Effects of Habitat Quality and Isolation on the Colonization of Restored Heathlands by Butterflies

In areas with intensive land use, such as the Netherlands, habitat fragmentation and loss of habitat quality due to eutrophication and drainage are major threats to the preservation of species‐rich communities of heathland and acid grassland. Restoration of such nutrient‐poor habitats may be carried out by removing the topsoil from ex‐arable land, in order to lower the nutrient levels. However, the establishment of target plant communities is known to be fragmentary. The current study shows that this also applies to butterflies. Ten years after topsoil removal in eight study areas, on average, only 3.5 of 10 characteristic heathland species were recorded on the sites. Species that did colonize had a significantly lower density than in the source populations. Our study indicates that although isolation effects were limiting colonization, poor habitat quality was the main limiting factor, mainly due to lack of host plants, hydrological conditions, and, to a lesser extent, lack of nectar plants and excessive residual nutrient levels. An experiment with the introduction of cut heather in one study area showed a significantly higher abundance of both target and nontarget butterflies in manipulated sites than in control sites. It can be concluded that habitat restoration by topsoil removal can be successful for butterflies of especially wet heathland habitats, provided that source populations are at close range and care is taken that complete plant communities are restored.     

The Importance of Species Traits for Species Distribution on Oceanic Islands

Understanding species'' ability to colonize new habitats is a key knowledge allowing us to predict species'' survival in the changing landscapes. However, most studies exploring this topic observe distribution of species in landscapes which are under strong human influence being fragmented only recently and ignore the fact that the species distribution in these landscapes is far from equilibrium. Oceanic islands seem more appropriate systems for studying the relationship between species traits and its distribution as they are fragmented without human contribution and as they remained unchanged for a long evolutionary time. In our study we compared the values of dispersal as well as persistence traits among 18 species pairs from the Canary Islands differing in their distribution within the archipelago. The data were analyzed both with and without phylogenetic correction. The results demonstrate that no dispersal trait alone can explain the distribution of the species in the system. They, however, also suggest that species with better dispersal compared to their close relatives are better colonizers. Similarly, abundance of species in the archipelago seems to be an important predictor of species colonization ability only when comparing closely related species. This implies that analyses including phylogenetic correction may provide different insights than analyses without such a correction and both types of analyses should be combined to understand the importance of various plant traits for species colonization ability.     

漓江中下游鱼类物种组成及其多样性研究

2014年4月—2015年1月,按季度对漓江中下游进行了4次鱼类物种多样性调查研究,共采集鱼类10 161尾,计74种,隶属于5目15科55属。以鲤形目为主,占总物种数的66.67%,总个体数的64.29%;且鲤科占优势,占总个体数的59.30%。夏季鱼类多样性指数最高,物种最丰富,春季鱼类多样性相对较低,鱼类物种相对较少。秋冬两季多样性指数相差不大,鱼类的季节变化不明显;春季优势度指数λ最高,优势种较明显;鱼类群落结构相似性分析(ANOSIM)结果显示,平乐县鱼类群落结构与其他采样点间存在显著差异;但鱼类群落的季节性差异不明显。     

Hydrologic Connectivity Affects Fish Assemblage Structure,Diversity, and Ecological Traits in the Unregulated Gambia River,West Africa

The Gambia River of West Africa is a large unobstructed river, characterized by a natural flow regime and lateral connectivity across its floodplain. Construction of a major dam, however, is planned. We compared patterns of fish diversity, habitat use, assemblage structure, and the distribution of trophic position and body morphology in riverine and floodplain habitats in Niokolo Koba National Park, located downstream of the planned dam site. A total of 49 fish species were captured, revealing a lognormal distribution as expected for species‐rich assemblages. Fish species exhibited a range of habitat use patterns, from generalist to highly habitat‐specific, and appeared to migrate laterally among habitats between seasons. Species richness was homogenous among habitats in the wet season yet appeared to increase with isolation from the main river in the dry season. Fish assemblage structure was best explained by the interaction between habitat type and season, underlining the importance of the natural flow regime and lateral connectivity among floodplain habitats. The abundance of fishes having elongate bodies increased with isolation from the main channel in the wet season only. The distribution of fishes having compressed cross‐sectional morphology decreased with isolation from the main channel in the dry season only. These patterns of trait distribution support the conclusion that variation in hydrologic connectivity structures the fish assemblage. Our results suggest that altered flow regimes and loss of floodplain habitats after damming could lead to both decreased taxonomic and functional diversity of the fish assemblage.     

Estimating Abundances of Interacting Species Using Morphological Traits,Foraging Guilds,and Habitat

We developed a statistical model to estimate the abundances of potentially interacting species encountered while conducting point-count surveys at a set of ecologically relevant locations – as in a metacommunity of species. In the model we assume that abundances of species with similar traits (e.g., body size) are potentially correlated and that these correlations, when present, may exist among all species or only among functionally related species (such as members of the same foraging guild). We also assume that species-specific abundances vary among locations owing to systematic and stochastic sources of heterogeneity. For example, if abundances differ among locations due to differences in habitat, then measures of habitat may be included in the model as covariates. Naturally, the quantitative effects of these covariates are assumed to differ among species. Our model also accounts for the effects of detectability on the observed counts of each species. This aspect of the model is especially important for rare or uncommon species that may be difficult to detect in community-level surveys. Estimating the detectability of each species requires sampling locations to be surveyed repeatedly using different observers or different visits of a single observer. As an illustration, we fitted models to species-specific counts of birds obtained while sampling an avian community during the breeding season. In the analysis we examined whether species abundances appeared to be correlated due to similarities in morphological measures (body mass, beak length, tarsus length, wing length, tail length) and whether these correlations existed among all species or only among species of the same foraging guild. We also used the model to estimate the effects of forested area on species abundances and the effects of sound power output (as measured by body size) on species detection probabilities.     

When Local Extinction and Colonization of River Fishes Can Be Predicted by Regional Occupancy: the Role of Spatial Scales

Background

Predicting which species are likely to go extinct is perhaps one of the most fundamental yet challenging tasks for conservation biologists. This is particularly relevant for freshwater ecosystems which tend to have the highest proportion of species threatened with extinction. According to metapopulation theories, local extinction and colonization rates of freshwater subpopulations can depend on the degree of regional occupancy, notably due to rescue effects. However, relationships between extinction, colonization, regional occupancy and the spatial scales at which they operate are currently poorly known.

Methods

And Findings: We used a large dataset of freshwater fish annual censuses in 325 stream reaches to analyse how annual extinction/colonization rates of subpopulations depend on the regional occupancy of species. For this purpose, we modelled the regional occupancy of 34 fish species over the whole French river network and we tested how extinction/colonization rates could be predicted by regional occupancy described at five nested spatial scales. Results show that extinction and colonization rates depend on regional occupancy, revealing existence a rescue effect. We also find that these effects are scale dependent and their absolute contribution to colonization and extinction tends to decrease from river section to larger basin scales.

Conclusions

In terms of management, we show that regional occupancy quantification allows the evaluation of local species extinction/colonization dynamics and reduction of local extinction risks for freshwater fish species implies the preservation of suitable habitats at both local and drainage basin scales.     

Ecological Restoration and Large-Scale Ecological Disturbance: The Effects of Drought on the Response by Fish to a Habitat Restoration Experiment

Human‐induced erosion regularly delivers massive quantities of fine sediments into streams and rivers forming large static bodies of sediment known as sand slugs, which smother in‐stream habitat, alter community structure, and decrease biodiversity. Sand slugs are widespread in parts of southeastern Australia as well as in many other parts of the world, and there is now considerable interest in restoring such affected streams. The reintroduction of large timber is widely suggested as a strategy for restoring habitat complexity, but this has rarely been tested in sand slug–affected streams. We examined the response of fish populations to wood addition to two streams in southeastern Australia that have been impacted by sand slugs. Manipulated sites (three per treatment) had either one or four timber structures added, and these sites were compared with (three) unmanipulated (control) sites before and after the manipulation occurred. Despite a supraseasonal drought during the study, we observed short‐term increases in the abundance of Mountain galaxias (Galaxias olidus) at the four‐structure sites, while both the four‐structure and the one‐structure treatments appeared to buffer against drought‐induced declines in two other species, River blackfish (Gadopsis marmoratus) and Southern pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis), relative to controls. However, drought eventually caused the complete loss of surface water from these streams and the loss of fish from both manipulated and unmanipulated sites. Thus, although the study supports the use of timber structures as a means of increasing local fish abundances, these beneficial effects were, in these streams, contingent upon permanency of flow. Because sedimentation has depleted the number of permanent refuge pools in these creeks, recovery rates of the fauna (i.e., resilience) are likely to be slow. We therefore conclude that in streams subjected to frequent disturbance, restoring refugia may be as, if not more, important as restoring what we term residential habitat.     

Relative Importance of Coral Cover,Habitat Complexity and Diversity in Determining the Structure of Reef Fish Communities

The structure of coral reef habitat has a pronounced influence on the diversity, composition and abundance of reef-associated fishes. However, the particular features of the habitat that are most critical are not always known. Coral habitats can vary in many characteristics, notably live coral cover, topographic complexity and coral diversity, but the relative effects of these habitat characteristics are often not distinguished. Here, we investigate the strength of the relationships between these habitat features and local fish diversity, abundance and community structure in the lagoon of Lizard Island, Great Barrier Reef. In a spatial comparison using sixty-six 2m² quadrats, fish species richness, total abundance and community structure were examined in relation to a wide range of habitat variables, including topographic complexity, habitat diversity, coral diversity, coral species richness, hard coral cover, branching coral cover and the cover of corymbose corals. Fish species richness and total abundance were strongly associated with coral species richness and cover, but only weakly associated with topographic complexity. Regression tree analysis showed that coral species richness accounted for most of the variation in fish species richness (63.6%), while hard coral cover explained more variation in total fish abundance (17.4%), than any other variable. In contrast, topographic complexity accounted for little spatial variation in reef fish assemblages. In degrading coral reef environments, the potential effects of loss of coral cover and topographic complexity are often emphasized, but these findings suggest that reduced coral biodiversity may ultimately have an equal, or greater, impact on reef-associated fish communities.     

广州地区7种菊科入侵植物丛枝菌根侵染和根际土壤孢子密度的生境差异性分析

为了解广州地区7种菊科(Compositae)入侵植物与丛枝菌根真菌(Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi,AMF)的互作共生关系,调查了这7种菊科入侵植物在4种生境中的AMF侵染和根际土壤孢子密度,并分析土壤因子对AMF的影响。结果表明,7种入侵植物根内均受到AMF侵染,根际土壤中均检测到AMF孢子;AMF侵染在宿主间差异显著,生境间的差异不显著;孢子密度在生境和宿主间的差异均显著,人工绿地、农田果园的AMF孢子密度均显著高于森林周边和滨海地带。相关性分析表明,农田果园生境的根际土壤孢子密度与土壤有机质含量呈显著负相关关系;森林周边生境的AMF总侵染率与土壤全氮呈极显著正相关关系;人工绿地的AMF总侵染率与土壤速效氮含量呈显著负相关关系;滨海地带的AMF总侵染率与土壤有效磷含量呈显著负相关关系。这些对理解菊科植物入侵机理具有非常重要的作用。     

The Importance of Hunting and Habitat in Determining the Abundance of Tropical Forest Species in Equatorial Guinea

Understanding the impact of hunting on wildlife populations is crucial to achieving sustainability and requires knowledge of prey abundance responses to different levels of exploitation. While the abundance of primates has been shown to respond independently to hunting and habitat, habitat is rarely considered simultaneously when evaluating the impacts of hunting. Furthermore, the importance of these two factors in determining the abundance of other species has not been well investigated. We evaluate the independent effects of hunting and habitat on the abundance of a diverse assemblage of species, using a series of predictions and data from a study in Equatorial Guinea. Line transect surveys in sites of varying hunting intensity and habitat, and weekly interviews with hunters on current hunting effort in each site, were conducted. We also consider the role of past hunting, and discuss the interrelationships between hunting and habitat variables. We show that for primates, hunting is important in determining abundance, while for rodents and duikers, habitat is more important. Our findings show that the effects of hunting and habitat on abundance vary greatly between species, are often confounded and require an approach that isolates their independent effects to determine the true impact of hunting. Conservation managers must consider and incorporate habitat heterogeneity when managing hunting systems, taking into account the way in which the relative importance of these factors can vary between species.     

The Relationship between Local Species Richness and Species Pool: A Case Study from the High Mountains of the Greater Caucasus

The causes of linear relationships between local species richness and the size of the actual species pool in closed subalpine meadow communities and open plant communities of the alpine stony substrate (the Greater Caucasus Mountains) were analyzed using a computer simulation model. The results demonstrated that this relationship is insufficient evidence for the variation of local species richness among communities is wholly or partly determined by regional processes (the species-pool hypothesis). A relatively proportional ratio between these variables can also arise where local species richness and the size of the species pool both depend on local processes, or where local species richness is determined by local factors alone while the size of the species pool is determined by both local and regional factors.     

Grazing Offsets Nitrogen Enrichment Effects on Species Richness by Promoting the Random Colonization of Local Species in an Alpine Grassland

Ecosystems - Nitrogen (N)-induced declines in species richness can be offset by grazing via the suppression of dominant species to increase ground-level light. However, it is not known whether...     

塔里木河流域下游植物区系及生态学研究

塔里木河流域下游地区植物有30科80属122种。以双子叶植物类群占优势,其中多年生草本植物在塔里木河流域下游植物中占多数。显示了物种形成是年轻的进化类型。生态类型以旱生植物为主。占总种数的52％,这足长期适应比较干旱的自然环境的结果。该区系的温带成分占优势。地中海成分也占有一定地位。这些区系成分的植物都是干旱区荒漠植物的代表。区系地理反映了物种演化过程的历史气候、地质变化动态。查清塔里木河流域下游植物资源的数量和分布区的变迁,为该地区的植物资源保护提供科学依据。     

Spectral Characteristics of Phragmites australis and Its Response to Riverine Nitrogen and Phosphorus Contents in River Reaches Restored by Reclaimed Water

再生水是城市景观河湖的重要补给水源, 然而再生水中含量较高的氮和磷营养盐会引起水体富营养化, 破坏水生态平衡。以再生水补给的潮白河为研究区, 运用高光谱技术分析了挺水植物芦苇(Phragmites australis)叶片的光谱特征, 并结合水质数据, 通过拟合模型, 探究了芦苇对再生水中氮和磷的响应关系。结果表明, 各采样点水体的总氮(TN)和总磷(TP)含量分别介于1.85-18.16 mg·L^-1及0.01-0.36 mg·L^-1之间, 叶绿素a (Chl a)和溶解氧(DO)含量的范围分别为0.60-47.45 μg·L^-1与4.24-11.4 mg·L^-1。水体富营养化较为严重, 但仍处于富氧环境。多重方差分析表明, 不同采样点之间水体的TN、TP和Chl a含量差异显著(P<0.05)。由光谱反射率及反射率一阶导数曲线可知, 水体TN含量越高, 叶片光谱在可见光区的反射率越小, 红边位置也越向波长长的方向移动(即红移)。相关分析表明, 水体TN和TP含量与吸光度值log(1/R)在可见光区的相关性较强, 且TN与log(1/R)的相关系数高于TP。芦苇叶片光谱可在一定程度上区分水体TN含量差异, 但TP对光谱特征的影响模式不明显。光谱指数与水体TN含量之间的拟合模型中, 基于光化学指数(PRI)、修正叶绿素吸收指数(MCARI)和导数叶绿素指数(DCI)的模型能够解释水体TN含量变化的62.4%-70.9% (P<0.05), 可用于再生水氮含量的定量监测。该研究证明了植物光谱技术在水体富营养化监测上的可行性, 为保障再生水修复河道水质和生态安全提供了科学依据。     

湘江中游江段螺类的种类组成及区系分析

报道了湘江中游江段螺类的调查结果,计有螺类31种(其中5种为湖南省新记录),分别隶属于腹足纲6科11属,其中主要是田螺科的种类.对它们的种类组成、区系、种群大小、分布与栖息环境的关系进行了分析,并讨论了城镇污水未经处理直接排放及修河拦坝对螺类生存环境的影响.     

再生水补给河道内芦苇的光谱特征及其对水体氮和磷含量的响应

再生水是城市景观河湖的重要补给水源, 然而再生水中含量较高的氮和磷营养盐会引起水体富营养化, 破坏水生态平衡。以再生水补给的潮白河为研究区, 运用高光谱技术分析了挺水植物芦苇(Phragmites australis)叶片的光谱特征, 并结合水质数据, 通过拟合模型, 探究了芦苇对再生水中氮和磷的响应关系。结果表明, 各采样点水体的总氮(TN)和总磷(TP)含量分别介于1.85-18.16 mg·L^-1及0.01-0.36 mg·L^-1之间, 叶绿素a (Chl a)和溶解氧(DO)含量的范围分别为0.60-47.45 μg·L^-1与4.24-11.4 mg·L^-1。水体富营养化较为严重, 但仍处于富氧环境。多重方差分析表明, 不同采样点之间水体的TN、TP和Chl a含量差异显著(P<0.05)。由光谱反射率及反射率一阶导数曲线可知, 水体TN含量越高, 叶片光谱在可见光区的反射率越小, 红边位置也越向波长长的方向移动(即红移)。相关分析表明, 水体TN和TP含量与吸光度值log(1/R)在可见光区的相关性较强, 且TN与log(1/R)的相关系数高于TP。芦苇叶片光谱可在一定程度上区分水体TN含量差异, 但TP对光谱特征的影响模式不明显。光谱指数与水体TN含量之间的拟合模型中, 基于光化学指数(PRI)、修正叶绿素吸收指数(MCARI)和导数叶绿素指数(DCI)的模型能够解释水体TN含量变化的62.4%-70.9% (P<0.05), 可用于再生水氮含量的定量监测。该研究证明了植物光谱技术在水体富营养化监测上的可行性, 为保障再生水修复河道水质和生态安全提供了科学依据。     

The Species Composition and Distribution of Fish and Prawn in the Bed of the Lower Amur River

Russian Journal of Marine Biology - The distribution of fish and prawn in the bed of the lower Amur River (within 40–960 km from the mouth) is described based on the results of a beam-trawl...     

北京市潮白河流域鱼类物种组成的历史演变和多样性现状

本研究结合历史鱼类标本和研究资料,整理了密云水库建成前潮白河流域的鱼类物种组成,并与2017年在潮白河流域23个调查点的采集数据进行了分析对比。结果显示,潮白河流域的土著鱼类由密云水库建成之前的至少48种减少为现阶段的35种;此外现阶段另有8种鱼类为外来种。目前潮白河流域内鲤科鱼类占物种总数的67%,且大多数为小型低营养级鱼类,流域内占比最高的优势种是宽鳍(Zacco platypus)。本研究还以Margalef丰富度指数、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数、Pielou′s均匀性指数分析评估了潮白河流域内6条河流的鱼类多样性程度和空间变化,结果显示,流域内干流的多样性程度明显高于支流,密云水库上游河流明显高于下游河流,此外白河是本区域内多样性程度最高的河流,应加以重点保护。潮白河流域的密云水库是南水北调中线工程的受水水库,在这样的背景下,还应持续关注潮白河流域可能出现的外来物种问题。     

塔里木河中游地区3种植物的抗旱机理研究

对塔里木河中游地区沙吉力克、阿其河等断面地下水位进行监测并对胡杨、柽柳、芦苇3种植物的可溶性糖、脯氨酸等生理指标进行测定分析.研究显示：（1）塔里木河中游地区植物生长与地下水位变化关系密切,随着不同断面地下水位埋深程度的增加,植物体内可溶性糖与脯氨酸含量呈增加趋势;（2）在干旱胁迫情况下,植物通过可溶性糖、脯氨酸等渗透调节物质的积累来提高自身的抗旱性;（3）植物叶片可溶性糖和脯氨酸的积累存在互相补偿的关系.研究表明在相同水分胁迫下,柽柳和芦苇对地下水位的变化更为敏感,胡杨的抗旱性较强.