Study on coastal wetland habitat quality evaluation in Quanzhou Bay, Fujian, China

Coastal wetland is located in the active interface between land and sea, which is one of the richest biodiversity habitats, while it is seriously disturbed and destroyed by anthropogenic activities in both terrestrial and marine parts. Habitat serves as the basis for organism survival, providing food, shelter, water, space and so on, and habitat degradation and loss caused by intense anthropogenic activities is widely considered as the main reason for biodiversity decline and loss. However, there is still limited study on the evaluating methods of coastal wetland habitats, especially for those in a large scale. In this study, methods for evaluating coastal wetland habitat quality, including selecting indicators, setting value assignment criteria and weights were discussed systematically, a method of coastal wetland habitat quality evaluation was established, and the habitat quality in Quanzhou Bay was also evaluated as a case study. The present study provided a new concept and method to assess quantitatively habitat status, indicate the ecological status and its change, and also reflect and predict indirectly the ecological impact of human activities.
Referring to the habitat evaluation system (HES) developed by United States in the mid 1970s, the evaluation method was established by thorough analysis of the characteristics of coastal wetland. The habitat indicators were selected in terms of three habitat factors as follows: chemical factors, including dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphate in seawater, sulfide in sediment, and regional priority pollutants; physical factors, including landscape naturalness index and coastline artificialization index; biological factors, including invasive species risk and area ratio of invasive alien species. Weights were established by Analytic Hierarchy Process, combined with several-round expert evaluation. Evaluation criteria providing principles for value assignment of each indicator, were established referring to previous standards and related researches. The final result for assessing habitat quality was indicated and stated by the value of Habitat Quality Index (HQI), which is the weighted sum of each indicator. Habitat quality increased with the HQI value, with value ranging from 0 to 100.
The established evaluating method was applied to assess the habitat quality of Quanzhou Bay, located in the southeast coastal zone of Fujian Province, with a total area of 136.4 km², which is an important bay in Fujian. Quanzhou Bay wetland is a typical coastal wetland with diverse wetland habitats, including mangrove, estuary, island, aquaculture ponds, salt pan, shallow sea, mud flat and so on. The Quanzhou Bay is now seriously suffering environmental problems, e.g. eutrophication due to great discharge of domestic, agricultural and industrial wastewater, rapid urbanization and reclamation resulting in decreased wetland area, and the invasion of alien species. The evaluation results showed that the habitat quality index value was 68.13, 57.99 and 51.23 in 1989, 2002 and 2008, respectively, indicating that the habitat degraded gradually. The five major factors that led to decline of HQI value were phosphate in seawater, lead in sediment, landscape naturalness index and coastline artificialization index and area ratio of invasive alien species. Therefore, in order to improve and maintain habitat quality, it is urgent to control pollution, large-scale reclamation and Spartina invasion in Quzhou Bay.     

放牧对内蒙古典型草原生态系统植物及土壤δ15N的影响

植物和土壤中的¹⁵N自然丰度值(δ¹⁵N)是评价生态系统N循环的一个重要指标, 而放牧是草原生态系统的主要土地利用方式, 对草原生态系统的N循环过程的改变起着重要作用。该研究测定了内蒙古锡林河流域放牧和围封条件下草原群落主要优势植物和土壤的δ¹⁵N值, 探讨放牧对草原N循环的影响。研究中所测定的8种植物叶片δ¹⁵N变化很大(-4.04‰-4.34‰), 但与植物功能型有一定的相关性。放牧显著降低了大针茅(Stipa grandis)、杂类草和小半灌木木地肤(Kochia prostrata)的δ¹⁵N值。具有潜在共生固氮能力的豆科植物δ¹⁵N偏低负值(-4.04‰ - -1.90‰), 但在放牧和围封条件下无显著差异; 而被认为具有联合固氮能力的羊草(Leymus chinensis), 放牧后δ¹⁵N显著增加, 一定程度上表明了豆科植物和羊草生物固氮能力的存在。所有植物中, 除无菌根侵染的木地肤外, 其他有丛枝菌根真菌侵染记录的物种δ¹⁵N值较低, 通常接近0或为负值, 说明在N限制的内蒙古草原, 菌根转运N可能也是一种重要的N源途径。放牧显著降低了0-20 cm土壤δ¹⁵N值, 这也与过去的研究结果不同。δ¹⁵N的测定为生态系统提供了一个整合时空N循环过程的综合指标, 反映出放牧改变了草原生态系统的N循环。     

城市林地与非林地大气SO２季节动态变化

SO2作为主要的大气污染物之一,对人体与环境具有严重危害,导致酸雨后危害更大,尤其是长江以南省区污染严重。对长沙和株洲市区内2种类型区域———城市林地与城市非林地空气SO2浓度通过近1a(2004-01~2005-01)的同时进行对比定位观测,用甲醛吸收副玫瑰苯胺分光光度法分析,结果表明:从两市2种类型采样地空气SO2浓度水平总体与分别来看,SO2浓度年内变化均具有明显季节性波动特征(p=0·001),冬季最高,秋季最低;除冬季二者SO2浓度较为接近外,其他各季株洲非林地观测区SO2浓度均高于同季节长沙非林地观测区SO2浓度。空气SO2浓度季节性变化与当地的地理环境、气候条件、采暖期与工业生产布局等因素有较大的关系。其中,燃煤、降水、风速风向和气温是影响空气SO2浓度变化主要的污染源与气候条件因素。空气SO2浓度水平还与所在地有无林木覆盖关系密切。无林地空气SO2浓度年均值(0·18±0·08)mg/m3,有林地空气SO2浓度年均值(0·09±0·07)mg/m3,二者间存在极其显著差异(p=0·001)。林木生理活性季节性变化对植物调节空气SO2浓度季节变化的能力有一定的影响。按林地SO2浓度减缓效应大小排序,依次是夏季(55·4%)>冬季(54·1%)>秋季(49·3%)>春季(29·6%)。城市森林作为一种有效的生物措施在控制和治理城市大气SO2污染实践中具有重要作用,不失为一种经济可行、高效的环境保护措施,应着力提高城市森林覆盖率。     

退化生态系统恢复与恢复生态学

恢复生态学起源于100a前的山地、草原、森林和野生生物等自然资源的管理研究,形成于20世纪80年代。它是研究生态整合性的恢复和管理过程的科学。恢复生态学的研究对象是在自然或人为干扰下形成的偏离自然状态的退化生态系统。生态恢复的目标包括恢复退化生态系统的结构、功能、动态和服务功能,其长期目标是通过恢复与保护相结合,实现生态系统的可持续发展。恢复生态学的理论与方法较多,它们均源于生态学等相关学科,但自我设计和人为设计是唯一源于恢复生态学研究和实践的理论。由于生态系统的复杂性,退化生态系统恢复的方向和时间具有不确定性,其恢复的机理可用临界阈值理论和状态跃迁模型进行解释。中国森林恢复中存在的问题包括：大量营造种类和结构单一的人工林忽视了生物多样性在生态恢复中的作用;大量使用外来种;忽视了生态系统健康所要求的异质性;忽略了物种间的生态交互作用;造林时对珍稀濒危种需要缺乏考虑;城镇绿化忽略了植被的生态功能等问题。此外,还介绍了生态恢复的方法、成功恢复的标准,并提出了恢复生态学的发展趋势：恢复生态学尚未形成理论和方法体系,要成熟还有很长的路要走;恢复生态学正在强调自然恢复与社会、人文的耦合;对森林恢复研究要集中在恢复中的障碍和如何克服这些障碍两个方面;鉴于生态系统复杂性和动态性,应停止期待发现能预测恢复产出的简单定律,相反,应该根据恢复地点及目标多样性而强调适应性恢复。     

Mapping ecosystem functions to the valuation of ecosystem services: implications of species–habitat associations for coastal land-use decisions

Habitats and the ecosystem services they provide are part of the world’s portfolio of natural capital assets. Like many components of this portfolio, it is difficult to assess the full economic value of these services, which tends to over-emphasize the value of extractive activities such as coastal development. Building on recent ecological studies of species–habitat linkages, we use a bioeconomic model to value multiple types of habitats as natural capital, using mangroves, sea grass, and coral reefs as our model system. We show how key ecological variables and processes, including obligate and facultative behaviors map into habitat values and how the valuation of these ecological processes can inform decisions regarding coastal development (habitat clearing). Our stylized modeling framework also provides a clear and concise road map for researchers interested in understanding how to make the link between ecosystem function, ecosystem service, and conservation policy decisions. Our findings also highlight the importance of additional ecological research into how species utilize habitats and that this research is not just important for ecological science, but it can and will influence ecosystem service values that, in turn, will impact coastal land-use decisions. While refining valuation methods is not necessarily going to lead to more rational coastal land-use decisions, it will improve our understanding on the ecological–economic mechanisms that contribute to the value of our natural capital assets. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

High level of genetic differentiation in the marine isopod Sphaeroma terebrans (Crustacea Isopoda Sphaeromatidae) as inferred by mitochondrial DNA analysis

Sphaeroma terebrans Bate 1866 is a marine isopod belonging to the large family Sphaeromatidae, which normally colonises the aerial roots of the mangrove genus Rhizophora in tropical and subtropical areas. S. terebrans is part of a group of species whose complete life cycle occurs within the same mangrove wood. In this paper, we provide clear evidence of significant genetic differentiation among geographic populations of the taxon S. terebrans. The consistently low internal variation and the large interpopulation distances indicate that almost all the mitochondrial variation (cytochrome oxidase I) in S. terebrans is apportioned among populations rather than within them. The mean haplotype diversity (h) is 0.71%, and the mean nucleotide diversity (π) is 0.34%. The Minimum Spanning Tree (MST) reveals a complex pattern: three principal haplotype groups corresponding to the geographic locations investigated are distributed in a network. This suggests an ancient evolutionary history and very restricted gene flow between populations. The large genetic distances between the populations of S. terebrans could suggest that this taxon is not a single species but a species complex whose taxonomic status must be revaluated.     

Allometry of fine roots in forest ecosystems

Theoretical predictions regarding fine root production are needed in many ecosystem models but are lacking. Here, we expand the classic pipe model to fine roots and predict isometric scaling relationships between leaf and fine root biomass and among all major biomass production components of individual trees. We also predict that fine root production scales more slowly against increases in leaf production across global forest ecosystems at the stand level. Using meta‐analysis, we show fine root biomass scales isometrically against leaf biomass both at the individual tree and stand level. However, despite isometric scaling between stem and coarse root production, fine root production scales against leaf production with a slope of about 0.8 at the stand level, which probably results from more rapid increase of turnover rate in leaves than in fine roots. These analyses help to improve our understandings of allometric theory and controls of belowground C processes.     

Vascular plant 15N natural abundance in heath and forest tundra ecosystems is closely correlated with presence and type of mycorrhizal fungi in roots

In this study we show that the natural abundance of the nitrogen isotope 15, δ¹⁵N, of plants in heath tundra and at the tundra-forest ecocline is closely correlated with the presence and type of mycorrhizal association in the plant roots. A total of 56 vascular plant species, 7 moss species, 2 lichens and 6 species of fungi from four heath and forest tundra sites in Greenland, Siberia and Sweden were analysed for δ¹⁵N and N concentration. Roots of vascular plants were examined for mycorrhizal colonization, and the soil organic matter was analysed for δ¹⁵N, N concentration and soil inorganic, dissolved organic and microbial N. No arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) colonizations were found although potential host plants were present in all sites. The dominant species were either ectomycorrhizal (ECM) or ericoid mycorrhizal (ERI). The δ¹⁵N of ECM or ERI plants was 3.5–7.7‰ lower than that of non-mycorrhizal (NON) species in three of the four sites. This corresponds to the results in our earlier study of mycorrhiza and plant δ¹⁵N which was limited to one heath and one fellfield in N Sweden. Hence, our data suggest that the δ¹⁵N pattern: NON/AM plants > ECM plants ≥ ERI plants is a general phenomenon in ecosystems with nutrient-deficient organogenic soils. In the fourth site, a␣birch forest with a lush herb/shrub understorey, the differences between functional groups were considerably smaller, and only the ERI species differed (by 1.1‰) from the NON species. Plants of all functional groups from this site had nearly twice the leaf N concentration as that found in the same species at the other three sites. It is likely that low inorganic N availability is a prerequisite for strong δ¹⁵N separation among functional groups. Both ECM roots and fruitbodies were ¹⁵N enriched compared to leaves which suggests that the difference in δ¹⁵N between plants with different kinds of mycorrhiza could be due to isotopic fractionation at the␣fungal-plant interface. However, differences in δ¹⁵N between soil N forms absorbed by the plants could also contribute to the wide differences in plant δ¹⁵N found in most heath and forest tundra ecosystems. We hypothesize that during microbial immobilization of soil ammonium the microbial N pool could become ¹⁵N-depleted and the remaining, plant-available soil ammonium ¹⁵N-enriched. The latter could be a main source of N for NON/AM plants which usually have high δ¹⁵N. In contrast, amino acids and other soil organic N compounds presumably are ¹⁵N-depleted, similar to plant litter, and ECM and ERI plants with high uptake of these N forms hence have low leaf δ¹⁵N. Further indications come from the δ¹⁵N of mosses and lichens which was similar to that of ECM plants. Tundra cryptogams (and ECM and ERI plants) have previously been shown to have higher uptake of amino acid than ammonium N; their low δ¹⁵N might therefore reflect the δ¹⁵N of free amino acids in the soil. The concentration of dissolved organic N was 3–16 times higher than that of inorganic N in the sites. Organic nitrogen could be an important N source for ECM and, in particular, ERI plants in heath and forest tundra ecosystems with low release rate of inorganic N from the soil organic matter. Received: 8 June 1997 / Accepted: 28 February 1998     

陆地生态系统类型转变与碳循环

 土地利用变化引起的陆地生态系统类型转变对于全球碳循环有着极其重要的作用。　通过总结国内外有关森林砍伐以及森林、草地转变成农田对于碳循环的影响,阐述了可能引起全球“未知汇”现象的重要原因,强调未来中国陆地生态系统碳循环研究应充分重视陆地生态系统类型转变对于全球碳循环的影响研究,包括研究陆地生态系统的不同发展阶段(自然与退化生态系统)、利用方式的改变(森林转化为人工林或农田,草地转化为农田、退耕还林草等)所引起的碳库类型转换的增汇机理及其对全球变化响应,并指出了建立统一观测方法与规范的陆地生态系统碳通量观测网     

Long‐term nitrogen fertilization decreases bacterial diversity and favors the growth of Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in agro‐ecosystems across the globe

Long‐term elevated nitrogen (N) input from anthropogenic sources may cause soil acidification and decrease crop yield, yet the response of the belowground microbial community to long‐term N input alone or in combination with phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) is poorly understood. We explored the effect of long‐term N and NPK fertilization on soil bacterial diversity and community composition using meta‐analysis of a global dataset. Nitrogen fertilization decreased soil pH, and increased soil organic carbon (C) and available N contents. Bacterial taxonomic diversity was decreased by N fertilization alone, but was increased by NPK fertilization. The effect of N fertilization on bacterial diversity varied with soil texture and water management, but was independent of crop type or N application rate. Changes in bacterial diversity were positively related to both soil pH and organic C content under N fertilization alone, but only to soil organic C under NPK fertilization. Microbial biomass C decreased with decreasing bacterial diversity under long‐term N fertilization. Nitrogen fertilization increased the relative abundance of Proteobacteria and Actinobacteria, but reduced the abundance of Acidobacteria, consistent with the general life history strategy theory for bacteria. The positive correlation between N application rate and the relative abundance of Actinobacteria indicates that increased N availability favored the growth of Actinobacteria. This first global analysis of long‐term N and NPK fertilization that differentially affects bacterial diversity and community composition provides a reference for nutrient management strategies for maintaining belowground microbial diversity in agro‐ecosystems worldwide.