黄土高原4种植被带草本群落特征及其对降水变化的响应

以黄土高原草本群落为研究对象,选取陕西省榆林市榆阳区至延安市富县的4种植被带,测定草本群落物种多样性和生物量,结合研究区近20年的气象数据资料,分析4种植被带草本群落物种多样性和生物量的分布特征以及它们对降水变化的响应规律,以期为黄土高原植被恢复和水土保持生态建设提供参考。结果表明:(1)4种植被带草本群落Margalef指数、Pielou指数以及Shannon-Wiener指数均为草原-荒漠带数值最小,森林带数值最大,且都随着年均降水量的增加呈先增大后减小的变化趋势,最大值都出现在森林-草原带。(2)地上、地下和总生物量的大小顺序均为草原-荒漠带森林带草原带森林-草原带,它们随着年均降水量的增加呈"单峰曲线"的变化趋势,曲线的拐点都出现在森林-草原带;地下/地上生物量与年均降水量之间存在显著正相关关系。     

Bacterial Community Structure and Function along a Heavy Metal Gradient

The response of the planktonic, sediment, and epilithic bacterial communities to increasing concentrations of heavy metals was determined in a polluted river. None of the communities demonstrated a pollution-related effect on bacterial numbers (viable and total), heterotrophic activity, resistance to Pb or Cu, or species diversity as determined by either the Shannon-Wiener diversity index or rarefaction. The lack of correlation between concentrations of heavy metals and resistance in the sediment bacterial community was investigated and found to be due at least in part to the high pH of the river water and the resultant reduction in heavy metal toxicity. The three different communities demonstrated characteristic profiles based on the relative abundances of bacterial strains grouped according to functional similarities.     

PCR-DGGE Comparison of Bacterial Community Structure in Fresh and Archived Soils Sampled along a Chihuahuan Desert Elevational Gradient

The polymerase chain reaction coupled with denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) has been used widely to determine species richness and structure of microbial communities in a variety of environments. Researchers commonly archive soil samples after routine chemical or microbial analyses, and applying PCR-DGGE technology to these historical samples offers evaluation of long-term patterns in bacterial species richness and community structure that was not available with previous technology. However, use of PCR-DGGE to analyze microbial communities of archived soils has been largely unexplored. To evaluate the stability of DGGE patterns in archived soils in comparison with fresh soils, fresh and archived soils from five sites along an elevational gradient in the Chihuahuan Desert were compared using PCR-DGGE of 16S rDNA. DNA from all archived samples was extracted reliably, but DNA in archived soils collected from a closed-canopy oak forest site could not be amplified. DNA extraction yields were lower for most archived soils, but minimal changes in bacterial species richness and structure due to archiving were noted in bacterial community profiles from four sites. Use of archived soils to determine long-term changes in bacterial community structure via PCR-DGGE appears to be a viable option for addressing microbial community dynamics for particular ecosystems or landscapes.     

Clonality-Climate Relationships along Latitudinal Gradient across China: Adaptation of Clonality to Environments

Plant clonality, the ability of a plant species to reproduce itself vegetatively through ramets (shoot-root units), occurs in many plant species and is considered to be more frequent in cold or wet environments. However, a deeper understanding on the clonality-climate relationships along large geographic gradients is still scarce. In this study we revealed the clonality-climate relationships along latitudinal gradient of entire China spanning from tropics to temperate zones using clonality data for 4015 vascular plant species in 545 terrestrial communities. Structural equation modeling (SEM) showed that, in general, the preponderance of clonality increased along the latitudinal gradient towards cold, dry or very wet environments. However, the distribution of clonality in China was significantly but only weakly correlated with latitude and four climatic factors (mean annual temperature, temperature seasonality, mean annual precipitation, precipitation seasonality). Clonality of woody and herbaceous species had opposite responses to climatic variables. More precisely, woody clonality showed higher frequency in wet or climatically stable environments, while herbaceous clonality preferred cold, dry or climatically instable environments. Unexplained variation in clonality may be owed to the influences of other environmental conditions and to different clonal strategies and underlying traits adopted by different growth forms and phylogenetic lineages. Therefore, in-depth research in terms of more detailed clonal growth form, phylogeny and additional environmental variables are encouraged to further understand plant clonality response to climatic and/or edaphic conditions.     

Understanding the Linkage between Elevation and the Activated-Sludge Bacterial Community along a 3,600-Meter Elevation Gradient in China

To understand the relationship between elevation and bacterial communities in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), bacterial communities in 21 municipal WWTPs across China, located 9 to 3,660 m above sea level (masl), were investigated by 454 pyrosequencing. A threshold for the association of elevation with bacterial community richness and evenness was observed at approximately 1,200 masl. At lower elevations, both richness and evenness were not significantly associated with elevation. At higher elevations, significant declines with increased elevations were observed for community richness and evenness. The declining evenness trend at the phylum level was reflected by distinct trends in relative abundance for individual bacterial phyla. Betaproteobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Firmicutes displayed significant increases, while most other phyla showed declines. Spearman correlation analysis indicated that the community richness and evenness at high elevations were more correlated with elevation than with any other single environmental variable. Redundancy analysis indicated that the contribution of elevation to community composition variances increased from 3% at lower elevations to 11% at higher elevations whereas the community composition variance at higher elevations remained much more explained by operational variables (39.2%) than by elevation. The influent total phosphorus concentration, food/microorganism ratio, and treatment process were the three shared dominant contributors to the community composition variance across the whole elevation gradient, followed by effluent ammonia nitrogen and temperature at higher elevations.     

黄土高原植被日光诱导叶绿素荧光对气象干旱的响应

随着气候变化的加剧,干旱的频率、持续时间以及发生范围都越来越严重,探索植被光合对干旱的响应以及气象因子对植被光合的影响对于人们如何应对干旱具有重要意义。基于遥感的日光诱导叶绿素荧光(SIF)具有对干旱条件下区域植被光合作用进行早期监测和准确评估的潜力。本研究基于星载SIF和标准化降水蒸散发指数(SPEI)研究了黄土高原地区2001—2017年生长季内(4—10月)植被光合作用对干旱的响应关系及其受气象因子的影响程度。结果表明: 黄土高原地区植被生长季内SIF与SPEI呈显著正相关关系的区域占比为87.8%,其中,半干旱地区植被光合对干旱的响应较敏感,半湿润地区敏感性较低。不同类型植被光合对干旱的响应存在差异,草地对干旱响应的敏感性最高,响应最强的SPEI时间尺度为3～4个月;林地的敏感性最低,SPEI时间尺度为3～10个月。气象因子与SIF存在显著的相关关系,其中,温度和降雨是影响黄土高原植被光合的重要影响因子,光合有效辐射的影响模式与温度相似。黄土高原地区生长季内不同的气候和植被类型条件下,植被光合所受干旱及各气象因素的影响存在较大差异。     

基于ICEEMDAN方法的黄土高原植被覆盖变化及其对气候变化的响应

地理数据和遥感数据的长期序列中包含噪声和周期性波动信息。本研究基于ICEEMDAN方法对黄土高原1982—2015年归一化植被指数(NDVI)、降雨和温度进行逐像元分解,分解后得到的残差项减少了原始数据中的噪声和周期性波动,并利用残差项研究NDVI的变化趋势以及NDVI与气候因子之间的关系。结果表明: 1982—2015年,黄土高原NDVI以上升为主,残差项NDVI变化趋势的显著性(95.9%)大于原始NDVI变化趋势的显著性(72.3%),并且存在一定的空间差异性。温度和降雨的变化可以在很大程度上解释植被覆盖的变化。其中,温度与黄土高原NDVI之间呈极显著正相关的区域占83.7%,极显著负相关区域占13.9%;降雨与黄土高原NDVI之间呈极显著正相关的区域占54.4%,极显著负相关区域占37.2%。黄土高原植被对气候变化的响应存在明显的空间差异性,不同气候因子对不同植被覆盖类型的影响程度不同。总体上,黄土高原生长季不同植被与温度之间的相关性强于降水,温度是影响黄土高原植被覆盖变化的主要因素。     

Biogeography of the Sediment Bacterial Community Responds to a Nitrogen Pollution Gradient in the East China Sea

Patterns of microbial distribution represent the integrated effects of historical and biological processes and are thus a central issue in ecology. However, there is still active debate on whether dispersal limitation contributes to microbial diversification in strongly connected systems. In this study, sediment samples were collected along a transect representing a variety of seawater pollution levels in the East China Sea. We investigated whether changes in sediment bacterial community structures would indicate the effects of the pollution gradient and of dispersal limitation. Our results showed consistent shifts in bacterial communities in response to pollution. More geographically distant sites had more dissimilar communities (r = −0.886, P < 0.001) in this strongly connected sediment ecosystem. A variance analysis based on partitioning by principal coordinates of neighbor matrices (PCNM) showed that spatial distance (dispersal limitation) contributed more to bacterial community variation (8.2%) than any other factor, although the environmental factors explained more variance when combined (11.2%). In addition, potential indicator taxa (primarily affiliated with Deltaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria) were identified; these taxa characterized the pollution gradient. This study provides direct evidence that dispersal limitation exists in a strongly connected marine sediment ecosystem and that candidate indicator taxa can be applied to evaluate coastal pollution levels.     

Bacterial Community Structure in Two Permafrost Wetlands on the Tibetan Plateau and Sanjiang Plain,China

Permafrost wetlands are important methane emission sources and fragile ecosystems sensitive to climate change. Presently, there remains a lack of knowledge regarding bacterial communities, especially methanotrophs in vast areas of permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau in Northwest China and the Sanjiang Plain (SJ) in Northeast China. In this study, 16S rRNA-based quantitative PCR (qPCR) and 454 pyrosequencing were used to identify bacterial communities in soils sampled from a littoral wetland of Lake Namco on the Tibetan Plateau (NMC) and an alluvial wetland on the SJ. Additionally, methanotroph-specific primers targeting particulate methane monooxygenase subunit A gene (pmoA) were used for qPCR and pyrosequencing analysis of methanotrophic community structure in NMC soils. qPCR analysis revealed the presence of 10¹⁰ 16S rRNA gene copies per gram of wet soil in both wetlands, with 10⁸ pmoA copies per gram of wet soil in NMC. The two permafrost wetlands showed similar bacterial community compositions, which differed from those reported in other cold environments. Proteobacteria, Actinobacteria , and Chloroflexi were the most abundant phyla in both wetlands, whereas Acidobacteria was prevalent in the acidic wetland SJ only. These four phyla constituted more than 80 % of total bacterial community diversity in permafrost wetland soils, and Methylobacter of type I methanotrophs was overwhelmingly dominant in NMC soils. This study is the first major bacterial sequencing effort of permafrost in the NMC and SJ wetlands, which provides fundamental data for further studies of microbial function in extreme ecosystems under climate change scenarios.     

Seasonal Dynamics of the Plant Community and Soil Seed Bank along a Successional Gradient in a Subalpine Meadow on the Tibetan Plateau

Background

Knowledge about how change the importance of soil seed bank and relationship between seed mass and abundance during vegetation succession is crucial for understanding vegetation dynamics. Many studies have been conducted, but their ecological mechanisms of community assembly are not fully understood.

Methodology

We examined the seasonal dynamics of the vegetation and soil seed bank as well as seed size distribution along a successional gradient. We also explored the potential role of the soil seed bank in plant community regeneration, the relationship between seed mass and species abundance, and the relative importance of deterministic and stochastic processes along a successional gradient.

Principal Findings

Species richness of seed bank increased (shallow layer and the total) and seed density decreased (each layer and the total) significantly with succession. Species richness and seed density differed significantly between different seasons and among soil depths. Seed mass showed a significant negative relationship with relative abundance in the earliest successional stage, but the relationships were not significant in later stages. Seed mass showed no relationship with relative abundance in the whole successional series in seed bank. Results were similar for both July 2005 and April 2006.

Conclusions

The seed mass and abundance relationship was determined by a complex interaction between small and larger seeded species and environmental factors. Both stochastic processes and deterministic processes were important determinants of the structure of the earliest stage. The importance of seed bank decreased with succession. The restoration of abandoned farmed and grazed meadows to the species-rich subalpine meadow in Tibetan Plateau can be successfully achieved from the soil seed bank. However, at least 20 years are required to fully restore an abandoned agricultural meadow to a natural mature subalpine meadow.     

黄土高原植被物候变化及其对季节性气候变化的响应

受气候变化影响,全球范围内植被物候发生了显著变化,而目前针对不同植被分区类型下（荒漠草原区、典型草原区、森林草原区、落叶栎林区、落叶栎林亚区）植被物候变化及其对季节性气候变化响应的研究尚少。因此基于MODIS遥感归一化差值植被指数（MODIS NDVI：MOD13Q1）数据、中国植被区划数据及135个气象站点插值数据,利用Sen''s斜率估计、Hurst指数和高阶偏相关分析等方法,研究黄土高原2001-2018年植被物侯变化及其对季节性气候变化的响应。结果表明：（1）黄土高原植被生长季始期（SOS,Start of Growing Season）主要集中在第96-144天,子植被分区由西北向东南方向,逐渐呈现提前趋势,71.0%的像元植被SOS整体提前0-2 d/10a （α=0.05）,且在未来一段时间66%的像元植被SOS继续呈现提前趋势;植被生长季末期（EOS,End of Growing Season）主要集中在第288-304天,各子植被分区植被EOS变化基本保持一致,87.6％的像元植被EOS整体延迟0-3 d/10a （α=0.05）,且在未来一段时间有80%的像元植被EOS继续呈现推迟趋势。（2）黄土高原植被SOS主要受各季节温度的影响;当年春季降水导致植被SOS提前,主要分布在黄土高原中部;上年夏季和上年秋季降水增加会导致植被SOS推迟;当年春季、上年秋季和年初冬季的温度升高均会导致植被SOS提前;各子植被分区植被SOS对不同季节降水的响应存在差异,而对不同季节温度的响应具有一致性。（3）黄土高原植被EOS主要受各季节降水和秋季温度的影响;不同季节降水增加均会导致大部分植被EOS推迟;当年秋季温度导致整体区域植被EOS推迟,且各子植被区植被EOS对当年秋季温度响应具有一致性。该研究可为大尺度植被物候影响因素提供新的认识,也为植被适应未来气候变化提供借鉴。     

黄土高原沟壑区土壤酶活性对植被恢复的响应

结合野外调查与室内分析,研究了黄土高原沟壑区小流域自然坡面和不同植被恢复条件下剖面土壤酶活性的分布特征,以及土壤酶活性对植被恢复的响应.结果表明:黄土高原沟壑区小流域坡地土壤的脲酶、蔗糖酶和碱性磷酸酶活性为高度变异指标,过氧化氢酶活性则为弱变异指标.土壤剖面酶活性受植被恢复措施的显著影响,随土层的加深,土壤脲酶、蔗糖酶和碱性磷酸酶活性逐渐降低,过氧化氢酶活性升高.3种水解酶活性之间呈显著正相关,并与土壤物理性质显著负相关,与土壤化学性质显著正相关;过氧化氢酶活性除与含水量和pH正相关外,与其他理化性质呈负相关.土壤水解酶类可以敏感指示植被恢复的土壤效应,植被恢复措施可以改善表层和深层土壤的生物学性质.     

Fractal Feature of Particle-Size Distribution in the Rhizospheres and Bulk Soils during Natural Recovery on the Loess Plateau,China

The application of fractal geometry to describe soil structure is an increasingly useful tool for better understanding the performance of soil systems. Only a few studies, however, have focused on the structure of rhizospheric zones, where energy flow and nutrient recycling most frequently occur. We used fractal dimensions to investigate the characteristics of particle-size distribution (PSD) in the rhizospheres and bulk soils of six croplands abandoned for 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, and 30 years on the Loess Plateau of China and evaluated the changes over successional time. The PSDs of the rhizospheres and the fractal dimensions between rhizosphere soil and bulk soils during the natural succession differed significantly due to the influence of plant roots. The rhizospheres had higher sand (0.05–1.00 mm) contents, lower silt (<0.002 mm) contents, and lower fractal dimensions than the bulk soils during the early and intermediate successional stages (1–15 years). The fractal dimensions of the rhizosphere soil and bulk soil ranged from 2.102 to 2.441 and from 2.214 to 2.459, respectively, during the 30-year restoration. Rhizospheric clay and silt contents and fractal dimension tended to be higher and sand content tended to be lower as abandonment age increased, but the bulk soils had the opposite trend. Linear regression analysis indicated that the fractal dimensions of both the rhizospheres and bulk soils were significantly linearly correlated with clay, sand, organic-carbon, and total-nitrogen contents, with R ² ranging from 0.526 to 0.752 (P<0.001). In conclusion, PSD differed significantly between the rhizosphere soil and bulk soil. The fractal dimension was a sensitive and useful index for quantifying changes in the properties of the different soil zones. This study will greatly aid the application of the fractal method for describing soil structure and nutrient status and the understanding of the performance of rhizospheric zones during ecological restoration.     

Terrestrial Runoff Controls the Bacterial Community Composition of Biofilms along a Water Quality Gradient in the Great Barrier Reef

16S rRNA gene molecular analysis elucidated the spatiotemporal distribution of bacterial biofilm communities along a water quality gradient. Multivariate statistics indicated that terrestrial runoff, in particular dissolved organic carbon and chlorophyll a concentrations, induced shifts of specific bacterial communities between locations and seasons, suggesting microbial biofilms could be suitable bioindicators for water quality.     

黄土丘陵区植物功能性状对微地形变化的响应

植物功能性状是连接植物与环境的桥梁,可以反映植物对环境的适应能力.在地形复杂地区,研究不同水平上的植物功能性状随微地形的变化规律,对认识不同物种对复杂地形条件下多变环境的适应策略具有重要意义.以黄土丘陵区森林草原区自然植被为对象,分析土壤养分以及植物各功能性状值在科属和群落水平上微地形的响应关系.结果表明: 不同植物的功能性状差异较大,植物科属组成差异是影响植物功能性状的主要因素,其次是坡向,而坡位对其影响较小;群落水平的性状值在微地形上无显著差异;豆科和菊科植物的叶氮含量和根氮含量在不同坡位上均存在显著差异,禾本科只有根组织密度在不同坡位上存在显著差异;群落水平性状值的根组织密度与土壤氮含量和土壤有机质含量呈显著正相关;豆科植物的叶氮含量和根氮含量与土壤磷含量呈显著正相关,菊科和禾本科叶氮含量和根氮含量与土壤氮含量呈显著正相关.这表明不同科属植物在对环境变化响应上存在较大差异,不同科属物种对环境适应策略不同.
     

黄土高原腹地人工林下草本层群落构建机制

群落构建机制是生态学研究的核心论题。生态位理论和中性理论是阐明群落构建的两种主要理论, 但这两种理论分别强调的环境过滤和扩散限制对群落构建的影响尚存争议。该研究以黄土高原人工林下草本层群落为研究对象, 将群落物种组成数据与地理空间、气候、地形以及生物因子相结合, 运用随机森林模型(RF)和基于距离矩阵的多元回归方法(MRM), 探究了各个因子的重要性, 并通过邻体主坐标矩阵(PCNM)和基于距离的冗余分析(db-RDA)分别筛选显著的空间结构和环境因子, 最后结合筛选出的PCNM特征值和环境变量进行变差分解。研究结果显示: 1)林下草本层群落组成相似性随地理距离和生境差异的增加而减小。2)地理距离与生境差异共同解释了群落组成相似性变化的47.8%。其中, 空间因子和环境因子的独立解释率分别为14.1%和9.8%, 两者的联合解释率为23.9%。3)地理距离和年降水量是引起研究区内物种组成变化的关键因子, 且地理距离的重要性大于年降水量。在黄土高原腹地, 扩散限制与环境过滤共同主导了人工林下草本层群落的构建过程。     

Salinity Impact on Bacterial Community Composition in Five High-Altitude Lakes from the Tibetan Plateau,Western China

The influence of salinity and geographical distance on bacterial community composition (BCC) in five freshwater, oligosaline or polysaline lakes located at altitudes higher than 4400 m on the central and southern Tibetan Plateau were investigated using the 16S rRNA gene clone library approach together with multivariate analysis of environmental variables. A total of 10 clone libraries were constructed with two libraries in each lake, one in the epilimnion and the other in the hypolimnion. Geographical distance was not found to impact BCC significantly, but salinity, chl a and lake hydraulic retention time were significant factors influencing the BCC. Bacteria in lakes located on the central and southern Plateau owned the same community composition as that observed from the eastern Tibetan lakes. They were both predominated by Bacteroidetes and Cyanobacteria, had low taxon richness, and similar typical freshwater clusters and distributed characteristics. Supplemental materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Geomicrobiology Journal to view the supplemental file.