Plant community structure, soil properties and microbial characteristics in revegetated quarries

Quarries are an important type of degraded land in southern China requiring ecological improvement and rehabilitation. In this study, plant community structure, soil properties, and microbial biomass and community function were examined at different rehabilitated phases in three quarries, namely Turret Hill Quarry, Lam Tei Quarry and Shek O Quarry, in Hong Kong. Results show that plant species richness and the percentage of native species increased with rehabilitated ages in the three quarries. The highest coverage of woody species was found at older phases, while the lowest woody coverage occurred at younger phases. Soils were strongly to moderately acidic in reaction, and more acidic soils were found in the older than in the younger sites. Organic C as well as total N and P accumulated in soil along with secondary succession in the three quarries, which were positively correlated with woody species richness. Older phases had higher total microbial biomass C and N which were positively correlated with soil organic C, total N and extractable NO₃-N, as well as woody species coverage and native species richness as shown by the biplot of redundancy analysis. Diversity of utilized carbons suggested that metabolic abilities developed gradually with rehabilitation ages in Shek O Quarry, but Turret Hill Quarry and Lam Tei Quarry had similar patterns of carbon source utilization. Principal component analysis further revealed consistent differences in metabolic diversity. Woody coverage and native species richness were significantly correlated with carbon source utilization and functional diversity.     

转Bt基因作物毒素土壤存活特性及与土壤性质的关系研究进展

随着转Bt基因作物的推广和应用,其对生态环境及其它方面可能产生的影响越来越受到重视。加之Bt毒素蛋白检测技术的发展,国外学者们围绕纯化毒素蛋白与土壤的相互关系等方面开展了大量研究,并取得了一些结果。本文介绍了转Bt基因作物产生的毒素蛋白的杀虫特性,杀虫蛋白的测定方法,转Bt基因作物向大田释放存在的潜在风险及土壤矿物质,有机质,有机矿质复合体对纯化Bt毒素存活的影响,毒素在根际土壤中的行为等方面的研究现状,最后,提出了今后有关研究应注意的几个问题。     

Plant clipping may cause overestimation of soil respiration in a Tibetan alpine meadow,southwest China

The chamber-based method is currently the most popular approach used for measuring soil respiration of various ecosystems. When this method is applied, aboveground plant tissues within the chamber need to be clipped some time (usually 24 h) before measuring soil respiration. However, plant clipping may change soil temperature and hence soil respiration because soil respiration is highly temperature-dependent, particularly in cold regions. To determine to what extent soil respiration may be changed by the clipping, we measured soil temperature and respiration of an alpine meadow of southwest China using a chamber-based method over an annual cycle. Based on the measurements, an exponential equation was built to describe the relationship between soil respiration and temperature. Concurrently we measured the soil temperature in clipped and unclipped plots on sunny days of the study months in another independent experiment; subsequently soil respiration was estimated for these plots using the exponential equation. Though daily mean soil temperature was insignificantly different between the clipped and unclipped plots, the clipping increased soil temperature at 5 cm depth by up to 4.3°C at daytime but decreased by up to 1.4°C at nighttime during the growing season. The changes were 2.2 and 1.5°C at daytime and nighttime, respectively, in the non-growing season. It was calculated that the clipping manipulation caused an overestimation of soil respiration by 28.6 and 21.2% for the growing and non-growing seasons, respectively; nevertheless, this calculated overestimation should differ from the actual one because the data were collected on sunny days only.     

Rooting characteristics of two widely distributed woody plant species growing in different karst habitats of southwest China

A series of studies claimed that deep root development of plant established in karst regions was facilitated by fractured bedrock beneath the shallow soils; however, bedrock is not a uniform medium for root proliferation. We hypothesized plant species that survived in different karst habitats had some other rooting characteristics rather than deep penetration. To test the hypothesis, coarse root systems of two widely distributed woody species (one tree and one shrub) growing in three typical rocky karst habitats (shallow soil, loose rocky soil and exposed rock) were excavated in karst region of southwest China. Root systems were investigated based on four parameters: maximum rooting depth, maximum radial extent, root tapering pattern and root curvature. In all the three habitats, maximum rooting depths were no deeper than 120 and 40 cm for the tree and shrub species, respectively. Maximum radial extents were extremely large compared with maximum rooting depth, indicating that rooting characteristics were dominated by horizontal extension rather than deep penetration. Roots of both species growing in shallow soil habitat tapered gradually and curved slightly, which was consistent with the specific characteristics of this habitat. On the contrary, roots of the tree species growing in the other two habitats tapered rapidly but curved slightly, while roots of the shrub species tapered gradually but curved strongly. It was speculated that limited depths and rapid tapering rates of the tree roots were likely compensated by their utmost radial extensions, while the shrub species might benefit from its root curvature as the associated root tropisms may increase the ability of root to encounter more water and contribute to potentially high resource absorption efficiency. Our results highlight the importance of taking shallow-rooted species into account in understanding the distribution of natural plant communities and predicting future vegetation dynamics in karst regions.     

Taxonomic characteristics of soil Mycobacteria and their antibiotic properties]

Morphological, cultural and chemotaxonomic properties of 12 gram-positive soil cultures isolated were studied by using a test system developed for screening the organisms producing broad-spectrum antibiotics among Nocardiaforms (Coryneforms). The cultures were found to belong to Actinomycetales, Nocardioforms, Mycobacteriaceae and Mycobacterium. The saprophytic rapidly growing soil mycobacteria showed antibiotic activity against a large number of gram-positive and gram-negative test microbes including those belonging to Pseudomonas and Proteus resistant to the majority of the antibiotics currently used in medicine.     

喀斯特峰丛洼地不同生态系统土壤微生物与养分的耦合关系

基于喀斯特峰丛洼地农作区、人工林、次生林、原生林4类生态系统土壤微生物量、微生物数量及土壤养分的分析,本文探讨了不同生态系统土壤微生物特征及其与土壤养分的耦合关系.结果表明:不同生态系统微生物种群组成不同,真菌比率均较低,农作区、人工林、原生林的放线菌比率较大,而次生林细菌比率较大;不同生态系统中微生物量碳(Cmic)与微生物量氮(Nmic)、微生物量磷(Pmic)的相关性均达到了显著或极显著水平;不同生态系统土壤微生物量与土壤养分的关系密切,而微生物数量与土壤养分的相关性均较弱,表明土壤微生物细菌、真菌、放线菌种群数量分布的随机性较大,而不是受单一养分因子的控制;不同生态系统中土壤微生物属性和土壤养分的耦合关系不同:农作区土壤有机质(SOM)、pH、全磷(TP)起较大作用,主要影响土壤Cmic、细菌和真菌;人工林中土壤水分、SOM、全氮(TN)、TP主要影响土壤微生物量;次生林中以pH、SOM、TP、碱解氮(AN)、速效钾(AK)主要影响土壤微生物量和真菌;原生林主要有pH、TP、AN影响土壤微生物量和细菌.     

The availability of soil boron fractions to olive trees and barley and their relationships to soil properties

Soil boron occurring in various forms was correlated with boron contents in the leaves of olive trees in 51 and in barley leaves in 20 soils. The amounts of boron: in soil solution (CwsB), non specifically adsorbed (NsaB), specifically adsorbed (SaB), occluded in Mn oxides (MnoB), occluded in amorphous Fe-Al oxyhydroxides (FeoB), were correlated with soil properties such as: organic matter content, pH, free aluminum and iron oxyhydroxides (Ald, Fed), amorphous aluminum and iron oxyhydroxides (Alo, Feo). The later correlation studies were conducted on a total number of 153 soil samples inclusive of the soils used for the plant uptake investigations.The results show that the boron contents in the leaves of olive trees were significantly correlated with FeoB, CwsB, SaB and MnoB but with CwsB, NsaB, SaB and FeoB in barley leaves. The respective correlation coefficients suggest that available forms of soil boron vary with plant species.The hot water soluble boron was significantly correlated with all the fractions of boron studied except MnoB, confirming its value as a measure of available soil boron. However, the non significant (a=0.05) correlation with MnoB, which show significant correlation with the contents in the leaves of olive trees and barley, suggest that this procedure does not extract significant amounts of available B held in Mn oxyhydroxides.The highest amount of CwsB originated from the Cws B and to a lesser degree from the SaB and NsaB. The correlation among the boron held in the forms studied and the selected soil properties were either no significant or significant with the highest correlation found between FeoB and pH and Feo.     

Plant diversity patterns and their relationships with soil and climatic factors along an altitudinal gradient in the middle Tianshan Mountain area, Xinjiang, China

Patterns of plant diversity along the altitudinal gradient of Tianshan in central Xinjiang, China were examined. Plant and environment characteristics were surveyed from higher, south of Bogeda peak, to lower, north of Guerbantonggute desert. There were a total of 341 vascular plant, 295 herbage, 41 shrub, and seven tree species in the sampled plots. The plant richness of vegetation types generally showed a unimodal pattern along altitude, with a bimodal change of plant species number at 100-m intervals of altitudinal samples. The two belts of higher plant richness were in transient areas between vegetation types, the first in areas from dry grass to forest, and the second from forest to sub-alpine grass and bush. The beta diversity varied with altitudinal changes, with herbaceous species accounting for most species, and thus had similar species turnover patterns to total species. Matching the change of richness of plant species to environmental factors along altitude and correlating these by redundancy analysis revealed that the environmental factors controlling species richness and its pattern were the combined effects of temperature, precipitation, soil water, and nutrition. Water was more important at low altitude, and temperature at high altitude, and soil chemical and physical characters at middle altitudes. This study provides insights into plant diversity conservation of Bogeda Natural Reserve Areas in Tianshan Mountain. Nomenclatures: the scientific name for plants follows Flora of China (Compiling Committee of Flora of China).     

Response of soil nematode community structure and diversity to long-term land use in the black soil region in China

Soil nematodes are sensitive to environmental changes and are used widely as indicators of soil conditions. The community structure and diversity of soil nematodes were studied in different long-term land use regimes in the black soil area in Northeast China. The land use regimes were maintained for 22?years, and included crop land (CL), grass land (GL) and bare land (BL). Soil samples were taken throughout the growing season, and nematodes were extracted and identified. A total of 39 nematode genera with relative abundance over 0.1?% were identified. Heterodera was the dominant genus in CL; Boleodorus was the dominant genus in GL, and Boleodorus, Eucephalobus and Filenchus were the dominant genera in BL. Land use had a significant effect on abundance of all soil nematode tropic groups and ecological indices. Sampling time had an effect on soil nematode abundance, but only on three of the eight nematode ecological indices MI (maturity index of free-living nematode), CI (channel index) and EI (enrichment index). SR (species richness index) was highest in GL where plant species diversity was also high. The CI was the highest in BL among three land uses, which means the soil food web dominated, with fungal decomposition channels in BL. Soil nematode community structure and diversity was shown to be an effective and informative tool for analyzing ecological aspects of land use in black soil regions. The data are inconclusive as to whether the effect of land use on soil nematode parameters is direct, or indirect via inducing changes in soil physicochemical properties.     

黔西北喀斯特土壤种子库季节动态及种子库对策

采用野外样线取样与温室萌发相结合的方法,研究了贵州省西北部喀斯特区域处于不同演替阶段群落的土壤种子库季节动态与种子库对策.实验共检测出130个物种,种子库密度变动于541～11180粒·m-2,草本种子的密度和物种数远大于木本种子.采样时间和地点对土壤种子库平均物种数和密度有显著影响.各群落类型的土壤种子库平均物种数都在4月达到最高,除草地外在12月下降到最低,草地在8月下降到最低.各群落类型土壤种子库密度都在4月达到最高,8月、12月以及次年5月的密度差异不显著.至少两种种子仅存在于1年中某些时段的短暂性土壤种子库类型和两种种子在全年的土壤种子库中都存在的持久性土壤种子库类型.植物的种子库对策是物种本身固有的生活史对策,但某些物种的种子库对策可能受干扰历史及微环境因素的影响,使其在种子数量上表现出不同的季节动态.     

广西典型喀斯特地区深层土壤有机碳矿化及其影响因素

以广西典型峰丛洼地草地和原生林深层土壤(70～100cm)为对象,利用微生物交叉接种培养试验,研究不同土地利用类型、土壤微生物群落和通气条件对深层土壤有机碳矿化的影响。在124d的培养期内,微生物接种改变了0～28d原生林和0～81d草地深层土壤有机碳矿化速率,而通气条件变化对这一过程没有明显影响。3因素方差分析结果显示,深层土壤有机碳累积矿化率受土地利用类型、微生物群落和通气条件的影响显著(P<0.01),且存在3因素间交互效应。研究结果对于深入认识喀斯特深层土壤有机碳稳定机制和评估碳储量及其周转具有重要意义。     

Plant community effects on soil moisture and nitrogen cycling in a semi-arid ecosystem

Biogeochemistry - Salinization of freshwater ecosystems impacts carbon cycling, a particular concern for coastal wetlands, which are important agents of carbon sequestration. Previous experimental...     

Seasonal variations in bacterioplankton community structures in two small rivers in the Himi region of central Japan and their relationships with environmental factors

The aim of this study was to improve our understanding of seasonal variations and the effects of physicochemical conditions on the bacterioplankton communities in two small rivers, the Moo and Nakayachi Rivers in the Himi region of central Japan. These rivers are inhabited by unionid freshwater mussels, which are used for oviposition by the endangered Itasenpara bitterling (Acheilognathus longipinnis). Water samples were collected every month between March 2011 and February 2012. Changes in bacterioplankton community structures were analysed using an approach that did not require cultivating the bacteria and involved PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The bacterioplankton community structures in the two rivers were similar in all seasons except winter. The bacterial sequences identified were dominated by typical freshwater Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, α-Proteobacteria, and β-Proteobacteria bacterioplankton. Many β-Proteobacteria species were detected in all seasons, but Bacteroidetes species were dominant in the winter. The bacterioplankton community structures were affected by biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, chlorophyll-a concentration, water depth, and water temperature. These results provide a foundation for a more detailed understanding of the conditions that provide a suitable unionid habitat.     

喀斯特峰丛洼地土地利用演变及其土壤侵蚀效应

人类不合理活动所导致的土地利用演变是引发土壤侵蚀及其负面生态效应的主要机制,因此研究二者的耦合关系具有重要意义。本文以贵州普定县的石人寨峰丛洼地为主要研究区域,从景观生态学的"格局-过程-尺度"、"源、汇景观"原理及其景观空间负荷对比指数(LCI)出发,应用稳定同位素和放射性核素示踪方法,揭示土地利用演变及其土壤侵蚀特征,并进一步分析二者的耦合关系。结果表明,该洼地在土壤剖面约100cm处记录到坡地森林遭受砍伐后变为耕地的事件,随后从坡地侵蚀下来的大量土壤沉积于洼地底部;该事件之后进入垦殖期,在洼地中轮种玉米、油菜、大豆等农作物。本研究为优化当地土地利用结构,改善流域的水土流失状况提供了新的视角。     

Pollen assemblages of tauber traps and surface soil samples in steppe areas of China and their relationships with vegetation and climate

We use 86 pollen trap and surface soil pollen samples in steppe areas of China to explore the relationships between modern pollen, vegetation, and climate. The modern pollen spectra from both sources have comparable compositions with regard to the major pollen taxa. However, the number of taxa in the traps was higher than in the surface soil samples. Both pollen accumulation rates and pollen concentrations are higher in the typical steppe areas than in the desert steppe areas. Discriminant analysis indicates that pollen spectra from trap and surface soil samples roughly reflect the vegetation zones of desert steppe and typical steppe, especially in the case of the trap samples. Detrended canonical correspondence analysis suggests that pollen assemblages have a significant relationship with the temperature of the coldest month and the mean annual precipitation.     

Plant and soil properties determine microbial community structure of shared Pinus-Vaccinium rhizospheres in petroleum hydrocarbon contaminated forest soils

Rhizosphere communities are critical to plant and ecosystem function, yet our understanding of the role of disturbance in structuring these communities is limited. We tested the hypothesis that soil contamination with petroleum hydrocarbons (PHCs) alters spatial patterns of ecto- (ECM) and ericoid (ERM) mycorrhizal fungal and root-associated bacterial community structure in the shared rhizosphere of pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia) and lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea) in reconstructed sub-boreal forest soils. Pine seeds and lingonberry cuttings were planted into containers with an organic (mor humus, FH or coarse woody debris, CWD) layer overlying sandy mineral horizons (Ae and Bf) of forest soils collected from field sites in central British Columbia, Canada. After 4 months, 219 mg cm^-2 crude oil was applied to the soil surface of half of the systems; systems were sampled 1 or 16 weeks later. Composition, relative abundance and vertical distribution of pine ECMs were assessed using light microscopy; community profiles were generated using LH-PCR of ribosomal DNA. Multivariate analysis revealed that plant and soil factors were more important determinants of community composition than was crude oil treatment. Fungal communities differed between pine and lingonberry roots; ECM communities were structured by soil layer whereas ERM communities varied between FH and CWD soil systems. Bacterial communities varied between plants and soil layers, indicating properties of ECM and ERM rhizospheres and the soil environment influence bacterial niche differentiation. This integration of mycorrhizal and bacterial community analysis contributes to a greater understanding of forest soil sustainability in forest ecosystems potentially contaminated with PHCs.     

The phenology of fine root growth in a maple-dominated ecosystem: relationships with some soil properties

A two-year study was undertaken in a maple-dominated watershed of southern Québec, Canada, to examine relationships between trends in fine root growth, stem diameter growth, soil moisture, soil temperature, mineralized-N and extractable-P. Until September, soil temperature was consistently higher in 1995 than in 1994. Apart from the first sampling in mid-May, soil moisture was higher in 1994 than in 1995. In 1994, most fine roots were produced before leaf expansion, whereas in 1995, fine root production peaked in July. Annual fine root production was estimated to be 2.7 times higher in 1994 than in 1995. Stem growth was strongly associated with the seasonal and annual variation in soil temperature. Root and diameter growth were asynchronous in 1994 but not in 1995. Fine root production was associated with two groups of variables: a soil fertility (mineralized-N and extractable-P) group and a physical soil environment (moisture and temperature) group. Our results are consistent with the negative effect of high soil-N fertility on fine root production but are inconclusive as to the positive effect of high soil-P fertility. Soil conditions that are detrimental to root growth such as high N availability and anaerobiosis could modify the normal dynamics of fine root growth.     

Plant and bacterial mucilages of the maize rhizosphere: Comparison of their soil binding properties and histochemistry in a model system

Mucilages from the root tips of axenically-grown maize and from a bacterium (Cytophaga sp.) isolated from the rhizosheaths of field-grown roots, were immobilized by drying onto nylon blotting membrane. The mucilage plaques remained in place through repeated rewettings and histochemical treatments. Staining of the plaques showed that both mucilages included acidic groups, and 1,2 diols (the latter notably fewer in bacterial mucilage). Bacterial mucilage plaques stained strongly for protein, plant mucilage was unstained. Plaques of both mucilages bound soil particles strongly if soil was applied to wet mucilage and then dried. Bound soil was not lost with rewetting. Dry weight and densitometer measurements showed that bacterial mucilage bound about 10% more soil than the same surface area of root-cap mucilage. Pretreatment of plaques with periodate oxidation eliminated most soil binding by root-cap mucilage but this was completely reversible by reduction with borohydride. Soil binding to bacterial mucilage was unaffected by periodate but much diminished by borohydride pretreatment (partially restored by subsequent oxidation). Neither pretreatment with cationic dyes nor preincubation in pectinase, pectin methylesterase or protease affected subsequent soil binding by the mucilage plaques. Pretreatment of root-cap mucilage plaques with lectins specific for component sugars also did not alter soil binding. It is concluded that mucilages of both plant and bacterial origin can contribute to the adhesion and cohesion of maize rhizosheaths, but each by a different mechanism. Binding by root-cap mucilage depends on 1,2 diol groups of component sugars, that of bacterial mucilage does not, and is likely to be protein mediated. ei]Section editor: R O D Dixon     

黄土高原子午岭退耕地土壤物理性质与群落特征

通过对子午岭北部黄土丘陵沟壑区4、9、15和20a退耕地的生境和植被群落特征的分析,研究了不同年限退耕地的植被群落、土壤水分、容重和生物量的变化。结果表明：随退耕年限的增加,杂草群落中物种分布较均匀,物种丰富度明显增加,植物种数和个体数增加,其优势种和亚优势种分属于6科9属;根系在土层中分布增多,在一定深度范围内土壤结构逐渐疏松,致使土壤容重随退耕年限的增加而减小;在0～80cm土层内土壤含水量从高至低依次为4a、20a、15a和9a退耕地;80～300cm土层的土壤含水量得到明显改善,土壤含水量从高至低依次为20a、4a、15a和9a退耕地;地面生物量随退耕年限的延长而增加,但增加幅度逐渐趋于缓慢。