Divergent trends in anadromous salmonid populations in Norwegian and Scottish rivers

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) is a charismatic anadromous fish of high conservation and economic value. Concerns have been expressed regarding the long-term viability of fisheries throughout the species''s distributional range because of abundance variations that cannot currently be explained or predicted. Here, we analyse long-term catch data obtained over a wide geographical range and across a range of spatial subscales to understand more fully the factors that drive population abundance. We use rod catch data from 84 Norwegian rivers over 125 years (1876–2000) and 48 Scottish rivers over 51 years (1952–2002). The temporal correlation in catches is very long-term, with trends persisting over several decades. The spatial correlation is relatively short-range, indicating strong local-scale effects on catch. Furthermore, Scottish salmon populations exhibit recent negative trends in contrast to some more positive trends in Norway—especially in the north.     

Floral symmetry: pollinator-mediated stabilizing selection on flower size in bilateral species

Pollinator-mediated stabilizing selection (PMSS) has been proposed as the driver of the evolutionary shift from radial to bilateral symmetry of flowers. Studies have shown that variation in flower size is lower in bilateral than in radial species, but whether bilateral flowers experience more stabilizing selection pressures by employing fewer, more specialized pollinators than radial flowers remains unclear. To test the PMSS hypothesis, we investigate plant–pollinator interactions from a whole community in an alpine meadow in Hengduan Mountains, China, to examine: (i) variance in flower size and level of ecological generalization (pollinator diversity calculated using functional groups) in 14 bilateral and 13 radial species and (ii) the role pollinator diversity played in explaining the difference of variance in flower size between bilateral and radial species. Our data showed that bilateral species had less variance in flower size and were visited by fewer pollinator groups. Pollinator diversity accounted for up to 40 per cent of the difference in variance in flower size between bilateral and radial species. The mediator effect of pollinator diversity on the relationship between floral symmetry and variance in flower size in the community is consistent with the PMSS hypothesis.     

Comparative evolution of flower and fruit morphology

Angiosperm diversification has resulted in a vast array of plant morphologies. Only recently has it been appreciated that diversification might have proceeded quite differently for the two key diagnostic structures of this clade, flowers and fruits. These structures are hypothesized to have experienced different selective pressures via their interactions with animals in dispersal mutualisms, resulting in a greater amount of morphological diversification in animal-pollinated flowers than in animal-dispersed fruits. I tested this idea using size and colour traits for the flowers and fruits of 472 species occurring in three floras (St John, Hawaii and the Great Plains). Phylogenetically controlled analyses of nearest-neighbour distances in multidimensional trait space matched the predicted pattern: in each of the three floras, flowers were more divergent from one another than were fruits. In addition, the spacing of species clusters differed for flowers versus fruits in the flora of St John, with clusters in flower space more divergent than those in fruit space. The results are consistent with the idea that a major driver of angiosperm diversification has been stronger selection for divergent floral morphology than for divergent fruit morphology, although genetic, physiological and ecological constraints may also play a role.     

Intensive research activity alters short-term seedling dynamics in a tropical forest

Researchers can have unintentional, yet significant effects on their study systems. We tested for the effects of an intensive tree census on seedling dynamics in a 50-ha permanent forest plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama. At the community level, and for different shade-tolerance guilds, we found no significant differences in seedling recruitment or survival inside compared to controls outside the plot. However, among growth forms, canopy trees and lianas exhibited significantly lower seedling survival inside the plot. Results suggest that intense researcher activity impacts short-term vegetation dynamics, but effects do not accumulate over time.     

Tree growth and competition in a post-logging Quercus mongolica forest on Mt. Sobaek, South Korea

Secondary woodlands in South Korea cover most mountains from low to middle elevations. While general patterns of forest succession are well understood, little is known about mechanisms of stand recovery after disturbance. We examined the spatio-temporal variations in establishment, growth, size inequality, and mode of competition among trees in a 50-year-old post-logging Quercus mongolica-dominated stand. We further compared the growth and stem allometry of single trees, presumably of seed origin, with multi-stemmed trees resprouting from stumps. Q. mongolica formed the upper canopy 16–22 m tall, 88.3% of total stand basal area, and 36.2% of total stem density, with most trees established during the first post-logging decade (51.2% were resprouts). During the first three decades, the Q. mongolica recruits grew exponentially, and disproportionately more in diameter than few older reserved trees left after the last cutting. This substantially decreased size inequality. The reverse trend was observed from 1994 to 2004: larger trees grow more, indicating an increasing asymmetry of competition for light. Neighborhood analysis revealed that when target trees had more or larger neighbors, their exponential phase of growth was reduced and maximum size was decreased. After the 50 years of stand development, more than 70% of Q. mongolica showed growth decline as a result of competitive stress, and mortality was about 30%, concentrated in smaller size classes. Compared to single stems, resprouts within clones do not seem to compete less asymmetric as might be expected based on studies of clonal herbaceous plants and physiological integration within genets. As Q. mongolica was also negatively affected by competition from woody species currently prevailing in the lower tree stratum (Tilia amurensis, Acer mono, Fraxinus rhynchophylla, Acer pseudosieboldianum), we predict the stand will become increasingly dominated by these more shade-tolerant trees.     

Small-scale disturbances spread along trophic chains: leaf-cutting ant nests, plants, aphids, and tending ants

Small-scale disturbances caused by animals often modify soil resource availability and may also affect plant attributes. Changes in the phenotype of plants growing on disturbed, nutrient-enriched microsites may influence the distribution and abundance of associated insects. We evaluated how the high nutrient availability generated by leaf-cutting ant nests in a Patagonian desert steppe may spread along the trophic chain, affecting the phenotype of two thistle species, the abundance of a specialist aphid and the composition of the associated assemblage of tending ants. Plants of the thistle species Carduus nutans and Onopordum acanthium growing in piles of waste material generated by leaf-cutting ant nests (i.e., refuse dumps) had more leaves, inflorescences and higher foliar nitrogen content than those in non-nest soils. Overall, plants in refuse dumps showed higher abundance of aphids than plants in non-nest soils, and aphid colonies were of greater size on O. acanthium plants than on C. nutans plants. However, only C. nutans plants showed an increase in aphid abundance when growing on refuse dumps. This resulted in a similar aphid load in both thistle species when growing on refuse dumps. Accordingly, only C. nutans showed an increase in the number of ant species attending aphids when growing on refuse dumps. The increase of soil fertility generated by leaf-cutting ant nests can affect aphid abundance and their tending ant assemblage through its effect on plant size and quality. However, the propagation of small-scale soil disturbances through the trophic chain may depend on the identity of the species involved.     

宁夏资源环境绩效及其变动态势

提高资源环境绩效是我国生态脆弱敏感区进行生物修复的核心和关键.利用生态环境状况评价技术规范和资源环境绩效指数(REPI)对我国西部生态环境脆弱区的宁夏回族自治区资源环境绩效进行了系统分析.结果表明:尽管宁夏的资源环境绩效指数水平从2000年的38.7上升为2007年的66.9,年递增8.13%,但远低于全国平均水平和(西藏除外)3个少数民族自治区水平.资源环境综合绩效水平在全国的第30位徘徊.其中建设用地绩效指数和固定资产绩效指数提升明显,COD排放绩效指数呈现"N"型剧烈变动态势;SO_2排放绩效指数、能源绩效指数、工业固体废弃物排放绩效指数、用水绩效指数变动不明显.宁夏面临生态环境的整体不稳定性和对外力干预敏感性的双重压力,资源消耗和污染物排放的下降态势并不稳定.同时,根据近8a变动态势推断,未来15～20a宁夏资源环境综合绩效的提升空间巨大.实施"CIRCLE"(即压缩城市发展(C)、个人行动(I)、减少潜在废弃物量(R)、碳减排战略(C)、土地管理(L)和提高能效(E))等综合发展策略,通过轻量化、绿色化、生态化的互利耦合提升综合竞争力,宁夏完全有能力到2015年步入我国西部资源环境绩效中等水平地区行列.     

中国区域可持续发展定量研究进展

基于CNKI中出现区域可持续发展定量研究以来的核心期刊文献视角,对文献的年度分布、期刊分布进行统计分析,继而从社会-经济学方法、生态学方法、系统学方法、新兴方法4个方面透视区域可持续发展定量研究方法的变动过程及趋势.分析表明,伴随文献的逐年递增,定量研究所涉及的学科领域不断拓展;方法体系由单调走向丰富,但模型的作用有被夸大的趋势;研究内容以水平评价为主,其余评价内容较少涉及;多尺度及动态的时间序列研究全面铺开,但时空结合研究有待深入.系统科学、复杂性理论及空间信息技术的综合运用将促进区域可持续发展定量研究的进一步发展和完善.     

公平规范与自然资源保护——基于进化博弈的理论模型

传统理论认为社区对公共自然资源的管理必然导致"公共地悲剧".但新近研究证明个人行为往往受到社会规范的影响并遵循公平互惠等"非理性"原则,进而指出社群有可能自发实现对公共资源有效的合作保护.基于这一思路,综合运用进化博弈论与行为经济学理论构建数学模型模拟了社区居民参与对自然资源的家庭承包管护的策略演化动态,并分析公平规范在该过程中能够发挥的潜在作用.结果表明在经济补偿相对管护所需劳动成本较为有限的情况下,"理性"的参与者无法长期维持高水平的保护合作;相比之下,如果公平规范对当地居民有较强的约束力,则可以实现更高的保护合作水平,其最终均衡由群体中对公平有较高要求的参与者比例决定.这一结果从理论上预测了利用公平规范推动社区参与自然资源保护合作并提高生态补偿效率的可行性.     

云南纵向岭谷区道路网络对生态系统影响的尺度效应

云南纵向岭谷区具有复杂的生态系统,其生物多样性在全球中具有重要地位,但是由于人类活动的影响,尤其是道路网络的发展及其导致的土地利用变化,使得该地区生态系统退化日益严重.选取2km×2km、4km×4km、6km×6km、… \,20km×20km网格进行多尺度相关分析和方差分析,研究云南纵向岭谷区道路网络与生态系统分布的相关性及其独立和交互作用,分析道路网络对生态系统影响的尺度效应.然后又进一步研究了道路网络和地形因子(比如海拔、坡度和坡向等)对生态系统的独立和交互作用.研究结果表明,道路网络与生态系统分布的相关性与路网等级有关,其相关程度与路网等级呈反比,随着尺度的变化,道路网络与生态系统分布的相关性表现为增强型、减弱型、质变型和无尺度效应这4种类型.在大多数尺度下,道路网络和地形因子对生态系统分布既有独立作用,也有交互作用.其中,高等级路网的独立作用比较显著,而低等级路网的独立作用不太显著.但是,随着尺度的增大,县乡路网、乡村路网和小路网对生态系统分布的独立和交互作用均显著,且表现出高度的相似性,表明地形对低等级道路具有明显的干扰或屏蔽效应.