Aboveground nutrient cycling and forest development on poor sandy soil

The aboveground nutrient turnover of three ecosystems representing the main stages of heathland forest succession in NW Germany was investigated in a comparative study with regard to nutrient availability of the soil and light availability below the canopy. It was expected that nutrient availability would play a decisive role in forest development on nutrient poor acidic soil. The results show that the input of nutrients into the Calluna heathland is higher than the annual aboveground turnover of N, P, Ca, Mg, and K via litterfall. Compared to the pioneering birch-pine forest, the annual aboveground turnover of nutrients within the Calluna heathland, and therefore the nutrient availability is very low, while the light availability below the canopy is high. The increasing productivity of the growing successional forest is combined with an increasing nutrient turnover, mainly via litter fall. As a result, the increasing nutrient availability favours shade tolerant species with a higher nutrient demand at the late stages of succession. Consequently, the presumed terminal stage of succession, the oak-beech forest, is characterized by low light availability below the canopy and higher nutrient supply according to the resource-ratio hypothesis of Tilman (1985, 1986, 1988).     

云贵鹅耳枥群落演替中乔木树种间协变的研究

采用Ｓｐｅａｒｍａｎ秩相关系数探讨了贵阳喀斯特山地云贵鹅耳枥群落演替中１６种常见乔木树种间的协变,并对这些乔木树种间的协变关系及其对群落的性质、结构和动态的影响进行了分析。     

半干旱地区煤矸石山生态分类研究

半干旱地区煤矸石山生态分类研究张军,杨芳,林华（辽宁省阜新矿务局林业处,１２３００３）ＥｃｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌＣｌａｓｓｉｆｉｃａｔｉｏｎｏｆＣｏａｌＧａｎｇｕｅＨｉｌｌｓｉｎＳｅｍｉ－ＡｒｉｄＲｅｇｉｏｎｓ．￥ＺｈａｎｇＪｕｎ;ＹａｎｇＦａｎｇ;Ｌｉｎ...     

念珠状链杆菌在小鼠群中的自然感染和发病特征的观察

本文在国内首次报告了念珠状链杆菌在清洁级Ｃ５７ＢＬ／６Ｊ小鼠群中的自然感染,并从临床、病理解剖、病原学及流行病学方面进行了较为详细的观察,在受检的１４例发病动物中,颈部淋巴结肿大、化脓占７１．４％,皮下、肺门淋巴结脓肿分别占５０．０％和２１．４％,多发性关节炎（包括趾、跗关节）占２１．４％,子宫积脓占７．１％,从所有病灶及部分动物的血液、脾、肝、肺、肾均分离到了单一的细菌。该菌在小鼠成功地进行了急性感染实验,受感染动物出现了典型的念珠状链杆菌病的临床及病理特征,即败血症、关节炎、淤血、水肿、紫绀、结膜炎等。所分离的致病菌在病原学上也完全符合念珠状链杆菌的病原学特征。在饲养环境上与发病鼠群有密切关系的其它４个品系小鼠群,即６１５、ＢＡＬＢ／ｃ、ＣＢＡ、ＫＭ,均未波感染,证明在对该菌的易感性方面存在品系差异。     

Restoration of natural vegetation in degraded Imperata cylindrica grassland: understorey development in forest plantations

Abstract. Reclamation of former, degraded forest lands occupied by Imperata cylindrica is one of the crucial environmental and forestry issues in the humid tropics, notably Southeast Asia. We suggest that it is possible to gradually restore the original natural forest cover with the help of a sacrifice fallow crop of fast-growing exotic tree species. Recently, a set of suitable fast-growing plantation tree species has been identified and stand establishment methods developed for this purpose. We assessed the regeneration of natural vegetation in stands of different plantation tree species and evaluated the ecological impact of species composition in the plantation understorey. PCA ordination, regression analysis and analysis of covariance were applied at different stages of the study. We found a marked vegetational resemblance between stands dominated by Acacia mangium: they had the highest number of indigenous trees in their understorey, whereas stands of other plantation trees supported more diverse grass and herb vegetation. A high proportion of evergreen woody vegetation reduces the risk of fire and grass competition and enhances secondary succession towards natural forest.     

Early primary succession on Mount St. Helens,Washington, USA

Abstract. The north slope of Mount St. Helens was sampled with 141 circular 100-m² plots to describe vegetation and environmental patterns 13 yr after the 1980 eruption. At least 114 vascular plant taxa were encountered. We recognized four habitat types: Refugia, Pumice barrens, Pyroclastic surfaces and Drainages. A fifth category, Lupine patches, includes samples on primary surfaces that were rapidly colonized. Refugia provided small enclaves where underground portions of several species survived the eruption. They retained an inconsistent array of forest understory species and contained 86 species (mean = 20.8 per plot). Refugia are dominated by woody species such as Penstemon cardwellii, Rubus spp., Ribes spp. and Alnus sinuata, with herbs such as Agrostis diegoensis, Luzula parviflora and Anaphalis margaritacea. Anaphalis represents a suite of species that invaded Refugia after the eruption. Diversity (N₂ and H′) is significantly greater in Refugia than in any other habitat. No plants survived on primary sites, which remain sparsely vegetated and dominated by readily dispersed taxa. Total richness ranges from 36 species (9.9 per plot) on pyroclastic surfaces, through 42 species (11.2 per plot) in drainages, to 66 (11.7 per plot) on Pumice barrens. H′ and N₂ of the three habitats do not differ significantly. Lupine-dominated vegetation occurs sporadically in Pyroclastic and drainage habitats. Lupine patches are characterized by high Lupinus cover and a suite of invaders. These sites have high cover and 52 species (12.6 per plot). H′ and N₂ scores were significantly lower than any other habitat due to strong lupine dominance. Canonical Correspondence Analysis showed that site history and slope contributed most to species composition. Geographic effects accounted for 10 25 % of the explained species-environment relationship. Forest understory species have migrated only short distances and have made negligible contributions to vegetation development. A few species common in Refugia, including Agrostis diegoensis and Carex mertensii, have invaded barren surfaces, but most have not. Refugia also have been invaded by open site species abundant on the Pumice Plain. The heterogeneity of plots within habitat types and small statistical linkage of vegetation to environmental and spatial factors suggests that stochastic events have played a leading role in early primary succession.     

Impact of overgrazing on seed predation by rodents in the Thar desert,northwestern India

We compared the vegetation structure, rodent density and seed loss rate between protected and disturbed sites affected from grazing by cattle, goats and sheep, in the Thar desert of India. A perennial tussocky grassLasiurus sindicus Hent. was largely dominant in the protected site, whileL. sindicus was rare and replaced by undershrub speciesAerva pseudotomentosa Blatt. & Halb. andCrotalaria burbira Buch.-Ham. in the overgrazed site. In the grazed site, plant coverage was low, but the density of rodent burrows and the frequency of rodent captures were significantly high as compared to the protected site. Corresponding with the density of desert rodents, seed predation was significantly higher in the grazed site than in the protected site. These results suggest that overgrazing by large mammals has strong effects on plant succession by altering not only the species composition and abundance of plant community, but also the habitat suitability for seed-eating rodents.     

Genotypic proportions in hybrid zones

We study a hybrid zone between two populations of a diploid organism. The populations differ at one locus. Homozygotes have equal fitnesses and the heterozygote fitness is reduced by + ( is the birth rate deviation and is the death rate deviation). The populations extend along a one dimensional continuous habitat, and migration occurs by diffusion of individuals. The model is formulated as a set of simple continuous time demographic models without age structure for the three genotypes, and the system is transformed into three new variables, the total population size N, the gene frequency p, and the deviation from Hardy-Weinberg proportions F. The gene frequency in a steady state cline always follows a hyperbolic tangent closely. Analysis of the asymptotic behavior of the cline far from the hybrid zone suggests a qualitative prediction of the shape of N, p and F over the zone. For weak selection the shape is determined by a central steepness of , as observed by Bazykin in 1969, where D is the diffusion coefficient. For strong selection the cline is less steep than the Bazykin cline, and the form is dominated by the migration process. The steepness at the center of the cline is close to where b is the birth rate of homozygotes.Supported in part by grant 11-9639-1 from the Danish Natural Science Research Council and grant 5.18.2023 from the Danish Biotechnological Research and Development Programme     

Repellent and acaricidal properties of Ocimum suave against Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks

An oil extracted from the leaves of a tropical shrub Ocimum suave was found to repel as well as kill all stages of the tick Rhipicephalus appendiculatus. In an in vitro bioassay for the larvae, the LC₅₀ of the oil in liquid paraffin was 0.024%. A 10% solution was found to kill all immatures and more than 70% of adults feeding on rabbits. Rabbits were protected for 5 days against attaching larvae using a 10% solution. Preliminary experiments undertaken with cattle kept in the field suggest that the oil may have potential in tick control, and a role in integrated tick management.