岷江上游典型时期景观格局变化及驱动力初步分析

岷江上游地区是我国一个重要的大尺度、复合型生态过渡带,也是一个生态系统脆弱区,研究其景观格局的变化,对于构筑我国的生态格局安全具有十分重要的意义．本研究利用岷江上游地区1986、1995、2000年3个时期的TM影像,分析了3个时期的景观特征以及变化．结果表明,岷江上游整体景观水平以草地景观为基质、森林景观以及其他景观类型作为斑块镶嵌其中．森林景观面积经历了从1986～1995年的上升,而后到2000年的下降过程;草地景观高盖度草面积不断减少;同时,森林景观和草地景观斑块总数一直增加,破碎化趋势明显．岷江上游景观格局变化的驱动因子主要是日益增加的人口数量而导致的人为干扰,包括对土地利用方式与利用强度的改变、森林资源的掠夺性开采、草地资源的过度放牧以及气候、土壤等自然因素的变化．     

Vegetation cover change and driving factors in Fujian Province between 1975 and 2014北大核心CSCD

Aims Fujian Province has been one of the most severe soil erosion regions since Ming and Qing Dynasty in China. Recently, several ecological restoration projects have been implemented and they have significantly changed vegetation cover in this region. Methods We analyzed the four-decade vegetation cover change in Fujian Province using seven time-series data of Landsat Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), and Operational Land Imager (OLI) between 1975 and 2014. We further explored the possible drivers on vegetation cover change by incorporating statistical data of plantation, cropland and urbanized area. Important findings Vegetation coverage in Fujian Province has increased from 69.0% to 77.8% between 1975 and 2014. However, a slight decrease was observed between 1995 and 2005. Spatially, forest was the primary vegetation type in the northwest, where croplands and human settlements were scattered along rivers or oceans. Shrubs and bare lands were also scattered across the northwest. In southwest, the areas of bare land, shrub land and cropland decreased, while areas of forest and human settlements expanded. The vegetation coverage and urbanized area increased at the cost of cropland and bare land.     

Calling at the highway: The spatiotemporal constraint of road noise on Pacific chorus frog communication

Loss of acoustic habitat due to anthropogenic noise is a key environmental stressor for vocal amphibian species, a taxonomic group that is experiencing global population declines. The Pacific chorus frog (Pseudacris regilla) is the most common vocal species of the Pacific Northwest and can occupy human‐dominated habitat types, including agricultural and urban wetlands. This species is exposed to anthropogenic noise, which can interfere with vocalizations during the breeding season. We hypothesized that Pacific chorus frogs would alter the spatial and temporal structure of their breeding vocalizations in response to road noise, a widespread anthropogenic stressor. We compared Pacific chorus frog call structure and ambient road noise levels along a gradient of road noise exposures in the Willamette Valley, Oregon, USA. We used both passive acoustic monitoring and directional recordings to determine source level (i.e., amplitude or volume), dominant frequency (i.e., pitch), call duration, and call rate of individual frogs and to quantify ambient road noise levels. Pacific chorus frogs were unable to change their vocalizations to compensate for road noise. A model of the active space and time (“spatiotemporal communication”) over which a Pacific chorus frog vocalization could be heard revealed that in high‐noise habitats, spatiotemporal communication was drastically reduced for an individual. This may have implications for the reproductive success of this species, which relies on specific call repertoires to portray relative fitness and attract mates. Using the acoustic call parameters defined by this study (frequency, source level, call rate, and call duration), we developed a simplified model of acoustic communication space–time for this species. This model can be used in combination with models that determine the insertion loss for various acoustic barriers to define the impact of anthropogenic noise on the radius of communication in threatened species. Additionally, this model can be applied to other vocal taxonomic groups provided the necessary acoustic parameters are determined, including the frequency parameters and perception thresholds. Reduction in acoustic habitat by anthropogenic noise may emerge as a compounding environmental stressor for an already sensitive taxonomic group.     

Roads as barriers to animal movement in fragmented landscapes

Roads can act as barriers to animal movement through mortality during crossing attempts or behavioral avoidance. This barrier effect has negative demographic and genetic consequences that can ultimately result in local or regional extinction. Here we use radio-telemetry data on three terrestrial vertebrates (eastern massasauga Sistrurus catenatus , eastern box turtle Terrapene carolina and ornate box turtle Terrapene ornata ) to test whether roads acted as barriers to movement. Specifically, we test whether individuals avoided crossing roads by comparing the number of observed crossings with the number of road crossings predicted by randomizations of individual movement paths. All species crossed roads significantly less often than predicted by chance, indicating strong road avoidance. Results of this study showing behavioral avoidance and previous studies on road mortality indicate that roads are strong barriers to these species. High mortality during crossing attempts would select for road avoidance, reducing the number of individuals killed on roads over time but leading to genetically partitioned subpopulations due to a lack of gene flow. In species that are long-lived and late-maturing, negative genetic effects might not be observable over short time-scales, thus placing populations at high risk of extinction because of a failure to detect an incrementally worsening problem. Formulating successful management strategies for many species in decline will require integrating data on road mortality, animal behavior and population genetics in order to understand more clearly the barrier effect of roads.     

Behavior of Moose Relative to a Road Network

Abstract Roads often negatively affect terrestrial wildlife, via habitat loss or fragmentation, noise, and direct mortality. We studied moose (Alces alces) behavior relative to a road network, in an area with a history of moose-vehicle accidents, to determine when moose were crossing roadways or using areas near roads and to investigate if environmental factors were involved in this behavior. We tracked 47 adult moose with Global Positioning System collars in a study area crossed by highways and forest roads. We hypothesized that moose would avoid crossing roads but would make occasional visits to roadsides to feed on sodium-rich vegetation and avoid biting insects. Further, we expected moose avoidance to be greater for highways than forest roads. We recorded 196,710 movement segments but only observed 328 highway and 1,172 forest-road crossings (16 and 10 times lower than expected by chance). Moose usually avoided road proximity up to ≥500 m on each side but 20% of collared moose made visits to areas within 50 m of highways, which might have resulted from moose searching for sodium in vegetation and roadside salt pools. In fact, vegetation along highways had higher sodium concentrations and was browsed in similar proportions to vegetation in adjacent forest, despite moose avoidance of these zones. Moose, however, did not use areas near roads more during periods of biting insect abundance. Our results supported the hypothesis of scale-dependent selection by moose; avoidance of highways at a coarse scale may confer long-term benefits, whereas selection of highway corridors at finer scales may be part of a strategy to overcome short-term limiting factors such as sodium deficiency. We found a positive relationship between home-range size and the proportion of road axes they contained, suggesting that moose either compensated for habitat loss or made specific movements along highways to gather sodium. The presence of sodium along highways likely increases moose-vehicle accident risks. Removal of salt pools or use of a de-icing salt other than sodium chloride should render highway surroundings less attractive to moose.     

Relationship between road dust and ungulate density in Serengeti National Park,Tanzania

We measured the responses of ungulate grazers to roads by recording the density of dust on grasses and compared distance sampling of ungulates in Serengeti National Park (SNP), Tanzania. Data were collected on the east and west side of the Ngorongoro–Seronera main gravel road to test if road traffic and dust were important factors determining distribution patterns amongst grazers. Results indicate that dust increased progressively with traffic speed and volume during dry season. More dust was intercepted on the west than on the east side of the road mainly because of wind effects. Dust deposition (measured as density g grass g^?1 dust) was higher on short grasses than on long grasses during the dry and late‐dry seasons than during the wet season, when paired perpendicular distances up to 300 m were compared. Mean number of observed grazer species indicated that most fed further from the west side of the road than from the east perhaps to minimize higher density of dust commonly spread on foliage up to 200 m away from the road. Despite that most grazers avoided road side grass shoulders, supporting the ‘dust aversion hypothesis’, the test predictions from the ‘road disturbance’ and the ‘road attraction’ hypotheses did not support the responsive behaviours of grazers toward roads.     

基于网络特征的道路生态干扰——以澜沧江流域为例

道路网络对区域景观的生态格局和过程产生较大的影响,作为干扰因子,区域道路网络的特征和所产生的生态干扰水平存在一定的相关性.利用GIS和网络分析法,以澜沧江流域县域为基本单元,分析了研究区各县的道路网络特征指数,在揭示了区域道路网络不同特征之间的规律性的基础上,进一步对区域网络特点和生态干扰之间相关性进行了内在关系的探讨.结果表明,澜沧江流域道路网络结构的空间差异很大,流域内各县的道路网络节点数、连接线数目、α环度、β线点率、γ连接度指数等网络特征因子也存在较大差异;道路密度和道路总长度与区域海拔高度呈现较明显的负相关关系;道路密度和区域道路的廊道密度呈现正相关关系,和区域道路的α指数、β指数和γ指数关系可以用倒数模型来拟合.缓冲区分析表明,耕地比例和道路密度线性相关关系显著,而其他类型相关性较差,但区域综合的人工干扰指数(Hd)(1980,2000)和道路网络的特征指数相关显著,而且不同时期的区域景观的斑块密度、平均斑块面积和区域道路网络特征之间也存在较强的相关性,即网络扩展使得区域生态系统受干扰强度增加,破碎化严重,但较短时期内的生态系统变化和道路网络特征之间相关性不显著.     

Do drivers intentionally target wildlife on roads?

Despite frequent reliance on surveys to document public attitudes towards conservation issues (such as invasive‐species control), only rarely do researchers assess the validity of statements made by the public in response to such surveys. Therefore, how well responses match actual behaviour remains an open question. We conducted a survey asking drivers if they had seen and/or run over (intentionally or not) snakes, native frogs or invasive cane toads (Rhinella marina) on roads in the Northern Territory of Australia. To compare actual driver behaviour to the survey responses, we also carried out field experiments where we quantified the rates at which model snakes, frogs and toads (and controls) were run over on a rural highway. Our results show a discrepancy between survey responses and driver behaviour: for example, 25% of the people we surveyed indicated that they intentionally run over cane toads, yet field experiments showed that model toads were run over no more frequently than expected by chance, or than any other type of model.