Effects of Stress from Mine Drainage on Diversity, Biomass, and Function of Primary Producers in Mountain Streams

This paper proposes a hypothesis that relates biodiversity, community biomass, and ecosystem function to a gradient of stress. According to this hypothesis, biodiversity has a low threshold of response to stress, whereas biomass and function are stable or increase under low to moderate stress and decrease only under high stress. This hypothesis was tested by examining communities of primary producers in streams under stress from mine drainage in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, USA. Mine drainage exerts chemical stress (low pH, dissolved metals) as well as physical stress (deposition of metal oxides) on stream biota. Diversity of primary producers was usually more sensitive to stress from mine drainage than community biomass (chlorophyll a) or primary production. Diversity was negatively related to all stresses from mine drainage, but it was especially low in streams with low pH or high concentration of dissolved zinc. Biomass and production were high in streams with only chemical stress, but they were often low in streams with physical stress caused by metal oxide deposition. Stream sites with aluminum oxide deposition usually had very little algal biomass. The rate of metal oxide deposition, presence of aluminum oxides, and pH together explained 65% of the variation in biomass. The rate of net primary production was highly correlated with biomass and had a similar response to stress from mine drainage. Overall, chemical stresses (low pH, high concentration of zinc) generally led to the hypothesized trends in our model of ecosystems under stress. Physical stress (deposition of metal oxides), however, led to variable responses, and often decreased biomass and function even at low intensity, contrary to the original hypothesis. Thus, the nature of ecosystem response to stress may differ for chemical and physical stresses.     

Phosphorus Availability Alters the Effects of Silver Nanoparticles on Periphyton Growth and Stoichiometry

Exposure to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) may alter the structure and function of freshwater ecosystems. However, there remains a paucity of studies investigating the effects of AgNP exposure on freshwater communities in the natural environment where interactions with the ambient environment may modify AgNP toxicity. We used nutrient diffusing substrates to determine the interactive effects of AgNP exposure and phosphorus (P) enrichment on natural assemblages of periphyton in three Canadian Shield lakes. The lakes were all phosphorus poor and spanned a gradient of dissolved organic carbon availability. Ag slowly accumulated in the exposed periphyton, which decreased periphyton carbon and chlorophyll a content and increased periphyton C:P and N:P in the carbon rich lakes. We found significant interactions between AgNP and P treatments on periphyton carbon, autotroph standing crop and periphyton stoichiometry in the carbon poor lake such that P enhanced the negative effects of AgNPs on chlorophyll a and lessened the impact of AgNP exposure on periphyton stoichiometry. Our results contrast with those of other studies demonstrating that P addition decreases metal toxicity for phytoplankton, suggesting that benthic and pelagic primary producers may react differently to AgNP exposure and highlighting the importance of in situ assays when assessing potential effects of AgNPs in fresh waters.     

大别山北坡落叶阔叶林的物种多样性

应用Simpson生态优势度指数（C）,Shannon—Wiener多样性指数（H）和均匀度（E）等指标,对落叶阔叶林的4个组合类型的物种多样性进行了分析。结果表明;乔木层树种的多样性指数H变化在1.4709-3.8875之间,以T_3（3.8875）最高,依次为T_4、T_2、T_1（1.4709）最低;均匀度E为T_3＞T_4＞T_1＞T_2,而生态优势度C与H的变化相反。表现出物种多样性不只受到海拔高度、生境条件的影响,人为活动、群落的稳定性等因素也有重要作用。相反,灌木层和草本层的物种多样性受人为活动的影响相对较小,表现出常规的变化,即随海拔升高,H和E值降低,C值则升高。格局检验的结果表明：栓皮栎种群为集群分布,短柄枹群呈随机分布。而化香种则呈现在化香林中的集群分布,在短柄枹林中又为随机分布的特点。     

A hot-spot of biodiversity in Northern Patagonia,Argentina

Located along the Argentine coastline of northern Patagonia, are San Matías (SMG) and San José (SJG) gulfs; although they are regarded as an area with a high-priority conservational status, knowledge on their diversity is currently fragmentary. Studies on molluscs from this area have been historically centred in economic resources and few works have referred to non-commercial species. The present study aims to document the biological diversity of molluscs at the SMG/SJG area, in order to determine the significance of these two gulfs in the context of the Argentine marine fauna; to evaluate how well represented is this fauna in three protected areas; and to compare the fauna present in the protected areas with that of a non-protected area. For that purpose, molluscs coming from 132 sampling stations, ranging from the intertidal to 170 m depth, were studied, and a thorough bibliographic compilation was performed. A total of 196 species of molluscs are reported for the area. Surprisingly, almost one third of these species lacked previous records for SMG/SJG, including several new/possibly new species. The three studied protected areas contain 88.3% of the species recognised for the entire SMG/SJG area. Although several species appear as exclusive from one of these three areas, many of them are also present in an intermediately located, non-protected area. Molluscan diversity at the SMG/SJG area is greater than previously thought, comprising about 41.4% of the bivalves and 37.8% of the gastropods present in the Argentine shelf; thus suggesting that the area may be considered as a hot-spot of diversity in the Argentine Sea.     

Tropical Forest Fragmentation Affects Floral Visitors but Not the Structure of Individual-Based Palm-Pollinator Networks

Despite increasing knowledge about the effects of habitat loss on pollinators in natural landscapes, information is very limited regarding the underlying mechanisms of forest fragmentation affecting plant-pollinator interactions in such landscapes. Here, we used a network approach to describe the effects of forest fragmentation on the patterns of interactions involving the understory dominant palm Astrocaryum mexicanum (Arecaceae) and its floral visitors (including both effective and non-effective pollinators) at the individual level in a Mexican tropical rainforest landscape. Specifically, we asked: (i) Does fragment size affect the structure of individual-based plant-pollinator networks? (ii) Does the core of highly interacting visitor species change along the fragmentation size gradient? (iii) Does forest fragment size influence the abundance of effective pollinators of A. mexicanum? We found that fragment size did not affect the topological structure of the individual-based palm-pollinator network. Furthermore, while the composition of peripheral non-effective pollinators changed depending on fragment size, effective core generalist species of pollinators remained stable. We also observed that both abundance and variance of effective pollinators of male and female flowers of A. mexicanum increased with forest fragment size. These findings indicate that the presence of effective pollinators in the core of all forest fragments could keep the network structure stable along the gradient of forest fragmentation. In addition, pollination of A. mexicanum could be more effective in larger fragments, since the greater abundance of pollinators in these fragments may increase the amount of pollen and diversity of pollen donors between flowers of individual plants. Given the prevalence of fragmentation in tropical ecosystems, our results indicate that the current patterns of land use will have consequences on the underlying mechanisms of pollination in remnant forests.     

The Amphibian Chytrid Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis Occurs on Freshwater Shrimp in Rain Forest Streams in Northern Queensland, Australia

Chytridiomycosis is a disease of amphibians caused by the chytrid fungus Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. It can be highly virulent and is unusual in that it appears to drive many host species to local extinction during outbreaks. One mechanism that could facilitate this is the ability to grow saprophytically or on alternative hosts. This is common in other chytrids but has not been demonstrated for B. dendrobatidis in the field. B. dendrobatidis can grow on arthropod exoskeletons in the laboratory, and freshwater shrimp can be the most abundant animals in tropical rain forest streams. We therefore used diagnostic quantitative polymerase chain reaction to determine the infection status of freshwater shrimp from areas in which they are sympatric with frog species that have suffered declines in association with outbreaks of chytridiomycosis. We detected B. dendrobatidis on three individual shrimp belonging to two genera and collected from two widely separated streams. Two of the individuals had high levels of infection. This indicates that the presence of alternative hosts is likely to contribute to the extreme virulence of chytridiomycosis outbreaks in some systems. The presence of alternative hosts may allow B. dendrobatidis to remain in the environment after local extinctions of amphibian hosts, preventing the recovery of amphibian populations.     

Thylakoid Membrane Reduction Affects the Photosystem Stoichiometry in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

Biogenesis of thylakoid membranes in both chloroplasts and cyanobacteria is largely not understood today. The vesicle-inducing protein in plastids 1 (Vipp1) has been suggested to be essential for thylakoid membrane formation in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana), as well as in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803, although its exact physiological function remains elusive so far. Here, we report that, upon depletion of Vipp1 in Synechocystis cells, the number of thylakoid layers in individual Synechocystis cells decreased, and that, in particular, the content of photosystem I (PSI) complexes was highly diminished in thylakoids. Furthermore, separation of native photosynthetic complexes indicated that PSI trimers are destabilized and the monomeric species is enriched. Therefore, depletion of thylakoid membranes specifically affects biogenesis and/or stabilization of PSI in cyanobacteria.In chloroplasts and cyanobacteria the energy transfer between PSI and PSII is regulated in a light-dependent manner (for a recent review, see Kramer et al., 2004). The two photosystems are connected by the cytochrome b₆f complex, and electron transfer from PSII via the cytochrome b₆f complex to PSI is believed to be regulated by the redox state of the plastoquinol pool potentially also involving the cytochrome b₆f complex (Fujita et al., 1987; Murakami and Fujita, 1993; Schneider et al., 2001, 2004; Pfannschmidt, 2003; Volkmer et al., 2007). Transfer of light energy to the two photosystems is mediated by light-harvesting complexes, and in cyanobacteria light is harvested by the soluble extramembranous phycobilisomes. The efficient energy transfer to PSI and PSII has to be balanced to synchronize the function of the two photosystems. In response to changing light intensities and qualities, energy coupling between the phycobilisomes and the photosystems changes, which allows a rapid adjustment of light absorbance by the individual photosystems. Furthermore, besides this short-term adaptation mechanism, it has been shown in many studies that on a longer term in cyanobacteria the ratio of the two photosystems changes depending on the light conditions (Manodori and Melis, 1986; Murakami and Fujita, 1993; Murakami et al., 1997). Upon shifting cyanobacterial cells from low-light to high-light growth conditions, the PSI-to-PSII ratio decreases due to selective suppression of the amount of functional PSI. In recent years, some genes have already been identified that are involved in this regulation of the photosystem stoichiometry (Hihara et al., 1998; Sonoike et al., 2001; Fujimori et al., 2005; Ozaki et al., 2007).Whereas in chloroplasts of higher plants and green algae the amounts of the two photosystems change in response to changing light conditions (Melis, 1984; Chow et al., 1990; Smith et al., 1990; Kim et al., 1993), it has already been noted a long time ago that the chloroplast ultrastructure also adapts to high-light and low-light conditions (Melis, 1984). Chloroplasts of plants grown under low light or far-red light have more thylakoid membranes than chloroplasts of plants grown under high light or blue light (Anderson et al., 1973; Lichtenthaler et al., 1981; Melis and Harvey, 1981). There appears to be a direct correlation between the chlorophyll content and the amount of thylakoids per chloroplast because light harvesting is increased by enhanced chlorophyll and thylakoid membrane content per chloroplast. Thus, chloroplasts adapt to high light both by a reduction of thylakoid membranes and by a decrease in the PSI-to-PSII ratio.Thylakoid membranes are exclusive features of both cyanobacteria and chloroplasts, and it still remains mysterious how formation of thylakoid membranes is organized. Many cellular processes, like lipid biosynthesis, membrane formation, protein synthesis in the cytoplasm and/or at a membrane, protein transport, protein translocation, and protein folding have to be organized and aligned for formation of internal thylakoid membranes. The recent observation that deletion of the vipp1 gene in Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) results in complete loss of thylakoid membranes has indicated that Vipp1 is involved in biogenesis of thylakoid membranes. Further analysis has suggested that Vipp1 could be involved in vesicle trafficking between the inner envelope and the thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts (Kroll et al., 2001). Because of this, the protein was named Vipp1, for vesicle-inducing protein in plastids 1. Depletion of Vipp1 strongly affected the ability of cyanobacterial cells to form proper thylakoid membranes (Westphal et al., 2001) and, consequently, also in cyanobacteria Vipp1 appears to be involved in formation of thylakoid membranes. A Vipp1 depletion strain of Arabidopsis is deficient in photosynthesis, although the defect could not be assigned to a deficiency of a single photosynthetic complex, but appeared to be caused by dysfunction of the entire photosynthetic electron transfer chain (Kroll et al., 2001). Therefore, depletion of Vipp1 in Arabidopsis seems to affect thylakoid membrane formation rather than the assembly of thylakoid membrane protein complexes (Aseeva et al., 2007). However, for cyanobacteria, it is not clear yet how diminishing the amount of thylakoid membrane layers would affect the amount and stoichiometry of the two photosystems.Here, we present the generation and characterization of a Vipp1 depletion strain of the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. Upon depletion of Vipp1, a decrease in thylakoid membrane pairs in the generated mutant strain and, furthermore, a significant decrease in active PSI centers was observed. Moreover, trimerization of PSI also appeared to be impaired in the mutant strain. These results suggest that thylakoid membrane perturbations caused by the Vipp1 depletion directly affects PSI assembly and stability in cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes.     

Patterns in the Chemical Fractionation of Organic Nitrogen in Rocky Mountain Streams

The intraannual dynamics of particulate organic nitrogen (PON) and two fractions of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) were investigated in two Rocky Mountain streams draining watersheds with low rates of N deposition. Organic nitrogen accounted for over 60% of the total annual nitrogen export and consisted mostly of DON. Nitrate peaked during winter months and declined considerably during the growing season (less than 10 µg/L) suggesting the importance of biotic uptake. Concentrations of PON, total DON, and two DON fractions (humic and non-humic) peaked during spring runoff and were positively related to discharge, indicating hydrologic influence. Total DON and its two fractions showed significant inverse relationships to nitrate, indicating that DON and nitrate followed different intraannual patterns. Despite its seasonal fluctuations in concentration, PON showed a consistent carbon–nitrogen (C:N) ratio suggesting that it was relatively uniform in composition. Fractionation studies indicated that DON was primarily of non-humic origin, whereas dissolved organic carbon (DOC) was mainly derived from humic sources. The two DON fractions differed from each other in seasonal patterns of concentration and C:N ratio. The proportion of humic DON increased during snowmelt, and there were diverging seasonal patterns in the C:N ratio of the two fractions implying variations in bioavailability. Although organic nitrogen is commonly treated as a single pool in ecological studies, our results indicated that DON consists of fractions that undergo large intraannual changes in proportions and chemical composition. Treatment of DON as a single pool may be misleading from the viewpoint of understanding ecosystem processes directly related to changes in its sources and biological reactivity.     

长白山北坡岳桦种群结构及动态分析

以“空间代时间”的方法 ,以种群径级结构代替年龄结构 ,采用静态生命表、生存分析和空间格局分析方法 ,探讨了长白山北坡不同海拔分布的岳桦种群的结构和动态规律。结果表明 ,在海拔 180 0、190 0和 2 0 0 0m ,随海拔升高 ,岳桦种群密度增大 ,径级分布范围减小 ,种群存活曲线由DeeveyⅡ型过渡到DeeveyⅠ型 ,种群由稳定型过渡为增长型 ,说明岳桦种群由低海拔向高海拔 ,群落处于不同的演替和发展阶段。而且随着岳桦径级的增大 ,其分布格局由集群分布过渡到随机分布。     

Diversity and Community Structure of Primary Wood-Inhabiting Bacteria in Boreal Forest

DNA-based pyrosequencing analysis of the V1- V3 16S rRNA gene region was used to identify bacteria community and shift during early stages of wood colonization in boreal forest soils. The dataset comprised 142,447 sequences and was affiliated to 11 bacteria phyla, 25 classes and 233 genera. The dominant groups across all samples were Proteobacteria, followed by Bacteroidetes, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Amatimonadetes, Planctomycetes and TM7 group. The community structure of the primary wood-inhabiting bacteria differed between types of forest soils and the composition of bacteria remained stable over prolonged incubation time. The results suggest that variations in soil bacterial community composition have an influence on the wood-inhabiting bacterial structure.     

Accelerating Mountain Forest Dynamics in the Alps

Ecosystems - Climate change alters forest development pathways, with consequences for ecosystem services and biodiversity. As the rate of warming increases, ecosystem change is expected to...     

大兴安岭北部林区野果资源及保护利用

调查了大兴安岭北部林区野生果树种质资源及其开发利用现状。记录到该地区野生肉果类10科,15属,29种。其中越桔和笃斯越桔是大兴安岭北部林区资源极其丰富的野果。蔷薇科有16种,为该地区野生果树的优势科。介绍了11种具有重要经济价值的野果。大兴安岭北部林区的野果资源已得到初步开发利用,越桔、笃斯越桔、山刺玫等数种野果已进入产业化阶段。提出了合理保护和利用对策。     

Structure of vegetation patches in northwestern Patagonia, Argentina

Vegetation of arid and semiarid environments has in general a patchy distribution. Our objective was to (a) determine several qualitative and quantitative analytical characteristics of vegetation patches in an arid zone of Patagonia, Argentina, and (b) investigate relationships between them. Annual precipitation in this area was 200 mm during 1999–2005. Eight transects involving ten patches each were studied within a 15 × 15 km area. Mean (±1 SE) values (n = 80) in the vegetation patches were 315 ± 25 and 207 ± 16 cm for the greatest and lowest patch diameter, respectively; 23 ± 2 cm for mound height; 113 ± 12 cm for maximum vegetation height; and 170 ± 18 cm and 58 ± 2% for distance to the next vegetation patch and vegetation patch cover within a transect, respectively. Correlations between greatest and lowest diameters, mound height, maximum plant height and distance to the closest vegetation patch were all significant (P < 0.01; n = 80). In all vegetation patches, the greatest and lowest frequencies were found for the grass Stipa spp. (71.2%) and the shrub Grindelia chiloensis (Cornel.) Cabrera (12.5%). Stipa spp. and the shrub Atriplex lampa (Moq.) D. Dietr. showed the highest simultaneous frequency (50%). A reasonable association among species (>45%) was found for Stipa spp., Atriplex lampa and the shrubs Larrea divaricata Cav., Lycium chilense Miers ex Bertero and Junellia ligustrina (Lag.) Moldenke. Larrea divaricata and Atriplex lampa contributed more than 84% of the total patch standing crop (5,777 ± 435 g). Average patch size and specific diversity were 5.93 ± 0.33 m² and 1.31 ± 0.11, respectively. Aboveground standing crop of the two dominant shrubs decreased as plant species diversity increased (P < 0.05). Conservation of vegetation patches is crucial to prevent increased soil erosion and desertification in the study ecological system.     

Influence of Primary Producers on Bioavailability of Desorption Resistant Organic Pollutants in the Sediments

The experiments were conducted on three freshwater microalgal strains, which were grown in the top chambers of retrofitted filter assemblies. The bottom receivers contained control sediments and two types of ¹⁴C-labeled, phenanthrene contaminated sediments. The first contaminated sediment had both the reversible and desorption resistant fractions (referred to as partially washed sediment), while the second contaminated sediment had the desorption resistant fraction only (completely washed sediment). A second set of controls was added to isolate the effect of microalgae. Despite minor variations in toxicity, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) between the growth curves of the three algal strains. From a bioavailability perspective, there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in desorption rates in chambers containing microalgae. Pooled data from the three cultures indicated that, for assemblies with desorption resistant sediment (completely washed) and microalgae, the top chamber phenanthrene concentrations were approximately 90–100% of the theoretical maximum concentrations. However, filter assemblies without microalgae had only 5–6% of the theoretical maximum. Results also indicated that approximately 91.7–92.4% of the desorbed phenanthrene is directly sequestered by the microalgae in assemblies with the completely washed sediment. These results indicated that the term “desorption-resistant” fraction from a purely physical perspective may not be truly desorption-resistant in presence of microalgae.     

Dietary analysis of Homonota darwini (Squamata:Gekkonidae) in Northern Patagonia

<正> Our study investigated the diet of the southernmost gecko in the world, Homonota darwini. Fifty-three specimenswere captured during spring and summer in four locations in Patagonia, Argentina. The stomach contents of the specimens wereidentified, and we found that prey consisted of six main groups: Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, Homoptera and Araneae, and theadults and larvae of moth Lepidoptera. Lepidoptera was the major dietary component. The presence of ants and moths as commonprey suggests an ambush feeding strategy. In spring, females consumed more ants than males although no other dietary differencesbetween males and females were evident. We found nine geckos with empty stomachs and six parasitized by nematodes.Presence of empty stomachs corroborates previous observations of other nocturnal geckos and non-gecko lizards. Reduced foragingsuccess of nocturnal lizards could be due to difficulty in prey detection due to dim light, reduced or erratic activity of insectprey at night, or shorter activity times of geckos relative to diurnal success. Sex and season were not associated with the incidenceof empty stomachs. Principal component analysis showed that four food alternatives correlated with season. The constraint ofnocturnality, coupled with low night-time temperatures restricting feeding to only a few hours after sunset, appear to have causeda generality of diet which may limit energy acquisition. We conclude that H. darwini is an arthropod generalist and likely an ambushforager, as are many other nocturnal gekkonids     

关帝山次生杨桦林种群结构与立木的空间点格局

选择关帝山典型天然次生杨桦林样地进行种群结构分析,并运用空间点格局分析方法O-ring统计系统分析了次生杨桦林群落内不同尺度下种群空间分布格局及种间关联性.结果表明,在个体组成上,演替先锋树种白桦(Betula platyphylla)、红桦(B.albo-sinensis)和山杨(Populus davidiana)是目前次生杨桦林样地的优势种.但从种群径级结构看,白桦、红桦和山杨天然更新不良,而云杉(Picea spp.)和华北落叶松(Larix principis-rupprechtii)幼苗呈现良好的更新状态.随着演替的进行,云杉、落叶松将逐渐进入林冠层并取代白桦、红桦和山杨成为该森林的优势种;从种群空间分布格局来看,红桦、白桦表现为小尺度上明显聚集,华北落叶松、皂柳(Salix wallichiana)表现为小尺度上强聚集性分布格局.种群空间分布格局受空间尺度、群落结构及种群径级结构综合作用的影响;空间关联性分析表明,红桦与华北落叶松、红桦与皂柳、皂柳与华北落叶松在小尺度上正相关,其它树种间没有表现出明显关联性.     

Heavy Metal Accumulation by Periphyton Is Related to Eutrophication in the Hai River Basin,Northern China

The Hai River Basin (HRB) is one of the most polluted river basins in China. The basin suffers from various types of pollutants including heavy metals and nutrients due to a high population density and rapid economic development in this area. We assessed the relationship between heavy metal accumulation by periphyton playing an important role in fluvial food webs and eutrophication in the HRB. The concentrations of the unicellular diatoms (type A), filamentous algae with diatoms (type B), and filamentous algae (type C) varied along the river, with type A dominating upstream, and types B then C increasing in concentration further downstream, and this was consistent with changes in the trophic status of the river. The mean heavy metal concentrations in the type A, B and C organisms were Cr: 18, 18 and 24 mg/kg, respectively, Ni: 9.2, 10 and 12 mg/kg, respectively, Cu: 8.4, 19 and 29 mg/kg, respectively, and Pb: 11, 9.8 and 7.1 mg/kg respectively. The bioconcentration factors showed that the abilities of the organisms to accumulate Cr, Ni and Pb decreased in the order type A, type B, then type C, but their abilities to accumulate Cu increased in that order. The Ni concentration was a good predictor of Cr, Cu and Pb accumulation by all three periphyton types. Our study shows that heavy metal accumulation by periphyton is associated with eutrophication in the rivers in the HRB.