Assessing Habitat Suitability for Juvenile Atlantic Salmon in Relation to In‐Stream Restoration and Discharge Variability

In‐stream restoration often aims at increasing the availability of the stream habitat suitable for salmonid fishes, thus creating potential for increased fish abundance. We assessed the success of in‐stream restoration of River Kiiminkijoki, northern Finland, by combining River2D habitat hydraulic modeling and fish density monitoring at the same sites, with data from multiple restored and reference reaches for 3 years both before and after restoration. We modeled the effects of restoration on the area suitable (weighted usable area, WUA) for juvenile Atlantic salmon from post‐hatching to age‐1 fish. Wetted width in the restored reaches increased by 8.1% on average compared with only ?0.2% change in the reference reaches. Habitat time series across 10 years showed significant increases in the amount of suitable habitat under summer conditions for both age‐0 and age‐1 salmon. However, improvement of overwintering habitats was marginal or nonexistent. Densities of age‐1 salmon showed no response to restoration. Low river discharge during the winter was correlated with low salmon densities the following summer. It thus appears that variability in wintertime discharge, and associated high interannual variation of WUA values, overrode the almost 20% increase in average post‐ versus pre‐restoration summertime WUA. Our study shows that the combination of hydraulic modeling and biological monitoring is a promising approach to stream restoration assessment.     

The Proportion of Three Foundation Plant Species and Their Genotypes Influence an Arthropod Community: Restoration Implications for the Endangered Southwestern Willow Flycatcher

As part of a restoration project, multiple genotypes of two tree species, Fremont cottonwood (Populus fremontii) and Goodding's willow (Salix gooddingii), and one shrub species, Coyote willow (S. exigua), were experimentally planted in different proportions at the Palo Verde Ecological Reserve near Blythe, California, U.S.A. These common woody plant species are important to the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, providing perch, nesting, and foraging habitat. We conducted this study to evaluate plant species proportion and plant genotype effects on the arthropod community, the prey base for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher. Three patterns emerged. First, plant species proportions were important; the arthropod community had the greatest richness and diversity (H′) when Goodding's willow proportion was high and Fremont cottonwood proportion was lower; that is, fewer Fremont cottonwoods are required to positively affect overall arthropod diversity. Second, we found significant genotypic effects, for all three plant species, on arthropod species accumulation. Third, while both planting proportion and genotype effects were significant, we found that the effect of planting proportion on arthropod richness was about twice as large as the effect of plant genotype. This shows that both plant species proportions and genotype should be utilized in restoration projects to maximize habitat heterogeneity and arthropod richness. Similar studies can determine which planting proportion and specific genotypes may result in a more favorable arthropod prey base for the southwestern willow flycatcher and other species of concern. Greater attention to planting design and genotype can result in significant gains in diversity at little or no additional project cost.     

Microboring in a Freshwater Fluvial Unionid Bivalve Substrate

Samples of the unionid bivalve Elliptio complanata were collected from the channel of the freshwater Saint John River, from Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. Scanning electron microscopy imaging of prepared shell samples revealed an assemblage of microborings. No borings are noted on the periostracum or prismatic shell layers. Boring structures are instead confined to the underlying nacreous aragonitic shell material, together with its associated organic conchiolin layers. Three main styles of boring are encountered, encompassing both predominantly surficial structures and penetrative tubular borings. Surficial structures are represented by a polygonal network on an exposed conchiolin shell layer. The penetrative borings take two forms, one being simple unbranched tubes, steeply aligned (perpendicular to the shell surface) and traversing the full thickness of the nacreous shell layer. The other penetrative boring style, again occurring within the nacreous layer, comprises a complex irregular network of randomly oriented rarely branching tubular borings. Borings generally display diameters of micron scale. Biofilm and extracellular polymeric substances, with bacterial, diatomaceous and filamentous components are also observed, often displaying a close association with both the borings and the conchiolin layers within the shell. The formation of the borings may be attributed to cyanobacteria, cyanophyte or fungal progenitors.     

Integration of Ecosystem Services into Ecological Risk Assessment for Implementation in Ecosystem-Based River Management: A Case Study of the Yellow River,China

Ecological risk assessment (ERA) is a scientific tool used to support ecosystem-based management (EBM), but most current ERA methods consider only a few indices of particular species or components. Such limitations restrict the scope of results so that they are insufficient to reflect the integrated risk characterization of an ecosystem, thereby inhibiting the application of ERA in EBM. We incorporate the concept of ecosystem services into ERA and develop an improved ERA framework to create a comprehensive risk map of an ecosystem, accounting for multiple human activities and ecosystem services. Using the Yellow River as a case study, we show how this framework enables the implementation of integrated risk characterization and prioritization of the most important ecological risk issues in the ecosystem-based river management of the Yellow River. This framework can help practitioners facilitate better implementation of ERA within EBM in rivers or any target ecosystem.     

Geomesophilobacter sediminis gen. nov., sp. nov., Geomonas propionica sp. nov. and Geomonas anaerohicana sp. nov., three novel members in the family Geobacterecace isolated from river sediment and paddy soil

Bacteria in the family Geobacteraceae have been proven to fill important niches in a diversity of anaerobic environments and global biogeochemical processes. Here, three bacterial strains in this family, designated Red875^T, Red259^T, and Red421^T were isolated from river sediment and paddy soils in Japan. All of them are Gram-staining-negative, strictly anaerobic, motile, flagellum-harboring cells that form red colonies on agar plates and are capable of utilizing Fe(III)-NTA, Fe(III) citrate, ferrihydrite, MnO₂, fumarate, and nitrate as electron acceptors with acetate, propionate, pyruvate, and glucose as electron donors. Phylogenetic analysis based on the 16S rRNA gene and 92 concatenated core proteins sequences revealed that strains Red259^T and Red421^T clustered with the type strains of Geomonas species, whereas strain Red875^T formed an independent lineage within the family Geobacteraceae. Genome comparison based on  average nucleotide identity (ANI) and digital DNA–DNA hybridization (dDDH) values clearly distinguished these three strains from other Geobacteraceae members, with lower values than the thresholds for species delineation. Moreover, strain Red875^T also shared low average amino acid identity (AAI) and percentage of conserved proteins (POCP) values with the type species of the family Geobacteraceae. Based on these physiological, chemotaxonomic, and phylogenetic distinctions, we propose that strain Red875^T (=NBRC 114290^T = MCCC 1K04407^T) represents a novel genus in the family Geobacteraceae, namely, Geomesophilobacter sediminis gen. nov., sp. nov., and strains Red259^T (=NBRC 114288^T = MCCC 1K05016^T) and Red421^T (=NBRC 114289^T = MCCC 1K06216^T) represent two novel independent species in the genus Geomonas, namely, Geomonas propionica sp. nov. and Geomonas anaerohicana sp. nov., respectively.     

淇河流域生态系统服务权衡及空间分异机制的地理探测

复杂的地形地貌使小流域具有生产、水源供给和调节等多种生态系统服务功能和显著的区域差异性,然而对小流域生态系统服务权衡关系及外部驱动机制集成测度一直是地理学、生态学和经济学研究的难题。以太行山南段淇河流域为研究对象,利用气象数据、土地利用/覆被数据、植被NDVI等多源数据,使用CASA模型和InVEST模型分别估算固碳、土壤保持及水源供给服务,运用空间叠置法和相关性分析测度生态系统服务权衡关系,进一步利用地理探测器中因子探测和交互探测分析自然环境和人类活动影响对生态系统服务权衡关系的空间影响。结果表明：①2000-2015年,淇河流域多年平均固碳量为375.55 gC m^-2 a^-1,且多年递减速率为18.20 gC m^-2 a^-1;多年平均土壤保持量为396.72 t hm^-2a^-1,多年递减速率为1.2 t hm^-2 a^-1;多年平均水源供给量为67.26 mm/a,以0.16 mm/a的速率递减。②研究时段内,生态系统服务关系以强权衡和低协同为主导,且存在显著的空间分异特征,低协同分布区域减幅为16.21%,强权衡增幅最多（11.85%）,表明流域生态系统服务能力呈升高趋势;生态系统服务两两关系中固碳与水源供给、水源供给与土壤保持表现为权衡关系,固碳与土壤保持呈协同态势。③地理探测器结果表明：固碳与土壤保持方面,植被NDVI（0.306） > 气温（0.241） > 土地利用程度（0.002）;固碳与水源供给方面,植被NDVI因子解释力最强（0.381）;水源供给与土壤保持方面,降水、气温和高程因子解释力均高于0.5;交互探测后各影响因子解释能力显著增强。     

基于InVEST模型的金沙江流域干热河谷区水源涵养功能评估

以金沙江流域干热河谷区1990年、2000年、2010年和2019年4期Landsat遥感影像为基础数据,通过目视解译和最大似然相结合的方法进行土地利用类型分类,定量分析金沙江流域干热河谷区土地利用类型的时间变化与空间转移过程;采用InVEST模型,结合气象、土壤和地形等数据评估了1990-2019年金沙江流域干热河谷区及不同土地利用类型的产水功能和水源涵养功能。结果表明：1）1990-2019年金沙江流域干热河谷区土地利用类型以草地、乔木林地和耕地为主;近30年来,灌木林地、建设用地、交通运输用地和水域的面积不断增加,建设用地面积增幅最大;草地、乔木林地、耕地和裸地面积均减少。2）1990-2019年,建设用地、灌木林地、交通运输用地和水域面积的增加来源于草地、耕地和乔木林地。3）金沙江流域干热河谷区多年平均产水量为26.09×10⁸ m³,水源涵养量为7.26×10⁸ m³,产水量的变化与分布直接影响着区域的水源含养量;平均水源涵养能力68.74 mm,呈现上升-下降-上升的波动变化趋势。4）1990-2019年不同土地利用类型的水源涵养量变化明显,不同地类平均水源涵养量的大小依次为耕地 > 草地 > 建设用地 > 乔木林地 > 交通运输用地 > 灌木林地 > 裸地 > 水域。     

黄河口潮间带沉积物细菌群落结构特征

选取黄河口潮间带有植被覆盖和无植被覆盖两个区域采集柱状沉积物,利用实时荧光定量PCR技术和高通量测序技术分析有无植被覆盖沉积物中的细菌群落特征和功能差异,探究影响潮间带细菌群落结构的主要环境因子。结果显示,细菌丰度在有植被区域大于无植被区域。沉积物中细菌群落丰富度和多样性在有植被区域随深度的增加而增加,而在无植被区域其最高值出现在沉积物中层（14-16 cm）。两个区域在门分类水平上以变形菌（Proteobacteria）、绿弯菌（Chloroflexi）、放线菌（Actinobacteria）和酸杆菌（Acidobacteria）为主;属分类水平上的优势类群为芽孢杆菌（Bacillus）、苍白杆菌（Ochrobactrum）、拟无枝菌酸菌（Amycolatopsis）和鞘脂单胞菌（Sphingomonas）等。相关性分析发现盐度和亚硝酸盐浓度对细菌群落多样性和丰富度影响显著。功能预测分析表明,有植被区域沉积物细菌在氨基酸代谢、膜运输和碳水化合物代谢方面功能活跃,而无植被区域细菌则在核酸复制和修复、能量代谢过程方面更为活跃。     

长江中游地区生态系统服务平衡与城镇化的空间关系

生态系统服务与城镇化的相互作用关系研究是目前国际人地系统研究的热点和前沿领域。以长江中游地区325个县为研究单元,通过生态系统服务供需平衡评估矩阵法与城镇化相关指标分别测算了1995年、2005年、2015年生态系统服务平衡状况和城镇化水平,同时运用双变量空间自相关模型、空间计量模型探索了生态系统服务平衡与城镇化的空间关系。研究结果表明：（1）研究期间长江中游地区生态系统服务平衡状况不断恶化,而城镇化水平则持续上升;（2）生态系统服务平衡与城镇化之间存在显著负相关关系,不同区域的空间聚类模式表现出异质性;（3）添加控制变量的空间计量模型被证明能更好解释生态系统服务平衡与城镇化的空间关系,结果显示城镇化对态系统服务平衡的影响具有负外部效应,这种负外部效应在城镇化发展到一定阶段时逐渐减弱。建议,在城镇化进程中应统筹管理生态空间,尝试跨区域合作,实现生态与经济资源的共享与互补。     

不同积水生境对河南黄河湿地植物多样性的影响

湿地作为水陆交替的过渡地带,承担着重要的生态服务功能,湿地植物是生态功能作用发挥的基础。不同积水生境与湿地植物物种组成和分布关系密切。黄河流域是国家的重要生态屏障,湿地面积广阔,河南黄河湿地作为黄河湿地的重要组成部分,其积水生境对植物多样性的影响尚不清晰。为研究河南黄河湿地植物的多样性现状以及积水生境对其植物多样性的影响,采用样方和样线相结合的方法对河南省7个黄河湿地自然保护区中的湿地植物进行调查,共设置样方981个。重点分析了不同积水生境湿地植物的主要群系和物种组成,研究了各生境物种多样性和群落多样性特征（α多样性）,对比了的不同积水生境植物物种组成相似性和群落间相似程度（β多样性）,明确了各生境的植物物种排序和指示种。结果表明：（1）河南黄河湿地植物群系以草本群系为主,共发现188种湿地植物,分属56科,138属;（2）不同积水状况湿地植物物种丰富度大小依次为：季节性积水 > 永久性积水 > 间歇性积水 > 季节性水涝,主要群系总数与物种丰富度趋势表现一致;（3）不同积水生境湿地植物的物种组成存在显著差异,季节性积水和永久性积水生境中植物物种组成相似性和群落间相似程度最高,各积水生境均有明显的优势种和指示种。河南黄河湿地积水生境在不同流段差异显著,不同积水生境下植物多样性和主要植物群系有明显区别,进行湿地生态建设时,建议优先保护季节性积水生境,减少季节性水涝生境的产生,以达到维持物种多样性,发挥湿地最大生态价值的目的。