Effect of phytoplankton size diversity on primary productivity in the North Pacific: trait distributions under environmental variability

While most biodiversity and ecosystem functioning (BEF) studies have found positive effects of species richness on productivity, it remain unclear whether similar patterns hold for marine phytoplankton with high local richness. We use the continuous trait‐based modelling approach, which assumes infinite richness and represents diversity in terms of the variance of the size distribution, to investigate the effects of phytoplankton size diversity on productivity in a three‐dimensional ocean circulation model driven by realistic physics forcing. We find a slightly negative effect of size diversity on primary production, which we attribute to several factors including functional trait‐environment interactions, flexible stoichiometry and the saturation of productivity at low diversity levels. The benefits of trait optimisation, whereby narrow size distributions enhance productivity under relatively stable conditions, tend to dominate over those of adaptive capacity, whereby greater diversity enhances the ability of the community to respond to environmental variability.     

山西太原市综合公园植物多样性研究

城市公园绿地是城市园林绿地系统的主体,是集中体现城市植物多样性的场所,研究其植物多样性可为城市生物多样性保护提供基础。以山西太原市 17 个综合公园为研究对象,从植物应用的重要值、 Margalef 丰富度、Shannon-Wiener 多样性和 Pielou 均匀度分析其植物多样性,为太原市公园植物多样性保护及公园绿地建设提供参考。研究表明太原市综合公园的植物种类有 78 科 164 属 285 种。植物应用重要值排名前五的种类为大叶黄杨 > 紫叶小檗 > 圆柏 > 国槐 > 金叶女贞。植物丰富度指数为 26.42,乔木层 > 草本层 > 灌木层;多样性指数为 3.13,乔木层 >灌木层;均匀度指数为 0.60,乔木层 >灌木层。木本植物多样性总体评价较高的公园为汾河公园、玉门河公园和晋祠公园;较低的为映山湖公园、长风商务区大平台景观绿化、南海子公园。     

Genetic diversity of Ranunculus acris L. (Ranunculaceae) populations in relation to species diversity and habitat type in grassland communities

Correlates between genetic diversity at intra- and interpopulation levels and the species diversity in plant communities are rarely investigated. Such correlates may give insights into the effect of local selective forces across different communities on the genetic diversity of local plant populations. This study has employed amplified fragment length polymorphism to assess the genetic diversity within and between 10 populations of Ranunculus acris in relation to the species diversity (richness and evenness) of grassland communities of two different habitat types, 'seminatural' and 'agriculturally improved', located in central Germany. Within-population genetic diversity estimated by Nei's unbiased gene diversity (HE) was high (0.258-0.334), and was not correlated with species richness (Pearson's r = -0.17; P = 0.64) or species evenness (Pearson's r = 0.15; P = 0.68) of the plant communities. However, the genetic differentiation between R. acris populations was significantly correlated with the difference in species evenness (Mantel's r = 0.62, P = 0.02), but not with difference in species richness of plant communities (r = -0.17, P = 0.22). Moreover, we also found that populations of R. acris from the 'seminatural' habitat were genetically different (amova, P < 0.05) from those in 'agriculturally improved' habitats, suggesting that gene flow between these habitat types is limited. The results reported in this study may indicate that habitat characteristics influence the genetic diversity of plant species.     

Climate mediates the effects of disturbance on ant assemblage structure

Many studies have focused on the impacts of climate change on biological assemblages, yet little is known about how climate interacts with other major anthropogenic influences on biodiversity, such as habitat disturbance. Using a unique global database of 1128 local ant assemblages, we examined whether climate mediates the effects of habitat disturbance on assemblage structure at a global scale. Species richness and evenness were associated positively with temperature, and negatively with disturbance. However, the interaction among temperature, precipitation and disturbance shaped species richness and evenness. The effect was manifested through a failure of species richness to increase substantially with temperature in transformed habitats at low precipitation. At low precipitation levels, evenness increased with temperature in undisturbed sites, peaked at medium temperatures in disturbed sites and remained low in transformed sites. In warmer climates with lower rainfall, the effects of increasing disturbance on species richness and evenness were akin to decreases in temperature of up to 9°C. Anthropogenic disturbance and ongoing climate change may interact in complicated ways to shape the structure of assemblages, with hot, arid environments likely to be at greatest risk.     

水分处理对沙地樟子松幼苗膜脂过氧化作用及保护酶活性影响

通过盆栽控水实验,模拟科尔沁沙地由东至西50年的年均降水量及最大、最小年降水量下的土壤水势,分析了不同水分处理(土壤水势分别为-16.18、-5.09和-4.50 bars,即A、B和C处理)对樟子松2年生幼苗膜脂过氧化产物[丙二醛(MDA)、脂膜相对透性(RC)和超氧阴离子自由基(O2-)产生速率]、渗透调节物质[可溶性糖(SS)、可溶性蛋白(SP)和脯氨酸(Pro)]和膜保护酶(SOD酶和POD酶)的影响.不同水分处理对樟子松幼苗针叶内的保护酶、渗透调节物质及膜脂过氧化的作用影响显著.随着土壤水势的降低,幼苗的SOD酶呈现微下降再升高的趋势;POD酶活性呈逐渐升高的趋势;幼苗的渗透调节物质(SS、SP和Pro)的含量均呈现上升趋势;3种水分处理的可溶性糖和可溶性蛋白含量上升的幅度最大,A处理分别是C处理的1.8倍和2.4倍,脯氨酸的含量持续积累;随干旱胁迫加重,MDA、RC和O2-产生速率均有明显上升趋势,以O2-产生速率上升幅度最大.这表明,樟子松幼苗通过体内的生理生化机制,尤其是增加渗透调节物质的含量,实现对干旱胁迫较强的忍耐性和较好的适应性.A处理针叶内的自由基大量积累和膜脂过氧化程度加重,对植物造成不可逆的损伤.     

佛坪国家级自然保护区植物群落物种多样性特征

用物种多样性指数（Simpson指数和Shannon指数）、均匀度指数（Pielou均匀度）和物种丰富度,对佛坪国家级自然保护区主要高等植物群落物种多样性进行了测度。结果表明：森林群落的多样性程度高于灌丛和草甸,落叶阔叶林高于针叶林,栎林高于杨桦林。群落物种多样性有随海拔高度的升高而降低的趋势。物种多样性在森林群落垂直结构上的分布特点,表现为一般乔木层与灌木层接近但低于草本层。     

Changes in the diversity structure of avian assemblages in North America

Aim To determine the major patterns of change in avian diversity structure over space and time at a local resolution and continental extent in non‐urban areas in North America. Location The contiguous United States and southern Canada. Methods We used 1673 North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes containing 547 terrestrial and aquatic species to estimate four diversity components: species richness, individual abundance, taxonomic distinctness and species evenness. We implemented three levels of analysis to examine changes in diversity structure on a yearly basis from 1968 to 2003: (1) a canonical analysis of discriminance, (2) a univariate analysis across BBS routes, and (3) a univariate analysis at individual BBS routes. We estimated changes in similarity in species composition over time between 470,730 BBS route pairs. We also estimated the level of human activity at BBS routes using three spatial anthropogenic databases. Results BBS routes were located in non‐urban areas in association with low nighttime light activity and moderately low human population densities. The analysis of diversity structure indicated the presence of two independent patterns: (1) a temporally consistent pattern defined by increasing species richness (12% increase from 1968 to 2003) associated with limited gains in taxonomic distinctness, and (2) an association between species abundance and evenness related to variability in abundance associated with the most abundant species. The similarity analysis indicated that BBS routes located closer to the Atlantic and the Pacific coasts of the United States experienced the strongest patterns of homogenization of species composition. Main conclusions Our results suggest that avian diversity structure has changed at the local scale in non‐urban areas in North America. However, there was no evidence for a consistent continent‐wide pattern. Instead, the evidence pointed to the presence of regional factors influencing diversity patterns. This study provides a foundation for more detailed investigations of the spatiotemporal and taxonomic details of these general patterns.