Effects of species partition on explanatory variables in direct gradient analysis - a case study from Senegal

Abstract. Species-environment data from Senegal, West Africa, are used to study the effects of partition of a large species data set into subsets corresponding to rare and common species respectively. The original data set contains 129 woody plant species from 909 plots and 60 explanatory variables. By applying Canonical Correspondence Analysis to data subsets, marked differences in the forward-selected variables were detected. The highest resemblance was found between the complete species set and the common species subset. Only one of eight selected variables was common to all species and the rare species groups. These findings were tested with partial ordination, applying the selected variables from the original species group (Vb), as variables and covariables to the analyses of common and rare species. For the common species this application resulted in a constrained ordination with higher eigenvalues as compared to the set of variables selected with reference to the common species group. Using the rare species group, the application of Vb gave a much lower sum of eigenvalues than did the ordination with selected variables based on the rare species group only. Evidently, the set of variables selected on the basis of the rare species data were more significant. Hence, the resulting gradients depend on the frequency of the species. Gradient analysis is apparently only valid for groups of species with closely resembling characteristics. This implies that different functional types of species, with different distributions and abundances, respond individually to environmental variation. Extrapolating deduced gradients from one species group to another maybe risky, particularly when used in vegetation modelling.     

Relationships between seed banks and spatial heterogeneity of North American alvar vegetation

Abstract. This is the first quantitative study of seed bank characteristics in North American alvar habitats. We assessed seed bank density, species richness, and species composition in 75 plots distributed among five alvar sites in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario, Canada, each of which displayed areas of high and low vegetation cover within the alvar and a fully forested perimeter area. Forested habitats immediately adjacent to alvar patches contained minimal seed banks for species restricted to the alvar patches. Open alvars contained less than 1% seeds from woody forest species. This suggests that forest is not invading adjacent alvar habitat via seeds and that adjacent forest does not contain a reservoir of alvar seeds. When compared to areas on the alvar with high vascular plant cover, areas with low cover contained a slightly smaller viable seed bank, but seed banks from high and low vegetation cover plots had similar species composition and species richness. High vegetation cover plots had slightly higher mean and maximum soil depths compared with low cover plots, but no differences in other physical and chemical parameters. Thus, spatial heterogeneity in plant cover is associated only weakly with heterogeneity in below‐ground factors. Despite the availability of seed and soil resources, vegetation dynamics are constrained in areas with low plant cover, and thus alvar community development seems to respond non‐linearly to resource availability.     

黄土丘陵小流域土壤水分时空分异与环境关系的数量分析

采用ＤＣＣＡ排序,研究了流域尺谍上土壤水分的时空分异类型及环境因子的关系。研究结果表明,丰水年土壤水分垂直的分布呈降低型、波动型和增长型３种类型,主要影响因子为土地利用与地形（地貌类型、坡度、坡位与海拔高度）;土壤水分的季节变化表现为三峰型、四峰同步型与四峰滞后型３种类型,主要影响因子为降雨与地形（坡度、海拔高度、坡向与坡位）。分析得出,降低型与波动型的土壤水分利用率较高;从丰水年到欠水年,降低型     

Patterns of β‐diversity in a Mexican tropical dry forest

Abstract. Patterns of β‐diversity in a highly diverse tropical dry forest tree community are described; the contribution of environmental heterogeneity and distance to β‐diversity was assessed. Significant differences in elevation, insolation, slope and soil water holding capacity (p < 0.01), variables related to water availability, were found among 830 m × 100 m transects laid along contrasting slopes of a system of three parallel microbasins. A gradient in elevation and insolation was found within north‐facing transects, among 10 m × 10 m sites; south‐facing transects showed an elevation gradient while crest transects showed a gradient in water holding capacity. In total 119 species were registered, with 27 to 64 species per transect, and 4 to 16 species per site. A large β‐diversity was found among and within transects; two indices of β‐diversity consistently showed a higher β‐diversity within transects than among them. Among transects, 64% of the variance in species composition could be attributed to the environmental variables; an additional 22% to the spatial distribution of sites. Within transects, 42% of the deviance in β‐diversity values was explained by insolation, and 19% by distance. β‐diversity increased with distance and with difference in insolation among sites; north‐facing transects, those with most contrasting insolation conditions, had the steepest increase in β‐diversity with distance. Such increase was clearly associated with changes in species composition, not with changes in species richness.     

Micro-Scale Restoration: A 25-Year History of a Southern Illinois Barrens

We studied vegetation change of a remnant barrens in southern Illinois over twenty‐five years. The study area was periodically burned between 1969 and 1993, but fire was excluded for a 16‐year period (1974–1989). During the study, the barrens supported a mixture of species whose preferred habitats ranged from prairie and open woodlands to closed forest communities. The herbaceous vegetation may be on a trajectory characterized by increasing dominance of woodland species and declining prairie species. Fire management temporarily reversed this trend, but it continued once fire was excluded. Reintroduction of prescribed burning in 1990–1993 altered the vegetation trajectory but not back toward a species composition comparable to that present on the site before cessation of fire management after 1973. Following interruption of prescribed burning, tree basal area more than doubled, and density showed a 67% increase between premanagement conditions in 1968 and 1988. Salix humilis (prairie willow) density had significant negative correlations with tree density and basal area. However, there was no consistency in response of shrub species on the site to the varied site conditions over time. Fire management on the site may not recover the historic barrens that occurred on the site. Nevertheless, consistent fire management will drive vegetation changes toward increasing abundance of prairie and open woodland species that would otherwise be lost without burning.     

SWAT模型在气候变化对水资源影响研究中的应用——以河南省中部农业区为例

为了研究气候变化对水资源的影响,应用具有物理基础的SWAT(Soil and Water Assessment Tool)模型,针对河南中部农业区(淮河上游沙河周口水文站上游区域)的特点,构建了该区域气候变化影响水资源(径流)评估模型。通过加载1∶4000000电子河系数据,消除了SWAT在平原区从1∶250000 DEM自动提取河系的误差;在对模型参数敏感性分析的基础上,将1999—2002年作为校准期,2003—2006年作为验证期,对模型的参数进行了校准和验证,模型校准期Nash-Sutcliffe效率系数Ens=0.96,r2=0.95,验证期Ens=0.81,r2=0.87,表明模型应用于该区域的月径流模拟精度较高。将1966—2007年的气象资料应用于模型进行模拟,分析结果表明,地表径流、基流年内变化趋势与降水量变化趋势一致,蒸散发是该地区水量的主要输出项,地表径流是基流的2倍左右,地表径流相对于降水有滞后性,基流滞后于降水3个月时间。     

基于生态安全格局的厦漳泉地区国土空间生态保护修复区与预警点识别

厦漳泉地区是福建省开展生态保护修复的关键区域,识别、预警国土空间生态薄弱区对实施国土空间生态修复具有重要意义。研究通过MSPA、MCR等模型方法识别2000-2018年动态稳定性与连通性兼具的生态源地,提取生态廊道、生态节点等构建该地区的生态安全格局,采用FLUS模型在生态安全格局限制下模拟2030年土地利用变化,综合划分厦漳泉地区国土空间生态保护修复区并展开预警。结果表明,厦漳泉地区生态安全格局由12个生态源地,66条潜在生态廊道、13条重要生态廊道与若干生态节点等构成,生态源地主要分布在研究区西部,生态廊道为纵横交错的网状结构,部分生境较脆弱的县（区）无生态源地与廊道分布,生态节点集聚特征显著;2030年研究区耕地、林地面积呈减少趋势,建设用地面积增幅显著,建设用地向四周的耕地与林地呈环状扩张,挤压生态空间,威胁生态源地与廊道。综上,研究划分了1个生态源地保护带、2个生态修复核心区,并明确生态保护空间预警点,可为完善国土空间生态安全格局的保护与建设等提供基础信息,对开展生态保护修复协同治理、提升区域生态环境质量与人民福祉有重要意义。     

基于微粒群-马尔科夫复合模型的生态空间预测模拟——以长株潭城市群为例

生态空间具有重要的生态功能,对生态空间进行科学预测模拟可为保护国土空间生态安全提供决策依据。利用Arc GIS及MATLAB软件,在生态空间风险评价的基础上构建了微粒群-马尔科夫复合模型,并以长株潭城市群为研究区,基于2013年土地利用现状数据,对2020年的生态空间进行了预测模拟,最后在此基础上提出了生态空间重构的基本思路。结果表明:1)微粒群-马尔科夫复合模型(PSO-Markov)构建的基本步骤为:第一步:粒子的选择与设计,以2000 m×2000 m的正方形单元作为基本粒子。第二步:粒子的初始化设定,根据生态空间风险由低到高的原则进行选择。第三步:适应度函数的建立,用生态空间的风险值来确定生态空间的空间格局。第四步:空间位置的更新,根据自身的历史最优值及粒子群的全局最优值进行速度和位置更新。2)微粒群-马尔科夫复合模型(PSO-Markov)是一种土地利用格局预测的新途径,生态空间的数量规模可以通过改进后的马尔科夫模型进行预测,生态空间的格局可以通过微粒群模型进行预测。3)微粒群-马尔科夫复合模型具有4个特点:第一、数量预测较为合理。第二、搜索范围大、较好地考虑到局部对全局的影响。第三、受问题维数变化影响小,在求解多目标问题时具有明显优势。第四、收敛时间短、运算速度快、易于实现。4)2020年,长株潭城市群的生态空间总体数量减少,其中林地和未利用地面积变化最明显,空间变化主要集中分布在西南部地区。生态空间总面积减小的主要原因是建设用地的扩张。因此,要控制城市群的人口密度,优化城市群生产—生活—生态的数量结构及空间布局,尤其要合理规划与利用城市建设用地,充分发挥水体与未利用地的生态价值,重点保护好生态源地、廊道及关键结点,构建结构合理、功能齐全的生态网络系统,提高系统的生态服务价值功能,要在规划的指导下合理调整城市群的城乡局部空间结构,保护生态环境,提高生境质量和景观多样性。这是今后一段时期面临的主要任务。     

Vegetation mapping and multivariate approach to indicator species of a forest ecosystem: A case study from the Thandiani sub Forests Division (TsFD) in the Western Himalayas

QuestionsDoes the plant species composition of Thandiani sub Forests Division (TsFD) correlate with edaphic, topographic and climatic variables? Is it possible to identify different plant communities in relation to environmental gradients with special emphasis on indicator species? Can this approach to vegetation classification support conservation planning?LocationThandiani sub Forests Division, Western Himalayas.MethodsQuantitative and qualitative characteristics of species along with environmental variables were measured using a randomly stratified design to identify the major plant communities and indicator species of the Thandiani sub Forests Division. Species composition was recorded in 10 × 2.5 × 2 and 0.5 × 0.5 m square plots for trees, shrubs and herbs, respectively. GPS, edaphic and topographic data were also recorded for each sample plot. A total of 1500 quadrats were established in 50 sampling stations along eight altitudinal transects encompassing eastern, western, northern and southern aspects (slopes). The altitudinal range of the study area was 1290 m to 2626 m above sea level using. The relationships between species composition and environmental variables were analyzed using Two Way Cluster Analysis (TWCA) and Indicator Species Analysis (ISA) via PCORD version 5.ResultsA total of 252 plant species belonging to 97 families were identified. TWCA and ISA recognized five plant communities. ISA additionally revealed that mountain slope aspect, soil pH and soil electrical conductivity were the strongest environmental factors (p ≤ 0.05) determining plant community composition and indicator species in each habitat. The results also show the strength of the environment-species relationship using Monte Carlo procedures.ConclusionsAn analysis of vegetation along an environmental gradient in the Thandiani sub Forests Division using the Braun-Blanquet approach confirmed by robust tools of multivariate statistics identified indicators of each sort of microclimatic zones/vegetation communities which could further be used in conservation planning and management not only in the area studied but in the adjacent regions exhibit similar sort of environmental conditions.