Maximizing gain per effort by using clonal replicates in genetic tests

Summary Models for predicting cummulative genetic gain from recurrent selection applicable to predominantly outcrossing plant species are derived to include the effect of observations on clonal replicates (ramets) in addition to observations on individuals and family means. Such models are discussed with special reference to forest trees. The consequence of redistributing effort from individuals to ramets is investigated for several conditions with a fixed number of families and fixed total test size. Factors that affect the distribution of variance among sources and factors that affect individual selection intensity are the primary determinants of the optimum distribution of effort. The optimum number of ramets ranged from 1 to 6 for the conditions tested and the efficiency of redistribution (ratio of gain for the optimum distribution to the gain for the single-ramet, or non-clonal case) ranged from 1.00 to 1.20. Using clonal replicates in genetic tests usually results in increased cummulative genetic gain relative to non-clonal tests, without an increase in test effort.     

不同氮磷添加浓度对豆科3种树木幼苗生长及生物量分配的影响

选取海南尖峰岭热带山地雨林中不同功能类群的豆科树木幼苗（代表低氮需求的长脐红豆Ormosia balansae Drake、中氮需求的荔枝叶红豆Ormosia semicastrata Hance f. litchifolia How和高氮需求的猴耳环Archidendron clypearia（Jack）I.C.Nielsen）为对象,设置5个浓度梯度的氮（N）添加和2个浓度梯度的磷（P）添加养分控制实验,研究苗木的生长表现。结果显示：（1）氮添加条件下,3个树种幼苗的苗高、总叶面积、根长、根表面积、生物量5个指标对中高浓度氮添加的敏感性大小均为长脐红豆 > 猴耳环 > 荔枝叶红豆;其中,叶总面积对氮肥浓度变化的响应最敏感,长脐红豆的根长、根表面积以及猴耳环根长的响应敏感性次之。（2）长脐红豆和猴耳环幼苗的根冠比受氮肥添加浓度的影响不显著;荔枝叶红豆幼苗的根冠比则随氮肥添加浓度的升高而增大,这种适应策略反映出荔枝叶红豆幼苗对添加中高浓度氮肥有较强的耐受能力。（3）磷添加条件下,长脐红豆和猴耳环幼苗的生长速率为低磷>高磷,表明这2个树种在幼苗阶段为低氮、低磷需求;荔枝叶红豆在低氮处理下的生长速率为高磷>低磷,表明该树种幼苗阶段为低氮、高磷需求。     

Ecological and taxonomic trends in macrolepidopteran host plant selection

Patterns of host plant use by larvae of macrolepidoptera feeding on trees and shrubs in Britain and Canada are examined. The incidence of polyphagous species varies among different lepidopteran taxa. Among largely monophagous taxa host plant switching has often occurred. The greater similarity of insect faunas on closely related plants is documented using cluster analysis. The Canadian data reveal that lepidopterans feeding on conifers are less specific in their host plant choice than species feeding on angiosperms. The numerical analyses also provide evidence of greater overlap in the insect faunas of plants belonging to the same ecological association. These results are discussed with particular reference to Lepidoptera-plant coevolution.     

Periphyton in the Volta Lake. I. Seasonal changes on the trunks of flooded trees

Seasonal changes in the periphyton on the trunks of flooded trees in the Pawmpawm arm of the Volta Lake are reported. Of the three algal groups forming the periphyton, the quantitatively most important species are in such genera as Navicula, Synedra and Melosira (diatoms), Spirogyra, Oedogonium and Stigeoclonium (green algae), and Oscillatoria and Anabaena (blue-green algae). The fluctuations in species diversity and cell numbers are attributed to changes in the nutrient status of the lake water and lake level.     

Learning to see the wood for the trees: machine learning,decision trees,and the classification of isolated theropod teeth

Taxonomic identification of fossils based on morphometric data traditionally relies on the use of standard linear models to classify such data. Machine learning and decision trees offer powerful alternative approaches to this problem but are not widely used in palaeontology. Here, we apply these techniques to published morphometric data of isolated theropod teeth in order to explore their utility in tackling taxonomic problems. We chose two published datasets consisting of 886 teeth from 14 taxa and 3020 teeth from 17 taxa, respectively, each with five morphometric variables per tooth. We also explored the effects that missing data have on the final classification accuracy. Our results suggest that machine learning and decision trees yield superior classification results over a wide range of data permutations, with decision trees achieving accuracies of 96% in classifying test data in some cases. Missing data or attempts to generate synthetic data to overcome missing data seriously degrade all classifiers predictive accuracy. The results of our analyses also indicate that using ensemble classifiers combining different classification techniques and the examination of posterior probabilities is a useful aid in checking final class assignments. The application of such techniques to isolated theropod teeth demonstrate that simple morphometric data can be used to yield statistically robust taxonomic classifications and that lower classification accuracy is more likely to reflect preservational limitations of the data or poor application of the methods.     

云南纳板河热带季节雨林20 ha动态监测样地的树种组成与群落分类

大型森林动态监测样地是研究物种共存、群落演替等生态学核心问题的重要平台。纳板河流域国家级自然保护区管理局与中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园合作, 于2016-2017年参照美国史密森热带森林科学中心的技术标准, 在纳板河流域国家级自然保护区内建立了一块热带季节雨林20 ha动态监测样地。本研究分析了该样地的树种组成特征, 并进行了群落数量分类。结果表明: 该样地中DBH ≥ 1 cm的木本植物个体共有59,498株, 分属63科197属296种; 个体数超过1,000株的常见物种有15个, 个体数小于20株的稀有物种有126个。科的区系分布型以热带成分为主, 占总科数的65.08%, 温带成分占17.46%。属的区系分布型以热带成分为主, 占总属数的88.32%, 温带成分占10.66%。该样地群落类型的形成主要受海拔和凹凸度这两个地形因子的影响, 500个20 m × 20 m的样方可以分为4个群丛, 分别为: (1)灰毛浆果楝 + 粗糠柴 - 假山萝 + 番龙眼群丛(Cipadessa baccifera + Mallotus philippensis - Harpullia cupanioides + Pometia pinnata Association); (2)长梗三宝木 + 腋球苎麻 - 顶果木 + 番龙眼群丛(Trigonostemon thyrsoideus + Boehmeria glomerulifera - Acrocarpus fraxinifolius + Pometia pinnata Association); (3)云南银柴 + 大果山香圆 - 湄公锥 + 普文楠群丛(Aporusa yunnanensis + Turpinia pomifera - Castanopsis mekongensis + Phoebe puwenensis Association); (4)歪叶榕 + 密花火筒树 - 毒药树 + 番龙眼群丛(Ficus cyrtophylla + Leea compactiflora - Sladenia celastrifolia + Pometia pinnata Association)。     

中国橡胶树气候适宜度分布特征研究

选取气温、降水、光照、风速四个气象要素, 应用气候适宜度方法对中国橡胶树的气候适宜性进行定量评价。结果表明: 中国橡胶树的气候适宜度指数均低于0.8, 平均值为0.43, 变化趋势普遍在±0.05 (10a)之间, 海南岛的大部分地区为橡胶树气候适宜区, 广东, 广西和福建南部以及云南南部的部分地区为较适宜区; 降水适宜度均值为0.43, 趋势值为-0.08-0.09 (10a), 是中国橡胶树适宜性的主要限制因素; 温度适宜度平均值为0.59, 趋势值在-0.04-0.25 (10a)之间, 是造成气候适宜度空间分布差异的主要因素; 光照适宜度平均值为0.70, 变化趋势均在±0.05 (10a)之间, 分布和变化的空间差异最小; 风速适宜度均值为0.71, 变化趋势范围为-0.34-0.28 (10a), 区域性最强。     

Resource availability and disturbance shape maximum tree height across the Amazon

Tall trees are key drivers of ecosystem processes in tropical forest, but the controls on the distribution of the very tallest trees remain poorly understood. The recent discovery of grove of giant trees over 80 meters tall in the Amazon forest requires a reevaluation of current thinking. We used high‐resolution airborne laser surveys to measure canopy height across 282,750 ha of old‐growth and second‐growth forests randomly sampling the entire Brazilian Amazon. We investigated how resources and disturbances shape the maximum height distribution across the Brazilian Amazon through the relations between the occurrence of giant trees and environmental factors. Common drivers of height development are fundamentally different from those influencing the occurrence of giant trees. We found that changes in wind and light availability drive giant tree distribution as much as precipitation and temperature, together shaping the forest structure of the Brazilian Amazon. The location of giant trees should be carefully considered by policymakers when identifying important hot spots for the conservation of biodiversity in the Amazon.     

Pantropical geography of lightning‐caused disturbance and its implications for tropical forests

Lightning is a major agent of disturbance, but its ecological effects in the tropics are unquantified. Here we used ground and satellite sensors to quantify the geography of lightning strikes in terrestrial tropical ecosystems, and to evaluate whether spatial variation in lightning frequency is associated with variation in tropical forest structure and dynamics. Between 2013 and 2018, tropical terrestrial ecosystems received an average of 100.4 million lightning strikes per year, and the frequency of strikes was spatially autocorrelated at local‐to‐continental scales. Lightning strikes were more frequent in forests, savannas, and urban areas than in grasslands, shrublands, and croplands. Higher lightning frequency was positively associated with woody biomass turnover and negatively associated with aboveground biomass and the density of large trees (trees/ha) in forests across Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Extrapolating from the only tropical forest study that comprehensively assessed tree damage and mortality from lightning strikes, we estimate that lightning directly damages c. 832 million trees in tropical forests annually, of which c. 194 million die. The similarly high lightning frequency in tropical savannas suggests that lightning also influences savanna tree mortality rates and ecosystem processes. These patterns indicate that lightning‐caused disturbance plays a major and largely unappreciated role in pantropical ecosystem dynamics and global carbon cycling.     

Pine invasion decreases density and changes native tree communities in woodland Cerrado

ABSTRACT

Background: Invasive plants can negatively impact native communities, but the majority of the effects of these invasions have been demonstrated only for temperate ecosystems. Tropical ecosystems, including the Cerrado, a biodiversity hotspot, are known to be invaded by numerous non-native species, but studies of their impacts are largely lacking.

Aims: Our research aimed at quantifying how Pinus spp. presence and density affected Cerrado plant communities.

Methods: We sampled areas invaded and non-invaded by Pinus spp. to determine if pine invasion affected native tree richness, diversity, evenness, and density. We also evaluated if community composition differed between invaded and non-invaded sites.

Results: We found invaded plots had lower native tree densities than non-invaded plots and that Pinus spp. invasions changed native tree communities by reducing native species abundances.

Conclusion: Invasive pines had negative impacts on the native Cerrado tree community by reducing native plant density and changing species abundances. Reduced density and abundance at early invasion stages can result in reduction in biodiversity in the long term.