How to tell a shrub from a tree: A life‐history perspective from a South African savanna

The ecological differences between ‘shrubs’ and ‘trees’ are surprisingly poorly understood and clear ecological definitions of these two constructs do not exist. It is not clear whether a shrub is simply a small tree or whether shrubs represent a distinct life‐history strategy. This question is of special interest in African savannas, where shrubs and trees often co‐dominate, but are often treated uniformly as ‘woody plants’ even though the tree to shrub ratio is an important determinant of ecosystem functioning. In this study we use data from a long‐term fire experiment, together with a trait‐based approach to test (i) if woody species usually classified as shrubs or trees in African savanna differ in key traits related to disturbance and resource use; and (ii) if these differences justify the interpretation of the two growth forms as distinct life‐history strategies. We measured for 22 of the most common woody plant species of a South African savanna 27 plant traits related to plant architecture, life‐history, leaf characteristics, photosynthesis and resprouting capacity. Furthermore we evaluated their performance during a long‐term fire experiment. We found that woody plants authors call (i) shrubs; (ii) shrubs sometimes small trees; and (3) trees responded differently to long‐term fire treatments. We additionally found significant differences in architecture, diameter‐height‐allometry, foliage density, resprouting vigour after fire, minimum fruiting height and foliar δ¹³C between these three woody plant types. We interpret these findings as evidence for at least two different life‐history‐strategies: an avoidance/adaptation strategy for shrubs (early reproduction + adaptation to minor disturbance) and an escape strategy for trees (promoted investment in height growth + delayed reproduction).     

Do alien and native tree species from Central Argentina differ in their water transport strategy?

In this study we assessed the water transport strategies and the abundance of alien and native tree species at a regional scale in Córdoba Mountains, Central Argentina. The aims of this study were: (i) to analyse whether alien and native tree species show divergent water transport strategies; and (ii) to explore whether species abundances of alien and natives are associated with specific trait attributes. Eight alien species and 12 native species were recorded in 50 complete vascular plant vegetation relevés. Water transport strategies were assessed through the following functional traits: minimum leaf water potential, potential water content of wood, effective leaf area, leaf area per sapwood area and wood density. Also, resource use strategies were assessed throughout the measurement of specific leaf area. We found that alien species had a higher efficiency in water transport (i.e. higher minimum leaf water potential and lower wood density values) and faster resource acquisition and use (higher specific leaf area values) than native species. We did not find evidence suggesting that the relative abundance of species was associated to water transport strategies and faster resource acquisition and use. Alien species seem to differ from natives in specific functional attributes that are absent in the resident community and might allow aliens to use more resources and at a higher rate than native species. Finally, our results show the potential of a trait‐based predictive framework for alien species, and the possible effects on ecosystem functions.     

Future eating and country keeping: what role has environmental history in the management of biodiversity?

In order to understand and moderate the effects of the accelerating rate of global environmental change land managers and ecologists must not only think beyond their local environment but also put their problems into a historical context. It is intuitively obvious that historians should be natural allies of ecologists and land managers as they struggle to maintain biodiversity and landscape health. Indeed, ‘environmental history’ is an emerging field where the previously disparate intellectual traditions of ecology and history intersect to create a new and fundamentally interdisciplinary field of inquiry. Environmental history is rapidly becoming an important field displacing many older environmentally focused academic disciplines as well as capturing the public imagination. By drawing on Australian experience I explore the role of ‘environmental history’ in managing biodiversity. First I consider some of the similarities and differences of the ecological and historical approaches to the history of the environment. Then I review two central questions in Australian environment history: landscape‐scale changes in woody vegetation cover since European settlement and the extinction of the marsupials in both historical and pre‐historical time. These case studies demonstrate that environmental historians can reach conflicting interpretations despite using essentially the same data. The popular success of some environmental histories hinges on the fact that they narrate a compelling story concerning human relationships and human value judgements about landscape change. Ecologists must learn to harness the power of environmental history narratives to bolster land management practices designed to conserve biological heritage. They can do this by using various currently popular environmental histories as a point of departure for future research, for instance by testing the veracity of competing interpretations of landscape‐scale change in woody vegetation cover. They also need to learn how to write parables that communicate their research findings to land managers and the general public. However, no matter how sociologically or psychologically satisfying a particular environmental historical narrative might be, it must be willing to be superseded with new stories that incorporate the latest research discoveries and that reflects changing social values of nature. It is contrary to a rational and publicly acceptable approach to land management to read a particular story as revealing the absolute truth.     

浙江省主要木本药用植物资源

本文介绍了浙江省有分布或载培的木本药用植物的种类（约118种）,以及主要种类（42种）的分布及药用功效,木本药用植物既具有药用价值,又可以绿化,美化环境,调节气候,建议重视木本药用植物的保护,载培及研究与开发。     

Demographic studies of three indigenous stand-forming plant taxa (Scalesia, Opuntia, and Bursera) in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

Mortality and turnover of some of the most characteristic woody plants of Galápagos have been studied during 25 to 32 years on the islands of Santa Cruz, Santa Fe and Pinta. Scalesia pedunculata, S. helleri subsp. helleri and S. baurii subsp. hopkinsii display comparable patterns of high mortality, rapid turnover and relatively short life expectancy, but occur in different habitats and islands in the archipelago. In contrast, Opuntia echios var. gigantea, O. echios var. barringtonensis, O. galapageia var. galapageia, and Bursera graveolens display low mortality (especially of adults), slow turnover and long life expectancies, and occur in similar habitats on different islands. Conditions that favour one taxon may at the same time negatively affect another taxon, and adults, juveniles and seedlings within the taxa may react differently to the same environmental factors. In the humid zone species S. pedunculata, diebacks may be triggered by strong El Niño events, and mass seedling events are associated with El Niños and a subsequent year of drought. In the other taxa investigated, which are arid zone species, the response to strong El Niño events is less pronounced and, in some respects, also different. The differences in mortality, turnover and life expectancy of the species of Scalesia on the one hand and the Opuntia taxa and Bursera on the other, suggest that both humid and arid vegetation types containing species of Scalesia should get higher conservation priority than arid vegetation types without species of Scalesia.     

鄂北高贵山珍稀濒危木本植物调查研究

本文报道了高贵山珍稀濒危重点保护木本植物21种（亚种）,其中国务院新近公布的I级重点保护植物1种,II级重点保护植物6种,省级重点保护植物8种,其他珍稀植物6种,分析了高贵山珍稀濒危重点保护木本植物的区系特点,指出了高贵山珍稀濒危树木在湖北珍稀淑危植物保护民中的重要地位,指出了保护高贵山珍烯濒危木本植物的建议和措施。     

Low seed availability may limit recruitment in grazed Atriplex vesicaria and contribute to its local extinction

Poor recruitment in Atriplex vesicaria Hewd exBenth (bladder saltbush) under sheep grazing in the chenopodshrublands of southern Australia contributes to a decline in the shrub'spopulation growth rate. This may lead to local extinction of the species overlarge areas around watering points. This study investigated whether low seedavailability may contribute to poor recruitment. It examined the incidence offlowering and seed bank size at sites distributed across a large grazedpaddock,and examined the longevity of seed in the soil. Grazing by sheep reduced theincidence of flowering and input to the seed bank. The proportion of shrubswithflowers increased with distance from water, showing the characteristicpiosphereresponse. Shrubs on grazed sites closer to water experienced extended periodswhen they failed to flower or flowered poorly. The seed bank was negligible atthree of the sites within 1650 m of water for all three years ofsampling. In contrast, the seed bank at the most distant site sampled (2800m from water) was small in 1990 (37 ± 5.1seeds/m²) but in 1991 and 1992 seed numberswere substantial (626 ± 315.2 seeds/m²and 318 ± 169.0, respectively). Soil seed was short-lived inthis study, with only 34% and 17% of the original seed remainingas viable ungerminated seed after 12 months for the under-canopy andexposed treatments respectively. Whilst recruitment may also be limited byaltered soil conditions due to grazing and trampling and the availability ofsafe sites, the results of this study suggest that low seed availability may bean important factor contributing to poor recruitment and may limit the abilityof the population to recover from the loss of established plants. Management ofgrazing must take into account the need for A. vesicariapopulations to flower and set seed on a regular basis.     

Sixteen hundred years of increasing tree cover prior to modern deforestation in Southern Amazon and Central Brazilian savannas

Tropical ecosystems are under increasing pressure from land‐use change and deforestation. Changes in tropical forest cover are expected to affect carbon and water cycling with important implications for climatic stability at global scales. A major roadblock for predicting how tropical deforestation affects climate is the lack of baseline conditions (i.e., prior to human disturbance) of forest–savanna dynamics. To address this limitation, we developed a long‐term analysis of forest and savanna distribution across the Amazon–Cerrado transition of central Brazil. We used soil organic carbon isotope ratios as a proxy for changes in woody vegetation cover over time in response to fluctuations in precipitation inferred from speleothem oxygen and strontium stable isotope records. Based on stable isotope signatures and radiocarbon activity of organic matter in soil profiles, we quantified the magnitude and direction of changes in forest and savanna ecosystem cover. Using changes in tree cover measured in 83 different locations for forests and savannas, we developed interpolation maps to assess the coherence of regional changes in vegetation. Our analysis reveals a broad pattern of woody vegetation expansion into savannas and densification within forests and savannas for at least the past ~1,600 years. The rates of vegetation change varied significantly among sampling locations possibly due to variation in local environmental factors that constrain primary productivity. The few instances in which tree cover declined (7.7% of all sampled profiles) were associated with savannas under dry conditions. Our results suggest a regional increase in moisture and expansion of woody vegetation prior to modern deforestation, which could help inform conservation and management efforts for climate change mitigation. We discuss the possible mechanisms driving forest expansion and densification of savannas directly (i.e., increasing precipitation) and indirectly (e.g., decreasing disturbance) and suggest future research directions that have the potential to improve climate and ecosystem models.     

春季—冻融交替时期9种落叶及半常绿小灌木抗寒性综合评价

在春季—冻融交替时期,以北京地区迎春、金叶女贞、小花溲疏等9种落叶及半常绿小灌木一年生枝条为试材,通过人工模拟降温,测定其在4~-20℃低温胁迫下的6个生理响应指标,并对各指标进行相关性分析。结果表明,相对电导率、半致死温度、游离-脯氨酸含量和相对含水量这4个生理指标可作为9种小灌木抗寒性的评价指标。利用主成分分析、隶属函数法进行抗寒性综合评价,发现9种小灌木的抗寒性强弱顺序为:小花溲疏紫叶小檗太平花红王子锦带迎春连翘金叶女贞棣棠金山绣线菊。通过聚类分析可将9种小灌木分为3类,小花溲疏和紫叶小檗归为一类,其抗寒性相对较好;太平花、红王子锦带、迎春和连翘聚成一组,抗寒性一般;金叶女贞、棣棠和金山绣线菊聚在一起,抗寒性相对较差。