Topographic control of vegetation in a mountain big sagebrush steppe

Mountain big sagebrush steppes in Wyoming have strong spatial patterning associated with topography. We describe the spatial variability of vegetation in a sagebrush steppe, and test the relationship between topography and vegetation using canonical correlation. Results of the analysis suggest that the main control over vegetation distribution in this system is wind exposure. Exposed sites are characterized by cushion plant communities and Artemisia nova, and less exposed sites by the taller sagebrush species Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana. Topographic depressions and leeward slopes are characterized by aspen stands and nivation hollows. Measurements of soil microclimate suggest that a major influence of topographic position on vegetation is snow redistribution and its effect on soil moisture and temperature.Abbreviations ARNO Artemisia nova - ARTRW Artemisia tridentata ssp. wyomingensis - ARTRV Artemisia tridentata ssp. vaseyana - PUTR Purshia tridentata - RIP riparian community - POTR Populus tremuloides - NIV nivation hollow community     

Hybrid Input‐Output Life Cycle Assessment of First‐ and Second‐Generation Ethanol Production Technologies in Brazil

A hybrid approach combining life cycle assessment and input‐output analysis was used to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of current and future improvements in agricultural and industrial technologies for ethanol production in Brazilian biorefineries. In this article, three main scenarios were evaluated: first‐generation ethanol production with the average current technology; the improved current technology; and the integration of improved first‐ and second‐generation ethanol production. For the improved first‐generation scenario, a US$1 million increase in ethanol demand can give rise to US$2.5 million of total economic activity in the Brazilian economy when direct and indirect purchases of inputs are considered. This value is slightly higher than the economic activity (US$1.8 million) for an energy equivalent amount of gasoline. The integration of first‐ and second‐generation technologies significantly reduces the total greenhouse gas emissions of ethanol production: 14.6 versus 86.4 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per megajoule (g CO₂‐eq/MJ) for gasoline. Moreover, emissions of ethanol can be negative (–10.5 g CO₂‐eq/MJ) when the system boundary is expanded to account for surplus bioelectricity by displacement of natural gas thermal electricity generation considering electricity produced in first‐generation optimized biorefineries.     

Nemertea inhabiting the Haploops (Amphipoda) community of the northern Øresund with special reference to the biology of Nipponnemertes pulcher (Hoplonemertea)

The densities of nemerteans and associated fauna on a soft-bottom sampling station (27–30 m deep) in the Øresund were determined from 47 cores (each 135 cm² in cross-section; 20 + cm deep) collected from September to December 1989; these data were compared with 14 cores taken from the same location in December 1982. Nine species of nemerteans were identified from cores and dredge samples: Palaeonemertea — Callinera-like sp.; Heteronemertea — Cerebratulus fuscus, C. marginatus, Lineus bilineatus, Micrura fasciolata, M. purpurea; Hoplonemertea — Amphiporus bioculatus, A. dissimulans, Nipponnemertes pulcher. Mean numbers of heteronemerteans were 32 and 10 m^?2 in 1982 and 1989, respectively, and hoplonemerteans were 90 and 71 m^?2 , respectively. Only one palaeonemertean was collected during both years. Mean densities of the dominant species, N. pulcher, were similar for the two years, 74 and 68 m^?2. The dominant groups of macrofauna (n m^?2) in 1989 were ostracods (1028), amphipods (618), polychaetes (514), and ophiuroids (449). Amphipods (>90% Haploops spp.) and polychaetes (at least 30 spp.) are the major potential prey for hoplonemerteans and heteronemerteans, respectively. Laboratory feeding experiments with N. pulcher revealed that it consumed amphipods (Haploops tenuis and H. tubicola) at a rate of 2.6 worm^?1 d^?1 during the first 12 hours, but after 36 hours and beyond the rate was maintained at approximately 0.2 worm^?1 d^?1. Beyond 12 hours this nemertean showed a tendancy to only partially evacuate its prey. It was demonstrated experimentally that N. pulcher has a supply of toxin capable of killing six amphipods in approximately one hour. Limited tests showed that N. pulcher fed on the cumacean Diastylis tumida, but not on the amphipod Maera loveni or the ostracod Philomedes globosus, and that Amphiporus dissimulans readily attacked Haploops spp., but not Maera or Philomedes. Although the results of laboratory experiments are tentative, they do suggest that suctorial hoplonemerteans can exert a potentially significant effect on benthic communities. Employing seven species of polychaetes as prey for Cerebratulus fuscus and Micrura fasciolata, only the latter responded positively to one of them, Glycera alba. The hermit crab Pagurus bernhardus violently rejected N. pulcher in all feeding trials.     

悬铃木方翅网蝽: 一种正在迅速扩张的城市外来入侵害虫

悬铃木方翅网蝽(Corythucha ciliata)是新近入侵我国城市生态系统的外来害虫, 严重危害城市行道树悬铃木(Platanus spp.), 自2002年该虫在湖南长沙首度报道以来, 已在我国11个省(直辖市)的25个城市发生, 尤其在长江流域呈现爆发态势。本文系统介绍了悬铃木方翅网蝽的生活史、生活习性、繁殖潜力等生物学特性, 以及扩散速度与方式、影响发生的主要环境因素、种群的耐寒耐热能力等生态学特性。最后, 在分析该虫的寄主及危害特点的基础上, 对其控制与管理对策进行了综述, 以为其管理提供参考。     

葡酒红菇的生态学研

本研究通过４年对葡酒红菇生态学的调查观察,掌握葡酒红菇的生态环境,以便人工模拟生态环境,栽培引种葡酒红菇。研究结果表明：葡酒红菇是一种外生菌根菌,在相对稳定的生态坏境条件下,平均温度２５—２７℃,相对湿度８０％－１００％,降雨量（土壤含水量）达４０％以上,均有红菇发生,而降雨量力其主导生态因子。每年在夏秋高温闷热阵雨之后为发生盛期。发生地以山中下部为多,林间郁团度０．８左右,土壤ｐＨ值５．６—７．０,其共生树种以壳斗科为主。     

Maximum voluntary temperature of insect larvae reveals differences in their thermal biology

We investigate the thermoregulatory behaviors of larvae of four species of Drosophila (D. melanogaster, D. subobscura, D. pseudoobscura, and D. mojavensis), a thermotolerant strain of Drosophila melanogaster (T strain) known to differ in thermal biology, and two mutant stocks of D. melanogaster that have (as adults) defective thermoregulatory behavior. We describe and evaluate new techniques to measure two indices of maximum voluntary temperature of insect larvae. Both measures were highly repeatable within lines (species, strains, or mutants). One measure (temperature at which larvae stood upright) differed among lines consistent with expectations based on adult thermal ecology, suggesting that this measure will be useful measures of thermoregulatory set-points of larvae. The second measure (temperature of emergence from media) is less discriminatory.     

On the ecology of Dicranophoridae (Rotifera)

Information on the distribution of 59 dicranophorid rotifers from diverse habitats in south and central Sweden was analyzed to reveal their relationships to their substrate. They were mainly frequenting macrophytic vegetation. Even some species which have previously been regarded as psammobionts were mostly or only found on periphytic substrates. Like other raptorial predators, dicranophorids have a very broad ecological range.     

Interactions between temperature and nutrients across levels of ecological organization

Temperature and nutrient availability play key roles in controlling the pathways and rates at which energy and materials move through ecosystems. These factors have also changed dramatically on Earth over the past century as human activities have intensified. Although significant effort has been devoted to understanding the role of temperature and nutrients in isolation, less is known about how these two factors interact to influence ecological processes. Recent advances in ecological stoichiometry and metabolic ecology provide a useful framework for making progress in this area, but conceptual synthesis and review are needed to help catalyze additional research. Here, we examine known and potential interactions between temperature and nutrients from a variety of physiological, community, and ecosystem perspectives. We first review patterns at the level of the individual, focusing on four traits – growth, respiration, body size, and elemental content – that should theoretically govern how temperature and nutrients interact to influence higher levels of biological organization. We next explore the interactive effects of temperature and nutrients on populations, communities, and food webs by synthesizing information related to community size spectra, biomass distributions, and elemental composition. We use metabolic theory to make predictions about how population‐level secondary production should respond to interactions between temperature and resource supply, setting up qualitative predictions about the flows of energy and materials through metazoan food webs. Last, we examine how temperature–nutrient interactions influence processes at the whole‐ecosystem level, focusing on apparent vs. intrinsic activation energies of ecosystem processes, how to represent temperature–nutrient interactions in ecosystem models, and patterns with respect to nutrient uptake and organic matter decomposition. We conclude that a better understanding of interactions between temperature and nutrients will be critical for developing realistic predictions about ecological responses to multiple, simultaneous drivers of global change, including climate warming and elevated nutrient supply.     

桂西南蚬木群落优势树种分布与环境因子的关系

蚬木(Excentrodendron hsienmu)是广泛分布于桂西南喀斯特山地的优良用材树种,了解影响蚬木群落物种分布的主要环境因子,对蚬木资源的有效保护具有重要意义。该研究基于桂西南蚬木群落的样地调查,测定了样地中乔木树种的重要值以及海拔、坡度、坡向、土壤养分等8个环境因子,采用Pearson相关分析研究了地形与土壤等环境因子间的相互关系,运用典范对应分析(CCA)方法对群落主要树种与环境因子间的关系进行了排序。结果表明:调查共记录到胸径≥1.0 cm、树高≥1.5 m的立木共176种,隶属于50科128属;群落乔木层以蚬木占绝对优势,主要伴生种有广西澄广花(Orophea anceps)、金丝李(Garcinia paucinervis)、割舌树(Walsura robusta)、苹婆(Sterculia nobilis)。相关分析显示海拔与土壤有机质、全氮间呈极显著正相关;除土壤pH之外,其余土壤肥力因子间均呈极显著正相关。CCA分析显示全钾、全磷对群落优势种的分布影响最为显著,坡向、坡度对优势种分布也具有重要作用。该研究结果揭示了影响蚬木群落物种分布的主要环境因子,为该区域的植被恢复措施提供了科学依据。     

Impact of varying electron donors on the molecular microbial ecology and biokinetics of methylotrophic denitrifying bacteria

The goal of this study was to identify bacterial populations that assimilated methanol in a denitrifying sequencing batch reactor (SBR), using stable isotope probing (SIP) of ¹³C labeled DNA and quantitatively track changes in these populations upon changing the electron donor from methanol to ethanol in the SBR feed. Based on SIP derived ¹³C 16S rRNA gene clone libraries, dominant SBR methylotrophic bacteria were related to Methyloversatilis spp. and Hyphomicrobium spp. These methylotrophic populations were quantified via newly developed real‐time PCR assays. Upon switching the electron donor from methanol to ethanol, Hyphomicrobium spp. concentrations decreased significantly in accordance with their obligately methylotrophic nutritional mode. In contrast, Methyloversatilis spp. concentrations were relatively unchanged, in accordance with their ability to assimilate both methanol and ethanol. Direct assimilation of ethanol by Methyloversatilis spp. but not Hyphomicrobium spp. was also confirmed via SIP. The reduction in methylotrophic bacterial concentration upon switching to ethanol was paralleled by a significant decrease in the methanol supported denitrification biokinetics of the SBR on nitrate. In sum, the results of this study demonstrate that the metabolic capabilities (methanol assimilation and metabolism) and substrate specificity (obligately or facultatively methylotrophic) of two distinct methylotrophic bacterial populations contributed to their survival or washout in denitrifying bioreactors. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2009;102: 1527–1536. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.