高寒草甸不同草地群落物种多样性与生产力关系研究

生态系统的结构和功能、生物多样性与生产力的关系问题是近年来群落生态学中研究的中心问题,其中,生态系统生产力水平是其功能的重要表现形式,用4种不同草地类型探讨自然群落的物种多样性与生产力关系.结果表明,矮嵩草草甸、小嵩草草甸和金露梅灌丛群落中物种多样性与生产力的关系呈线性增加关系,藏嵩草沼泽化草甸群落中线性增加关系不显著,这表明群落生产力除受物种多样性的影响外,也受物种本身特征和环境资源的影响.不同的环境资源和环境异质性是形成群落结构特征、物种多样性分布格局差异的主要原因之一.     

Dilution/extinction of community phenotypic characters to estimate relative structural diversity in mixed communities

Recent interest in microbial diversity has led to increased emphasis on the development of appropriate techniques. Structural diversity encompasses the number and distribution of separate or interacting biological entities responsible for a given function within the overall set of functions of a community. This study evaluated an approach for estimating the relative degree of structural diversity in heterotrophic microbial communities by dilution to extinction of community phenotypic traits. Serial dilutions of environmental samples (rhizosphere, stream) were tested for community phenotypic traits (i.e. carbon source respiration). The non-linear relationship between the number of positive responses (i.e. functional richness or R) and inoculum density in each sample dilution (I) fit the simple rectangular hyperbola model, allowing estimation of the maximal richness (R(max)) and the inoculum density at half-maximal richness (K(I)). The later term appears to be useful in assessing relative structural diversity as evidenced by significantly higher values for communities with higher predicted species diversity. The examination of community functional characteristics across a series of dilutions, particularly in conjunction with other techniques, may be a useful approach for the study of microbial diversity and related ecological parameters such as niche width and metabolic redundancy.     

大别山南坡森林植物群落物种多样性及其与海拔因子的关系

大别山地区植物资源丰富,区系组成复杂且起源古老,为连接华东、华北和华中三大植物区系的纽带,也是我国重要的生物多样性保护和水源涵养生态功能区。采用样方法,在大别山南坡的多枝尖、庵基坪和麒麟沟3个地区,沿着不同海拔高度选取了具有代表性的森林植物群落进行研究,从不同植物群落类型和层次的物种多样性、均匀度和丰富度及其与海拔因子的关系等方面,对大别山南坡的森林植物群落物种多样性进行综合分析。结果表明:1. 共记录有植物108科270属449种,划分为20个森林植物群落类型;2. 森林植物群落各层次物种丰富度表现为草本>乔木>灌木;Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Simpson多样性指数呈现出乔木>灌木>草本;Pielou均匀度指数变化较为复杂;3. 森林植物群落各层次的物种丰富度随海拔升高而下降;Shannon-Wiener指数和Simpson指数也表现为随着海拔升高而下降,但草本层在1400m之后有上升的趋势。Pielou指数在乔木层中表现为随着海拔的升高而下降,在草本层中表现为先下降后出现上升,在灌木层中则随着海拔的升高而上升,但其波动更为剧烈。本研究对大别山南坡森林植被大范围的采样观测研究,能够全面的展现大别山南坡森林植物的种类分布、空间组成等整体概况及其与海拔因子的关系,能为以后大别山南坡生物多样性的保护提供较为全面真实的数据,从而为大别山地区生物多样性的保护和可持续利用提供理论依据和实践意义。     

天山南坡高寒草地海拔梯度上的植物多样性变化格局

山地气候随海拔梯度变化使山地成为研究生物多样性的热点区域。在天山南坡巴音布鲁克高寒草地,对不同海拔梯度下的物种多样性进行了研究。结果表明共调查样地9个,出现植物34种,分属17科29属;物种丰富度随海拔升高呈明显的偏峰格局,在海拔3060m的天山羽衣草(Alchemilla tianschanica)草甸,物种组成最为丰富,出现植物17种,分属12科17属;Shannon-Wiener指数的变化范围为2.02~2.40,最小值出现在海拔2760m以紫花针茅(Stipa purpurea)为优势种的高寒草原,峰值则出现在3060m的天山羽衣草草甸,Shannon-Wiener指数随海拔梯度的变化趋势与物种丰富度基本相同,呈明显的偏峰格局;随海拔升高,Cody指数表现出明显的单峰格局;Shannon-Wiener指数与生长季温度存在显著负相关,而与生长季湿度和土壤含水量存在显著正相关。     

Restoration ecology research above the timberline: colonization of safety islands on a machine-graded alpine ski run

Colonization was studied in safety islands installed on a machine-graded downhill ski run (ca 2500m asl) and respectively aged 7, 8, and 9 years. For comparison, the neighbouring non-restored plots were investigated. The study included assessment of species richness (alpha diversity), size and spatial structure of the immigrant populations, and the nearest possible diaspore sources. The number of colonizing species recorded in the safety islands totalled 44 whereas only 25 species were found in the non-restored ski run plots close by. The mean species number per whole plot, per 1m2 and per 0.1m2 was significantly higher in the safety islands than in the non-restored ski run plots. Population founders and small populations represented more than half of all immigrant species in the safety islands, but medium-sized and large populations were also present. The overall distribution of plants was patchy but the number of individuals per 1m2 was significantly higher in the safety islands than in the ski run. Travelling distances separating the safety islands from the nearest possible diaspore source were often exceedingly short and ranged between 0.10m and 1m in 47.7% of all populations studied. It seems that the diaspore sources were mostly secondary i.e. plants scattered over the non-restored ski run, and those previously used in restoration trials, served as diaspore donors. The results of the study clearly demonstrate that successful colonization of machine-graded alpine ski runs in the study area is ultimately limited by safe-site availability and not by deficiencies in seed rain or remote diaspore sources. The colonization process in the safety islands is apparently well-advanced. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Colonization and extinction of ant communities in a fragmented landscape

Abstract In this paper we tested the assumption that smaller and more isolated remnants receive fewer ant colonizers and lose more species. We also tested hypotheses to explain such a pattern. We sampled ants in Brazil for 3 years in 18 forest remnants and in 10 grasslands between them. We tested the influence of remnant area and isolation on colonization rate, as well as the effect of remnant area on extinction rate. We tested the correlation between remnant area and isolation to verify the landscape design. Colonization rate was not affected by remnant area or isolation. Extinction rate, however, was smaller in larger remnants. Remnant area and isolation were negatively correlated. We tested two hypotheses related to the decrease in ant species extinction rate with increased remnant area: (i) small remnants support smaller and more extinction‐prone populations; and (ii) small remnants are more often invaded by generalist species, which suffer higher extinction inside remnants. The density of ant populations significantly increased with area. Generalist species presented a lower colonization rate in larger remnants, contrary to the pattern observed in forest species. Generalist species suffered more extinction than expected inside remnants. The lack of response of colonization rate to remnant area can be explained by the differential colonization by generalist and forest species. The decrease of ant population density in smaller remnants could be related to loss of habitat quality or quantity. The higher colonization by generalist ant species in the smaller remnants could be related to landscape design, because smaller remnants are more similar to the matrix than larger ones. Our results have important implications for conservation strategies because small remnants seem to be more affected by secondary effects of fragmentation, losing more forest species and being invaded more often by generalist species. Studies that compare only species richness between remnants cannot detect such patterns in species composition.     

长白山林线交错带形状与木本植物向苔原侵展和林线动态的关系

采用样带调查法测定了长白山岳桦林缘形状对入侵苔原木本植物和分布,树木生长和死亡的影响,阐述了林缘形状形成与生境小气候的关系,探讨了不同形状林缘更新格局形成的原因和林线的动态,林缘入侵物种主要由岳桦和东北赤杨组成。凹型林缘外入侵权地木向苔原侵展的距离和茎数,以及平均基径,基面积主平均高度均明显高一直线型和凸型林缘,其中凸型林缘的值最低,且锭离林缘降低最为迅速,随远离林缘入侵植株枯梢率增高分枝数增殖,     

Impact of municipal effluents and hydrological regime on myxozoan parasite communities of fish

Increased productivity from sewage effluents can enhance species richness locally. Results from a study of spottail shiners (Notropis hudsonius) in 1999 showed that prevalence and the mean number of myxozoan parasite species per host were higher downstream of the wastewater outflow from the Island of Montreal than upstream in the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada. This was attributed to organic enrichment of the sediments which presumably lead to increased densities of oligochaetes, the alternate hosts, downstream of Montreal. Spottail shiners subsequently were collected every August/early September in 2001–2004 to examine the stability and repeatability of these patterns. Prevalence and mean number of myxozoan species per fish typically were again higher downstream of the sewage source each year compared to upstream, although there was no significant difference in these measurements pooled across years between localities immediately upstream and downstream of the effluent outflow. Density of the oligochaete Limnodrilus hoffmeistereri, a common alternate host of myxozoans, was much higher at two downstream localities than at an upstream one. At a larger spatial scale, mean myxozoan infracommunity richness across sites in the St. Lawrence River was negatively correlated with mean water levels measured in the 3 months prior to fish sampling. Results suggest that on a local scale, variations in prevalence and diversity among localities are influenced by municipal effluents, but that at a landscape scale annual variations across sites are affected by the hydrological regime and climate. In effect, water level fluctuation had a landscape-wide impact that was superimposed over pollution-induced local variations.     

Influence of climate changes on animal communities in space and time: the case of spider assemblages along an alpine glacier foreland

The impact of global warming in space and time is described for species assemblages of wandering spiders along the alpine glacier foreland of the Forni Valley (Northern Italy). We tested the effect of environmental variables (e.g. elevation, age of glacier retreat, vegetation cover, debris cover) on species richness and on species composition of spiders. Age of glacier retreat was the only significant variable influencing spider species assemblages in the valley. A spatially structured distribution of species and species assemblages along the chronosequence of glacier retreat was evidenced. The threshold abruptly differentiating two groups of species richness and species composition fell between sites deglaciated 100 and 155 years before the analysis. Latitudinal shifts towards the poles in species ranges at the global scale in response to climatic changes are known, and an altitudinal shift in species range should be expected for spiders at the local scale of the Forni Valley. Such a shift is present in spider species assemblages, although not as an expected gradual change in species richness and composition, but with a threshold effect after one century of glacier retreat. We discuss our results in the light of plausible future scenarios due to global warming, the consequence of further glacier retreats onto spiders, and caveats for monitoring studies.     

高山林线形成机理及植物相关生理生态学特性研究进展

高山林线作为极端环境条件下树木生存的界限,由于其对气候变化的敏感性,在全球变化研究中得到了广泛关注。研究高山林线形成机理以及林线地带植物相关生理生态学特性成为预测未来气候变化条件下植被动态变化的出发点。对于高山林线形成机理研究主要关注两方面问题：（1）林线地带外界环境如何限制乔木生长和分布,其内在机理如何;（2）灌木及草本相对于乔木在林线地区有哪些生存优势,从乔木到灌木及草本生活型演变的功能及意义如何。综述了当前高山林线形成机理及相关生理生态特性的国内外最新研究成果,指出尽管温度（尤其是生长季低温）在全球尺度上能解释大部分高山区域林线的分布,但树木生长和生存受限的内在机理并没有弄清楚,目前主要存在“碳受限”以及“生长受限”假说两大争论焦点。另外,理论上受温度控制的高山林线对气候变化的响应表现出不同的模式,表明全球变化对林线分布和植被生长影响的复杂性和不确定性。因此,未来的研究应该关注影响林线地区植被生长的多种生理生态学过程,比如水分及养分利用过程,以及从乔木到灌木及草本生活型演变的功能意义,从而为林线形成机理以及对气候变化的响应提供更好的解释。     

Size-dependent species richness: trends within plant communities and across latitude

We examine how species richness and species‐specific plant density (number of species and number of individuals per species, respectively) vary within community size frequency distributions and across latitude. Communities from Asia, Africa, Europe, and North, Central and South America were studied (60°4′N–41°4′S latitude) using the Gentry data base. Log–log linear stem size (diameter) frequency distributions were constructed for each community and the species richness and species‐specific plant density within each size class were determined for each frequency distribution. Species richness in the smallest stem size class correlated with the Y‐intercepts (β‐values) of the regression curves describing each log–log linear size distributions. Two extreme community types were identified (designated as type A and type B). Type A communities had steep size distributions (i.e. large β‐values), log–log linear species‐richness size distributions, low species‐specific plant density distributions, and a small size class (2–4 cm) containing the majority of all species but rarely conspecifics of the dominant tree species. Type B communities had shallow size distributions (i.e. small β‐values), more or less uniform (and low) size class species‐ richness and species‐specific density distributions and size‐dominant species resident in the smallest size class. Type A communities were absent in the higher latitudes but increased in number towards the equator, i.e. in the smallest size class, species richness increased (and species‐specific density decreased) towards the tropics. Based on our survey of type A and type B communities (and their intermediates), species richness evinces size‐dependent and latitudinal trends, i.e. species richness increased with decreasing body size and most species increasingly reside in the smallest plant size class towards the tropics. Across all latitudes, a trade‐off exists between the number of species and the number of individuals per species residing in the smaller size classes.     

Hydraulic requirements of stream communities: a case study on invertebrates

1. We relate invertebrate assemblages to direct measurements of near‐bed hydraulic conditions that integrate the complex three‐dimensional structure of flow close to the bottom. 2. We sampled invertebrate taxa from a Mediterranean River along a spatial gradient of increasing shear stress in two seasons (spring and autumn) with different hydrological conditions. We used a recently described ordination technique, Outlying Mean Index (OMI) analysis, to study the response of stream invertebrates to near‐bed hydraulic parameters. 3. The distribution of nearly 70% of the taxa collected was significantly related to the hydraulic parameters assessed. In both seasons, shear stress and Froude number were the most important hydraulic parameters whereas substratum particle size and bed roughness had less influence. Most of the 31 taxa collected in both seasons had a higher OMI (an index showing the deviation between the mean environmental conditions used by a taxon and the mean environmental conditions used by a theoretical taxon uniformly distributed across the studied gradient) in autumn (when flow was greater) and were found in samples with high shear stress and high Froude number. This suggests that benthic invertebrates changed their preferences according to flow conditions. 4. Taxon richness declined with increased shear stress during lower flow in spring. Finally, and agreeing with previous results, the proportion of filter feeders and collector‐gatherers was inversely related to shear stress. 5. Our results are a first step towards better habitat suitability models that could inform management decisions.     

Overstorey tree species regulate colonization by native and exotic plants: a source of positive relationships between understorey diversity and invasibility

The North American woody species, Prunus serotina Ehrh., is an aggressive invader of forest understories in Europe. To better understand the plant invasion process, we assessed understorey plants and Prunus serotina seedlings that have colonized a 35-year-old replicated common-garden experiment of 14 tree species in south-western Poland. The density and size of established (> 1 year old) P. serotina seedlings varied among overstorey species and were related to variation in light availability and attributes of the understorey layer. In a multiple regression analysis, the density of established P. serotina seedlings was positively correlated with light availability and understorey species richness and negatively correlated with understorey species cover. These results suggest that woody invader success is adversely affected by overstorey shading and understorey competition for resources. Simultaneously, however, invader success may generally be positively associated with understorey species richness because both native and invasive plant colonization respond similarly to environmental conditions, including those influenced by overstorey tree species. Identification of characteristics of forests that increase their susceptibility to invasion may allow managers to target efforts to detect invasives and to restore forests to states that may be less invasible.     

环境因子对太白山高山植被物种组成和丰富度的影响

高山植被是一类具有重要生态和经济价值的植被类型,了解其物种组成和丰富度与环境因子的关系对于该类型植被保护、管理以及植物资源合理开发利用策略的制订具有重要指导意义。基于太白山高山植被和环境因子野外调查及室内实验数据,采用CCA排序法探索了环境因子对物种组成的影响,偏CCA计算了各环境因子对物种组成的总效应和净效应,GLM回归模型拟合了物种丰富度对环境因子的响应。结果表明,13个环境因子共解释了物种组成变异的31.7%,其中海拔、坡度、土壤碱解氮含量、全磷含量、坡向、岩石盖度、p H值、土壤厚度、有机质含量、有效磷含量和全氮含量对物种组成的净效应达显著水平(P0.05),但其作用强度依次减小。GLM拟合结果显示,物种丰富度与环境因子存在4种显著(P0.05)关系,即物种丰富度沿海拔和土壤厚度梯度单调递增,沿坡度和土壤全氮含量梯度单调递减,沿坡向、土壤p H值、碱解氮含量和全磷含量梯度呈单峰分布,与土壤有机质含量和全钾含量呈倒单峰关系。在这些显著的环境因子中,海拔、土壤碱解氮含量,p H值、有机质含量和坡向解释的物种丰富度变异量最大。