Predicting vegetation types at treeline using topography and biophysical disturbance variables

Abstract. The relationships between four vegetation types and variables representing topography and biophysical disturbance gradients were modeled for a study area in east-central Glacier National Park, Montana. Four treeline transition vegetation types including closed-canopy forest, open-canopy forest, meadow, and unvegetated surfaces (e.g. rock, snow, and ice) were identified and mapped through classification of satellite data and subsequent field verification. Topographic characteristics were represented using a digital elevation model and three variables derived from topoclimatic potential models (solar radiation potential, snow accumulation potential, and soil saturation potential). A combination of generalized additive and generalized linear modeling (GAM and GLM, respectively) techniques was used to construct logistic regression models representing the distributions of the four vegetation types. The variables explained significant amounts of variation in the vegetation types, but high levels of variation remained unexplained. A comparison of ‘expected’ and ‘observed’ vegetation patterns suggested that some unexplained variation may have occurred at the basin scale. A suite of tools and techniques is presented that facilitates predicting landscape-scale vegetation patterns and testing hypotheses about the spatial controls on those patterns.     

Environmental signals from leaves--a physiognomic analysis of European vegetation

Leaf physiognomic traits vary predictably along climatic and environmental gradients. The relationships between leaf physiognomy and climate have been investigated on different continents, but so far an investigation based on European vegetation has been missing. A grid data set (0.5 degrees x 0.5 degrees latitude/longitude) has been compiled in order to determine spatial patterns of leaf physiognomy across Europe. Based on distribution maps of native European hardwoods, synthetic chorologic flora lists were compiled for all grid cells. Every synthetic chorologic flora was characterised by 25 leaf physiognomic traits and correlated with 16 climatic parameters. Clear spatial patterns of leaf physiognomy have been observed, which are statistically significant related to certain, temperature-related climate parameters. Transfer functions for several climatic parameters have been established, based on the observed relationships. The study provides evidence that synthetically generated floras represent a powerful tool for analysing spatial patterns of leaf physiognomy and their relationships to climate. The transfer functions from the European data set indicate slightly different relationships of leaf physiognomy and environment compared with results obtained from other continents.     

黄土高原地区植被与气候的关系

利用地理信息系统技术结合典范对应分析和数量区划的方法。研究了黄土高原地区植被与气候之间的关系。排序结果表明：CCA的第一轴代表黄土高原植被和气候梯度的纬向变化,水分梯度是决定植被分布的最主要气候因子,热量梯度中的全年月平均最低气温、月平均最高气温、年均温也对植被的纬向性分布有较大的影响,黄土高原植被与气候梯度表现出明显的纬向性;CCA的第二轴代表黄土高原植被和气候梯度的经向性变化,热量梯度是决定植被经向性分布的最主要气候因子,水分梯度中的全年最大蒸散量对植被的经向性分布有较大的影响。黄土高原植被与气候梯度表现出明显的经向分布规律性。     

Climate and vegetation in China II. Distribution of main vegetation types and thermal climate

The authors examined relationships between Kira's warmth index (WI) and four other important thermal indices: the sums of daily mean temperatures above 5°C and 10°C, Thornthwaite's potential evapotranspiration (PE) and Holdridge's annual biotemperature. The thermal records of 671 meteorological stations evenly located all over China were used to make these comparisons. Close correlations were found within the four relationships, and accordingly WI was used to analyse the thermal distributions of the main vegetation types. Vegetation types around the 671 stations were read from a vegetation map with a scale of 1/4000000. Vegetation types at 269 stations corresponded to the natural or seminatural vegetation, and 29 vegetation types were distinguished by arranging the 269 data into the same or similar types. The geographical distribution of these 29 types and the corresponding main climatic features were described. The relations between WI and distribution of these vegetation types were discussed in detail. As a result, WI values (°C month) corresponding to the vegetation zones could be summarized as follows: (1) arctic or alpine vegetation zone: 0–15; (2) boreal or subalpine vegetation zone: 15-(50–55); (3) cool-temperate vegetation zone: (50–55)–(80–90); (4) warm-temperate vegetation zone: (80–90)–(170–180). These values almost coincided with Kira's values. Chinese postgraduate student in Japan sent by the Chinese Government.     

Distribution of plant species and vegetation types in relation to climate

The distribution of plant species and vegetation types in the Prairie provinces of Canada can be related to climatic phenomena. The ratio of summer/spring precipitation appears to be especially important, with temperatures of less importance. Climatic areas can be outlined; within these areas differences in soils are important.     

Predicting the distribution of shrub species in southern California from climate and terrain-derived variables

Abstract. Generalized additive, generalized linear, and classification tree models were developed to predict the distribution of 20 species of chaparral and coastal sage shrubs within the southwest ecoregion of California. Mapped explanatory variables included bioclimatic attributes related to primary environmental regimes: averages of annual precipitation, minimum temperature of the coldest month, maximum temperature of the warmest month, and topographically-distributed potential solar insolation of the wettest quarter (winter) and of the growing season (spring). Also tested for significance were slope angle (related to soil depth) and the geographic coordinates of each observation. Models were parameterized and evaluated based on species presence/absence data from 906 plots surveyed on National Forest lands. Although all variables were significant in at least one of the species’ models, those models based only on the bioclimatic variables predicted species presence with 3–26% error. While error would undoubtedly be greater if the models were evaluated using independent data, results indicate that these models are useful for predictive mapping – for interpolating species distribution data within the ecoregion. All three methods produced models with similar accuracy for a given species; GAMs were useful for exploring the shape of the response functions, GLMs allowed those response functions to be parameterized and their significance tested, and classification trees, while some-times difficult to interpret, yielded the lowest prediction errors (lower by 3–5%).     

Water availability determines physiognomic gradient in an area of low-fertility soils under Cerrado vegetation

Soil is one of the environmental elements to influence Cerrado vegetation. Aluminum toxicity of Cerrado soils is well known, but the importance of water availability is still to be understood, especially in Cerrado under wetter climates. We studied the association between Cerrado physiognomies (cerrado sensu stricto and cerradão) and morphological, chemical, physical, and physical–hydrical soil attributes at southwestern São Paulo State, Brazil. Characterization of soil morphology, classification and sample collection for particle-size distribution, and chemical and water-retention analyses were carried out in 15 permanent plots, where vegetation was characterized floristically and structurally. Simple correlation and canonical correspondence analyses were performed with soil data. Classification of soils (U.S. Soil Taxonomy) with very low clay contents was not able to separate soils under cerradão—forestry physiognomy—from those under cerrado sensu stricto—savannic physiognomy, even though it tends to distinguish soils under greater biomass from those under lower biomass physiognomies. High soil acidity of all studied soils and increased at the sites with greater contents of organic matter, mainly with the cerradão physiognomy, precluded Al toxicity as a cause of the physiognomic gradient within Cerrado. Clay content, microporosity, and residual and saturation moisture were the most significant soil attributes to correlate directly with the cerradão physiognomy, indicating that water availability is the main factor explaining the physiognomic gradient of Cerrado vegetation in a local scale, where climate and soil fertility do not vary spatially.     

黄土高原不同植被覆被类型NDVI对气候变化的响应

植被与气候是目前研究生态与环境的重要内容。为探究黄土高原地区植被与气候因子之间的响应机制,利用线性趋势分析、Pearson相关分析、多元线性回归模型以及通径分析的方法,对黄土高原2000—2015年全区和不同植被覆被类型区内NDVI与气候因子的变化趋势以及相互作用关系进行分析。植被覆被分类数据和植被指数数据分别来源于ESA CCI-LC(The European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative Land Cover)以及MODND1T/NDVI(Normalized Difference Vegetation Index)。结果表明:(1) 2000—2015年黄土高原全区植被年NDVI_(max)显著增加的区域占总面积的74.25%,不同植被覆被类型年NDVI_(max)分别为常绿阔叶林常绿针叶林落叶阔叶林落叶针叶林镶嵌草地农田镶嵌林地草地灌木,并且都呈显著增加趋势,其中常绿阔叶林和农田增加幅度最大,为0.012/a。(2)黄土高原全区NDVI与气温、日照、降水和相对湿度等气候因子之间没有显著相关性,但在不同植被覆被类型区,气候因子对NDVI存在显著作用,且不同植被覆被类型差异明显。(3)在全区和不同植被覆被类型区NDVI仅对降水的响应比较一致,气温无论在整个区域尺度还是不同植被覆被类型区对植被的影响均不显著。(4)常绿阔叶林、落叶阔叶林、常绿针叶林及镶嵌林地等以乔木为主的植被覆被类型受年均相对湿度和年总日照时数的显著负效应驱动,草地、镶嵌草地等以草本为主的植被覆被类型则受到年总降水量的显著正效应影响。这说明对植被类型进行区分,更有利于揭示气候对植被的作用机制。     

Simulated distribution of vegetation types in response to climate change on the Tibetan Plateau

Abstract. Questions: What is the relationship between alpine vegetation patterns and climate? And how do alpine vegetation patterns respond to climate changes? Location: Tibetan Plateau, southwestern China. The total area is 2500000 km² with an average altitude over 4000 m. Methods: The geographic distribution of vegetation types on the Tibetan Plateau was simulated based on climatology using a small set of plant functional types (PFTs) embedded in the biogeochemistry‐biography model BIOME4. The paleoclimate for the early Holocene was used to explore the possibility of simulating past vegetation patterns. Changes in vegetation patterns were simulated assuming continuous exponential increase in atmospheric CO concentration, based on a transient ocean‐atmosphere simulation including sulfate aerosol effects during the 21st century. Results: Forest, shrub steppe, alpine steppe and alpine meadow extended while no desert vegetation developed under the warmer and humid climate of the early Holocene. In the future climate scenario, the simulated tree line is farther north in most sectors than at present. There are also major northward shifts of alpine meadows and a reduction in shrub‐dominated montane steppe. The boundary between montane desert and alpine desert will be farther to the south than today. The area of alpine desert would decrease, that of montane desert would increase. Conclusions: The outline of changes in vegetation distribution was captured with the simulation. Increased CO2 concentration would potentially lead to big changes in alpine ecosystems.     

气候变化对东北主要地带性植被类型分布的影响

准确地划分地带性主要植被类型分布的适宜区域,可为区域植被恢复与重建、生物多样性保护等工作提供有益的理论参考。在检验1961—2013年东北地区气候变化突变点的基础上,基于东北地区主要植被类型热量指标,研究气候变化对该区域主要植被类型适宜分布区域的影响,并利用2000年和2013年土地类型覆盖数据(MCD12Q1),对推算的适宜分布区域进行验证,结果表明:大兴安岭气温突变点为1982年,其它地区为1988年,东北地区各生态地理区年降水量没有明显的突变点。气温突变点后适宜在东北地区生长的主要植被种类没有变化,但各植被类型的分布区域均有所改变,其中高山冻原、亚高山矮曲林、寒温带针叶林和温带针阔叶混交林适宜分布区域面积减小,暖温带落叶阔叶林和温带草原面积增大。气温突变点前后各植被类型适宜分布区的地理中心均发生了不同程度的移动,其中移动距离最大的是南部地区的亚高山矮曲林,向东北方向移动了135.44km。与主要植被类型实际分布相对比,证明气候变化对研究区植被类型分布可能已经产生了影响。     

Predicting membrane protein types with bragging learner

The membrane protein type is an important feature in characterizing the overall topological folding type of a protein or its domains therein. Many investigators have put their efforts to the prediction of membrane protein type. Here, we propose a new approach, the bootstrap aggregating method or bragging learner, to address this problem based on the protein amino acid composition. As a demonstration, the benchmark dataset constructed by K.C. Chou and D.W. Elrod was used to test the new method. The overall success rate thus obtained by jackknife cross-validation was over 84%, indicating that the bragging learner as presented in this paper holds a quite high potential in predicting the attributes of proteins, or at least can play a complementary role to many existing algorithms in this area. It is anticipated that the prediction quality can be further enhanced if the pseudo amino acid composition can be effectively incorporated into the current predictor. An online membrane protein type prediction web server developed in our lab is available at http://chemdata.shu.edu.cn/protein/protein.jsp.     

藏北高原典型植被样区物候变化及其对气候变化的响应

植被物候作为陆地生态系统对气候变化的响应和反馈的重要指示,已成为区域或全球生态环境领域研究的热点。基于非对称高斯拟合方法重建了2001—2010年MODIS EVI时间序列影像,利用动态阈值法提取藏北高原植被覆盖2001—2010年每年关键物候参数。选取研究区内东部高寒灌丛草甸、中部高寒草甸及西部高寒草原和高寒荒漠4种典型植被类型,并结合附近的4个气象台站气候资料,分析典型植被物候在近10a对关键气候因子的响应特征。研究结果表明:(1)4种不同典型植被的物候特征(EVImax降低、返青期延后和生长季长度缩短)均表现出高寒灌丛草甸→高寒草甸→高寒草原→高寒荒漠草原的过渡;(2)藏北高原近10a的年平均气温及春、夏、冬三个季度的平均气温均呈显著升高的趋势,升温幅度在0.8—3.9℃/10a,降水减少趋势不显著,在这种水热条件下典型植被均表现出返青提前(7.2—15.5d/10a)、生长季延长(8.4—19.2d/10a)的趋势,而枯黄出现时间为年际间自然波动;(3)高寒灌丛草甸EVImax主要受春季降水量和气温影响,且降水的影响程度大于气温;对高寒草甸植被而言,春、夏季的气温和降水均有较大的影响;而高寒草原和高寒荒漠草原主要受夏季平均气温和降水量影响;(4)高寒灌丛草甸的返青时间主要受前一年秋季降水量的影响,相关系数达-0.579;而高寒草甸、高寒草原和高寒荒漠草原主要受春季平均气温影响,高寒荒漠草原的特征最为明显(r=-0.559)。     

An analysis of density responses of forest and woodland birds to composite physiognomic variables

Habitat ordinations were performed on 37 sites in forests and woodlands along a latitudinal transect that spanned over 250 km in central Victoria. Australia. Multivariate analyses of these data by using nonmetric. multidimensional scaling (AIDS) were used to generate composite variables. The relationships of these composite variables and densities (by area) of 58 species of forest and woodland birds were assessed by using linear and polynomial regressions. Only seven of the 58 species of birds did not display a significant relationship to one or other of the five composite variables. Approximately 50% of the avian species showed significant relationships with each of the first two composite variables, but lower percentages were observed for the other three variables. About a third of all significant correlations were either of second or third order, ft appears that marked curvilinearities associated with the first composite variable can be interpreted as linear responses with respect to the secondary composite variable. These results suggest that, although composite variables derived from multivariate classifications are statistically independent, there often may be substantial biological dependence between the composite variables. Therefore, for biological interpretation, it would be appropriate to regard composite variables derived from multivariate classifications as suites of related variables. Some authors have traced sharp discontinuities in distributions of species with respect to habitat structure by using presence/absence data alone. This approach appears to be sensitive to sampling of habitat types, and densities should be used wherever possible.     

山东省极端气候和人类活动对不同植被类型NDVI的影响

山东省作为我国华东典型的沿海地区,气候多变,人口密集,开展极端气候和人类活动对植被的影响对沿海地区生态环境稳定具有重要意义。基于BRT模型、多元线性回归方程和残差分析等方法研究了不同植被在极端气候和人类活动干扰下的生长状况。结果显示：（1）2000-2020年山东省全区NDVI （归一化植被指数）呈增长趋势且具有正持续性（H>0.5）。空间上,鲁西北和鲁西南植被生长状况较好且得到了显著改善,而北部黄河三角洲和莱州湾地区植被覆盖低且得到了显著退化。不同植被类型中草丛植被得到了显著改善（P<0.05）,而草甸植被退化较为严重;（2）近年来夜间温度（TMINmean、TN90p）的上升,连续干旱日数CDD和瞬时强降雨RX1d的增加有利于研究区植被的增长,而高温极值TXx的上升以及霜冻日数FDO的减少抑制了植被的增长;（3）对于不同植被类型,整体上受到极端气温的影响较大,且对栽培植物和针叶林的解释度更高,同一指标对不同植被类型的影响程度和正负效应存在较大的差异;（4）人类活动在全区植被变化中占主导地位且起到了显著改善作用（P<0.05）。不同植被类型中草甸受到人类活动的干扰最为明显,而针叶林则更多受到气候变化的影响。研究结果能对山东省植被未来的管理和规划提供科学支撑,同时对沿海地区生态环境调控和可持续发展起到了促进作用。     

基于区域植被类型评估的气候变化对中国森林生态系统的影响

基于中国知网(CNKI)和学术Google主题词为“气候变化”与“森林”的科技文献,根据全国范围的不同区域植被类型,运用整合分析方法就气候变化对森林生态系统的影响进行了系统评估,结果表明:在观测到的影响中,各个区域植被类型的树木物候、森林生产力与森林火灾方面的影响趋势大体相同,但森林地理分布影响趋势存在一定的差异;在预计的可能影响中,各个区域植被类型的树木物候、森林生产力、森林碳储量、森林火灾方面的影响趋势大体相同,但森林地理分布、森林结构方面的影响存在一定的差异.最后对现有研究的不足及未来研究方向等进行了讨论和展望.     

Stream vegetation in different landscape types

A methodology is proposed for assessing the ecological value of streams in the catchment of the Moravská Dyje River. It is concluded that by using a wide range of parameters that a more objective assessment is achieved than if only one were used. The landscape of the catchment studied contains excessive amounts of nutrients and, in comparison to its natural state, has become too uniform.     

不同植被类型植物物种多样性

为了评价大面积人工种植杜仲对当地植物多样性的影响,以河南省汝阳县不同植被类型为研究对象,通过群落学调查,运用重要值、Shannon-Wiener物种多样性指数(H)、Simpson物种多样性指数(D)和均匀度指数(JH')等指标,统计分析杜仲人工林、温带落叶阔叶林(以下简称次生林)和撂荒地3种不同植被类型的植物物种多样性,探讨杜仲种植对植物多样性的影响。调查发现,杜仲林样地中出现植物82种,隶属39科63属,草本层为最发达的一层;次生林样地中出现植物70种,隶属32科62属,乔木层为最发达层;撂荒地样地中出现植物84种,隶属35科69属,无乔木层。杜仲林物种丰富度和多度均不亚于次生林和撂荒地,且杜仲林草本层物种丰富度和植株总数均高于次生林。统计分析显示,杜仲林乔木层、灌木层和草本层多样性指数H和D值、均匀度指数JH'值与其它两种植被类型相比无显著性差异(P0.05)。因此,种植杜仲过程中采用合理密度,适当管理,不仅能提供叶、花、果等资源,而且能够丰富草本植物的种类和数量,增加植物物种多样性。     

中国不同植被类型归一化植被指数对气候变化和人类活动的响应

不同植被类型对外界干扰和环境变化的敏感性不同。为厘清中国不同类型植被的动态变化特征及其对外界环境变化的响应,综合利用趋势分析、残差分析和情景模拟方法,在明确2000-2015年间我国不同植被类型归一化植被指数(NDVI)时空变化基础上,对气候变化和人类活动两大驱动要素在不同植被类型NDVI变化中的相对贡献进行了定量评估和归因。研究结果表明:(1)2000-2015年,我国植被NDVI整体呈增加趋势,且其空间占比高达84.1%。其中,森林植被的改善状况最佳,显著增加的面积占到了森林总面积的82.4%;而荒漠植被的改善状况相对较差,仅有22.3%的区域呈显著增加趋势。(2)人类活动在我国植被变化中占主导地位。植被改善区和植被退化区人类活动的相对贡献分别为76.4%和60.0%,且人类活动对植被的影响更多与管理方式而非土地利用类型转变有关。(3)不同类型植被对气候变化和人类活动的响应差异显著。对于植被改善区,除沼泽外,人类活动对各类型植被NDVI变化的贡献率均在70%以上,尤其是对农作物的贡献率最高,达到80.7%;对于植被退化区,人类活动影响较大的植被类型为沼泽和农作物,表明2000-2015年间我国沼泽受到了更强烈人类活动的负面影响。研究有助于增强对不同植被类型对全球变化响应机制的理解,并为促进生态建设和植被恢复工作的有效实施提供科学参考。     

Modern pollen assemblages from human-influenced vegetation in northwestern China and their relationship with vegetation and climate

Modern pollen spectra can improve the interpretation of fossil pollen records used to reconstruct past vegetation, climate and human impacts. It is important, therefore, to carefully examine the relationships between modern pollen spectra, vegetation, climate and human activity. Here, we present the results of an analysis of the pollen spectra of 143 surface pollen samples from farmland, wasteland, desert, steppe/meadow, forest and river valley along a transect from Lanzhou to Urumqi, in northwestern China. The modern pollen assemblages are mainly composed of Amaranthaceae, Artemisia, Poaceae, Asteraceae, Ephedra and Nitraria. The results indicate that in general the surface pollen assemblages of different vegetation types reliably represent the modern vegetation in terms of the composition of the main taxa and the dominant types. Farmland is dominated by cereal-type (≥?15%) and Amaranthaceae (≥?20%), while the pollen assemblages of wasteland (i.e. the vegetation immediately surrounding farmland) are mainly composed of Amaranthaceae (≥?25%), Artemisia (≥?20%), Poaceae (≥?10%), Asteraceae (≥?5%) and Cyperaceae (≥?5%). Amaranthaceae (≥?45%) and Ephedra (≥?10%) are the most important taxa in desert, and Cyperaceae (≥?35%) and Thalictrum (≥?2%) are the dominant pollen types in steppe/meadow. Forest and river valley samples are characterized by high frequencies of Picea (≥?10%) and Cyperaceae (≥?20%). Both constrained and partial canonical ordination techniques (RDA and partial RDA) of the main pollen types and environmental variables show that the modern pollen spectra are primarily controlled by mean annual precipitation (MAP). Cyperaceae, Thalictrum and Brassicaceae are positively correlated with MAP and negatively correlated with mean July temperature (T_July), while the representation of certain other types, such as Amaranthaceae, Ephedra and Nitraria, is negatively correlated with MAP and positively correlated with T_July. The Human Influence Index (HII) is significantly correlated with cereal-type pollen, and it can also differentiate human-influenced and natural vegetation. Our results provide a basis for improving the interpretation of fossil pollen records from arid northwestern China and similar regions.