Phalaris invasions on five dates (P > 0.05); the one exception was in August 2004 (27% greater with invasion; P = 0.02). Our results from wet prairie mesocosms do not support the presumption that Phalaris retains more N than native plant assemblages.     

云南沾益海峰湿地鱼类区系及地理成因分析

对云南海峰自然保护区鱼类区系调查,结果共获鱼类11种,隶属4目6科11属。其中引入种9种,土著种仅2种,无特有种类。海峰湿地间歇性干涸明显,是一较为封闭的高原水域生态系统。以湿地鱼类区系组成为线索,认为在湿地内无土著种,更未形成狭域分布的特有种。此事实强烈地暗示,海峰湿地的形成历史可能极近,只在数万年之内。海峰湿地属于内陆湿地中的时令湖生态系统,还兼有人工湿地中蓄水区湿地类型的特点。     

浙江秀山岛湿地生态系统初探

秀山岛位于东海舟山渔场海域,岛上有大片的湿地资源分布,其滨海部分与舟山渔场的生物资源特别是渔业生物资源密切联系,具有罕见的海岛特色。海岛的特殊地理位置为秀山岛湿地赋予了独特的生态特征。秀山岛湿地内动植物资源丰富,生物多样性高,共有植物种类300余种,栖息的鸟类共有26个科108种,包括国家一级保护动物东方自鹳（Ixobrychus minutus）。还有国家二级保护动物獐（Hydropotes inermis）等珍贵动物自然栖息。秀山岛湿地包括潮下带湿地（浅海湾）、潮间带湿地（泥滩、芦苇丛）、潮上带湿地（咸水沼泽、半咸水沼泽）、异化湿地（盐田、养殖池、稻田）等几个紧密联系的部分。具有多方面的生态功能。由于对湿地的生态功能重视不够,湿地生态系统破碎化严重。目前在秀山岛湿地已经建立了湿地自然保护区,湿地生态系统得到了较好的发展。     

植物吸收在人工湿地去除氮、磷中的贡献

探讨了植物在人工湿地系统处理污水中的作用,并分析了影响植物生长的主要环境因素,结合实例分析了湿地植物吸收氮磷在不同生长期的变化和其在去除氮磷营养物中的贡献,认为通过秋冬季的植物收割去除的氮磷量比较低,植物可以作为冬季保温材料而不收割,提出通过组合技术来改善破人工湿地氮磷去除能力的思路.     

不同水位梯度下的小叶章种群密度

通过人工试验控制水位条件,研究了在不同水位梯度条件下,小叶章种群密度的动态变化,并分析了不同时期小叶章种群密度与水位梯度之间的相关关系。结果表明,小叶章群落中,0~20 cm的水位梯度条件下,小叶章种群密度的季节动态呈比较明显的双峰型曲线。而小叶章-苔草群落中,在-10、0和30 cm水位梯度,小叶章种群密度季节动态曲线为双峰型。小叶章群落不同水位梯度的季节动态曲线显示,除10和20 cm的水位梯度,种群密度具有随着水位梯度的升高而降低的趋势。而小叶章-苔草群落小叶章种群密度最大值出现在0 cm水位梯度,种群密度与水位梯度之间关系复杂,没有简单的线性规律。两个群落均在10 cm水位具有明显的变化:试验初期种群密度显著快速增长,而后趋缓,再增长。小叶章种群密度与水位梯度之间存在着显著负相关性,利用两者之间的拟合方程可以估测不同水位梯度条件下的小叶章种群密度。     

长江口崇明东滩湿地沉积物对磷的吸附特征

研究了崇明东滩湿地低(S1)、中(S2)、高(S3)潮滩沉积物对磷的吸附特征。结果表明,沉积物吸磷过程主要发生在前24 h内,随后近于达到平衡状态。沉积物对PO43--P的平均吸附速率在0~0.5 h内最大,均超过了140 mg.kg-1.h-1;快速吸附过程主要发生在前11 h,前11 h的平均快速吸附速率表现为S1>S3>S2,且沉积物中细颗粒成分越多,沉积物对PO43--P的平均快速吸附速率越大。沉积物对磷的吸附等温线符合Langmuir吸附等温方程,根据Langmuir方程计算,沉积物对磷的吸附容量均>200 mg.kg-1,同时沉积物对PO43--P的吸附容量也表现为S1>S3>S2。原因可能同S1中细颗粒成分、有机碳和常量金属元素(Al、Ca、Fe、Mg)的百分含量较多而S2中细颗粒成分、有机碳和常量金属元素的百分含量较少有关。温度和pH值也影响沉积物对PO43--P的吸附作用。     

道路及道路施工对若尔盖高寒湿地小型兽类及鸟类生境利用的影响

为考察道路和道路施工对若尔盖高寒泥炭湿地野生动物的影响,我们在穿过若尔盖湿地的2条道路两侧,对距道路不同距离的小型兽类和鸟类分布进行了调查,其中小型兽类调查深度距离公路800m,鸟类调查深度距离公路400m。施工中的国道213线路两侧黑唇鼠兔(Ochotonacurzoniae)洞穴高密度区域离道路更远,在道路两侧400m处达到峰值,极显著高于距离道路10m处的密度;而在正常运营中的省道209线两侧,其洞穴密度在200m处达到最高值,与其他距离的洞穴密度没有显著性差异。无论在国道213线还是省道209线,道路对高原鼢鼠(Myospalaxbaileyi)洞穴分布的影响均未达到显著性水平。在正常运营的省道209线两侧,高原鼢鼠土堆密度最高区域为距离道路100m处;而施工的道路两侧高原鼢鼠土堆密度最高区域则出现在距离道路10m处,第二高峰出现在距离道路400m处。雀形目和隼形目鸟类的分布均呈现距离道路越远密度越高的趋势,但是只有距离道路400m处雀形目鸟类的密度显著高于50m与200m处;距离道路不同距离的样线中隼形目鸟类密度和物种丰富度没有显著性差异。由此可以看出,施工中的道路对黑唇鼠兔的影响区域比正常运营的道路更宽,其公路效应域达到400m,400m的调查深度对鸟类尤其是隼形目鸟类来说可能还略有不足。但是,根据此深度的调查可以确定施工中的国道213线雀形目和隼形目鸟类的公路效应域宽度大于400m。     

人工湿地在生态城市建设中的作用

生态城市的建设依赖于科学利用有限资源。随着我国城市化进程加快,水体污染日益严重,加剧了水资源的短缺。人工湿地是利用生物自净功能,低投入、低运行费、低能耗的环保型的污水处理技术。不仅可进行水资源的循环利用,而且美化环境、保护生物多样性。本文分析提出,人工湿地是生态城市建设中水资源利用的最有效模式,应大力发挥人工湿地在我国生态城市建设中的作用。