The survival strategy of the alpine endemic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Primula glaucescens</Emphasis> is fundamentally unchanged throughout its climate envelope despite superficial phenotypic variability

The survival of alpine species in changing climates depends on dispersal or adaptation. However, it is unclear whether trait variability along elevation/climatic gradients is adaptive or represents stress towards lower/warmer elevations, particularly for the endangered endemics for which protected status and plant longevity preclude experimental study. We chose one such species, known for its phenotypic variability (Primula glaucescens, endemic to the southern Alps), and quantified key functional traits in situ throughout its range, correlating these with elevation as a proxy for climate. Larger leaves were evident towards lower elevations, but tissue nitrogen dilution and limited regenerative fitness were symptomatic of stress. Specific leaf area, a correlate of relative growth rate, was consistently low: the entire species exhibits conservative leaf economy and inherently slow growth. This seemingly variable species exhibits superficial variability around a fundamentally conservative, cold-adapted survival strategy, and thus phenotypic variability is unlikely to facilitate the persistence of alpine endemics during rapid climate warming. Nomenclature: Pignatti (1982).     

植物功能型及其生态学意义

植物功能型是近年来在全球变化研究中引入的一个新的生态学术语,综 植物功能型概念的由来、划分植物及其生态学意义,用系统生物学的理论与方法理解植物功能型,并指出了植物功能型在全球变化研究中的意义。     

Growth performance of two deciduous Vaccinium species in relation to nutrient status in a subalpine heath

Net primary production (NPP) of two Vaccinium species (V. myrtillus and V. uliginosum) was determined in three subalpine heath communities on the Northern Apennines (N. Italy). The main objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that two species sharing the same plant functional type (deciduous dwarf shrub) have similar growth performances along environmental gradients. The second objective was to assess whether, and to what extent, NPP of the two species was associated with functional and morphological traits, which can affect plant growth in relation to nutrient status. Total community NPP in the three communities was closely related to soil nutrient availability. NPP of V. uliginosum did not vary among communities, while that of V. myrtillus peaked in the most fertile habitat. The N:P ratio in the whole plant as well as in the leaves of the two shrubs exactly mirrored the among-community pattern in soil phosphate concentration. In particular, the foliar N:P ratio in both V. uliginosum and V. myrtillus was >16 in the poorer sites, which indicates P limitation. I concluded that the growth response of the two shrubs in relation to soil nutrient availability is individualistic. Growth of V. myrtillus is P-limited while that of V. uliginosum is not.     

Can soil temperature direct the composition of high arctic plant communities?

Abstract. Low temperatures exert a primary constraint on the growth of high arctic vascular plants. However, investigations into the impact of temperature on high arctic plants rarely separate out the role of air and soil temperatures, and few data exist to indicate whether soil temperatures alone can significantly influence the growth of high arctic vascular plants in a manner that might direct community composition. We examined the response of high arctic plants of three functional types (grasses, sedges/rushes and non‐graminoids) to manipulated soil temperature under common air temperature conditions. Target plants, within intact soil cores, were placed in water baths at a range of temperatures between 4.9 and 15.3 °C for one growing season. Grasses responded most rapidly to increased soil temperature, with increased total live plant mass, above‐ground live mass and total below‐ground live mass, with non‐graminoids having the lowest, and sedges/rushes an intermediate degree of response. The ratio of above‐ground live mass to total live mass increased in all growth forms. Grasses, in particular, responded to enhanced soil temperatures by increasing shoot size rather than shoot number. In all growth forms the mass of root tissue beneath the moss layer increased significantly and to a similar extent with increasing soil temperature. These results clearly indicate that different growth forms, although collected from the same plant community, respond differently to changes in soil temperature. As a consequence, factors influencing soil temperature in high arctic ecosystems, such as global climate change or herbivory (which leads to reduced moss depth and increased soil temperatures), may also direct changes in vascular plant community composition.     

气候变化对森林演替的影响

森林演替是森林生态动力源驱动下森林再生的生态学过程,自20世纪初建立群落演替理论以来,演替研究成为生态学研究中的热点．客观准确地认识森林演替规律,研究森林演替动力学机理及其模型,是科学管理森林生态系统的需要;对于天然林保护工程与森林植被的恢复重建,具有重要的理论与实际意义．干扰是森林循环的驱动力,导致森林生态系统时空异质性,是更新格局和生态学过程的主要影响因素．它可改变资源的有效性,干扰导致的林隙是森林循环的起点．回顾了目前演替研究的几种方法,即马尔科夫模型、林窗模型(GAP)、陆地生物圈模型(BIOME)和非线性演替模式．介绍了气候变化对森林演替的影响;并在已有成果的基础上,提出了目前研究存在的问题及未来的发展方向．     

黑龙江省未来气候生态与森林的作用研究

本文在扼要概述全球气候变化背景的基础上,根据近百年气候历史资料以及海温、太阳黑子活动、火山爆发、CO₂浓度变化、O₃浓度变化、大气环流指数特征等因子与我省气修变化的定量与定性关系,分析了各因子的综合影响,预测了我省未来十年气候变化趋势。结果表明:我省未来十年气候以温暖、干旱为主,年际间仍存有波动。虽然总的气候变化趋势与全球变化是一致的,但具有明显的区域特征。同时提出了气候变化可能对森林的影响,初步探讨了应采取的森林对策。     

Spatial and temporal variability in fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Durango, Mexico

Patterns of fire occurrence within the Las Bayas Forestry Reserve, Mexico are analyzed in relation to variability in climate, topography, and human land-use. Significantly more fires with shorter fire return intervals occurred from 1900 to 1950 than from 1950 to 2001. However, the frequency of widespread fire years (25% filter) was unchanged over time, as widespread fires were synchronized by climatic extremes. Widespread fire years occurred during dry years that lagged wet years. Widespread fire years lagged the negative El Niño phase (wet winters) of the Southern Oscillation by 1 year, but were not synchronized by the positive, La Niña phase (dry winters) of the Southern Oscillation. The smaller, localized fires that occurred more frequently during the first half of the 20th century were attributed to changes in land tenure with the introduction of the ejido system in the early 1950s. Ejido management strategies lowered fire frequencies by suppressing fires and reducing anthropogenic fires. There were likely more ignitions prior to the arrival of the ejido system as fires were ignited by lightning and indigenous people. As the movement of indigenous peoples across the landscape has been restricted by changes in land tenure, numbers of human-ignited fires subsequently decreased post 1950. After 1950, fires occurred less frequently, were more synchronized, and more restricted to years of extreme climate.     

基于植物功能性状的生态学研究进展:从个体水平到全球尺度

植物功能性状是指能够反映植物碳获取、水分传递、养分循环等的重要生命活动的属性,包括植物生理、形态和物候等方面的特征。通过植物功能性状探讨物种分布格局、生长策略和存活机制及其对全球变化的响应与适应,是近年来生态学研究的热点之一。然而,不同尺度下植物功能性状与环境因子的关系存在差异,并且性状之间的关系也不尽相同。从物种、种群、群落、植被区系到全球尺度,围绕植物功能性状之间的相互关系及其对气候环境变化响应的热点问题进行了综述,梳理了近年来植物功能性状研究领域的进展,并讨论了目前植物功能性状研究的局限性和该领域未来的发展趋势。     

云南哀牢山退化常绿阔叶林乔木多样性和生物量的恢复

为了探究退化森林的树种组成变化和生物量储量的恢复规律,该研究选取云南哀牢山不同演替阶段的常绿阔叶林为对象,比较了不同演替阶段森林群落结构、树种多样性和生物量变化。结果表明,从演替早期到演替末期,乔木的科数先减少后增多,属数和种数则逐渐增加;Margalef丰富度指数、Simpson优势度指数、Shannon-Wiener多样性指数和Pielou均匀度指数随演替进程均呈增加的趋势;乔木生物量储量随演替进程逐渐升高,演替早期和演替中期的生物量分别为演替末期生物量的9.87%和65.98%;群落水平的树种多样性指数与总生物量呈显著正相关关系(P<0.05)。树木的生长和树种多样性的提高是影响群落乔木生物量储量递增的因素,且哀牢山处于湿冷的气候条件,退化森林植被的恢复相对比较缓慢。     

植物物候研究进展

植物物候直接反映了气候变化的影响,是植被动态模拟的关键.在遥感和模型技术的推动下,植物物候与全球变化关系的研究日益受到人们的关注.文中从植物物候与环境因子的相互关系、植物物候对全球变化的响应以及植物物候的遥感监测方面,综合论述了植物物候的研究进展,找出植被物候研究的不足,进而提出未来植被物候的研究方向.     

Seasonality matters—The effects of past and projected seasonal climate change on the growth of native and exotic conifer species in Central Europe

Norway spruce is one of the economically most important tree species in Central European forestry. However, its high susceptibility to droughts poses a strong challenge to its cultivation under future conditions with likely more frequent and prolonged droughts and shifts in the seasonal climate. To compensate for expected losses of forest areas suitable for the cultivation of spruce, more drought-tolerant species are required. Silver fir and Douglas fir are two potential candidates, which promise lower drought susceptibility and equal or even higher yield when compared to Norway spruce.Using the Black Forest as a regional case study, we assessed the effects of seasonal climate change, including drought stress, on tree-ring width formation of these three economically relevant conifer species over the last 60 years. In addition, we projected potential species-specific growth changes under different climate change scenarios until 2100.Our results suggest that both silver fir and Douglas fir will possibly experience growth increases in a warmer future climate, as predicted under the 4.5 and 8.5 Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) climate change scenarios, whereas growth of spruce is expected to decline. Moreover, drought susceptibility in silver fir and Douglas fir is lower than in spruce, as shown for past drought events, and their ability to benefit from milder winters and springs could play a major role in their capacity to compensate for drier summers in the near to mid-term future. This study highlights the need to advance our understanding of the processes that drive drought resistance and resilience in tree species to guide management strategies in the face of climate change.     

Sapling growth as a function of light and landscape-level variation in soil water and foliar nitrogen in northern Michigan

Interspecific differences in sapling growth responses to soil resources could influence species distributions across soil resource gradients. I calibrated models of radial growth as a function of light intensity and landscape-level variation in soil water and foliar N for saplings of four canopy tree species, which differ in adult distributions across soil resource gradients. Model formulations, characterizing different resource effects and modes of influencing growth, were compared based on relative empirical support using Akaike’s Information Criterion. Contrary to expectation, the radial growth of species associated with lower fertility (Acer rubrum and Quercus rubra) was more sensitive to variation in soil resources than the high fertility species Acer saccharum. Moreover, there was no species tradeoff between growth under high foliar N versus growth under low foliar N, which would be expected if growth responses to foliar N mediated distributions. In general, there was functional consistency among species in growth responses to light, foliar N, and soil water availability, respectively. Foliar N influenced primarily high-light growth in F. grandifolia, A. rubrum, and Q. rubra (but was not significant for A. saccharum). In A. saccharum and A. rubrum, for which soil water availability was a significant predictor, soil water and light availability simultaneously limited growth (i.e., either higher light or water increased growth). Simple resource-based models explained 0.74–0.90 of growth variance, indicating a high degree of determinism. Results suggest that nitrogen effects on forest dynamics would be strongest in high-light early successional communities but that water availability influences growth in both early successional and understory environments.     

Fire disturbance and forest structure in an old‐growth Pinus ponderosa forest,southern Cascades,USA

Questions: Did fire regimes in old‐growth Pinus ponderosa forest change with Euro‐American settlement compared to the pre‐settlement period? Do tree age structures exhibit a pattern of continuous regeneration or is regeneration episodic and related to fire disturbance or fire‐free periods? Are the forests compositionally stable? Do trees have a clumped spatial pattern and are clumps even‐ or mixed‐age? How might information from this old‐growth forest inform current restoration and management practices? Location: A 235‐ha old‐growth forest in the Ishi Wilderness, southern Cascade Mountains, California. Methods: Age, size, and spatial pattern of trees were quantified in seven stands. Fire history was reconstructed using fire scar dendrochronology. The influence of fire on stand structure was assessed by comparing fire history with age, size, and spatial structure of trees and identifying and measuring trees killed by two recent fires. Results: Species composition in plots was similar but density and basal area of tree populations varied. Age structure for P. ponderosa and Quercus kelloggii showed periods of episodic recruitment that varied among plots. Fire disturbance was frequent before 1905, with a median period between fires of 12 years. Fire frequency declined after 1905 but two recent fires (1990, 1994) killed 36% and 41% of mostly smaller diameter P. ponderosa and Q. kelloggii. Clusters of similar age trees occurred at scales of 28‐1018 m² but patches were not even‐aged. Interactions between tree regeneration and fire promoted development of uneven age groups of trees. Conclusions: Fire disturbance strongly influenced density, basal area, and spatial structure of tree populations. Fire exclusion over the last 100 years has caused compositional and structural changes. Two recent fires, however, thinned stands and created gaps favorable for Q. kelloggii and P. ponderosa regeneration. The effects of infrequent 20th century fire indicate that a low fire frequency can restore and sustain structural characteristics resembling those of the pre‐fire suppression period forest.