熵理论在生态系统稳定性研究中的应用

本文从李亚普诺夫（Lyapounov）的稳定性原理出发,运用最小熵和超熵理论分析了线性非平衡态和远离平衡态生态系统的稳定性,并给出了相应的稳定性判据。以完善和促进生态系统稳定性研究的理论水平。     

中国部分省份农村室内灰尘铅污染特征

采集了中国8个省份122件农村室内灰尘样品,对其中铅的含量、赋存形态及生物可给性进行了研究.结果表明,8个省份农村室内灰尘铅平均含量为207.5 mg·kg-1,湖南(平均537.8 mg·kg-1)和云南(280.1 mg·kg-1)铅含量较高,陕西(96.0 mg·kg-1)和福建(80.1 mg·kg-1)相对较低.连续形态提取结果表明,农村室内灰尘铅主要以铁锰氧化物结合态形式存在(36.8%),其次为残渣态(17.7%)和碳酸盐结合态(16.7%),可交换态(14.3%)和有机质结合态(14.4%)铅所占总量比例相对较少.通过体外模拟实验提取的生物可给态铅占总铅的比例平均为52.8%,相关分析显示,生物可给态铅含量与铁锰氧化物结合态铅含量高度相关,表明铁锰氧化物结合态铅对生物可给态铅具有重要贡献.     

Differences of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal diversity and community between a cultivated land,an old field,and a never-cultivated field in a hot and arid ecosystem of southwest China

We investigated the spore density, species composition, and diversity of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in a cultivated land (CL), an old field (OF), and a never-cultivated field (NCF), which are located adjacently in a slope in the hot and arid ecosystem of southwest China. AMF spores in the rhizosphere soils of representative plants in the three habitats were extracted by wet-sieving and decanting. A total of 47 taxa of AMF including 31 taxa from the genus Glomus, 8 from Acaulospora, 6 from Scutellospora, 1 from Entrophospora, and 1 from Gigaspora were extracted and identified morphologically. The highest spore density occurred in NCF, slightly lower in OF and lowest in CL, and the Shannon–Wiener index of species diversity was reversed. The dominant species of AMF were different in the three habitats. OF resembled NCF more than CL in AMF spore density, species richness, and community composition, which means that AMF community in the OF has been developing from cultivated land to natural habitat. Cluster analysis based on the similarity in AMF community composition indicated that the distribution of AMF was not random over space and that AMF community composition associated with a given plant species was greatly habitat-convergence. Following the cluster analysis, we hypothesized that the effect of habitats on AMF communities were greater than that of the host preference to AMF. L-F. Li and T. Li contributed equally to this work.     

莽措湖流域生态系统服务功能经济价值变化研究

运用中国生态系统服务价值当量因子表和莽措湖流域单位面积农田生态系统在1990年和2000年提供的食物生产服务的经济价值,以及1990年和2000年土地利用情况,对该区生态系统服务功能经济价值进行了评价,得出1990年和2000年莽措湖流域生态系统服务功能经济价值分别为3．10×10^9元·年^-1和3．05×10^-9元·年^-l,2000年比1990年减少4．71×10^7元·年^-1．同时分析了1990年和2000年生态系统服务功能经济价值变化的原因并对结果进行了讨论。     

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning in food webs

Recent theoretical and experimental work provides clear evidence that biodiversity loss can have profound impacts on functioning of natural and managed ecosystems and the ability of ecosystems to deliver ecological services to human societies. Work on simplified ecosystems in which the diversity of a single trophic level is manipulated shows that diversity can enhance ecosystem processes such as primary productivity and nutrient retention. Theory also strongly suggests that biodiversity can act as biological insurance against potential disruptions caused by environmental changes. However, these studies generally concern a single trophic level, primary producers for the most part. Changes in biodiversity also affect ecosystem functioning through trophic interactions. Here we review, through the analysis of a simple ecosystem model, several key aspects inherent in multitrophic systems that may strongly affect the relationship between diversity and ecosystem processes. Our analysis shows that trophic interactions have a strong impact on the relationships between diversity and ecosystem functioning, whether the ecosystem property considered is total biomass or temporal variability of biomass at the various trophic levels. In both cases, food-web structure and trade-offs that affect interaction strength have major effects on these relationships. Multitrophic interactions are expected to make biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships more complex and non-linear, in contrast to the monotonic changes predicted for simplified systems with a single trophic level.     

半湿润常绿阔叶林次生演替阶段植物多样性和群落结构特征

以飒马场不同次生演潜阶段的半湿润常绿阔叶林为对象,测定物种丰富度、群落数量特征指标,分析植物多样性与群落结构特征之间的关系.结果表明,随着植物群落演替,物种丰富度不断增加,物种丰富度最高演替阶段的乔木层物种达到24个;植物多样性与植物个体密度间呈正相关关系;乔木层植物个体平均高与植物多样性间呈负相关关系;群落郁闭度和胸高断面积与植物多样性之间则呈对数函数关系.植物多样性与优势种个体密度和群落地上部分现存量间未呈现一致性规律.植物种-个体数间呈幂函数关系.随着植物多样性增加,种间竞争加剧.每个植物种为了维持临界最低种群,可能采取最大种群策略,导致群落植物个体数增加,密度增大,从而改变了群落结构特征.     

Metabolic quotient of the soil microflora in relation to plant succession

Summary In this study we propose the hypothesis that ecosystem succession is accompanied by a decrease in the metabolic quotient qCO₂ (respiration-to-biomass ratio) of the soil microflora. The qCO₂ is calculated from basal respiration (CO₂-C·h^-1) per unit microbial biomass carbon (C_mier). The hypothesis was tested by studying two primary successions on recessional moraines of the Rotmoos Ferner (Austria) and the Athabasca Glacier (Canada). For both soil seres (0->200 years) it was shown that the qCO₂ decreased with time, which corroborated the hypothesis. In addition, the short term development of the qCO₂ was demonstrated with a revegetation trial. We observed a rise in qCO₂ for the first two years after reclamation, followed by a subsequent decrease.     

Visually elicited turning behavior in Rana pipiens: comparative organization and neural control of escape and prey capture

High-speed videography was used to describe the initial turning movement of visually triggered escape in frogs and to compare it with the initial turn of frog prey capture behavior. These two types of turning had some general similarities, e.g. turn duration and peak velocity were positively correlated with turn angle. However, there were kinematic differences: for turns of a given angular amplitude, escape turns consistently demonstrated shorter duration and higher peak velocity than prey capture turns. There also were differences predictably matched to stimulus angles; escape turn angles were more variably related to stimulus angles. Both turning movements are believed to depend upon the optic tectum. However, given the observed differences in kinematics and spatial organization, we used lesion experiments to determine if distinct tectal efferent pathways subserve turning under each circumstance. Large unilateral lesions of the brainstem simultaneously disrupted both types of turning. However, smaller laterally placed lesions disrupted escape turning without disrupting prey capture turns. The kinematic differences in combination with the lesion results support the idea that the post-tectal circuitry for visually elicited turning movements is based upon separate descending pathways that control turning toward prey and turning away from threat.Abbreviations CG central gray - OT optic tectum - SEM standard error of the mean     

Experimental field exclosure of birds and bats in agricultural systems — Methodological insights,potential improvements,and cost-benefit trade-offs

Experimental exclosure of birds and bats constitutes a powerful tool to study the impacts of wildlife on pests and crop yields in agricultural systems. Though widely utilized, exclosure experiments are not standardized across studies. Indeed, key differences surrounding the design, materials, and protocols for implementing field-based exclosure experiments of flying vertebrates increase heterogeneity across studies, and limit our understanding of biodiversity-friendly land use management. We reviewed the available literature on studies in which bird and bat exclosures were applied to study pest control in agricultural settings, and isolated 30 studies from both tropical and temperate land use systems, involving 12 crop types across 14 countries. Focusing on exclosure effects on crop yield, we analyzed effect detectability for a subset of suitable data. We then analyzed the potential of exclosure methods and possible extensions to improve our understanding of complex food webs and ecosystem services affecting the productivity of agricultural systems. While preferences exist in materials (e.g., nylon nets and bamboo frames), experimental exclosure studies of birds and bats differed greatly in their respective design, related costs, and effort — limiting the generalization and transferability of results at larger spatial scales. Most studies were based on experiments conducted in the United States and the Neotropics, mainly in coffee and cacao farms. A lack of preliminary or long-term data with repeated measurements makes it impossible to apply power analysis in most studies. Common constraints include, among other things, the choice of material and experimental duration, as well as the consideration of local versus landscape factors. We discuss such limitations, related common pitfalls, and options for optimization to inform improved planning, design, and execution of exclosure studies. By doing so, we aim to promote more comparable and transferable approaches in future field research on biodiversity-mediated ecosystem services.     

Expressing citizen preferences on endangered wildlife for building socially appealing species recovery policies: A stated preference experiment in Quebec,Canada

Over the past fifty years, the world's wildlife populations have drastically declined. This stems from multiple causes, including the loss of natural habitat, which plays a vital role. Effective strategies to help endangered wildlife species recovery requires broad public support to be politically viable. In this study, we conducted a randomized survey to elicit and describe the Quebec population’s preferences and concerns regarding endangered wildlife and estimate its willingness-to-pay (WTP) for their recovery. We used stated preference approaches, namely a discrete choice experiment (DCE) and best-worst scaling (BWS), to estimate WTP and rank respondent preferences towards categories of wildlife species and recovery program attributes. In the selection of animals listed, results also reveal strong public preferences for large mammals, more specifically the beluga whale and woodland caribou. Simulation exercises from our DCE results show that a quarter of respondents would be willing to pay $160 per year for a megafauna recovery program compared to $12 for birds, or insects, or fish and molluscs recovery programs. Despite respondents’ strong preferences for the protection of megafauna, BWS and DCE simulation results indicate that a broader multispecies approach would be favoured by a larger segment of the population than a single specie approach. The survey results also revealed that the public likes to spend time in nature and is both concerned about endangered wildlife and aware of the interdependence between humans and nature. Therefore, our findings suggest that policymakers have a social acceptance to use both flagship species and multispecies approaches to implement endangered species recovery strategies. Moreover, our findings and the related literature on the value of ecosystem services indicate that communication on wildlife conservation could be buttressed by emphasizing conservation’s contributions to ecosystem services.