Measuring the efficiency of fen restoration on carabid beetles and vascular plants: a case study from north‐eastern Germany

The aim of the study was to assess the effects of fen rewetting on carabid beetle and vascular plant assemblages within riverine fens along the river Peene in north‐eastern Germany. Drained (silage grassland), rewetted (restored formerly drained silage grassland), and near‐natural (fairly pristine) stands were compared. Eighty‐four beetle species (7,267 individuals) and 135 plant species were recorded. The richness of vascular plant species and the number of endangered species were highest on near‐natural fens. Fourteen years of rewetting did not increase plant species numbers compared with drained fens. For carabid beetles, however, species richness and the number of stenotopic species were highest on rewetted fens. Rewetting caused the replacement of generalist carabids by wetland specialists, but did not provide suitable habitat for specialist fen carabids or for plant species of oligo‐ or mesotrophic fen communities. Therefore, raising the water table on fens with nutrient‐rich, degraded peat was not sufficient for restoring species assemblages of intact fens, although water level was the most important environmental factor separating species assemblages. Our study illustrated that insects and plants may respond differentially to restoration, stressing the need to consider different taxa when assessing the efficiency of fen restoration. Furthermore, species assemblages of intact fens could not be restored within 14 years, highlighting the importance of conserving pristine habitat.     

基于马尔科夫链模型的长江源区土地覆盖格局变化特征

利用长江源区1986、2000与2014年3期的遥感影像,结合实地野外考察获得该地区在这3个时间点的土地覆盖类型图。根据各时期之间的土地覆盖格局的变化确定土地类型之间的转移概率,进一步完成对该地区马尔科夫链模型的构建、检验与预测。结果表明:1986—2014年,长江源区的土地覆盖格局的变化特征符合马尔科夫过程,通过马尔科夫链模型能够对该地区的覆盖格局变化过程进行有效的模拟;长江源区的土地覆被退化趋势明显,湿地、中高覆盖草地等面积不断下降,裸地、沙地以及低覆盖草地等面积则一直在增加;2000年以后,由于三江源区自然保护区的建立以及降水量的增加等因素影响,长江源区的植被退化状况得到明显改善。     

一株高效四环素降解菌的分离鉴定及其降解性能研究

四环素类抗生素在畜牧养殖业中广泛使用,但其结构复杂,难降解,容易在水环境中积蓄,进而对生态环境产生深远影响,许多国家已将抗生素污染列为重要的环境问题展开了相关的基础研究。近年来利用微生物降解环境中的抗生素污染物成为研究热点。采用选择性培养基,从某制药厂排污口的水样中分离筛选到1株具有较高降解四环素能力的菌株4002,经形态观察、生理生化测定和16S r DNA序列分析,将该菌初步鉴定为Advenella sp.。从p H、溶氧量、无机盐等方面对菌株降解四环素的性能进行研究。结果表明,该菌株降解四环素的适宜p H为7.0,在有氧条件下,30℃,150 r/min振荡培养6 d,可使初始浓度为50μg/m L四环素降解率达57.8%。无机盐对降解率有显著影响,添加Fe SO4和Mn SO4对四环素降解有促进作用,Mg SO4影响不大,Ca SO4则有抑制作用。在培养至第8天时,培养液经HPLC检测显示6.022 min处出现新的吸收峰,推测为降解产物。     

海洋细菌Agarivorans sp.HZ105的琼胶降解酶系

通过克隆得到菌株Agarivorans sp.HZ105中3个琼胶酶基因,长度分别为2 988 bp、1 437 bp和1 362 bp,分别编码琼胶酶HZ1、HZ3和HZ4,分别属于糖苷水解酶GH50、GH118和GH16家族。将这些琼胶酶基因与质粒p ET-32(a)构建重组表达载体,转化大肠杆菌BL21(DE3),实现了琼胶酶基因的重组原核表达,制备了重组酶,研究了琼胶酶的酶解产物。琼胶酶HZ1降解琼脂糖以及高聚合度新琼寡糖(聚合度为8、10、12和14)得到新琼二糖和新琼四糖;琼胶酶HZ3降解琼脂糖的终产物是高聚合度新琼寡糖;琼胶酶HZ4降解琼脂糖和高聚合度新琼寡糖为新琼四糖和新琼六糖。因此推测菌株HZ105主要先用琼胶酶HZ3和HZ4降解琼脂糖为较高聚合度的新琼寡糖,随后这些寡糖被琼胶酶HZ1和HZ2(课题组先前报道的另一个琼胶酶)降解为低聚合度新琼寡糖。首次研究报道了Agarivorans属中能产生4个琼胶酶的细菌菌株及其琼胶降解酶系,丰富了有关细菌降解琼胶酶体系及其中各琼胶酶作用的研究和认识,也有利于菌株HZ105琼胶酶的有效开发应用。     

Enantioselective Degradation of (2RS, 3RS)‐Paclobutrazol in Rat Liver Microsomes

Paclobutrazol, with two stereogenic centers, but gives only (2R, 3R) and (2S, 3S)‐enantiomers because of steric‐hindrance effects, is an important plant growth regulator in agriculture and horticulture. Enantioselective degradation of paclobutrazol was investigated in rat liver microsomes in vitro. The degradation kinetics and the enantiomer fraction were determined using a Lux Cellulose‐1 chiral column on a reverse‐phase liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry system. The t_1/2 of (2R, 3R)‐paclobutrazol is 18.60 min, while the t_1/2 of (2S, 3S)‐paclobutrazol is 10.93 min. Such consequences clearly indicated that the degradation of paclobutrazol in rat liver microsomes was stereoselective and the degradation rate of (2S, 3S)‐paclobutrazol was much faster than (2R, 3R)‐paclobutrazol. In addition, significant differences between the two enantiomers were also observed in enzyme kinetic parameters. The V_max of (2S, 3S)‐paclobutrazol was more than 2‐fold of (2R, 3R)‐paclobutrazol and the Cl_int of (2S, 3S)‐paclobutrazol was higher than that of (2R, 3R)‐paclobutrazol after incubation in rat liver microsomes. These results may have potential implications for better environmental and ecological risk assessment for paclobutrazol. Chirality 27:344–348, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Insecticide applications to soil contribute to the development of Burkholderia mediating insecticide resistance in stinkbugs

Some soil Burkholderia strains are capable of degrading the organophosphorus insecticide, fenitrothion, and establish symbiosis with stinkbugs, making the host insects fenitrothion‐resistant. However, the ecology of the symbiotic degrading Burkholderia adapting to fenitrothion in the free‐living environment is unknown. We hypothesized that fenitrothion applications affect the dynamics of fenitrothion‐degrading Burkholderia, thereby controlling the transmission of symbiotic degrading Burkholderia from the soil to stinkbugs. We investigated changes in the density and diversity of culturable Burkholderia (i.e. symbiotic and nonsymbiotic fenitrothion degraders and nondegraders) in fenitrothion‐treated soil using microcosms. During the incubation with five applications of pesticide, the density of the degraders increased from less than the detection limit to around 10⁶/g of soil. The number of dominant species among the degraders declined with the increasing density of degraders; eventually, one species predominated. This process can be explained according to the competitive exclusion principle using V_max and K_m values for fenitrothion metabolism by the degraders. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of representative strains isolated from the microcosms and evaluated their ability to establish symbiosis with the stinkbug Riptortus pedestris. The strains that established symbiosis with R. pedestris were assigned to a cluster including symbionts commonly isolated from stinkbugs. The strains outside the cluster could not necessarily associate with the host. The degraders in the cluster predominated during the initial phase of degrader dynamics in the soil. Therefore, only a few applications of fenitrothion could allow symbiotic degraders to associate with their hosts and may cause the emergence of symbiont‐mediated insecticide resistance.     

Avian responses to selective logging shaped by species traits and logging practices

Selective logging is one of the most common forms of forest use in the tropics. Although the effects of selective logging on biodiversity have been widely studied, there is little agreement on the relationship between life-history traits and tolerance to logging. In this study, we assessed how species traits and logging practices combine to determine species responses to selective logging, based on over 4000 observations of the responses of nearly 1000 bird species to selective logging across the tropics. Our analysis shows that species traits, such as feeding group and body mass, and logging practices, such as time since logging and logging intensity, interact to influence a species'' response to logging. Frugivores and insectivores were most adversely affected by logging and declined further with increasing logging intensity. Nectarivores and granivores responded positively to selective logging for the first two decades, after which their abundances decrease below pre-logging levels. Larger species of omnivores and granivores responded more positively to selective logging than smaller species from either feeding group, whereas this effect of body size was reversed for carnivores, herbivores, frugivores and insectivores. Most importantly, species most negatively impacted by selective logging had not recovered approximately 40 years after logging cessation. We conclude that selective timber harvest has the potential to cause large and long-lasting changes in avian biodiversity. However, our results suggest that the impacts can be mitigated to a certain extent through specific forest management strategies such as lengthening the rotation cycle and implementing reduced impact logging.