Effect of drought and season on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in a subtropical secondary forest

Arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in both soil and roots were examined in May (summer) and December (winter) under a 4-y drought experiment in a Chinese subtropical secondary forest. Drought significantly decreased AM fungal extra-radical hyphal density, spore density, and root colonization rate in both seasons. These AM parameters were significantly higher in summer than in winter in the control treatment, but only AM fungal extra-radical hyphal density exhibited the same seasonal trend in the drought treatment. In total, 45 AM fungal operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were obtained at a 97% sequence similarity level using Illumina sequencing of 18S rDNA. Drought and season had no significant effects on AM fungal OTU richness in soil and roots. AM fungal community composition in soil and roots was significantly affected by season but not by drought. This finding enhances our understanding of the response of AM fungi to global climate change in subtropical forest ecosystems.     

Evaluating the effects of terrestrial ecosystems, climate and carbon dioxide on weathering over geological time: a global-scale process-based approach

Global weathering of calcium and magnesium silicate rocks provides the long-term sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) on a timescale of millions of years by causing precipitation of calcium carbonates on the seafloor. Catchment-scale field studies consistently indicate that vegetation increases silicate rock weathering, but incorporating the effects of trees and fungal symbionts into geochemical carbon cycle models has relied upon simple empirical scaling functions. Here, we describe the development and application of a process-based approach to deriving quantitative estimates of weathering by plant roots, associated symbiotic mycorrhizal fungi and climate. Our approach accounts for the influence of terrestrial primary productivity via nutrient uptake on soil chemistry and mineral weathering, driven by simulations using a dynamic global vegetation model coupled to an ocean-atmosphere general circulation model of the Earth's climate. The strategy is successfully validated against observations of weathering in watersheds around the world, indicating that it may have some utility when extrapolated into the past. When applied to a suite of six global simulations from 215 to 50 Ma, we find significantly larger effects over the past 220 Myr relative to the present day. Vegetation and mycorrhizal fungi enhanced climate-driven weathering by a factor of up to 2. Overall, we demonstrate a more realistic process-based treatment of plant fungal-geosphere interactions at the global scale, which constitutes a first step towards developing 'next-generation' geochemical models.     

城市绿地微生物及其对城市化的响应

城市绿地微生物的稳定性是城市绿地发挥其重要生态系统功能的重要因素。人类世时代的快速城市化会改变城市绿地土壤理化性质、输入新兴污染物、加剧微生物生态系统潜在风险、改变微生物群落多样性及生态系统功能多样性,深远地影响了城市绿地的生态系统服务功能。本文综述了城市绿地微生物的特征,以及城市化进程对城市绿地微生物组(包括土壤、植物叶际和空气)、抗生素抗性基因、病原微生物和稀有物种群落的影响。与自然微生物相比,城市绿地微生物普遍具有较高的异质性,受人类活动影响大。同时,抗生素抗性基因水平以及人类致病菌数量则显著增加,体现了城市化对城市绿地生态系统健康和功能的扰动。今后研究中应更加关注城市化对于城市绿地微生物的影响,为其对人群健康影响风险评价提供可靠理论支持。     

模拟氮沉降对中亚热带米槠天然林土壤解磷微生物群落和功能潜力的影响

解磷微生物是森林土壤磷循环的关键驱动因素,对亚热带低磷土壤尤为重要。由于微生物对环境变化较为敏感,氮沉降下土壤微生物如何变化以及如何影响土壤磷有效性尚不清楚。为此,依托福建三明森林生态系统与全球变化国家野外科学观测研究站建立的米槠天然林长期氮沉降观测平台,借助16S rRNA和ITS高通量测序以及PICRUSt功能预测方法,探索氮添加对土壤解磷微生物群落和功能潜力的影响。结果表明:氮添加显著增加了土壤有效氮含量,但显著降低了Resin-P、NaHCO₃-P和TPo,表明氮沉降改变了土壤养分平衡,加剧了磷限制。此外,氮添加降低了根瘤菌和伯克霍尔德菌等解磷细菌的丰度,却增加了青霉菌和曲霉菌等解磷真菌的丰度。PICRUSt功能预测进一步发现,存在15种能够编码磷酸酶的基因,并且与对照相比,施氮后酸性磷酸酶、碱性磷酸酶和植酸酶等酶基因丰度显著增加。综上,本研究发现施氮加剧了亚热带米槠天然林土壤的磷限制,同时增加了解磷真菌的丰度和磷酸酶的基因丰度来促进有机磷矿化,这可能是氮沉降下驱动米槠天然林土壤磷转化的主要微生物机制。     

Effects of sequential depositional basins on lake response to urban and agricultural pollution: a palaeoecological analysis of the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada

1. Palaeolimnological analyses of fossil diatoms and pigments were conducted in four lakes of the Qu'Appelle Valley, Saskatchewan, Canada, to quantify the effect of upstream depositional basins on lake response to urban and agricultural human activities. Pasqua, Echo, Mission and Katepwa lakes exhibit similar modern limnological characteristics, lie sequentially downstream from urban point sources of growth‐limiting nitrogen (N), yet drain similarly large areas of farmland (38–40 × 10³ km²). 2. Analyses indicated that all lakes were naturally productive, contained eutrophic diatoms (i.e. Stephanodiscus niagarae, S. hantzchii, S. parvus and Aulacoseira granulata), and supported blooms of colonial (as myxoxanthophyll) and potentially toxic N‐fixing cyanobacteria (aphanizophyll), even prior to the onset of European settlement (ca. 1890) and urban development (ca. 1930). 3. The onset of agricultural practices ca. 1890 had only modest effects on algal communities in the Qu'Appelle lakes, with subtle increases in eutrophic diatom species (Pasqua, Mission and Katepwa lakes) and 25–50% increases in pigment‐inferred algal abundance (Echo, Mission and Katepwa lakes). 4. Despite naturally high production, total algal abundance (β‐carotene) in upstream Pasqua Lake increased by more than 350% after intense urbanization beginning ca. 1930, while eutrophic diatoms became more common and cyanobacteria populations increased ten‐fold. Principal components analysis (PCA) explained 64% of diatom variance, and identified three eras corresponding to baseline, pre‐agricultural communities (1776–1890), an era of high production (ca. 1925–1960) and recent variable community composition following tertiary treatment of urban sewage (ca. 1977–1990). 5. Analyses of three downstream lakes demonstrated that urban impacts following 1930 remained evident in fossil profiles of β‐carotene and myxoxanthophyll, but that large blooms of N‐fixing cyanobacteria were restricted to the past 25 years at downstream Mission and Katepwa lakes. Similarly, PCA showed that fossil diatom assemblages exhibited little directional variation until the 1970s. 6. Together, these analyses support the hypothesis that upstream lakes were effective at reducing the impacts of point‐source urban nutrients on downstream lakes. In contrast, diffuse agricultural activities had only limited impacts on water quality and these were less well ameliorated by upstream basins.     

Plants,microorganisms, and soil temperatures contribute to a decrease in methane fluxes on a drained Arctic floodplain

As surface temperatures are expected to rise in the future, ice‐rich permafrost may thaw, altering soil topography and hydrology and creating a mosaic of wet and dry soil surfaces in the Arctic. Arctic wetlands are large sources of CH₄, and investigating effects of soil hydrology on CH₄ fluxes is of great importance for predicting ecosystem feedback in response to climate change. In this study, we investigate how a decade‐long drying manipulation on an Arctic floodplain influences CH₄‐associated microorganisms, soil thermal regimes, and plant communities. Moreover, we examine how these drainage‐induced changes may then modify CH₄ fluxes in the growing and nongrowing seasons. This study shows that drainage substantially lowered the abundance of methanogens along with methanotrophic bacteria, which may have reduced CH₄ cycling. Soil temperatures of the drained areas were lower in deep, anoxic soil layers (below 30 cm), but higher in oxic topsoil layers (0–15 cm) compared to the control wet areas. This pattern of soil temperatures may have reduced the rates of methanogenesis while elevating those of CH₄ oxidation, thereby decreasing net CH₄ fluxes. The abundance of Eriophorum angustifolium, an aerenchymatous plant species, diminished significantly in the drained areas. Due to this decrease, a higher fraction of CH₄ was alternatively emitted to the atmosphere by diffusion, possibly increasing the potential for CH₄ oxidation and leading to a decrease in net CH₄ fluxes compared to a control site. Drainage lowered CH₄ fluxes by a factor of 20 during the growing season, with postdrainage changes in microbial communities, soil temperatures, and plant communities also contributing to this reduction. In contrast, we observed CH₄ emissions increased by 10% in the drained areas during the nongrowing season, although this difference was insignificant given the small magnitudes of fluxes. This study showed that long‐term drainage considerably reduced CH₄ fluxes through modified ecosystem properties.     

Shifts in frog size and phenology: Testing predictions of climate change on a widespread anuran using data from prior to rapid climate warming

Changes in body size and breeding phenology have been identified as two major ecological consequences of climate change, yet it remains unclear whether climate acts directly or indirectly on these variables. To better understand the relationship between climate and ecological changes, it is necessary to determine environmental predictors of both size and phenology using data from prior to the onset of rapid climate warming, and then to examine spatially explicit changes in climate, size, and phenology, not just general spatial and temporal trends. We used 100 years of natural history collection data for the wood frog, Lithobates sylvaticus with a range >9 million km², and spatially explicit environmental data to determine the best predictors of size and phenology prior to rapid climate warming (1901–1960). We then tested how closely size and phenology changes predicted by those environmental variables reflected actual changes from 1961 to 2000. Size, phenology, and climate all changed as expected (smaller, earlier, and warmer, respectively) at broad spatial scales across the entire study range. However, while spatially explicit changes in climate variables accurately predicted changes in phenology, they did not accurately predict size changes during recent climate change (1961–2000), contrary to expectations from numerous recent studies. Our results suggest that changes in climate are directly linked to observed phenological shifts. However, the mechanisms driving observed body size changes are yet to be determined, given the less straightforward relationship between size and climate factors examined in this study. We recommend that caution be used in “space‐for‐time” studies where measures of a species’ traits at lower latitudes or elevations are considered representative of those under future projected climate conditions. Future studies should aim to determine mechanisms driving trends in phenology and body size, as well as the impact of climate on population density, which may influence body size.     

When to start and when to stop: Effects of climate on breeding in a multi‐brooded songbird

Climate warming has been shown to affect the timing of the onset of breeding of many bird species across the world. However, for multi‐brooded species, climate may also affect the timing of the end of the breeding season, and hence also its duration, and these effects may have consequences for fitness. We used 28 years of field data to investigate the links between climate, timing of breeding, and breeding success in a cooperatively breeding passerine, the superb fairy‐wren (Malurus cyaneus). This multi‐brooded species from southeastern Australia has a long breeding season and high variation in phenology between individuals. By applying a “sliding window” approach, we found that higher minimum temperatures in early spring resulted in an earlier start and a longer duration of breeding, whereas less rainfall and more heatwaves (days > 29°C) in late summer resulted in an earlier end and a shorter duration of breeding. Using a hurdle model analysis, we found that earlier start dates did not predict whether or not females produced any young in a season. However, for successful females who produced at least one young, earlier start dates were associated with higher numbers of young produced in a season. Earlier end dates were associated with a higher probability of producing at least one young, presumably because unsuccessful females kept trying when others had ceased. Despite larger scale trends in climate, climate variables in the windows relevant to this species’ phenology did not change across years, and there were no temporal trends in phenology during our study period. Our results illustrate a scenario in which higher temperatures advanced both start and end dates of individuals’ breeding seasons, but did not generate an overall temporal shift in breeding times. They also suggest that the complexity of selection pressures on breeding phenology in multi‐brooded species may have been underestimated.     

Ordination analysis and bioindices based on zoobenthos communities used to assess pollution of a lake in southern Finland

The suitability of an ordination method, detrended correspondence analysis (DCA), was tested in assessing the degree of pollution of a large lake on the basis of the zoobenthos communities. Lake Etelä-Saimaa, in southern Finland, was originally oligotrophic but is now heavily loaded by effluents from the wood-processing industry. Comparison between areas was complicated by variation in the water depths of the lake sub-basins. A horizontal pollution gradient could, however, easily be detected by means of the DCA in both the profundal and sublittoral zones. The benthic quality index (BQI) based on the composition of the profundal chironomid fauna failed at some stations because the indicator species were lacking, despite enlargement of the indicator species pool. The BQI based on the oligochaetes could be calculated at almost all the stations. This index was modified by altering the empirical constants for two species. Diversity indices and the occurrences of single species had a limited value in the water quality assessment. The study concluded that DCA ordination is a powerful tool in evaluation of pollution. The method gives the best results when the sampling network is carefully planned and the material represents all sections of the underlying environmental gradients, e. g. a gradient from oligotrophy to eutrophy or heavy pollution.     

Insect distribution in response to climate change based on a model: Review of function and use of CLIMEX

The significant dependence of agricultural productivity on pest control requires pest distribution predictions at an early stage of pest invasion. Because pest cycles are critically affected by climate, climate is one of the most important factors for predicting an invasive pest. CLIMEX is a highly effective tool that can predict potential geographical species distributions, and test the regional suitability for a target species' habitat based on data including climate change scenarios. CLIMEX has been recently used in Europe, North America, China and Australia, among others. However, for modeling species distributions in Korea, the use of the model has been limited to date. This study aimed to first introduce the function and application of CLIMEX by reviewing important studies using this model. Second, we investigated previous studies using the model simulation to demonstrate the practical applicability of CLIMEX for the agricultural sector, and its use in forecasting.     

Observations on skin structure and sloughing in the stone fish Synanceja verrucosa and related fish species as a functional adaptation to their mode of life

Summary Synanceja verrucosa, Inimicus filamentosus, Pterois volitans and Dendrochirus brachypterus slough permanently their outer keratinised layer of epidermis. In I. filamentosus and S. verrucosa this layer is formed by the distal segments of the epithelial cells, where in P. volitans and D. brachypterus the whole superficial cells are keratinised.During the process of ripening the outer cells become loaded with fibrillar material and detached from the skin. In S. verrucosa several keratinised layers accumulate on the fish body and become invaded by algae and other fouling organisms. This produces an envelope of cryptic and protective value over the fish. As this ballast becomes too thick, the fish slough the cover, remaining protected only by the youngest sheet of keratin, attached to the superficial epithelial cells. The structure of the slough and outer epithelial layer resemble the Oberhäutchen described for squamate reptiles.     

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。     

A model to predict and assess the impacts of hydrologic changes on terrestrial ecosystems in The Netherlands,and its use in a climate scenario

Current water management policy in The Netherlands aims to serve a multitude of land use functions, such as agriculture, industry, shipping, and drinking water supply. To attune this policy to the diversity of functions, computer models are used to predict the consequences of various policy options as a part of PAWN: the government's Policy Analysis of Water management for The Netherlands.Nature conservation and development is a relatively new aspect of water management policy. This article describes the PAWN model DEMNAT, which is designed to predict the impact of hydrologic changes on terrestrial ecosystems in The Netherlands. The main components of the model are explained and the predicted effects of an assumed climatic change are discussed.     

Reflexions on some aspects of the interactions among ROS,RNS, and Ca2+ in response to a mycorrhizal or a pathogenic fungus

In vivo redox activities in the apoplast of axenically cultured intact seedling roots (superoxide anion generation, and superoxide dismutase and peroxidase activities) in contact with the compatible arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus (AMF) were clearly attenuated in comparison with those in contact with the pathogenic fungus (PF) or treated with MeJA, even at the early stages of treatment. Contact of roots with the AMF did not enhance the biosynthesis of phenolic compounds (total phenolics, flavonoids, and phenylpropanoid glycosides), while contact with the PF significantly enhanced the biosynthesis of all phenolic fractions. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species both seemed to be involved in these responses from the first moments of contact, but the fluorescence imaging of roots showed that ROS were mainly accumulated in the apoplast while NO was mainly stored in the cytosol. In conclusion, intact olive seedling roots clearly differentiated between AMF and PF.     

Insects and fungi on a C3 sedge and a C4 grass exposed to elevated atmospheric CO2 concentrations in open-top chambers in the field

The effects of elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration on plant-fungi and plant-insect interactions were studied in an emergent marsh in the Chesapeake Bay. Stands of the C₃ sedge Scirpus olneyi Grey, and the C₄ grass Spartina patens (Ait.) Muhl. have been exposed to elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentrations during each growing season since 1987. In August 1991 the severities of fungal infections and insect infestations were quantified. Shoot nitrogen concentration ([N]) and water content (WC) were determined. In elevated concentrations of atmospheric CO₂, 32% fewer S. olneyi plants were infested by insects, and there was a 37% reduction in the severity of a pathogenic fungal infection, compared with plants grown in ambient CO₂ concentrations. S. olneyi also had reduced [N], which correlated positively with the severities of fungal infections and insect infestations. Conversely, S. patens had increased WC but unchanged [N] in elevated concentrations of atmospheric CO₂ and the severity of fungal infection increased. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ concentration increased or decreased the severity of fungal infection depending on at least two interacting factors, [N] and WC; but it did not change the number of plants that were infected with fungi. In contrast, the major results for insects were that the number of plants infected with insects decreased, and that the amount of tissue that each insect ate also decreased.     

Statistical and multivariate statistical techniques to trace the sources and affecting factors of groundwater pollution in a rapidly growing city on the Chinese Loess Plateau

Abstract

Groundwater quality is defined by various water quality parameters. The aims of the research are to understand the relationships among different groundwater quality parameters and to trace the sources and affecting factors of groundwater pollution via statistical and multivariate statistical techniques. The 36 shallow groundwater samples collected from shallow pumping wells in Yan’an City were analyzed for various water quality parameters. Correlation analysis, principal component analysis (PCA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and multivariable linear regressions (MLR) were jointly used in this study to explore the sources and affecting factors of groundwater pollution. The study reveals that the mineral dissolution/precipitation and anthropogenic input are the main sources of the physicochemical indices and trace elements in the groundwater. Groundwater chemistry is predominantly regulated by natural processes such as dissolution of carbonates, silicates, and evaporates and soil leaching, followed by human activities as the second factor. Climatic factors and land use types are also important in affecting groundwater chemistry. Cl^– is the greatest contributor to the overall groundwater quality revealed by the two regression models. The first model which has eight dependent variables is high in model reliability and stability, and is recommended for the overall groundwater quality prediction. The study is helpful for understanding groundwater quality variation in urban areas.     

Negative feedback on a perennial crop: Fusarium crown and root rot of asparagus is related to changes in soil microbial community structure

The dynamic equilibrium of an ecosystem is driven by mutual feedback interactions between plants and soil microorganisms. Asparagus exerts a particularly strong influence on its soil environment through abundant production of persistent phenolic acids, which impact selectively soil microorganisms and may be involved in Fusarium crown and root rot (FCRR) of asparagus. In a survey of 50 asparagus plantations of the province of Québec, we found that FCRR was associated with a profound cultivar-specific, reorganization of the soil microbial community, as revealed by phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) profiling. According to PLFA indicators, microbial biodiversity as well as bacterial and fungal abundance dropped sharply with the onset of FCRR in fields planted with the cultivar Guelph Millenium. This drop was followed by a similar drop in the arbuscular mycorrhizal population. Biodiversity and microbial population size then increased to finally reach a new equilibrium. Discriminant analysis of PLFA profiles obtained from soil samples also indicated a shift in soil microbial community structure associated with FCRR development in fields planted with the cultivar Jersey Giant. Different soil biological conditions, as indicated by microbial biomass C and N and soil enzyme activities, were associated with different cultivars. Preceding crop, manure application, geographical location and tillage depth also influenced the structure of soil microbial communities in asparagus plantations, as determined by PLFA profiling. If higher FCRR incidence is a consequence of the soil microbial community reorganization, means to reduce FCRR incidence in asparagus plantations may be found among practices such as soil organic fertilization, soil tillage and intercropping strategies that would dilute the negative influence of asparagus on the soil microbial community. Finally, FCRR outbreaks were generally promoted by a previous crop of maize. It seems that maize and asparagus host a F. proliferatum teleomorph (Gibberella fujikoroi) of the same mating type.     

Using a climatic niche model to predict the direct and indirect impacts of climate change on the distribution of Douglas‐fir in New Zealand

Climate change is likely to have major impacts on the distribution of planted and natural forests. Herein, we demonstrate how a process‐based niche model (CLIMEX) can be extended to globally project the potential habitat suitable for Douglas‐fir. Within this distribution, we use CLIMEX to predict abundance of the pathogen P haeocryptopus gaeumannii and severity of its associated foliage disease, Swiss needle cast. The distribution and severity of the disease, which can strongly reduce growth rate of Douglas‐fir, is closely correlated with seasonal temperatures and precipitation. This model is used to project how climate change during the 2080s may alter the area suitable for Douglas‐fir plantations within New Zealand. The climate change scenarios used indicate that the land area suitable for Douglas‐fir production in the North Island will be reduced markedly from near 100% under current climate to 36–64% of the total land area by 2080s. Within areas shown to be suitable for the host in the North Island, four of the six climate change scenarios predict substantial increases in disease severity that will make these regions at best marginal for Douglas‐fir by the 2080s. In contrast, most regions in the South Island are projected to sustain relatively low levels of disease, and remain suitable for Douglas‐fir under climate change over the course of this century.