Soil fungal diversity and assembly along a xeric stress gradient in the central Namib Desert

The Namib Desert of south-western Africa is one of the oldest deserts in the world and possesses unique geographical, biological and climatic features. While research through the last decade has generated a comprehensive survey of the prokaryotic communities in Namib Desert soils, little is yet known about the diversity and function of edaphic fungal communities, and even less of their responses to aridity. In this study, we have characterized soil fungal community diversity across the longitudinal xeric gradient across the Namib desert (for convenience, divided into the western fog zone, the central low-rainfall zone and the eastern high-rainfall zone), using internal transcribed sequence (ITS) metabarcoding. Ascomycota, Basidiomycota and Chytridiomycota consistently dominated the Namib Desert edaphic fungal communities and a core mycobiome composed of only 15 taxa, dominated by members of the class Dothideomycetes (Ascomycota), was identified. However, fungal community structures were significantly different in the fog, low-rainfall and high-rainfall zones. Furthermore, Namib Desert gravel plain fungal community assembly was driven by both deterministic and stochastic processes; the latter dominating in the all three xeric zones. We also present data that suggest that the inland limit of fog penetration represents an ecological barrier to fungal dispersal across the Namib Desert.     

Structure, Pattern and Mechanisms of Formation of Seed Banks in Sand Dune Systems in Northeastern Inner Mongolia, China

A comparison of structure and pattern of the soil seed bank was made between active and stabilized sand dunes in northeastern Inner Mongolia, China. The objective of this paper was to determine the significance of seed bank in vegetation restoration of sand dunes. The results showed that (1) average seed density decreased from stabilized sand dune to interdune lowland of stabilized sand dune, to interdune lowland of active sand dune, and to active sand dune; (2) horizontally, along the transect from interdune lowland to ecotone and to sand dune top, a ‘V’ shaped pattern was presented in the active dune system, and a reverse ‘V’ shaped pattern in the stabilized sand dune system; (3) vertically, the proportion (accounting for the total seeds) of seeds found in 0–20 mm soil profile decreased from stabilized sand dune to interdune lowland of stabilized sand dune, to interdune lowland of active sand dune, and to active sand dune. The same order was also found in 20–50 mm and 50–100 mm soil profiles; (4) the Sokal and Sneath similarity indices in the species-composition between soil seed bank and above-ground vegetation were ranked as: the stabilized sand dune (24%) > the interdune lowland of active sand dune (21%) > the interdune lowland of stabilized sand dune (18%) > the active sand dune (5%); and (5) vegetation restoration of active sand dunes depends on the dispersal of seeds from nearby plant communities on the interdune lowlands. Much effort must be made to preserve the lowlands, as lowlands are the most important seed reservoir in the active sand dune field.     

生物土壤结皮对荒漠土壤线虫群落的影响

在干旱的沙漠生态系统中,生物土壤结皮对于沙丘的固定和土壤生物的维持起着相当重要的作用.土壤线虫能敏感的指示土壤的恢复程度,是衡量沙区生态恢复与健康的重要生物学属性,而目前关于生物土壤结皮与土壤线虫的关系研究很少.为探明生物土壤结皮对土壤线虫的影响,以腾格里沙漠东南缘的人工植被固沙区藻结皮和藓类结皮覆盖的沙丘土壤为研究对象,根据固沙年限的不同将样地分为4个不同的区进行采样(1956、1964、1981和1991年固沙区),以流沙区作为对照;同时,在不同季度(4、7、9和12月)分别采集腾格里沙漠东南缘的人工植被固沙区藻结皮和藓类结皮覆盖下不同土层(0-10、10-20和20-30 cm)的沙丘土壤,以沙坡头地区的红卫天然植被区为对照,分析生物土壤结皮下土壤线虫的时空变化.采用改良的Baermann漏斗法进行分离线虫,用光学显微镜鉴定并统计.研究表明:1956、1964、1981和1991年人工植被固沙区的藻结皮和藓类结皮均可显著提高其下土壤线虫多度、属的丰富度、Shannon-Weaver多样性指数、富集指数和结构指数(P＜0.05),这可能是因为生物土壤结皮的存在为土壤线虫提供了重要的食物来源和适宜的生存环境;固沙年限与结皮下土壤线虫多度、属的丰富度、Shannon-Weaver多样性指数、富集指数和结构指数存在显著的正相关关系(P＜0.05),这说明固沙年限越久,越有利于土壤线虫的生存和繁衍;结皮类型显著影响土壤线虫群落,相对于藻结皮而言,藓类结皮下土壤线虫多度与属的丰富度更高(P＜0.05),这说明演替后期的藓类结皮比演替早期的藻结皮更有利于土壤线虫的生存和繁衍.此外,藻结皮和藓类结皮均可显著增加其下0-10、10-20和20-30 cm土层线虫多度和属的丰富度(P＜0.05),但随着土壤深度的增加,这种影响逐渐减弱,表明生物土壤结皮更有利于表层土壤线虫的生存;而且,随着季节的变化,藻结皮和藓类结皮下土壤线虫多度基本表现为秋季＞夏季＞春季＞冬季,这些反映了生物土壤结皮的生物量、盖度和种类组成随着季节变化而变化.因此,腾格里沙漠东南缘的人工植被固沙区生物土壤结皮的存在与演替有利于土壤线虫的生存和繁衍,增加了线虫数量、种类和多样性,这指示了生物土壤结皮有利于该区土壤及其相应生态系统的恢复.     

古尔班通古特沙漠南缘融雪水土壤入渗量

融雪水土壤入渗量是干旱区沙漠重要的水平衡收入项.2012-2013、2013-2014年两个冬季对古尔班通古特沙漠南缘沙丘西坡、东坡和丘间地降雪前和融雪后的土壤含水率进行监测,根据水量平衡原理计算了沙丘西坡、东坡、丘间地和景观尺度上的融雪水土壤入渗量,并与采用筒测法的实测结果进行比较.结果表明： 降雪前土壤含水率较低,未冻层非饱和土壤水对地表冻结层土壤水分的补给可忽略不计;融雪入渗水是表层土壤获得补给的主要水源;冻结期潜水既没有蒸发,积雪融化后潜水也没有获得补给;研究区西坡、东坡、丘间地和景观尺度上的融雪水土壤入渗量分别为20～43、27～43、32～45和26～45 mm.
     

Chlorophytes of biological soil crusts in Gurbantunggut Desert, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China

In this paper, chlorophytes collected from 253 biological soil crust samples in Gurbantunggut Desert in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China were studied by field investigation and microscopical observation in lab. The flora composition, ecological distribution of chlorophytes in the desert and dynamic changes of species composition of chlorophytes in different developing stages of biological soil crusts are preliminarily analyzed. Results showed that there were 26 species belonging to 14 genera and 10 families, in which unicellular chlorophytes were dominant. There existed some differences in distribution of varied sand dune positions. The taxa of chlorophytes in leeward of sand dunes are most abundant, but the taxa in windward, interdune and the top of sand dunes reduced gradually. Chlorophytes were mainly distributed within the crust and the taxa of chlorophytes decrease obviously under the crust. In the devel-oping stages of the biological soil crust, species diversity of chlorophytes changed a little, but species composition pre-sented some differences. Chlorococcum humicola, Chlorella vulgaris, Chlamydomonas ovalis and Chlamydomonas sp. nearly existed in all developing stages of biological crusts. In several former stages of the biological soil crust there were spherical chlorophytes and filamentous ones. When moss crust formed, filamentous chlorophytes disappeared, such as Microspora and Ulothrix.     

Ecological restoration and recovery in the wind-blown sand hazard areas of northern China: relationship between soil water and carrying capacity for vegetation in the Tengger Desert

The main prevention and control area for wind-blown sand hazards in northern China is about 320000 km2 in size and includes sandlands to the east of the Helan Mountain and sandy deserts and desert-steppe transitional regions to the west of the Helan Mountain.Vegetation recovery and restoration is an important and effective approach for constraining wind-blown sand hazards in these areas.After more than 50 years of long-term ecological studies in the Shapotou region of the Tengger Desert,we found that revegetation changed the hydrological processes of the original sand dune system through the utilization and space-time redistribution of soil water.The spatiotemporal dynamics of soil water was significantly related to the dynamics of the replanted vegetation for a given regional precipitation condition.The long-term changes in hydrological processes in desert areas also drive replanted vegetation succession.The soil water carrying capacity of vegetation and the model for sand fixation by revegetation in aeolian desert areas where precipitation levels are less than 200 mm are also discussed.     

Locomotory activity in the Namib Desert golden mole Eremitalpa granti namibensis (Chrysochloridae)

Eremitalpa granti namibensis is a small, blind, subterranean insectivore endemic to the Namib Desert sand dunes. Unlike other subterranean mammals which seldom leave their burrow systems, the Namib mole forages extensively on the dune surface for its insectivorous prey. Activity phasing in this atypical mole was examined in the field and in the laboratory. Free-living moles were almost exclusively nocturnal, while moles kept in the laboratory were active day and night. These findings are discussed in relation to prey availability, predator pressure and avoidance of diurnal extremes. Light and temperature appeared to be important cues for daily onset and cessation of activity.     

沙区植物多样性保护研究进展

沙区景观表现为沙丘和低地交错分布.沙区常具独特的植物区系,含有特有和稀有植物.沙区植物丰富度降低和特有(稀有)植物消失问题近些年已受到很大关注,被列入国际生物多样性保护计划,很多国家和地区都对此开展了专门的研究.本文以近期发表的文献为基础,从植物多样性保护问题的提出、植物多样性形成机制、植物多样性保护途径、植物多样性研究与生态学理论的发展等方面论述了沙区植物多样性保护及其研究进展.沙区植物多样性保护应注意植物多样性保护目标的地域间差异(维持沙丘上的高植物丰富度还是保护特有或稀有植物)、流沙固定-植物多样性保护间的均衡、"植物多样性保护的量(高的植物丰富度)-质(特有或稀有植物出现)"间的均衡.还应将沙丘体和丘间低地视为一个统一体,研究干扰和生境破碎化对植物多样性造成的影响.     

Home range and movements of the Namib Desert golden mole, Eremitalpa granti namibensis (Chrysochloridae)

Eremitalpa granti namibensis is a small, blind, subterranean insectivore endemic to the Namib desert sand dunes. Unlike most other subterranean mammals, E. g. namibensis lacks a permanent burrow system and is a surface forager. Population density and home range utilization were studied by following surface trails and capture, mark and recapture. Population density was low but stable and home range size large, a reflection of the low food availability in the Namib dune environment. No permanent nests or burrows were found while the pattern of home range utilization was nomadic but circumscribed. Home ranges overlapped with those of neighbouring animals.     

Dew measurements along a longitudinal sand dune transect, Negev Desert, Israel

In a desert environment dew can serve as an important source of moisture for plants, biological crusts, insects and small animals. A measurement programme was carried out within a sand dune belt situated in the northwestern Negev desert, Israel, to measure daily amounts of dew deposition as well as micro-meteorological conditions during the dew formation and early-morning drying process. Dew quantities were measured by micro-lysimeters along a 200-m transect as well as by the eddy-correlation technique at a reference location. A simple physical model was constructed to simulate the dew deposition process as well as early-morning drying for the interdune area and the north- and south-facing dune slopes. Measurements carried out during September and October 1997 showed that the daily amounts of dew ranged between 0.1 mm/night and 0.3 mm/night within the interdune area. On the slopes, the amounts of dew were about 50% lower. Simulated results agreed well with the field data. Received: 7 June 1999 / Revised: 9 November 1999 / Accepted: 17 November 1999     

Climate and coastal dune vegetation: disturbance, recovery, and succession

The sand dune habitats found on barrier islands and other coastal areas support a dynamic plant community while protecting areas further inland from waves and wind. Foredune, interdune, and backdune habitats common to most coastal dunes have very different vegetation, likely because of the interplay among plant succession, exposure, disturbance, and resource availability. However, surprisingly few long-term data are available describing dune vegetation patterns. A nine-year census of 294 plots on St. George Island, Florida suggests that the major climatic drivers of vegetation patterns vary with habitat. Community structure is correlated with the elevation, soil moisture, and percent soil ash of each 1 m² plot. Major storms reduce species richness in all three habitats. Principle coordinate analysis suggests that changes in the plant communities through time are caused by climatic events: changes in foredune vegetation are correlated with temperature and summer precipitation, interdune vegetation with storm surge, and backdune vegetation with precipitation and storm surge. We suggest that the plant communities in foredune, interdune, and backdune habitats tend to undergo succession toward particular compositions of species, with climatic disturbances pushing the communities away from these more deterministic trajectories.     

中国东北地区流动沙丘生态系统丘间低地地下芽库的时空变化

中国东北地区流动沙丘生态系统丘间低地地下芽库的时空变化 地下芽库在半干旱区沙丘生态系统植被恢复中起着重要作用。然而,目前针对流动沙丘丘间低地地下芽库时空变化的研究却很少。本研究通过调查一个生长季内5个不同面积流动沙丘丘间低地地下芽库的大小和组成,确定流动沙丘丘间低地地下芽库的时空变化。研究结果显示,中等面积丘间低地的总芽库密度与分蘖芽密度最高,茎基部芽密度呈相反趋势,而根茎芽密度不随丘间低地的面积变化而变化。地下芽库大小具有明显的季节变化特征。总芽密度在8月份达到高峰,10月份最低,根茎芽密度变化趋势与总芽密度相似,而茎基芽密度变化趋势与总芽密度相反,分蘖芽密度的变化不明显。以上结果表明,地下芽库密度随丘间低地的面积和季节变化而变化。这一结果有助于认识流动沙丘生态系统中植物生长的适应策略,并可为半干旱区沙丘植被恢复和保护提供理论指导。     

科尔沁沙地植物群落圆环状分布成因地统计学分析

调查发现,在科尔沁沙地中部部分梁窝状沙丘的丘顶、丘坡和丘间地,植物群落依生境梯度而分布,呈典型圆环状分布格局．沙层水分状况分析表明,同一沙丘不同部位的沙层含水量为丘顶低于丘坡地,且二者均低于丘间地．地统计学分析表明,无论是流动沙丘还是固定沙丘,从丘顶、丘坡到丘间地,沙层含水量的空间异质性呈规律性的变化,块金值与基台值之比逐渐减小,变程逐渐减小,分维数逐渐增大,表明随机部分引起的空间异质性逐渐降低,而由空间自相关部分引起的空间异质性逐渐增高．因此,沙丘不同部位沙层含水量及其空间异质性的有规律变化是科尔沁沙地中部部分梁窝状沙丘植物群落呈圆环状分布格局的一个重要原因．     

Habitat use by radio-tagged Namib Desert golden moles (Eremitalpa granti namibensis)

The Namib Desert golden mole (Eremitalpa granti namibensis) is morphologically, physiologically and behaviourally specialized for living in the harsh loose‐sand desert. Ecological studies have relied on visually tracking animals on the surface of sand dunes. A radio tag would allow individuals to be more reliably located, even while under the sand. We developed a radio attachment and gathered preliminary data on winter habitat use by six individuals during 21 days. We compare data from previous studies and suggest that the greater diurnal activity, smaller home ranges, and more restricted movement patterns that we found are related to the unusual thermal and metabolic biology of Eremitalpa.     

A machine learning approach for automated recognition of movement patterns using basic, kinetic and kinematic gait data

This paper investigated application of a machine learning approach (Support vector machine, SVM) for the automatic recognition of gait changes due to ageing using three types of gait measures: basic temporal/spatial, kinetic and kinematic. The gaits of 12 young and 12 elderly participants were recorded and analysed using a synchronized PEAK motion analysis system and a force platform during normal walking. Altogether, 24 gait features describing the three types of gait characteristics were extracted for developing gait recognition models and later testing of generalization performance. Test results indicated an overall accuracy of 91.7% by the SVM in its capacity to distinguish the two gait patterns. The classification ability of the SVM was found to be unaffected across six kernel functions (linear, polynomial, radial basis, exponential radial basis, multi-layer perceptron and spline). Gait recognition rate improved when features were selected from different gait data type. A feature selection algorithm demonstrated that as little as three gait features, one selected from each data type, could effectively distinguish the age groups with 100% accuracy. These results demonstrate considerable potential in applying SVMs in gait classification for many applications.     

Water homeostasis in desert-dwelling horses

This study set out to investigate tolerance of the body water pool to short-term water deprivation in horses and, in particular, to assess whether feral horses from the Namib Desert showed tolerance to dehydration superior to Transvaal. Hydration status was compared in six feral horses from the Namib Desert and in six Boerperd farm horses under conditions of normal hydration and after 72 h of dehydration. Under normal hydration, the two groups did not differ significantly in water intake, plasma sodium and potassium concentrations, plasma osmolality, hematocrit, total plasma protein, body water content, or water turnover (ml.kg-0.82.day-1). The Namib horses were significantly smaller (P less than 0.0001) and turned over 5 liters less water per day than the Boerperd during normal hydration and 4 liters less during dehydration. Increases in plasma sodium concentration after 72 h of dehydration were greater (P less than 0.05) in the Namib horses. It was concluded that horses can easily tolerate water deprivation that results in a 12% reductions in body mass. The feral horses of the Namib desert were not significantly different per unit mass from domestic horses with regard to indexes of total body water content under conditions of normal hydration and after 72 h of dehydration. Their smaller size and, hence, lower water turnover might be mechanisms they use for survival in the Namib Desert.     

Evolutionary characteristics of the artificially revegetated shrub ecosystem in the Tengger Desert, northern China

The rain-fed sand-binding vegetation which stabilizes the migrating desert dunes in the Shapotou area at the southeastern edge of the Tengger Desert was initiated in 1956. The shrubs initially employed were predominantly Caragana korshinskii, Hedysarum scoparium, and Artemisia ordosica, and a desert shrub ecosystem with a dwarf shrub and microbiotic soil crust cover on the stabilized sand dunes has since developed. Since 1956 the success of this effort has not only ensured the smooth operation of the Baotou–Lanzhou railway in the sand dune area but has also played an important role in the restoration of the local eco-environment; therefore, it is viewed as a successful model for desertification control and ecological restoration along the transport infrastructure in the arid desert region of China. Some of the effects of recovery from desertification and ecological restoration on soil properties are shown by the increase in the distribution of fine soil particles, organic matter, and nutrients. The physical surface structure of the stabilized sand dunes, and inorganic soil crusts formed by atmospheric dust, have also led to the gradual formation of microbiotic soil crusts. Sand dune stabilization is associated with: (1) decreased soil particle size, (2) increased total N, (3) increased thickness of microbiotic crusts, (4) increased thickness of subsoil, and (5) an increase in volumetric soil moisture in the near-surface environment. After 17 years of dune stabilization, both the number of shrubs and community biomass decreased. The number of microbes, plant species and vegetation cover, all attained a maximum after the dunes had stabilized for 40 years. There is a significant positive correlation between the fractal dimension of soil particle size distribution (PSD) and the clay content of the shallow soil profile in the desert shrub ecosystem; the longer the period of dune stabilization, the greater the soil clay content in the shallow soil profiles (0–3 cm), and the greater the fractal dimension of soil PSD. This reflects the fact that during the revegetation processes, the soil structure is better developed, especially in the upper profile. Hence, the migrating sand dune becomes more stabilized. Therefore, the fractal model can be used to describe the texture and fertility of the soil, and, along with the degree of stability of the previously migrating sand dunes, can be used as an integrated quantitative index to evaluate the revegetation practice in the sand dune areas and their stabilization.     

Chlorophytes of biological soil crusts in Gurbantunggut Desert, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China

In this paper, chlorophytes collected from 253 biological soil crust samples in Gurbantunggut Desert in Xinjiang Autonomous Region, China were studied by field investigation and microscopical observation in lab. The flora composition, ecological distribution of chlorophytes in the desert and dynamic changes of species composition of chlorophytes in different developing stages of biological soil crusts are preliminarily analyzed. Results showed that there were 26 species belonging to 14 genera and 10 families, in which unicellular chlorophytes were dominant. There existed some differences in distribution of varied sand dune positions. The taxa of chlorophytes in leeward of sand dunes are most abundant, but the taxa in windward, interdune and the top of sand dunes reduced gradually. Chlorophytes were mainly distributed within the crust and the taxa of chlorophytes decrease obviously under the crust. In the developing stages of the biological soil crust, species diversity of chlorophytes changed a little, but species composition presented some differences. Chlorococcum humicola, Chlorella vulgaris, Chlamydomonas ovalis and Chlamydomonas sp. nearly existed in all developing stages of biological crusts. In several former stages of the biological soil crust there were spherical chlorophytes and filamentous ones. When moss crust formed, filamentous chlorophytes disappeared, such as Microspora and Ulothrix. __________ Translated from Arid Zone Research, 2006, 23(2): 189–193 [译自: 干旱区研究]