Fourteen months of seed rain in three Australian semi‐arid communities

The abundance and composition of seed rain was measured over 14 months (February 2004 to March 2005) in Currawinya National Park, western Queensland. The experimental design included four measurement periods, three vegetation communities and two grazing regimes. A total of 12 586 seeds from 104 species were captured. There were significantly more seeds and species captured during the measurement period with the least rainfall, although no significant correlation was found between the amount of rainfall and the number of seeds or species captured. More seeds and species were captured where native and feral grazing pressure was removed, but this was only significant for the number of species. The above‐ground vegetation showed no significant difference between grazing treatments over the study period and exhibited far fewer species than the seed rain. However, the majority of species found in the above‐ground vegetation were represented in the seed rain. Hypotheses are explored as an attempt to understand the apparent lack of a relationship between seed rain and rainfall. The effects of grazing and seed movement and storage are also discussed.     

Species‐specific disturbance tolerance,competition and positive interactions along an anthropogenic disturbance gradient

Question: As it has been found that stress promotes positive interactions mediated by physical amelioration of the environment, is it possible that interactions may turn positive with increasing chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD) intensity? Also, is it possible that species that do not tolerate disturbance may require environmental amelioration by their neighbours in disturbed areas, whereas tolerant species may not? Location: The semi‐arid grassland in Concepción Buenavista, Oaxaca, southern Mexico. Methods: We assessed interaction intensity and importance through a neighbour removal experiment along a CAD gradient for three species differing in disturbance tolerance. Water potential was monitored on vegetated and bare soil. Results: A shift from competitive effects in low CAD sites to positive interactions in degraded sites was found. The disturbance‐tolerant species did not respond to CAD, whereas the less tolerant species changed its interactions drastically in terms of growth and reproduction. The species with medium tolerance had an intermediate response. Neighbours promoted germination in all species. Vegetation removal reduced soil humidity. Conclusions: Positive interactions seemingly resulted from the amelioration of the abiotic stresses induced by vegetation removal. The dependence on neighbours to germinate, grow, or reproduce suggests that if CAD eliminates the plant cover, vegetation will hardly recover. Irreversible changes are known to occur in communities where positive interactions predominate, but CAD may set the conditions for irreversible shifts even in communities where interactions are normally competitive.     

Contrasting community responses to fertilization and the role of the competitive ability of dominant species

Question: Do contrasting biotic contexts in nutrient‐poor grasslands affect the predictability of invasion by exploitative species following fertilization? Location: French Alps. Methods: We examined community responses after 2 years of nutrient addition for two nutrient‐poor European calcareous grasslands, a mesoxeric community dominated by the short bunchgrass Bromus erectus and a mesic community dominated by the tall rhizomatous grass Brachypodium rupestre. We also performed reciprocal transplantations of these two dominant slow‐growing species and Arrhenatherum elatius, a tall fast‐growing grass that dominates nutrient‐rich communities and is likely to invade nutrient‐poor communities after fertilization. Transplants were grown with or without neighbors, in order to measure their individual responses (without neighbors) and competition intensity (by comparing performances with and without neighbors using the Relative Neighbor Effect index – RNE) during one growing season in all three communities. Results: In the Bromus community, fertilization induced a strong increase in fast‐growing grasses (including A. elatius). Competition intensity was low for the three transplanted grasses, but strongly increased with resource addition, to reach values observed in the Arrhenatherum community. In the Brachypodium community, no change in competition intensity with fertilization was detected, because of the high mortality of the two “non‐resident” species, irrespective of the presence of neighbors. Conclusions: Community responses to nutrient improvement are context‐dependent and vary as a function of the biotic environment. Soil processes are proposed as the main drivers of community resistance to the invasion of fast‐growing species in the mesic, nutrient‐poor grassland dominated by the large conservative competitor B. rupestre.     

Past century changes in Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze water use efficiency and growth in forest and grassland ecosystems of southern Brazil: implications for forest expansion

Araucaria angustifolia (Bertol.) Kuntze is an indigenous conifer tree restricted to the southern region of South America that plays a key role in the dynamics of regional ecosystems where forest expansion over grasslands has been observed. Here, we evaluate the changes in intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) and basal area increment (BAI) of this species in response to atmospheric CO₂, temperature and precipitation over the last century. Our investigation is based on tree-rings taken from trees located in forest and grassland sites in southern Brazil. Differences in carbon isotopic composition ( δ ¹³C), ¹³CO₂ discrimination (Δ¹³C) and intracellular carbon concentration ( C _i ) are also reported. Our results indicate an age effect on Δ¹³C in forest trees during the first decades of growth. This age effect is not linked to an initial BAI suppression, suggesting the previous existence of nonforested vegetation in the forest sites. After maturity all trees show similar temporal trends in carbon isotope-derived variables and increasing iWUE, however, absolute values are significantly different between forest and grassland sites. The iWUE is higher in forest trees, indicating greater water competition or nutritional availability, relative to grassland, or both. BAI is also higher in forest trees, but it is not linked with iWUE or atmospheric CO₂. Nevertheless, in both forest and grassland sites A. angustifolia has had growth limitations corresponding to low precipitation and high temperatures observed in the 1940s.     

Unexpected larval habit of Listronotus bonariensis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) raises questions about population dynamics analysis and management

Listronotus bonariensis (Kuschel) is a pest of agriculturally important graminaceous species, with mining larvae that kill the stems of the host plants. In this study, larval populations were measured in spring and summer in irrigated dairy grassland comprising Lolium perenne L. (cv. Nui) with and without the endophyte Epichloë festucae var. lolii Latch, M.J. Chr. and Samuels and Poa annua L.. Larvae were extracted from tillers taken from the swards of these two grass species and extracted from turves, and L. bonariensis population densities were estimated from tiller and turf larval counts on a m⁻² basis. Over the study period, the total number of larvae and larval densities extracted from turves was on average 2× greater than indicated from tillers. In most seasons, larval densities from turves were significantly higher than those from the tillers, though there was no correlation between tiller and turf larval densities. Mean head capsule widths of larvae emerging from turf samples showed significant seasonal effects compared with tillers, while mean head capsule widths of all four instars were significantly greater when extracted from tillers compared with turves. There was a significant endophyte effect on head capsule widths of larvae collected in summer, but the effect was not consistent across instars or source. Conversely, no significant endophyte effect on head capsule width was found in spring populations from either tillers or turves. This study shows that in irrigated dairy pasture, a high proportion of L. bonariensis larvae can live externally of tillers, presumably among the organic matter around the base of grasses in irrigated dairy pasture, and that density estimates based only on tiller populations will have significantly underestimated actual numbers. Having a precise indication of larval population densities is essential when developing life tables or determining economic damage threshold levels.     

干旱区湿地芦苇各器官生态化学计量对土壤因子的响应

了解植物养分浓度及其化学计量对土壤因子的响应,对预测脆弱而敏感生态系统对环境变化的响应至关重要。以敦煌阳关湿地优势种芦苇(Phragmites australis)为对象,通过野外调查与实验分析,研究芦苇不同器官生态化学计量特征及其影响因素。结果表明:芦苇各器官C、P含量为叶>根>茎,N含量及N∶P为叶>茎>根,C∶N为根>茎>叶,C∶P则为茎>根>叶。叶、根C含量显著高于茎(P<0.05),叶、根C含量之间无显著差异(P>0.05),根、茎和叶N、P含量及C∶N、C∶P和N∶P差异显著(P<0.05);芦苇根N∶P<14,叶片N∶P>16,茎N∶P介于14~16;C含量在各器官之间均无显著相关性(P>0.05),根与茎、叶N含量之间呈极显著正相关(P<0.01),根与茎P含量呈极显著正相关(P<0.01),茎与叶N含量呈显著正相关(P<0.05);土壤盐分与芦苇根和茎N含量呈极显著正相关(P<0.01),土壤P含量与茎P含量呈极显著正相关(P<0.01),土壤有效P与根、茎N含量呈极显著正相关(P<0.01);土壤P是影响芦苇根、茎化学计量的主要因素,土壤盐分是影响叶片化学计量的主要因素,芦苇趋向提高各器官N含量来应对高盐、低P的土壤环境。     

干旱半干旱区不同林型人工林水源涵养能力比较研究

通过引入模糊物元模型优化水源涵养能力估算方法,从而为研究区林分结构调整、水源涵养能力提升提供科学依据。运用欧式贴近度,以青海省大通县塔尔沟小流域6种不同林型人工林云杉×白桦混交林（YB）、云杉×青杨混交林（YQ）、云杉×落叶松混交林（YL）、云杉纯林（Y）、落叶松纯林（L）、青杨纯林（Q）作为研究对象,定量评价其水源涵养能力。结果表明：欧式贴近度大小排序为YB （0.794） > YQ （0.723） > YL （0.655） > Y （0.494） > L （0.416） > Q （0.270）,欧式贴近度越大,该林分类型水源涵养能力更强。6种林型中,白桦×青杨混交林水源涵养能力最强,青杨林水源涵养能力最差。     

草地利用方式对温性典型草原优势种植物功能性状的影响

当外界环境发生变化后植物能够改变自身功能性状及时调整适应策略, 因此植物功能性状能够有效地反映植物对草地利用变化的响应, 然而在内蒙古草原从植物功能性状角度开展草地利用方式影响的研究略少。该研究以内蒙古典型草原大针茅(Stipa grandis)、羊草(Leymus chinensis)、糙隐子草(Cleistogenes squarrosa)和冷蒿(Artemisia frigida) 4种主要优势种为研究对象, 探讨在长期自由放牧、割草、短期围封和长期无干扰的影响下优势种植物功能性状的差异, 以期从功能性状视角, 揭示植物在受到外界干扰后的适应策略, 旨为天然草地的可持续管理提供基础数据支持和科学依据。结果表明: 1)除糙隐子草外, 在长期放牧后内蒙古典型草原优势植物植株高度、根长和植物碳氮含量降低, 这些性状的变化能够使植物个体小型化, 适口性降低, 表明植物通过逃避放牧的策略适应长期自由放牧的干扰; 在割草管理方式下, 优势种的高度和比叶面积有增加的趋势, 其中冷蒿的氮含量对割草响应最敏感, 其根、茎、叶中的氮含量均在割草样地最低; 围封和长期无干扰处理下植物的碳氮含量增加, 表明在干扰强度降低后, 植物通过功能性状的改变从资源获取策略向资源储藏策略转变。2)对优势种功能性状集合分析表明, 糙隐子草具有较低的植株高度和较高的比叶面积, 冷蒿具有较高的木质素含量和氮含量, 这些性状能够使两种植物被家畜采食量减少, 并保证其具有较强的再生能力, 这可能是糙隐子草和冷蒿耐牧的原因; 大针茅具有最高的植株高度、最大的叶片干物质含量, 以及最高的茎、叶纤维素含量, 说明大针茅是非常典型的竞争物种, 在干扰较低的条件下, 大针茅采取竞争策略对其他物种产生较大的竞争压力可能是其占优势的重要原因。     

干旱区绿洲土地利用/覆被及景观格局变化特征——以新疆精河县为例

从宏观上运用3S技术,利用1972年MSS、1990年Landsat TM、2001年Landsat ETM+和2005年CBERS 4个时期遥感影像数据,将GIS和景观生态学的数量分析方法相结合,运用ArcGIS以及Fragstats,分析了干旱区绿洲精河县1972～2005年间的土地利用/覆被和景观格局的变化.结果表明:(1)1972～2005年的33a中,精河县LUCC的总体变化趋势是绿洲面积有小幅度扩张,其中人工绿洲面积扩张尤为显著,天然绿洲面积减少.(2)研究区水域面积的变化受艾比湖湖面面积的变化影响较大,变化不显著,但总体上呈缓慢增长的趋势.(3)盐渍地面积的变化经历了先扩张后减小的一个过程.1990年达到最大值,但到2005年面积又有很大程度减少.沙地面积小幅度减小,其他地类的面积始终呈增加趋势.(4)景观在各个研究时段也发生显著变化.总的来说,整个研究区景观的密度持续增大,最大斑块指数先减小后增大,面积加权形状指数减小,形状趋于规则;斑块间的最邻近距离减小.表明1972年时景观中的优势斑块类型的连接性较2005年好,逐渐向具有多种要素的密集格局演变,景观更加破碎.同时不同斑块间的分离度增大,也说明景观破碎化程度加深.从香农多样性指数和香农均度指数的变化可以看出,景观的多样性增加,且均度增强.景观多样性及破碎化程度增加,也反映了土地利用越来越丰富.总之,要实现区域土地资源的可持续发展和景观生态功能的良性发挥,必须注重土地利用格局优化,维护景观生态过程与格局的连续性.