Local‐ and landscape‐level effects of land use change on bird diversity in Abiata‐Shalla Lakes National Park,Ethiopia

Understanding the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on biodiversity is important for conservation prioritization. This study examined the effects of vegetation degradation on bird diversity in Abiata‐Shalla Lakes National Park, Ethiopia. We surveyed birds and vegetation structure between January and March 2015 in disturbed (impacted by settlement and agriculture) and undisturbed (not impacted) transects of two vegetation types (savannah woodland and gallery forest). We compared between disturbed and undisturbed transects at local (within vegetation types) and landscape (across vegetation types) levels: (a) avian species richness of the entire assemblage and feeding guilds and (b) species assemblage composition. We found significantly greater mean and total bird species richness of the entire assemblage and insectivore and granivore feeding guilds in the undisturbed transects, while the nectarivore guild was totally absent in the disturbed transects. We also found significant differences in bird species assemblage composition between the disturbed and undisturbed transects both within and across the vegetation types, and bird species assemblage composition at the landscape level was positively correlated with tree abundance and understorey vegetation height. In conclusion, our results demonstrate and add to the increasing body of evidence concerning the adverse effects of human‐induced vegetation change on bird diversity.     

Plant communities on infertile soils are less sensitive to climate change

Background and Aims Much evidence suggests that plant communities on infertile soils are relatively insensitive to increased water deficit caused by increasing temperature and/or decreasing precipitation. However, a multi-decadal study of community change in the western USA does not support this conclusion. This paper tests explanations related to macroclimatic differences, overstorey effects on microclimate, variation in soil texture and plant functional traits.Methods A re-analysis was undertaken of the changes in the multi-decadal study, which concerned forest understorey communities on infertile (serpentine) and fertile soils in an aridifying climate (southern Oregan) from 1949–1951 to 2007–2008. Macroclimatic variables, overstorey cover and soil texture were used as new covariates. As an alternative measure of climate-related change, the community mean value of specific leaf area was used, a functional trait measuring drought tolerance. We investigated whether these revised analyses supported the prediction of lesser sensitivity to climate change in understorey communities on infertile serpentine soils.Key Results Overstorey cover, but not macroclimate or soil texture, was a significant covariate of community change over time. It strongly buffered understorey temperatures, was correlated with less change and averaged >50 % lower on serpentine soils, thereby counteracting the lower climate sensitivity of understorey herbs on these soils. Community mean specific leaf area showed the predicted pattern of less change over time in serpentine than non-serpentine communities.Conclusions Based on the current balance of evidence, plant communities on infertile serpentine soils are less sensitive to changes in the climatic water balance than communities on more fertile soils. However, this advantage may in some cases be lessened by their sparser overstorey cover.     

应用SWAT模型研究潮河流域土地利用和气候变化对径流的影响

为定量分析潮河流域土地利用和气候变化对流域径流变化的影响,应用SWAT模型对流域上游至下游的大阁、戴营和下会3个水文站径流进行模拟,采用情景法分析径流对土地利用和气候变化的响应。在模型校准期和验证期采用两个参数:p因子和r因子来评价模拟的拟合度及不确定性。结果表明,3个水文站在校准期和验证期的p因子值分别为:0.70和0.77,0.87和0.82,0.92和0.78,r因子值分别为0.63和0.90,0.97和0.79,0.88和0.92,评价整个流域模拟有效性的模型目标函数g最佳值为0.66,说明该模型对潮河流域的产水量模拟具有很好的适用性。以1981—1990年为基准期,1991—2000年流域土地利用变化造成年径流量减少了4.10 mm,而气候变化导致年径流增加了29.68 mm;2001—2009年土地利用变化造成年径流量减少2.98mm,气候变化造成年径流量减少了14.30 mm。与1999年土地利用条件模拟径流值相比,几种极端情景法模拟分析结果表明:灌木林地情景下年径流增加了158.2%,草地情景下年径流增加了4.1%,林地和耕地情景下年径流分别减少23.7%和41.7%;不同气候变异情景模拟结果显示,径流对降水的变化敏感性高于对温度变化的敏感性,降水每增加10%,径流平均增加23.9%。温度每增加12%,径流平均减少6%。因此,在气候变化背景下,优化土地利用结构与方式是实现流域水资源科学管理的途径之一。