Potential replacement vegetation: an approach to vegetation mapping of cultural landscapes

Abstract. The concept of mapping potential replacement vegetation (PRV) is proposed as a parallel to potential natural vegetation (PNV). Potential replacement vegetation (PRV) is an abstract and hypothetical vegetation which is in balance with climatic and soil factors currently affecting a given habitat, with environmental factors influencing the habitat from outside such as air pollution, and with an abstract anthropogenic influence (management) of given type, frequency and intensity. For every habitat, there is a series of possible PRV-types corresponding to the different anthropogenic influences, e.g. grazing, mowing, trampling or growing cereals. The PRV-concept is especially useful in large-scale mapping (scales > 1 : 25 000) of small areas where replacement vegetation is the focus of attention for managers and land-use planners, for example in nature reserves where the aim is conservation of replacement vegetation managed in a traditional way, or in restoration ecology where the concept may be used for defining restoration goals and evaluating the success of restoration efforts. At smaller scales, PRV-mapping may be useful for revealing the biogeographical patterns of larger areas which may be different from the corresponding PNV patterns, because replacement vegetation and natural vegetation may respond to environmental gradients at different scales. An example of medium-scale PRV-mapping through the coincidence of diagnostic species of vegetation types, based on species distribution grid data, is presented. In cultural landscapes, the advantage of using the PRV-concept instead of PNV is its direct relationship to the replacement vegetation. In the habitat mapping with respect to the replacement vegetation, the PRV concept yields more valuable results than the mapping of actual vegetation, as the latter is strongly affected by spatially variable anthropogenic influences which may be largely independent from climatic and soil factors.     

Vegetation changes following sheep grazing in abandoned mountain meadows

Abstract. Sheep grazing was investigated as an alternative to traditional management of meadows in the Krkono?e Mts. Until the second World War these meadows were mown in mid‐summer and grazed by cattle for the rest of the season. Subsequent abandonment of the meadows has resulted in decreasing species richness. Degradation phases of the former communities have been replacing the original species‐rich vegetation. Significant changes were apparent six years after the introduction of sheep grazing. In grazed plots the proportion of dominant herbs (Polygonum bistorta and Hypericum maculatum) decreased and grasses (Deschampsia cespitosa, Festuca rubra, Agrostis capillaris, Anthoxanthum alpinum) increased. The increase in grasses was positively correlated with an increase in several herbs. The proportion of some herbs increased despite being selectively grazed (Adenostyles alliariae, Melandrium rubrum, Veratrum lobelianum). Any losses caused by grazing of mature plants were probably compensated by successful seedling establishment. Cessation of grazing resulted in significant changes in vegetation within three years. The cover of nitrophilous tall herbs and grasses (e.g. Rumex alpestris, Holcus mollis, Deschampsia cespitosa, Geranium sylvaticum) increased in the abandoned plots. In the plots grazed for nine years cover of species‐rich mountain meadow species increased (e.g. fine‐leaved grasses, Campanula bohemica, Potentilla aurea, Viola lutea, Silene vulgaris). The main conservation risk is the expansion of a competitive species with low palatability, Deschampsia cespitosa. This species can be suppressed by a combination of grazing and mowing. In order for grazing to be effective, the number of sheep should be proportional to meadow production. This may be difficult to maintain as production is variable and is impossible to predict at the beginning of a growing season. A large part of the biomass may thus remain intact in some years. Negative effects of grazing may be, at least partly, eliminated by a combination of cutting and grazing.     

利用红外相机技术对安徽省鹞落坪国家级自然保护区大中型兽类及林下鸟类的调查

鹞落坪国家级自然保护区位于大别山脉南麓的核心地带。2014-2017年, 作者采用红外相机技术对鹞落坪国家级自然保护区的大中型兽类及林下鸟类进行调查。研究共布设了72个相机位点, 累计完成16,658个相机工作日, 获得独立有效照片2,142张, 共记录野生兽类9种、鸟类15种, 隶属8目15科。包括国家一级重点保护野生动物1种, 即安徽麝(Moschus anhuiensis), 国家二级重点保护野生动物2种, 分别是勺鸡(Pucrasia macrolopha)和白冠长尾雉(Syrmaticus reevesii)。相对多度排名前五的兽类分别为小麂(Muntiacus reevesi)、野猪(Sus scrofa)、赤腹松鼠(Callosciurus erythraeus)、猪獾(Arctonyx collaris)和岩松鼠(Sciurotamias davidianus)。相对多度排名前五的鸟类为白冠长尾雉、勺鸡、松鸦(Garrulus glandarius)、灰背鸫(Turdus hortulorum)、红嘴蓝鹊(Urocissa erythroryncha)。此外红外相机还拍摄到大量人类活动照片, 表明当地人类活动较为严重, 应加强管理。本研究初步了解了保护区内大中型兽类和林下鸟类群落信息及人类活动的干扰情况, 为保护区未来的保护和管理工作提供了数据基础。     

Securing a future for China's plant biodiversity through an integrated conservation approach

The severely threatened Chinese flora urgently needs a new, well adapted to China and properly formulated conservation strategy. The present review provides a detailed conservation methodology that complements previously described guidelines for preservation of plant species with extremely small populations (PSESP) in China. This review adds to the above concept in several aspects, making it relevant to all threatened Chinese plant species. The proposed integral conservation strategy has the following crucial components: -ecoregional basis for conservation planning and implementation; -a unified scoring system that is used in regional systematic planning for reserve design, monitoring and assessment of efficiency of a reserve network, and creation of seed banks and living collections; -a focus on population demography and the presence of naturally occurring regeneration as the key criteria for defining the conservation status of a species and the appropriate major focus of the species recovery plan; -creation of multi-species living collections that preserve species genetic variation and provide material for in situ actions; -experimental translocation of threatened species into multiple locations within and outside their known range. Adopting and implementing these strategies successfully and more fully in China requires that the country changes PA legislation and improves PA management, the National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) re-prioritizes the type of research that receives research funds, and local scientists improve their approach toward information sharing.     

四川巴郎山齿果酸模叶片氮素及其分配的海拔响应

在卧龙自然保护区, 按海拔梯度选择了齿果酸模(Rumex dentatus)的4个分布地点(2350、2700、3150和3530 m), 对各研究地点的齿果酸模进行了叶片光合、扩散导度、叶片碳稳定同位素组成(δ¹³C)、氮素含量、光合氮利用效率(PNUE)、比叶面积(SLA))等参数的测量, 以期揭示该植物叶片氮素、氮素分配情况及其他生理生态参数随海拔的响应趋势, 进而明确氮素及其分配在齿果酸模响应和适应海拔梯度环境的生物学过程中的作用。结果表明: 随着海拔的升高, 齿果酸模的叶片单位面积氮含量(N_area)随之增加, 进而光合能力随之增加。随着海拔升高而增加的扩散导度也在一定程度上促进了这一趋势, 这可能是落叶草本植物对于高海拔低温所导致的叶寿命缩短的适应结果。沿着海拔梯度, 植物叶片氮素和扩散导度均通过羧化位点与外界CO₂分压比(P_c/P_a)而间接影响叶片δ¹³C值, 且相比之下, 以氮素为基础的羧化能力对于P_c/P_a的作用更大些, 进而导致齿果酸模叶片δ¹³C随海拔增加; 随着海拔的升高, 齿果酸模叶片将更多的氮素用于防御性结构组织的建设, 这也是SLA和PNUE降低的主要原因; 在光合系统内部, 随着海拔的升高, 植物光合组织增加了用于捕光系统氮素的比例, 使得植物可以更好地利用随海拔升高而增强的光照资源, 进而促进了光合能力的增加。可见, 氮素及其在叶片各系统间(尤其是在光合系统与非光合系统间)的分配方式是齿果酸模适应和响应海拔梯度环境的关键。     

A multiscale analysis of herbaceous species richness in a Mediterranean ecosystem

Aims Studies of species distribution patterns traditionally have been conducted at a single scale, often overlooking species–environment relationships operating at finer or coarser scales. Testing diversity-related hypotheses at multiple scales requires a robust sampling design that is nested across scales. Our chief motivation in this study was to quantify the contributions of different predictors of herbaceous species richness at a range of local scales.Methods Here, we develop a hierarchically nested sampling design that is balanced across scales, in order to study the role of several environmental factors in determining herbaceous species distribution at various scales simultaneously. We focus on the impact of woody vegetation, a relatively unexplored factor, as well as that of soil and topography. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) imaging enabled precise characterization of the 3D structure of the woody vegetation, while acoustic spectrophotometry allowed a particularly high-resolution mapping of soil CaCO 3 and organic matter contents.Important findings We found that woody vegetation was the dominant explanatory variable at all three scales (10, 100 and 1000 m 2), accounting for more than 60% of the total explained variance. In addition, we found that the species richness–environment relationship was scale dependent. Many studies that explicitly address the issue of scale do so by comparing local and regional scales. Our results show that efforts to conserve plant communities should take into account scale dependence when analyzing species richness–environment relationships, even at much finer resolutions than local vs. regional. In addition, conserving heterogeneity in woody vegetation structure at multiple scales is a key to conserving diverse herbaceous communities.     

甘肃兴隆山自然保护区马麝夏季栖息地特征及生境选择格局

2006—2008年夏季(7—8月),对甘肃兴隆山自然保护区马麝(Moschus Sifanicus)的栖息地特征和夏季生境选择格局进行了研究。用Mann-Whitney U检验和χ2检验比较了马麝夏季利用生境样地(n=71)和对照性非利用样地(n=264)间的海拔等17个生态变量的差异,结果表明,兴隆山马麝夏季利用生境的郁闭度[(53.87±3.09)%]和乔木均高[(7.57±0.83)m]均显著大于非利用样地[郁闭度:(49.07±1.66)%,乔木均高:(6.33±0.32)m],喜食植物多度[(12.97±1.80)]株也显著大于非利用样地[(9.61±0.67)株]。此外,与非利用样地相比,兴隆山马麝夏季倾向于选择位于中坡位较陡(67.61%)、距离水源较近(<1000m,77.46%)、隐蔽度(88.73%)和避风性均较好(90%)及距人为干扰较远(>1000m,76.06%)的生境;主成分分析结果表明,前4个因子的累积贡献率达72.45%,由乔木胸径和乔木郁闭度变量组成的乔木因子是决定马麝夏季生境选择的首要因素,此外,海拔因子,由地表植被盖度和食物多度组成的食物因子,由灌木盖度、乔木密度和灌木...     

Feeding Ecology of Ring-Necked Pheasant and Northern Bobwhite Chicks in Conservation Reserve Program Fields

ABSTRACT Gamebird chick survival is dependent on invertebrate availability, and the ability to access insect prey is an important characteristic defining brood habitat quality. Different mixes of warm-season grasses and forbs were established to improve the habitat quality of fields enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for gamebirds in the Southern Plains. We analyzed the feeding ecology of human-imprinted, 4- to 10-day-old ring-necked pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) and northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) chicks in wheat fields and 4 types of conservation practices (CP) fields enrolled in CRP (CP10, improved CP10, CP2, and CP25) in western Kansas, USA, during June and July, 2004 and 2005. Foraging rates were greatest for bobwhite chicks in improved CP10 and CP25 fields and greatest for pheasant chicks in CP10 and CP25 fields. Vegetation characteristics such as bare ground cover appear to have a significant impact on insect selection, because the diet was more diverse for both species in fields with more bare ground. The CP25 fields provided the best combination of mobility and diet breadth for both species. Although herbicide-treated wheat fields had low feeding rates, we determined non-herbicide-treated fields (i.e., weedy wheat) provided easy mobility and feeding rates similar to CRP fields. We suggest that management of vegetation to benefit gamebirds does not affect species equally. Feeding rates of bobwhite chicks were sensitive to vegetation-influenced mobility. Management of CRP fields for both pheasant and bobwhite chicks can be reconciled by practices that permit more open space at ground level, such as light disking or burning, to permit easier movement for chicks.     

Land Use and Small Mammal Predation Effects on Shortgrass Prairie Birds

ABSTRACT Grassland birds endemic to the central shortgrass prairie ecoregion of the United States have experienced steep and widespread declines over the last 3 decades, and factors influencing reproductive success have been implicated. Nest predation is the major cause of nest failure in passerines, and nesting success for some shortgrass prairie birds is exceptionally low. The 3 primary land uses in the central shortgrass prairie ecoregion are native shortgrass prairie rangeland (62%), irrigated and nonirrigated cropland (29%), and Conservation Reserve Program (CRP, 8%). Because shortgrass–cropland edges and CRP may alter the community of small mammal predators of grassland bird nests, I sampled multiple sites on and near the Pawnee National Grasslands in northeast Colorado, USA, to evaluate 1) whether small mammal species richness and densities were greater in CRP fields and shortgrass prairie–cropland edges compared to shortgrass prairie habitats, and 2) whether daily survival probabilities of ground-nesting grassland bird nests were negatively correlated with densities of small mammals. Small mammal species richness and densities, estimated using trapping webs, were generally greater along edges and on CRP sites compared to shortgrass sites. Vegetation did not differ among edges and shortgrass sites but did differ among CRP and shortgrass sites. Daily survival probabilities of artificial nests at edge and CRP sites and natural nests at edge sites did not differ from shortgrass sites, and for natural nests small mammal densities did not affect nest survival. However, estimated daily survival probability of artificial nests was inversely proportional to thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Spermophilus tridecemlineatus) densities. In conclusion, these data suggest that although land-use patterns on the shortgrass prairie area in my study have substantial effects on the small mammal community, insufficient data existed to determine whether land-use patterns or small mammal density were affecting grassland bird nest survival. These findings will be useful to managers for predicting the effects of land-use changes in the shortgrass prairie on small mammal communities and avian nest success.