Impact of Flooding on the Species Richness, Density and Composition of Amazonian Litter-Nesting Ants

Litter-nesting ants are diverse and abundant in tropical forests, but the factors structuring their communities are poorly known. Here we present results of the first study to examine the impact of natural variation in flooding on a highly diverse (21 genera, 77 species) litter-nesting ant community in a primary Amazonian forest. Fifty-six 3 × 3 m plots experiencing strong variation in flooding and twenty-eight 3 × 3 m terra firme plots were exhaustively searched for litter-nesting ants to determine patterns of density, species richness and species composition. In each plot, flooding, litter depth, twig availability, canopy cover, plant density, percent soil nitrogen, carbon, and phosphorus were measured. Degree of flooding, measured as flood frequency and flood interval, had the strongest impact on ant density in flooded forest. Flooding caused a linear decrease in ant abundance, potentially due to a reduction of suitable nesting sites. However, its influence on species richness varied: low-disturbance habitat had species richness equal to terra firme forest after adjusting for differences in density. The composition of ant genera and species varied among flood categories; some groups known to contain specialist predators were particularly intolerant to flooding. Hypoponera STD10 appeared to be well-adapted to highly flooded habitat. Although flooding did not appear to increase species richness or abundance at the habitat scale, low-flooding habitat contained a mixture of species found in the significantly distinct ant communities of terra firme and highly flooded habitat.
     

Postdispersal Seed Fate of Tropical Montane Trees in an Agricultural Landscape, Southern Costa Rica

Variation in postdispersal seed fate is an important factor driving patterns of forest regeneration. Because most previous studies have not tracked final seed fate and have commonly equated seed removal with predation without considering the possibility of secondary dispersal, little is known about individual seed mortality factors in successional and degraded habitats. This study tracked the postdispersal fate of large-seeded tropical montane trees in abandoned pasture, young secondary forests, and small forest fragments during two consecutive years in an agricultural landscape in southern Costa Rica. The incidence of secondary dispersal by animals, scatterhoarding in particular, and the effects of seed burial on germination were measured. Overall, seeds survived through germination more often in secondary forests with high levels of mortality occurring in abandoned pastures and forest fragments. The majority of seed mortality was caused by rodent predation in forest fragments, insects and fungal pathogens in secondary forests, and a combination of desiccation, insects, and fungal pathogens in pastures. Seeds were frequently secondarily dispersed in larger forest fragments, whereas they were only rarely moved in pastures and secondary forests. Burial tended to improve germination in pastures and was important for an often scatterhoarded species, Otoba novogranatensis, in all habitats. The results of this study suggest that: (1) seed mortality factors differ in response to the type of habitat degradation; (2) large-seeded species have high potential for survival when dispersed to young secondary forests; and (3) seed removal is not a reliable proxy for seed predation, particularly in less degraded forest fragments.     

亚热带地区阔叶林与杉木林土壤活性有机质比较

通过对亚热带3个地区地带性阔叶林和杉木林土壤活性有机质的比较,分析森林类型变化及杉木连栽对土壤有机碳和养分含量的影响.结果表明：地带性阔叶林转变为杉木林后,土壤总有机碳含量下降27.8%～52.1%、腐殖酸碳下降32.2%～52.8%、胡敏酸下降36.4%～59.0%、富里酸下降29.7%～50.0%;杉木连栽也使土壤总有机碳和腐殖质含量下降.森林类型改变和杉木连栽对土壤活性有机质的影响更明显.杉木林取代阔叶林后,土壤微生物生物量碳、微生物生物量氮、可溶性有机碳和可溶性有机氮含量的最大降幅分别为61.8%、38.2%、43.3%和69.0%;与第1代杉木林相比,第2代杉木林土壤微生物生物量碳、微生物生物量氮、可溶性有机碳和可溶性有机氮含量的最大降幅分别为34.7%、29.3%、30.4%、18.4%.经相关性分析,除冷水浸提有机氮外,土壤活性有机质与养分含量之间具有密切的相关关系.     

不同海拔云南黄连生物量和主要有效成分变化

研究了不同海拔(2 100～2 700 m)下,野生和人工栽培云南黄连的生物量、主要有效成分含量及产量.结果表明:野生云南黄连根茎和根生物量沿海拔梯度呈上升趋势,但无显著性差异(P>0.05);人工栽培云南黄连根茎生物量平均值在海拔2 600 m和2 700 m处分别为87.5 kg·hm^-2和97.0 kg·hm^-2,显著高于海拔2 300 m处(34.8 kg·hm^-2,P<0.05),且海拔2 300、2 600和2 700 m的人工栽培云南黄连根茎和根生物量均大于野生云南黄连,但无显著性差异(P>0.05). 野生云南黄连的根茎和根生物量均与全株生物量呈显著正相关. 野生云南黄连根茎和根小檗碱含量在海拔2 700 m处最高,分别为4.60%和1.93%; 根茎巴马汀和药根碱含量、根药根碱含量在海拔2 600～2 700 m处最高;根巴马汀含量在2 300 m处最高.人工云南黄连根茎和根小檗碱含量在海拔2 600 m处最高,分别为4.41%和1.90%; 根茎巴马汀含量,根小檗碱、巴马汀和药根碱含量在海拔2 600～2 700 m处最高;根茎药根碱含量在海拔2 300 m处最高.海拔2 600～2 700 m处野生云南黄连根茎和根中各有效成分产量显著高于海拔2 100和2 300 m处(P<0.05). 野生云南黄连分株的根茎生物量、根生物量、叶生物量、总生物量、高度和冠幅沿海拔梯度呈先升后降趋势.增大种植密度和加强人工管理可以提高云南黄连生物量和主要有效成分产量.     

Comparative morphology of populations of Monstera Adans. (Araceae) from natural forest fragments in Northeast Brazil using elliptic Fourier Analysis of leaf outlines

Summary  A comparative study of the leaf outline morphometrics of Monstera adansonii var. klotzschiana, M. adansonii var. laniata and M. praetermissa was carried out. The study focused on populations in isolated montane humid (brejo) forests of Ceará state in Northeast Brazil and compared them with populations from Amazonia and the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. Digitised outlines were prepared from a total of 1,695 field-collected leaf images from 20 populations, and elliptic Fourier analysis was used to generate matrices of coefficients, from which six shape variables (principal components) were extracted using Principal Components Analysis. Intra-population variability and inter-population differences were analysed with multivariate distance methods. Separate analyses were carried out for each of three leaf size classes (juvenile, submature, mature) because of the strong heteroblasty typical of this genus. Juvenile leaves were the least variable size class within populations of M. adansonii var. klotzschiana. The shape variables expressed very similar types of variation in all three size classes. The Ceará brejo populations of M. adansonii var. klotzschiana showed significant differences between mature leaf outlines in all pairwise comparisons; the Pacatuba population was the most distinct. The Ceará populations did not cluster together exclusively. In all three size classes, populations clustered together into their taxonomic groups, most clearly so in mature leaves. No correlation between morphological and geographic distance matrices was found, nor between morphological and molecular distance. The study showed that leaf outline shape is a practicable and useful quantitative trait for studying morphological variability at species, varietal and population levels. Electronic supplementary material  The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

不同类型农田土壤对可溶性有机氮、碳的吸附特性

研究了陕西关中地区红油土和淋溶褐土耕层土壤对分离的有机肥提取液中可溶性有机氮、碳(SON和SOC)的吸附特性.结果表明:原始物质吸附等温线方程可以反映土壤对可溶性有机氮、碳的吸附特性,土壤吸附SON、SOC的数量与它们各自加入的量呈极显著线性关系.从原始物质吸附等温线方程的分配系数m看,淋溶褐土对SON、SOC的吸附能力强于红油土.红油土对SON、SOC的平均吸附率分别为24.3%和18.8%,淋溶褐土则分别为38.3%和18.6%;两种类型土壤对SON和SOC的吸附能力较低,说明它们在土壤中具有较强的移动性;土壤对SOC的吸附能力弱于SON,说明SOC更易于从土壤中流失.     

缙云山常绿阔叶林不同演替阶段植物生活型谱比较研究

采用Raunkiner生活型分类系统,对缙云山常绿阔叶林不同演替阶段植物的生活型进行统计,编制了生活型谱,并与其他亚热带地区常绿阔叶林相比较。结果表明,缙云山植被属典型的中亚热带常绿阔叶林植被,高位芽植物占绝对优势,达80％以上,其中小高位芽植物最多,中高位芽与矮高位芽植物次之,藤本植物较丰富。缙云山不同演替阶段的植物的生活型谱不同。随着进展演替阶段的逐渐更替,高位芽植物的比例呈递增趋势,地面芽植物、地下芽植物成分有所减少。高位芽的常绿树种会逐渐代替针叶树种。     

青藏东缘岷江上游亚高山针叶林人工恢复过程中物种多样性动态

通过对不同林龄(10～70年)的人工云杉(Picea asperata)林及自然恢复的桦木(Betula utilis var. sinensis)林和天然原始冷杉(Abies faxoniana)林的调查研究,采用Margalef指数、Simpson指数、McIntosh指数、Shannon-Wiener指数、Pielou的均匀度指数、Hurlbert均匀度指数等多样性指数及物种数、个体数和盖度分析了群落乔木层、灌木层、草本层及总体的物种多样性,结果发现1)人工云杉林的物种多样性随着林龄的增加逐渐上升,林冠郁闭前后上升最快,在50～70年间下降;其中乔木层物种多样性先上升,郁闭后下降;灌木层物种多样性郁闭前下降,郁闭后骤然上升,后来缓慢下降;草本层物种多样性在早期阶段很高,随着郁闭度的增大而下降,郁闭后又缓慢回升.2)均匀度的变化幅度不大,变化的趋势基本上与物种多样性相反. 3)次生桦木林与同林龄的人工云杉林及天然原始林相比,原始冷杉林的物种丰富度、群落总体、乔木层、草本层优势度(Simpson指数和MacIntosh指数)和多样性(Shannon-Wiener指数)最高,灌木层均匀度最低;人工云杉林的物种丰富度、优势度、群落总体、乔木层、草本层多样性最低,但灌木层的均匀度和多样性最高. 4)物种多样性的变化与群落盖度特别是乔木层盖度呈负相关,影响人工云杉林物种多样性恢复的主要因素是其乔木层的盖度过大. 5)人工云杉林的物种多样性不仅低于同龄的自然恢复的桦木林,远远低于天然原始林,而且经过70年的发育,灌木层和草本层的盖度很低,水土保持和水源涵养的生态效益很差.迫切需要调整人工云杉林的群落结构,以恢复其生物多样性,增强其生态效益的发挥.建议在人工云杉林郁闭以后,采取适当的人工干扰如间伐等,降低乔木层的盖度,以促进林下灌草层的发育,既可增强水土保持功能,又可加速物种多样性的恢复.     

Management oriented forest map of South India: thematic derivations

The principles and methods of the vegetation mapping undertaken at the French Institute, Pondicherry, are dealt with herein. Particularly, the characterisation of the different types of vegetation and especially the originality of the method: the dynamic interpretation of the vegetation and the depiction of the bioclimatic conditions. The programme of the forest map of South India at scale 1:250 000, undertaken in collaboration with the forest departments of the concerned states, is then described with special attention given to the source and the collection of data. This map has been conceived to serve as a basic document for the sustainable management of the forests. Three examples of its application are given. They concern the detection of anomalies between the existing forest cover and the prevalent climatic environment; the detection of areas for which protection is urgently needed; the selection of regions showing a particular interest in the field of nature conservation or as gene pool reserve. Finally, an example of a thematic map of sensibility of the forests is given, using the vegetation map as a basis.     

Contribution of micro-organisms to the carbon dynamics in black spruce (Picea mariana) forest soil in Canada

In order to clarify the role of micro-organisms in the carbon cycle of the boreal forest ecosystem, the vertical distribution of soil carbon, soil microbial biomass and respiratory activity was studied in a black spruce forest near Candle Lake in Saskatchewan, Canada. The total amount of carbon contained in moss and soil layers (to the depth of 50cm beneath the mineral soil surface) was 7.2kgm^–2, about 47% of which was in the L and FH horizons of the soil. Soil microbial biomass per dry weight of soil was largest in the L horizon, while the biomass per ground area was largest in the FH horizon. Soil respiration rate, measured using a portable infrared gas analyzer, was highest in the FH horizon, exceeding 50% of the total soil respiration. Low but significant CO₂ emission was detected even in deeper soil horizon (E horizon). We also examined the respiration rate of cut roots and the effect of root excision on respiration. The contribution of root respiration to total soil respiration, calculated from root biomass and respiration rate of cut roots, was about 54%. The amount of carbon evolved through microbial respiration during the snow-free season (June–October) was estimated as 221gCm^–2. Micro-organisms in the L horizon showed high respiratory activity as compared with those in deeper soil horizons.